Dr. Esther Grushkin Seminars for Adult Jewish Education (SAJE)

Inaugural Event Sunday, October 30, 7pm

Dr. Esther Grushkin was an accomplished educator and Hebrew scholar. She taught both children and adults, and loved teaching biblical archaeology, Jewish literature, language and criticism, and the Hebrew Bible.

Esther was an extraordinary woman with a passion for learning that she shared with her students. “It was a mutual love affair between me as a teacher and my students,” she said. It is in keeping with this love of learning that the Grushkin Family is establishing in perpetuity the JCC of Staten Island Dr. Esther Grushkin Seminars for Adult Jewish Education (SAJE).

This series of lectures will feature guest lecturers focused on issues and topics that resonated with Esther such as philosophy, the Bible, biblical archaeology, Jewish Culture in its many forms and more.

Esther was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, she was 12 when she immigrated to the United States in 1958, moving to Brooklyn with her family. She moved to Willowbrook in 1970, and settled in Todt Hill in 1983.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College, and received her master’s degree and Ph.D. from New York University.

Esther taught at Forest Hills High School, Hebrew Academy, Lincoln High School, JCC of Staten Island, Touro College, College of Staten Island, and the United Federation of Teachers in Manhattan and on the Island. She frequently presented her research at the Society of Biblical Literature. Her topics were wide-ranging and included “Esther on Esther,” “The Power of Romantic Love in the Bible,” “Fear in the Hebrew Bible,” “Ancient Myths and Their Influence on Genesis,” “Did the Exodus Really Happen?” and “The Modern History of Israel Through Fiction.”

Esther also served as vice president of the Archaeological Society of Staten Island for more than a decade.

She met Jerome Grushkin near Brooklyn College, while she was a sophomore.. They talked, and danced, and began dating. He was the love of her life, and the couple had been married for 49 years at the time of her passing in October 2015.

Mrs. Grushkin was a member of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, West Brighton, where she served as an executive, member of the board of trustees and was membership chair for 11 years.

Along with her husband, Jerome, she had 3 sons, Orren and his wife Patricia, Ailon and his wife Jennifer, and Daniel. The Grushkins have two lovely granddaughters Alexandra and Charlotte.

To attend the lecture, the VIP cocktail party or take out an ad please register online.