Familyshul. org בס "ד DECEMBER-JANUARY 2015 KISLEV/TEVET/SHEVAT BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE בס"ד

Transcription

1 Familyshul. org בס "ד DECEMBER-JANUARY 2015 KISLEV/TEVET/SHEVAT BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE בס"ד

2 At Kol Nidrei, I launched our Friends of the Family campaign. Many people filled out the pledge cards with numbers of friends they would recruit. We then followed up by sending brochures to the entire Edmonton Jewish community. Thank you to those members who have thus far recruited their friends, and welcome to all you new friends who are reading the BI Chai for the first time! The initiative subsequently took a backseat out of respect to the UJA campaign, but as we near the end of the UJA blackout period, we are gearing up to go fullsteam ahead! There are many miracles that occurred in ancient times to our ancestors, from the parting of the Jordan as we entered into the Holy Land to the sun standing still in the sky for Joshua. And yet, we have no annual commemoration for those miracles like we do for Chanukah. What s so special about Chanukah? Rabbi Zvi Elimelech of Dinov, the Bnei Yisoschor, explains that Chanukah is not just an annual commemoration; it s an annual revelation of Divine energy. Most people simply light the menorah and celebrate an event that happened long ago. If they only knew, he says, what spiritual energy was available to them at that moment to tap into, they d be doing Chanukah completely differently! On Chanukah you can channel the blessing from above into all your endeavours, spiritual and physical. By becoming a medium for the light, you bring the light into your home, your family, your health, your business. How do you do that? Most people seek blessing in their life. The key, however, is to become a source of blessing. When you bless others, G-d will bless you. That is how you channel the Divine energy generally, and especially the overflow of light on Chanukah. There are many ways to become a source of blessing. Be on the lookout for how you can help others. Maybe it means visiting someone in the hospital that you don t know so well but you ve met them in shul. Maybe it means something as simple as offering to be a greeter in shul on Shabbos morning. I d like to propose a way to become a blessing for our shul and the entire community this year. Who s up for the Chanukah Friends challenge? Each day of Chanukah, imagine we could all recruit a number of friends corresponding to the level of Divine light in the air that day! On day one, you would find one new friend. On day two, you would recruit two. All the way up to day eight when you would recruit eight! Each day of Chanukah we will post on our Facebook page whoever has met the challenge that day, so please me your results each day of Chanukah! Dear Rabbi Friedman, Your sermon during Rosh Hashana regarding the roles of men and women in the Shul, which you substantiated by proposing a new division of men and women was refreshing. While respecting the laws of halacha it also addressed real changes occurring in the world including the Jewish one. As I was leaving the shul I asked a friend what he thought: he was leery. "Members will leave", he said; "members have had the same seat forever", he said; "I own my seat", he said. Upon reflection it occurred to me that when I was a young boy, in the shul on 95 St., the women were separated from the men by a balcony. When the shul moved to 118 St,, the women were seated on the same level as the men, but along the sides and with significantly less seats than the men. I suspect that these changes in seating created similar controversies to those created by your idea. So, since Rosh Hashana, I have been struggling with what my friend really meant. I have concluded that his concern was men will leave, and men have had the same seats forever, and men own their own seats. All of these concerns are solvable, I think. Perhaps people who 'own' seats can have first choice for new seats, and perhaps people who have had the same seat forever can have second choice. However, while there are many ways to overcome the problem, I wondered where are these people going to go if they leave? As I see it, there are only 2 choices, one of which actually requires them to sit with their wives. But the bigger issue, which you implied when you referred to a shul meeting is, I think, why is no one asking the women? Rabbi, you have brought great spirit and cohesion to the Beth Israel. You have demonstrated that one can be modern and orthodox. However, the shul needs new young members; today s youth, which you no doubt understand better than me, are not going tolerate sitting in the wings much longer. At least, I think, my kids wouldn't. Moreover, filling the centre of the sanctuary when worshipers are few is a reasonable idea. Finally, as you were speaking, I thought of my mother. There is no question in my mind that not only would she have welcomed your idea, she would have fought for it; and she was a person you didn't want to fight with. Hag Sameach Mark Dolgoy To Ellen Dlin Wishing you a Refuah Shlema All the best Mark Dolgoy & Francie Ratner May this Chanukah be a holiday of light, energy and blessing for all! The family of Abraham Ovics z l Gratefully acknowledges and deeply appreciated your generosity and kind expression of sympathy. BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 1

3 The President Presents Dear fellow congregants Since my last bulletin message, the High Holidays have come and gone. Sukkot and Simchat Torah have also been celebrated for another year. As usual we hosted a wonderful celebration and also raised some much needed donations during all these events. Many thanks to all who donated, we appreciate your generosity. I do appeal to all congregants who have pledged money and not yet paid, please contact the office to arrange for payment. Your contributions are needed. We also have other membership money and other amounts that are still outstanding. Again please settle your accounts so we can continue our programs and operations effectively. On a more positive note, I am pleased to announce the success of our recent Gala Tribute Dinner. Our net profit was $61, Kol Ha Kavod again to Elaine and Ram Romanovsky as dinner chairs who worked tirelessly to make our evening such a success. Winter is once again here; there are a lot of cold children in our city. We are again collecting warm coats for the needy in our coats for kids, campaign. Please drop off any excess winter coats at the Shul to help those in need. The ongoing JCC development is still progressing. As it stands now at the time of writing, the architects Manasc Isaacs are completing their feasibility study for our site. Our BI JCC committee will meet with them and the JFED committee shortly to review the study. Our next step in the plan will be based on these findings; we will update you when appropriate. Please also try to attend any town hall meetings arranged by JFED when they are finalized. There may be rumors floating around the community, they may not all be true so please contact myself for verification if you hear something strange out there. You are all aware we are living in troubling times; thank goodness Edmonton is safe at the moment. I encourage to all to be aware and cognizant of any unusual activity at the Shul or any Jewish institution in the city. Don t ignore what you feel may be suspicious. Our next program is Channukah on ice the West Edmonton Mall ice palace on Monday 22 December. Please join us for good times, eats and treats. On a personal note, I will be away for a few weeks in December and will be celebrating the marriage of my son Marc in Toronto. No worries, the Shul will be in good hands in my absence. I will see you back for the latter part of the Channukah celebrations. For those of you leaving us for winter vacation, travel safe, stay warm and return safely and in good health. Gabbai s Gab According to Pirkei Avot a seventy year old attains a ripe old age. I will be that age in a few weeks. Come and celebrate with me and my family at Shabbat service and Kiddush on December 13. Beth Israel has been a very special place for us since we have been residing in Edmonton. It is meaningful to me that it be the site of my milestone event. A few days later we will be observing Chanukah. Our joy will be tempered this year due to the brutal murder of four rabbis and a policeman in Jerusalem and the serious injuries to five other people who were attending a weekday morning service. Nevertheless, we still celebrate our religious freedom and our victory over a force whose aim was to deny us that freedom. I wish that everyone in our congregation will have a Happy Chanukah. Lewis Wasel 70 Sincerely, Stan Kitay BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 2

4 Director s Diary Hi all, I really hate starting on a negative, but as long as we end on a positive, that s what counts. The year is nearly over and we have so much money owing to us, please it would really be appreciated if you would settle outstanding debts owed to the shul. As I have mentioned before we take cash, cheques, credit cards and also debit cards. We are high tech now and can swipe your cards immediately whilst you are here...call me if you have any problems and I m sure together we can sort them out October and November have been very busy months in the office what with Succot and Simchat Torah and all the happenings at the shul, the wonderful childrens programmes, pizza making, kitchen use for various functions in the community, meetings, simchas and unfortunately sometimes for sadder occasions using our social hall, our beautiful Mikvah, all this really keeps us on our toes... What has been exciting and some of you might not be aware of we have schools constantly visiting our shul. Classes of up to 35 boys and girls, mostly grades 9 11 coming to experience and find out about Judiasm They come in with their teachers looking so nervous, but by the time they leave and that is after Rabbi has given them the most wonderful talk on Judiasm for about an hour, they come out thanking us and so elated. On Thursday the class that came through one teacher took it on herself to fit each boy with a kippah, I heard her say, No, thats too small Yes, thats good. December is on us and that means Snowbird time and this year it includes me!! Off to South Africa (Cape Town) with all our kids. Our Rabbis and President will also be travelling so yes December/ January will certainly be a coming and going time but before all that See you on the ice rink at the West Edmonton Mall on December 22 nd at 4:30pm. Please don t forget to book!! Keep Warm, Luba. I recently attended the annual YU Rebbetzins Conference in Teaneck, NJ. I know many of you are thinking "Can you still attend now that you changed your title to Rabbanit?". Well, that is one of the amazing things about a Rebbetzins conference - it is tailored to every individual female clergy. There is no one specific type of rebbetzin. Each one possesses a unique character that fits with their corresponding rabbi/husband. Many have their own careers ranging from teachers to occupational therapists to yoga instructors to psychologists to doctors, lawyers and financial analysts. It was wonderful to reconnect with colleauges that I had the merit to meet over the years. It gave us a forum to discuss variety of issues that arise.we had mentors who had over twenty years experience in the rabbinate who counseled and advised us on current and past events specifically affecting the role of Rebbetzins. We had thought-provoking shiurim which gave us the tools to bring back to our own communities. We exchanged programming ideas on how to increase synagogue involvement. I am grateful to YU Center of Jewish Future to host a convention for us to give us the opportunity to re-energize and bring positive energy back to our communities. With Chanukah around the corner let us remember the miracle of the holiday. The one little drop of oil that was supposed to last one day lasted for eight! It is amazing how one little drop of oil lit up the Menorah and the lifted up the spirits of the Jewish people when they were at their lowest, having lost everything - the beit hamikdash and all the holy vessels. The celebration of Chanukah is about the continuation of spreading that light and that spirit! Let us be like that little drop of oil and spread the positivity and love. Every little bit counts and so does every little effort that we can do for our Shul, our community and klal yisroel! Happy Chanukah! Rabbanit Batya BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 3

5 December Howard & Esther Starkman Morley & Naomi Wolfman Dr. Stan & Rosemary Kitay Sam & Faith Greenspan Nathan & Sandra Kahn Amir & Carla Lehrer Barry & June Zalmanowitz Jack & Marilyn Cohen Bernie & Jeannette Hoffman January Forrest & Anna Zeisler Clive & Luba Allen Fridrich & Pelagea Vysotski Joel & Melany Allen Erez & Natalie Allouche Sam & Joyce Galante Jermiah & Sylvia Benjamin Jack & Lillian Soroka Harry & Dr. Sveta Silverman Isaiah & Pnina Staav Michael & Jodi Zabludowski At Beth Israel, we love to spread birthday joy! Has your birthday (or that of a family member) not appeared in our monthly newsletter?our database is missing many member birthdates. Over the next few months, we will be attempting to gather members' birthdates. If you could assist us in our efforts, please contact Keren at or by at office@familyshul.org. Otherwise, we will contact you. Thank you for your cooperation! December Blair Bondar Eric Muradov Dara Katzeff Dave Broesky Nikki Lazar Esther Sklofsky Adam Baram Leah Goldford Jerry Cooper Alan Richter Jeannette Hoffman Ben Starkman Heather Vickar Fay Leigh Shmulik Rosenblum Misha Vickar Joel Reboh Myra Kacew Maneesha Fraser Erica Karabus Misha Pesin Naomi Wolfman Geoffrey Sperber Sarah Levine Susan Mintz Linda Silverman Lewis Wasel Robert Wood Fay Kifer January Allan Uram Tanya Kalitsky Avi Habinski Esther Starkman Yiskah Feinstein Avi Lehrer Adriel Allouche Eva Koplowicz Sylvia Benjamin Marvin Abugov Mark Katzeff Norman Schayer Freya Wasel Draytin Rogerville Rivie Bondar Evelyn Prepes Ben Rabinovich Gloria Lallouz Beryl Nahornick Robert Pokroy Joseph Ovics Rebecca Zabludowski Robin Marcus BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 4

6 .. BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 5

7 BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ g 6

8