From the Rabbi…
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Beth Chaim Reform Congregation Newsletter P.O. Box 1198 / Malvern, PA 19355 610-640-2147 www.bethchaim.net THE SCRIBE NOVEMBER 2017 / 5 7 7 8 Services Friday, November 3rd From the Rabbi… 6:00 pm Young Family Service 7:30 pm Shabbat Service 5th Grade Tower of Babel and White Supremacy Saturday, November 4th 10:00 am Bar Mitzvah Amid the protests and gunfire which accompanied White Supremacist Richard 5:00 pm Bar Mitzvah (Havdalah) Spencer’s speech a few weeks ago at the University of Florida, two great pro- th Saturday, November 11 test stories emerged. One video showed a black man hugging a white suprema- 10:00 am Bar Mitzvah Friday, November 17th cist outside of the campus auditorium. 31-year-old Aaron Alex Courtney 7:30 pm New/Longstanding grabbed the skinhead in an embrace and asked, “Why do you hate me?” Member Shabbat Service Courtney told the NY Daily News about his choices. His options were to hurt Saturday, November 18th the white supremacist or engage him in a fight, but instead approached him 10:00 am Bar Mitzvah with love. 5:00 pm Bar Mitzvah (Havdalah) “I asked him, ‘Why do you hate me?’” And when the white supremacist Religious School looked away, Courtney just gave him a big hug, and asked again. “Why do you hate me.” Sunday, November 5th Sunday, November 12th Sunday, November 19th To which the man replied, “I don’t know.” (1) NO SCHOOL November 26th At the same time as Richard Spencer was beginning his speech, a chorus of B’nai Mitzvah Class bells pealed out from the carillon tower. Music professor Laura Ellis climbed up the 11 flights of stairs to troll Spencer and his followers by sending the tune Tuesday, November 7th Lift every Voice and Sing out into the air. The song, of course, is a kind of na- Tuesday, November 14th st tional anthem for African Americans and for civil rights in our country. (2) Tuesday, November 21 Two beautiful and creative protests against a movement that seeks what Spen- Confirmation Class cer calls “peaceful ethnic cleansing and the establishment of a White Ethno- State on the North American Continent.” Spencer is an advocate of a kind of Sunday, November 5th totalitarian state which explicitly calls for wiping out ethnic and religious dif- Sunday, November 19th ferences. In this issue In the Torah, the classic story of the Tower of Babel unfolds over only 9 verses From the Rabbi………..…….…...1 in the 11th chapter of Genesis. Rabbi Shai Held teaches that the story of the President’s Message ….……......2 Tower of Babel is also a creative protest against Spencer-like totalitarianism. Education Director……………….3 Sisterhood …………….………....6-8 As the story of Noah’s ark ends, before the tower story, we get a litany of Adult education……………….9-10 names and ‘begats.’ We are told that Noah’s descendants spread out over the Jubilee Information…………....11 earth and they each create their own language. But as chapter 11 begins the New Members……….…………...15 text switches abruptly to tell us that suddenly everyone speaks one unified lan- Men’s Club………………………...15 guage. Kind of like the kind of ethnic cleansing advocated by Richard Spencer. Donations……….………………....16 Yahrzeits……………………...…….17 In Genesis 11:1 the beginning of the Tower of Babel story, we read: Calendar of Events….…..…18-19 Contacts……………………..……...20 RABBI continued on page 4 OWN EGGS & EWE At least that’s how Siri translates “Onegs and You”. I often dictate my President’s Message using Siri. If you think about it, it’s really quite remarkable that a machine can now translate the spoken word into printed text - although it does get it wrong from time to time. Anyway, I just wanted to reach out to let everyone know that we are working to create a more systematic ap- proach to managing our onegs. A number of our onegs are sponsored by grade by the parents of our religious school students. Others can be sponsored by different groups like Sisterhood, Men’s club or the Choir, etc. However we have between six and eight onegs per year that require membership support. Our tradition is to ask members who do not have children in the religious school to help sponsor these open onegs - and we often ask three or four couples to share in the responsibility of sponsoring a single oneg. For the Shabbats sponsored by the various grades in the Religious School, Sarah Carroll who chairs our Family Engagement committee of the Religious School, will be reaching out to the families of our grade school children to organize those onegs. So when you hear from Sarah about an oneg sponsorship opportuni- ty, please make the effort to help with this important Religious School experience for our young people. We thank Sarah for her dedication, commitment and enthusiasm in leading this effort. Additionally, for the onegs not sponsored by the Religious School, new members Cheryl and Phil Paul have kindly agreed to step up and manage the process and help us identify fellow congregants who would be will- ing to help sponsor onegs. Thank you Cheryl and Phil for diving right in! Sponsoring an oneg is easy and we provide step-by-step directions. The nice thing about sponsoring an own egg (just checking to see if you’re paying attention) is that it also meets our expectations that all our members, if able, volunteer one to two hours per month in an activity that aligns with their interests and with our needs as a community. Sponsoring an oneg meets that requirement. Also, since we have less than a dozen onegs each year that require sponsorship, that means we will only need most members to sponsor an oneg once every two or three years. When you hear from Cheryl and Phil asking you if you could help sponsor an oneg, please make the effort to help with this important tradition. If you find you have a scheduling conflict after agreeing to sponsor a partic- ular oneg, it is certainly possible to switch your sponsorship date with someone else’s. Just let Cheryl and Phil know. If you’d like to take the initiative and volunteer to do this mitzvah and sponsor an oneg before be- ing asked, please feel free to reach out to the Paul’s at [email protected]. Since volunteerism is such a big part of our community please consider this fun, deli- cious and engaging mitzvah to help support the volunteer needs of our congregation. When Sarah, Cheryl or Phil reach out to you, please don’t say “No.” Please say “Yes” -- and just for fun, ask whether you want your own egg sunny side up or scrambled. Kol tov, Ed Ed Nathan 2 As the autumn colors fill the leaves of the trees and the weather cools, I look forward to the family gathering for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a very Jewish holiday. There is delicious food. There is the tradition of football watching. There is giving thanks. And there is the opportunity for doing a mitzvah or two! In my family, we created traditions to celebrate Thanksgiving. Along with family, we invite friends to fulfil the mitzvah of Hachnassat Orchim (welcome guests); sometimes they are Nelson’s and my friends and sometimes they are our children’s friends’ families. The table can expand to fit whoever is there! My daughter and I share the cooking; the stuffing, pumpkin pies and apple crisps belong to my daughter. When shopping, we always purchase extra canned foods for a local food pantry; the mitzvah of Ha’achlat Re’evim (feeding the hungry). Before we break bread and say the Motzi prayer (Baruch Ata Adonai Elohaynu Melech HaOlam, HaMotzi LeHem Min HaAretz/ Blessed are You, Sovereign of the Universe who brings forth bread from the earth), we go around the table and say one thing for which we are thankful. In our tradi- tions, we find comfort. Thanksgiving is an excellent time to create not only family time but family traditions. Find a mitzvah oppor- tunity that fits your family. Go to a soup kitchen and help serve a meal, cook meals for a family in need, make a large pot of soup and freeze in plastic container (from the deli) and deliver to a food pantry, make Thanks- giving decorations and hang them in a local nursing home, invite a neighbor who has no local family to your dinner, make Thanksgiving cards for your family members telling them why you are thankful for them and send it to them…the list is endless. Involve your children in the Thanksgiving preparations. Children’s artwork makes the table more festive. Let them decorate placemats or make centerpieces for the table. Involve your children in the menu and food prep- aration (age appropriately). Have them share the Thanksgiving song they learned in school and sing it at the beginning of the meal. And talk about being thankful! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! I want to thank the BCRC family for including me in this great family and allowing me to share some of my “traditions” with the school families. Look for and participate in our new family programs. Meet friends and strengthen our community! B’Shalom, Sherrie Rosenberg Klein Join us for: Friday Nov 3: Shabbat dinner and service with participation from the 5th grade students Sunday Nov 19: 5th grade Family Program at GVHS Friday Dec 1: Potluck dinner and service with participation from the 2nd grade students Saturday Dec 2: 6th and 7th graders participate in the service Sunday Dec 10: 5th grade Havayah program at Gratz College Sunday Dec 17: SAVE THE DATE for a schoolwide family Hanukkah program and party! Sherrie Klein 3 RABBI continued from page 1 “Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words.” So they commence building their totalitarian empire.