Temple Beth Electronic News

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1 Temple Beth Electronic News Visit our temple website at Shevat-Adar 5775 February 2015 Thank You s Y To Lynn Verger and her family for multiple hosting duties the last time the rabbi was here. Y To Barb Alexander for hosting the oneg, and to the Landaus and Becca Gottlieb for dinners. Y In our president s absence, thanks to Kate for answering the temple phone and to Alan for giving the announcements. And thanks to Emily and Alan and Kate for helping with speaker requests, missed package deliveries, and other assorted goings-on. The Weekend of February Y Friday evening Shabbat Service at 7:00 PM; oneg hosted by Landau Y Saturday morning Family School at 9:30 AM Y Saturday evening PURIM PARTY, see details below Upcoming Temple Events! FIESTA DEL PURIM This coming weekend we will have a regular Shabbat Service on Friday night, and then we will celebrate Purim on Saturday with a short service and dinner and celebration. We will convene at 5:30 PM at the temple for our Fiesta del Purim. We will have a chicken taco bar, drinks (including adult drinks), desserts and fun! Please respond to our evite (one way or the other) which will help us determine how many will be attending. Don t forget to indicate which items you will bring for the taco bar. (See the evite for details.) VISITOR S SERVICE Our Visitors Service will take place on Friday, March 27. Rabbi Anne will talk to our visitors and answer questions at 6:30 PM. The actual service will begin at 7:30 PM. Even though this is a bit later than our usual time, it is a good idea to come early to avoid possible parking problems. We need lots of friendly faces to welcome our visitors to this special service. We will have a group oneg for this large event, so everyone should bring a lot of dessert. Please bring items on trays, cut up and ready to serve. Be sure to avoid foods that require utensils to serve or eat. CONGREGATIONAL PASSOVER SEDER Join us for our 5th annual Congressional Seder, to be held at temple. We will celebrate on Friday, April 3 which is the first night of Passover (and also Good Friday). As we have done before, we will have some of the meal catered and some pot luck. Because of the catering and necessity of purchasing special items, there is a charge per adult and child for the Seder. It will be a fairly nominal amount that will be determined once we have the catering arranged. Please let Cindy know if you will be coming and how many in your group. Cindy s is mikelcinkc@aol.com. 1

2 Winter Weather In case of bad weather, the outgoing message on the Temple's answering machine will reflect any cancellation of a service. If you have a question about services taking place, please call the Temple. Even if Rabbi Anne is unable to drive in, it is possible that the Worship Committee will hold a Lay Service. Updated 2015 Family School Schedule February 28: March 14: March 28: April 4: April 18: May 2: May 16: May 30: June 13: Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Member News We have lots of member news to share! From Temple President, Cindy Pearce: Brett and I went to the Philippines on a mission trip with a team of doctors, nurses and other lay people to do cleft lip and cleft pallet surgeries. We went with an organization called Uplift Internationale, which has been doing these missions for twenty-five years. A friend of ours is a doctor who was going and thought Brett might be a good addition to the team because he is so mechanical and they sometimes have equipment problems. Well he must have had a crystal ball. From the very first day of the surgeries, the problems started. The breathing machines would not work. And obviously with no breathing machines, there would be no surgeries. But the good fortune angels were watching and had arranged for Brett to be on the trip. He had never seen one of these machines before, but he started taking them apart and was able to figure out how to fix them. There were five of these machines and each of them broke down at least once - some more than once. (The machines had been shipped last year, but then the trip had to be rescheduled because of the typhoon in the Philippines, and so the machines had been in storage all year and probably were affected by being warm and dry.) But thanks to Brett's efforts [and to Cindy s help!] the team was able to do 38 surgeries on children from 4 months old to 30-year-old adults!! Some of the patients came from many hours away! Some team members visited schools and orphanages on the island and shared goodies and interacted with many poor and needy children and families. The Philippines is very beautiful in many ways - but also not very developed in some ways compared to the United States. The hospital was so crowded that there were many beds in the hallways and all the wards were wall to wall beds. We even saw a live mouse in the operating room area. It was an inspiring and enlightening trip. The Philippine people were not only friendly and charming but very appreciative of the efforts of the mission. At the end of the mission, we made a short detour to Hong Kong. Quite the place - beautiful and very fast paced! Karin Pritikin Karin will be singing Max Helfman's Hashkiveinu at our Visitor s Service; chanting Pesach 1 Haftorah at Anshe Emet Synagogue, and also singing an old Yiddish song, A Pastukhl, with the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band at the upcoming Cantors Assembly Convention. She is currently studying Jewish music theory with Steven Berke; a dynamic, gifted Hazzan and teacher who, like her, is visually challenged but undaunted. Hear a vintage recording of A Pastukhl at 2

3 Fern Reinstein Fern and Jesse were featured in a sweet article in the Platteville Journal. The entire article appears at the end of this newsletter. Donnie Wood Donnie was featured (along with other community members) in a crafty article in the Telegraph Herald. That entire article is also included at the end of this newsletter. In addition, the Children of Abraham session that recently took place was on the topic of Humor. The presenter for the Jewish view of humor was our very own Donnie Woods. He helped everyone to understand some of the content of Jewish humor, e.g. our tendency to refer to Jewish mothers as over-bearing. He was even willing to laugh at himself by showing a picture of himself in the Hanukkah sweater that his mother sent him last year. (And she isn't even Jewish!) Well done, Donnie! Wayne Dyrke Wayne is having whole shoulder replacement surgery on Wednesday, Feb. 25 th. We wish you all the best and a speedy recovery. Emily Goldberg Emily has been accepted into the MSW Program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she will start this fall. Kate and Larry couldn t be prouder of their amazing daughter! Live Streaming Shabbat Services Thanks to Emily Kruse for letting us know that some temples are live-streaming their Friday night services so that people can watch them from home. There are temples all over the country including some in the Chicago suburbs. This is a way to "attend" services even when our rabbi is not in Dubuque. The site is PJ Library As many of you already know, we are participating in a program called PJ (like pajamas) Library which provides free Jewish story books for children. It is allowable to sign up your child or your grandchild or any child that you think would appreciate getting the books. There is a small fee for each enrolled child, and this fee is being reimbursed by Lucee Sirk. (Thank you, Lucee!) Let Cindy know if you would like to be included in this program. Hosting Opportunities Y To host the rabbi for the weekend or to host an Adult Study, contact Cindy Pearce (mikelcinkc@aol.com). Y To host the rabbi for dinner, contact Randy Sirk (randysir@aol.com). Y To host an oneg, contact Fern Reinstein (threeamstamper@yahoo.com). Upcoming Temple Trip In conjunction with Rabbi Anne, Temple Beth El will be organizing a trip to Chicago for sometime this summer. This trip will be an opportunity to learn about Jewish places, people, and events in Chicago. The trip will be a long weekend sometime in July or August, and it is open to anyone who interested and able to pay his or her own way. More details will come soon. Please consider joining us for this interesting and engaging event!! 3

4 Dubuque Area Food Pantries In addition to our usual (and perennially needed) peanut butter and jelly, suggestions for January and February donations include canned meats, hot chocolate mix, ramen noodles, shampoo, laundry soap, liquid hand soap, and-- in honor of "Souper Bowl Sunday: soups, chili, and crackers. Bring the non-perishable items to Temple. Children of Abraham Schedule of Conversations Dubuque s Children of Abraham creates an atmosphere in civic life that builds inter-religious solidarity, cooperation, and friendship. It does so through regular monthly topical conversations, service activities, educational outreach, the creative use of sacred space, and expressions of cross-cultural hospitality. Everyone is invited. Please come. Our conversations are warm, informative and often rather humorous. Always on Thursdays, we begin at 7PM. Website: Y March 19 Scripture Study (Muslim) Tri-State Islamic Center Y April 16 The Afterlife Wartburg Seminary NOTE about Yartzeits: We would like to update our list to include the relationship of a deceased loved one to a current or recent former temple member. If you would like this relationship to be added to names on our list, or if you have names to add to our list, please the information to kscheinman@aol.com. Yartzeits for February Ruthy Kassler G. Manhoff Louis Rotman (Ruthie Silverberg's Uncle) Doris Rubin (Rea Kirk's Cousin) Dorothy Shapiro (Barb Alexander's Mother) Ada Slivken Merle Farber Baby Levi Al Paul Harry Rudin (Barry Rudin's Father) Baby Hirshburg Isadore Nemerowsky Baby Waunbersky Joseph Carlin Miriam Metzer Sara Jacobs (Laurie Alterman's Mother) Julius Lippman Yenta Urbach Louis Farber Benjaman Goldwasser (Sheila Rudin's Father) Meyer Goodman Charles Jaffe Eugene Levi Don Verger (Lynn Verger's Father) Baby Birndorf John E. Liberg Freda Rotman Carl Rafferty Rose Manhoff Rose Polse Sigfried Platt Harry Silverberg (Jerry Silverberg's Father) I. N. Platt Patrick Kruse (Terry Kruse's Father) Sarah Cohen Merlyn Polse Eva Blum Joseph Blustein 4

5 From Rabbi Anne: Next week we will be celebrating our Fiesta del Purim!! And in honor of the occasion I thought I would conquer one of the most asked questions regarding Purim: Why do we wear costumes for Purim? Well that s any easy one because it s fun! But seriously, way, way back in the fourteen hundreds a lot of Jews lived in Italy and while they were happily celebrating Purim their Christian neighbors were celebrating the carnival that comes before Lent (we usually think of it as Mardi Gras, today.) It seemed like so much fun to dress up that we started doing it, too. The practice spread all over the Jewish world not only was it a blast but it makes so much sense with Purim. First of all, in the Book of Esther, Esther dresses up as someone other than herself in order to save the Jews. Second of all, the word ester in Hebrew means to hide or to cover up. And finally, on Purim everything is so topsy-turvy that we don t even know the difference between Mordechai and Haman, between good and evil; in order to add to that feeling of topsy-turviness, we dress up in outrageous costumes and party like it s 1999! This year at our Purim celebration we will be having a wild costume fiesta so I expect to see everyone in some crazy getup and we will all party down! Mo adim B Simcha Be Happy it s Adar! Rabbi Anne Persin Other great traditions for Purim: v Mishlo ach manot gifts of food and trinkets to friends and family v Matanot l avyanim gifts to those in need so that everyone can have a truly festive Purim v Fast of Esther sunrise to sundown the day before Purim; just as Esther fasted to prepare herself, so do we. Traditionally, one brakes this fast with alcohol v Ad sh lo yada drinking until you don t know the difference between Mordechai & Haman; ok, let s not go that far this year, but everyone of age is invited to join me in a little nip! 5

6 Service and Mitzvah Schedule for first half of 2015 (5775) (Not all special events are included on this schedule. Refer to each newsletter for times/dates.) February (Purim) February Shabbat service, 7:00 PM February 28 Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM February 28 Purim Party (Fiesta del Purim) 5:30 PM Host the rabbi Goldberg & Scheinman Oneg Landau Dinner with rabbi Friday night Glenns March 14 Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM March (Visitor service) March 27 Visitors Service: Rabbi will talk with Visitors at 6:30; Service begins at 7:30 March 28 Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM April 3 Congregational Seder, time TBD Host the rabbi Pearce Oneg Group (everyone) Dinner with rabbi Friday night Gottlieb Dinner with rabbi Saturday night Landau Adult Discussion Saturday night Landau April 4 Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM NEW DATES: April Host the rabbi Mareth & Lobertini April Shabbat service, 7:00 PM Oneg April 18 Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Dinner with rabbi Friday night Dinner with rabbi Saturday night Pearce Adult Discussion Saturday night Pearce May 2 Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM May Host the rabbi Dyrke May Shabbat service, 7:00 PM Oneg Pearce May 16 Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Dinner with rabbi Friday night Dinner with rabbi Saturday night Adult Discussion Saturday night May 30 Family School with Donnie, 9:30AM 6

7 NEW DATES: June Host the rabbi June Shabbat service, 7:00 PM Oneg June 13 Family School with Rabbi, 9:30AM Dinner with rabbi Friday night Dinner with rabbi Saturday night Adult Discussion Saturday night The Platteville Journal January 29, 2015 By Steve Prestegard Fern Reinstein The annual Alone for Christmas dinner, which rotates among Platteville churches, features turkey, potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, fruit and Jell-O salads, and desserts. At every table can be found brown and white mints, made for many years by Fern Reinstein of JAS Candies in Platteville. Every year they ask us, she said. I think they re afraid we re going to say no. Of course we wouldn t. She adds, however, that JAS Candies named for their children, Joanna, Adam and Suzanne is as much the work of her husband, Jesse, a retired UW Platteville chemistry professor, as her. I don t do this by myself, she said. He does more than I do. It keeps you busy, it keeps you out of trouble, and everybody loves you because you make candy. Besides Alone for Christmas, the Reinsteins provide candies for weddings and other events. You do what people want, and you do as many as they want, she said. If somebody says, Have you made this, we ll say, no, but we ll try that. 7

8 One afternoon at the Reinsteins includes turtle pretzels, chocolate covered potato chips (she will also dip corn chips), a turtle apple (a Granny Smith apple with, in order of application, caramel, pecans, milk chocolate and dark chocolate sprinkles), truffles, and butternut crunch toffee kind of like a Heath bar, only better, she said. The key to Reinstein s success seems to be the willingness to try something new, whether or not it proves successful. We like to try new things; it s always fun to try something new, and then see how people react to it, she said. It s just that some things people go for more than others. I m not afraid to try something; my feelings is if you don t like that, don t do that again, but how will you know unless you try it? Reinstein started out of boredom unlike everybody else, I didn t have a job; I was a stay-at-home mom, so I just started fooling around. We d try things. I d have people over, and I used them as guinea pigs, and they didn t mind. I never thought it was going to be a business. The first product was lollipops, which led to their first It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time experience. We thought we had a winner it was peanut butter lollipops, she said. And it was awful, and it smelled so bad we had to leave the house, it stank so bad. Reinstein has also made, upon request, chocolate-covered prunes and dipped apricots. We once put chili flavoring into chocolate, and it was not well-received, she said, though she added it may have been fed to the wrong audience. Reinstein said she has made candies for probably 30 years now. She likes to bake, including cheesecake, but doesn t sell her baking. Some candies she makes are simple to cook, but others are not. Everything is steps, she said. All of these things you do a step, then it s got to harden, then you score it, then you put nuts on it. Milk chocolate is always popular, though dark chocolate has increased in popularity, in part due to its claimed antioxidant qualities, over the past several years. She uses almonds and pecans most, but she will use other nuts upon request. Her keys to successfully cooking chocolate: Don t overcook it, don t put too much water in it, pay attention to what you re doing. She has made perhaps too many different kinds of candy to keep track. I get a lot of recipes because I have lots of cookbooks, she said. Sometimes I lose track of a recipe and I never make it again, but I try to keep track of them. The irony of JAS Candies is that Reinstein, who has diabetes, doesn t eat her own work. I don t eat it, so it s not like I sit around eating candy, because I m diabetic, and my kids don t eat candy, she said. I ll sample it, but I won t sit and eat it. I ll give it to friends who will sample it, and they ll tell me if it s good or not. And they haven t rejected us yet. It s a happy business. It s not drudge work. You ve got something that makes people happy. 8

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