FROM THE PULPIT. Let us work together! Let us live and rejoice! Rabbi Michael Tillman

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1 SABBATH SERVICES All services are held at BROOKDALE PLAZA 1515 Barrington Road Hoffman Estates at 7:30 pm JUNE 10 JUNE 24 Summer Break - July and August HIGH HOLIDAY SCHEDULE SERVICES at St. Raymonds Watch for information in upcoming newsletter and s. REMINDER ANNUAL BOARD MEETING SUNDAY MAY 15th At 10:00 AM at the Brookdale Hear summary reports from our board members Vote on the budget JUNE 2016 AUGUST 2016 FROM THE PULPIT This past February I visited Israel for the first time in almost 25 years. It was a very emotional experience. Old memories came upon me like a tidal wave. New impressions brought warmth into my heart. Everything was immensely uplifting. When I was in Jerusalem, I went to the Wailing Wall every day. While I was standing by the holy site, a simple and yet a very important thought occurred to me. In spite of its name there is no wailing by the Wall. Nobody cries, no one sheds tears. Instead there is an atmosphere of joy and of spiritual concentration. People come there for all kinds of reasons - to see the great historical landmark, to pray, to study. And they all exhibit one and the same sentiment of jubilation. This observation reflects the nature of the Jewish spirituality which affirms life and a joy of meaningful living. Our congregation is built upon those noble principles as it is reflected in its name - Am Chai. And it is a duty of each member of the community to uphold them: to be active and to strengthen our small group. Our future is only possible if we bring the spirit of joy into our lives and make our best effort to revitalize our kehillah. Let us work together! Let us live and rejoice! Vote on the slate of officers Rabbi Michael Tillman 1

2 FROM THE PRESIDENT, CINDY PLACKO As our fiscal year comes to a close I would like to thank those who made this year successful. Thank you to all of the board members: Dad (Ron Bass), Eugene Klionsky and Al Goldberg for organizing all things ritual. From the high holidays to the Friday night services you made sure everything ran smoothly. Not to mention Sunday brunches are always amazing Dad! Helen Isaac for keeping a check on membership. Jim Langerman for keeping a close eye on our financial status Michael Reich for keeping our treasurer's report, tribute cards and website in order. Warren Goldberg for setting up our fundraisers through ways and means Barb Henry and Mona Morrison for editing and creating the newsletter each quarter. Eric Goldberg, Dick Zittler and Jerry Weisberg who come to give additional support at our board meetings. A special thank you goes to my daughter, Megan, who stepped up as a recording secretary for the year when couldn't fill the position. I'm looking forward to another year of new ideas and old traditions. We have mastered the old traditions, now it is time to bring on new ideas. If you have an event you think we should plan, send me a note. Last year we tried celebrating Passover with a mock Seder. This year, we continued our Chanukah celebration with music and games. We also tried something new! We have our first (in a very long time) Purim Carnival. Warren Goldberg, my dad (Ron Bass), my sister (Laura Rabe), my niece (Massie Rabe), and my family (Rich, Megan and Josh) co-ran a Purim Carnival with the Interfaith Union School. We read the story of Esther, played games and noshed on some Hamentashen (and other food). It was an amazing event. We are hoping that it will become an annual activity. Inside this issue: From the President Membership Ritual Ways and Means Book and DVD-Review A Little Humor Anniversaries and Birthdays As you can see, we are up for the challenge of trying something new. We just need to know what we can do to meet your needs! Cindy Placko Membership- Helen Isaac Spring seems to be taking a while to get here, but before we know it, it will be fall and the Holidays will be here. Erev Rosh Hashanah is late October 2. That gives us more time to spread the word and invite people you know or people you don't who are looking for a Synagogue to join. Tribute Cards 6 Notes from the Editor 7 Chicago Jewish Funerals Fundraisers Am Chai Bulletin Editor Barb Henry Graphic Design Mona Morrison 8 I am around please call me or the Synagogue number is , (you can always leave a message here). It seems like a way off, but summer will be over and the Holidays will be here. Don't delay, start working on sending new members our way. I hope everyone had a good Passover. Have a nice Summer. Helen Isaac 2

3 Ritual Ron Bass, Al Goldberg, Eugene Klionsky This is the time of year we think about our ritual plans for the summer and the new year. Part of making plans includes going over what worked well over this last year and the events that were successful and those that could have been better. The plan for next year will build on the success we had this year and try some new ideas for our services. Part of putting these programs together would be to hear from you with new ideas that we could add to our services. Our High Holiday services are set for this year but we always are open for ideas especially for the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Attendance at our Friday services has alway been an area that we would like to see improve. This past year has been okay but we continue to struggle in the spring to bring our members out and increase participation. Send your feedback for programs and ideas you might have that would interest you and could help our ritual program have a successful year. It would be nice to see you attend services in May and June before we take a summer break. There is a Yiskor service on Friday June 10th for the holiday of Shavuot. This is an important service and good attendance is required. Remember to send your ideas or feedback to help us plan a success year for our ritual programs. Ron Bass Ron Bass Al Goldberg Eugene Klionsky Ways and Means Warren Goldberg SAVE THE DATE SUNDAY MORNING BRUNCH And ADULT EDUCATION SUNDAY JUNE 5th 10 AM Watch your for more information. 3 As the weather has been getting warmer I m looking into another Schaumburg Boomer s game for this summer. Also I m still looking for ideas of new fundraising event and social events. In addition what are some of the past events that people enjoyed and would like to see again? Please send any ideas or comments to fundraiser@amchai.org. I hope to see many of you at the annual meeting Warren Goldberg Ways and Means Chairman

4 THE BOOK NOOK- Barbara Henry Michael Stolowitzky is the only child of a very wealthy (Swiss bank accounts wealthy) Polish Jewish family. At the start of WWII, he is 3 years old. His father travels to France to settle some business affairs and while there, the borders close. His wife, son and Gertruda Babilinska, the Catholic nanny are stuck in Poland as the war progresses and the situation in Warsaw worsens. When Michael s mother has a stroke, Gertruda promises to get Michael to Palestine and raise him as her own son. Sounds like a good fiction story, doesn t it? However, this is the true story of Michael Stolowitzky written by Ram Oren with Michael s extensive participation.. At the beginning of the story Gertruda was only 19 years old! The extraordinary courage she displays and the people she meets to ensure their survival (both Jews and Nazis) will have you holding your breath until you reach the conclusion. At its conclusion, you might redefine your definition of a hero. I strongly recommend reading Gertruda s Oath: A Child, a Promise, and a Heroic Escape during World War II by Ram Oren. It is available in paperback. ISBN I would love to discuss it with anyone who gets a chance to read it. DVD Review I recently watched a DVD from 2000 that I had never heard of. It was a Showtime original movie starring Peter Falk, written by Rod Serling and directed by Robert Wise. A Storm in Summer is the story of Abel Shaddick, a lonely Jewish deli owner, living in upstate New York during the Viet Nam War. He accepts an inner city child (under duress) for the summer as part of a program to allow these children to get away from the city poverty and heat. They have more in common than they think. Each suffers a loss and learns about love while mourning. While both of them are prejudiced about each other, they manage to find a commonality and form a bond that will last a lifetime. This film can lead to a good discussion on what is prejudice and seeing the stereotypes from different perspectives. Hope you enjoy it. Available on Netflix. Barb Henry The Wish (from Warren Goldberg) Tim and Lyle, walking down Main Street with Moshe, their boss, spied an oil lamp. With a rub, out popped a genie. You get one wish a piece, said the genie. Lyle shouted. I want to be on a yacht in Bermuda! Poof. He disappeared. Tim exclaimed: Make mine Hawaii --with beauty queens! Poof, he disappeared. Moshe, the boss, looked around and calmly said. For my wish... I want those schnooks back in my office right after lunch!" 4

5 PHOTO GALLERY FROM PURIM CELEBRATION June 7 June 10 June 13 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 30 July 17 July 23 August 2 August 4 August 7 August 13 August 14 August 17 August 24 August 27 August 30 August 31 Albert & Frances Silver Martin & Sandi Alter Wayne & Diana Schneidman Eric & Amy Goldberg William & Cathy Os Marc & Kathleen Henry Steve & Melanie Wagner Donald & Kris Ami Alan & Faith Bass Arnold (Pamela McKuen) Shifrin Ellen & Dennis Turf Art & Averil Reisman Rich & Cindy Placko David & Nina Tenny Neil & Barbara Henry Sanford & Cyndi Ginsburg Lesli & Mike Marasco Fred & Roberta Weiner Jeffrey & Marlene Zider June 3 June 5 June 7 June 15 June 19 June 23 June 24 June 24 June 27 June 27 June 28 June 28 July 2 July 2 July 6 July 8 Christy Brim Kathy Os Myra Trush Jerry Weisberg Joe Remack Meredith Henry Martin Alter Evelyn Miller Mark Biesiada Kimberly Bonilla Jim Langerman Sara Petkus Jennifer Cafferty Sharon Goldberg Steven Wagner Donald Arnet July 8 July 8 July 15 July 18 July 21 July 21 July 23 July 26 August 4 August 8 August 8 August 12 August 12 August 16 August 24 August 26 August 30 Faith Bass Jeffrey Zider Neil Henry Supriya Klionsky Jodi Ginsburg Nina Tenny Marin Bonilla William Os Pamela McKuen (Shiffrin) Marla Biesiada Lesli Marasco Cyndi Ginsburg Arlene Patrasso David Tenny Lily Henry Edward Levin David Apple 5

6 Tribute Cards Tribute cards are a great way to support Am Chai financially as well as send greetings or other messages to friends and family, including nonmembers! You can buy Tribute Cards for someone's birthday, to offer condolences, to honor Bar/Bat Mitzvahs or other events (even a great golf game). You can purchase a package of five cards with envelopes for a $20 donation or we will mail a card for you for a contribution of $5. You can order tribute cards 24/7 on our website click on Fundraiser & Tribute Cards and see the various types of cards. Then fill out the order form & send your order online or you may contact us via tribcard@amchai.org This is a sample of what the custom cards that we mail look like: THEY SENT TRIBUTE CARDS February thru April 2016 Congratulations Helen & Alan Issac to Mrs. Rosie Roth Richard & Sharon Zittler to Jacob & Amy Reich Condolences Helen & Alan Isaac to Bren & Alex Moss George & Davena Day to Bren & Alex Moss Helen & Alan Isaac to Mr. & Mrs. Stewart Reiner & Family Get Well Mary Jo & Joe Rotstein to Alan Isaac 6

7 FROM THE EDITOR As a small congregation (with limited funds) we have been extraordinarily lucky with the rabbis we have had during our 44 year history. As I call them The Big Five. There were also years when we were between rabbis and had to use either students or itinerant rabbis to conduct our High Holy Day services. These people were less than stellar, but gave us great appreciation to the ones with names we remember. We hired our first rabbi in 1972, even before he had gotten his smicha from the yeshiva. Michael Myers was just starting his rabbinical career. We were outstandingly lucky that he started it with us. Mike was very respected by all of us. He was a man of principle. His background was Orthodox and he wanted us to have an Orthodox congregation complete with separate seating. He said he would give Conservatism a chance, but at a certain time, he would expect us to reciprocate. When the board felt this was not the way we wanted to go, sadly and respectfully we had a parting of the ways. Mike went on to start the Talmud Torah Hebrew school in Hoffman (Or Chadash and Woodfield Jewish Day School). In 1981 he left to begin his career at the Ida Crown Academy where he is still on staff was a very important year for Woodfield Jewish Congregation. We held the dedication of our building in Hanover Park and had our new rabbi, Norman Kleinman officiate. In 1985, he became the pulpit Rabbi at B nai Zion until his death in Rabbi Morris Fishman was a compassionate, most interesting man. Following WWII, he worked with displaced Jews in post war Europe. Always an advocate for the underdog, he participated in sit ins in the South during the Civil Rights movement. At the time he came to Am Chai, he was Director of pastoral care at the Chicago Reed Mental Health Center. Rabbi Fishman took an active role in teaching in our Hebrew School. Later he became an adjunct professor of religion at Loyola. Rabbi Ira Youdovin was not with us for very long, but came with great credentials. He was the founding executive director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform). This is now called the Association of Reform Zionists of America. When he came to us, his day job was as head of the Chicago Board of Rabbis. Last, but not least, since 2001, we have had the honor of having Rabbi Michael Tilman. Having been born in the Soviet Union and having lived in Canada and Israel before coming to the United States, getting a degree in Economics and a graduate degree in Philosophy, Rabbi Tilman brings us a different perspective on the world and the way it turns due to his amazing life experiences. He was ordained in He is a chaplain at the Evercare Hospice since Rabbi Tilman is very involved in the Russian community. He is one of the few rabbis in the area who will conduct interfaith weddings and is always promoting the praises of Congregation Am Chai. As a small congregation with a very small budget for rabbi salaries, we have been extremely fortunate to have been able to offer our members the wisdom of these very learned men. From Orthodox to Reform, conservative to liberal, all 5 of these men have left a mark on this congregation and made us who we are. We all owe them a word of thanks for encouraging us to continue as a place to come together as friends, family and Jews. Barb Henry 7

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