Temple Beth Electronic News

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1 Temple Beth Electronic News Visit our temple website at Shevat-Adar 5778 February 2018 Thank You s To Cindy and Brett for hosting Rabbi Jim the last time he was in Dubuque, and for taking him to dinner on the Friday night. To Cindy for setting everything up for the Tu BiShvat Seder. To Rabbi Jim for conducting such an interesting and engaging Seder, and to everyone who participated and brought dishes to share. To Hank and Linda for having dinner with the rabbi on the Saturday night. To Ellie Landau for all her hard work tutoring the bar mitzvah boys! The Weekend of February Remember that for the February temple weekend, we will not be holding a Friday Evening Service. We will instead have a Saturday Morning Service, and we look forward to seeing a lot of you! It will still be light outside and hopefully the weather will cooperate, like it did in January. Saturday, February 17: Shabbat Morning Service at 10:00 AM Immediately following the service, we will have a luncheon organized by Becca (see below for details), followed by Adult Discussion, the topic of which is 40 Yiddish Words We Need to Know Family School will take place on Sunday, February 18 th at 10:00 AM Medical Update from Cindy This note is from Temple President, Cindy Pearce, written Feb. 9, 2018: We just got done with the doctor in Iowa City, and the determination is that I have cancer of the Fallopian tubes that spread to the lymph nodes. And even though they hope they removed it all, there is a good chance there are loose cells left that will make it return. And so I need to have chemo therapy, which will mostly be done through the port they inserted in my belly. It will be in 3 week cycles. We will come to Iowa City day one and they will do the chemo. Then I will come back in a week and they repeat the chemo, and then the third week nothing. And the 3 week cycle will be repeated 6 times. Cindy, everyone sends you multiple refuah shelemah (healing spirit) blessings. We are thinking of you and Brett during this difficult time, and we are here to help in whatever ways we can. Luncheon on February 17 The lunch following Saturday's service will be quiche and salad. Please bring a quiche, salad, or dessert to share, or contact Becca (rgottlieb@edgewood.edu) for suggestions or an assignment. The meal will be "dairy"/vegetarian. Also, if you use store-bought pie-crust for a quiche, please check the ingredients (some contain lard). 1

2 We are looking for someone to take the rabbi for dinner on Saturday, February 17 th. This will just be dinner because we will have the Adult Discussion earlier in the day. If you are available, please let Cindy know. Dues Thank you to everyone who has paid their dues. If you haven t yet done so, please send in your check! Temple Beth El relies on all of us to keep Judaism alive in the heartland. If you have questions, contact Temple Treasurer, Ellie Landau (landau4873@gmail.com). March and April Temple Weekends Highlights of these weekends are listed here, and for additional details, refer to the schedule at the end of this bulletin. Our March service will return to Friday evening, but note that Friday, March 16 th is the Visitors Service. The rabbi will lead an informational session and answer visitor questions at 6:30, and the service will start at 7:30 PM. This service is followed by a group oneg, and we need everyone s help. Please bring items on trays, cut up, and ready to serve. Be sure to avoid foods that require utensils to serve or eat. Our Purim Party will take place at 5:00 PM on Saturday, March 17 th. Details to come in the next newsletter. Our Congregational Passover Seder will take place on Friday, April 6 th. Details also to come. Children of Abraham The next conversation will take place on February 22 nd at Emmaus Bible College: 2

3 Dubuque Food Pantry The Food Pantry suggests canned soup as an item which is especially useful at this time of year. Their most recent update also mentions the perennial need for peanut butter and jelly. If you would like a change from non-perishable food donations, they are also collecting toiletries, cleaning items, and paper goods. In addition to bringing non-perishable items to services for the Dubuque Food Pantry, we can support area Food Pantries with monetary donations. Send checks made out to the Dubuque Food Pantry to 1598 Jackson Street Dubuque, IA, Send checks made out to the "United Churches of Galena Food Pantry" to 971 Gear Street Galena, IL Send checks made out to the "Platteville Food Pantry" to P.O. box # 127 Platteville, WI The Importance of Hosting It takes all of us to make our small temple function smoothly and we can t survive by always relying on the same folks to volunteer. Hosting opportunities for our members include: Having the rabbi stay with you for a weekend when he is here in town. Organizing an oneg following Shabbat services. If you are interested in learning more about how to do a Beth El oneg, we have guidelines that we are happy to share with you. Taking the rabbi for dinner prior to a Friday night Shabbat Service. This could be in your home or at a restaurant as long as it s early enough for the rabbi to arrive at temple in time to prepare. Our Saturday evening Adult Dinner & Discussions require hosts. These events can take place at someone s home (no need to cook pot luck is fine), or at a restaurant where everyone pays for their own food and then we go to your home or to the temple or other meeting place to have our discussions. We would love to have new people involved in hosting and others as well and we are happy to provide guidance. To host the rabbi for a weekend or to host a Dinner & Discussion, contact Cindy Pearce (mikelcinkc@gmail.com). To host the rabbi for Friday night dinner, contact Randy Sirk (randysir@aol.com). To host an oneg, contact Fern Reinstein (threeamstamper@yahoo.com). 3

4 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 Iris Liberman (Fern Reinstein's Aunt) 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 Sarah Cohen Robert Geesaman (Dennis Geesaman's Father) Merlyn Polse Eva Blum Joseph Blustein Yartzeits We would like to update our yartzeit list to include the relationship of a deceased loved one to a current or recent 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 Kate at KateTotalBook@gmail.com. 4

5 From Rabbi Jim What is Love? With the approach of Valentine s Day, we cannot help but think of love. Love is complex, however, as we each struggle to define it for ourselves. Our western society also helps shape our attitudes. Nowadays, love seems to be linked to attraction, focus and an intensity of feelings. We fall in love because we seem to have scant control over the process and few options about who we love. And it seems to be largely based on the external world of appearance. These romantic ideas go back into history. We need only look to Helen of Troy, renowned for her beauty. Guinevere of Camelot, Lucrezia Borgia of Italy. In our modern day, women such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Brigitte Bardot have been overly idolized for their pulchritude. The star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet and other notable couples epitomize the strong and fatal attraction of a love gone awry. And we hold them up to be our standard? While we, as down-to-earthy folks don t outright reject the joys of sensuality and physical fulfillment, we have tried to emphasize a more holistic approach. Religious literature reflects this need to look beyond the senses, into a world of shared beliefs, values and respect. I am beginning to understand just how difficult it is to be out there looking for a potential partner. The bar scene for one reflects, at least initially, a superficiality so rampant in our society; we rarely get to know the people we meet in those situations. Maybe we should return to the old ways and find people like ourselves in less charged social settings? May the synagogue promote the values that are the core of every relationship, built on dignity and respect. Rabbi Jim 5

6 Service and Mitzvah Schedule for the first half of 2018 (5778) (Not all events are included on this schedule. Refer to each newsletter for events/times/dates.) 2018 February 17 Shabbat morning service, 10:00 AM Garfield Temple Board Dinner with rabbi Saturday night: TBD February 17 Luncheon (organized by Becca) at temple following the service; Adult Discussion at temple, following the luncheon February 18 Sunday morning Family School with Rabbi, 10:00 AM March 16 VISITORS SERVICE (Rabbi meets with visitors at 6:30; Service begins at 7:30) March 17 Family School with Rabbi, 10:00 AM March 17 Adult Hebrew with Rabbi, noon Group Oneg for Visitors Service March 17 PURIM PARTY details to come Becca Gottlieb April 6 CONGREGATIONAL SEDER details to come April 7 Family School with Rabbi, 10:00 AM April 7 Adult Hebrew with Rabbi, noon May 11 Shabbat service, 7:00 PM May 12 Bar Mitzvah Service for Phillip Glenn details to come June 8 Shabbat service, 7:00 PM June 9 Family School with Rabbi, 10:00 AM June 9 Adult Hebrew with Rabbi, noon July 20 Shabbat service, 7:00 PM July 21 Bar Mitzvah Service for Gabriel Intriligator details to come Oneg: Oneg: Oneg: 6