VOICE Celebrate the Power of Music With Contemporary Jewish Musician TODD HERZOG Beth Israel Congregation August 25, 2017 6:15pm FROM THE HEART AUGUST 2017 Todd Herzog sings to the soul For a Taste of Todd s Inspirational Music Go to toddherzog.com
Rabbi s Message Rabbi Jeffrey Kurtz-Lendner Welcome Bill Morris! (Again) I am delighted to share with our congregation that our new Religious School Education Coordinator is Bill Morris. Bill has been involved at Beth Israel for some time now. Many of you know him as a regular at services, a recurring volunteer to help with many Temple projects and someone who participates in most of the activities we offer at Beth Israel Congregation. Bill was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to a career Air Force officer and Jackson native father, and Missouriborn mother. He served as an enlisted Journalist in the US Navy during the Vietnam war, first in the public affairs office on board the USS MIDWAY in Japan, an aircraft carrier now moored in San Diego as a museum, and later on the USS SPERRY, a submarine repair ship then homeported in San Diego. So instead of offering Bill a welcome, join me in offering him a welcome again! as Bill joins our staff team and brings his passion and talents to help our religious school bring the best Jewish experiences to our children. BETH ISRAEL OFFICE HOURS Monday: CLOSED Tuesday: 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Wednesday: 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. Thursday: 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Friday: 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Closed for lunch: 12:30-1:30 p.m. Bill first visited us in 1987 after attending Rabbi Eric Gurvis Intro to Judaism class at Millsaps College. He attended Saturday morning services with Bill and Judy Page. Fast-forward to 2015 and he joined the congregation and was asked to serve as a 6th-grade volunteer teacher in the Religious School. That first class, Introduction to Torah, was co-taught with Chloe Edwards. The next year he taught solo, a combined 3rd and 4th grade class. Also during this time, he has assisted in making repairs around the synagogue and has contributed to the Saturday morning Torah Study group through attendance and by occasionally leading the discussion. He is a member of the Shirim Choir and is currently working together with Mindy Humphrey, to establish a Chevra Kadisha for our community. Now we are delighted that Bill is taking on the reigns of our religious school. I would normally say welcome to a new member of the Beth Israel staff team. However, it s hard to welcome someone who has been here on and off since 1987 and regularly involved since 2015. THE BLAST is email-delivered on Wednesday of each week. If you would like to advertise anything Temple related in the Blast, please submit by 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday. ARTICLE DEADLINE FOR THE FOLLOWING: CHAILIGHTS 1st Friday of every month FRIDAY NIGHT LEAFLET 1:30 p.m. Wednesday Page 2
Sisterhood Spotlight Success is not created by one person, but by a team that comes together as one. ~Jillian Farrar I am so very thankful for our Sisterhood TEAM: our Board, our members, and our supporters in the community! Thank you for your continued dedication and hard work. The Sisterhood is pleased to announce that we have planned our calendar for the coming year, and it is filled with a lot of exciting events. We hope that we will have wonderful participation at events, including planning, set-up and clean-up, too. Our big kick-off highlight will be our Annual Membership Tea on Sunday, August 13th at 10:30 a.m. at the home of Elizabeth McGregor. Please look for more details to be shared via an invitation, Sisterhood FB group and emails to the women in our congregation. Here are our main calendar events: (these are subject to change, but our congregation will be notified in advance if any changes occur.) August 13 Annual Sisterhood Membership Tea September 30 Break the-fast October 4 Sukkot Service & Dinner October 11 Simchat Torah Potluck Dinner November 14 General Meeting, Manicures & Pizza (this may change to the 15th or 16th, as we are working it out with the Salon). December 15 Chanukah Dinner January 12 Sisterhood Shabbat February 4, 11, 18, 25 Bazaar cooking dates March 12-16 Spring Break for public schools in our Hinds, Madison & Rankin County areas. March 21 51st Annual Sisterhood Bazaar March 31 Passover Seder 2nd Night April 22 General Meeting, Bazaar Recap, Slate of New Officers, late afternoon with $5 dinner May 4 Sisterhood Installation Suzanne Freedman Sisterhood President Page 3
From Our President After a summer filled with kids attending Jacobs Camp, family trips and perhaps some relaxing downtime, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a few important reminders for BIC members as we head into the school year and a more regular routine. Michele Schipper President 1. Access to the building. We post the hours that the office is open as those are the times our members can be buzzed into the building through the entrance closest to the library/office area. The main doors leading into the sanctuary are open Friday nights at 5:45 p.m. prior to Shabbat services. At all other times, all of the doors into the building are kept locked as this is for everyone's safety and security. As most of you know, but a reminder for our newest members, Beth Israel runs a pre-school program Monday Friday. All of us at Beth Israel and the teachers and staff of the pre-school are responsible for the health, safety and welfare of the children in their charge. Do not ask the pre-school staff to let you in or try to enter the pre-school wing during school hours, 7:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., as the teachers need to be with their students. Please note the posted office hours and enter through the door closest to the library/office. If you have any questions, please reach out to me at schippermichele@yahoo.com. Thank you! BETH ISRAEL OFFICE HOURS Monday: CLOSED Tuesday: 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Wednesday: 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. Thursday: 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Friday: 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Closed for lunch: 12:30-1:30 p.m. 2. There are opportunities to dedicate our new Machzor Mishkan Ha Nefesh. Please refer to the form included in. This is a wonderful way to honor a family member or friend or to remember a loved one. August 30 is the deadline to get your form and payment to the office to have the bookplates in place for the high holidays. Thanks for your support. 3. Candle lighting, kiddush and torah honors. Please let me know if you are interested in having one of these services honors for Friday nights. I want to thank Bette Shornick for all of her efforts over the years to make sure we have congregants participating in these honors. If you are interested in helping to organize these weekly honors or you would like to volunteer to have a Friday night service honor, please let me know at schippermichele@yahoo.com. 4. We are fortunate to have a number of bar and bat mitzvah students who will be leading us in worship in the coming months this fall. All congregants are welcome and encouraged to share in this special moment of our young congregant s lives. To assist our bar and bat mitzvah families as they are planning, please remember to RSVP for the Kiddush luncheon following the service. Many thanks! Page 4
Religious School part of the Jewish experience Telling the story of our faith to the next generation is at the core of religious school. Much teaching happens in the home, of course, but to thrive as a community, learning should also happen alongside our fellow Jews. Religious School at Beth Israel Congregation (BIC) happens in a place dedicated to the worship of God, where Torah and tradition are revered by teachers for whom this is a sacred task. However, ask many raised in a Jewish home about their experiences in religious school and few remember Sunday school as having been a wonderful experience. It is a common recollection of too many Jews. For many parents it is a valid assessment of their time at religious school. If it was so bad, why do we bother with religious school now? Has anything changed? Absolutely! For one thing, the curriculum. It didn t exist when parents were in religious school. The Goldring/ Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) curriculum our teachers use help make our students Jewish faith relevant and meaningful every day. Unlike their parents, our students have nothing with which to compare today s BIC Religious School. It s all new, and it s all exciting! The upcoming school year at BIC will feature several innovations that will benefit both students and parents. One is the opening t filah time, led by Rabbi Kurtz-Lendner. We will begin our Sunday school mornings with song and prayer and inspiration. Another is a dedicated space for parents to sit and enjoy coffee and refreshments while school is in session. My intent as education coordinator for the BIC Religious School is to build on the thoroughness and momentum established by Rabbi Debra Kassoff. Three years she guided the implementation and success of the ISJL curriculum. Our students will continue to benefit from this momentum and the use of the ISJL approach. As a classroom teacher for the past two years in the BIC Religious School under Rabbi Kassoff s direction, I can attest to the effectiveness of the curriculum and to her dedication. I am grateful to her for asking me to become a teacher in the first place, and to the amazing Chloe Edwards-Stowe who co-taught Intro to Torah with me to a roomful of marvelous 6 th graders that first year. I appreciate this opportunity to help our students learn what it means to be Jewish and to live Jewishly. Parents, teachers, and staff will make the BIC Religious School a special place of discovery and a bridge to a deeply fulfilling Jewish spiritual life. Let s get started! Bill Morris Education Coordinator Page 5
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS 1 David Mandel 19 Lily Salvage 3 Marcia Barron 20 Rebecca Craig 3 Sherrie Glass 20 Sidney Mack 4 Lynda Balfour 23 Abby Craig 10 Sandra Fischer 24 Clay Humphrey 11 Steve Liverman 24 Erica Weil 12 Eugenia Ruvinsky 24 Robbie Barron 13 Ted Orkin 25 Sarah Springer 13 T. J. Grossman 26 Trey McGregor 14 Deborah Feldman 27 Talia Buxbaum 16 Jason Snyder 27 David Crystal 17 Will Leonard 28 Mills Norris 17 Eric Balfour 30 Bill Gordon 17 Anne Sawyer 30 James Bowley 18 Justin Schlakman 30 Rebecca Rubinsky 19 Lily Salvage 31 Jonathan Springer ******************************************** Please bring your empty/ unused ink cartridges to the Temple! We are able to help the planet by recycling and help our religious school discounts on supplies. AUGUST ANNIVERSARIES 10 Laura and Sam Ginsberg 16 Beth and Steve Orlansky 16 Janice and Bernard Blumenthal 16 Petra and Robert Kay 17 Amy and Gerry Printz 17 Sue and Bobby Jacobs 18 Sondy and Bob Berman 19 Debra and Alexander Kassoff 19 Mary Golde and Bill Howell 19 Jo Ann and Bill Gordon 19 Deborah and Sandor Feldman 22 Reva and Ellis Hart 26 Kay and Lawson Metz 28 Susan and Rick Snyder 30 Miriam and Robert Smith ******************************************** The High Holidays are quickly approaching! Rosh Hashana begins September 20, 2017. The September is one of our largest issues. If you would like to submit an article for the September issue, please submit it to: office@bethisraelms.org by August 8, 2017. Please join us as my beloved daughter Talia Rose Buxbaum is called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on September 2, 2017 at 10:15 a.m. RSVP sarah.g.buxbaum@gmail.com for the luncheon. Page 6
WE APPRECIATE THE THOUGHTFULNESS OF THOSE WHO SUPPORT BETH ISRAEL BY REMEMBERING AND HONORING THEIR FRIENDS AND LOVED ONES THROUGH THEIR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS Donations may be applied to the following funds, per your request: GENERAL FUND MEMBERSHIP & ENGAGEMENT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND TIKKUN OLAM FUND ENDOWMENT FUND ONEG FUND LIBRARY/PRAYER BOOK FUND WEBSITE FUND RABBI S DISCRETIONARY FUND SATURDAY MORNING FUND MUSIC FUND CEMETERY FUND CARING FUND (SISTERHOOD) ART FUND PROGRAM FUND JEWISH CINEMA MISSISSIPPI BITY MITZVAH FUND (SISTERHOOD) RELIGIOUS SCHOOL HOLOCAUST FUND BITY In Honor of the Confirmands Amy & Arty Finkelberg CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT FUND In Memory of T. Stanley Orkin Donna & Ted Orkin Donation Morgan & Aaron Samuels CARING FUND (SISTERHOOD) In Memory of Asher Katz Janice & Buddy Blumenthal In Memory of Judy Wahba Melissa & Ralph Daniel, III GENERAL FUND In Honor of the Confirmation Class Bea Gavant In Memory of Carla Willenzik Albert Leveck JEWISH CINEMA MISSISSIPPI Donation Tzedakah Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson RABBI S DISCRETIONARY FUND Donation Amy & Arty Finkelberg TIKKUN OLAM FUND In Honor of Bar Mitzvah of Gabriel Freedman Janice & Buddy Blumenthal In Memory of Lona Freedman Cohen Dana & Jonathan Larkin CEMETERY FUND Donation Morgan & Aaron Samuels In Memory of A. J. Orkin, Sr. Donna & Ted Orkin In Memory of Jonathon Sonkin Melanie Dobel In Memory of Thelma Dobel Melanie Dobel In Memory of Asher Katz Wayne E. Ferrell In Memory of Asher Katz Andrea & Buddy Fish In Memory of Jonathon Sonkin Andrea & Buddy Fish In Memory of Thelma Dobel Lynn Crystal In Memory of Asher Katz James W. Kitchens In Memory of Betty and Leo Mermelstein Morris Mermelstein In Memory of Walter Lipsick Helen Leighton In Memory of Tony Sharp Tamar & Peter Sharp In Memory of Asher Katz Burns & Associates, PLLC In Memory of Asher Katz M. C. Cooke In Memory of Judith Rivlin Michel E. Rivlin In Memory of Alex & Mel Feldman Irv Feldman In Memory of Lou Humphrey Mindy & Clay Humphrey In Memory of Sydney Geiger Mindy & Clay Humphrey In Memory of S. Geiger Mindy & Clay Humphrey In Memory of Lawrence Gavant Richard Gavant In Memory of Asher Katz Elaine, Michael & Scott Fox In Memory of Charlotte Crystal Lynn Crystal In Memory of Asher Katz Carby & Carby P.C. In Memory of Fay L. Berman Sondy & Bob Berman In Memory of Joseph E. Berman Sondy & Bob Berman A Chevra Kadisha for Beth Israel Congregation In my entire life, I don t think I ve done anything more worthwhile than serve on the Chevra Kadisha. Dr. Saul Kahn, head of the Men s Chevra Kadisha, New Orleans The Chevra Kadisha, or Holy Society, is a group of men and women who volunteer to prepare and dress a deceased man or woman for burial. This is a traditional Jewish practice that has provided comfort for the living and honor to the dead for hundreds of years. It has the power to transform those who serve as volunteers and can provide a comprehensive level of care to those who are in mourning. Beth Israel Congregation will host David Zinner, executive director of Kavod v Nichum (Honor and Comfort), beginning Friday evening, September 8, 2017. He will conduct a Saturday morning session on the history and practice of Jewish burial traditions, followed by a Sunday afternoon training session for volunteers. David is the founder of Kavod v Nichum, which is the only non-profit in the United States and Canada that focuses solely on education and advocacy of Jewish traditions around dying, death, funeral, burials, cemeteries, grief and mourning. In this holy work, women care for women and men care for men. If you think you might be interested in serving as a member of the Beth Israel Chevra Kadisha, please email Mindy Humphrey at consulthns@comcast.net or Bill Morris at wdmorris@bethisraelms.org. Watch for more details in upcoming BIC Blasts. Page 7
Non-Profit Org U. S. POSTAGE PAID Permit #123 JACKSON, MS P.O. Box 13249 Jackson, MS 39236 Phone: (601) 956-6215 Fax: (601) 952-0895 bethisraelms.org We Remember Yahrzeits for AUGUST 2017 7/30/2017-8/5/2017 James Lawson Lois Steiner Jess Docter Edward Spielman Maude Lehmann Ida Sebulsky Sandra Klingler Kathleen Waxman Lev Aronov Michele Fijman Lillian Crystal Herbert Nash Bill Byous Solomon C. Waxman Isaac Snyder 8/6/2017-8/12/2017 George Moorhead Edward Fisch Yetta Kaplan Nina Ivshin Sarah Berger Genevieve Falk David Daniel Juliette Engel Abe Fisher William Fishman Billy Ainsworth Myron Gavant Irene Sloan Adelia Thames Sam Rubin Sara Gorelik Stewart Docter Rebecca Fisher Clinton Howell 8/13/2017-8/19/2017 Gertrude Solomon Beatrice Workman William Taffet Sigmund Stamm Helen Orkin Josephine Moorhead Harry Boyd Solomon Sherman Charles Grossman Alvin Leighton Sol Wolff 8/20/2017-8/26/2017 John Hart Asher Joseph Brame, Jr. J. Nelson Max Loeffelholz Betty Docter-Raines Raymond Jacobs Geiger Allan Bernstein Mary Lipsich Dorothy Barham Murray Benenson Sadie Smith 8/27/2017-9/2/2017 Louis I. Portnoy Eleanor Branson Alexandra Erlich Willie Reichek Rose Salomon Celia Mermelstein Lehman Engel Hilda Shapero Irving Jacob Buchman Estelle Binder Hortense Leveck Lena Finegold Henry Leveck Mose Hesdorffer Betsy Rae Mimnaugh *Memorial Alcove