Rabbi Michael D. Howald

Cantor Suzanne Bernstein

Bryn Biren, Felicia Otto

Co-Presidents

MARCH 2024

Adar I -Adar II 5784

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LARRY HANIBAL

JIM ROHAN

JODI & ALAN SIEGEL

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      Earlier this month, I accompanied three of our post-confirmation students, Gennie Lopez, Sim Lenner, and Nathaniel Lee, to Washington D.C., for a 4 -day conference on social justice sponsored by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (the “RAC”). The conference, called the L’taken Social Justice Seminar, is an intense youth summit on Jewish values and public policy. L’taken exposes students to a variety of public policy issues, guides them in an exploration of the Jewish values surrounding the issues they care about, and teaches them the skills of an effective social justice advocate. Last Shabbat, I talked about my impressions of the extended weekend and my hope that the congregation can enable future students to attend this inspiring and meaningful conference.

         When I mentioned the RAC, however, I recognized that most of us are not acquainted with the work of the Religious Action Center and its place in the interconnected organizations that make up the distinct groups within the universe of Reform Judaism. Most of us are familiar with the Union for Reform Judaism (“URJ”), the umbrella organization that encompasses all the Reform synagogues in North America. Standing alongside the URJ are the two professional conferences that serve our synagogues, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (the “CCAR”) to which I belong, and the American Conference of Cantors (the “ACC”) to which Cantor Bernstein belongs. Founded in 1961, the RAC serves all these organizations as the advocacy arm of the Reform movement, dedicated to educating and mobilizing Reform Jews around the legislative and social concerns central to our mission to repair the world, including economic justice, civil rights, religious liberty, Israel, and many more.

         Over the years, the RAC has had an illustrious history on social justice. When Martin Luther King came to Washington D.C. to ask for the passage of civil rights legislation, the RAC offered him the use of its conference room. In that room, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were both drafted by the coalition of organizations advocating for social change and racial justice. For years, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights was jointly housed in the RAC’s offices, and many other important progressive bills were drafted or advanced there, including the Americans with Disabilities Act 1982, the Voting Rights Extension, the Japanese American Redress Act, the Civil Rights Restoration Act, the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988 and the Civil Rights Act 1991.

         Today, the RAC continues to be one of the most forceful religious voices for social justice in the United States. Our movement is often at the forefront of efforts to remake our country for the better and the RAC is a consistent and experienced voice advocating our values in the nation’s capital. Today, the RAC continues to inform members of the Senate and the House on issues central to our movement’s mission to heal our broken world. As part of that mission, the RAC inspires and trains young people to be future advocates for social justice, even in the seats of power, by hosting four seminars a year, teaching hundreds of Reform teenagers how to live their values by speaking truth to power.

         In the years ahead, we hope to send other students from Temple Israel to the L’taken seminar sponsored by the RAC. This will require careful planning and support from parents and the congregation. Now that you know more about the purpose of the seminar and the mission of the RAC, we hope that you will support our efforts to show young people how to translate our dedication to social justice into action capable of changing the world. More than ever, we need the enthusiasm and vision of our youth to lead the way to a better future and the RAC, I believe, provides an inspiring and proven program to get us there. I encourage each of you to attend our Shabbat service on March 8^th where our recent attendees of the L’taken seminar will speak about their experience at the conference and the lessons they learned. After listening to them, I hope you will agree that both the RAC and the L’taken seminars are efforts of our movement both worthy of your support! 

Bryn Biren

Felicia Otto

It is that time of year when the days are short and the nights are long. We are already visualizing the days when we are outdoors in the warmth and sunlight. They cannot come soon enough.   However, there are some things that we can all do at this time. Some might consider the suggestions to be “old fashioned”, but we think that they will definitely be appreciated.

The first is the personal phone call. We all have I-phones and computers and we communicate by texting. We know that taking the time to actually call someone, with no ulterior motive in mind, is very much appreciated. Making a phone call to a Temple member whom you haven’t seen in a while and asking how things are going, is a step in the right direction. This is especially true of those who are older, who might be living alone or who might be ill. We guarantee that your efforts will be appreciated. Hearing a message left by an old friend or a congregant on your answering machine makes a person feel appreciated and valued.

Writing a personal note is another lost art. Teaching this thoughtful skill to children and grandchildren is helping them to think of others, to engage in acts of t’kun olam. Just sit down and write a few uplifting sentences. 

How nice is it to have someone come to your house and bring candy, some cookies, or even a few flowers? Looking at these gifts is a daily reminder that you were thoughtful enough to take the time to think of someone.

 A smile and a hello is an inexpensive way of saying to someone, “I acknowledge you, how are you?” We know how happy we feel when a stranger says thank you or hello to us.  The reverse is also true. When walking through the halls of Temple Israel people feel hurt when others walk past them and act as if they are invisible. It shouldn’t happen. Sitting in clusters at tables and not reaching out to those who are visiting our synagogue for the first time is not right. Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

This is a world filled with problems; life is tough right now. Wouldn’t it be nice to make an effort to add a few of the niceties into daily living?

How about giving it a try?

Sincerely,

Bryn Biren & Felicia Otto

Co-Presidents

When asked as a child, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would respond, "a singing author naturalist." By becoming a cantor, and now living at least part-time in a rural area upstate, I feel I have achieved my dream. But you may ask, does writing this monthly bulletin column fulfill the "author" part of that dream? Not really. That's what writing Purim spiels once a year is for.  

I started writing parody songs in elementary school when I entered a contest to write a school song by doctoring the Notre Dame Fight Song: "Cheers, cheers for our Gallow school, reading and writing the Golden Rule..." My best friend, who wrote an original song, both words and music, for the contest, was furious when I won the contest. Yeah, I know what sells. After years of assiduously studying the works of P. D. Q. Bach (z'l) and Weird Al Yankovic, when I entered the School of Sacred Music of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, I eagerly volunteered yearly for the Purim crew, further honing my skills. My first full blown Purim spiel was... you know, I actually don't remember. But it must have been at one of my student pulpits, or maybe it really was at Temple Israel of Staten Island, which has seen the production of my master spiels, "The King and Oy," "Goys and Dolls," and "Star Drek,” to name just a few.  

And now for a serious thought regarding Purim spiel writing. Seriously.  

In the beginning, I created Purim spiels in which Haman died according to the Megillah, either by being hanged on the gallows or impaled on a stake.  And I thought, that's comedy, folks. Lost in time and the mists of my mind is when and why I started to find killing Haman disturbing. Did this reluctance start on February 25, 1994, the Purim that Baruch Goldstein stormed a mosque prayer room in the Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29 and wounding more than 125 Muslim worshippers?   As Rabbi Wiki quotes Professor Ian Lustick as saying,  "By mowing down Arabs he believed wanted to kill Jews, Goldstein was re-enacting part of the Purim story." ^[26]  My discomfort with the Megillah and its story of the Jews taking revenge on Haman and his family increased when at a family seder, an Egyptian Muslim woman who was a close friend of my cousin, asked me about a sentence in the Mayan Women's Haggadah which said, "Always remember that it is easy for the oppressed to become the oppressor." "What exactly does this mean?" she asked. I fumferred for a reply, assuring her that the authors of this Haggadah did not mean that they approved of the oppressed becoming the oppressor. When I became the cantor of an Old Country shul in Brooklyn, I was horrified at Purim time to see Hamans hanging in effigy all over Boro Park.  

Liberal bleeding-heart snowflake that I am, my spiels became kinder and gentler. At first, I did things like instead of impaling Haman on a stake, we threw a fake plastic steak at him. In the infamous spiel, "Estita," Alan Siegel purportedly still bears the scars from the gold metal coffee filters with which he was skewered. Well, maybe that is not such a good example of a gentler spiel.  

This year, after the unimaginable horrors of the Hamas attack in Israel, and the staggering resultant death toll of civilians, children, women and men in both Gaza and Israel, my heart desired a rosy ending to the Purim spiel where everyone decides to get along despite their differences. To me, the Barbie world depicted in Greta Gerwig's film is precisely that mythical ideal world. Poor Barbie. She finds out her world is not the real world. Poor us. Will we ever understand how easy it is for the oppressed to become the oppressor?  

Please put on your best Barbie pink, and come on Erev Purim to hear Esther Barbie ask herself, "What was I made for?" Will we have the courage of Esther to stand up and to say we are all one people, and each and every life is precious?  

May the month of Adar Bet, which corresponds this year to the month of Ramadan, bring peace to each of us and to the whole world. 

Cantor Suzanne Bernstein 

SENIOR CHOIR

Sunday, March 10- 10:00 am

Rehearsal

Tuesday, March 12- 7:00 pm

Rehearsal

Friday, March 15- 7:00 pm

Warm-up in Library for 7:30 p.m. Service

Sunday, March 17- 10:00 am

Rehearsal

Friday, March 22- 3:30 pm

Shabbat & Purim Celebration at The Brielle

JUNIOR CHOIR

Friday, March 8*** -Warm -up -6:30 pm

for 7:00 Family Service***

(***note date change)

Please join the Cantor, Rabbi and Choir as we share the joy of Shabbat & Purim with residents of The Brielle on Friday, March 22nd at 3:30 pm.

With celebrations including costumes, skits and songs, noisemakers, and gifts of food, Purim is definitely full of fun! Purim is a joyous holiday that affirms and celebrates Jewish survival and continuity throughout history. The main communal celebration involves a public reading—usually in the synagogue—of the Book of Esther (M'gillat Esther), which tells the story of the holiday: Under the rule of King Ahashverosh, Haman, the king's adviser, plots to exterminate all of the Jews of Persia. His plan is foiled by Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai, who ultimately save the Jews of Persia from destruction. The reading of the m'gillah typically is a rowdy affair, punctuated by booing and noise-making when Haman's name is read aloud.



Purim is an unusual holiday in many respects. First, Esther is the only biblical book in which God is not mentioned. Second, Purim, like Hanukkah, is viewed as a minor festival according to Jewish custom, but has been elevated to a major holiday as a result of the Jewish historical experience. Over the centuries, Haman has come to symbolize every anti-Semite in every land where Jews were oppressed. The significance of Purim lies not so much in how it began, but in what it has become: a thankful and joyous affirmation of Jewish survival.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

MARCH 2024

ADAR I-ADAR II 5784

For calendar updates please check the Temple website.

To print or download a copy of this calendar, click here.

CONDOLENCES TO:



JAMES & JULIE COHEN and Family on the loss of Jim's mother and former Temple member, JUDITH DIAMOND COHEN;

LYDIA LEIMSIDER and Family on the loss of her husband, RICHARD;

LINDA & ALAN BRILL & family on the loss of their brother-in-law ROGER ZETTER

GET WELL WISHES TO:

BARBARA FRIED recovering from hospitalization;

SANDY FEUERSTEIN recovering from COVID

THINKING OF YOU:

SUE FREEDMAN

RUSSELL KAMINSKY

March 1, 2024

Beatrice Adler

Joseph Sitler

Thomas McGowan

Ruth Mulnick

Ida Silverman *

Barney Sher *

Sarah Samith

Sylvia Polonsky

Jacques Pessah *

Elinor May

Sadie Mogol *

Thomas Sparacio

And we remember from the Holocaust:

Rayzel Baum

Francois Lehaut

Rivkah Zelkowicz

David Wygody

Anna Seidl

March 8, 2024

Blanche Dembiner

Harry Levee *

Albert Rosen *

Ella Small

Ida Baver *

Felix Ecker *

Moises Gornstein

Ethel Kessler *

Edward Lipsitz *

David Sappin

Harry Siegel *

Margaret Guttman

Max Kadin *

William Levine

Pamela Popler-Tolk

Elaine Schnittman *

Lena Tannenbaum

Samuel Smith *

Sidney Lachman *

Carl Litkofsky

Cecily Marianne Sostek

Veronica Balogh

Mary Curatola

And we remember from the Holocaust:

Chaim Faust

Lazor Berlinski

Ludwig Hirschberg

Dezsonne Bruck

Hirsh Waldfogel

March 15, 2024

Norman Feigelman

Michael Levine

Mark James Sheirr *

Ida Grober

Charles Overberger

Alice Snyder Best

Michael Sorkin

Esther Bierman

Luz Burstein *

Robert Stakofsky *

Beni Kessler *

William Pollack *

Eleanor Weinberg

Caroline Elrich

Louis Harrison

Greta Newman *

Lillian Selznick *

Samuel Tepper

And we remember from the Holocaust:

Sholom Wiszlicki

Edit Hoch

Adriana Rood

Samuel Swatlew

Wilhelm Christen

March 22, 2024

Harriet Simmons *

Thelma Fuller

Mollie Kantrowitz

Daniel Shapiro

Alice W. Blach

George Schwartz *

Jerry Fleishman

Warren Silverman

Sheila Blit

Phyllis Brennan

James Levy *

Gertrude Doria

Ida Herman *

Lena Levinson *

Jack Sugar

And we remember from the Holocaust:

Franciszek Winiarski

Nikolai Sobolow

Marcus Perlman

Erwin Loewidt

Naftali Dombrower

March 29, 2024

Steven Schreiber *

Lori Singer-Olson

Dr. Jeffrey Walters

Florence Rubin

Nancy Avis *

Israel Pisetzner *

Ellyn Sigmund

Helen O'Krepke

Dr. Hyman Poritz *

Gilda Schuster

Howard Wolodiger *

And we remember from the Holocaust:

Eugeniusz Gladysz

Haim Ofman

Otto Schwanengel

Oswald Bouska

Andor Nemet

The Advance Payment Program allows members to pay in advance for Friday night program ads. Members usually deposit $100 (or less in some cases) and when an ad is placed, $5 is deducted. When the balance gets low (usually to about $10) an e-mail is sent reminding the member that they should consider adding money to their account. 

You may, if you wish, pay in advance for Friday night program announcements. For more details contact the Temple office or contact Deanna Feder at  dfeder19@aol.com to set up an account. 

DEDICATE A LEAF ON OUR

TREE OF LIFE

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Dear Fellow Congregants,

As we reach the Spring season, we look forward to your continued participation in the many events that are planned throughout the year. As you can appreciate, our Temple ‘home’ has been maintained so that it will continue to be a welcoming site for our Congregants.

As such, there are many expenditures associated with this on-going effort.

Please check that your Annual Commitment to the Temple is up to date.  Should you need any assistance or clarification regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me directly, Jackie @ 347-631-9802. 

Thanks in advance for your on-going commitment to Temple Israel; we are grateful for your support.

Jacqueline Rabinowitz 

Financial Secretary

Please consider becoming a member of our

KAVOD SOCIETY.

It helps to make membership available to all our families. Speak to our Financial Secretary to upgrade your membership.

This time of year brings the festive holidays of Purim and Passover.  Temple Israel will celebrate the joyous holiday of Purim with the reading of the Megillah, The Purim Shpiel, and Shalach Manot.

The Joint Sisterhood/Brotherhood Breakfast was held on February 11.  Pam Silvestri, food editor of the Staten Island Advance and former co-owner of American Grill, spoke about different restaurants on Staten Island.

Sisterhood’s Sampled Sale on March 2 will include a light supper and a 50/50 raffle. If you are planning to attend, please contact Jodi Siegel (jsiegel23@aol.com) today.  You don't want to miss the fun or the bargains! Thank you to all those who generously donated beautiful and useful items for sale. This event is a fundraiser for the community seder and helps us to keep the cost for our members as low as possible.

Contact Blanche Ricci, Linda Hanibal or Deanna Feder today if you want to participate in Shalach Manot, which takes place on March 22. The deadline is March 2nd. You can send Shalach Manot to one person or to Temple Israel’s entire community. Packing the Shalach Manot will take place on March 21 at 11 am. Volunteers are needed to help with the packaging.   

The Annual Jennifer Straniere Memorial Community Passover Seder, hosted by Sisterhood, will take place on Friday, April 22 at 6 pm.  Please place your reservations soon.  Seating is limited. Please contact Jodi Siegel with any questions. Set up will take place on Sunday, April 21.

Maxine Cohen is collecting monetary donations to help the JCC purchase Kosher for Passover food for needy families.  Please be generous when you donate.  

For Sisterhood’s General Meeting on March 24, a WRJ (Women’s Reform Judaism) representative will discuss how to support long-time members and how to get younger members involved.

A Women’s Shabbaton on Saturday, May 18, is being planned by Sue Freedman and Judy Lee. This should be an empowering woman’s day.  More details will follow.

The Nominating Committee begins its search this month for Sisterhood officers and directors. We need you. Please say "YES" when you are called upon! The future of our organization depends on you!

Sisterhood continues to hold Game Nights on the first Wednesday of each month.  Play Mah Jong or bring another game of your choice.   

Please continue your prayers for peace in the Middle East and for the release of the remaining hostages.  

Pamela Carlton, Sue Freedman, Judy Lee, Anita Zuckerberg

Sisterhood Co-Presidents 

Brotherhood at Temple Israel continues….Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

       During the recent joint Sisterhood/Brotherhood Sunday morning meeting, about a dozen Brotherhood members shared a delightful breakfast prepared by Sisterhood’s talented chefs.  In addition, we were informed about many, many dining opportunities across the borough by Pamela Silvestri, the food columnist for the Staten Island Advance.  Her presentation was supported by our own Dennis Guttsman whose extensive knowledge of the available Sri Lankan eateries that he has enjoyed and heartily recommended. A brief meeting followed the presentation, and we discussed the following:

            The shared S’hood/B’hood sponsored Bingo Night will take place later in the Spring when some of our ‘snowbirds’ return from their recent flight to warmer climes.

            We reviewed our preparation for this year’s sponsorship of the distribution of the yellow memorial candles for Erev Yom HaShoah on Sunday, May 5^th.  We will again need some assistance for the delivery of these candles to the homes of our congregants in advance of the event.

            We also supported the recent concert by the talented Vinnie Medugno by helping to underwrite the beverage selections for the evening.

            Please join us later in the year for our annual Brotherhood Men’s Night Out; we will determine an appropriate locale for this event to enable as many participants as possible.

With good wishes for a safe and healthy Spring season,

Alan Siegel & Bob Zuckerberg

This month we are preparing for our year end assembly and celebration with a spring fundraiser. The flyer is attached and the link to shop to support our school is here:  https://shop.misschocolate.com/index.asp?PID=157010

You can find kosher for Passover items as well as non-edible goods and just about everything! Please consider making a purchase and supporting our school. 

We are looking forward to two field trips this month. The first is for all school students on Sunday, March 3rd and it is in lieu of school. Join us to make and bake Hamantaschen for Purim at 11:00am at the Chabad Israel Center: 44 Brunswick Street at the corner of Richmond Hill Road. The second trip is for students age nine and older with an adult family member to the Museum of Jewish Heritage's  Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark exhibit where students will learn about how Jewish and non-Jewish neighbors of all ages mobilized to create one of the most effective and exceptional examples of mass resistance in modern history. The exhibition tells the remarkable story of the rescue of Danish Jews during the Holocaust. These trips are made possible thanks to the Dr. Ronald Avis Foundation for Temple Israel. 

Finally, we look forward to seeing many of our school students in this year's Purim Spiel on Saturday, March 23rd at 6:30pm. 

Sincerely, 

Felicia

Felicia Otto

Religious School Committee Co-Chair

We are sorry if your name was inadvertently omitted. Please contact the Temple Office to update your membership information.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SPONSORING AN ONEG, PLEASE COMPLETE THE FLYER BELOW AT LEAST ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE OF THE DATE YOU ARE REQUESTING.

SUBMIT YOUR COMPLETED FORM TO SISTERHOOD VIA THE SISTERHOOD MAILBOX, OR GIVE IT DIRECTLY TO

SISTERHOOD CO-PRESIDENT JUDY LEE.

YOU WILL THEN BE CONTACTED BY A SISTERHOOD REPRESENTATIVE WHO WILL HAPPILY ASSIST YOU WITH ALL THE ARRANGEMENTS & DETAILS.

The Membership Committee has been arranging the TOT Shabbat services each month. We reviewed the schedule for this month and the next two months, and we will be calling the families and making the assignments for the committee members who will be assisting at the services.

We continued our discussion about the designing of a new logo for Temple. Sandy will be in contact with Sarah to review the proposal presented. She will report back next month.

The Kavod reception will be held on Friday, April 12 prior to Shabbat services. We discussed arranging food, music re: possible keyboard playing (Maxine will speak to her son) and will find out about the budget for the cost of the event. A committee was set up to meet separately to help plan the event. 

We discussed that after Purim the Committee would like to continue talks with Brooke Lopez to schedule a Membership event such as an intergenerational movie night presentation and discussion. 



We also discussed the Congregants who we have not seen at services or have not been in contact with Temple to determine who to reach out to with a phone call. Several of the Committee members said they had been in touch with members recently including Inez who recently saw a couple of past members and invited them to Shabbat services.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandy Mazzucco

Claire Guttsman

Co-Chairs

This past month we were saddened by the loss of a long time member and past officer Richard Leimsider. He was a brilliant and learned man and brought light to the world and his family. He is survived by his wife Lydia, his daughters Naomi and Elisa and his granddaughter Zoe.

May the family of Richard Leimsider find comfort among the mourners in Zion and Jerusalem and may his memory be for a blessing. 

Pamela L. Rogozin

Caring Community Chair

The mission of the Dr. Ronald Avis Foundation for Temple Israel Reform Congregation is:

…. to provide financial support for young families seeking membership in Temple Israel, and to attract new young families by providing learning opportunities, family programming, and social justice initiatives.

************************************************************

Welcome to March, 

We have many events happening in March and April.

A reminder again…..On March 3rd at 11am, you are welcome to bring all your children to learn how to bake Hamantaschen! The same wonderful teacher who taught out children how to make challah will be doing the class for us. Reach out to Terry if you are planning to come. 

And on March 10 at 2pm, our children who are 10 + are invited to come to the Museum of Jewish Heritage - a Living Memorial to the Holocaust. They will be doing a tour and program for our children, “The Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark”. Reach out to Terry if you are planning to attend. 

March 23rd is our Purim celebration. Bring your children..and remember that many can participate in the wonderful Purim show we do for our congregation!

Passover is very late this year..but a great time to look forward to. If your family wants to celebrate the seder at temple, reach out and sign up for your family to attend. If you are doing your own seder and have any thoughts or questions of what you want to create for your seder, feel free to call Terry, as she has created her own Haggadah. 

We hope you all start to volunteer for many temple events, including helping at our onegs. 

Enjoy the increasingly warmer month!!

Sincerely,

Bryn Biren and Terry Baver

The story of the Dr. Ronald Avis Foundation for Temple Israel

Dr. Avis originally provided our wonderful Foundation to cover a portion of the membership cost for the first 6 years for young families with young children. Our congregation had been diminishing and he was looking for a way to help us all begin to grow. After meeting with Bryn and Terry a few times, more money was added so the families would also have the opportunities to experience programs for their children. Many wonderful events have been set up for the young families including museum visits, Chanukah cookie designs, a Challah class, a program at the Staten Island Holocaust Center, and many other experiences. The foundation has also helped cover the cost of the religious school teachers.

But then!!!! Covid happened!!!!!!

So the decision was made to use a portion of the foundation money to help all the temple members. The Avis Foundation began to create the zoom classes for the adults in our congregation. These classes are continuing and the foundation covers the costs of them all. The Avis Foundation also covered the cost of the 75th anniversary event. And the foundation is now working with Judy Pessah and the Adult Education Committee to help cover the cost of all the events and classes for the adults in the congregation. 

So: Our entire congregation has benefitted from the generosity of the Foundation. Thank you RON!!!!

Many thanks to Scott Kalmikoff for his 3 stimulating discussions on “The History of Israel, Zionism, and the present Conflict”. We hope to enjoy his presentations again soon.

Looking Ahead

Mark Meyer, our Art expert, will continue with some new views on Art on March 5th , 19th and 26th on Zoom at 7:30 PM.  Zoom link will be sent.

Rabbi Howald will present 2 programs on Thursday, April 18th on Zoom, at 7:30 PM

“Our People’s Prayer Book” -helping us to understand the prayers we say each week. Tuesday, April 30th on Zoom at 7:30 PM

“The World to Come”-Is there an afterlife? Tuesday, May 7, on Zoom at 7:30 PM.

 “Trail of Philadelphia”. Thinking about Jewish Diversity and Heritage, we will view a video to learn about the unique history of the Jewish community in Philadelphia, Pa.

Book Discussion—May 14, on Zoom at 7:30 PM.   “Don’t Forget to Write” by Sara Goodman.

This is the story of a “misbehaving” young Jewish woman who is sent to live with a great aunt, with interesting results! Start Reading!

If you wish to learn more about Judaism on your own, take a look at the following-

My Jewish Learning.com. You will learn one Hebrew word each day, and a wealth of information.

Watch “The Chosen” on Netflix TV., to gain a great understanding of the historical relationship between Jews and Christians.

Go to ertflix.gr to stream a video “The Fire Bracelet” a true story

about a Sephardic  family in Thessaloniki, Greece. This will be in

Greek with English translations.

Judith Pessah

Adult Learning Committee Chairperson

Thank you to everyone who participated on Wednesday February 21 at Clay and Kiln. Everyone had a good time painting their ceramic piece. We also made a little money for the Temple.

Please save the date for Saturday May 4, 2024 and join the FUNdraising committee as we learn line dancing to country and pop music. Please be on the look out for our Flyer.

Rhonda Trontz-Allen, Karen Frey-Gamoran, Lissa Winchel

Co-Chairs