Lessons of an Adult B'nai Mitzvah Service
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The Newsletter of Cleveland’s Jewish Reconstructionist Community JANUARY 2013 Members of the Adult B’nai Mitzvah group, Clockwise from upper left: Ginny Nadler, Jennifer Finkel, Lila Hanft, Rabbi Steve, Amy Hogg, Karly Whitaker, Mimi Plevin, Gloria Plevin,Sue Pelleg, Nancy Dudwick, Leah Kamionkowski, and David Conn. LESSONS OF AN ADULT b’NAI MITZVAH SERVICE BY LILA HANFT Standing before the ark during Kol HaLev’s Adult B’nai Mitzvah IN THIS ISSUE: service in October was quite a high. We b’nai mitzvahniks, as we’d Rabbinic Corner 3 taken to calling ourselves, soaked in the palpable goodwill of over 300 Hagiga Happenings 4 congregants, friends, and family, buoyed by our bond with one another. Tu B’Shevat Seder 5 Yahrzeits 6 To plan the service, we divvied up the Shabbat morning and Torah Contributions 6 services and spent several weeks looking into additional readings, Board Report 7 alternative niggim (songs) and new rituals. Putting together the pro- Adult Education 7 gram a few days before, I grew obsessed with the length of the service From Our President 8 and tried unsuccessfully to persuade my fellow b’nai mitzvahniks to Hesed 8 pare down their creative contributions. Now I’m glad they refused. Hug HaSefer 9 Connections 10 We didn’t intend to set the bar quite so high. At the outset none of us GCC Report 11 had been willing to commit to learning to chant Torah; we’d agreed Kvells 11 upon “making some progress in our ability to read Hebrew.” Somehow, GCC Policy Brief 12 continued on page 15 B’nai Mitzvah section 13 Photo Gallery 18 IN THIS SECTION: • Bat Mitzvah Musings by Leah Kamionkowski , page 13 Calendar 15 • Reflections and “American Kaddish” by Mimi Plevin-Foust, page 14 • The Commmunity of the Long Distance Pray-er by Karly Whitaker, page 15 • That Extra “Heh” by David Conn, page 16 • Group Soul by Lila Hanft, page 17 JANUARY 2013 PAGE 1 KOL HALEV HAPPENINGS DIRECTORY SERVICES & PROGRAMS: OFFICE ADDRESS: The Lillian and Betty Ratner School Kol HaLev 27575 Shaker Boulevard 2245 Warrensville Center Rd. Suite 215 Pepper Pike, OH 44124 University Heights, OH 44118 http://www.kolhalev.net (216) 320-1498 RABBI: EDUCATION DIRECTOR: OFFICE MANAGER: Steve Segar Robyn Novick Judy Herdering [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] OFFICERS: EX OFFICIO MEMBERS: VALUE TEAM LEADERS: PRESIDENT Past President Greg Selker DEMOCRATIC & FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE Barb Truitt Rabbi Steve Segar Barry Epstein FIRST VICE PRESIDENTS Founding Rabbi Jeffrey Schein INFORMED & INVOLVED Halle Barnett Education Director Robyn Novick Karly Whitaker EARNING EAMS David Conn L T Sue Kisch SECRETARY AT-LARGE MEMBERS: PARTICIPATION & VOLUNTEERISM Molly Berger Leah Kamionkowski TREASURER Elise Hagesfeld SPIRITUAL Pete Robertson Margaret Cohen Bruce Goodman Bill Scher-Marcus Alan Weinstein WELCOMING & CARING David Conn COMMITTEE CHAIRS AND COORDINATORS: RABBI LIAISON ADULT EDUCATION COORDINATOR KIDDUSH COORDINATOR Selma Gwatkin Sue Kisch Robin Shell RATNER LIAISON Art Lieberman LUNCH AND LEARN Mike Caputo BOOK GROUP Adina Davidson RELIGIOUS PRACTICES Kevin Weidenbaum MARKETING/PR Bill Scher-Marcus CEMETERY Halle Barnett STRATEGIC PLANNING Mike Armin Deena Epstein Greg Selker CHILD CARE COORDINATOR MEDITATION TECH SUPPORT Traci Elgart Nancy Rubel Brian Miller FUNDRAISING Karly Whitaker MEMBERSHIP TIKKUN OLAM Barry Epstein Greg Millas Mimi Plevin-Foust Jean Miller Maureen Dinner TORAH STUDY FINANCE Ralph and Selma Gwatkin Dick Epstein MOCK TRIAL Judy Harris USHERS/GREETERS/SADRANS HESED Anita Cohn Jane Arnoff-Logsdon MUSIC David Conn HIGH HOLY DAYS Sue Pelleg WEBSITE Claudia Weissman Bruce Jennings Benjamin Barnett Marcia Goldberg NEWSLETTER EDITOR Brian Miller HOLIDAYS Lila Hanft NEWSLETTER PROOFREADERS WEEKLY UPDATE Amy Hogg Robin Holzman INTERFAITH Marcia Goldberg YOUTH AND FAMILY EDUCATION Dick and Donna Weinberg Deena Epstein Lynn Liebling ISRAEL NOMINATING COMMITEE Allen Binstock YOUNG FAMILIES/TOT SHABAT Mike Armin Rachel Williams FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER DEADLINE: TUES. JAN 15 JANUARY 2013 PAGE 2 KOL HALEV HAPPENINGS RABBI STEVE SEGAR RABBINIC CORNER BREAK THE BOW, SHAttER THE SHIELD (OR SIGN THE PETITION) As the Jewish community moved toward the culmination of our festival of lights last month, we, along with the rest of our country and our world, were confronted with the senseless and horrific tragedy of 20 children and 7 adults murdered at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT by a young man with an untreated mental illness. The young man had easy access to a wide range of weapons which had been purchased by his mother and kept in their home. The National Rifle Association has used its significant resources and influence to resist and ultimately to loosen regulations pertaining to the purchase and ownership of the most destructive of these guns, known as assault rifles. But this most recent catastrophe, together with a number of other similar incidents that have taken place over the past several years, has generated an enormous groundswell of support across our country for a move towards a significant tightening of these regulations. The organized Jewish community has decided to add its voice to the call for greater regulation. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) has created a petition and invites all members of the Jewish community who feel moved to do so to sign and show their support for this initiative. The petition can be found at www.endgunviolencenow.org. The petition reads: The horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary was a tragedy that has been a jarring re- minder of the disturbing prevalence of gun violence in our country and culture. Our outrage has stirred us from our complacency and we will not wait for the next shooting to finally act. As the nation mourns, we must also look forward and dedicate ourselves to preventing a future massacre. The JCPA has created a petition expressing our community’s pain and our resolve to enact comprehensive reform, including meaningful legislation to limit access to assault weapons and ensure access to quality mental health care for all who need it. We are calling on you as Jewish community members to sign the petition and ask family and friends to sign as well. With your help, we want to show how solidly the American Jewish community sup- ports action being taken now. Over the next few months, our work together can change the national conversation and make new gun safety laws a reality.” It is my hope that this petition will generate heretofore unseen levels of participation and that the Jewish community will play a significant role in the actualizing of this intention to bring more balance into our nation’s attitude towards the role of the second amendment in our contemporary context. May we move forward together and minimize the possibility that this deplorable situation will ever arise again. ~Rabbi Steve Rabbi Steve is available to meet with Kol HaLev members on a range of issues by appointment on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings.Contact him by phone at the office (216-320- 1498) or at [email protected] to schedule a meeting time. JANUARY 2013 PAGE 3 KOL HALEV HAPPENINGS ROBYN NOVICK HAGIGA HAPPENINGS This year December was difficult for me, as it was for many people. As we are typically focused on holiday celebrations and being with friends and family, the news of Sandy Hook was particularly difficult to hear. I have been working with youth in a variety of venues for the past 20 years. While educational vision, pedagogy and practices have changed, the one constant there has been in all venues over the past 20 years, is the need to create a safe community. While cultivating safe space is always important in educational settings, it becomes especially crucial in the aftermath of a horrific event like that in Newtown, so that children feel that they can begin to process and respond to the very painful and frightening information that has unfortunately been introduced into their lives. In recent years as part of Hagiga, we have invested a fair amount of time and energy on identifying the elements that must be present for an educational space to feel emotionally safe for our children. One of those elements is an awareness of bullying and the ability to intercede in order to halt bullying when it is taking place. In addition to the focus on responding to bullying when it appears, we have also taken a pro-active approach so that a bullying dynamic is less likely to emerge in the first place. The language we use for this at Kol HaLev is building community. While some see games, we see these activities as the best way to create situations where the youth can learn about each other and find new ways that they can support one another. Of course, even with all the work we do, it is in the nature of an evolving community that bullying dynamics will emerge from time to time. When incidents do occur, we address them quickly, inviting parents into the conversation when appropriate, and lessons are created to address the situations. Educationally we have all become more aware about the inability for children to learn when they do not have emotional security. I take great pride in that we have worked hard to create a strong and safe community for our children at Kol HaLev. One testament to Hagiga being a community was on the morning after the Sandy Hook shooting when the Magshimim (grades 6-8) organically created a safe forum where they could share their fears and express their disbelief about this horrible situation. We will continue to work to create a space where children feel supported and cared for, with the hopes that they will feel connected to Kol HaLev and each other.