This year, artist Philip Zuchman will present on his remarkable rendering of Eicha/Lamentations. 

This is one of the most important holidays of the Jewish year. Join with community in a candlelit service commemorating the past calamities that have befallen the Jewish people. We will reflect on the personal and communal consequences in our own day as we chant the ancient words of Eicha/Lamentations. Please bring blankets or seat pads to sit on, as well as flashlights, as we gather in tradition to sit on the ground, for those who are able.  "Lamentations" by Philip Zuchman will be available for purchase for $30 with 50% of the proceeds going to supporting immigrant families facing deportation.

Philip Zuchman Bio

Born in New York City, he has been on his own since age 14.  At 18, he designed, built and paddled a 14-foot kayak 2,000 miles to the Carolina Sea Islands.   Until the age of 26 he immersed himself in philosophy (B.A. Queens College, CUNY) and writing. He was awarded the Peter Pauper Press Award for two novelettes, and had a play, The Gift, produced in Monterrey, California, where he served as a Psychological Research Specialist and French interpreter in the U.S. Army.  In 1968 he returned to Manhattan to paint. He studied at the Art Student’s League in 1970 with Arthur Foster. The Salmagundi Club awarded him its Young Artist’s Scholarship from 1971-1975.  Zuchman moved to a farm in Walden, Vermont and earned his Masters degree in Painting while studying with Jim Gahagan at Goddard College. He then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Zuchman has served as president of the National Forum of Professional Artists, vice president of Artists Equity, and vice president of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society. He is a Professor of Studio Art and Aesthetics, Emeritus, at the Art Institute of Philadelphia.  Zuchman’s paintings have been exhibited internationally with the U.S. State Department’s Art in Embassies Program of which he is a “Cultural Ambassador.” His work may be found in private, corporate and institutional collections worldwide.   Zuchman lives in West Philadelphia with his wife, painter Deborah Gross-Zuchman.  Their restored 19th century home-studio displays their paintings, sculpture, mosaics and murals and serves as a music and poetry venue called "For Culture, Not For Profit".   Website here.