The Celebration Classic Golf Tournament & Dinner

Transcription

1 D T ON S MI T! The Celebration Classic Golf Tournament & Dinner U SO Monday, April 29 Registration Is Almost Full! Register now at for our biggest fundraising event of the year before tickets sell out! Don t miss an extraordinary opportunity to golf with sports legends, mingle with friends, and dine at the elegant Almaden Golf & Country Club! It s with great pleasure that our evening will include an unforgettable tribute ceremony honoring Linda Rossen, highlighting her years of contributions and dedication to Shir Hadash. It will be a dazzling experience! Special celebrity guest Harris Barton, former 49ers Super Bowl Champion, will be joining us! Calling All Volunteers! We need your help to make this event a rousing success! Grab a friend and sign up to work for the day and/or evening. It s your chance to shine behind the scenes! volunteer@celebrationclassic.org to register. Auction Items Galore! The auction is bursting with electrifying items. From a studio tour of CNN with chief political correspondent Dana Bash, to a luxurious week stay in Northstar, to a year of fresh challah or a Year of Date Night Dining, there s something for everyone! Take part in the online auction before the event starts and prepare for an exciting bidding experience. Start bidding now at Event Details! The fun-filled scramble format will feature a variety of contests and clinics for players and ensures a day full of excitement and healthy competition for all. All proceeds from this event will benefit Congregation Shir Hadash and its community programs aimed at improving the lives of the under-served in Santa Clara County. Golf and Dinner is $500/person; registration ends April 15. Dinner is $176/person; registration ends April 15. There is no charge for golf or dinner for Give Once members. WHAT S INSIDE From the President 2 Adult B nai Mitzvah 3 Shir Shabbat Kiddush Lunch 3 Community Shabbat 3 Calendar 4 5 Healthy Living Fair 6 Retirees Lunch & Learn: Karaite Jews 6 Jewish Sport Heroes Night 6 Camping Weekend 6 Yom HaShoah Service at Temple Emanu-El 7 Passover 7 Exploring the World of Judaism: Journalism & Social Media VOlUME 40, ISSUE 7 ApRIl 2019 ADAR II NISAN 5779

2 FROM NAOMI PARKER, BOARD PRESIDENT Chag Samei-ach! It is a part of our heritage to seek ways to help those who are less fortunate, and to welcome the stranger, for we too were strangers in the land of Egypt. My favorite Jewish holiday has always been Passover. In part, it has to do with the foods that my family enjoys each year. The fluffy Matzah balls that my mother makes in a special pot used annually for just this purpose are wonderful. We make both the Sephardic charoset with dates and pistachios and the Ashkenazi charoset made with apples and walnuts. And we adore the chocolate truffles rolled in nuts and powdered sugar that my daughter makes (we still delight in our discovery that chocolate truffles are a fabulous dessert made without leavening!). Aside from the food that is part of the familiarity of past Seders, it is the spiritual connection to this ancient practice of examining the Exodus and what it has meant to our ancestors that my family treasures. Reading the Haggadah aloud and thinking about breaking the bonds of slavery as if each of us were personally freed is a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in a time of liberation. We are aware too of the fact that not all people enjoy liberty. It is a part of our heritage to seek ways to help those who are less fortunate, and to welcome the stranger, for we too were strangers in the land of Egypt. These are powerful reminders that go beyond a gathering with food and wine. These are messages the demand re-examination annually so that we do not brush them aside and become complacent. As you gather together to experience the traditions of food combined with storytelling, and review of our historical freedom, enjoy the rich symbolism and embrace the reminder to treasure your freedom. The Board and I wish you a happy Passover and a beautiful spring season filled with joy. April Services at a Glance :30 pm Shabbat Service* 9:30 am Torah Study 10:30 am Shir Shabbat Service 7:30 pm Shabbat with the Band* :30 am Community Shabbat Service for Passover 5:30 pm Second Night Congregational Seder 7:00 pm Yizkor 7:30 pm Shabbat Service* 13 9:30 am Torah Study 10:30 am Bat Mitzvah of Olivia Panish 10:30 am Shir Shabbat Service 27 9:00 am Shir Shabbat Junior 9:30 am Torah Study 10:30 am Community Shabbat Service 19 No Service *Babysitting is available 2 CONGREGATION SHIR HADASH

3 DID YOU KNOW? Adult B nai Mitzvah by Dafna Talmor Last June, I and ten other Shir Hadash members stood on the bimah, and for the first time put into practice that which was our prerogative since becoming a Jewish adult. Our voices might not have been cracking while we chanted our portion before a packed sanctuary, but we were as grateful as any 13-year-old for the Cantor s calming hand on our back. In preparation for our adult B nai Mitzvah, we studied for more than a year, meeting every other weekend with Rabbi Aron and Cantor Felder-Levy. During the final stretch, we wrote our D var Torah, learned trope, and practiced our portions, only to emerge at the end of the process as in its beginning: as adult Jews. I ve been asked why a few times, and wondered the same. The reasons are as varied as the participants. We might want to celebrate our missed B nai Mitzvah with our children or grandchildren, or to help guide them. We might have been denied the opportunity as daughters in an Orthodox household. Or we grew up in a secular or non-jewish home and feel bewildered by the choreography during Shabbat services why are they rising on their toes three times with the Kadosh-Kadosh-Kadosh? Why the bowing here and straightening there? Why do we sing the Sh ma loudly but whisper the next sentence? Shir Shabbat Kiddush Lunch Saturday, April 13, 12:00 pm Join your Shir Shabbat friends, old and new, for a luncheon after services. Lunch will be catered by House of Bagels, and it is our pleasure to provide this meal to all who attend. Any donations are graciously accepted. Please register online by Wednesday, April 10, so we can make sure to have plenty of food for everyone! Whatever my or my classmates motivation, there were unexpected rewards along the way. We have given ourselves time to consider our path, to study with Rabbi Aron and Cantor Felder-Levy, and we have acquired a new circle of friends at Shir Hadash. A new adult B nai Mitzvah begins this September, continuing a chain of tradition at Shir Hadash that started with Rabbi Nahum Ward s first adult class of In recent years, a class starts every three years: two years for preparation, and one year to work on prerequisites such as basic Hebrew reading. Rabbi Aron is a long-time advocate of adult B nai Mitzvah and even started a similar adult B nai Mitzvah class in her days as a student rabbi in Texas in 1977; at the time, such programs were a result of the second wave of feminism hitting synagogues in the 1970s, and the enormous backlog of women wishing to do their B nai Mitzvah. The program is great way to learn as an adult and come to an adult relationship with our Judaism. Can you see yourself on the bimah in two years? A SPECIAL COMMUNITY SHABBAT Legislating Reproductive Health A Fresh Look at the Abortion Debate and Why It Matters to Us as Jews Saturday, April 27, 10:30 am The Women of Shir Hadash are excited to invite Santa Clara University Law Professor Michelle Oberman to come and speak to us about her research on this important and timely topic. Professor Oberman has spent the past decade studying what happens when abortion is banned, and using her findings to explore the ways in which the U.S. battle over abortion law is misguided. During the Shabbat service, she will discuss Listening as a Spiritual Practice: Truly Hearing Stories Across the Abortion Divide. For the past year, Professor Oberman has been engaged in an ongoing conversation with a Catholic pro-life advocate from Texas, and while she remains unflinchingly pro-choice, she will share with us ways in which their unique friendship has changed her profoundly, both as a Jew and as an activist. April 2019 NOTES 3

4 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY DAY URDAY :30a Meditation Group ROSH CHODESH NISAN Shabbat Tazria 9:30a Torah Study 10:30 Shir Shabbat Service 6 6:30 Hebrew High School 7:00 Introduction to Judaism 7:15p Adult Ed Committee Meeting 8:00 Adult Ed Retreat Planning Meeting 7:30p Shabbat Service (with Babysitting) No Religious School 8:00a Healthy Living Fair 9:00 Circus Day Intensive 10:00 Men s Club Board Meeting 7 10:30 Chair Yoga 8 11:30 Retirees Lunch & Learn 9 10:30 Meditation Group :00 Alzheimer s Support Group 13 Shabbat M tzora 9:30a Torah Study 10:30 Bat Mitzvah of Olivia Panish 10:30 Shir Shabbat Service 4:00p No Hebrew School 4:00p No Hebrew School 6:00 No Hebrew High School 6:45 Leadership Meeting 7:00 Introduction to Judaism 7:15 Choir Rehearsal 7:30p Ritual Committee Meeting 7:30p Shabbat with the Band (with Babysitting) 12:00p Shir Shabbat Kiddush Lunch 14 9:30a Leadership Workshop 9:30 Hebrew Through Prayer 9:30 Religious School :30a Meditation Group 17 10:30a Women s Study Class 18 ECC Closes at 3:00 pm No Torah Study 10:30 Community Shabbat Service for Passover 4:00p Yom HaShoah Choir Rehearsal at Temple Emanu-El 6:30 Hebrew High School 7:15 Choir Rehearsal 7:30p Board Meeting EREV No Services 5:30p Second Night Congregational Seder No Religious School :30a Meditation Group Temple Office & ECC Closed Shabbat Acharei Mot 9:00a Shir Shabbat Junior 9:30 Torah Study 10:30 Community Shabbat Service 6:00 Hebrew High School 7:00 Jewish Sports Heroes Night 7:00p Yizkor 7:30 Shabbat Service (with Babysitting) 28 9:30a Religious School 9:30 EWJ Program: Dana Bash 9:30 Sesame Shul 4:00p Yom HaShoah Choir Rehearsal at Temple Emanu-El 29 11:00 Celebration Classic Golf Tournament & Dinner, in Honor of Linda Rossen Dismissal at 5:30PM 6:30 Hebrew High School 7:15 Choir Rehearsal 30 APRIL Please visit for the full calendar. 4 CONGREGATION SHIR HADASH APRIL 2019 NOTES 5

5 SUPPORTING OUR EXTENDED COMMUNITY Healthy living Fair Sunday, April 7, 8:00 am 4:00 pm The goal of the 2019 Healthy Living Fair, held in Gilroy this year, is to provide free healthcare screening and educational information to low-income, multi-ethnic, homeless, and under-served or uninsured families. Our focus is prevention through education and enhanced awareness, early detection of chronic and ultimately life-threatening diseases, and health promotion. Services include medical, vision, and dental screening, as well as care and care referrals. We partner with other organizations, such as St. Mary Parish in Gilroy and Congregation Emeth of Morgan Hill, and this combined event relies heavily on volunteers. Positions that need volunteers include set-up help on the day before and the morning of the event; receptionists; Spanish-speaking interpreters for medical, dental, and eye stations; Spanish-speaking ushers and monitors; nursing staff; and food servers. Please consider signing up online for one of these positions and help improve the lives of the people in the communities around us. RETIREES LUNCH & LEARN A Matter of Opinion: A Lecture by Shawn Lichaa Tuesday, April 9, 11:30 am Karaite Judaism is a Jewish religious movement that split from rabbinical Judaism more than 1,000 years ago, and recognizes the authority of the Hebrew Bible only. The word Karaite means Followers of the Bible. Karaites believe it is the personal responsibility of every individual to study the Hebrew Scripture and ultimately decide for themselves the correct meaning. Today there are about 30,000 Karaites, with some 25,000 located in Israel, 2,500 in the U.S., and throughout smaller communities in Europe. Shawn Lichaa is a member of Congregation B nai Israel in Daly City, the only active Karaite synagogue in North America. He has spoken about Karaite Judaism at the Library of Congress and at schools and synagogues throughout the United States. For the program and a light lunch a nominal donation of $5 per person is requested. Please join us! Sign up online or call Cindy at (408) x5. Jewish Sports Heroes Night Tuesday, April 23, 7:00 pm Come to meet and interact with Jewish sports heroes and hear their stories! We will be hosting these athletes: Harris Barton, All-Pro offensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl championship teams. Willie Harmatz, legendary track coach and Maccabiah Games gold and silver medalist. Danielle Rose Katz, Maccabiah Games silver and bronze medalist in track. Chris Cavanaugh, Olympic freestyle gold medalist and world record holder. This event is sponsored by the Men s Club. CAMPERS: MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Congregational Camping Weekend August 2 4 Join Rabbi Schwartz at Little Basin Park (2½ miles from Big Basin) for a weekend filled with fun, friendship, Shabbat services outdoors, and, of course, smores! More information will be provided in the months to come, but save the date! For those who are unable to attend the entire weekend, Rabbi Schwartz and Rabbi Aron will be leading Shabbat morning services at 10:30 at the campsite. Bring your camping/lawn chairs and something to share for a potluck lunch. 6 CONGREGATION SHIR HADASH

6 HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY Silicon Valley Yom HaShoah Service Wednesday, May 1, 7:00 pm, at Temple Emanu-El, with Guest Speaker Max Rodrigues Garcia Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, known in Israel and abroad as Holocaust Day (Yom HaShoah), is observed in Israel yearly on the 27th of Nisan to commemorate the approximately six million Jews who perished as a result of actions taken by Nazi Germany and its collaborators from 1933 to The date was chosen as a tribute to the Warsaw ghetto uprising. The service rotates among local synagogues, and Temple Emanu-El will host this year. The service will include kids and adult choirs, and will feature guest speaker Max Rodrigues Garcia, a survivor of Auschwitz and three other concentration camps. Garcia is the author of the book Auschwitz, Auschwitz...I Cannot Forget You, As Long As I Remain Alive, and is a member of Shir Hadash. His remarkable story includes serving in the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps, starting a family, and establishing a successful architecture practice in San Francisco. Today, Max inspires people with his story and his living example. This program will be especially meaningful to adults and children in middle school and high school. The entire community is welcome, so please invite your friends and neighbors. CELEBRATE WITH SHIR HADASH Second Night Congregational Seder Saturday, April 20, 5:30 pm The message of Passover remains as powerful as ever. Freedom is won not on the battlefield but in the classroom and the home. Teach your children the history of freedom if you want them never to lose it. Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks The Passover Seder is heavily associated in many of our minds with children. We may remember our own childhood seders with our grandparents or think of happy times sharing the seder with our own children and grandchildren. The seder is an opportunity to answer young people s questions about our history and beliefs. However, the Passover seder is important for everyone, young and old alike. No one should be alone on Passover, so join your Shir Hadash family and Rabbi Schwartz during the second night of Passover. Everyone is welcome to this annual community seder, filled with learning, song, good food, and good conversation. The dinner will be catered. We will use a complete contemporary Haggadah with projection and share in the ancient story with modern reflections on the meaning of freedom. Walk-ins will not be accepted, so please sign up by Friday, April 12. Register online, call the office at (408) , or cindy@shirhadash.org. Community Shabbat Service Saturday, April 20, 10:30 am Celebrate the Shabbat of Pesach as a community, with services led by Rabbi Oren Postrel. Yizkor Healing Service Friday, April 26, 7:00 pm During Passover, we often turn our attention to retelling the story of Exodus to a new generation, and turn our energy to cleaning, cooking, and arranging. And yet, amidst the joy of celebrating with friends and family, we can feel pangs of sorrow for those with whom we can no longer reunite, and amidst the bustle, experience a recognition of that which we do not have the physical or mental strength to carry out. The Yizkor service at the end of Passover is a space between the busy scramble of daily doings to meditate on that we have lost, and to connect with the healing renewal of spring. This 30-minute service, led by Rabbi Aron, Cantor Felder-Levy, and lay cantor Mark Allen, will include the traditional Yizkor prayers as well as contemporary prayers and songs on the theme of healing. April 2019 NOTES 7

7 NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID CAMPBELL, CA PERMIT NO Congregation Shir Hadash 20 Cherry Blossom Lane Los Gatos, CA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Eco-friendly paper EXPLORING THE WORLD OF JUDAISM & SCIENTISTS IN SYNAGOGUES Journalism & Social Media, Through the Lens of the Jewish Commitment to Truth With CNN s Dana Bash Sunday, April 28, 9:30 am Has technology and social media enhanced or diminished the role of journalism? A free press has played a large role in American democracy; what is the future of that role today? Shir Hadash is proud to welcome Dana Bash, award-winning CNN Chief Political Correspondent, to speak on the topic. Dana Bash resides full time in Washington and is a member of Temple Micah, a Reconstructionist congregation. According to her CNN profile, she is CNN s chief congressional correspondent, responsible for covering the activities of the U.S. House and Senate. In 2010, Bash earned the prestigious Dirksen Award from the National Press Foundation for her reporting on Congressional earmarks and Senatorial holds. Named to this position in December 2008 and based in the network s Washington, DC, bureau, Bash has covered the U.S. Congress for CNN since March Don t miss this opportunity to see Ms. Bash in person.