Shevat – Adar 5781 February 2021 SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 28 FOR DETAILS, VISIT TBAM.ORG/PURIMPURSUIT February 2021 Shabbat Services FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2021 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2021 In This Issue 24 Shevat 9:00 a.m. Torah Study 6:00 p.m. Pre-neg 10:30 a.m. Morning Minyan 6:30 p.m. Shabbat services 10:30 a.m. Bat Mitzvah Shabbat Services 2 of Evelyn Kelly SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021 5:30 p.m. Bar Mitzvah Masked Singer/Purim 3 9:00 a.m. Torah Study of Cooper Haller 10:30 a.m. Morning Minyan From Strength to Strength 4 10:30 a.m. Bat Mitzvah of Sloane Gelfman Parashat Terumah 5:30 p.m. B’nai Mitzvah of Deuteronomy 25:17 – 19 Clergy Corner 5 Adam and Jared Olster Haftarah: Samuel I 15: 1 -- 34 President’s Message 6/7 Parashat Yitro THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Membership 8 Exodus 18:1 – 20:23 Fast of Esther Haftarah: Isaiah 6:1 – 13 6:00 p.m. Erev Purim Teacher Appreciation Shabbat 9 Megillah reading FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021 Youth Engagement Religious 1 Adar Rosh Chodesh FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2021 6:00 p.m. Pre-neg 15 Adar School 10/11 6:30 p.m. Shabbat services 6:00 p.m. Pre-neg 6:30 p.m. Shabbat services Programming 12-14 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2021 9:00 a.m. Torah Study SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2021 Admissions 15 10:30 a.m. Morning Minyan 9:00 a.m. Torah Study B’nai Mitzvah 16/17 5:30 p.m. Bat Mitzvah of Sophia Davis 10:30 a.m. Morning Minyan 10:30 a.m. Bar Mitzvah Brotherhood 17 Parashat Mishpatim of Matthew Friedman Exodus 21:1 - 24:18 Beyond the Curve 18 Shabbat Rosh Chodesh: Numbers 28:9-15 Parashat Tetzaveh Haftarah: Exodus 30:11-16 Exodus 27:20 – 30:10 Tikkun Olam 19 Shekalim - Rosh Chodesh: Kings II 11:17 - 12:17; Haftarah: Ezekiel 43:10 – 27 Isaiah 66:23-24; Isaiah 66:23 Auction 20/21 Sisterhood 22/23 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2021 8 Adar Our Jewish Heritage 24 6:00 p.m. Pre-neg 6:30 p.m. Shabbat services Save the Date: Marra Gad 26 Current of Life 27 In Loving Memory 28/29 Mazel Tov 29 our advertisers New Members 29 Israel Bonds .................................................. 27 TLC Family Care ......................................... 38 We Give 30 Chef Aaron Dreilinger, Catering ............ 32 Paradise Properties, Realtor ..................... 39 Rita Diaz, Estate­­­­ Sales ................................ 32 Williamson Cadillac ................................... 40 Sister Congregation 31 Kitanim, Florist/Events .............................. 32 Accessible Home Health Care ................. 40 Professional Directory Listings ............... 34 Bregman, Event Planners .......................... 41 Professional Directory 34 Dr. Greg Ross, Orthodontist ..................... 35 Camp Coleman ............................................ 42 Ilene Efthimiou, Realtor ............................ 35 Buchwald Jewelers ..................................... 42 Goldman Residential, Realtor .................. 36 Smile Miami ................................................. 42 Roberta Mandel ........................................... 36 Careaga Plastic Surgery ............................ 43 Rebecca Lenard, Pediatric Dentist .......... 36 The Palace ..................................................... 44 Bea Citron, Realtor ..................................... 37 Medicare Matt .............................................. 37 Friendship Circle ......................................... 38 THETHE TEMPLETEMPLE BETHBETH AMAM PURIMPURIM PLAYERSPLAYERS PRESENTPRESENT THETHE THURSDAY,THURSDAY, FEBRUARYFEBRUARY 2525thth 7:007:00 PMPM Who’s behind the mask? Join us for our first ever interactive virtual Purim shpiel! Hear the heroic story of Queen Esther and Mordechai told by our talented TBAM congregants… if you can guess who they are! RSVP for Zoom info at tbam.org/maskedsinger This event will be streamed, but you’ll want to be live with us on Zoom to be a part of the show! Page 3 Commentator February 2021 • Page 4 From Strength to Strength Rabbi Jeremy Barras [email protected] Living Jewishly: A Purim Idea Living a proper Jewish life should ideally include the poor of each community. In other words, we have consideration of Jewish theology and belief in the one mitzvah designed essentially to make sure that even manifold decisions we make every single day. As Reform the poorest in society could perform a different mitzvah. Jews we are not necessarily bound by Jewish law, but As we celebrate Purim this month, I would urge you to that is not an excuse to ignore Jewish principles as we go spend more time thinking Jewishly when you make your through our days. Recently on social media I saw a review decisions and consider every way in which your decision- of a local restaurant that was negative and demeaning. making affects the lives of others. I have always hated online reviews. I think that they amount to lashon harah and directly affect the livelihood L’shalom, of other people. Perhaps it is necessary on occasion if a certain business is dangerous or unsafe, but writers who pen angry reviews because they had to wait too long for Rabbi Jeremy Barras their pizza, or their chicken had the wrong sauce and the waiter making minimum wage didn’t reorganize her entire life to fix the order immediately, does not strike me as a reason to endanger the livelihood of a business owner. In the review I saw, I noticed a TBAM member comment underneath that perhaps the writer could be a little more sensitive and take their complaint directly to the owner or manager, and not air the experience publicly. I was so impressed that I wrote to our congregant and expressed my gratitude for her courageous response. In our tradition, we are taught that how our actions affect others matters a great deal. There is even mitzvaha to greet people with joy, known as sever panim yafot. We are instructed that each time we greet others, we are supposed to avoid putting them in a bad mood with our greeting or expression. This is not always easy to do, but we should try to bring each other joy and lift each other up whenever possible. On Purim there is a beautiful lesson that reminds us of how deeply concerned we should be for each other’s well- being. Two of the mitzvot associated with Purim include enjoying a festive meal and sending gifts of food to others. According to Rabbi Israel Isserlein ben Petachia, famed 15th century author of the Terumat Hadeshen, the reason we are commanded to send food to each other is to make sure that everyone has food for the festive meal, including clergy corner Cantor Rachelle Nelson [email protected] “It’s time.” strained and tired lives and begin to restore them to some kind of normalcy. Isn’t it amazing how much meaning can be drawn from just these two words? I have often thought of all the moments It’s time to praise one another again. Let’s praise those people in during this past year that I have said to myself, “it’s time,” and our lives who have supported us and brought us comfort during what each of those moments have meant to me. I want to share this period. Have we said “thank you” to the friends and family my personal thoughts with you as I wish blessings for all of us. who have called us frequently, the healthcare workers who riskedAT their lives for us, and so many others? COVID has changed our livesTHURSDAYS in ways we haven’t even begun to 5:30 PM comprehend. It tore familiesMix apart, one created part deep Happy loneliness Hour for withLet me words end on ofa high wisdom note…We and now have two vaccines that millions, caused death to our lovedsome ones without human the closure interest we andhopefully you will get be Erev the panacea Tov! that we, and the entire world, are so accustomed to, brought about more poverty and hunger need to end this scourge. But for the time being, let’s keep our than we have witnessed“Erev in decades, Tov” and is turned Hebrew our world for “Gooddistance, Evening,” keep washing and Rabbiour hands Aklepi and continue to MASK UP! upside down and inside out.invites No one you has escaped to join this her horrific every ThursdayThis, too, shall as end, we and move G-d willing, from soon, we will all be able to virus, and no child or adult will ever forget this pandemic and hug each other again. this time in our history. workday to evening and work week to weekend. With love, your Cantor, As I am writing this article to you, my daughter, Rebecca, and son-in-law, Reed, have already been vaccinated and my Rachelle daughter Leah will soon be, as well. I never imagined that time could move so slowly as each day passed, more deaths Watchwere counted, live and on more Facebook, hospital beds www.tbam.org/streaming, were filled. Finally, it’s or Youtube.com/TempleBethAmTV! time! It’s time to start picking up all the broken pieces of our THE JEWISH VOICE with Cantor Rachelle Nelson Thursdays at 7:00 pm Join Cantor Rachelle Nelson in conversation with leading voices in the world of contemporary Jewish music, featuring live interviews and performances from some of the top artists of yesterday, today, and tomorrow! Page 5 Commentator February 2021 • Page 6 Message from the president Stuart Ratzan [email protected] WE WANT YOU! Dear Beth Am Community, Here is a list of committees and auxiliary boards: As I write this, we are all praying and hoping that the COMMITTEE CHAIR vaccines will put an end to the pandemic sooner rather Basketball Committee Michelle Cohen than later. And with an end to the pandemic, we see a new, Board of Trustees Bill Grossman exciting Temple Beth Am. We will emerge from this with a Communications Committee Howard Wolofsky brand new, state-of-the-art, gorgeous school building. And Development Task Force Kate Lampen-Sachar with it we will have a new environment that allows us to Fundraising Events Edith Osman educate, love, and nourish our children in ways we only Finance Committee David Young dreamed of before.