May Sophie Redwine Susser - the Congregation Beth Israel

CONGREGATION
BETH ISRAEL
“A Family of Families”
May 2011
CALENDAR OF RELIGIOUS SERVICES
May
Sunday, May 1
Yom HaShoah Commemoration followed by
guest speaker and dinner
5:30 pm
Friday, May 6
Shabbat Service
6:00 pm
Tot Shabbat in Racusin Chapel at 6:15 pm
Family Dinner to follow
Saturday, May 7
No service
There will be Torah Study at 11:00 am
Friday, May 13
Shabbat Service
Services partly led by Sophie Susser
7:30 pm
Traditional Service in the Racusin Chapel
Saturday, May 14
Shabbat Service
Bat Mitzvah of Sophie Susser
10:00am
Friday, May 20
Shabbat Service
7:30 pm
Saturday, May 21
Shabbat Service
9:00am
Friday, May 27
Shabbat Service
Service led by members of CBI
7:30 pm
Saturday, May 28
Shabbat Service
Service led by members of CBI
9:00am
Torah Study
Saturdays @ 11:00am
Please come and join us.
Sophie Redwine Susser
Bat Mitzvah
Friday, May 13th at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 14th at 10:00 a.m.
Sophie Redwine Susser will lead Friday night
services on May 13th and be called to the Torah
as a Bat Mitzvah on May 14th. Sophie is the
daughter of Catherine and Sam Susser and has
two brothers, Sammy and Eli. She is the granddaughter of Pat and Sam Susser and Edna and
George Gilbert of Houston, Texas.
Sophie is a 7th grade student at Baker Middle
School where she is an honor roll student and
participates in the theatre program. This year,
Sophie was a member of the Baker Texas Quiz
Show Team and performed in the production of
Beauty and the Beast. In addition to her school
activities, Sophie is a level 5 gymnast with Mary
Jane’s gymnastics. In her free time, Sophie enjoys reading, writing, traveling and going to
Camp Longhorn where she adopted her beloved
cat, Merit.
Please join the Susser family as they celebrate
their simcha with an Oneg Shabbat on Friday
evening and a Kiddush Luncheon following services on Saturday morning.
Dear Friends:
It seems incredible to me that I graduated from college fifty years ago. Walking across the open-air
stage in Oberlin’s Tappan Square was only yesterday,
or so it would appear through the hazes of memory.
Obviously, a lot has happened to me since 1961, and
I am grateful for almost everything that has transpired in my life,
even for the real downers – and there have been some.
To help me remember what actually happened in that significant year in my life, I went back to see what milestones occurred.
Some notable people died that year: Dashiell Hammett and George
S. Kaufman, Psychiatrist Carl Jung and Judge Learned Hand, Gary
Cooper and Ty Cobb. “West Side Story” and “Judgment at Nuremberg” appeared as films and we sang “Love Makes the World
Go Round,” “Moon River” and “Where the Boys Are” as we
danced at sock hops. Those memorable events, however, pale by
comparison to the things that are really worth remembering.
In 1961, JFK was inaugurated as America’s 35th president; the
Berlin Wall was erected, while the UN condemned apartheid.
Adolf Eichmann was found guilty in Jerusalem. The Freedom
Riders suffered brutal assaults in the South, but persisted. If I’m
going to look back, it’s not important to me to remember that a
rough-and-tumble, rather coarse Georgian ball player died that
year, but that there were a few events that spoke directly to the
values that my generation and I considered important. The five
events that I listed at the beginning of this paragraph speak to
themes that set the course of my life from that time until today:
freedom, equality, accountability and, more than anything else,
hope.
I wish I could say that the world has been transformed in the
last fifty years. In some ways, it really has. South Africa shucked
off the apartheid system for a relatively democratic government;
the Berlin Wall is gone; segregation and Jim Crow are long gone.
The last of the Nazis is soon to die off, but we cannot and dare not
forget the brutality and savagery with which they murdered our
people. It is one thing to deal openly with modern Germany; it is
quite another to forget the past – and that is something I hope we
shall never do. There are too many hate groups in contemporary
American society for us not to remember how Brown Shirts became SS troopers and how SS troopers became mass killers.
Could it happen again? Probably not, at least not in the same way,
especially not if we remember the past with vigilance.
Hope was in the air in 1961. We looked forward to a far better
future way back then. Within a few years, that hope seemed muted
and then it evaporated, sinking into the swamps of Viet Nam,
Cambodia and Laos. The hope surfaced again in 2008, but it’s
hard to find an optimist today.
I remain unabashedly hopeful and optimistic. I do not apologize for this. In my book, pessimists never get anywhere. They
look forward to the worst and plan for defeat. Their fight song
ought to include a verse that says: It’s impossible and we cannot
do it, so we won’t. Only optimists have a chance at some positive
outcome. So, I would rather be disappointed a hundred times over
than to give way to defeatism and negative thinking.
My religion teaches me that the world can be improved, and
that I should want to be part of that progress and improvement. If
it doesn’t happen today, well there’s always tomorrow. So, if there
is one value that has stuck with me through good and bad times
since 1961 it is the unwavering conviction that I came into adult
life with hope and I’ll be blessed if I shall go out any other way.
Shalom,
Kenneth D. Roseman, Rabbi
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dear Members of CBI,
Our congregation has just concluded a wonderful 2nd
Night Seder. It was a huge success and treat. Kudos to
Rabbi Roseman, for his leadership and creativity and for
making the evening so very interesting and enjoyable.
Thanks to Phyllis Roseman and her entire committee for
their deliciously prepared, festive meal.
It has been such a treat to attend the monthly services
and the dinner that follows. The format of the entire evening is lovely and makes an enjoyable welcome to Shabbat. We thank Meredith Ryan for her years of effort; we
are now fortunate to have Leslie Green to carry on,
One of my duties as president is to acquaint you with
our Temple/Synagogue’s Endowment fund. This fund
was created to ensure the future of Judaism in our community. We are all aware of a declining number of Jews
in our city. Please consider a bequest to our Endowment
fund in your plans. We must continue to be concerned
about the future of Congregation Beth Israel.
Shalom,
Maury Wolfson
CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL
4402 Saratoga
Telephone-361.857.8181/Fax-361.857.8227
Email: congregation@bethisraelcc.com
Website: bethisraelcc.com
Rabbi Kenneth Roseman
Debbie Bustillo, Office Administrator
Susan Martin, Corpus Christi Community
Religious School Administrator
President….……….……...………..….……..…….…... ..Maury Wolfson
First Vice President….………….………..…...………..………..Jim Gold
Second Vice President……............………..…………..……Suzy Hilliard
Secretary .…......…....…......…………….…….……………….Gary Blum
Treasurer………….….....…..…………...……...……………....Ed Mange
Past President…………………………….……….……….Andy Lehrman
Sisterhood President……………………….…........................... Iris Karas
Cofty President……..…......................................….…....Meredith Hilliard
Adult Education……….…………………..…………...…....David Jacobs
Cemetery Co-Chairs………………...................Robert Adler, Carl Kuehn
Gary Blum and Clara Braslau
Ritual Committee Co-Chairs…….……………….........Andrew Sheinberg
and Joe Loon
Program Coordinator……………………..…….……..… Meredith Ryan
Membership Committee Chair….……………………....…..Susan Martin
Social Action Committee Chairs. ….............................................Jim Gold
Dues Committee Co-Chairs..….………….……………...….…Ann Engel
and Leslie Kane
Building Chair…………………………...………………......David Jacobs
Grounds Chair………………………………………..…Rikki Schmitchel
Fine Arts.....................................................Laurie Mintz and Ross Burney
Webmaster.…………………..………………...……….…….Jack Widder
To my CBI Family,
As many of you know, my wife Jeannie was diagnosed several years ago with end stage
Pulmonary Fibrosis. She has been receiving care at Baylor Medical and Methodist Hospital in
Houston for the disease. She is now listed on the national transplant list to receive a lung transplant when acceptable donor organs become available. As a result we are required to move to
Houston to be near the hospital as time is a major factor when donor organs become available
and the transplant surgery can take place. To achieve that end, I must retire from the CCPD and
will no longer be at Congregation Beth Israel. It is my belief that my last day at CBI will be April
30th.
I want to give my most heartfelt thanks to all the people at CBI who have accepted me as
part of their religious family and treated me so wonderfully over the years. I can honestly say
that I have never felt so accepted and welcomed at any other place. I truly love Congregation
Beth Israel and its many members who have made my time there so outstanding. I have learned
much from you and I truly believe that I have grown as a person as a result of my time at CBI.. I
must also add that I have never been anywhere, where I experience the inner peace that I feel
when I am at the Temple.
I hope to see all of you again when we return from Houston, which should be approximately six months after Jeannie’s transplant surgery.
Shalom,
Mike Trimyer
TRADITIONAL KABBALAT SHABBAT SERVICES SCHEDULED
Once-a-month, lay members of Congregation Beth Israel conduct traditional Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat
(Welcoming the Sabbath) services in the Racusin Chapel. These services last about 45 minutes; attendees often then join the rest of the congregation in the Sanctuary for the Rabbi’s sermon, the concluding parts of the
service and the Oneg Shabbat. The mood of these services is relaxed and celebratory, and all are welcome.
The schedule for the entire year is:
May 13, 2011
June 17, 2011
We encourage you to enter these dates on your calendar now so that you will be able to attend these services
when they occur.
FAMILY CORNER
I hope you all had a wonderful Passover holiday. It was great seeing many of you at 2nd Seder at CBI. A million
thanks to Phyllis Roseman and her hard-working helpers for a most delicious meal! Our family had a special
treat that evening because Nolan made the front page of The Caller Times the next morning!!!
Now that the Passover holiday is behind us, it's time to get ready for our next Family Shabbat Dinner. Please
save the date and mark your calendars for Friday, May 6th; services at 6pm and dinner at 7pm. Babysitting will
be provided.
We had a beautiful turnout for our March Family Shabbat Dinner and hope you will all join the CBI family once
again for an evening fun, friendship and an old-fashioned home-cooked meal as we welcome in the Sabbath
together.
If you haven't experienced one of our Family Shabbat Dinners, you must come … no formal invitation required.
It's a great way to make new friends, see some old ones, and have a night off from cooking! This will be our last
dinner together as we take a break over the summer months.
I am happy we can go back to breaking BREAD together and see you on May 6th
Leslie Green
May thanks to those that helped make the
Second Night Community Seder
a success:
Phylis Roseman
Julia Noble
Sheree Fedder
Heleen Mange
Elise Geller
Rosalyn Wolfson
David Jacobs
Nelda Laska
Susan Martin
Debbie Bustillo
Dottie Heffler
Carol Solovey
David Fedder
Carol Kins
Evelyn Greenberg
Elinor Roosth
Jeri Kolpack
Natalie Honigbaum
Rose Garza
SISTERHOOD INFORMATION
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, May 4th
General Board Meeting @ 5:30 CBI
Wednesday, may 11th
44th Joint Installation of Officers
&
Miriam Award Presentation to Laura Smith Noe
At Corpus Christi Country Club-11:30 am
Corpus Christi Community
Religious School
Susan Martin, Director
Many of us spent our last Sunday session in April
preparing for Passover. Elisa Cox’s class made
matzah rubbings and snacked on the real matzah. Rikki Schimitchel’s class gathered parsley
for the Congregational Seder and gave the garden a much-needed watering. Laurie and Amanda
McKinley helped students in Chelsea Eisenberg’s
class make seder plates. They also made charosis for their mini-seder. Blind-folded students
had to guess different foods that they tasted
and then had to tell why that food was or was
not eaten during Passover. Students in Dave
Ryan’s and Brian Honigbaum’s class spent some
time in the computer lab. Did you ever wonder
“What if Moses had facebook”? Check it out at
www.aish.com/Passover.
I hope everyone enjoyed a seder with family
and/or friends and had a HAPPY PASSOVER.
There is only one regular Sunday session in May
on the 1st. There is no class on Sunday, May 8th
because of Mother’s Day. (I hope students will
enjoy a special time with their mothers and
grandmothers on that day.) Hebrew School will
meet on May 5th ande May 12th. Our End of Year
Celebration will be on Sunday, May 15th, from
1:00 to 3:00, at the JCC. I hope to see all students and their families there that day.
Shalom!
Susan
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CLASSES
Sunday School
10:00 am
May
1
Hebrew School
4:30 pm on Thursdays
May
5 & 12
Tot Shabbat
Our next Tot Shabbat service will be on
May 6th at 6:15pm Bring your vocal
babies, wandering toddlers, inquisitive
preschoolers, and vibrant gradeschoolers. This is a casual service where
everyone is welcome!
We hope to see you there!
Natalie & Brian Honigbaum
&
Lauren Frantz
Mazel Tov
Olivia Noble
FREE HAGGADAHS!!!
Cleaning out the Choir Room, we discovered several editions of the Maxwell
House Passover Haggadah. We have as
many as fifty of each of two versions.
If you want any of these books, they can
be yours for the asking – no cash, but
carry. Simply come by the office and let
Debbie or Rabbi Roseman know and we’ll
be sure you’re all set for Pesach
5772/2012.
Inducted Into
American Hebrew
Academy's Prestigious
Honor Society
The Zeidman Family acknowledges with gratitude, everyone’s prayers,
hospital visits, condolences and donations in memory of our mother,
Sarah “Sally” Zeidman.
She will not be forgotten
Marsha Zeidman
& Mark Zeidman
*SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT SERVICES AND TORAH STUDY*
Because of the out-of-town absence of Rabbi Roseman and Gary Blum, there will be no traditional services on Saturday morning, May 7. However, Torah study will be held as usual at
11:00 AM. On Saturday, May 14, the congregation is invited to attend the bat mitzvah of
Sophie Susser in Main Sanctuary. There will be no formal Torah study on that day, but the
Train Library will be available for anyone who wishes to engage in conversation.
Rabbi Roseman will be attending his 50th college reunion at Oberlin College on May 27 and
28, and services will be led that Shabbat by members of CBI.
From the Jewish Community Council
ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL
4402 Saratoga
Corpus Christi, TX 78413
Thursday, June 16, 2011
7:00 pm
Childcare will be provided
2011-2012
PROPOSED OFFICERS AND TRUSTEES
President
Jim Gold
st
1 VP
Suzy Hilliard
nd
2 VP
Gary Blum
Secretary
Julia Noble
Treasurer
Eddie Mange
Past President
Maury Wolfson
Sisterhood Representative
Beginning a two-year term:
David Ryan
Richard Hausman
George Kopf
David Hausman
Completing the 2nd year of a two year term:
Vicki Rothschild
Michael Hiatt
Jack Solovey
Jeff Itkin
Four President’s Appointees to serve a one year term 2011-2012
COFTY Youth Group Representative
The Congregation thanks you for the following contributions
Yahrzeit Donations
Oshman Family Foundation
In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
Ethel Horner
Jack Kaufman
Philip Lieberman
May Grossman Spitz
Ben Roosth
Howard Greenberg
Bernard Grossman
James Harris
Charles Schwartz
Ida Solka
Recovery of--------------------------------------------------- From
Sam Horner Sam J. Susser
Oshman Family
Ann & David Engel In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
Al Geller on his 95th Birthday
Oshman Family
Maurice Grossman In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
Oshman Family
Elinor & Hymie Roosth David Brownstein
Evelyn Greenberg
Jill Grossman
Rabbi's Discretionary Fund
Suzy & John Hilliard
Meredith & David Ryan In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
Margo Marbut Train
Joe & Ruth Sheinberg Oscar Spiitz
May Grossman Spitz
Adler Camp Scholarship Fund
Recovery of--------------------------------------------------- From
Sam J. Susser
Rosalyn & Maury Wolfson
In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
David Brownstein
Sarah Zeidman
Mary Zeidman
Passover
Phyllis & Phyllis Rozen
Phyllis Greenberg
Marsha Zeidman
Rabbinical Endowment Fund
Audrey S. Zane Memorial Sisterhood Fund
Recovery of--------------------------------------------------- From
Sam J. Susser
Ann & David Engel
Evelyn Maltz
Iris & Andy Lehrman In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
Sudy Zane
Phyllis Roseman on her Birthday
Ann & David Engel
Al Geller on his Birthday
Endowment Fund
Carol & Sammy Kins on
Recovery of--------------------------------------------------- From
their Anniversary
Sam J. Susser
Edy Laser Maya Hiatt on her Bat Mitzvah
Philip & Clarice Wallock
In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
Roslyne Massman
David Brownstein
Philip & Clarice Wallock
Racusin Jewish Outreach Fund
In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
Robert Racusin
Robert & Susan Zeller
Philip & Clarice Wallock
Rona & LA Train
Rona Train Leadership Fund
General Fund
In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
Al Geller on his Birthday
Helen Bornstein
Gertrude Applebaum
on her Birthday
Margo & Kenneth Train
In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
Mitzvah Fund
Robert Racusin
Leonard Nisenson
Margo & Kenneth Train
In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
Maya Hiatt on her Bat Mitzvah
Adam Karasrecipient of Watson Fellowship
Iris & Andy Lehrman
Sikorra 11 Fund
Recovery of--------------------------------------------------- From
Sam J. Susser
Lois & Gary Blum
Laura & Jason Goldstein In Honor of--------------------------------------------------- From
Marsha Zeidman Maya Hiatt on her Bat Mitzvah
Lois & Gary Blum
In Memory of------------------------------------------------ From
Sarah Zeidman
Ida Zeidman
Myer Joseph
Sarah Zeidman
Recovery of--------------------------------------------------- From
Sam J. Susser
Susser Family Fund
Elinor & Hymie Roosth Recovery of--------------------------------------------------- From
Mr. & Mrs. Randall Berry
Iris & Andy Lehrman Sam J. Susser
Don’t forget . You can remember a friend or relative with a minimum contribution of $5.00 to one of
our many funds. These funds support camp scholarships, education, cemeteries, fine arts, library, &
building improvements, to name a few. An acknowledgement card will be sent to the honored person or family. Please make checks payable to CBI and specify the fund. Call the CBI office with any questions.
PERPETUAL
YAHRZEITS
*Indicates the names below that are commemorated on our permanent Memorial Tablets. These names along with others
whose Yahrzeit commemoration is requested, will be read by the Rabbi before the Sabbath Kaddish Prayer.
Sabbath of May 6th
Curtis F. Alward
*Joseph Blum
*Isabelle Davis
*Melvin Davis
Ida Elzweig
*Max Engle
*Sadie Finkelstein
*Eva S. Goltzman
*Sam Goltzman
*Howard J. Goodman
Asher Hooden
Chinke Lieberman
*Rose Lieberman
*Sr., Leon Sigfried Loeb
*Julian Mandelstamm
Freda Marks
*Maurice Rednick
Vera Rosenheim
*Harry Samuels
*Juliette Susan Scott
Mary Trevino
*Albert Veenik
*Frances Wasserman
*Michal Wisznia
Sabbath of May 13th
*Simon Ray Alexander
*Tracy Mitchell Braslau
Marsha Falk Carchman
Jr., Willard W. Davis
James Dixon
*Frieda Falk
Irving Frank
*Henry Grossman
Fannie Heffler
*Max Katz
*Samuel Kins
*Adolph Krams
*Irving Lepow
*David Sidney Mendlowitz
*Isidor Posner
Polly Heffler Roosth
*Henry Schaffer
Ruth Simon
*Benjamin Zane
Sabbath of May 20th
*Bertha Brand
*Edna Jacobson Brodkey
*Michael Chasin
*Gene Crain
*Caecilia Dannenbaum
*Edna Ducler
*Mose Franklin
*Sadie Mushlin Grossman
*Dwight Marshall Lebowitz
Bertha Lieberman
*Joseph A. Maizel
*Himan Pelofsky
*Ida Racusin
Celia Roosth
*Julius Rosenberg
*Max Schmidt
Sabbath of May 27th
*Dave Berman
*Zingel C. J. Birnberg
*Sam Braslau
*Leo Braun
*Riwka Feld
*Ben H. Greenberg
*Ronald Buck Hausman
Carolyn Henton
*Gertrude Wallock Hurwitz
*Shirley Goltzman Korn
*Jesse Lieberman
*William Worth Nance
*Jeanette Carolyn Loeb
Reiter
Philip Sands
*Isadore Schaffer
Clara Simpkins
*Sylvan Weil
*Tina Adrian Wisznia
Sabbath of June 3rd
*Elaine M. Baum
*M.D., Martell Benjamin
*Elaine Michelle Buam
*Martha A. Gold
Edward Goldsmith
*Isaac Greenberg
*Ethel Holtzman
Sadie Korn
*Elizabeth Kuehn
Albert Lehrman
*Esther Mendlowitz
Ethel Schwartz
*Ruth Norma Shapiro
*Harry Sheinberg
Harry Solomon
CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL
4402 SARATOGA
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX 78413
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
L’Dor VaDor Judaica Shop
Call Clara to set an appointment at 854-6798
MAY
2011
Sun
1
Mon
2
Tue
3
Sunday School
10am-12pm
8
9
10
NO SUNDAY
SCHOOL
Wed
4
Thu
5
CBI Sisterhood
General Meeting
@5:30pm @CBI
Hebrew School
11
12
CBI Board
Meeting @7pm
4:30 pm-6:00pm
Fri
Sat
6
7
Shabbat Service
*No Service
6:00 pm
Tot Shabbat @
6:15 pm
*Family Dinner
to follow
Torah Study
11:00 am
13
14
Shabbat Service
Shabbat Service
*Bat Mitzvah of
Sophie Susser
10:00 am
Hebrew School
7:30 pm
4:30 pm-6:00pm
*Service partly
led by Sophie
Susser
(Traditional
service in
Racusin Chapel)
15
16
17
18
19
End of year
Religious School
Celebration
@ JCC 1pm-3pm
22
23
24
25
26
*No Torah Study
20
21
Shabbat Service
7:30 pm
Shabbat Service
9:00 am
Torah Study
11:00 am
27
28
Shabbat Service
*Service led by
members of CBI
Shabbat Service
9:00 am
*Service led by
members of CBI
7:30 pm
Torah Study
11:00 am
29
30
Memorial Day
31
1-June
2
3
4
Shabbat Service
Shabbat Service
9:00 am
Torah Study
11:00 am
7:30 pm
Office is closed
Shavuot
Confirmation
Services
FAMILY DINNER
Friday, May 6th
Services @ 6pm
Dinner to Follow @ 7pm
TOT SHABBAT
Will be held at 6:15 pm
in the Racussin Chapel