Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, will present “Osteoarthritis Treatment Options” Jan. 18 from 1-3 p.m. at the SCAN Learning Center Monmouth Mall, Eatontown. Mutahir A. Abidi, M.D., a rheumatologist from Monmouth Medical Center, will present the program. “Cosmetic Surgery for the 50-plus Generation” will be presented by plastic and reconstructive surgeon Andrew I. Elkwood, M.D., Jan. 25 from 1-3 p.m. The programs are free to SCAN members. Membership is offered to individuals ages 50 and older. To register or for information about SCAN, call (732) 542-1326.

Hallelu band to play

at Shabbat service

The sounds of singing and dancing will fill the sanctuary of Monmouth Reform Temple, Tinton Falls, on Jan. 27 when the temple hosts a Shabbat Hallelu band.

The service, sponsored by the temple’s Brotherhood, starts at 7:45 p.m. and includes Cantor Gabriel Clissold and a band of guitar, keyboards, drums, clarinet and flute.

Cantor Clissold said according to the Talmud and Bible, the Shabbat Hallelu draws inspiration from Jewish practices in ancient times when spontaneous instrumental music, accompanied by singing and dancing, was an integral part of Jewish worship.

After the destruction of the second Temple of Jerusalem by the Romans, he said, music was silenced as an act of mourning.

Reform Jews were the first major religious movement to allow instrumental music back into synagogue worship, Clissold said. In the 1800s, Reform Jews decided to include the organ in worship services, and then all music composed for Reform worship was written for musical accompaniment.