Temple B nai Abraham The Temple Shofar Sarah Seidel Sisterhood President Betsy Ramos Rabbi - Julie Pfau President - Shira Lowry

Transcription

1 Temple B nai Abraham The Temple Shofar Sarah Seidel Sisterhood President Betsy Ramos Rabbi - Julie Pfau President - Shira Lowry 5769 SIVAN-TAMMUZ JUNE 2009 Rabbi s Message Although it is delightful to have time off during the Summer, I miss the chance to learn about and wrestle with some of the fascinating Torah portions that fall during the Summer months. For example, on July 4th there is a double Torah portion Chukat and Balak. Balak is the name of an enemy of the ancient Israelites. When he sees the Israelite army camped against him, he summons a man named Balaam to come and put a curse on them. Balaam goes, in spite of God s disapproval, and the famous talking donkey incident happens while he is on the road... (If you don t know it, check out Numbers 22: ) In the end, instead of cursing the Israelites, Balaam blesses them, and the blessing he gives is now a part of our morning prayer service! The blessing is found in Numbers 24, and some of it is quite lovely: How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel! Like palm-groves that stretch out, Like gardens beside a river, Like aloes planted by the LORD, Like cedars beside the water; Their boughs drip with moisture, Their roots have abundant water. The Haftarah for Balak has another of our tradition s beautiful texts Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. I have frequently seen these traits in the TBA community. Our Hebrew School students and members do justice every time they donate or deliver granola bars, each time they make sandwiches and deliver meals to those in need. Our Sisterhood members show that they love kindness with every oneg they sponsor, with every meal they provide for a shiva, and countless other activities that help build a sense of caring community. Other members show that they walk humbly with their God each time they volunteer, without fanfare, in a Hebrew School classroom or work tirelessly to insure that services and rituals can take place every week. TBA lives out the requirements of this verse when each person finds a role to play, discovering her or his own way to become rooted in the community and grow. TBA is a lovely spiritual home, full of life, because of everyone put together engaging in social justice work, welcoming guests, treating others with caring and compassion, and matter-of-factly stepping up to do the myriad tasks that are needed for our community to function. Micah 6:8 is what makes the vision of Numbers 24:5-7 possible. Trees planted beside a river will be more likely to endure in times of drought, and they will offer shelter, shade, and fruits to others. During hard times, the Jewish community has the potential to draw together and offer that kind of refuge to its members. Many communities have been engaging in creative thinking about how they can help each other during these difficult economic times. Some communities have organized to swap services between members; others have set up web-spaces where members can notify each other about give-aways; still others have been sharing information about potential employment. I would like to think about the ways that the TBA community can consciously show even more of that justice and loving-kindness to each other. If you have ideas for how we can help each other during these trying times, please be in touch with me. Shalom, Rabbi Julie ~ 58 Crosswicks ~ PO Box 245 ~ Bordentown, NJ ~ (609) ~ ~ ~ Temple Shofar Editor ~ Shiri Haines slhaines2@yahoo.com ~

2 Temple B nai Abraham is affiliated with the Jewish Reconstruction Federation. Temple B nai Abraham Officers President: Betsy Ramos Executive VP: Robin Affrime Religious VP: Sid Morginstin Financial VP: Michael Rosen Recording Secretary: Shiri Haines Trustees: Religious School Chair: Susan Giachetti Membership Chair: Rhea Goldman Building Chair: Eileen Gale Adult Education Chair: Rick Shain Sarah Seidel Sisterhood Officers President Shira Lowry Vice President Debby Weiss Treasurer Marcy Schwartz Financial Secretary Rita Nissim Record. Secretary Ellen Wehrman Corres. Secretary Mimi Geller Trustees: Susan Giachetti Phyllis Chudoff Elaine Trackman Eileen Gale Message from the President I am both happy and sad to report that this will be my last item submitted to the newsletter as your President. I have served as President for four years now and feel honored to have served this wonderful congregation in this manner. It has reaped unexpected benefits for me. I have gotten to know many of the members that I would not have otherwise met. I have learned about how this temple operates. I have also discovered, and come to appreciate, how dedicated our volunteers are who assist in running this temple. There have been a number of changes while I have been president. The major change has been to our facility. During this time, I am proud that we have been able to effect an almost total renovation of the interior of our synagogue and made it into a modern looking facility. Except for the kitchen, one would not recognize it from 4 years ago. We have hired a new rabbi, Rabbi Julie, and have survived the transition from Rabbi Alex who had been with us for 5 years. Julie has been a welcome addition to the temple. Not only does she do a great job in leading services, but she has worked hard at revamping our religious school. I am leaving with a strong rabbi, a restructured religious school, and with our membership at a high of 61 families! It s been many years since our membership has been that high. I would like to thank all of those who have served on the board since I have been president. Without the help of all of those individuals, it would not have been possible to perform the job as President. I would like to mention in particular, however, 3 individuals. First, I would like to thank Robin Affrime who has agreed to take over as president as of July 1. I am grateful that I am able to turn over the reigns to someone who is not only qualified and dedicated, but cares deeply about Temple B Nai Abraham. I am confident that I am leaving the presidency in capable hands. Second, I would like to thank Mike Rosen. Even though Mike served on the board for many years and served for 4 years as President, when we needed him, he agreed to come back on the board. He was initially religious chair and then took over as treasurer. At that time, he was able to straighten out all of our financial records and he has been able to successfully keep us on the right track since then. Last, a huge thank you to Eileen Gale. Eileen has always been there for me and the temple when we needed any kind of help. She helped willingly, graciously, and was always the first to volunteer when needed. Eileen wears many hats at the temple. Although her official title is currently Building Chair, she has performed so many other functions, they would be too many to list. We joke that the little green man will get the job done. Actually, at our temple, Eileen is the little green man. She is always the one to make sure that a thank you goes out when it should, or the temple is cleaned up when it should be, or that someone is there to let a repairman in. Eileen is modest so most people have no idea how much she does around the temple. We all owe her a big thank you. As Mike Rosen said when he was leaving the presidency, I look forward to just worshipping at the temple, instead of having to worry about running the temple. See you all at services! Betsy Ramos Temple B Nai Abraham Shabbat Candle Lighting Time Friday, June 5 8:06 Friday, June 12 8:10 Friday, June 19 8:13 Friday, June 26 8:14

3 Shabbat Service Dates and Times Friday, June 5 Shabbat Evening Service at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 12 Tot Shabbat at 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 20 Shabbat Morning Service at 9:30 a.m. Friday, June 26 Shabbat Evening Service at 7:30 p.m. Thank you to Maribeth and Brian Epstein for again donating the cost of our service provider for our network. Also, thank you to Brian for maintaining our website and sending out our newsletters and announcements electronically. June Oneg Shabbat Hosts Saturday, June 20-9:30 AM - Shabbat Morning Service Luncheon Sponsored by Phyllis Chudoff & Robin Affrime (Helpers are still needed Please contact Shira Lowry at shira.lowry@berwickoffray.com or ) Friday, June 26-7:30 PM Member of the Year Erev Shabbat Service Oneg Sponsored by the Grabenstein/Lowry Family and Rachel Schwartz ~~~ Members of the Year Please come out and honor Marsha and Joel Dowshen as our members of the year on June 26, 2009 at 7:30 pm. Marsha and Joel Dowshen have been responsible for our most consistent and profitable fundraiser for many years - our gift card program. Every year we raise at least $1500 through this program through the Dowshens hard work. Both Marsha and Joel have been long standing members of the Temple. Marsha has been active in the sisterhood and Joel on the Temple Board. This is not even a complete list of the contributions! We thank them for all of their efforts over the years and look forward to honoring them on June 26 th. SOCIAL ACTION NEWS Our activities continue through the summer, so please join in helping with our hunger relief efforts! Boxes of granola bars will be needed throughout the summer for the motel residents (they are added to a box of non-perishable food donated by members of houses of worship throughout the community for the residents). An extra box during the month of June will help us keep our commitment to this years-long interfaith project through the summer. Donations of other non-perishable food items for the St. Mary's food pantry are also welcome! Elaine Trackman is a regular volunteer at the food pantry, and keeps us informed of their needs. Please bring a couple of items for the food pantry to help them get through the summer as well. We will make sure any donated food is brought to the pantry. We deliver meals to residents of the Pine Motel on the last Thursday of each month. The meals are provided and cooked by the members of the Crosswicks Methodist Church, and transportation of the meals is provided by our temple. Many thanks to Robin Affrime for her help the last few months with food delivery. It is a very rewarding job to greet people, chat with them, surprise them with a meal at the end of the month when their resources are running thin, and hear their reactions to this caring attention. Last month when Robin and I delivered the meals, one resident was so grateful for the food that he offered his skills in landscaping and repairs for the temple! During vacation times, with varying schedules and travel, we may need some extra hands for delivering meals. Please call Marcy at if you would like to help with this activity in the near future. In the interest of increasing her accessibility, Rabbi Julie has reserved times each week when she will be available for your phone calls and to respond to your non-emergency communications. Those times are: Sundays 8:00-9:00 pm Mondays 8:00-9:00 pm Thursdays 3:45-4:30 pm For urgent and time sensitive communications, please note this in the subject line of s and leave a voic as well. Rabbi Julie will be checking phone messages each day, and, in case of an emergency, will respond in a timely manner. Contact Rabbi Julie at rabbijulie@bnai-abraham.org

4 Summer Shabbat Service On July 24 th at 7:30 pm there will be a Summer Shabbat Service. This will give those with a Yahrzeit during the Summer months, when we normally do not have a service, an opportunity to honor their loved ones. Congregational Meetings Our Annual Congregation Meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 16, :30 pm. At the first meeting, we distributed the proposed budget for the coming year, as well as the slate of officers. The Board proposed a slight dues increase. A new Board position, called Past President, was also proposed. Refreshments will be served! Please come out to the meeting as we need a quorum to pass our budget and elect our new officers. Dessert will be provided! Betsy Ramos Temple President Yom Kippur Community Booklet The form to use to submit names for the Yom Kippur Community Booklet is in this newsletter. We have had this fundraiser since 1992 and last year we raised the most money- $872!! All of the money that you donate goes to the Temple- copying and postal costs are donated. Please consider participating in this project- a small donation of $10 will allow you to honor or remember five people. If you have any questions or wish to see the booklet from prior years, please call Randye [ ]. Please help us exceed last year's total. Thank you so much. Jewish New Year Card Once again we will be sending a community New Year Card. Members of congregation who are not a sisterhood member, the cost is $5.00. Please remit to Rita Nissim, 5 germantown Road, Bordentown, NJ before Sept. 10. Sisterhood dues are now $30.00 and will include the cost of the New Year Card. Please let Rita know if there is a change in the way you would like your name to appear on the card. SISTERHOOD NEWS Sisterhood dues for will now be $ The New Years card is now included in the dues. Sisterhood Annual Covered Dish Supper Please join us for the Annual Covered Dish Supper Monday, June 8 th at 6:15 pm at the Temple My Cookies are better than Your Cookies Contest A Sarah Seidel Sisterhood Fundraiser Sarah Seidel Sisterhood has started a cookie baking contest to raise money for the Temple. Sunday, October 18th at the Rutgers EcoComplex in Bordentown is the date and place of the contest. If you would like to contribute your skills and talents to this, we would love to have you. Here are just some of the things we need: 1. Companies/people to be sponsors, to be an inkind sponsor, donate prizes. 2. Someone that is technically skilled for website development. 3. People to promote and share this with friends 4. Ideas from bakers or people who enter contests Contact if interested or have questions or ideas: Kim Aubry at kimaubry@gmail.com, call or Shira Lowry at shira.lowry@berwickoffray.com or Thank you to everyone who has come forward on last minute notice for Oneg Shabbat and Saturday luncheon hosting. You are very much appreciated.

5 Rosh Hashanah Honey Gifts It s not too early to start thinking about gifts of honey for Rosh Hashanah. Sarah Seidel Sisterhood is offering gift boxes which can be sent to friends and relatives, literally worldwide, to offer L Shana Tova for the New Year. Each gift jar contains eight ounces of delicious golden certified pure kosher honey and your signed gift card. The package is an exceptional value at $10 for one or $18 for 2, and all proceeds will benefit Sarah Seidel Sisterhood. Contact Debby Weiss (609) for any questions. ~~~ YAHRZEITS June 9 Harry Brewis, great-great grandfather of Brian Epstein Benjamin Weinman, father of Sara Bergman George Groveman, long time Temple member June 12 Genevive Maza, aunt of Sandra Cohen Fannie Bloom, maternal grandmother of Peter Reichlin and long time Temple member June 19 Edith Trackman, mother of Jay Trackman Estelle Epstein, grandmother of Brian Epstein June 26 Marion Greenblatt, mother of Marcia Rosen Aaron Cohen, grandfather of Sandra Cohen July 3 Bernard Black, father of Leonard Black Anna Harrison, mother-in-law of Renee Harrison Yettie Epstein, great-grandmother of Brian Epstein Joseph Josephon, father of Sam Josephson VOLUNTEER NEEDED A volunteer is requested to take care of the Temple signboard. This involves changing the Temple signboard announcements as needed: for Friday or Saturday Services, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, special events, etc. This should only take 15 minutes to do. TEMPLE DONATIONS In Memory of Julia Affrime from Robin and Steven Affrime Bernard Greenblatt from Marcia and Mike Rosen Harry Brewis and Estelle Epstein from Brian and Maribeth Epstein Arlene Schwarts, mother of Phyllis Chudoff, from Vic and Betsy Ramos and Madge and Jerry Rosen Edith Trackman from Jay and Elaine Trackman Trudie Urken from Henry and Rhoda Kessler A prayer book was donated in memory of Arlene Schwartz from Eileen Gale, Sandy SchwartzBird, and Robin and Steven Affrime. SISTERHOOD In Memory of Michael Pfau from Arlene and Berny Speiser David Dorfman from Sid and Charyl Morginstin Elizabeth Bloking from Randye Bloom & Michael Scolaro Arlene Schwartz, mother of Phyllis Chudoff, from Elaine and Jay Trackman, Charyl and Sid Morginstin, Renee Harrison, Marcy Schwartz and Rick Shain, Faith Hupfl, Mimi Geller, Phyllis and Is Kamer, Rita and Marty Nissim Rejoicing with you as you graduate: Olivia Popko from Jay and Elaine Trackman and Charyl and Sid Morginstin Stephen Klepner from Jay and Elaine Trackman, Charyl and Sid Morginstin, Sam Liebman from Elaine and Jay Trackman and Eileen Gale Condolence to Phyllis Chudoff and family on the loss of Phyllis's mother, Arlene Schwartz Our prayers and thoughts are with Berney and Arlene Speiser and family as their son-in-law is recuperating from a very serious illness

6 Jewish Heritage Night at the Trenton Thunder Wednesday, July 8 th 7:05 pm VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE FISHER CATS $10.00 per ticket Thunder T-Shirts to the first 1,000 fans 18+ Contact Charlie Weiss at (609) or charlie@jande.org for tickets by June 6. Tot Shabbat News The evening begins with candle lighting, kiddush, and motzi, and a meal we share together, folled by a short service, a story, and then an activity. And every Tot Shabbat ends with a craft or game. Anyone who wants to stop by and experience the fun of Tot Shabbat is welcome. Be sure to tell anyone you know who might be interested in coming. The theme of the last Tot Shabbat of the year on June 12 th, will be Israel. Please contact: Karen Nissim: (609) neiln64@aol.com or Rachael Schwartz: eslrachel@verizon.net to RSVP. ~~~ Supermarket Gift Card Program Acme and ShopRite Gift Cards are still available. Please contact Marsha Dowshen to get your grocery store gift cards for Acme and ShopRite and support Temple B nai Abraham every time you shop. TEMPLE CALENDAR We are planning to create a Temple B'nai Abraham Calendar which would advertise our Temple, given people important Jewish dates, candle lighting times and recipes and tips to go along with holidays. To finance this project we will be selling advertising space on the calendar. If anyone is interested in working on this project please contact Sid Morginstin at or Robin Affrime at MEMORIAL PLAQUES Temple B nai Abraham Memorial Plaques can be purchased for $250. To order a plaque you need to provide the following information in writing to the Religious Chairman (Sid Morginstin): 1. English name of deceased loved one. 2. Hebrew name of deceased loved one. If you do not know this, the religious chair and the Rabbi can help you with an appropriate name. 3. Date of death as MONTH-DAY-YEAR. You can be billed when the plaque is received. Plaques are ordered from the supplier when there are at least four plaques requested. This may take some time, however, if you would like your plaque earlier, you may request this and we will do everything we can. If you want the plaque by Rosh Hashanah, Sid needs the information by August 15. MISHEBERACH LIST The healing list has been a success. Members can have the names of friends or relatives who are ill be read before the healing prayer. However, the list is getting a bit long. The original plan was for me to roll names off after a few months. Well, that never happened. So for September, I will begin again. If you want the name of a friend or relative mentioned, please get it to me by August 20. Also state how long the name should be on the list. Unless told otherwise, I will remove the name after two months. And this year I mean it. Sid Morginstin, Religious Chairperson sidmorgy@verizon.net or

7 Congratulations to Our Graduates Olivia Popko Stephen Klepner Sam Liebman Amanda Pinkus, granddaughter Marty and Rita Nissim, from Salisbury College in Maryland ~~~ YAHRZEIT LIST Every July or early August I add in the Hebrew dates for the upcoming year to the Yahrzeit list. The Rabbi reads the names before Kaddish. Members in good standing get a timely reminder of when to say Kaddish. The name is listed in the newsletter. Ideally you should say Kaddish on the actual date of the Yahrzeit. When this is not possible, you may say it on the nearest Sabbath. As such, I always provide the nearest Friday. If the actual date of the Yahrzeit is a Saturday, Sunday or Monday, I use the PRIOR Friday. If the actual date of the Yahrzeit is a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, I use the NEXT Friday. This is the case even if we have a Saturday service. I rely upon the membership to tell me of any changes. A current list, sorted by the deceased's last name, is hanging on the bulletin board in the meeting room. Try as I might, I do not always get the information when someone passes away. [Or if I do, I may forget to put it on the database.] So please if you have any updates, please get them to me NO LATER THAN JULY 15. I will be more than happy to verify the name(s) and other information that I have for you. Just give me a call. Sid Morginstin Religious Chairperson sidmorgy@verizon.net Bordentown City Wide Yardsale Elaine Trackman and Sandy SchwartzBird will be setting up their own tables for the Bordentown, City Wide Yardsale on Sunday, June 7th, on the Temple lot. If any of you are interested in joining them, please contact Sandy ( or schwartzbird6@verizon.net). Of course, if you decide at the last minute to come, they certainly won't turn you away! Hopefully, we fill up the lot! You will have to use your own chairs, table or blanket, etc. They won't be using anything from the Temple. You would need to have cash and change to handle your own sales. Also bring your own bags to be used for your sold items. The Temple will be open for bathroom use, and storing your own snacks and drinks in the refrigerator. Cost: $5 per family to set up goes towards the Hebrew School funds. Set up time: 7am on Sunday, June 7th. You will be responsible for your own setup, sales, and removal of everything you have left. Other than the $5 donation, all the money you make you keep. If you live in the area of the city wide sale, you can get a member of your family to set up another table at the Temple. That way, you get 2 areas. We plan on keeping the Temple open till noon. You can stay longer if you wish, but you will have to get your snacks and drinks out from the Temple at that time. If it rains, they will not be setting up or unlocking the Temple.

8 June 2009 Sivan-Tammus 5769 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Friday Night Services 7:30 pm Bordentown City Wide Yard Sale Sisterhood Annual Covered Dish Supper 6:15 pm Tot Shabbat 6:00 pm Friday Night Services 7:30 pm Congregational Meeting 7:30 pm Shabbat Morning Services 9:30 am Member of the Year Friday Night Services 7:30 pm Luncheon Sponsored by Phyllis Chudoff and Robin Affrime 27 Oneg Sponsored by the Grabenstein/Lowry Family & Rachel Schwartz Rosh Chodesh

9 ANNUAL COVERED DISH SUPPER MONDAY, JUNE 8, :15 pm VERY IMPORTANT- YOU MATTER! If you are unable to attend, are unhappy with the dish that you are assigned, or are bringing a guest [$5.00], please let us know. Call Randye [ ] or Marsha [ ]. Thank you. Robin Affrime Kim Aubry Nancy Belonzi Ellen Benowitz Anita Berson Randye Bloom Phyllis Chudoff Mary Lou Delehanty Marsha Dowshen Randi Fechter Eileen Gale Mimi Geller Susan Giachetti Nina Glanz Bonnie Goldman Rhea Goldman Renee Harrison Faith Hupfl Phyllis Kamer Mak Keiffer Shyrle Kushner Shelia Lamonsoff Marlene Lavine Patricia Lite-Tolomeo Shira Lowry Yelena Uzlyaner Masoti Charyl Morginstin Karen Nissim Rita Nissim Linda Osman Betsy Ramos Madge Rosen Marcia Rosen Evelyn Rothman Marcy Schwartz Sandy SchwartzBird Abbie Shain Samantha Shain Arlene Speiser Elaine Trackman Ellen Wehrman Ellen Weiner Debra Weiss blintzes your choice beet salad kugel spinach artichoke dip your choice lasagna cheese and crackers green bean salad bean salad deviled eggs lemon squares eggplant parmesan cookies anything chocolate salad of choice plain tuna salad pita chips and hummus Caesar salad endaname kugel chocolate covered strawberries your choice tabouli appetizer of choice rugelach one gallon iced tea, one gallon lemonade stuffed mushrooms spinach soufflé asparagus something veggie pizza appetizer of choice cheesecake applesauce ratatouille main course with salmon cucumber salad cucumber salad plain tuna salad fruit salad macaroni and cheese your choice whitefish salad P.S. These are suggestions. If you really do not want to make the assigned dish call us- we are open to other possibilities! PLEASE BRING APPROPRIATE SERVING DISH AND UTENSILS

10 TEMPLE FUNDRAISER- It is time to compile the community booklet for Yom Kippur that lists the names of family and friends whom you wish to honor or remember on that day. The cost to list each name is $2.00. If you would like to have your family and friends included, please complete the form below and send it with your check [made payable to Temple B nai Abraham] to Randye Bloom, 514 Reeder Avenue, Bordentown, NJ All names must be submitted in writing to ensure proper spellings and designations. Forms and checks must be received by August 1. This is the only notice or reminder that you will receive so please clip it from your newsletter. Thank you. An example of what a listing looks like follows: Randye E. Bloom & Michael Scolaro, Jr. honor: Jeffrey Bloom Emily Chelsea Bloom Kori Johanna Bloom remember: Julius & Selma Bloom Michael & Mary Scolaro Pauline & William Hodes Minnie & Joseph Bloom Rita Hodes & Charles Stein Michael D. Burns Andrew S. Zysman Sal Cuccia Elaine B. Zeitz This example would cost $ Please include the following names in the community booklet: HONOR REMEMBER Name of donor as it is to appear in booklet: Check enclosed $