Har Sinai–Oheb Shalom Congregation CONNECTING OUR PATHWAYS
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May | 2021 Iyar/Sivan 5781 Har Sinai–Oheb Shalom Congregation CONNECTING OUR PATHWAYS WHAT A RIDE IT’S BEEN! By Ken Bell, HSOSC Co-President I write this article with such mixed so understanding and always being there for me emotions as this will be my last when being co-president took time away from oth- article as Co-President. It has been er things we would have liked to had time to have such a labor of love and an honor done. Sherri, I love you. and privilege to have all of you to allow me to serve I also wanted to let you know I am not going away. I in this role. I am so grateful to all of you. have already agreed to take on some additional roles It has been such an interesting ride. I was always at the congregation. Starting July 1, I will be taking afraid my legacy would be the guy that locked the over the lead of the Weekend Backpacks program door on Har Sinai Congregation. I no longer have at HSOSC from Stu Dettelbach. Stu, thanks for all that fear as I now feel my legacy will be the first you have done on behalf of our congregation for co-president of Har Sinai-Oheb Shalom Congrega- Weekend Backpacks. We have starting planning the tion. Yes, we have had a few bumps in the road, but opening of a garden area in cooperation with Ohr I truly feel we are a wonderful new Congregation Chadash Academy with hopes to donate any veg- with such a very bright future. Sherri and I person- etables grown to help feed the hungry. I have also ally consider one of the best parts of the merger to agreed to become the next treasurer for the Wom- be all the new friends we have made these two past en’s Club. years. As you know, come July 1, 2021, Rabbi Rachel Lastly, as many of you may know I was recent- Sabath Beit-Halachmi, Ph. D. and Cantor Alexandra ly diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. Very S. Fox will be part of our bright future. I have met gratefully, it is the most treatable and curable type with both of them often and I know how excited of thyroid cancer and additional testing has shown they are to join us. We will also shortly be reopen- that the cancer is fully contained within the thy- ing our building, in steps, and welcoming you all roid. On May 19 I will have surgery to remove the back to our home. thyroid and expect to have a full and complete re- There are so many people I want to thank for covery and be cancer free. I cannot begin to tell you supporting me on this journey. I want and need to how heartwarming the love, concern, and prayers I thank our wonderful staff, clergy, fellow officers, have received from so many of you has been to me. and Board members who were so supportive to me. As I said at a recent Shabbat service, I have never Thank you all. I also want to thank Vicki Spira and realized until now how absolutely wonderful it is to Mina Wender for being such wonderful, dedicated, be a member of HSOSC. I thank you all for that. supportive partners as co-presidents. Thank you both. I also want to thank my wife, Sherri, for being 7310 Park Heights Ave, Baltimore, MD 21208 Phone: 410-358-0105 | Fax: 410-358-3313 www.hsosc-baltimore.org [email protected] Har Sinai - Oheb Shalom Congregation 7310 Park Heights Ave., Baltimore, MD, 21208 Phone: 410-358-0105 Fax: 410-358-3313 Email: [email protected] Member of the Union for Reform Judaism RABBI EMERITI Rabbi Floyd Herman, Rabbi Donald Berlin EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EMERITUS Jesse B. Harris STAFF Rabbi Jennifer Weiner, Interim Senior Rabbi [email protected] Amy Mallor, Interim Executive Director HSOSC is hosting a [email protected] Summer Collection to benefit Aviva Janus, Director of Congregational Learning and Programming Camp St. Vincent. [email protected] Nina Pachino, Director of Youth Education Tuesday, May 4 – Tuesday, June 1 and B’nai Mitzvah Concierge [email protected] There are two options for this drive: Aileen Friedman, Director of Learning Ladder [email protected] 1. Donate brand new items from the list below to help make a difference Sara Flechner, Asst. Director of Learning Ladder in the lives of so many children! [email protected] CLICK HERE 2. “Adopt a camper” by donating $36.00 and we will Rachel Moses, Director of Communications TO MAKE A shop for these items for you! and Marketing $36 DONATION [email protected] All items donated must be BRAND NEW! Lindsay Gaister Montague, Youth and Teen Engagement Specialist Items being accepted include: [email protected] • Towels, goggles, sunscreen, hats, reusable water bottles, water play Christina Parsons, Executive Assistant [email protected] toys (including balls, diving rings, beach toys, etc.) Marlene Pachino, Office Assistant • Swimsuits and water shoes for campers, boys and girls, ages 5 [email protected] through 14 (sizes 4T – 14) Shontell Manokey-Lloyd, Bookkeeper [email protected] • Arts and crafts supplies including: markers, crayons, dry erase Beth Oshrine, Special Project Coordinator markers and boards, construction paper, pencils, erasers, and paint [email protected] • Playground balls and sports balls Harvey Betts, Facilities Director [email protected] Please drop off items in the baby pool, located in the Gordon Chapel Stacy Smith, Assistant Building Manager Lobby. and Events Coordinator SHLEIMUT DEPARTMENT Robin Lumpkin, LCSWC, Social Worker Camp St. Vincent is the only free [email protected] summer camp dedicated to serving BOARD OF TRUSTEES children experiencing homelessness Executive Officers in the Baltimore region. Camp St. Ken Bell, Co-President Vincent provides children experiencing Mina Wender, Co-President Sam Dansicker, Co-Vice President homelessness with an unforgettable David Sachs, Co-Vice President and transformational camp experience Sharon Balan, Co-Treasurer and addresses the negative impact Joan Roth, Co-Treasurer David Buchalter, M.D., Secretary of homelessness on children’s unique Trustees academic, social, and emotional needs. Lisa Budlow Adam Rosenberg Micah Damareck Jason Savage Jesse Feller-Kopman Barbara Schlaff CLICK HERE to read more about Camp St. Vincent. Questions? Jill Gansler Adrienne Shutt Please contact Lindsay Gaister Montague: [email protected] Michael Greenebaum Jordan Small Mandee Heinl Glenn Ulick Abigail Hoffman Andrew Weinman Debbi Jacobs Barry Yaffe Wendy McChesney Monroe Zeffert Richard Milner Shavuot and Confirmation: Standing at Mt. Sinai By Rabbi Jennifer Weiner, Interim Senior Rabbi Shavuot is the holiday on which we re-enact the accept the responsibly of the mitzvot (command- receiving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai ments) of Torah into their life. In later years, the from God. It is also the holiday that most people ceremony was moved to 10th grade as an acknowl- associate with Confirmation. The reason for the edgement of a true graduation from religious connection between the two is multi-layered. school. It also recognized that when a child turns 13 Shavuot celebrates the marriage between the Chil- years-old, they are not necessarily becoming a B’nai dren of Israel and God. As we stood at the foot of Mitzvah on their own terms, but rather become it is Mt. Sinai waiting for Moses to rejoin the commu- expected of them. By moving the Confirmation cer- nity, we were filled with dread, anxiety, and awe. emony to 10th grade, a child is more intellectually Then Moses came down the mountain for the prepared to understand the significance of accept- second time with a new set of tablets and presented ing the responsibility of the mitzvot into their life. us with our ketubah (Jewish marriage document). Through re-instituting B’nai Mitzvah into the We accepted the commandments into our lives and life-cycle ceremonies of Reform Judaism’s commu- have spent the time since then being in partnership nity and moving Confirmation to a later age, our with God. movement has afforded students to act on their Fast forward several thousands of years to 1810 own accord and not just because a parent is mak- when Israel Jacobson, a nominal founder of Reform ing the decision. Confirmation, in this manner, Judaism, built a synagogue in Seesen, Germany. He becomes a true expression of the student lifting up introduced several radical innovations for celebrat- the value of Torah in their lives for themselves. The ing Judaism, including mixed seating for men and service truly becomes the re-enactment of arriving women and eliminating bar mitzvah. Instead of bar at Mt. Sinai as an individual and as part of the Jew- mitzvah, Jacobson initiated a graduation ceremo- ish collective. ny for boys graduating from his school. This was Please join us on May 16th at 11:00 a.m. as we a controversial change and ceremonies were not welcome nine Confirmation students into our held in synagogue. In 1817, the synagogue in Berlin community of Har Sinai – Oheb Shalom Congre- introduced a separate ceremony for girls since the gation. original ones were just for boys. In 1822, the first class of boys and girls was confirmed. Then in 1831, Rabbi Samuel Egers of Brunswick, Germany, moved the celebration to coincide with Shavuot. In the years since Rabbi Egers tied Confirmation and Shavuot together in ritual, the holiday and ceremony have become an accepted fact; yet, not all rabbis are happy with uniting the two together in more recent years. The feeling is that Confirmation has almost usurped the celebration of Shavuot and less people celebrate Shavuot or understand its true significance.