the Shofar Our Board President s Rosh Hashanah Speech 12 Heshvan - 13 Tevet 5778 / November - December 2017 INSIDE THIS ISSUE

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1 the Shofar 12 Heshvan - 13 Tevet 5778 / November - December 2017 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Todah Raba 1 President s Rosh Hashanah Speech High Holy Day Praise 1 2 Chanukah 2 Condolences 2 High Holidays & Hebrew School The Voyage of the St. Louis & American Refugee Policy 2 3 Yizkor Book 3 Cantor s Sermons On-Line 3 IFC Happenings 3 Nov. & Dec. Birthdays & Anniversaries 4 Mazel Tov 4 Kids Summer Lunch 4 George s Dry Cleaning Services 6 Advertisements 6 Todah Raba! By Cantor Buckner I am so grateful to everyone who helped to make our High Holy Day services beautiful, meaningful and to those behind the scenes, who made sure everything ran smoothly. First, a huge shout out to our president, Rebecca Fishkin, the ICM board and many volunteers who stepped up to fill the void during Lisa s absence and took charge of the long list of tasks and moving parts. Yasher Koach, well done, to all of the service leaders, Torah and Haftara readers, Gabbayim, and shofar sounders. You greatly enhanced our worship experience and did a beautiful job. Thanks to the experienced group of ushers who kept things moving smoothly and to our greeters at the door. Thanks so much to Lisa Bendik who continued to do what she could from afar to keep the communications running and to help the volunteers keep ICM operating well, and to Gert and all her helpers in the kitchen. Thank you to our new ICM choir and to our accompanists, Joanne Beck and Jane Wood who continued on page 4 Our Board President s Rosh Hashanah Speech Good morning, Shana Tova and good yontif. I am Rebecca Fishkin and I am proud to serve as the president of Israel Congregation of Manchester. To begin, as you can see, we have a new spiritual leader, Cantor Buckner, and if you have not met him yet, I encourage you to stop and talk to him. Not right this minute, but at some point during the next couple of weeks. Although Cantor Buckner has only been here for fewer than three months, I think that things are going very well, based on what I have been hearing from congregants and from my own experiences. I am so thankful to have Cantor Buckner here with us to help make ICM a vibrant home for Jewish life in Manchester. As I was preparing to write my Rosh Hashanah president s speech, I was thinking about the fact that every year on this day Jews gather in houses of worship all over the world to welcome in the year. Why do we do that? Why do we do the same thing every year at this time? I know that personally I have been going to High Holiday services as long as I can remember. Are we creatures of habit? Is it because we learned the rituals from our parents and grandparents and now we just continue to follow them? Maybe for some those are the reasons, but I think the reason that most of us are here today is because each of us has a special connection to our Judaism and to this synagogue. The first time I came to ICM, I was saying Kaddish for my mother. After services, Gary and I went to dinner at the Manchester Bar and Grill, continued on page 5

2 High Holy Day Praise What a joy it was to be at ICM for the High Holidays. Our synagogue was filled with Congregants, their families and guests. Cantor Buckner s first HHD with us was joyful, sweet and so meaningful. His beautiful voice echoed throughout the building giving new life to our synagogue. From the beginning of Rosh Hashanah to the final blast of the Shofar ending Yom Kippur, a very successful break fast, to the celebration of Sukkot and the ending with Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, our synagogue was filled with love, joy and time for thoughtful reflection. The children had their own special services led by Esther Mandelheim and Pablo Elliot. A special treat for Simchat Torah was our very own fiddler, Ida Specker...who enchanted our children and adults. Thank you Cantor Buckner and your family for leading us through this truly wonderful holiday season. Thank you to all who participated. Hinei Mah Tov How good it is, how sweet it is To be together on these days May we at ICM look forward to many holidays together. Carol Goldsmith and Cathy Rano Chanukah We begin to light our Chanukiot the first night of Chanukah, December 12. On Friday, December 15, we will have our annual early-start Chanukah service at 5:30 pm, communal lighting of our Chanukiot, and a delicious, festive meal featuring our latke contest, dreidel games, and sufganiyot, the special donuts for Chanukah. Stay up-to-date on any changes/additions via our weekly . Condolences Bill (Ivy) Schwartz on the loss of his mother, Estelle Schwartz. Page 2 High Holidays, Families & Hebrew School (Goes High Tech) Families had a wonderful time on High Holidays at ICM. There was a terrific children's service in the classrooms on Rosh Hashanah lead by Pablo and Esther Mandelheim-Elliott. Pablo played his guitar while the children experimented blowing the shofar. Esther and Pablo provided a delicious array of local apples and honey for the children to sample. They also read a story to the children as a springboard to a discussion on the meaning of the holidays. The families were honored during the service with an Aliyah; it was lovely to be up on the bimah all together! ICM's Hebrew School class learned about the holiday of Sukkot, decorated the Sukkah and learned about the "four species" (arbah minim) that comprise the lulav and etrog. The kids then took turns shaking the lulav and the etrog in our sukkah. When the children are in Hebrew School, their parents often meet and have given input on how the School can grow and expand this year and in the future. One fabulous result of these talks is that Jewish topics and the language of Hebrew will be learned via ipads that ICM will have on the premises for the children, courtesy of the Bob and Micki Horowitz Children s Education Fund. Hebrew School at ICM meets at 4 pm on Thursdays. Our teacher is Rebecca Sherman, who is also the 1st grade teacher at Manchester Elementary Middle School. We are especially excited to have Cantor Scott's musical talent and creativity to enrich our Hebrew School experience this year! Morgan Taylor

3 Wednesday, November 1 "The Voyage of the St. Louis and American Refugee Policy" On November 1 from 5 to 6:30 pm, ICM and the Manchester Community Library will be co-hosting a free wine and cheese reception at the Library prior to the Vermont Humanity Council's First Wednesdays talk "The Voyage of the St. Louis and American Refugee Policy." Please bring dairy hors d oeuvres to the Library as part of ICM s contribution to the reception. Dr. Paul Vincent, Chair of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies baccalaureate program at Keene State College, will be the honored guest and Irene Cole will create panels to peruse during the reception. The talk will take place at 7 pm at the First Congregational Church of Manchester. Dr. Vincent's presentation tells the story of the 1939 voyage of the St. Louis carrying mostly Jewish refugees fleeing Germany but denied entry to the US. He discusses the event in the context of the history of US immigration policy. Yizkor Book of Remembrance Page 3 Thank you for supporting the ICM Book of Remembrance! Because so many of you placed tributes to your dearly departed, we were able to produce a rich and meaningful book for the Yizkor service on Yom Kippur. We deeply appreciate your continued support for this cherished memory book. If you missed the opportunity to participate this year, please call the office so we know to contact you next spring. Rosalie Fox and Cookie Mac Cantor s Sermons On-Line Did you hear great things about a sermon that Cantor Buckner gave and wish you hadn t missed it? Or you enjoyed a sermon so much you want to hear it again? Well, now you can read Cantor s sermons on-line. They re on our website, under the Clergy/ Sermons heading on the left side of the page. November/December Interfaith Council Happenings Israel Congregation is an active member of the Interfaith Council of the Northshire (IFC). November is a major month for IFC activities. On November 5, St. Paul s Church (398 Bonnet Street, Manchester Center) hosts the annual meeting, harvest potluck, and fundraising auction for the Emergency Needs Fund. The meeting begins at 5:00 pm, with dinner following and then the auction. The Emergency Needs Fund is a place for people to go in our community when there is no other place to turn. On November 21, at 7:00 pm at the First Baptist Church (4895 Main Street, Manchester Center), IFC s Annual Thanksgiving Service will take place. This is a lovely opportunity to come together as an interfaith community to celebrate gratitude for all of our blessings. Cantor Buckner will be giving the sermon, and it would be especially nice if we supported him away from home. In early December, we share our blessings through the Holiday Gift Project. ICM congregants and others from the community will be given the names of children, along with information about what each child needs. After purchasing and wrapping these gifts, they will be given to people who requested them the week of December 18. Along with the wrapped gifts, the IFC will be providing food for holiday meals to be used for the holidays. The food is funded, in part, through a gift from the Community Food Cupboard.

4 Toda Raba! continued from page 1 added immeasurably to the musical worship experience. I would mention each person who helped out this holiday season by name but the list is too long for a Shofar article. Please know that the entire community is grateful and blessed to have so many dedicated volunteers. Beyond the High Holy Days, I would like to thank Ida Specker, who volunteered and provided the foot stomping fiddle music for our Simchat Torah celebration. Great fun was had by all who attended! Beginning on November 11 we are scheduling Shabbat morning services on the second Saturday of each month. The full format and timing for Shabbat morning services is in the planning stages and the details will be shared in our weekly s. The idea is to have a Torah service with concurrent children s and family programing. We will continue our popular Come As You Are Torah study through a Mussar lens as usual on the other Saturday mornings of the month, while incorporating an abbreviated version of this study during our Torah service on the second Saturday. Please be on the lookout for this year s plans for our traditional Chanukah celebration that will take place on December 15 with an early-start time of 5:30. As the days get shorter and the winter approaches I look forward to the warmth our congregation will continue to generate at all of our welcoming services, events and gatherings in the coming months, both within our own synagogue and in the greater interfaith community. I hope to see many of our members at the interfaith events to come from the Interfaith Council s annual meeting to Thanksgiving services, Martin Luther King commemoration and beyond. May we go from strength to strength as we embark on a continued journey together into the new year. Shalom Uvracha, Peace and Blessing. C e L e B R a T e Kids Summer Lunch Page 4 November & December Birthdays & Anniversaries November Birthdays Sherri Alper Mark Aronowitz Michael Dreiblatt Bidi Dworkin Gershon Dov Mandelheim-Elliott Jay Gerber David Heisler Bob Horowitz Russell Mills Sheila Mills Richard Polivy Aaron Rubinstein Rebecca Sherman Linda Sischy Nancy Steinberg Marjorie Weiss November Anniversaries Irene & Ed Glazer Lilli & Gary Mayerson Nancy & Larry Steinberg December Birthdays Fran Aronowitz Sandy Castelbaum Mel Cohen Karen Dreiblatt Harvey Flaxman Carol Goldsmith Lana Hauben Joel Katz George Kramer Susan Kreitzer Francine Panely Sara Rosenthal Melvyn Schaffer Levi Stoll Norma Waters December Anniversaries Susan & Michael Kreitzer Beverly & Marvin Morse Cathy & John Rano Laurie & Jeff Sullivan Ann & Melvyn Schaffer Mazel Tov Ryder James Harris made his debut on Tuesday, August 31, weighing 8 pounds 1 ounce. Parents Alexandra (Sullivan) and Michael, big brother Hunter and Ryder are all doing well. Proud grandparents Laurie and Jeff Sullivan are thrilled! Jane LoBrutto, licensed minister/administrator of the United Church of Dorset and East Rupert wishes to thank all of the amazing volunteers who gave up time during their busy summer to help with the Kids Summer Lunch Project. For 10 weeks volunteers set up/worked in a tent, emptied a delivery truck, and filled delivery trucks heading out to Mettawee and Danby, among other things. Every week for 10 weeks food was provided to 180 children in the Northshire that receive free or reduced price lunch during the school year but during the summer do not have that benefit. 100% of the monies collected purchased food. With additional grants, each child received a backpack and school supplies.

5 President s RH Speech continued from page 1 now known as Raven s Den. While we were waiting for a table, a woman came up to me and said, Hi my name is Ina and I saw you in temple. My husband and I would like to invite you to have dinner with us. I was a little shocked and said, Ok, my husband will be in in a minute, he s parking the car. Gary came in and I informed him that we were going to eat dinner with complete strangers and of course he was thrilled to hear that. Turns out we had a lovely dinner with Al and Ina Rubin. We played Jewish geography - what part of Brooklyn are you from? - and they discussed with Gary their love of skiing and the snow. As we were leaving Ina gave me a piece of paper with their address and phone numbers on it Should you need help with anything. I have to tell you that for five years I kept that piece of paper in a drawer. I kept it as a reminder of what two people did that night, something that I had never experienced before from anyone in a synagogue. Over the past year when the Search Committee was asking for feedback on our clergy candidates, the committee received a note from one of our congregants, Pablo Elliott, and he has kindly given me his permission to quote from his . My most important realization this weekend is that the rock stars are already here in the community- us! We have all the charisma, humor, talent and warmth. And he is correct. In the last five years I have met many people from diverse Jewish backgrounds who do in fact exude these wonderful traits. And the one thing they all have in common is their dedication to Israel Congregation. The people here are the reason that I agreed to be president of ICM. There are people who are dedicated, warm, helpful and willing to do whatever they can to help ICM thrive; whether it s through volunteering time or donating money or both. A big thank you to all who have volunteered and contributed financially to help ICM. And then there are the times when we really come together. When Lisa, our office administrator, had to take some time off to take care of her daughter, people not only wanted to know what they could do for Lisa but what they could do for ICM. I was deluged Page 5 with phone calls asking me how can they help. So now that this is a new year, and I have all of you as a captive audience, I want to make you all an offer. No, this isn t about your money being turned into ICM s money. That speech comes next week. No, this offer is about people and about being engaged. I want you to come to an ICM event, to get involved, to join a committee. We have plenty of committees that are looking for people. I know what you are thinking - join a committee and I ll end up being president! And if we re lucky, you may be right! But I will say this, I have met wonderful and amazing people who I now call my friends because I joined a committee, because I got involved. It can be a very rewarding experience. And if nothing else, maybe you ll make a few new friends. As you know, ICM is not just a building. It s not just a place to come for services and to celebrate holidays. There are events running throughout the year, and I encourage all of you to attend. In just the last few weeks, we have had some wonderful events. The cantor installation was a beautiful evening, filled with wonderful music. Allan Chernoff was our Scholar-in- Residence and we had a very informative weekend. We had an improv troupe come from New York and entertain us with their imagination and wit. Over the next few weeks we have a concert during which Cantor Buckner will be singing with the Taconic Music Ensemble, and we have the Sukkah-building and celebration lunch. But there is so much more that goes on during the year. We also have the tag sale, movie nights, and the Fourth of July BBQ, along with many other events to come. And don t forget about the wonderful pre-neg and Shabbat dinner every Friday night, which are great times to make new friends and catch up with old friends. So think about my offer. Just in case you forgot, it was to get involved. Give me a call, my number is in the on-line membership list or you can call Lisa and she will give it to you. Try an event, join a committee. I don t think you will be disappointed. On behalf of the Board of ICM and on behalf of my family I want to wish all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year. And for all of us, our families, the State of Israel and for the Jewish people everywhere, a very happy, healthy and sweet New Year. Shanna Tova! Rebecca Fishkin

6 Page 6 Israel Congregation is a thriving 160 household synagogue that draws from diverse Jewish backgrounds, of both fulland part-time residents of Southern Vermont. We are a welcoming Jewish space for all. Our doors are always open on Friday night where worship is followed by our Communal Shabbat Dinner, on Shabbat morning, for Jewish festivals and holy days, adult and children s education, and an array of social events. Join us. ICM is located at 6025 Main Street (Route 7A) between the medical offices and Town Hall. Our building is ADA accessible. Office: Website: office@icmvt.org 6025 Main Street / P.O. Box 1050 Manchester Center, Vermont Friday Evening Shabbat Services, 6:30 pm Preneg at 5:45 pm; services are followed by a Communal Shabbat Dinner Our weekly calendar updates, FB page and website will keep you apprised of any scheduling changes. Saturday Morning Shabbat: Come as You Are, 9-10:00 am Spiritual Leader Cantor Scott Buckner Board of Directors Rebecca Fishkin, President Elisabeth Prial, First Vice President Sheila Mills, Second Vice President Phil Perlah, Treasurer Carol Goldsmith, Recording Secretary Cathy Rano, Past President Lee Fox, Ed Glazer, Lana Hauben, Ron Lissak, Marvin Rappaport, Morgan Taylor Shofar Editorial Committee Ann Cole, Carol Goldsmith, Lana Hauben, Marlene Skulnik, Laurie Sullivan, Morgan Taylor Synagogue Administrator Lisa Bendik Rabbi Emeritus Rabbi Michael Cohen George s Dry Cleaning Services It s not too often we freely advertise for a local business, but we must let you all know that George s Dry Cleaning Services at 81 Taconic Business Park in Manchester Center cleaned our tallitot free of charge. So why not stop in, thank George and bring those sweaters, coats and blankets that you ll soon be needing to him for a good cleaning.