August 2016 - Temple Beth Israel, Waltham MA

Temple Talk
Volume 31 Issue 9
August 2016
Tammuz—Av 5776
Rabbi’s Corner:
Tisha b'Av: Facing Our Predicament
by Rabbi David Finkelstein
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Rabbi’s Corner
1
2-3
Coming Up
Yahrzeits
4
Donations
5
This month, as we observe the semi-mourning of the Three Weeks
6
and the 25-hour fast of Tisha b'Av, the theme of brokenness resonates Calendar
7
throughout the land. During the 3 weeks, we remember the sin of the Annual Meeting
golden calf and the breaking of the first tablets of the Law – moments Mark’s Remarks
8-9
defined by the tragic rebelliousness of the newly freed Israelite slaves.
Me’ah Program
10
We also remember the exile-inducing sieges of Jerusalem by the
11
Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. and by the Romans in the year 70. Thank You’s
According to the Talmud, the destruction of the second Temple in 70
C.E. was caused by baseless hatred within the Jewish community
(sin'at chinam). From 17 Tammuz to 9 Av (July 23 - August 13/14), the
David Finkelstein
Three Weeks inaugurate the process of teshuvah (return, course Rabbi:
correction) that culminates with the Ten Days of Teshuvah between Cantor:
Ellen Band
Rosh Hashanah (October 3) and Yom Kippur (October 12).
This year, as our individual processes of teshuvah unfold, our nation
walks inexorably toward the election of our next president (and of
many other elected officials as well). With this framework
for teshuvah stretching out before us, many of us have been listening
to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. One
convention focused on the threats of immigration, terrorism, and a
globalized economy while trying to minimize the negative impact of its
candidate's misanthropy, misogyny and racism. The other convention
focused on the values of equality, education, and environment while
trying to minimize the negative impact of its candidate's long
membership in the political elite and the giving of an honorary position
to a recently fired former committee chairperson who may have
willfully manipulated the electoral process.
This summer, I feel so sharply both the need and the desire for our
country and the world to invest more deeply in teshuvah. The recent
murders of unarmed black men by police, the revenge murders of
police by radicalized black men, Black Lives Matter protests, All Lives
Matter counter-protests, the advance of global warming, Brexit, the
growing list of ISIS-related terror attacks, and the worsening Israeli-
Hazzan:
Yosi Weintraub
President: Mark Frydenberg
Vice Pres.:
Lester Macklin
Secretary:
Genevieve Fosa
Treasurer:
George Isaac
Membership Secretary:
Ellen Macklin
Editor:
Andrea Baron
Address
25 Harvard Street
Waltham, MA 02453
Email: office@tbiwaltham.org
web site: www.tbiwaltham.org
(781) 894-5146
(Continued on page 10)
Office Hours
Monday - Friday
The next bulletin will be for September. If you have an article that you
would like to submit please get it in to the Temple office before August
15th.
9:00am - 12:00pm
Tisha B’Av Service Times
Saturday night - August 13th
Service starts at 8:30pm
Sunday morning Tisha B’Av services August 14th
Service starts at 9:00am
New and Prospective Member Shabbat
August 20, 2016
On August 20, 2016 Temple Beth Israel is inviting all new and prospective members
to Shabbat Service, which will begin at 9 A.M. We welcome our members, their families, and prospective members as our guests.
Notice our mix of newer and longtime members, interfaith couples, guests, and friends
coming together with spiritual singing by Cantor Ellen Band, and a lesson or story by
Rabbi David Finkelstein, a home cooked kiddush/lunch, and good conversation.
Please invite friends and relatives who are looking for a synagogue and might have an
interest in TBI.
For additional information please contact Ellen Macklin, Membership Secretary,
at ELLES123@aol.com or 781-275-2327
FROM CHESED / CARING COMMITTEE
If you are saying kaddish and would like us to notify
congregants to attend a Monday or Thursday
minyan, please contact Susan Holbert at
SusanEHolbert@gmail.com or 781-893-0514 at least one week ahead of time.
While we can't guarantee a minyan of ten will be present, we can work together
spread the word!
2
Shabbat Evening Services and Dinner
Friday, August 12th
menu: Chicken, Salads, Fruit, and Pastry
Vegetarian option available upon request
Services begin at 6:30 pm
Dinner begins after services, around 7:30 pm.
Vegetarian option available on request. Please let us know if you have any other
dietary requirements when you sign up by contacting the Temple office.
$18 per adult, $40 per family if paid by the Weds. before the dinner
$21 per adult, $45 per family for later reservations
You can register online at http://tbiwaltham.org or contact the Temple office
to sign up.
Future Shabbat Service
and Dinner Dates
(Subject to Change)
September 16th
October 21st (in the Sukkah)
3
August Yahrzeits
Plaque Loc.
Name
Date
Charlotte Pearl Shlager
5-1
Bella Larks
2-Aug
Richard Goldberg’s Dad
2-Aug
6-3
Andrew Wolf Decker
4-Aug
Tammuz 29
2-1
Esther Canter
4-Aug
Tammuz 29
4-1
Abraham Caplan
4-Aug
Tammuz 29
5-3
Gladys Milesky
5-Aug
Av 01
6-3
Sylvia Levin
6-Aug
Av 02
3-2
Fannie Weiner
6-Aug
Av 02
3-3
Maurice Tushin
7-Aug
Av 03
6-4
Sylvia Seidman
8-Aug
Av 04
3-4
Benjamin Sheer
8-Aug
Av 04
5-2
Samuel Elkins
8-Aug
Av 04
3-1
Sarah Pearl Becker
9-Aug
Av 05
2-1
Joseph Bloomthal
9-Aug
Av 05
3-3
Abraham Isaac Pedell
10-Aug
Av 06
Roberta Lederman
10-Aug
Av 06
1-4
Aaron Sheer
11-Aug
Av 07
2-3
Etta Meyerovitz
12-Aug
Av 08
4-3
Benjamin L. Lerman
12-Aug
Av 08
4-2
Joseph Kaplan
12-Aug
Av 08
4-3
Mary Simon
12-Aug
Av 08
3-4
Chaya Zacharewich
13-Aug
Av 09
6-1
Paul Lewis Ginsburg
13-Aug
Av 09
Hyman Brown
13-Aug
Av 09
Rachel Leah Ingber
13-Aug
Av 09
Ida Kaitz
14-Aug
Av 10
2-1
Bernard Bloomenthal
15-Aug
Av 11
2-3
Paul Onigman
15-Aug
Av 11
6-3
Howard P. Mermelstein 16-Aug
Av 12
Evelyn Forbes
16-Aug
Av 12
4-3
Coleman Wexler
18-Aug
Av 14
4-3
Ellen Leavy
19-Aug
Av 15
1-1
Dina Ella Backer
21-Aug
Av 17
2-4
Fannie Zelinetsky
21-Aug
Av 17
Karl Meiselman
21-Aug
Av 17
2-4
Samuel Tatelman
22-Aug
Av 18
5-3
Nathan Ullian
22-Aug
Av 18
3-3
Molly Sheer
23-Aug
Av 19
Mulcan bat Yosef
23-Aug
Av 19
3-1
Sadye Canter
23-Aug
Av 19
1-4
Hannah Mollie Sheer
23-Aug
Av 19
3-3
1-Aug
Plaque Loc.
5-2
Tammuz 26
5-3
Name
Date
Harold Bloom
23-Aug
Av 19
Tammuz 27
Hyman Kulin
24-Aug
Av 20
Tammuz 27
Adele Ullian
24-Aug
Av 20
Samuel Blackstone
25-Aug
Av 21
Nadia Shirazi
25-Aug
Av 21
1-3
Israel Pill
26-Aug
Av 22
5-3
Anna Esther Katz
26-Aug
Av 22
2-3
Moses Nochemsohn
26-Aug
Av 22
2-2
Walter Kaplan
29-Aug
Av 25
3-3
William Michaelson
30-Aug
Av 26
6-3
Harris Greene
30-Aug
Av 26
Katherine Sidell
31-Aug
Av 27
6-1
Corinne Freeman
31-Aug
Av 27
4-2
Blanche Levison
31-Aug
Av 27
5-1
Jacob S Merowitz
31-Aug
Av 27
2-3
Aaron Mendelsohn
1-Sep
Av 28
3-2
Ethel Griff
2-Sep
Av 29
1-1
A New Memorial Wall
If you have been to the Temple lately, you may have
noticed that there are two Yahrzeit boards missing
from the left wall of the sanctuary. One fell down a
few months, ago, and out of a concern for safety, we
took down the other, because the wall is no longer
able to securely hold the weight of all these boards
filled with plaques.
We are working now to redesign a new memorial wall
for the Temple Beth Israel sanctuary. All current
plaques will be reinstalled and there will be room to
purchase additional plaques. We will nearly double our
current capacity. This will allow us to continue to
honor the memory of loved ones now and well into
the future.
The new memorial wall will contain all of the bronze
name plaques that were on the original Yahrzeit
boards, without individual bulbs next to each name.
Energy efficient lighting will be installed in a soffit
above the wall to illuminate all the plaques. The names
of those being remembered each month will be
displayed in an illuminated etched acrylic frame at the
center of the wall.
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Donations
Yellow Candle Donations
General Fund Donations
Nessie Baron
Ellen and Lester Macklin, in memory of Bob
Macauley’s neice Molly Macauley.
Theodore Israel, in memory of Freyda Israel.
Julius and Thelma Kennen, in memory of Fannie
Kennen.
Seth Aronie, in honor and memory of Ida Aronie
who would have been 100 in July.
Louis Goldman, in memory of Louise Goldman/
Condolences
Hella Hackerem, in memory of Mel Cook.
To Bob Macauley on the untimely death of his
niece Molly Macauley
Esther Keaney, in memory of Helen Berkel
Keaney.
Alan Zinn
Juliana Ryan
Nicole Haber
Saturday Kiddush Sponsors
July 2 - Bob Macauley—in memory of his
mother in law Freida.
New Yahrzeit Wall Donation
July 9 - Catherine Cantrell—in honor of her
children and grandchildren’s visit.
Al Simon
July 23 - Carmen Cooper
Edie Rosenberg and Robert Gross
Thanks to those who read Torah, Haftarah, or gave a D'var Torah in June and July:
Rachel Hayward
Rabbi Sara Meirowitz
Caroline Nudelman
Mark Frydenberg
Mike Rosenberg
Susan Holbert
Rabbi David Finkelstein
Susan Kane
Genevieve Fosa
Hazzan Yosi Weintraub
Please contact readtorah@tbiwaltham.org to volunteer to read from the Torah or chant a Haftarah, or
SusanEHolbert@gmail.com if you would like to give a d'var torah in the coming months.
5
6
22
21
29
7:00 am
28
9:00am Minyan
10:00 am Temple Annual
Meeting
7:00 am
7:00 am
7:30 pm
15
7:00 am
7:00 pm
8
7:00 am
1
Tish'a B'Av
Tisha B'Av
9:00 am Tisha B'Av Services
14
7
Sunday
Morning Minyan
Morning Minyan
Morning Minyan
Program Committee
Morning Minyan
TBI Board Meeting
Morning Minyan
Monday
30
23
16
9
2
Tuesday
TBI EVENTS CALENDAR
31
7:00 pm
24
7:00 pm
17
10
3
18
7:00 am
11
7:00 am
4
Rabbi's Class 7:00 am
Weekly Torah Portion
25
Rabbi's Class - Con- 7:00 am
temporary Issues
Wednesday
Morning Minyan
Morning Minyan
Morning Minyan
Morning Minyan
Thursday
Candle lighting
Tu B'Av
Candle lighting
Friday Night Service
and Dinner
Candle lighting
Rosh Chodesh Av
Candle lighting
Morning Minyan
8:00am
Monday Sept 5
7:09 pm
26
7:20 pm
19
7:31 pm
6:30 pm
12
7:40 pm
5
Friday
Parashat MatotMasei
Shabbat Morning
Services
Havdalah (42 min)
8:07 pm
9:00 am
27
Parashat Eikev
Shabbat Morning
Services
Havdalah (42 min)
OPEN HOUSE SHABBAT
Parashat
Vaetchanan
Shabbat Nachamu
9:00 am Shabbat Morning
Services
8:19 pm Havdalah (42 min)
20
Erev Tish'a B'Av
Parashat Devarim
Shabbat Chazon
9:00 am Shabbat Morning
Services
8:29 pm Havdalah (42 min)
8:30 pm Tisha B'Av Services
13
8:39 pm
9:00 am
6
Saturday
August 2016
TEMPLE BETH ISRAEL ANNUAL MEETING
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2016
9:00 AM Morning Minyan
10:00 AM Breakfast and Meeting
Please plan to attend the annual Temple Beth
Israel congregational meeting.
Agenda:
Welcome and Remarks
Reports
Bylaws Presentation
New Business
Good and Welfare
Dina Baker, chair of the Bylaws Committee, will present proposed changes to the Temple Beth Israel
Bylaws. These changes were unanimously approved by the Board of Directors after reviewing them at
special meetings in June and July. The committee has prepared three documents describing these
changes:
Overview Letter. This letter from the committee chair, describes the approach and summarizes the
proposed changes.
Comparison Document. This document contains, side by side, the current and proposed bylaws, for
easy comparison to see proposed additions, changes, and deletions.
Proposed Bylaws. This document contains the proposed additions, changes, and deletions to the
Temple Bylaws.
You can obtain your copy of these documents in one of three ways:
Online. Visit http://tbiwaltham.org/annual-meeting-2016/ to see the latest information about the
annual meeting. Download the three documents by entering the password sent by email to all
Temple members.
In Person. Stop by the Temple when the office is open and pick up printed copies of these documents.
Let Andrea know you are coming so she can prepare them for you.
In the Mail. If you are unable to read these documents online or pick up your copies in person, please
contact the Andrea in the Temple office to request that copies are sent to you by US Mail.
Please review these documents carefully prior to the meeting and come with any questions you might
have, as time constraints will not allow us to discuss each individual proposed change. After the
discussion, we will call for a vote on the entire revised bylaws document. If it passes from this vote, the
changes will be adopted in full. Otherwise, we will vote separately on changes from each of the
independent themes, and adopt those changes that pass. All other sections will retain their current
language.
To help us prepare for breakfast, please RSVP to the Temple office if you plan to attend by calling
781 894 5146 or sending an email message to office@tbiwaltham.org .
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U P D AT E S
MARK'S REMARKS:
FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
By: MARK FRYDENBERG
This month I want to share several updates with you from recent meetings of the
Board of Directors.
Congregation Mishkan Tefila
You may notice some new furniture and other items throughout our Temple building.
At the end of June, Congregation Mishkan Tefila moved from their Chestnut Hill
location to the campus of Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, and graciously
gave us several furnishings that they are not using in their new location. We wish
them well in their new home.
I want to thank Mishkan Tefila's Executive Director Josh Blumenthal, and members of
their relocation team, Alison Wintman and Lynda Gordon, for thinking of us when
looking for communities to offer some of their items. While there, I learned that
Lynda's grandparents were early members of Temple Beth Israel, and she mentioned
that she was pleased to honor that connection that her family has with Temple Beth
Israel. Thanks also to Cantor Ellen Band, who also serves as the Torah reader at
Mishkan Tefila, for her involvement in this arrangement, and to our office manager,
Andrea Baron, who spent many hours locating and coordinating movers, both in
Waltham and on site in Chestnut Hill on the day the items were transported.
By Laws and Annual Meeting Update
I am pleased to report that the Temple Beth Israel Board of Directors unanimously
approved the proposed changes to the synagogue's bylaws. A meeting was held on
June 20 where Dina Baker, chair of the bylaws committee, shared the proposed
changes from the committee with the Board of Directors. These updates reflected the
comments from the membership at our June 6th Community Conversation. Following
the board meeting on June 20th, the Board of Directors had two weeks to review the
final document, and submit any remaining concerns. The Board worked through each
of the remaining concerns at a meeting on July 13th and ultimately voted unanimously
to bring the revised document to the congregation for a vote on at our annual meeting
on Sunday, August 28th.
The proposed changes fall into four major categories: officers, committees and
governance; expanding the scope of members to include all members of households
with one Jewish member; making the bylaws more flexible, and other independent
changes.
Please watch for an email message or a letter to all members with instructions on how
to access the documents online with ample time before the meeting. If you would like
a printed copy of the proposed bylaws revisions, please contact Andrea in the Temple
office. She can print one for you to pick up, or we can mail it to you.
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U P D AT E S
MARK'S REMARKS:
FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
By: MARK FRYDENBERG
Many thanks to Bylaws Committee chair Dina Baker, and members Julie Gagnon,
Janice Goldstein, Shaun Hayward, and Bruce Trager for their work throughout the
year, and to the members whose participation at the community conversations in
March and June informed the committee's recommendations.
Please make every effort to attend this important annual meeting of the Congregation
on Sunday, August 28th. Minyan will start at 9, breakfast at 9:45 AM, and the meeting
will begin by 10:15 AM. If you need childcare services to enable you to attend, please
contact Andrea in the Temple Office by Friday, August 26th, so we can arrange it.
Open House Shabbat
Please join us on Saturday, August 20 when Rabbi Finkelstein and Cantor Band will be
leading Shabbat morning services together. We also welcome you to invite friends and
guests who may be new to the area or are interested in learning more about Temple
Beth Israel to attend that service.
Membership at TBI for 2016-2017
By now you probably have received a letter inviting you to reaffirm your membership to
Temple Beth Israel for the coming year. You will notice that the board has moved to a
sustaining membership model, where we ask you to consider your contribution for the
year to support the synagogue as a combination of your membership pledge and your
High Holy Day pledge. The sustaining amount, calculated by dividing the Temple's
expenses after other income by the number of expected members, represents the
amount per member for the synagogue to operate. We recommend a pledge of $500
for membership and $200 for the High Holy Day appeal, realizing that some people
may not be able to contribute at that level, and others may be able to give more.
Please be as generous as you can. We will not turn away anyone, but expect
everyone to contribute toward expenses necessary for operating the synagogue.
Memorial Wall
A design has been approved and work will begin over the summer to repair and
replace the Yahrzeit boards with a new memorial wall. The new Memorial wall will
feature several wooden panels displaying the bronze plaques, and an engraved frame
displaying the names of those being remembered that month. Please contact the
temple office if you would like to reserve or purchase new bronze name plaques for
loved ones to include on the wall. The cost per plaque is $250.
Enjoy what's left of the summer! We look forward to seeing you at the annual
meeting on August 28 if not before.
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Rabbi’s Corner:
Tisha b'Av: Facing Our Predicament
by Rabbi David Finkelstein
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)
Palestinian conflict – there is so so so much course correction needed.
This is what Tisha b'Av is meant to be: a great and solemn day of mourning which
establishes the groundwork of pathos for real teshuvah. A day of saying names: Alton
Sterling, Philando Castile; Officers Michael Krol, Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa,
Lorne Ahrens, and Michael Smith; Officers Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald, and
Brad Garafola; Hallel Yaffe Ariel. 51 names in Orlando, 84 names in Nice, 330 names
in Baghdad. With our mistakes as a community, as a nation, and as the human race
clearly fixed in our minds, we fast, lament, and weep from our dry eyes, and we set
ourselves on a path of renewed commitment to our fundamental values: love of God,
love of the Torah, love of the Jewish people, love of all human beings, love of all that
lives, love of the Earth.
Wishing you a meaningful Tisha b'Av,
Contact Rabbi David at rabbidavid@tbiwaltham.org or 781-786-8679
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THANK YOU!
George and Judy Isaac very generously donated the beautiful plants in the planter and flower
boxes as well as bags of soil.
Catherine Cantrell and George Isaac did the planting of the impatients and geraniums.
The following help with menu planning, shopping, preparing, serving and cleaning up for
Temple functions:
Marge Marion
Mark Frydenberg
Erika Cohen
Marilyn Racette
Esther Keaney
Catherine Cantrell
Andrea Baron
Helen Lewis
Ellie Handel
Sylvia Hobbs
Genevieve Fosa
Ed Kaufman
The Rabbi’s Classes will continue in August
Wednesdays 7:00pm - 8:30pm
August 17 - Contemporary Issues
August 31 - Weekly Torah Portion
Vice President’s Two-cents
We need to raise funds to keep TBI up to date in all our endeavors. There are two areas for finding
funds; our congregants and outsiders. The first group can purchase a leaf on the lobby Tree of Life for
$100 to remember a wonderful special event such as a silver wedding anniversary, or a plaque on our
new Memorial Board for $250 in memory of a dear departed friend and/or relative.
The second area is outside businesses which I have solicited in early July. Twenty-seven letters to
local businesses were sent asking them to advertise in our monthly newsletter with a variety of
options. I am optimistic this will bear some fruit. A second mailing to a different group of businesses
will happen in August. I aim to fill at least one page with ads. This may require our rabbi and our
president to restrict their writing to a single page.
Everyone is invited to make monetary donations to any of the funds that support the running of our
temple, or sponsor a Shabbat lunch in honor for any one of a hundred reasons. As sponsor, you get
to choose the menu, and that is a special honor in itself.
Finally, the greatest mitzvah is a double mitzvah, and that is to encourage a friend, neighbor, relative
or stranger to join Temple Beth Israel. Such a mitzvah brings both funds, new thoughts to the
operation of our committees, plus daveners and maybe torah readers, too.
Lester Macklin
11
Temple Beth Israel
stamp
25 Harvard Street
Waltham, MA 02453
Phone: 781-894-5146
E-mail:
office@tbiwaltham.org
Website: www.tbiwaltham.org
August 2016
Donate on the web
at
www.tbiwaltham.org
□ General Fund
Temple Beth Israel Donation Form
□ High Holiday Donation
□ Rabbi’s Discretionary
Fund
□ Carl and Caryl Goldstein
Siddur—Memorial Fund
□ Morris Hollender Torah
Reading Fund
□ Children’s Services and
Programming
□ Other, please
specify:_______________
______________________
For your convenience, please use this form to make your donations and send to:
Temple Beth Israel, 25 Harvard Street, Waltham, MA 02453
I have chosen the fund indicated at the left:
(Please use a separate form for each fund. Minimum donation: $10)
Attached is my check in the amount of: $____________________
The donation is being made
In Honor Of _________________________________________________
In Memory Of________________________________________________
Other_______________________________________________________
This donation is made by:
Name:____________________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________________
City/State/Zip______________________________________________
Please send acknowledgement to:
Name:____________________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________________
City/State/Zip______________________________________________
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