Etz Chayim Conservative Synagogue s Monthly Newsletter NOVEMBER, 2017 CHESHVAN/KISLEV, 5778

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1 Etz Chayim Conservative Synagogue s Monthly Newsletter NOVEMBER, 2017 CHESHVAN/KISLEV, 5778 Friday evening services begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday morning services begin at 9:45 a.m. FROM THE RABBI Breezing Through Life Interpersonal intelligence is a term in psychology that refers to the ability to understand the emotions and reactions of other people. We can agree that you re likely to succeed if you have high interpersonal intelligence. But you might be even better off if you have high intrapersonal intelligence. Intrapersonal intelligence has been called the road to achievement and personal satisfaction. It is about being deeply aware of yourself, and knowing your limits and abilities. Harvard professor Howard Gardner has developed the concept in our own time, but the idea goes back to the early Greeks, who are credited with the maxim Know thyself. For us Jews, the operative phrase would be cheshbon hanefesh introspection. We use the term in connection with the High Holidays, when we are mandated to make an honest accounting of our inner selves so that we can try to change ourselves for the better. This brings me to an experience recounted by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. Apparently, Wilson s nature is to take things as they come, to simply go with the flow. He recently published his autobiography, I Am Brian Wilson. I was intrigued by a reviewer s recounting of the following: Once, [Wilson] says, he ran into Magic Johnson on a hiking path on Maui. Hi, Brian, said the basketball star. Hey, Magic, replied Brian. And then he writes, I kept walking. Wilson records this anecdote with no preamble and no follow-through, but I find it hard to take it at face value. I imagine that he and Johnson already had seen each other the day before, or something of that sort. Be that as it may, the reviewer s point is that this anecdote truly symbolizes Brian Wilson s nature: This happens and that happens, but so what? Just keep walking. There might be some positive aspects to possessing such a nature. Stress won t bother you and you ll probably live to 100. But this nature is decidedly not Jewish. The Jewish way is to examine ourselves, to know ourselves. That is the only way to improve ourselves. The Jewish way is to understand that if we don t have intrapersonal intelligence we probably won t have interpersonal intelligence. By which I mean, it s hard to live with others if you are unreflective about yourself.

2 I know of someone who got an advanced degree at one of the nation s most prominent graduate schools. However, after all that promise he has spent decades doing next to nothing. He lives off his patrimony, which is not huge though it meets his cramped and minimal needs. He has no family, no job, no career, no commitments. But if you listen to him talk about his life, he s fine. He just keeps walking. Stephen Listfield FROM THE PRESIDENT We rely on the support and input of our congregants. Consider serving on our board or one of the various committees. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let any Committee Chairman or a Board Member know. With your help, Etz Chayim can remain the active, involved, creative congregation that we all want it to be. Exemplary examples of service to our Congregation include Richard Berry, who generally provides welcome and security support for our Shabbat morning services and Brenda Liles, who helps keep us abreast of Congregational happenings as Editor and Publisher of the Shofar and through keeping our web-site current. Barry Meyer ש לום SISTERHOOD Greetings All, What a wonderful Rabbi weekend we had on the 20th of October; Friday night services, the Bar Mitzvah of Noah Rush (he did a great job and Candy and David provided a wonderful lunch). Mazel Tov to Noah and his family. On Sunday we helped celebrate the 60th Wedding Anniversary of Max and Millie Rosenthal. Rabbi Listfield spoke and blessed them under the chuppah (provided by Shoshanna and Kinsey). Millie and Max treated the congregation to another wonderful brunch, and Rabbi Listfield talked to us about the tradition of breaking the glass at the end of the wedding. Wow, I am still tired! The Sisterhood "lunch bunch" was held on October 16th at 11:30 at Walton's Southern Table. We had a nice turnout and got to meet and schmooze with two of our new members (Resa and Michelle). Not only did we get to know Michelle and Resa, but Resa has agreed to teach the Sisterhood November Craft Night. We will be painting/decorating tote bags. All ladies in the Synagogue are invited. This will take place at 7:00pm on 20 November. The cost is $5.00 to cover the supplies. It looks like a lot of fun. That said, since we need to purchase so many supplies, please let Nannette know by 13 November if you plan to attend ( or nannette.schwartz.1@bc.edu). You may attend without a reservation, but those with a reservation will have priority if we run short of bags. We are still in need of someone to prepare the lunch for the Rabbi weekend on May 12. If you are not already on the list, please find a friend and volunteer (call me). Also, a breakfast is served on Sunday morning. Millie Rosenthal is in need of volunteers to prepare and sponsor those.

3 We all like to come/eat/ and schmooze but we need volunteers to prepare the food. Natha Hancock SIGN-UP TIME It is time to sign up for January through June, 2018, Onegs. If you have a preference, please call Lynne with your request. She will begin filling those spots by the first of November. Lynne Edmondson ONEGS Oct 27 Nov 03 Nov 10 Nov 17 Nov 24 Dec 01 DONATIONS Lapidus Berry Paddock Polin Kolchin Thompson Rabbi Fund From: Millie & Max Rosenthal To: BJ & Bill Brigadier - Thank you for sponsoring the Break-The-Fast. To: Gary Hall - Great job in chanting Kol Nidre To: Barry Meyer - The Great Shofar Blower To: Natha Hancock & Her Sisterhood Committee - Thanks for preparing the Break-The-Fast, everyone enjoyed the delicious food. From: Ginger Nelson From: Sandy & Marvin Kalachman From: Diana & Howard Polin To: Linda & Fred Kolchin In Honor of Beatrice Kolchin. We are so thankful and happy that she is recuperating well from her operation. From: Michelle Lapidus To: Max & Millie Rosenthal-in honor of your 60 th anniversary Security Fund From: Raven Livingston General Fund From: Kelley & Jeffery Zelickson From: Arlene White In Appreciation of my Etz Chayim family. From: Ginger Nelson From: Beverly & Lou Weiner From: Arlene & Jerry Averbuch To: Max Rosenthal - Speedy recovery To: Sue Paddock - Get well soon. From: Mr. & Mrs. Lou Jacobs From: Dorothy & Bill Goldberg

4 A Generous Donation From: Sue & Joe Paddock In Honor of Millie & Max Rosenthal's 60th Anniversary From: Lynn Greenbaum From: Jeffrey Yalowitz From: Sandy & Marvin Kalachman Randy Sacks Memorial Fund From: Susan and Alan Sacks New Building Fund From: Ginger Nelson Outdoor Lighting Fund In Memory of Gertrude & Perry Schlein from their daughters Natha Hancock & Robin Slomka and their families. UPCOMING EVENTS Oct 29 JFHNA Campaign Kick Off, TBS, 2 PM Nov 11 Veterans Day Service at TBS Nov 20 Sisterhood Craft Night, 7 PM, EC, Reservations suggested. BIRTHDAYS Nov 01 Linda Kolchin Nov 02 Kelley Zelickson Nov 03 Nannette Schwartz Nov 03 Jennifer Roberts Nov 03 Noah Rush Nov 05 Skylar Green Nov 09 Sharon Yalowitz Nov 11 Shirley Roberts Nov 16 Jonathan Levitt Nov 17 B. J. Brigadier Nov 18 Joel Mendelson Nov 19 Daniel Goodman Nov 23 Adam Kalachman Nov 23 Haley Rosenthal Nov 24 Shoshana Rosenthal Nov 26 Bill Goldberg Nov 28 Yael Roberts ANNIVERSARIES Nov 06 Natha & Scott Hancock Nov 13 Mante & Arthur Polin YAHRZEITS** Nov 01 Cheshvan 12 Martin Goldner* Nov 02 Cheshvan 13 Herschel Tzvi Rabinovich Nov 04 Cheshvan 15 Pauline Rudoy* Nov 04 Cheshvan 15 Pierre Secher* Nov 08 Cheshvan 19 Abe Soble* Nov 08 Cheshvan 19 Elise Margaret Hoehne Nov 10 Cheshvan 21 William Polin* Nov 11 Cheshvan 22 Morris Goldberg* Nov 11 Cheshvan 22 Leon Treister* Nov 11 Cheshvan 22 Sam Ginsburg* Nov 14 Cheshvan 25 Dr. Abraham Feitelberg* Nov 15 Cheshvan 26 Joan Zelickson Nov 17 Cheshvan 28 Rose Feitelberg* Nov 18 Cheshvan 29 Samuel Belsky* Nov 18 Cheshvan 29 Rose Goldberg Nov 20 Kislev 02 Dr. Harold Isaac Goldman* Nov 22 Kislev 04 Suzanne Ivy* Nov 23 Kislev 05 Rose Soble* Nov 23 Kislev 05 Rhonda Beth Baker* Nov 24 Kislev 06 Abraham Belsky* Nov 24 Kislev 06 Sam Sokolow Nov 24 Kislev 06 Molly Levy Buchman Nov 27 Kislev 09 Pauline Baron Kripke* Nov 27 Kislev 09 Florence Goldstein* Nov 30 Kislev 12 Margareta Bernstein* Dec 01 Kislev 12 Helene Kamisher*

5 Dec 02 Kislev 13 Gertrude S. Goldberger * Plaque **Light Memorial candle sunset of previous evening CHICKEN SOUP CURES ALL By Ted Roberts I knew the printer wasn t working when no typed pages flew out of her up-front opening where typed pages are supposed to fly out. Great! I spend a week feeding her $18 cartridges of yellow, magenta and black, and now that her appetite had been sated, no output. Oy Vey! And by the way, what marketing genius conceived the scam where black demanded yellow and magenta. It made as much sense as filling your car with gas, but the car won t go unless you also bought a six pack of beer and two bags of potato chips. Clearly, I needed a new printer. This clever machine announced his death (Oy Vey, again) in a dialect that even I understood were death notices: Many were in languages that would defeat a Harvard professor of language, but one that I could figure out said your pal, the printer June 2, 2016 to 5 July 2017 is deceased. Oy, she had gone to that junkyard in the sky where you could print black without magenta or yellow. I d need a new printer; even worse I d have to properly introduce the printer to the computer. I m a scribbler not an engineer. But then came relief as I thought of my great grandchild in Kindergarten. He was already 6 he knew all about puters, as he called them. No, not a good idea - better my third-grade grandchild much more experienced. That thought cost me a quart of strawberry ripple ice cream and alarm at his mature and loud vocabulary as failure followed failure. Then inspiration lightened the room as I thought of an engineering friend who loved a big bowl of flavorful chicken soup. My wife, who didn t know a printer from a nuclear reactor had just made a pot of this delicacy. What followed was the shortest marketing phonecon on record. Henry, come on over and help me share this pot of chicken soup full of kneidlach my wife just made. (If they gave a Pulitzer Prize for Kneidlach, my wife would have it in her purse by now.) Henry came he downed two bowls of soup and a fleet of floating kneidlach. We finished. That soup was as dead as the printer. Henry, full of soup and matzoh balls, was as I planned in a jovial mood. I showed him around our house. And somehow, we ended up in the computer room. Hey Ted, the wire between the computer and printer isn t connected (my third grader never noticed that! Public schools today are atrocious). At this point I hung my head and confessed, soup and all the whole inducement scheme. My friend what a friend jumped in the driver s seat. He pushed buttons, he tied wires, he cursed, he sweated. He condemned every printer you could imagine as my chaste computer wouldn t mate with the low-class printer. I didn t get the whole picture but it had something to do with the puter s old operating system and a new printer. Such snobbery. It was age discrimination. That lousy printer should end up in court for rejecting the advances of my senior computer. But as in most fairytales, except

6 this, THIS one is absolute truth, we somehow find a happy ending. My friend, his forehead wet with frustration mentioned that he saw another printer in my bedroom. Yeah, it s an old one I said somebody gave it to me. The word old rang in the room like a bell his eyes lit up like he d just drained a fifth of champagne. Go get it he screamed. Sure enough, she loved that old operating system. The two devices mated in front of our eyes. In fact, together they made this love story due to a bowl of chicken soup. Scribbler on the Roof te11d@hiwaay.net Website: Blogsite: Ted Roberts, The Scribbler on the Roof, is a syndicated Jewish columnist and longtime member of our Synagogue. Buy Ted s collected works at Amazon.com or the Sisterhood Gift Shop. Ted welcomes your comment and/or critique.

The Shofar. Rabbi Weekends: Nov. 30 Dec. 2, 2007 Jan , 2008 Feb. 29 March 2, 2008 April 11 13, 2008 May 2 4, 2008

The Shofar. Rabbi Weekends: Nov. 30 Dec. 2, 2007 Jan , 2008 Feb. 29 March 2, 2008 April 11 13, 2008 May 2 4, 2008 The Shofar We need to speak out in no uncertain terms our support for a united, Jewish Jerusalem as the center of the Jewish future. Israel with out Jerusalem is like Italy without Rome or Greece without