Temple Talk. Rabbi s Corner: Tisha b'av: Facing Our Predicament by Rabbi David Finkelstein

Transcription

1 Temple Talk Volume 31 Issue 9 August 2016 Tammuz Av 5776 Rabbi s Corner: Tisha b'av: Facing Our Predicament by Rabbi David Finkelstein This month, as we observe the semi-mourning of the Three Weeks and the 25-hour fast of Tisha b'av, the theme of brokenness resonates throughout the land. During the 3 weeks, we remember the sin of the golden calf and the breaking of the first tablets of the Law moments defined by the tragic rebelliousness of the newly freed Israelite slaves. We also remember the exile-inducing sieges of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. and by the Romans in the year 70. According to the Talmud, the destruction of the second Temple in 70 C.E. was caused by baseless hatred within the Jewish community (sin'at chinam). From 17 Tammuz to 9 Av (July 23 - August 13/14), the Three Weeks inaugurate the process of teshuvah (return, course correction) that culminates with the Ten Days of Teshuvah between Rosh Hashanah (October 3) and Yom Kippur (October 12). This year, as our individual processes of teshuvah unfold, our nation walks inexorably toward the election of our next president (and of many other elected officials as well). With this framework for teshuvah stretching out before us, many of us have been listening to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. One convention focused on the threats of immigration, terrorism, and a globalized economy while trying to minimize the negative impact of its candidate's misanthropy, misogyny and racism. The other convention focused on the values of equality, education, and environment while trying to minimize the negative impact of its candidate's long membership in the political elite and the giving of an honorary position to a recently fired former committee chairperson who may have willfully manipulated the electoral process. This summer, I feel so sharply both the need and the desire for our country and the world to invest more deeply in teshuvah. The recent murders of unarmed black men by police, the revenge murders of police by radicalized black men, Black Lives Matter protests, All Lives Matter counter-protests, the advance of global warming, Brexit, the growing list of ISIS-related terror attacks, and the worsening Israeli- (Continued on page 10) The next bulletin will be for September. If you have an article that you would like to submit please get it in to the Temple office before August 15th. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Rabbi s Corner 1 Coming Up 2-3 Yahrzeits 4 Donations 5 Calendar 6 Annual Meeting 7 Mark s Remarks 8-9 Me ah Program 10 Thank You s 11 Rabbi: David Finkelstein Cantor: Ellen Band Hazzan: Yosi Weintraub President: Mark Frydenberg Vice Pres.: Lester Macklin Secretary: Genevieve Fosa Treasurer: George Isaac Membership Secretary: Ellen Macklin Editor: Andrea Baron Address 25 Harvard Street Waltham, MA office@tbiwaltham.org web site: (781) Office Hours Monday - Friday 9:00am - 12:00pm

2 Tisha B Av Service Times Saturday night - August 13th Service starts at 8:30pm Sunday morning Tisha B Av services August 14th Service starts at 9:00am New and Prospective Member Shabbat August 20, 2016 On August 20, 2016 Temple Beth Israel is inviting all new and prospective members to Shabbat Service, which will begin at 9 A.M. We welcome our members, their families, and prospective members as our guests. Notice our mix of newer and longtime members, interfaith couples, guests, and friends coming together with spiritual singing by Cantor Ellen Band, and a lesson or story by Rabbi David Finkelstein, a home cooked kiddush/lunch, and good conversation. Please invite friends and relatives who are looking for a synagogue and might have an interest in TBI. For additional information please contact Ellen Macklin, Membership Secretary, at ELLES123@aol.com or FROM CHESED / CARING COMMITTEE If you are saying kaddish and would like us to notify congregants to attend a Monday or Thursday minyan, please contact Susan Holbert at SusanEHolbert@gmail.com or at least one week ahead of time. While we can't guarantee a minyan of ten will be present, we can work together spread the word! 2

3 Shabbat Evening Services and Dinner Friday, August 12th menu: Chicken, Salads, Fruit, and Pastry Vegetarian option available upon request Services begin at 6:30 pm Dinner begins after services, around 7:30 pm. Vegetarian option available on request. Please let us know if you have any other dietary requirements when you sign up by contacting the Temple office. $18 per adult, $40 per family if paid by the Weds. before the dinner $21 per adult, $45 per family for later reservations You can register online at or contact the Temple office to sign up. Future Shabbat Service and Dinner Dates (Subject to Change) September 16th October 21st (in the Sukkah) 3

4 August Yahrzeits Plaque Loc. Name Date 5-2 Charlotte Pearl Shlager 1-Aug Tammuz Bella Larks 2-Aug Tammuz 27 Richard Goldberg s Dad 2-Aug Tammuz Andrew Wolf Decker 4-Aug Tammuz Esther Canter 4-Aug Tammuz Abraham Caplan 4-Aug Tammuz Gladys Milesky 5-Aug Av Sylvia Levin 6-Aug Av Fannie Weiner 6-Aug Av Maurice Tushin 7-Aug Av Sylvia Seidman 8-Aug Av Benjamin Sheer 8-Aug Av Samuel Elkins 8-Aug Av Sarah Pearl Becker 9-Aug Av Joseph Bloomthal 9-Aug Av Abraham Isaac Pedell 10-Aug Av 06 Roberta Lederman 10-Aug Av Aaron Sheer 11-Aug Av Etta Meyerovitz 12-Aug Av Benjamin L. Lerman 12-Aug Av Joseph Kaplan 12-Aug Av Mary Simon 12-Aug Av Chaya Zacharewich 13-Aug Av Paul Lewis Ginsburg 13-Aug Av 09 Hyman Brown 13-Aug Av Rachel Leah Ingber 13-Aug Av 09 Ida Kaitz 14-Aug Av Bernard Bloomenthal 15-Aug Av Paul Onigman 15-Aug Av Howard P. Mermelstein 16-Aug Av 12 Evelyn Forbes 16-Aug Av Coleman Wexler 18-Aug Av Ellen Leavy 19-Aug Av Dina Ella Backer 21-Aug Av Fannie Zelinetsky 21-Aug Av 17 Karl Meiselman 21-Aug Av Samuel Tatelman 22-Aug Av Nathan Ullian 22-Aug Av Molly Sheer 23-Aug Av 19 Mulcan bat Yosef 23-Aug Av Sadye Canter 23-Aug Av Hannah Mollie Sheer 23-Aug Av 19 Plaque Loc. Name Date 5-3 Harold Bloom 23-Aug Av 19 Hyman Kulin 24-Aug Av 20 Adele Ullian 24-Aug Av Samuel Blackstone 25-Aug Av 21 Nadia Shirazi 25-Aug Av Israel Pill 26-Aug Av Anna Esther Katz 26-Aug Av Moses Nochemsohn 26-Aug Av Walter Kaplan 29-Aug Av William Michaelson 30-Aug Av Harris Greene 30-Aug Av 26 Katherine Sidell 31-Aug Av Corinne Freeman 31-Aug Av Blanche Levison 31-Aug Av Jacob S Merowitz 31-Aug Av Aaron Mendelsohn 1-Sep Av Ethel Griff 2-Sep Av 29 A New Memorial Wall If you have been to the Temple lately, you may have noticed that there are two Yahrzeit boards missing from the left wall of the sanctuary. One fell down a few months, ago, and out of a concern for safety, we took down the other, because the wall is no longer able to securely hold the weight of all these boards filled with plaques. We are working now to redesign a new memorial wall for the Temple Beth Israel sanctuary. All current plaques will be reinstalled and there will be room to purchase additional plaques. We will nearly double our current capacity. This will allow us to continue to honor the memory of loved ones now and well into the future. The new memorial wall will contain all of the bronze name plaques that were on the original Yahrzeit boards, without individual bulbs next to each name. Energy efficient lighting will be installed in a soffit above the wall to illuminate all the plaques. The names of those being remembered each month will be displayed in an illuminated etched acrylic frame at the center of the wall. 4

5 Yellow Candle Donations Nessie Baron Donations General Fund Donations Ellen and Lester Macklin, in memory of Bob Macauley s neice Molly Macauley. Theodore Israel, in memory of Freyda Israel. Julius and Thelma Kennen, in memory of Fannie Kennen. Seth Aronie, in honor and memory of Ida Aronie who would have been 100 in July. Condolences To Bob Macauley on the untimely death of his niece Molly Macauley Louis Goldman, in memory of Louise Goldman/ Hella Hackerem, in memory of Mel Cook. Esther Keaney, in memory of Helen Berkel Keaney. Saturday Kiddush Sponsors July 2 - Bob Macauley in memory of his mother in law Freida. July 9 - Catherine Cantrell in honor of her children and grandchildren s visit. July 23 - Carmen Cooper Alan Zinn Juliana Ryan Nicole Haber New Yahrzeit Wall Donation Al Simon Edie Rosenberg and Robert Gross Thanks to those who read Torah, Haftarah, or gave a D'var Torah in June and July: Rachel Hayward Mark Frydenberg Rabbi David Finkelstein Susan Kane Rabbi Sara Meirowitz Mike Rosenberg Genevieve Fosa Hazzan Yosi Weintraub Caroline Nudelman Susan Holbert Please contact readtorah@tbiwaltham.org to volunteer to read from the Torah or chant a Haftarah, or SusanEHolbert@gmail.com if you would like to give a d'var torah in the coming months. 5

6 TBI EVENTS CALENDAR August 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Rosh Chodesh Av 7:40 pm Candle lighting 6 Parashat Matot- Masei 9:00 am Shabbat Morning Services 8:39 pm Havdalah (42 min) 7 8 7:00 pm TBI Board Meeting :30 pm Friday Night Service and Dinner 7:31 pm Candle lighting 13 Erev Tish'a B'Av Parashat Devarim Shabbat Chazon 9:00 am Shabbat Morning Services 8:29 pm Havdalah (42 min) 8:30 pm Tisha B'Av Services 14 Tish'a B'Av Tisha B'Av 9:00 am Tisha B'Av Services 15 7:30 pm Program Committee :00 pm Rabbi's Class - Contemporary Issues Tu B'Av 7:20 pm Candle lighting 20 Parashat Vaetchanan Shabbat Nachamu 9:00 am Shabbat Morning Services 8:19 pm Havdalah (42 min) OPEN HOUSE SHABBAT :00 pm Rabbi's Class - Weekly Torah Portion :09 pm Candle lighting 27 Parashat Eikev 9:00 am Shabbat Morning Services 8:07 pm Havdalah (42 min) 28 9:00am Minyan 10:00 am Temple Annual Meeting Monday Sept 5 Morning Minyan 8:00am 6

7 TEMPLE BETH ISRAEL ANNUAL MEETING SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, :00 AM Morning Minyan 10:00 AM Breakfast and Meeting Please plan to attend the annual Temple Beth Israel congregational meeting. Agenda: Welcome and Remarks Reports Bylaws Presentation New Business Good and Welfare Dina Baker, chair of the Bylaws Committee, will present proposed changes to the Temple Beth Israel Bylaws. These changes were unanimously approved by the Board of Directors after reviewing them at special meetings in June and July. The committee has prepared three documents describing these changes: Overview Letter. This letter from the committee chair, describes the approach and summarizes the proposed changes. Comparison Document. This document contains, side by side, the current and proposed bylaws, for easy comparison to see proposed additions, changes, and deletions. Proposed Bylaws. This document contains the proposed additions, changes, and deletions to the Temple Bylaws. You can obtain your copy of these documents in one of three ways: Online. Visit to see the latest information about the annual meeting. Download the three documents by entering the password sent by to all Temple members. In Person. Stop by the Temple when the office is open and pick up printed copies of these documents. Let Andrea know you are coming so she can prepare them for you. In the Mail. If you are unable to read these documents online or pick up your copies in person, please contact the Andrea in the Temple office to request that copies are sent to you by US Mail. Please review these documents carefully prior to the meeting and come with any questions you might have, as time constraints will not allow us to discuss each individual proposed change. After the discussion, we will call for a vote on the entire revised bylaws document. If it passes from this vote, the changes will be adopted in full. Otherwise, we will vote separately on changes from each of the independent themes, and adopt those changes that pass. All other sections will retain their current language. To help us prepare for breakfast, please RSVP to the Temple office if you plan to attend by calling or sending an message to office@tbiwaltham.org. 7

8 MARK'S REMARKS: UPDATES FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS By: MARK FRYDENBERG This month I want to share several updates with you from recent meetings of the Board of Directors. Congregation Mishkan Tefila You may notice some new furniture and other items throughout our Temple building. At the end of June, Congregation Mishkan Tefila moved from their Chestnut Hill location to the campus of Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, and graciously gave us several furnishings that they are not using in their new location. We wish them well in their new home. I want to thank Mishkan Tefila's Executive Director Josh Blumenthal, and members of their relocation team, Alison Wintman and Lynda Gordon, for thinking of us when looking for communities to offer some of their items. While there, I learned that Lynda's grandparents were early members of Temple Beth Israel, and she mentioned that she was pleased to honor that connection that her family has with Temple Beth Israel. Thanks also to Cantor Ellen Band, who also serves as the Torah reader at Mishkan Tefila, for her involvement in this arrangement, and to our office manager, Andrea Baron, who spent many hours locating and coordinating movers, both in Waltham and on site in Chestnut Hill on the day the items were transported. By Laws and Annual Meeting Update I am pleased to report that the Temple Beth Israel Board of Directors unanimously approved the proposed changes to the synagogue's bylaws. A meeting was held on June 20 where Dina Baker, chair of the bylaws committee, shared the proposed changes from the committee with the Board of Directors. These updates reflected the comments from the membership at our June 6th Community Conversation. Following the board meeting on June 20th, the Board of Directors had two weeks to review the final document, and submit any remaining concerns. The Board worked through each of the remaining concerns at a meeting on July 13th and ultimately voted unanimously to bring the revised document to the congregation for a vote on at our annual meeting on Sunday, August 28th. The proposed changes fall into four major categories: officers, committees and governance; expanding the scope of members to include all members of households with one Jewish member; making the bylaws more flexible, and other independent changes. Please watch for an message or a letter to all members with instructions on how to access the documents online with ample time before the meeting. If you would like a printed copy of the proposed bylaws revisions, please contact Andrea in the Temple office. She can print one for you to pick up, or we can mail it to you. 8

9 MARK'S REMARKS: UPDATES FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS By: MARK FRYDENBERG Many thanks to Bylaws Committee chair Dina Baker, and members Julie Gagnon, Janice Goldstein, Shaun Hayward, and Bruce Trager for their work throughout the year, and to the members whose participation at the community conversations in March and June informed the committee's recommendations. Please make every effort to attend this important annual meeting of the Congregation on Sunday, August 28th. Minyan will start at 9, breakfast at 9:45 AM, and the meeting will begin by 10:15 AM. If you need childcare services to enable you to attend, please contact Andrea in the Temple Office by Friday, August 26th, so we can arrange it. Open House Shabbat Please join us on Saturday, August 20 when Rabbi Finkelstein and Cantor Band will be leading Shabbat morning services together. We also welcome you to invite friends and guests who may be new to the area or are interested in learning more about Temple Beth Israel to attend that service. Membership at TBI for By now you probably have received a letter inviting you to reaffirm your membership to Temple Beth Israel for the coming year. You will notice that the board has moved to a sustaining membership model, where we ask you to consider your contribution for the year to support the synagogue as a combination of your membership pledge and your High Holy Day pledge. The sustaining amount, calculated by dividing the Temple's expenses after other income by the number of expected members, represents the amount per member for the synagogue to operate. We recommend a pledge of $500 for membership and $200 for the High Holy Day appeal, realizing that some people may not be able to contribute at that level, and others may be able to give more. Please be as generous as you can. We will not turn away anyone, but expect everyone to contribute toward expenses necessary for operating the synagogue. Memorial Wall A design has been approved and work will begin over the summer to repair and replace the Yahrzeit boards with a new memorial wall. The new Memorial wall will feature several wooden panels displaying the bronze plaques, and an engraved frame displaying the names of those being remembered that month. Please contact the temple office if you would like to reserve or purchase new bronze name plaques for loved ones to include on the wall. The cost per plaque is $250. Enjoy what's left of the summer! We look forward to seeing you at the annual meeting on August 28 if not before. 9

10 Rabbi s Corner: Tisha b'av: Facing Our Predicament Palestinian conflict there is so so so much course correction needed. This is what Tisha b'av is meant to be: a great and solemn day of mourning which establishes the groundwork of pathos for real teshuvah. A day of saying names: Alton Sterling, Philando Castile; Officers Michael Krol, Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Lorne Ahrens, and Michael Smith; Officers Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald, and Brad Garafola; Hallel Yaffe Ariel. 51 names in Orlando, 84 names in Nice, 330 names in Baghdad. With our mistakes as a community, as a nation, and as the human race clearly fixed in our minds, we fast, lament, and weep from our dry eyes, and we set ourselves on a path of renewed commitment to our fundamental values: love of God, love of the Torah, love of the Jewish people, love of all human beings, love of all that lives, love of the Earth. Wishing you a meaningful Tisha b'av, by Rabbi David Finkelstein (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1) Contact Rabbi David at rabbidavid@tbiwaltham.org or

11 THANK YOU! George and Judy Isaac very generously donated the beautiful plants in the planter and flower boxes as well as bags of soil. Catherine Cantrell and George Isaac did the planting of the impatients and geraniums. The following help with menu planning, shopping, preparing, serving and cleaning up for Temple functions: Marge Marion Catherine Cantrell Genevieve Fosa Mark Frydenberg Andrea Baron Ed Kaufman Erika Cohen Helen Lewis Marilyn Racette Ellie Handel Esther Keaney Sylvia Hobbs The Rabbi s Classes will continue in August Wednesdays 7:00pm - 8:30pm August 17 - Contemporary Issues August 31 - Weekly Torah Portion Vice President s Two-cents We need to raise funds to keep TBI up to date in all our endeavors. There are two areas for finding funds; our congregants and outsiders. The first group can purchase a leaf on the lobby Tree of Life for $100 to remember a wonderful special event such as a silver wedding anniversary, or a plaque on our new Memorial Board for $250 in memory of a dear departed friend and/or relative. The second area is outside businesses which I have solicited in early July. Twenty-seven letters to local businesses were sent asking them to advertise in our monthly newsletter with a variety of options. I am optimistic this will bear some fruit. A second mailing to a different group of businesses will happen in August. I aim to fill at least one page with ads. This may require our rabbi and our president to restrict their writing to a single page. Everyone is invited to make monetary donations to any of the funds that support the running of our temple, or sponsor a Shabbat lunch in honor for any one of a hundred reasons. As sponsor, you get to choose the menu, and that is a special honor in itself. Finally, the greatest mitzvah is a double mitzvah, and that is to encourage a friend, neighbor, relative or stranger to join Temple Beth Israel. Such a mitzvah brings both funds, new thoughts to the operation of our committees, plus daveners and maybe torah readers, too. Lester Macklin 11

12 Temple Beth Israel stamp 25 Harvard Street Waltham, MA Phone: Website: August 2016 Donate on the web at General Fund High Holiday Donation Rabbi s Discretionary Fund Carl and Caryl Goldstein Siddur Memorial Fund Morris Hollender Torah Reading Fund Children s Services and Programming Other, please specify: Temple Beth Israel Donation Form For your convenience, please use this form to make your donations and send to: Temple Beth Israel, 25 Harvard Street, Waltham, MA I have chosen the fund indicated at the left: (Please use a separate form for each fund. Minimum donation: $10) Attached is my check in the amount of: $ The donation is being made In Honor Of In Memory Of Other This donation is made by: Name: Address: City/State/Zip Please send acknowledgement to: Name: Address: City/State/Zip 12