April 2015 Hashomer - Congregation Beth Shalom

APRIL 2015
Congregation Beth Shalom
Schedule of Services
April 2015
Nisan/Iyar 5775
Friday, April 3, Erev Pesach
1st Night Seder
Saturday, April 4
Torah Study 8:30 am
Shabbat Service 10:00 am
Led by Cantor Sheri Allen
Torah: 1st Day of Passover
2nd Night Community Seder
7:00 pm at Beth Shalom
Friday, April 10, 7:30 pm
Led by Dina Lindell
Saturday, April 11
Yizkor Memorial Service 9:00 am
Led by Cantor Sheri Allen
Torah: 8th Day of Passover
Friday, April 17
Family Shabbat Dinner 6:30 pm
Family Service 7:30 pm
Led by Cantor Sheri Allen
Saturday, April 18
Torah Study 8:30 am
Shabbat Service 10:00 am
Led by Stuart Snow
Torah: Shmini
Friday, April 24, 7:30 pm
Led by Martine Thomas
Saturday, April 25
Torah Study 8:30 am
Shabbat Service 10:00 am
Led by Kllila Caplan and Ben Weiger
Torah: Tazria-Metzorz
Passover 2nd Night
Community Seder
Saturday, April 4, 7:00 p.m.
Please join Ken Licker as he
leads our congregational family
in a traditional Passover meal
Adults: $25
Children (ages 4-10) $10
Paid reservations must be received
in the Beth Shalom office by
Wednesday, April 1
NISAN/IYAR 5775
My Two Shekels
(Excerpted from my Dvar Torah for Shabbat HaChodesh)
Mazal Tov! We have reached Nisan, the month that God is referring to when
G-d says, “This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be
the first of the months of the year for you.” Contrary to the assumption of many
that Rosh HaShanah, in the month of Tishrei, begins our
new year, we learn that, in fact, God gives Nisan that distinction. Tishrei, actually the 7th month, may be the birthday of the creation of the world, but on Nisan we celebrate
the birth of our nationhood, and our freedom.
We mark this pivotal event by retelling the story of the
Exodus and keeping chometz-free for the next seven (or 8)
days. But here’s the shocker: there is evidence to prove that
the holiday that we know as Passover/Pesach, is actually
two separate holidays: Pesach, and Chag HaMatzot.
After the initial instructions about how to prepare the
pesach offering, Ex. 20:14 concludes: “This day (Hayom
Hazeh) shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an
institution for all time.” Now I’ve always assumed that the following verses, beginning with vs. 15 (“Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread…..) and even
specifiying in vs. 17 (You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread) were
simply an elaboration and continuation of the holiday known as Pesach.
Apparently, I’ve been very much mistaken. AlHaTorah.org recounts, “An
examination of all the Biblical verses which mention either Pesach or Chag haMatzot,
indicates that they are two distinct entities.” Looking at it through this lens, vs. 1-14
describe the one-day ritual on the 14th of Nisan involving the Pesach sacrifice, and
vs. 15-20 describe an added holiday, Chag HaMatzot, focused on the eating of
unleavened bread to recall the Exodus.
Even if these holidays were considered related but distinct, by the 2nd century, it appears that they had definitely blended into one. But what was the motivation? Perhaps it was because after centuries of celebrating them separately, the
Rabbis simply decided that it was too difficult and complicated to keep splitting
hairs since they were so closely related to each other. One celebration picks up right
where the other ends.
But perhaps more than anything else, necessity has been the mother of the
reinvention, or at least the refocusing, of this holiday. After the destruction of the
2nd Temple there has been no centralized place to make the paschal offering, thus
making this integral ritual obsolete. If these were indeed two separate holidays, it
would make Pesach obsolete as well.
By combining it with Chag HaMatzot, we could keep the Pesach ritual alive
by designing a seder around it, retelling the story of that awesome night when we
prepared and ate the Pesach sacrifice and then high-tailed it out of Egypt with
unleavened bread on our backs.
We added other details to the story: symbolic edible editions to our seder plate
to represent hardship as well as joy, 4 questions, 4 cups of wine, plagues, songs,
and an awesome meal. And we continue to follow the directive to remember that
story by refraining from eating unleavened bread, just as the Torah commands us.
Personally, I think our obsessive-compulsive Rabbis went a bit overboard
Continued on page 6 . . .
2
From the President The Ritual Life
I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about all of
the events that we have coming up in the next couple of months.
If our Purim celebration was any indication of what’s to come,
we’re in store for some great times! Richard Allen’s play
was second to none, and was so hilarious, it kept us laughing
the entire time.
We hope everyone will be checking their calendars and
emails so you don’t miss a thing because at this time of year
there is so much happening! Here’s just a sample of what’s
coming up…
Our 2nd Night Passover Seder is going to be Saturday,
April 4, with our own Dr. Ken Licker leading us out of Egypt.
We also have the White Elephant Auction that has been rescheduled to Saturday, April 18, and also the three Yoms will
be coming up this month, Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron and
Yom HaAtzmaut, with community events scheduled and details to come. Then, don’t forget, we also have our big fund
raiser of the year, The Taste of Beth Shalom coming up on
May 16th.
I have only touched on some of the activities that we
have coming up. The CBS Sisterhood, Brotherhood, Youth
Group, and the Adult Education committee all have events
scheduled on our calendar. So please keep your eyes open for
more information!
Even with all these fun and exciting events going on, I
feel it necessary to remind you that without you and your
support, these programs would not be possible. If you would
like to make a donation to CBS, please consider donating to
our General Fund.
This is the time of year when this fund needs donations
more than ever, so please consider choosing it for your donations to help us during these trying months. Also, on a side
note, in order to help replenish this fund, we are temporarily
making the General Fund the only option available when making
on-line donations for the next few months. This is temporary,
but necessary for now.
Chag Sameach,
– Lynda Friedensohn
President, Congregation Beth Shalom
Save the Date!
Taste of CBS
Saturday, May 16, 7:00 p.m.
(Details to come . . .)
HaShomer
is published monthly by Congregation Beth Shalom
1212 Thannisch Drive, Arlington, TX 76011-4848
Vol. XXXII, Issue 7, April, 2015
Editor: Hy Siegel
Editorial Assistance: Thressa Lobel
All for One and One for All
The principle of Ahavas Israel, the love of our fellow
Jews is a core concept of our faith, and by extension, how
every Jew is responsible for each other. This concept is reinforced many times in our writings: Torah, Talmud, Midrash,
and elsewhere.
Toward this end, there are two stories that I wish to
recount to reinforce this message. The first is recorded in our
Torah, Parshat Ki Tissa. As you may recall, this is the chapter
that details the Golden Calf, built by a hesitant Aaron when
Moses (according to the people’s miscalculation) was late in
coming down from the mountain and the people demanded a
replacement for Moses as an intermediary with the Divine.
In Chapter 32:20 we read, “Then he (Moses) took the
calf they had made, burned it in fire, ground it to fine powder,
scattered [it] upon the surface of the water, and gave [it to]
the children of Israel to drink.” We then read further in verses
27-28, "So said the Lord, the God of Israel: 'Let every man
place his sword upon his thigh and pass back and forth from
one gate to the other in the camp, and let every man kill his
brother, every man his friend, every man his kin. The sons of
Levi did according to Moses' word; on that day some three
thousand men fell from among the people.”
Now fast forward to Joshua. After the death of Moses,
Joshua leads the Jewish people for 28 years. As recorded in
the Book of Joshua, the first battle in the 14 years of conquest
and settlement of Canaan was Jericho. Before they enter the
land, the Jewish people send an envoy to the Canaanites with
the message, “God, the Creator of the Universe has promised
this land to our forefathers. We are now here to claim our
inheritance, and we ask you to leave peacefully.” As you may
have already guessed, most of the Canaanites don’t.
Meanwhile, Joshua receives clear instructions from
HaShem that if the Canaanites don’t get out, the Jews must
wipe them out; because by remaining in the land, they will
corrupt the Jews with their extremely immoral and idolatrous
ways. After all, who would willingly choose to live in a bad
neighborhood knowing the influence and consequence it will
have on your children? One always has to be careful of outside influences.
As you know, the Battle of Jericho is successful and the
walls come tumbling down. The next battle is the city-state of
Ai. Unlike Jericho, things don’t go so smoothly. In fact, they
meet with a terrible defeat with many Jewish warriors killed.
Traumatized by the experience, they plead to know why G-d
had turned his favor from them and quickly learn the terrible
truth; that one person, Achan, had stolen some items back in
Jericho!
3000 people (and most of them were the “mixed multitudes”, i.e. non-Hebrew) among millions at the foot of Sinai
didn’t listen to G-d and everyone suffers! One person at Jericho among millions didn’t listen to G-d and everyone suffers.
What lesson are we to learn from these two examples? What
is HaShem trying to tell us?
The fascinating message here is that the Bible seems to
be saying that obedience to G-d’s commands is paramount
and, that as far as the Jews are concerned, it is all for one and
one for all.
Continued on page 6 . . .
3
Sisterhood
Religious School
Spring is finally arriving and with that comes the end of
the Sisterhood year. We had to postpone, and then cancel,
the Hamantash bake because of various reasons, but the Sushi
making class (taught by our own Yael Sasley) was a great
success and was enjoyed by all who attended.
It’s April already!
Who would believe that school is coming to a close. We
have just enjoyed a wonderful seder, and are looking forward
to all the events still to come. Very shortly you will be given
the chance to hear our B’nai Mitzvah class help lead services,
while also being presented with their own personal Siddurim.
This is quite a lovely service and truly gets the kids
excited about their upcoming Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. As in the
past we will also be looking forward to our end-of-the-schoolyear picnic. Watch for more details.
I want to give a shout out to the religious school families
that came to our Purim festivities. A fun time was had by all.
We have a number of future Thesbians in our midst! It was
also fun seeing some of you at the Purim carnival in Fort
Worth. Our very own congregant, Jeff Rothschild, chaired
the committee and did a wonderful job. Way to go, Jeff!
Did you know?... During Passover, the Coca-Cola bottling company of New York makes Coke that is kosher for
Passover. Sugar is used instead of corn syrup, because corn is
not considered kosher for Passover.
– Stephanie Posner
Religious School Director
Sisterhood Sushi Making Class: (clockwise from lower left):
Taylor Yates, Cindy Mendez, Dorit Mikulencak, Arlene
Schwartz, Cookie Kabakoff, Yael Sasley, and Iris Jeffreys.
At our March meeting, the nominating committee proposed the following slate for newly elected officers for 20152017: Dorit Mikulencak president-elect (a one year term);
vp of membership, Sheryl Robertson; recording secretary,
Cindy Mendez; corresponding secretary, Christine Posnock;
and treasurer/financial secretary, Cathy Frisinger.
All other officers will continue for the second year of
their term. Elections will be held at the Membership Celebration. Plans are still on-going as I write this, so watch for a
bulletin to all members of Sisterhood.
Book club will be meeting on Sunday, March 29th, and
we will pick our next book and meeting date at that time.
Information will be forthcoming.
Our next meeting is April 13th at 7:00 p.m., with dinner
at The Mellow Mushroom (on Center and Division) at 5:30
p.m.. Remember to RSVP to thoms68@sbcglobal.net if you
plan to attend so we know how many to expect.
– Martine Thomas
Sisterhood President
We rely on you to let us know when a
member of Beth Shalom has celebrated
a simcha, endured a loss, or is ill.
Please call the office 817-860-5448,
or email to info@bethshalom.org.
Congregation Beth Shalom
Sisterhood Gift Shop
We 'R' Judaica
Open: Sundays, 11:00 a.m. to Noon
or by appointment - Contact the
CBS office: 817-860-5448

ARFTY
ARFTY did not do much in March because of Spring
Break.
Junior Youth Group weekend was March 20-22, at
Greene Family Camp for the 6, 7, and 8th graders. Hannah
Jeffries and Ryan Silverberg attended the weekend along
with other kids from Texas and Oklahoma.
ARFTY (9-12th grade) will be having Spring Conclave
the weekend of April 17-19th at Greene Family Camp. Registration is open at www.greene.org and kids are requested to
register as soon as possible.
We will be doing Weekend Angels on Sunday, April 26,
at 11:30 a.m.
We will continue to stay in contact with the Dallas area,
Fort Worth, and Colleyville youth groups for other activities
If you have any questions, please email or call.
– Richard Posner
Youth Director
You can advertise in
HaShomer
the monthly newsletter of
Congregation Beth Shalom
Ad Rates: (Business Card Size)
1 month - $25 3 months - $65
6 months - $120 12 months - $225
Contact the CBS office for info: 817-860-5448
4
Those Jews!
Sanctuary Completion Fund Donors
There has been a lot of chat lately about boycotting
Israel. Several American publications support this idea. We
know that there are a lot of people who are ready to join any
anti-Semitic idea. It's been that way for thousands of years.
I have been reading an internet post about a letter purported to be from the Iranian supreme ruler saying that Muslims should boycott anything and everything originated by the
Jewish people. The author of this post reminds the Muslims
that if they did this, they could not be treated for many illnesses that Jewish doctors have cured.
This article goes on to remind the reader that Jews, who
make up such a small part of the world's population, have
earned a major share of the Nobel prizes awarded for excellence in academia. Since the prizes have been given, Jews
have earned the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature - 10
Peace - 8
Physics - 53
Economics - 13
Medicine - 44
Total 128
With my access to Google, I can also find so many other
references to Jewish accomplishments. Of course, Jews seem
afraid to brag. (Something about a fear of being noticed.) We
have learned that every time we stick our heads up, someone
is jealous and tries to kill us.
I remember reading about the Marranos who had to
hide from their neighbors who might accuse them of Judaising
if they were too successful. At other times in history, the Jews
were singled out so that their neighbors could take their possessions.
Continued on page 6 . . .
Daytimers Presents:
Rabbi Jordan Ottenstein
Wednesday, April 15, 12:00 noon
at Congregation Beth-El
Rabbi Ottenstein serves as assistant rabbi at Beth-El
Congregation. He was raised in Minnetonka, MN.
His Jewish identity was shaped by his family, as well as
his experiences growing up at Bet Shalom, Temple Israel's
Camp TEKO, Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute, and the URJ
camp in Wisconsin. He currently performs his duties as BethEl's first assistant rabbi.
Many of us wonder about what it takes for someone to
become a rabbi. We know it begins with the inner desire, and
we will now have the opportunity to learn first-hand about
the entire process.
Lunch catered by Boopa's Bagel Deli
$9 per person. Program only, $5 per person
For information/reservations contact:
Larry Steckler, 817-927-2736.
The Sylvia Wolens Jewish Daytimers is a program of Beth-El
Congregation with support from the Jewish Federation.
Diamond Donation - $5,000 and up
Platinum Donation - $2,500-4,999
Larry and Martine Thomas
CBS Sisterhood
Gold Donation - $1,500-2,499
Melanie Garver
Sherwin Rubin
Silver Donation - $500-1,499
Stuart and Andrea Snow
Harold Mandel/Sharon Self
Gene and Christine Posnock
Brian and Klila Caplan
Pam and Johnny Sudbury
Nana and Joyce Atkens
Jeff and Michele Rothschild
Stephen and Sarita Cabrero
CBS Brotherhood
Mike and Suzi Kapin
Supporter - Under $500
Richard and Sheri Allen
Lynda Friedensohn
Ken and Linda Licker
Ben and Fran Weiger
Martin and Cindi Kaplan
Stephen and Tamara Lenhoff
Janet and Jerry Aaronson
Ruth Friedman
Jared Snow
Norm and Toni Epstein
Joe and Rochelle Bekerman
Ellen Pincus
Amir and Shirley Sassoon
Bob and Karen Burns
Tuesday Mah Jongg Group
Barry and Seena Stevens
Florence Grossman
Marty and Debbie Goldsmith
Phil and Aimee Israel-Pelletier
Barry and Dolores Schneider
Phil and Cookie Kabakoff
Cathy and Jim Frisinger
David and Angela Markson
Hy Siegel
Richard and Stephanie Posner
George Fleischmann
Mark Lewis
Lee and Leslie Schulman
Paul Solomon
Brent and Yael Sasley
Michael and Lisa Rein
The Congregation records with sorrow
the passing of:
Sabina Handel
beloved mother of Carol Kamen Pock, and
grandmother of Jackie Pock-Gibbons and Howie Pock.
Elaine Solomon (first CBS Sisterhood president)
beloved wife of Lenny Solomon, mother of Nelson
Solomon, and grandmother of Devon and Aaron.
May their memory be a blessing
5
Donations (Received prior to March15)
GENERAL FUND
In memory of Lorraine San Antonio
from Randy and Trish San Antonio
In memory of Sharon Wenokur and
Lois Tarshes
from Phil and Cookie Kabakoff
In memory of Sharon Wenokur
from David and Aggie Mishkin
In memory of Ilse Brunell and Roy Propp
from Larry and Wanda Brunell
In memory of Aaron Sternstein, Sharon
Wenokur, David Feld, and Lillian Kaplan
from Marian Feld
DAVID MANDEL
MEMORIAL BIMAH FUND
In memory of Fanny Nancy Finkelstein
from Barry and Dolores Schneider
SANCTUARY FUND
In memory of Carolyn Finkelstein
from Barry and Dolores Schneider
EDUCATION FUND
In memory of Ruth Goldsmith
from Marty and Debbie Goldsmith
In memory of Abraham Glickmam
from John and Karen Blair
In memory of Sharon Wenokur
from Anonymous
RABBI/CANTOR
DISCRETIONARY FUND
In memory of Phil Landsberg
from Scott and Shelly Jessup
In memory of Saul Israel
from Phil and Aimee-Israel Pelletier
SCHOLARSHIP FUND
In memory of Benjamin Epstein
from Norm and Toni Epstein
CHEVRA KADDISHA FUND
In memory of Al Weiss
from Steve Weiss
Would you like to honor
someone's good deed, honor
a birthday, special occasion or
send condolences? You can
do this with a donation that
benefits Congregation Beth
Shalom.
You may indicate a
fund of your choice, or leave
it to the discretion of the
administrative assistant to
select it for you.
Donation forms are
available on the CBS website
(www.bethshalom.org) or
from the CBS office.
If the recipient is not a
member of Congregation Beth
Shalom, please be sure to
include their address.
Birthdays
April 3
Lynda Friedensohn
April 6
Michelle Kapin
Jackie Pock
Josef Uri Spindler
April 7
Kenneth Licker
Michael Rein
April 8
Andrew Fleischer
April 9
Adam Visosky
April 10
Cara Schulman
Shari Stevens
April 14
Andrea Snow
April 15
Kaitlan Barasch
Karen Burns
April 17
Carolyn Solomon
April 18
Paul Solomon
April 19
Sarina Bekerman
April 21
Sarah Cimbalo
April 22
Jessica Silverberg
April 27
Sarah Soltz
April 28
Jim Frisinger
Samuel Markson
April 29
Juli Hobdy
Madeleine Markson
April 30
Angela Markson
Anniversaries
April 8
Lee & Leslie Schulman (25)
April 11
Rabbi Ned & Mary Soltz
ADVANTAGE EYECARE
MARK SCHWARTZ, O.D.
ARLENE SCHWARTZ, O.D
MAYFAIR VILLAGE
724 GRAPEVINE HWY.
HURST, TEXAS 76054
817-788-2020
If you can't read this, you need to see us.
Yahrzeits
April 2
Edward Hans
April 3
Beatrice Mandelstein*
Sadie Knee Sternstein
April 4
Harry O. Miller
April 5
Mascha Bekerman
William Grodin
Charlene Longoria*
April 6
Dolores Fratina
Eva Weiss
April 7
Misa Galam
Lillian Lazovick
April 8
Irene Lewis
April 12
Lillian Bushlow*
April 13
Melvin Gotlieb*
Daniel S. Ratner*
Robert Stuart*
April 14
Bertha Diamond
Harold Freedman
Blossom Gitterman
Dora Saxe*
William Willie, Jr.
April 15
Doris Kessler
April 17
Samuel Abramovitz
Louis Franklin
David Zucker
April 18
Morris Gould*
Esther Rosenthal*
Faye Shaw*
April 19
Phyllis Betcher*
Michael Egyes
Moshe Furman*
April 21
Ken Sasley
Michelle Zucker
April 22
Lee Landsberg*
Magda Mittleman
Arthur Paderewski
April 23
Seena Greenberg
Gordon Prigoff
April 24
Resa Babin*
Andries Voet
April 25
Helene Markson*
David Suissa*
April 26
Louis Edward Miller*
April 27
Bob Billings
Isidore Friedman*
April 28
Sidney Bushner*
Elwood Green*
Rosalind Pier Solomon*
April 30
Abe Jolkovsky
* Memorial Plaque in Sanctuary
6
The Ritual Life
My Two Shekels
. . . continued from page 2
. . . continued from page 1
There is an outgrowth of this lesson, as Judaism teaches
that there is such a thing as collective responsibility as well as
individual responsibility. To paraphrase the song, “No person
is an island. No person stands alone.” Each exists as part of
the whole and is not only responsible for their own actions,
but the actions of others as well.
In today’s world, the prevailing motto seems to say,
“Mind your own business”, or “it’s not my problem”.
From a simple reading of our texts, one might assume
that the entire Jewish people abandoned the Torah and started
worshipping idols. But in fact, this perception isn’t true or
accurate.
As with the two aforementioned incidents, only a small
percentage of the people sinned, yet the entire Jewish nation
is held accountable. There is no question that the self-rebuke
of our people is hyper-criticism, however there are two reasons why the slightest offence by a small group of people is
condemned in the strongest of terms.
1. It should be an obvious point in the moral history of
the world that as soon as you tolerate something, it becomes
bearable, and before long it will become common; indeed
acceptable.
2. Therefore, G-d is driving home an important point to
the Jewish people- You’re on a higher spiritual level, and therefore if you tolerate even small indiscretions by a few, eventually these few are going to pollute the nation at large.
In the political and moral climate we live in today, these
lessons within the concept of Ahavas Israel resonate as much
now as at any time in our history.
– Stuart Snow, Ritual Chair
when they determined that “not possessing any leaven” meant
that we needed to expunge every last miniscule crumb from
our midst, as well as replace every dish, pot, sponge, and
food item in our kitchen.
But all the heavy duty cleaning, while stressing me out
for weeks before, is, I admit, cathartic. I am not allowed to
destroy my enemies, but I am commanded to destroy every
speck of chometz visible to the naked eye.
Whether or not Passover was originally one holiday or
two, through its observance we uncover new discoveries about
our past, create new traditions to complement the old, and
remind ourselves that freedom never comes without some
sacrifice, which, like dipping bitter herbs into choroset, makes
it all the sweeter.
– Cantor Sheri Allen
Those Jews!
. . . continued from page 4
The Jews have been successful. I have a book by Cecil
Roth called, The Jewish Contribution to Civilization. Just
one short chapter lists dozens of ways that Jewish scientists
showed the world how to navigate using the stars, and making
accurate maps hundreds of years before Columbus.
The Romans relied on Jewish Doctors for their health
care. The popes of Europe relied on Jewish bankers for money
to build their impressive churches. Jews entertained the world
in arts, music, and theater. Jews were leaders in public education, charity, and they gave the world Monotheism.
During my lifetime, I have seen Jews subjected to quota
systems to keep them from dominating the rolls of the best
schools in America. They were kept out of medical schools,
country clubs, and restricted from the best neighborhoods.
Only recently, things have been easier for Jews inAmerica.
The bigots have shifted their hate to people of color and Jews
are getting a free pass. We may be forgetting our responsibility to help our cousins in Israel. We are now being reminded
by our local Federation that our contributions are needed to
help at this time.
– Sherwin Rubin
CBS Mission Statement:
Congregation Beth Shalom is a Reform
Jewish community; warm and caring,
welcoming of all, rich in tradition, committed
to G-d and Israel, devoted to life-long learning,
Jewish programs and spiritual growth.
CBS Vision Statement:
Congregation Beth Shalom strives to be the
center for strong Jewish spiritual growth in
the Mid-Cities community, where our
members engage in the study of Torah, the
warmth and friendship that evolves through
our Jewish way of life, and our commitment
to Tikkun Olam.

2014 - 2015 CBS Executive Board
and Board of Trustees
President
1st Vice President
Treasurer
Controller
Secretary
Lynda Friedensohn
Yael Sasley
Ben Weiger
Ken Licker
Angela Markson
Trustees at Large/Committee Chairs
Ritual
Education
Programming
Social Welfare
Membership
House
Fundraising
Youth
Federation Liason
Stuart Snow
Shirley Sassoon
Taylor Yates
Paul Solomon
Stephanie Posner
Pam Sudbury
Marian Feld
Lee Schulman
Klila Caplan
7
Treasurer's Report
Here is my second update on the 2015 Financial Committee goals and completed activities since last month.
Completed Tasks
* Completed our efforts to validate auto pay for all our routine monthly bills.
* Collaborated with Financial Committee to identify cost cutting proposals to reduce our deficit. Proposals presented
during the March Board meeting.
* Accessed resources on the URJ’s Tent site regarding membership, lease agreements, employee handbook, and job
descriptions for congregation staff.
* Collaborated with comptroller to modify the restricted fund
policy for presentation and Board approval at March meeting. The modified policy was approved by the Board of
Trustees at its monthly meeting. This new policy will be
included in Hashomer in the near future.
* Disabled income accounts no longer in use.
* Made two payments toward our building insurance premium.
* Began updating/generating new account numbers in Shulsuite
and QuickBooks.
* Completed property inventory in collaboration with Pam
and Ken. No savings found in premiums paid for property
content.
* Began efforts to obtain information about other URJ-sponsored insurance companies; Church Mutual no longer provides policies in the DFW area. One company will provide
quote for next year renewal several months prior to our
renewal date for 2016; one company identifying an agent
to coordinate with us.
* Set up online account and paperless billing for CBS Home
Depot Revolving credit card expense information.
Future Activities
* Integrate income/expense accounts in QuickBooks (in
progress).
* Evaluate and compare property/liability premiums from other
URJ-sponsored insurance companies in preparation for
2016 insurance renewal.
* Evaluate and compare fees and other benefits from Compass Bank
* Evaluate and compare costs from other electricity providers
(our two-year contract expires in August)
* Coordinate with ATT and other telecommunication providers to determine costs of including online file backup capability into a bundled fee with our internet/phone fees.
As a reminder, please use the memo field on your personal
checks to help us assign your donations/payments with one
of our defined income accounts. This will make it much
easier for Thressa and the finance committee members to
accurately track our congregation’s income/expenses and
your household donations for income tax purposes.
If you have any questions, please let me know
weiger@sbcglobal.net.
– Ben Weiger
Treasurer
Invite your friends and be
prepared to have a fabulous,
fun, frolicking evening at our
Fun(d) Raising Event!
Saturday, April 18, 7:30 p.m.
Congregation Beth Shalom Social Hall
Everyone brings at least one item that is wrapped.
Use your imagination to do that using gift wrap,
comics, or whatever you think will make your
gift item appealing! The more gifts you bring, the
more fun we'll have. The item can be fun, useful,
provocative, creative, gently used (within reason)
or new and valued at $10.
Our fun-loving auctioneer Randy San Antonio
will start the bidding at only $1 per gift.
There will be No Charge to you for the
evening. Just bring your gifts!
Dessert & Coffee will be Served.
Cash, Checks, or Credit Cards Accepted
Please respond to the CBS office by April 13
if you will be joining us for this Fun(d)-Raising Event!
April Community Events:
Yom HaShoah, April 15, 7:00 p.m.
at Congregation Beth Israel
Yom HaZikaron, April 21, 7:00 p.m.
at Ahavath Sholom
Yom HaAtzmaut, April 26,
Field Day (in the field between
the Federation Bldg. and
Ahavath Sholom)