The Shofar Congregation Beth Sholom May 2017 Iyar/Sivan 5777
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THE SHOFAR CONGREGATION BETH SHOLOM MAY 2017 IYAR/SIVAN 5777 SAVE THE DATES Shabbat Dinner Israel Independence Friday May 12 6:00 PM Lag B-Omer Picnic Sunday May 14 11:00 AM Shavuot Study Session & Cheesecake Festival Tuesday May 30 7:00 PM Shabbat Dinner Food from Greece Friday June 9 6:00 PM Hazzan Mordecai Kamlot prepares to lead the rituals at recent Shabbat dinner. Happy Mother’s Day to EVERYONE from: Bernice & Jerry Acard Ro Kerchner & Ed Altchek Dr. Stanley Antonoff Bunny Benstock Sherry & Manny Bloch Lou & Alan Katz Leslie R. Leavitt Betty McGivern Lucille Poch Irene & Harvey Roberts Nancy & Paul Weber From the President halom to the Congregation Beth Sholom Family. As of now, most of Candle Lighting Times you are aware that there have been some changes in the structure of Shabbat Friday, May 5 S your Board of Directors. It is with much regret and sadness that I must Light Candles 7:50 PM inform everyone that Harvey Hamerling has resigned as your President. We Saturday May 6 will all miss his leadership very much. According to Roberts Rules of Order Shabbat Ends 8:46 PM and the CBS By-Laws, the line of succession is as follows: President, Vice Shabbat Friday, May 12 President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Max Abraham, as the elected Vice Light Candles 7:54 PM Saturday, May 13 President then became Acting President. We held our regularly scheduled Shabbat Ends 8:51 PM Board Meeting Sunday, April 9, 2017. At the end of that meeting, Max Abra- ham announced his resignation as Acting President for personal reasons. I Shabbat Friday, May 19 Light Candles 7:58 PM then found myself in a very difficult position. I was next in the line of succes- Saturday, May 20 sion to become Acting President of your Board of Directors. I had to weigh Shabbat Ends 8:56 PM the challenge knowing how much confidence I had in myself, the very dear Shabbat Friday, May 26 friends I have made since I became a member, and my Love for my Temple. Light Candles 8:02 PM I decided to accept the position. I just could not let myself and everyone else Saturday, May 27 Shabbat Ends 9:01 PM down. I made a commitment when I joined and I intend to fulfill it to the full- est. Eve of First Day Shavuot Tues, May 30 Now I am going to ask each and every one of you for your patience, your Light Candles 9:03 PM support, and, what is most important, your help. This is not going to be, by any stretch, an easy transition for me either, however I am confident that with your help, guidance, and, most importantly, your PATIENCE, confidence, and trust, we can then move forward. I want all of us to look forward and not back and WE WILL get the job done, but only with G-d’s help and most certainly all of yours. We have a lot of work that still needs to be done, but we WILL get it done. Thank you for your support and understanding, Sharon Weber, Acting President of Congregation Beth Shalom Day of Remembrance A large crowd gathered in Kellner Auditorium to mark the Yom HaShoah. Sharon We- ber organized a wonderful pro- gram featuring the life of Corrie Ten Boom (The Hiding Place), a righteous Christian who with her family saved over 800 Jews. Actress Dee Collier portrayed her story. An exhibit called "GIs Remember" was also on display. From the Hazzan’s Study “To be a free people in our land, in the land of Zion and Jerusalem” What does the State of Israel mean to the contemporary Jew? Do Jews believe that the birth of the State of Israel is a miracle? There are those Jews who view the birth and continued existence of the State of Israel as an “amazing” occurrence, one that came about because of the courage, train- ing, and initiative of the Israeli army. And this is, of course correct. But what this perspective fails to take into account are the words of Moses in Deuteronomy, reminding the victorious Israelis never to forget who gave them that courage, that power, that ability to win the battle. Yes, the birth of Israel and its continued survival in the face of many attempts to destroy it is a mira- cle. In fact, the very continued existence of the Jewish people after having endured centuries of persecution, bears witness to a God who is involved in human history, who is concerned about its direction and who cares deeply about the welfare of His children. It is impossible to look at the unfolding events in Jewish history, particularly those in recent years, to see Jews coming from all four corners of the earth to Israel—from Russia, Ethiopia, France, America—and not see God’s hand in these events. God is gathering His children back home as He promised to do. He is settling them on their land as the prophets foretold. The exciting part of all this is that the drama is still unfolding. It is happening right in front of our eyes. Yes, Israel is a miracle. “From Adonai this has come about, it is wondrous in our eyes” Yom Ha-atzmaut – Israel Independence Day is celebrated this year on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Yom Y’rushalayim – Jerusalem Day is celebrated on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. This year we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem during the Six Day War in June,1967, the first time that Jews were sovereign in all of Jerusalem in over 2000 years. Hag Samei-ah! Happy Holidays! Hazzan Mordecai Kamlot Cantor/Spiritual Leader [email protected] SHAVUOT STUDY SESSION & CHEESECAKE FESTIVAL Tuesday, May 30, 7:00 PM Celebrate Shavuot with a study session on some contemporary issues in Jewish law. Enjoy several varieties of cheesecake. Cheesecake & Torah—perfect together! SHAVUOT SERVICES Wednesday, May 31 – Shaharit-Morning Service -- 9:30 – 11:45 am – Come celebrate the revolution at Sinai! Thursday, June 1 – Shaharit-Morning Service -- 9:30 – 11:45 am Yizkor (Memorial) prayers will be recited and the Book of Ruth will be read. CHEESE BLINTZES Makes at least 2 dozen Blintzes Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Filling: To make the blintzes, beat together all the blintz ingredients and Blintzes: let the batter rest for at least a half hour. Heat a small skillet 1 pound farmers cheese (about 7 inches) and add a pat of butter. Pour about 1/4 cup 4 large beaten eggs batter into the pan and swirl it around, pouring off excess. Don't 1 tablespoon melted but- 1/2 cup water let it brown. Flip and cook the other side for a few seconds. ter Then turn blintz out onto a towel. Repeat with remaining batter 1/2 cup milk and pats of butter. 1 large egg yolk 1/2 teaspoon salt To make the filling, mix together all the filling ingredients in a 2 teaspoons vanilla large bowl. 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar or more to taste To assemble, place 1 blintz on a work surface and place 1 table- spoon on top. Fold envelope style and roll up. Continue with re- maining blintzes and filling. Fry filled blintzes in butter until golden brown. Serve with sour cream and / or fruit toppings. YOM Y’RUSHALAYIM – JERUSALEM DAY IS OBSERVED ON MAY 24, 2017 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JERUSALEM FOR JEWS "The Jewish connection to Jerusalem is an ancient and powerful one. Judaism made Jerusalem a holy city over three thousand years ago and through all that time Jews remained steadfast to it. Jews pray in its direction, mention its name constantly in prayers, close the Passover service with the wistful statement 'Next year in Jerusalem,' and recall the city in the blessing at the end of each meal. The destruction of the Temple looms very large in Jewish consciousness; remem- brance takes such forms as a special day of mourning, houses left partially unfinished, a woman's makeup or jewelry left incomplete, and a glass smashed during the wedding ceremony. In addi- tion, Jerusalem has had a prominent historical role, is the only capital of a Jewish state, and is the only city with a Jewish majority during the whole of the past century. In the words of its mayor, Jerusalem represents 'the purist expression of all that Jews prayed for, dreamed of, cried for, and died for in the two thousand years since the destruction of the Second Temple.'" -----Daniel Pipes – Director of the Middle East Forum "Jerusalem holds a unique status in the Jewish tradition. Since King David, it has been at the cen- ter of the Jewish consciousness. Jerusalem is the 'mountain of Adonai,' the very core of the Jew- ish people through three millennia. The Mishnah (part of Jewish oral law) asserts that the divine presence (Sh’khinah) has never left the Western Wall. In his daily prayers, the pious Jew thrice daily entreats Adonai to 'return in mercy to your city, Jerusalem.' Jerusalem is for Judaism not on- ly a city encompassing holy places (as it is for Islam and Christianity); nor is it only, as for Chris- tians, the spiritual city that is holy. Rather, it is the earthly city itself that is holy, both the land and (as the noted scholar and former chief rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook held) even the air. As with the concepts of the people of Israel and the Torah of Israel, the land of Israel is at the very essence of the Jewish belief system.