Dear Bet Torah Family,
Bet Torah is an amazing synagogue; we all know that. It is wonderful when one of our own is singled out and others are able to see it too.
On June 1, Rabbi Brusso will be honored by the rabbinic human rights organization T’ruah for his leadership on immigration.
Specifically, Rabbi Brusso will be recognized for mobilizing Bet Torah and other community resources in support of Armando Rojas, our longtime custodian, who had sought asylum after his deportation in 2018. As a result of this, Rabbi Brusso has been a part of a broader effort within the immigrant and refugee community and will be recognized for his capacity to unite the community around the common values of dignity and justice.
Given the circumstances, T’ruah will be hosting a virtual Gala on Monday evening, June 1 at 6:45 PM. Please consider joining me in honoring Rabbi Brusso along with T’ruah’s other honorees for a night of song, discussion and celebration. You can read more about the gala and all the honorees
here.
And you can
register for the event
here. Registration is free and open to all; pre-registration is required.
Coming up this weekend, on
Sunday morning, May 17, 10-11 am, we will be honoring all of our Kulanu students, teachers, Madrichim and parent volunteers during our annual end-of-year Zimriyah closing ceremonies.
Click here
for Zoom invitation to this event, and remember to use our pass-code for entry. As part of this event, we have three awards of note:
*
Dr. Sheila Adler Memorial Innovation Fund
This year we are introducing the
Dr. Sheila Adler Memorial Innovation Fund
. The Adler Fund acknowledges and honors Dr. Sheila Adler’s enormous impact on Jewish education universally, and especially to the Bet Torah community from her 36 years of service as our Religious School Education Director. The Adler Fund also reflects the creative and forward thinking ideas Sheila brought to the field of Jewish education and to Bet Torah specifically. The purpose of the Fund is to spur innovation and continue to push education forward at Bet Torah.
Click here
to learn more about the Adler Fund and to contribute and help grow our Kulanu program.
*
Daniel and Ida Lang Scholarship Award
Since 1983,
Bet Torah’s Lang Scholarship
has recognized a Bet Torah teen for service, good citizenship and traits that are most likely to lead to mature and dedicated involvement in the Jewish community. It is with pride and appreciation that we see the various ways our teens shine, showing respect for their Jewish identities and intentions to continue their strong involvement in living a Jewish life. We look forward to announcing this year’s winner of the Lang Scholarship during Sunday’s Zimriyah ceremony.
* The Christopher B. Gordon Memorial Scholarship Fund
The Christopher B. Gordon Memorial Scholarship Fund
has provided scholarship money for Bet Torah teens attending summer travel programs through USY and other Conservative Movement Jewish organizations for nearly 40 years. Current worldwide quarantine conditions have put all Conservative Jewish youth summer travel plans on hold so information will be provided once final decisions have been made. During Zimriyah ceremonies, we will hear from a Gordon Scholarship award recipient who will talk about her recent trip to Israel.
You can also
click here and
click here
to read about some of our teens’ wonderful experiences, assisted by this Scholarship.
Click here
to donate to this fund.
Please save the following dates for wonderful upcoming events you will hear more details about very soon.
Sunday, May 31, 10-11 a.m. – Annual Membership Meeting
Sunday, June 7, 10:30 a.m. – A Zoom-Musical Celebration of Cantor Randy
Monday, June 8, 8:30 p.m. – Board Installation & Volunteer of the Year Awards
Please join us in celebration and enjoy the positive news these awards, honors and funds represent for our community. Thank you to everyone for your participation in our Bet Torah online community, as well as for your contributions in so many ways. We continue to wish you good health and ease as we continue during these challenging days.
Carol Siege, President
Seth Young, Executive Director
