Congregation Beth Israel is proud to sponsor TWO great programs for seniors and BOTH programs are open to the entire community! 

Our "Second Sixty" group offers great daytime "lunch and learn" programs at CBI, while our "Empty Nesters" offers social activities both at CBI and around Austin.  Please read below for more information regarding both of our great programs for seniors!

Facilitated by Judith Helburn, "Second Sixty" meets for “learn and lunch” at 10:00 a.m. every third Thursday of the year except during the summer. Sisterhood generously provides a lunch for which donations are accepted.  Adele Sperling coordinates the phone committee for each meeting and Syd Popinsky keeps our records.  About 25 seniors from the entire Jewish community attend each time.  We send out a flyer with the programs twice per year and have a phone committee to remind folks.  Anyone can attend and we do not check driver’s licenses to determine age qualifications. Other than a donation for lunch, "Second Sixty" is free.

Our year begins in September with a musical event and continues with informative and entertaining hour-long presentations. Our topics vary from Judaism to safety to politics and any other topic to enlighten our Seniors and keep the synapses connecting. In May, 2009, we hosted an invitational mini-conference to celebrate Older Americans Month and, in June of 2009, Sisterhood and 2d 60 held a tea to say farewell to long time member Lee Rosenthal who moved to Virginia to be near family.

Sitting on an empty nest? Not much fun or exciting to liven up your life? Don’t fret – join Empty Nesters. We’re a bunch of JBCR*who refuse to let the social spark go out of our lives. Instead of mildewing at home, we gather several times a year to feed our need for fun and fellowship. Some of us love to dance and sing; others prefer to watch a play or listen to music. All of us love to talk and eat.

* Jews Beyond Child Rearing – folks age 55 and older whose kids have left home at least once.

Traditionally, Empty Nesters eat together twice a year in Smith Auditorium at Congregation Beth Israel. We start with a social hour where we sip wine and nosh on veggies while catching up with old friends and making new ones. Then we sit for a scrumptious dinner that nourishes our bodies, followed by lively entertainment that nourishes our souls. In years past, we have been serenaded by the Dell Tones, roared at the jokes of comedian Steve “The Rabbi” Folberg, and heard Broadway’s best songs sung by Rabbi Cookie Olshein, Sue Billich and Greta Gutman.

We complement our dinners with several special field trips each year. We’ve laughed ourselves silly at Esther’s Follies, toured the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, and howled at the antics of the cast of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. We’ve also created our own merriment with cruises out of Galveston and an overnight trip to Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to shop for Chanukah presents. Our Planning Committee constantly searches for new and exciting ways to enrich our members’ lives; we firmly believe the best is yet to come.

You don’t need to be a member of Congregation Beth Israel to join Empty Nesters. We welcome anyone who is interested in meeting people and sharing in our camaraderie. If you fit that description, join now! The dues are only $15 a calendar year (and Syd Popinsky says you can’t get a better bang for your buck anywhere in Austin). For more information, contact Harriet Melitz at 345-0765 (hirv56@yahoo.com), or Betty Marz at 795-0306.

George Burns said, ”You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.” Members of Empty Nesters are living examples of this quote. If you’re not one of us already, we hope to see you soon!