to get the file

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016
TEVET/SH’VAT/ADAR 5776
FROM RABBI ZEMEL
ISRAEL’S COMPLEXITY
MADE CLEAR ON TRIP
DEAR FRIENDS,
This time, Israel was different.
Louise saw it first when we were
easily able to get a reservation at a
trendy restaurant in Jerusalem. The restaurant, normally packed with Israelis
and tourists alike, was not full
all evening.
Tourist sites were likewise much quieter than usual
during the Temple Micah
Mission to Israel in the normally December high season.
Our group was the only one
at the usually busy sites of
Bet Shean, Tziporri and Atlit. Noam and
Moti, our guide and driver, respectively,
told us there are almost no tourists
coming into the country these days. As
Moti bluntly put it: “It is dead.”
Downtown Jerusalem was quiet as
well. Local newspaper articles said that
tourism was down 20 percent from one
year ago and more than 40 percent
from December, 2013.
Shabbat afternoon gathering spots
also seemed quieter. The recent wave of
violence has made people less willing to
go out.
Despite this, we felt safe. There was
security everywhere. Our tour was not
impacted in the least. In our free time,
Louise and I visited our favorite places.
We carried on with our normal routines.
We at Micah should be proud—there
was not one cancellation among our
group of 28.
We were thanked regularly just for
coming to the country. Israelis told us it
was important for them to remain connected to American Jews.
Nevertheless, the experience of
being there at this tumultuous and very
different time made me ask myself—
CO N TI N U E D O N PAG E 8
;
Micah travelers reflect
on situation in Israel
By A l From
Ginger and I have been on seven of
technological innovation. On this trip,
the nine Micah Mitzvah Missions that
Ginger and I visited one of those modRabbi Zemel has led since 2002. I guess
ern miracles – the Via Maris desaliyou could call us regulars.
nation plant south of Tel Aviv that,
I love to go to Israel. I love meantogether with seven other such plants,
dering through the narrow streets of
supplies half of Israel’s drinking water.
the Old City of
Jerusalem, visiting the cafes along
Dizengoff Street
or the restaurants
of the Old Port in
Tel Aviv, walking
along Ben Yehuda
Street in Center
City Jerusalem,
attending Shabbat
services and enjoying home hospital- A panorama of Old Jerusalem and beyond from the Haas
Promenade (the Tayelet)
ity at burgeoning
Reform congregations, visiting biblical, historical and
Micah Mitzvah Mission IX came
archeological sites, witnessing firsthand
at a time of Palestinian unrest that has
the strategic importance of the Golan
discouraged many people from travelHeights, seeing friends and relatives
ling to Israel. Tourism is down. The 28
who have made aliyah, and shopping for
of us – and particularly the first timJudaica at Gabrieli’s, for pottery at the
ers – on the latest Micah trip had every
Armenian Potter just inside Jaffa Gate,
reason to be apprehensive. For months,
and for Ginger’s favorite purses at a small we’ve read news accounts of terrorleather shop in the German Colony – our ist incidents – stabbings and car ramregular haunts in Jerusalem.
mings – mostly in East Jerusalem and
And, I enjoy seeing the remarkthe West Bank. The day we arrived,
able and unrelenting progress of
the State Department issued another
modern Israel, the economic miracle
warning about Americans travelling to
that is among the world leaders in
CO N TI N U E D PAG E 7 ;
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
Editors’ note: Temple Micah’s 2015 Mission to Israel visited during a stressful time that is
much reported in the media. Instead of publishing a news story on the trip, we’re taking the
unusual step of sharing a package of three personal reflections plus Rabbi Zemel’s column.
2
T E V E T/S H ’ VAT/A DA R 5 7 76
“Every person shall sit under
his grapevine or fig tree with
no one to make him afraid.”
M I CA H , C H A P T E R 4 , V E R S E 4
Vine
Vol. 52 No.2
TEMPLE MICAH—
A REFORM JEWISH CONGREGATION
2829 Wisconsin Ave, NW
Washington, D.C. 20007
Voice:202-342-9175
Fax:202-342-9179
Email: assistant@templemicah.org
vine@templemicah.org
Web:www.templemicah.org
Daniel G. Zemel
RABBI
Josh Beraha
ASSISTANT RABBI, DIRECTOR OF
CONGREGATIONAL LEARNING
Susan Landau
ASSISTANT RABBI
Rachel Gross
E XECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Meryl Weiner
CANTOR
Teddy Klaus
MUSIC DIRECTOR
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jodi Enda
PRESIDENT
Ed Lazere
VICE PRESIDENT
Larry Bachorik
SECRETARY
Joel Korn
TRE ASURER
Martha Adler
Sheri Blotner
Patty Brink
Jeff Davis
Marina Fanning
Helene Granof
Jim Hamos
Alison Harwood
Heather Moran
Josh Seidman
Marcia Silcox
VINE STAFF
Dorian Friedman
CO-EDITOR
Shelley Grossman
CO-EDITOR
AURAS Design
PRODUCTION
PRESIDENT ’S COLUMN
SOMETHING ON THE CALENDAR FOR
EVERYONE IN 2016
By Jodi En da
Happy Leap Year!
Now, for the quadrennial question I
know you’re asking: What to do with all
those extra hours?
Not to worry:
Temple Micah has a
plethora of exciting
things planned to fill
each and every one of
them (though not all at
once).
First, however, I’d
like to take a quick
look all the way back
to December, when we
had a red-hot party to
burn Micah’s mortgage and celebrate our
first two decades on Wisconsin Avenue.
Party chairs and dynamic duo Martha
Adler and Heather Moran truly outdid
themselves on this one, transforming
the social hall into a sizzling party room,
creating fire-themed decorations and
libations and even bringing in real-live
District of Columbia firefighters to make
sure our conflagration didn’t get out of
control. Our very own Laurel and Hardy,
otherwise known as Michael Feuer and
David Adler, cracked us up with their
over-the-top antics and song-master
extraordinaire Doug Mishkin serenaded
us as only he can do. Micah Cooks fed
us well and Nani Beraha and Shira Zemel
crafted cupcakes topped with edible
flames. Finally, our favorite magician, the
Great Loudini, came all the way from
Minnesota to light the fire that would
make our mortgage (and, thankfully, not
our building) go up in smoke.
The next day, he spun my head
around. Literally. Just ask the kids and
adults who went to Loudini’s back-toback Hanukkah shows during Machon
Micah. (And, yes, there is a video and,
also yes, this might explain a few things
about my state of mind.)
I’m very sorry if you missed the festivities; they were fun and special and,
well, we don’t plan on burning another
mortgage (or anything else) anytime soon.
All of which goes to show that you
can’t take too many chances with your
calendar. There’s always something going
on at Micah that you just don’t want to
miss. And this is the time of year not to
miss it because, baby, it’s cold outside
(some days, anyway) and, unless you’re
running for president (and, if you are, call
me), other activities are slowing down.
Let me tell you about some of the
things you shouldn’t miss this winter and
spring.
First, you should reserve a spot on a
bus January 17, when we go to the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Memorial. This always is a
poignant morning that brings us together
as a congregation to honor an American
hero, to learn from his words and to consider how far we have come and what we
still need to do in the ongoing battle for
equality and civil rights.
The following Friday night, January 22,
you should NOT plan to come to temple.
Hear me, o’ congregants, because I don’t
say that often! Instead, you should open
your home or go to someone else’s for
one of our great get-to-know-you customs: Shabbat Shalom Around Town. I
have made some of my best friends at
Micah by attending and hosting these
annual dinners. They are a great way to
reconnect with old friends and meet new
ones. If you are hosting, please mix it up
by leaving space for some people you
don’t know. Who knows? They could be
your new best friends.
Since you missed services on the
22nd, of course, you’ll want to go the
next morning for Shabbat Shira. This is
the day when Temple Micah’s most talented musicians and vocalists—young
and, um, more experienced—come
together to perform “Mi Chamocha” in
50,000 (or maybe it’s a dozen) different ways. It’s a truly beautiful experience. The National Symphony Orchestra
should have it so good!
February is packed with top-notch
speakers, clubs, classes for adults and
kids, discussion groups, Kol Isha, Lunch
and Learn, b’nai mitzvah—the usual and
then some. Suffice it to say, there’s something going on most every day (with the
odd exception of the 29th).
We rev it up with our Scholar-inCO N TI N U E D O N PAG E 1 1
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TV’s David Gregory discusses faith and his
new book at January 10 Speaker Series
By Shelley Grossm a n
Former Meet the Press mod-
erator and Micah member
David Gregory is scheduled
to interrupt his national
book tour to come home
to the temple on Sunday,
January 10, and share his
thoughts about his book,
How’s Your Faith? An Unlikely
Spiritual Journey, as part of
the 10:15 am monthly Sunday
Speaker series.
The book is an unlikely
memoir for a Washington
journalist. It’s not about
politics, government policies or Washington celebrities. Instead, Gregory turns
his 25 years of asking probing
questions of presidents and
politicians on himself and
relates in personal terms his
search for faith. The son of
a Jewish father and Catholic
mother, Gregory was imbued
with the culture of Judaism,
but “for most of my life faith
was not part of my vocabulary,” he writes in the book.
Gregory didn’t think much
about God until early in his
marriage, when he and his
Protestant wife, Washington
lawyer Beth Wilkinson, discussed raising their children
as Jews. “When we started
thinking about how God
would be part of our family
life, I realized that I needed
to take a deeper look at my
own beliefs,” he writes.
So, he started studying the Hebrew Bible with
Erica Brown, a local biblical scholar, and joined a
men’s Bible study group.
Doing what comes naturally to a reporter, he interviewed experts on a variety
of faiths, including New
York’s Archbishop Cardinal
Timothy Dolan, several
prominent Protestant clergymen and a Muslim imam, in
addition to several rabbis.
He started with Rabbi
Zemel and asked him, “How
has faith saved you?” As
Gregory relates in the book,
Rabbi Zemel talked about
the death of his mother from
a fast-acting cancer which,
the rabbi said, left him “very
out of control, all over the
place, couldn’t focus.” But a
verse from Psalm 121 helped
him remember, in Rabbi
Zemel’s words, “Whatever
the crisis is, whatever the
storm of the moment, we’ve
not yet lost our hope, because
we cling to an eternal God.”
Gregory also writes about
the pain of growing up with
an alcoholic mother, the
challenges of an interfaith
marriage, the battle over
controlling his own anger,
the exhilaration of doing
television news and his quick
rise at NBC, first to White
House correspondent and
then to one of the most coveted TV perches, moderator
of Meet the Press, and also of
his humiliation when he lost
that job. “I have to admit,
however, that losing my job
was more than a humbling
moment,” he writes. “Over
time, I’ve had to grapple with
a real loss of identity…. But
I know that being grounded
in faith and humility from
this period will help me find
my new identity—my true
identity.”
The title of the book,
How’s Your Faith?, is a question that President George
W. Bush asked Gregory when
he was NBC’s White House
correspondent. Gregory
writes: “The query from
President Bush reminded me
that no matter where you are
in life, that question may be
the most important one you
can be asked.”
•
SECURING OUR TOMORROW, TRANSFORMING US TODAY
Temple Looks to Innovation and Endowment Funds for Fiscal Health
and Enduring Creativity
By Jim H a mos a n d M a rci a Sil cox, M ember s of the Temple Mic a h B oa r d Fu n dr a ising Com mit tee
Temple Micah takes pride in elevat-
ing its brand of 21st-century American
Judaism to the next level. But accomplishing this goal requires a continued
infusion of resources. Thus, the Micah
Board of Directors has established an
Innovation Fund to finance transformative projects. At the same time, funds
are also needed to secure Micah’s future.
So, in November the board approved a
new gift policy that establishes how the
Endowment Fund and other Temple
Micah funds may receive gifts through
current gift-giving or bequests through
wills and other vehicles.
While innovation can seem like an
overused term, it aptly describes the
effort to move Micah’s narrative forward, dispel boundaries and fully engage
its ideas and abilities.
Innovation doesn’t just happen.
Someone has to implement the great
new ideas. So Rabbi Zemel has hired
eager young staff fellows to put the
pieces in place. But to finance the fellows, he has had to make personal
appeals for seed grants. Now, Rabbi
Zemel said, “It’s time to institutionalize
our approach to bold new programming,
to figure out how can we make things
fresh, or transform Jewish life.” He continued, “I want to push harder to know
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
CO N TI N U E D O N N E X T PAG E
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T E V E T/S H ’ VAT/A DA R 5 7 76
INTERESTING SPEAKERS!
Temple Micah features two monthly lecture series—on Sunday morning and
Wednesday noon. For more details, go online to www.templemicah.org.
SUNDAY SPEAKER SERIES
Sundays from 10:15 to 11:45 am
January 10 – David Gregory, television journalist and
Micah member, will discuss his new book, How’s Your
Faith? An Unlikely Spiritual Journey, a memoir about his
search for a spiritual life in Judaism that began when he
married Beth Wilkinson, a Protestant with strong background in faith, and decided to raise their family in
Judaism. (See page 3 for more.)
COMING ATTRACTIONS
Here’s a sampling of coming Micah
activities. For a detailed schedule
of all upcoming events and services,
check out www.templemicah.org.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 15 • 6 PM
Operation Understanding
Shabbat
Oneg at 6 pm; service at 6:30 pm
SUNDAY, JANUARY 1 7 • 9:30 AM –12:30 PM
All-community events honoring
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Includes our annual visit to the MLK
Memorial
FRIDAY, JANUARY 22 • Evening
LUNCH & LEARN
Wednesdays from noon to 2 pm
Shabbat Shalom Around Town
group dinners
A monthly program sponsored by the Aging Together Team. Reserve online at
www.templemicah.org. Contact Livia Bardin, lunchandlearn@templemicah.org,
or call the temple office, 202-342-9175, for details.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 23 • 10:15 AM
January 13 – Rabbi Josh Beraha on “Do Jews Believe?
The Rise and Fall of Jewish Theology in Post-World
War II America.” From the time of mass Jewish immigration to the United States in the early 20th century
through World War II, theology was not on the agenda
of American Jews. After the war, however, many notable
rabbis and scholars became strong advocates for theology as a topic of concern. But by the mid-1960s the fervent call for American
Jews to concern themselves with theological issues remained (mostly) unanswered. What happened? What is the state of Jewish theology today? Join us
as we explore these and other questions with Rabbi Beraha.
Discussion on parenting and
spirituality
All-Community Shabbat Shirah
services
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7 • 10:15 AM
Professor Lisa Miller, author of the
bestseller, The Spiritual Child: The New
Science of Parenting for Health and
Lifelong Thriving
FRIDAY–SUNDAY, MARCH 4 – 6 • All
weekend
2016 Aaron Altschul Scholar-inResidence Weekend
Professor Lori Hope Lefkovitz (see next
page for details)
February 10 – Doug Mishkin on “From Seeger to Harburg to Friedman: Seamlessness in Song.” The
great lyricist Yip Harburg (“The Wizard of Oz”, “Finian’s Rainbow”, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime”)
and the great contemporary Jewish singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman (“Not By Might”, “Miriam’s
Song”, “Misheberach”) are flip sides of the same coin: music inspired Harburg to write text, while
text inspired Friedman to write music. The text and the music they created in turn inspire us.
Through lecture and song, Doug Mishkin – longtime Micah member, and gifted musician and composer – will explore what their creativity can teach us beyond appreciating their particular songs,
along with a message to all of us from Pete Seeger.
Funds FROM PREVIOUS PAGE ;
what it means for a synagogue to be a spiritual center.
I want to come to a greater
understanding of how Micah
can be the place where we
can be our ‘best self’ and our
‘fullest self.’ ”
When programs have
long-term viability, they may
be incorporated into the
annual budget. It’s not that
they are no longer “innovative” but that they have
demonstrated an enduring need. For new, untried
concepts, the board plans
to use the Innovation Fund.
For example, Rabbi Zemel
asked, “What would happen here if we had a creativity coach to encourage
our expression and alter our
usual thinking?” With support from the Innovation
Fund, that could be tested.
Another Zemel idea: help
members tell their stories to
encourage personal narrative
as an integral part of Temple
Micah.
“The whole point here is
that we have created a new
fund to help us do what we
do best—and that is innovate,” President Jodi Enda
summed up.
The Innovation Fund is
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5
LESSONS FROM LANDAU
WE ARE NOT STANDING IDLY BY
By R a bbi Susa n L a n dau
On November 3, I was honored to be the Jewish voice
at UNITED to Stop Gun
Violence, an interfaith event
at the National Cathedral. In
my remarks, I informed the
700 people in attendance
that we at Temple Micah read
the names of those lost to
violence in DC each week
before the Mourner’s Kaddish
in our Shabbat services. I was
proud to share this piece of
our practice, and congregations of multiple faiths were
impressed. But for how long
will we have to keep reading
long lists of names?
Temple Micah participated in an interfaith Gun
Violence Prevention Sabbath
on Saturday, December 12.
Congregant and activist,
Virginia Spatz, shared a prayer
she had written about gun
violence, and the congregation
prayed together. We will continue to turn to that eloquent,
poignant prayer as both a salve
for our broken hearts and a
reminder that the future is up
to us. But for how long do we
keep reading it?
After the Paris attacks in
November, the temple’s parenting group turned to its
leaders and fellow members
for support in discussing these
events with their children, and
making sense of the senseless violence in our country
as well. How can we explain
to children that, yes, as of the
December 2 San Bernardino
shooting, 2015 had seen more
mass shootings than days in
the year? I want Micah to be a
place where we can have these
painful conversations in safety
and in community. But for how
long will we need to keep talking about this?
On a recent call with the
Religious Action Center, the
Reform movement’s advocacy
arm, the manager of congregational social action reminded
me that tweets from Congress
following mass shootings fall
into two categories. The first
is comforting platitudes: “Our
prayers are with the victims’
families.” Maybe they are sincere, but these statements
start to ring empty after a
while. The second category of
tweets includes those from
representatives who are tired
and torn-apart: “How is this
still happening?? It’s time to
do something about it.” We
will always continue praying
and comforting one another
at Micah, but I’m hopeful that
soon there will be more active
legislation for commonsense
gun laws so that we can do
something more productive
with our grief.
In the meantime, there are
still things we can do together.
On December 13, a group
from Micah gathered at a rally
organized by Moms Demand
Action for Gun Sense in
America. I will be attending a
DC-area Faith-Based Anti-Gun
Violence Gathering on Sunday,
January 24, at Washington
Hebrew Congregation, our
neighbor down the street. It
will be a gathering of faith
leaders, concerned citizens,
and activist groups. Details will
be shared soon. Please join me.
After the San Bernardino
mass shooting, Rabbi Rick
Jacobs, president of the Union
for Reform Judaism, wrote a
letter to the Republican Jewish
coalition, which met the following day. He said that the
shooting in San Bernardino is,
“to our great national shame,
only the latest mass shooting. There is certainly room for
disagreement about the best
way to end gun violence. But
I hope we can all agree that
there is no room for disagreement that the status quo is
flatly unacceptable.”
We are working to protect
human life and improve the
status quo. Please, join us in
this fight. Bring me your ideas
and your passion so we can do
this work together.
2016 SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM — March 4–6
Lori Hope Lefkovitz, the 2016 Aaron Altschul Scholar in Residence, will focus on sex
and gender during her three lectures on the weekend of March 4-6 at Temple Micah.
Her topic is, “Bedrooms and Battlefields: Biblical Origins and Modern Ideas of Sex
and Gender.”
In her first lecture, following Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday, March 4, she
will describe how often repeated story patterns in the Bible continue to define
modern Jews. Shabbat morning, March 5, she will use the books of Esther and Ruth
to illustrate bedrooms and battlefields, contending that the bedroom is a battlefield in which men always lose and the “quintessential Jewish story of the close call
reinforces the conviction” that faith triumphs over fear. Finally, on Sunday morning,
March 6, she will explore “Joseph and the Character of Masculinity in Judaism and Islam,” explaining how Judaism
and Islam have used the story of Joseph in the Bible to construct very different views of masculinity.
Lefkovitz is the Ruderman Professor of Jewish Studies at Northeastern University and director of its
Humanities Center and the Jewish Studies program.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
6
T E V E T/S H ’ VAT/A DA R 5 7 76
REFLECTIONS ON ISRAEL FROM A FIRST-TIME VISITOR
By Va ler ie Ba rton
It was with some uneasi-
Turn in a different direction, and
there is Jordan.
There is the politics that we hear
about in snippets
on the news but,
because of sheer
proximity, there
are also daily,
human interactions—not only
between Arabs
Rabbi Zemel reading from 1 Samuel
and Jews, but also
about the Biblical significance of Bet
among different
Shean with its ruins in the background
types of Jews. In
Israel, we saw a
own—for example, when we
desire among Israelis to just
realized rockets were fired
go about the business of livfrom Lebanon the day before
ing, working, and raising
we reached the Golan in
families. We met with people
response to the earlier Israeli
who have devoted their lives
airstrike that had killed
to building peaceful bridges
Hezbollah commander Samir
among otherwise siloed comKuntar; and when we heard
munities. But we also saw
about the deadly knife attack
passion and that sometimes
at the Jaffa Gate the day
that passion erupts into
before we walked through
violence.
that gate ourselves. One vetA few fellow trip-goers
eran Israel traveler among us
also confessed moments
observed that it felt differof unease, not unlike my
ent on this visit, as if “there
seemed to be a tension in
the air that I haven’t felt in a
long time in Israel.”
At our goodbye dinner, Rabbi Zemel addressed
the group. He spoke about
his motivation for bringing
Micah members to Israel
every year. His mission is to
do his part to help American
Jews make a deep connection with and commitment
to Israel. To invest us in the
complicated, contentious conversations about Israel and to
build among us the recognition that Israeli Jews need
American Jews and American
Jews need Israeli Jews.
Mission accomplished.
Micah Mission to Israel IX with Jerusalem spread out in the background
ness that I boarded the flight
in mid-December to Paris
and then onto Tel Aviv with
Rabbi Zemel and Louise
and a subset of Micah Israel
trip-goers. I had, of course,
been following the investigation into the Paris attacks,
the latest events in Syria and
Lebanon, and the series of
knife attacks in Israel. But
the pull of Israel, the desire
to see and experience it for
myself – to gather my own
information, to shape my
own views, and to connect
with its history, politics,
Jewishness and secularness –
overpowered my anxiety.
Our group followed the
thoughtfully planned itinerary that took us from
the founding of the State
of Israel in Tel Aviv to the
events of the Six Day War
and Yom Kippur War
in the Golan, through
Biblical Israel at Bet Shean
and the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem, to an exploration
of present-day challenges
through a series of fascinating speakers.
Each step of the way, we
were thanked. Rabbi Zemel’s
cousin, Pam, who made aliyah years ago, was impressed
that no one who signed up
for the trip dropped out.
She thanked us. A random
woman who saw our group
approached us to thank us
for coming to Israel “at this
time.” Our guide, Noam, let
us know that the connection between American Jews
and Israeli Jews is deeply felt
and our visit to Israel made
them feel “not so alone.”
He thanked us. These brief
interactions drew us into
our shared destiny in ways I
understood only conceptually
before the trip.
Everything is geographically close in Israel.
Interconnected. You can
stand on a hilltop and see
Lebanon. Then drive 30
minutes, stand on another
hilltop, and gaze into Syria.
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7
Israel through the eyes of a Micah 9-year-old
Victoria Greenfield and Jim Bodner brought their daughter Leila on the temple’s Israel trip in December. At 9 years
old, Leila Bodner was the youngest of five kids—the oldest
was aged 16—among the Micah contingent. “That we
brought our 9-year-old tells you something about how we
thought about the situation in Israel,” Bodner said. “And
we didn’t buy trip insurance.” The family didn’t suffer anxiety about going. “Stuff goes on,” Greenfield said.
This was her and Leila’s first experience in Israel; Bodner
has traveled there numerous times for work, but this was
the first time he had a chance to really see the country. “It
was terrific,” he said. “The archaeological sites made the
history concrete. Home visits with Israelis were warm and
revealing, especially on the kibbutz.”
“We take Leila everywhere, so there was nothing
unusual about her going,” Greenfield said. “And I think
she got a lot out of it. Overall it was very positive and
she learned a lot.” Leila, who studied ancient cultures in
third grade, loved walking on the 2000-year-old roads at
the archeological sites and crouching next to game boards
carved in paving stones by the shopkeepers of the era.
Micah travelers FROM PAGE 1 ;
Israel. And while we were there, sporadic violence continued – a stabbing in
suburban Tel Aviv and another stabbing
at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City on the
day we arrived in Jerusalem and the day
before we entered the Old City through
that very gate.
And yet, I always felt safe during the
trip. The reality is that there’s never a
“normal” time to go to Israel. We’ve
been there during much more dangerous periods.
The first Micah Mission came
in 2002 in the midst of the Second
Intifada. The violence was much greater
than it is during this current unrest –
suicide bombings at restaurants and on
public buses. Tourism came to a dead
halt. The Temple Micah bus was the
only tour bus at our Jerusalem hotel.
When we visited our friends Lynn and
Nadav Katz that year in Jerusalem,
Nadav had to leave right after dinner
to join a voluntary police patrol in his
neighborhood. On the streets, ordinary
Israelis would stop us to thank us for
coming. (Ironically, while we were in
Israel during that 2002 trip, the Beltway
When they arrived home, Leila looked at a book of Bible
stories and connected the sights on the trip to the stories.
“She is really enthusiastic about reading it,” Greenfield said.
But Greenfield observed that Israel is a many-layered
place and some of it is especially challenging for kids. Prior
to the trip they had talked with Leila about the Holocaust
and Nazis, but walking through the Children’s memorial at
Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum, made it more real
and was very difficult for her. Leila kept referring to one
child who had died at age 1, Greenfield said. Leila also took
note of the sadness in the new Palmach museum, which
presents a multimedia introduction to Israel’s fight for
independence.
The very complexity of Israel made the experience
all the more fascinating for Bodner and Greenfield. “The
speakers provided great insight into tensions in Israeli
society and their efforts to address them,” Bodner said.
“Everything is much more palpable when you’re there—
which is the purpose of the trip.” Greenfield added, “I’m
going to spend time reflecting on what it all really means
to me.”
Sniper was terrorizing the
Washington region.)
At other times, we’ve been
in Israel while missiles from
Lebanon were raining down
on towns and villages in the
North, rockets from Gaza
were hitting Southern Israel
and, in the aftermath of the
2006 war, when war damThe Zemels at Bet Shean ruins
age was still evident in Haifa.
And, I was in Tel Aviv on a business trip period of Palestinian unrest?
during the 2012 Gaza War when Hamas
I guess it’s that I believe acts of terrorrockets first reached the Tel Aviv area.
ism are so random—the chances of being
I must admit that I found the air raid
hurt driving to the airport are much
sirens a bit disconcerting.
greater than being a victim of a terrorist
But terrorism has never scared me.
act. Israeli security is unparalleled in the
Through it all, no matter the time of
world. That’s reassuring. So is the defiday or night, I’ve always felt safe walkant attitude with which Israelis respond
ing the streets of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
to terrorist incidents. Security forces
I find those two cities more calm and
respond rapidly and harshly; sites of violess threatening than any cities I’ve been lence are cleaned up immediately; calm is
to in the United States or abroad. This
restored and life goes on.
trip was no different.
Israelis refuse to be intimidated.
To somebody who has never been
The day after an incident, you’d hardly
to Israel, I’m sure that makes no sense.
know it has taken place. And when I’m
How can that be, a rational person
in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, I find that
might ask, with terrorist incidents
very comforting. I’m ready for Micah
occurring almost daily during this latest Mission X.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
•
8
T E V E T/S H ’ VAT/A DA R 5 7 76
Rabbi’s Message FROM PAGE 1 ;
again—where I stand on the complicated
picture that is Israel today and my relationship to it. My thoughts come in two
parts.
First, as I have said before, I am regularly drawn to this great statement of historian Deborah Lipstadt:
“If I am at a gathering where critics are
from the left and they are unwilling to concede any wrongdoing on the Palestinians’
side, I end up sounding like I am to the
right of Menachem Begin. Conversely, when
I am invited to a home which believes
‘Israel is simply the victim here and has
done nothing wrong,’ I end up sounding
like a character who is left of Peace Now or
its contemporary incarnation.”
I find myself in a similar position—but
I will go farther than usual in this space —
perhaps displeasing everyone a little bit.
I like and support many, but not all, of
the American Zionist organizations. The
once quite progressive Zionist Organization
of America has, under its current leadership, moved far into the ultra-nationalist
camp—a distant memory from its early
days as the premier Zionist organization in
the country. This saddens me for personal
reasons as my grandfather was this group’s
president from 1939-1942. Conversely, I
think it is critical for American Reform
Jews to support ARZA, the Association of
Reform Zionists of America, as it works
to help build progressive Judaism in Israel.
Similarly, the New Israel Fund is a vitally
important organization that works to maintain Israel as an open, pluralistic and civil
society. The more the far-right wing tries
to shut down organizations like the New
Israel Fund, the more I think we need to redouble our support.
However, there are Zionist organizations in this country that seem out of
touch with the vast majority of Israelis. I
am struck by two particular encounters
from our latest visit that impacted me
greatly. Conversations with two gentlemen who were moderates in every way,
one a musician, the other a leader of a
Reform congregation, made me realize
just how disheartened is the vast majority
of Israelis. By and large, they don’t foresee
a quick solution to the situation. There
is simply a very strong general consensus
that at the present moment, Israel has no
partner for peace.
There are certainly those who disagree
with this position and I know that things
change very quickly. But it is problem-
atic for American Jews to advocate for
positions or policies that have almost no
standing with the Israeli public. We can
and should dialogue with Israelis—share
our views and hear theirs. It is very difficult, though, to find Israelis who think
that peace can come soon or easily. No
matter what we believe as American
Zionists, we should not ignore the sense
of the vast majority of Israelis today.
Having said that, I also think Israel
should take strong steps in order to save
itself. Israel can only be strong when it is
morally strong. That is my simple belief.
Therefore, what is deeply troubling to
me is the growth in Israel of a movement
that is violent, anti-Arab and racist. This
has been caused in part by the union of
Orthodox Judaism and ultra-nationalism. I
find this depressing, terrifying, distressing
and a black hole in the heart of Zionism
and Judaism.
What’s more, I simply cannot understand the passivity and silence of many
Orthodox Jews who have allowed this
racist, bigoted culture to grow in their
midst. The voices of high moral standards
that exist in the Orthodox world need to
become ardent, passionate advocates of
an ethical Orthodox Zionism that despises
this bigotry. They must become boisterous, animated advocates and activists for
a new Orthodox Zionism of tolerance and
respect.
Jewish theology gave the world the
ideas that the God we pray to is the
source of all life and that we serve this
God through the ethical deed. “What is
hateful to you, do not do to others—
all the rest is commentary,” said Hillel.
It is nothing less than appalling that the
notions that the land of greater Israel
must belong only to Jews or that full
Judaism requires praying on top of a
certain hill at a defined spot have been
allowed to become the banners of much
of Orthodox Judaism.
First, I would like to see Israel unilaterally withdraw from many settlements. This
would be both a political statement as well
as a religious one.
I see over and over the statistic that of
the 400,000 current settlers, 80 percent
live within what would be the redrawn
border of Israel in any possible two-state
solution.
In other words, all of Jerusalem and
the major settlement blocks around it
would be in Israel—and everything else
would be in Palestine. Israel should unilaterally pull out the 80,000 settlers who
would be outside its new borders, leaving
behind whatever army presence is necessary for security. This would allow for
the loosening of roadblocks and security
checkpoints. Any Jewish settlement or
settler that remains behind would then be
subject to the military legal system of the
occupation.
In other words, for the West Bank, I
am in favor of a separation of populations.
This was the Ben Gurion vision in creating
the State, and later, the Rabin and Sharon
plan for withdrawal.
Second, the latter part of the 20th
century and the first part of the 21st
century have seen two great, previously
unforetold Jewish dramas play out.
Both of these experiments, I will call
them, push against every past model of
Jewish existence. We Jews are a unique
entity, impossible to define, always repeating conversations and debates as to
whether we are a culture or a nation or a
religion or an ethnicity. We are all of the
above and more. We confound even ourselves. Who else uses the word “peoplehood” to describe themselves?
There are two Jewish miracles at play in
the world today, one in Israel, the other in
America.
The American model brings to life a
previously unimaginable freedom and
pluralism that has yielded the incredible
Jewish community we live in today. Our
primary experiment is the Jewish experiment of religion. Our primary challenge:
How can we create a religiously strong,
post-ethnic Jewish future? Religion is our
connection to our past.
The Israeli model, currently the more
challenging one, is that of a Jewish nationstate. The Zionist challenge is the challenge of sovereignty. How do we continue
to create and sustain a Jewish nationstate, and what does that mean? Jewish
Israeli citizenship also is a connection to
our past.
America gives us religion.
Israel gives us citizenship.
Together, they forge a strong link to
our Jewish past and make us partners in a
full Jewish future.
We, American Reform Jews, dare not
withdraw from the Zionist stage.
Too many of us have become distracted from this endeavor, frustrated by
the seeming intransigence of the situation.
When we withdraw, we leave the playing
field wide open for the ultra-nationalists
and those who are post-Zionist—who
CO N TI N U E D O N PAG E 1 1
;
9
J A N U A RY/ F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 6
TZEDAKAH
BUILDING FUND
INNOVATION FUND
IN MEMORY OF
IN HONOR OF
Everett Gordon Gruber, Mary
Rosenstein, and Merv Rosen, by
Judith Capen and Robert Weinstein
ENDOWMENT FUND
IN HONOR OF
Shelley Grossman’s birthday,
by Brenda Levenson, Marilyn
Paul and the Paul Family
IN MEMORY OF
Bertha Levenson, Richard Levenson,
William Paul, and Mervine
Rosen, by Brenda Levenson
James Sender, by Michelle Sender
FOX-MEHLMAN
SCHOLARSHIP FUND
IN HONOR OF
Jerry Liebenau’s birthday, by Carole
Sugarman and Mark Pelesh
IN MEMORY OF
Bruce Rinaldi, Merv Rosen, by Paul
Greenberg and Rick Billingsley,
Don and Nancy Elisburg
GENERAL FUND
IN HONOR OF
Dorothy Kirby’s 95th
birthday, by The Salon
Jerry Liebenau’s birthday, by
Bruce and Sara Berger, Suzana
and Russ, Julie and Matt
The Rothschild family, by
Herb and Marie Rothschild
IN MEMORY OF
Freda From, by Al and Ginger From
Don Gregory, by Doris Perlmutter
Everett Gordon Gruber, by David and
Lucy Asher, Randy and Harriett Tritell
Claire Millman, by Stephanie Baker
William Paul, by Malcolm
Bernhardt, Jane Friend
Bruce Rinaldi, by Dennis
Ward and Lynn Landsberg,
Ed and Clem Rastatter
Merv Rosen, by David and Lucy
Asher, Livia and David Bardin,
Malcolm Bernhardt, Joseph and Karen
Coleman, Myra and Mark Kovey, Jeff
Passel, Ed and Clem Rastatter, and
Learita Scott and Robert Friedman
Mary Rosenstein, by Clark
and Marcia Silcox
HINENI FUND
IN MEMORY OF
Bruce Rinaldi, by Susan
and Richard Lahne
Mary Rosenstein, by Susan
and Richard Lahne, Gail
Povar and Larry Bachorik
Shelley Grossman’s birthday, by
David and Lucy Asher, Peg Blechman
and Paul Shapiro, Lynn Bonde,
Patty Brink and Adam Klinger,
Alan and Jannet Carpien, Barbara
and David Diskin, Jodi Enda and
Terence Samuel, Leesa Fine, Dorian
Friedman and Sander Lurie, Roberta
and Morton Goren, Helene and
Gene Granof, Rachel Gross, Mark
Gruenberg, Marilyn Harper, Judy
Hurvitz, Doug Meyer and Jacqueline
Simon, Gail Povar and Larry Bachorik,
Michelle Sender, Celia Shapiro
and Bob Dorfman, Virginia Spatz,
Bobbie and Ed Wendel, Bayla White,
Marty Zatz and Marcia Bordman
The wedding of Whitney
Kasle and Zach Howell, by
Bobbie and Ed Wendel
IN MEMORY OF
Shirley Cahan, by Michelle Sender
Clarice Arbetter Meer, Don Gregory,
Anna Hadley, Gilad Landsberg,
by Bobbie and Ed Wendel
Lilian Lehmann, Donald Lehmann,
by Richard Lehmann
Bruce Rinaldi, by Skip and Barbara
Halpern, Michelle Sender
Merv Rosen, by Norman
Blumenfeld, Michelle Sender,
Bobbie and Ed Wendel
KALLEK ADULT EDUCATION
FUND
IN HONOR OF
Michelle Sender’s special birthday, by
Learita Scott and Robert Friedman
IN MEMORY OF
William Paul, by Marshall
and Rita Plaut
Bruce Rinaldi, by Janice
Meer and Michael Bodo
Merv Rosen, by Sid and Elka Booth,
Burton Greenstein, Mark Gruenberg,
Jack and Judy Hadley, Bayla White
LANDSCAPE FUND
IN HONOR OF
The marriage of Rachel Gross
and Douglas Taphouse, by Ed
Grossman and Rochelle Stanfield
MACHON MICAH FUND
IN MEMORY OF
James Levinson, by Jane
and Chaz Kerschner
MICAH HOUSE
David Adler
Brian Altman and Jerry Boegler
Roberta Aronson
Geoffrey Barron and Joanne Carter
Jack Berman
Malcolm Bernhardt
Sid and Elka Booth
Helene Boroch
Nader Boulos
Marcia Brod
Arthur and Sandra Brown
Stuart Brown
Jan Chester and Michael Judson
Robert and Lynn Coffman
Larry Cooley and Marina Fanning
Carole Feld and David Levy
Lora Ferguson
Andrea Ferster
Arthur and Carol Freeman
Melvin Goldberg
Brent Goldfarb
Michael Goldstein and Susan Bales
Todd Goren
Burton Greenstein
Suzanne Griffith and Ed Lazere
Rachel Gross
Ed Grossman and Rochelle Stanfield
Jack and Judith Hadley
Barbara Halpern
James and Andrea Hamos
Alison Harwood
Carole and John Hirschmann
Mary Hollis and William Page
Eva and Fred Jacob
Jessica Kaplan and Joseph Youcha
Helen and David Kenney
Trish Kent
Gladys Kessler
Rita Kirshstein
Robert and Annette Klayman
Marilyn Klein
Felicia and Louis Kolodner
Myra and Mark Kovey
Susan Landfield
Rich Lehmann
Brenda Levenson
Morton and Barbara Libarkin
Gerald Liebenau
Mary Mahle
Judy and Jim Miller
Russell Misheloff and Lorri Manasse
Rachel Moon and Steve Zeichner
Heather Moran
Jonathan Moreno
Ann Nachbar
Jeff Passel
Gail Povar and Larry Bachorik
Isabel Reiff
Arlyn and Jonathan Riskind
Carla and David Rosenbloom
Susan Rubin
Trudy and John Saracco
Natalie Schreyer
Herman Schwartz
Joseph Schwarz
Beverly and Harlan Sherwat
Dan Steinberg
Carol Stern and Miriam Eisenstein
Harriet and Randy Tritell
Linda Watts
Kevin and Susan Weidenbaum
Harriet Weiner
David Weingart
Mark and Cecelia Weinheimer
Bobbie and Ed Wendel
Bayla White
Nancy Yanofsky
Beverly and Dan Yett
Marjorie Zapruder
Louise and Danny Zemel
Her immediate wonderful family
(all 22 of them) on the occasion
of her 70th wedding anniversary,
by Florence Bahr
Rabbi Susan Landau, by Sue Baum
Amy Berman, by Rich Dopp
and Deb Berman
Debbie Billet-Roumell’s service
on the Micah House Board, by
Kate Kiggins and Jared Blum
Debbie Billet-Roumell, by Celia
Shapiro and Bob Dorfman
Aviva Englander Cristy,
by Barbara Cristy
The 40th wedding anniversary
of Brenda and Stanley
Daniels, by Lauren Laitin
Her friend Margaret Gonglewski’s
birthday, by Monika Harris
The birthday of her mother,
Bernice Gordon, by Janet Gordon
Rhoda Hyde’s 85th Birthday, by
Thomas Hyde and Paul Meyers
The Kessler family, by Edward
and Victoria Jaycox
Natavan Karsh becoming
Bat Mitzvah, by Joanne
Zamore and Aaron Karsh
Rabbi Susan Landau, by Diana and
Robert Seasonwein, Harriett Stonehill
The Micah House Board, for its 27
years of helping women get back
on their feet, by Nancy Elisburg
His parents, by Rob Orwin
Ken and Nancy Schwartz’s
birthdays, by Sarah and Jay Grusin
Harold Sharlin, on the occasion
of his 90th birthday and the
publication of his memoir,
by Roberta and Morton Goren
The birthday of Louise Wides,
an original board member,
by Susan Steinberg, Helena
and Peter Bienstock
Rabbi Danny and Louise Zemel,
by Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman
and Dr. Gayle Hoover
IN MEMORY OF
Flora August, by Diane August
Chuck Dalby, by Robin Stein
George Dirkes, by Helen Epps
Samuel R. Iker, by Jean Iker
Betty Levitch Klayman,
by Kay Klayman
Doris Luterman-Surick, by
Stanley and Ronna Foster
William Paul, by Eugene
Bialek and Arlene Brown
Toby Passel, by Holly Hexter
Bruce Rinaldi, by Susie
Blumenthal, Bayla White
Merv Rosen, by Carol and Arthur
Freeman, Susan and Richard
Lahne, Sharon and Joseph Salus,
the Micah House Board
Donald Rothberg, by Lynn Rothberg
MUSIC FUND
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
IN HONOR OF
The birthday of their son-inlaw, Daniel Abramowitz, by
Susie and Harvey Blumenthal
IN HONOR OF
Teddy Klaus, by Marilyn
Paul and Family
CO N TI N U E D O N PAG E 1 1
;
10
T E V E T/S H ’ VAT/A DA R 5 7 76
B’NAI MITZVAH
MAZAL TOV!
Seventh grade, the b’nai mitzvah year, is undergoing
transformation. Instead of individual mitzvah projects, the
class as a whole will participate in social justice projects. And
instead of attending weekly Sunday classes, each student will
design and carry out an independent learning project.
EDITORS’ NOTE:
DEENA BLUMENTHAL
JANUARY 9 / 28 TEVET
Mark Blumenthal and Helen Burstin
Vaera
INDEPENDENT LEARNING PROJECT: Deena’s
study this year focuses on Jewish art
and poetry related to the Holocaust.
PARENTS:
To Nani and Rabbi Josh Beraha, as well as big
brother Raphael and big sister Maya, on the
birth of Nava Yael Beraha. Baby Nava arrived
on Saturday, December 26th. Mazal tov from
your Temple Micah family!
TORAH PORTION:
CO N D O L E N C ES
The Temple Micah community extends its
deepest condolences to:
ADAM BURCH
JANUARY 30 / 20 SH’VAT
Alan Burch and Andrea Levine
Yitro
INDEPENDENT LEARNING PROJECT: Adam is
participating in a small book group with
a few other Micah seventh graders, in
which they are exploring the Holocaust
and its role in shaping Jewish American
identity. He also regularly volunteers
at the after-care program at Janney
Elementary School in Tenleytown.
Martha Adler, on the death of her mother,
ELENA TAL RUBENS GOLDFARB
A. K. “Skip” Allender
PARENTS:
TORAH PORTION:
FEBRUARY 6 / 27 SH’VAT
Brent Goldfarb and Beth Rubens
Mishpatim
INDEPENDENT LEARNING PROJECT: Elena
is helping manage the toddlers and
young kids at the Young Family Shabbat
services led by Rabbi Beraha each
month. Throughout the year she will
attend the service and then oversee kids’
activities while the adults enjoy dinner.
PARENTS:
TORAH PORTION:
JORDAN MAGGIN
Ellen Brand, on the loss of her mother,
Phyllis Schotz Salzberg
Rebekah Douglas, on the passing of her mother,
FloAnn Bina
Laura Ferguson, on the loss of her father,
Jean Freedman, on the passing of her mother,
Myrle Freedman
David Gregory, on the loss of his father,
Donald Gregory
Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, on the passing of her
father, Gilad Landsberg
Stephanie Levy, on the loss of her grandfather,
David Levy
FEBRUARY 20 / 11 ADAR I
PARENTS:
Regine Ransohoff
Lori and Rob Maggin
Tetzaveh
TORAH PORTION:
Jordan will be
studying Israel and putting together a trip
for his family. He is also making sandwiches
on a monthly basis for homeless children.
INDEPENDENT LEARNING PROJECT:
Robin Parry, on the passing of her stepmother,
Lynnette Jung-Springberg
Terence Samuel, on the passing of his aunt,
Bernie Hamilton
Karen Zizmor, on the loss of her husband,
longtime Micah member Bruce Rinaldi
WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS!
Patty Abramson and Lester Silverman
Funds FROM PAGE 4 ;
about Micah’s present. For the congregation to remain vibrant for future
generations, it must invest in a manner different from anything Micah has
undertaken in the past. Then members
dug deeply into their resources to pay
for what was needed immediately or in
the near future—not a very predictable
way to manage the synagogue. Now the
May their memories be for a blessing.
board seeks a secure means to honor
our history and create a secure future
through gifts allocated from members’
estates.
Over the past few years, a working group comprising congregants and
staff members has laid the foundation
for significantly increasing the Micah
Endowment Fund. More information
on this effort to grow the Endowment
Fund will be forthcoming to the entire
congregation soon. In the meantime,
Executive Director Rachel Gross can
help connect congregants with the
experts who can help them decide how
to include Temple Micah in their estate
planning.
To learn more about the Innovation
Fund, the Endowment Fund and other
important opportunities to support
Temple Micah, please visit the temple’s
website, www.templemicah.org.
•
J A N U A RY/ F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 6
Tzedakah FROM PAGE 9 ;
Owen Benjamin Lynch, grandson
of Barbara and David Diskin,
by Jeff Passel, Kathy Spiegel
and Richard Fitz
Penny Roberts, Karen Rosenbaum,
and Barbara Diskin chanting
Torah, by Kathy Spiegel
and Richard Fitz
Ruth Simon’s granddaughter,
by Jeff Passel
Meryl Weiner, by Karen
Elkin, Suzanne Fuchs,
Marilyn Paul and Family
Meryl Weiner conducting the
memorial service for Clarice Meer,
by Janice Meer and Michael Bodo
IN MEMORY OF
A.K. “Skip” Allender, by Susie
Blumenthal, Laura and Ronald
Ferguson, Ed Grossman and
Rochelle Stanfield, Susan
and Richard Lahne
Everett Gordon Gruber, by Peggy
Banks, Sidney and Elka Booth,
Barbara and David Diskin, Bob
Dorfman and Celia Shapiro,
Laura and Ronald Ferguson, Julie
Galambush, Ed Grossman and
Rochelle Stanfield, Jack and Judy
Hadley, Susan and Richard Lahne,
Janice Meer and Michael Bodo,
Jeff Passel, Gail Povar and Larry
Bachorik, Bobbie and Ed Wendel
William Paul, by Burton Greenstein
Merv Rosen, by Bob Dorfman
and Celia Shapiro
PRAYERBOOK FUND
IN MEMORY OF
Toby Passel, by Jeff Passel
Merv Rosen, by the Kraut Family
RABBI LANDAU’S
DISCRETIONARY FUND
IN HONOR OF
Rabbi Susan Landau, by
Marilyn Paul and Family
RABBI’S DISCRETIONARY
FUND
Paul Feinberg
Harriet and Louis Weiner
IN HONOR OF
Geri Nielsen’s birthday, by Kathy
Spiegel and Richard Fitz
Natavan Karsh becoming
Bat Mitzvah, by Aaron Karsh
and Joann Zamore
Rabbi Daniel Zemel, by
Marilyn Paul and Family
IN MEMORY OF
Leon Goldberg, by Susie
and Harvey Blumenthal
Jacob Joseph Goldman, by Stephen
Kurtzman and Patricia Goldman
Harry Kraut, by Alan Kraut
Pearl Lazar, by Learita Scott
and Robert Friedman
Merv Rosen, Mary Rosenstein,
by Susie Blumenthal
SOCIAL ACTION FUND
IN HONOR OF
Editor’s note: Rabbi Beraha is on leave to spend time
with his new baby. His column will resume next issue.
Rabbi’s Message FROM PAGE 8 ;
care not one whit about the Jewish contributions to the Human Project.
I want to support those here and in
Israel who still dream and follow Herzl’s
admonition to work to make the dream
real. For example:
This past week we were with Lydia
Eisenberg at Givat Haviva, Israel’s oldest
institute for Jewish-Arab cooperation. An
Israeli citizen for approximately 50 years,
Eisenberg is a kibbutznik, mother and
grandmother. She has had five sons in the
IDF, with at least one of them wounded
in combat. She devotes herself today to
working with Israeli Arab communities that
President’s Column FROM PAGE 2 ;
Residence Weekend March 4–6. This year,
we are lucky to have Lori Hope Lefkovitz,
the author of In Scripture: The First
Stories of Jewish Sexual Identity. The
director of the Jewish Studies Program
and the Humanity Center at Northeastern
University, Lefkovitz has written extensively about gender and Judaism.
Put on your sense of humor for our
beloved Purimspiel on March 23. This is
one of my favorite nights of the year,
a time for senior staff members to act
goofy (goofier?) and for our talented
cadre of kids to steal the show. This year’s
spiel was written by our own playwright,
Shelley Grossman’s
birthday, by Jeff Passel
11
Sukkot in Spring, by
Morton Friedman
IN MEMORY OF
Clarice Arbetter Meer, Flora August,
Mary Rosenstein, by Jeff Passel
Gilad Landsberg, by Susie
and Harvey Blumenthal
Bruce Rinaldi, by Gene Bialek
and Arlene Brown, Jeff Passel,
Jack and Joan Schwarz, Harlan
and Beverly Sherwat, Mark
and Cecelia Weinheimer
Merv Rosen, by Karen Zizmor
and Bruce Rinaldi (z”l)
THE RABBI DANIEL
GOLDMAN ZEMEL FUND
FOR ISRAEL
Judy and Jack Hadley
IN HONOR OF
Eilon Schwarz of Shaharit, by Mary
Beth Schiffman and David Tochen
IN MEMORY OF
Ruth Jonas Bardin, by David Bardin
Genie Blechman, by Peg Blechman
Merv Rosen, by Marcia Bordman, Ed
Grossman and Rochelle Stanfield
are struggling to create a shared society.
We also met with Gili Rei, a vibrant
42-year-old Israeli mother, social activist,
past deputy director of the Association
for Civil Rights in Israel and passionate
speaker. Her parents were pioneering
kibbutznikim; she grew up a daughter of
Kibbutz Marom HaGolan. Today she sends
her two children to Jerusalem’s Yad b’Yad
(Hand in Hand) School for Arab and Jewish
students.
I want to stand with Eisenberg, Rei and
the thousands of other Israelis who have
committed their lives to a great dream.
There is in Israel today a vital
cauldron of ethical, Zionist activism that
desperately needs our support.
I love Israel.
I want my grandchildren’s grandchildren
to love Israel as well.
One of our great American Jewish
challenges is to commit to that vision.
I am planning Temple Micah’s next
Israel trip now. It will be in March 2017
and include a stop in Berlin to explore the
birth of Reform Judaism and then on to
Israel.
Meanwhile, Louise and I will be leaving
for Israel on January 31 for our two-month
sabbatical which will see us primarily in
an apartment we have rented in Tel Aviv.
Israel remains, always, a country I love.
Shalom,
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel
high-school sophomore Hero Magnus.
Catch it here in its pre-Broadway run.
The next month brings our biggest
event of the year, the Spring Auction,
on April 9. Sure, it’s an important night
because it raises the money we need to
do all the great things we do—but it’s also
a lot of fun. Plus, you can get some great
stuff, ranging from electronics to restaurant vouchers to sports and theater tickets
to (the most fun of all) dental care. My
personal favorites are dinners and parties
in members’ homes. You would not believe
some of the fabulous chefs we have in this
place—they knock themselves out cooking
all manner of international cuisine. And,
again, these are terrific ways to meet more
Micah friends and build your own community within the larger one.
Later that month is the Kol Isha seder,
a spirited, spiritual and delicious event
that, this year, comes on the second night
of Passover, April 23.
This is just the tip of the iceberg,
people, but I don’t want to overwhelm
you. There’s also the “People of the Book
Fair,” the Liz Lerman service, speaker after
speaker after speaker and all kinds of
opportunities for social action.
Did I mention that we also have
worship services?
Put a bunch of these things on your
calendar—and see if your head doesn’t
start spinning, too.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012
12
T E V E T/S H ’ VAT/A DA R 5 7 76
On December 5, nearly two hundred
people celebrated the burning of Temple
Micah’s mortgage at a joyful, “red hot”
cocktail party, beautifully orchestrated by
Martha Adler and Heather Moran. The
temple’s lower level was transformed
into a fiery hall of fun by the decorating
and dessert committee, Nani Beraha and
Shira Zemel. Micah Cooks generously,
and deliciously, catered the event.
Following Havdalah, the entertainment
included a “Who’s on First?” routine
dexterously performed by David
Adler and Michael Feuer, songs by
Doug Mishkin, and The Great Loudini
magically burning the mortgage,
overseen by D.C. firefighters, Lt. Joe
White and Firefighter D. Boozer of DCFD
Company #5.
Photos courtesy of Kate Kiggins and Ilana Samuel
Vıne
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