the Shofar Finding Refuge

Transcription

1 the Shofar 20 Tevet - 20 Adar I 5776/January - February 2016 INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Rabbi 1 ICM Hebrew School Interfaith MLK Service Send Some Sunshine Rabbi Novak Away Adult Education 2 Birthdays and Anniversaries You Matter 3 Pix, Popcorn and Pizza! Shabbat Family Worship New to the Doris Bass Memorial Library Condolences 4 Making Music at ICM Tikkun ha Nefesh 5 Giving/Getting a Ride to ICM Finding Refuge As I write this in early December, our country has experienced an attack on innocent people in San Bernardino. This follows attack after attack on people worshipping in churches, children going to school, young adults at a community college, people working on military bases. Those are just in our country. Overseas, our brothers and sisters in Israel are still being attacked by children, women and men with knives and automobiles in the latest evolution of terror. In Europe, the Islamic State just shook the world with its attacks in Paris, while other attacks around the globe continue to leave us insecure about our safety as a country and as individuals, here and abroad. I wish I could share with you that there is a solution to the fear that these attacks engender in all of us. These are times when our experience of life feels like the world could fly off of its axis with each senseless loss of life and maiming of survivors. This feeling of insecurity is exactly the goal of terrorism. When the world feels unsafe, when we feel insecure, we are able to counter that by taking refuge in the stability of our homes, our community, and our congregation. It is why the sanctuary has its name: it is a place out of the real world, a place to take retreat from the world, even for a moment. (Continued on page 2) ICM Hebrew School The ICM Hebrew School has been quite a success! The classes take place from 4 to 5 pm on Thursdays. We have eight younger children attending Alison Hill s class, and two older students learning with Rabbi Novak. The rabbi is teaching prayer book Hebrew. They are using two textbooks from the same series that combine reading, explanation and drawing, allowing his students to both learn Hebrew and to think about the meanings of the words and the prayers that they are learning. Alison is teaching the Aleph-Bet to her younger students, and homework each week focuses on a new Hebrew letter. Alison s class is also mobile, investigating various parts of the synagogue, including time on the bimah. All of the students participated in the Friday night Chanukah service! Alison s class wore dreidel costumes they made in class and sang a Chanukah song, and the Rabbi s students went to the bimah to say the V'ahavta. (Continued on page 2)

2 Finding Refuge (Continued from page 1) Terrorism is a violent malignancy on the natural world. The cure to that malignancy is to become more aware of the natural world that is right before our eyes. Notice the rhythm of the days and nights, the seasons, the view outside our windows to focus on what allows us to experience stability. To be sure we could argue all of the political contingencies these attacks raise. It is my hope that all of us will take moments to step back, even for a moment, to be present with the blessings that are part of our beings. Rabbi David Novak Page 2 Send Some Sunshine Do you know another congregant in need of a Thinking of You note or Hope You re Feeling Better card? Let Lisa know and she ll have Cookie Mac make and send a card from ICM. Who doesn t need a Hello once in a awhile, especially in the winter when some are homebound. This project isn t for the everyday events like a birthday or anniversary (although those too are special!) but to remind someone that our community is here for them! ICM Hebrew School (Continued from page 1) While the Hebrew School classes are running, the moms and their younger children sit in the Social Hall kibitzing and playing. At the end of the hour, the students, teachers and family members gather and stand in a circle holding hands. We all talk about the new things that we received or experienced from the past week and sing the Shehecheyanu. The kids are enjoying each other and their time at synagogue! ICM s Annual Interfaith Dr. Martin Luther King Day Service Join ICM congregants and our friends from the Interfaith Council of the Northshire on January 18 at 7 pm at ICM for our annual Interfaith Martin Luther King Day Service. Our guest speaker will be Jane Williamson who will be speaking about The War before the War: Radical Abolition in Antebellum America. We look forward to hearing her talk and to seeing you at this important community event. Rabbi Novak Away Rabbi Novak will be away Sunday, January 24 and returning Thursday, January 28. Should you have any rabbinic needs during this time, please contact Rabbi Michael Cohen. His daytime phone number is and evening/sunday phone number is Adult Education in 2016 All are welcome to join Rabbi Novak on January 5 and continuing weekly on Tuesday morning at 10:30 am for a new series on Moshe ben Maimon, Moses Maimonides. Known in Hebrew as the Rambam, this rabbinic star of the medieval period is famous for writing two important books the Mishnah Torah and the Guide for the Perplexed. Maimonides' thought has guided the world of rabbinic Judaism since he lived. Our class will explore who he was, how he thought, what was important to him, and how what he has written has influenced the development of how we live Judaism today. If you have ever sung Yigdal at the end of a worship service, you have had a taste of his influence as Yigdal is based on his 13 affirmations of faith. Those who choose to may do some reading about Maimonides by reading an excerpt on his life from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at entries/maimonides/. Please note that there will be no class on January 25.

3 Birthday and Anniversary Celebration, Third Shabbat Each Month One of the pleasures of belonging to a congregation such as ICM is the privilege we have in sharing with each other, in both good and challenging times, the moments that mark the journey of our lives. To highlight the importance of these life cycle events, Israel Congregation has been setting aside the third Shabbat each month to recognize the special events birthdays, anniversaries of those we love. Please help to make these special monthly Shabbatot. Come out and congratulate your friends, or take the evening to share the very special days in your life. Many of you have shared your special days for us to keep on file. If you have not yet done so, won t you or call Lisa to have her add yours to this list of joyous occasions? C e L e B R a T e Page 3 January and February Birthdays and Anniversaries January Birthdays Rabbi Bob Alper Sarah Beck Normal Daniels Rachel Eisemann Helen Engel Marc Gaelen Susan Goias Carol Gold Ben Hauben Lynda Hobson Jerry Kreitzer Michael Kreitzer Nancy Landis Lynn Novick Ethan Rosenthal Adam Weiss January Anniversaries Rosalie & Lee Fox Sandy & Dan Krivit February Birthdays Lynne Abcug Mindy Bloom Carol Buchdahl Morty Bunis Rabbi Yafa Chase Harris Engel Hilary Fox Jonathan Gaelen Irene Glazer Philip Goldin Susan Katz Patricia Kreitzer Dan Krivit Max Levis Larry Steinberg Alan Such Paul Waters February Anniversary Susan & Sydney Katz You Matter You Matter, small gatherings where ICM congregants and guests spend time together in people s homes, continued in December with a gathering at the lovely home of Valerie and David Heisler. Since we started these gatherings in the summer at the home of Cathy Rano, we have enjoyed getting to know fellow congregants and hearing what they appreciate about Israel Congregation and what they would like to see happen. We are pleased that we have already moved on some of the suggestions. Since our August meeting, a Hebrew School has come to life that now has ten students being taught by our rabbi and Alison Hill. We have also moved to create more family-friendly programming, including adding a monthly family service that will begin at 5:30. Another item we were able to move on quickly is to create a Sunshine outreach effort that Cookie Mac of Rutland has graciously agreed to do. We also discovered that people who come on Friday night and choose not to stay for dinner are doing so because they feel that because they did not bring something to share they could not stay. We want you to know that if you are here we more than welcome you to stay for our Communal Shabbat Dinner whether or not you bring something with you. There is always extra food in our kitchen. You could bring more the next time you come or you could make a contribution to our Shabbat Dinner Fund which defrays what we consider to be one of the best reasons to belong to ICM. Please stay. Our next You Matter will be graciously hosted by Al Feldan on January 17 aprés-ski at his clubhouse, The Piper Ridge Sports Center, on Stratton Mountain, from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. We look forward to an enjoyable gathering then. If you would like to attend our next You Matter or volunteer your home for our late winter and spring meetings, please let Lisa know.

4 Pix, Popcorn and Pizza! Prepare to be amazed! We have some fantastic movies to show on our large screen in our Social Hall on Saturday, January 16 and February 20. Make it a date night or bring a friend! In January, Gentleman s Agreement, based on the book by Laura Z. Hobson, first released in 1947 and still causing controversy, will be screened. Academy Award winner for Best Picture, the all-star cast includes Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and John Garfield directed by Elia Kazan and compellingly looks into anti-semitism in the mid-century United States. Then, in February, we ll be watching Ida, the story of an orphaned young woman in post-war Poland raised by nuns who, prior to taking her vows, explores her family s tragic story along with her only living relative. In 2015, Ida was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe Best Foreign Film Award. Unless you re fluent in Polish, bring your glasses to read the film s subtitles! ICM brings you interesting and provocative movies that generate discussion and since you ll be here with your fellow congregants and friends, there will be time for you to engage in conversation. During the movie, we ll provide popcorn and afterward, pizza. So come, watch, eat and talk! New to the Doris Bass Memorial Library Page 4 Three new books are now in the Doris Bass Memorial Library: Geraldine Brooks s new novel on the life of King David,The Secret Chord, is described by the American Library Association Booklist as her gorgeously written novel of ambition, courage, retribution, and triumph, Brooks imagines the life and character of King David in all his complexity...the language, clear and precise throughout, turns soaringly poetic when describing music or the glory of David s city...taken as a whole, the novel feels simultaneously ancient, accessible, and timeless. Dan Ephron served as Jerusalem bureau chief for Newsweek and the Daily Beast and has now written Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel. Killing a King is a tightly coiled narrative that reaches an inevitable, shattering conclusion. One can t help but wonder what Israel would look like today had Rabin lived. Named one of the top 100 books of 2015 by The New York Times. Ambassador Dennis Ross s Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.- Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama describes how U.S. policy has always emphasized the unbreakable bond between the two countries. Dennis Ross has been a participant in shaping U.S. policy toward the Middle East, and Israel specifically, for nearly thirty years. In Doomed to Succeed, he takes us through every administration from Truman to Obama, throwing into dramatic relief each president's attitudes toward Israel and the region, the often tumultuous debates between key advisers, and the events that drove the policies and at times led to a shift in approach. New congregant Jennifer Atlas is heading up the Library. If you d like to join her, her at jennifer_atlas@yahoo.com. Shabbat Family 5:30 pm Mark your calendars: on January 22 and February 26, services will begin at 5:30 pm to allow for an earlier end to the evening. No pre-neg will be held on either of these evenings. Let us know if this early service works for you-perhaps we ll have more of them! Condolences Carmel Furtado on the loss of her father, Frank Furtado.

5 Tikkun ha Nefesh Page 5 Making Music at ICM In November the Rabbi s Discretionary Fund received a generous gift from June Azoulay, the wife of George Kalinsky, in honor of the rabbi and his husband Yuval Sela, to be used where it was most needed. The rabbi and Yuval chose to direct the gift to the Music Fund, created by Alan and Mindy Bloom, Irene and Ed Glazer, and Helene and Al Feldan. June sweetened her offer by challenging ICM congregants to match her gift and she would add another $5,000. As of this writing we have surpassed our goal. Thanks go out to all of our generous donors: Sandy and Dan Krivit, Cathy and John Rano, Marilyn and Ed Rice, Peter and Helen Engel, Kate Lear, Ivy and Bill Schwartz, Rabbi Michael Cohen and Alison Hill, Carmel Furtado, Marlene and David Skulnik, Rosalie and Lee Fox, Marvin Friedlander and Leslie Merkelson, Helene and Al Feldan, Ilana and Herb Hirsch, Lisa and Jonathan Prial, Anita and Morty Bunis, Lois and Philip Perlah, Sheila and Russell Mills, Carol and Philip Goldsmith, Micki and Stan Lisman, Karen Ganz and Joe Morein, and Mindy and Alan Bloom. As envisioned, ICM will be looking for someone cantor, cantorial soloist who has a beautiful voice, hopefully plays an instrument, and will be able to join our congregation for monthly worship as well as serve as our High Holy Day cantor. Rabbi Novak will be working on the description for the position and then will do an outreach using various sources. Whomever is chosen will be vetted first by the Ritual Committee and in all likelihood will have a try-out before the position is offered. Soon we will all be hearing music here on a sustained basis, greatly enhancing our experience and expanding ICM s role. Israel Congregation has a strong tradition of service to our community and in this challenging time of great need by so many, it is important that we continue to be there for those among us who need a hand. In our beautiful mountain towns, the level of poverty is often hidden. Our neighbors' struggle is our struggle, too. As Jews we are commanded to repair the world. In this season of plenty, please consider a volunteer project. An hour, a day, or an ongoing commitment would mean so much. Our Community Service partners include: Heartworks - an organization of local women who do random acts of kindness Habitat for Humanity - building homes for eligible working families and staffing their re-sale store Vermont Reading Partners - distributing books to their sites around the community and tutoring children and adults Interfaith Council Projects - holiday distribution of food and toys to needy families Auto Angels - repair donated cars for needed transportation Food Cupboard - ICM staffs days in October and May PAVE - a resource for victims of domestic violence Neighborhood Connections - provides social services for the Londonderry, Jamaica and Bondville area. Please review this list and see where you'd like to pitch in. Call or me NLandis82@gmail.com and I will connect you with an ICM congregant who works with that project. Nancy Landis

6 Page 6 Israel Congregation is a thriving 180 household synagogue that draws from diverse Jewish backgrounds, of both fulland part-time residents of Southern Vermont. We are a welcoming Jewish space for all. Our doors are always open on Friday night where worship is followed by our Communal Shabbat Dinner, on Shabbat morning, for Jewish festivals and holy days, adult and children s education, and an array of social events. Join us. ICM is located at 6025 Main Street (Route 7A) between the medical offices and Town Hall. Our building is ADA accessible. Office: Website: office@icmvt.org Rabbi s cell phone: Rabbi s rabbi@icmvt.org 6025 Main Street / P.O. Box 1050 Manchester Center, Vermont Friday Evening Shabbat Services, 6:30 pm Preneg at 5:45 pm; services are followed by a Communal Shabbat Dinner Saturday Morning Shabbat: Come as You Are, 9-10:00 am Tot Shabbat: 10:00 am, second monthly Shabbat morning Rabbi David Novak Board of Directors Cathy Rano, President Lisa Prial, First Vice President Al Feldan, Second Vice President Rebecca Fishkin, Treasurer Sheila Mills, Recording Secretary Ed Glazer, Past President Lee Fox, Carmel Furtado, Carol Goldsmith, Lana Hauben, David Sischy, John Sobel, Morgan Taylor Shofar Editorial Committee Carmel Furtado, Laurie Sullivan Synagogue Administrator Lisa Bendik Rabbi Emeritus Rabbi Michael Cohen Are You in Need of a Ride to/from Services? OR Can You Provide a Ride to/from Services? Please call Lisa to let her know of your willingness to help or if you have a need and she will help get you to ICM. Care to place a business card ad here? Not only will it be part of this publication that is ed to congregants, but accessible to all via our website. Rates are $75 quarterly, $135 for 6 months or $225 yearly. Contact Lisa is you re interested.