BULLETIN March 2021, Adar – Nisan 5781
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Beth Israel – The West Temple BULLETIN March 2021, Adar – Nisan 5781 Our Mission from the Rabbi's Desk... To be a center of worship and 15 Steps to Hope vital community life where Jews and their families from It’s the month of March. The month of spring. Cleveland’s western Time for spring cleaning. Time to clean out our communities learn Jewish cupboards. And time to get ready for Passover! traditions and values, develop We can use the 15 steps of the Passover their Jewish identity, and seder as part of our personal preparation assure the continuity of process, especially in this continuing time of Jewish life. COVID. Our seder can be the ultimate antidote to despair as we move from sadness to joy, from desperation to hope. Let’s take a look… Features 1. Kadesh – reciting Kiddush, designating the time as Rabbi's Desk..................... 1-2 sacred. Set aside time to allow for real listening, March & Passover introspection, and growth. Programming ....................2-3 2. Urchatz – washing the hands. Set aside time for reflecting 21st-century Renovations .....4 on that which burdens you and how you can let it go. BI-TWT Supporting Statement for the Historical Marker ......5 3. Karpas – eating a vegetable dipped in salt water. How has sadness (the salty tears) over this past year tempered What Was It Like?.............6-8 our growth? We eat a green vegetable—a sign of spring, of By the Book ....................9-10 new growth. How does that reflect us as we come to bloom Educator's Desk & Virtual after the winter? Retreat Pictures .............11-12 4. Yachatz – breaking the middle matzah. Indeed, there are Pictures from February .......13 parts of us that are not whole. Where are they hidden from Circle of Friends & us? How can we search for them? Does it take someone Pictures .............................14 else to help us find them? Changing Lives with Climate 5. Magid – reciting the Haggadah. What are your questions? Change ..........................15-16 How do you reflect different perspectives in the course of YYYYY your life? What has been/is your Egypt – your narrow Calendar............................. 17 place? What is your song of thanks? Celebrations .......................17 6. Rachtzah – washing the hands, this time with a blessing, as we prepare to eat. What are the blessings in your life? Perpetual Yahrzeits ............18 What nourishes your soul? Service Schedule ................19 7. Motzei – reciting the blessing HaMotzi, “Who brought Contributions ......................20 forth bread from the earth.” Knowing full well it doesn’t come out of the ground looking like this, how do you help in bringing creation to fruition? continued on p. 2. March 2021 Beth Israel – The West Temple 2 continued from p. 1 8. Matzah – reciting the blessing on eating matzah, unleavened 7:30 p.m. – Friday, bread, the “bread of poverty.” It is bread, but bread without March 5th leavening. What “puffs us up”? What can you do to maintain a sense of humility, especially in the face of those who have so little Shared to eat? Shabbat 9. Maror – eating the bitter herbs. Tasting the bitterness of harsh words, defeat, loneliness. How is that tempered by the sweetness of Join Rabbi Lader for a family- the haroset; by the sweetness in your life? friendly Erev Shabbat Service 10. Korech – eating a sandwich of matzah and maror (in ancient as we welcome Shabbat and times together with the Passover lamb). Our life is filled with rich celebrate March Birthdays and moments (lamb), bland moments (matzah), and bitter moments Anniversaries (maror). Liberation comes when we discover the art of sandwiching all the components of our life into a single mosaic. And finding the Zoom link will be sent in the News balance. You Can Use 11. Shulchan Orech – setting the table, eating the festive meal. How do you set aside time to celebrate? How do you include others? Lifelong Learning’s First 12. Tzafun – eating the hidden afikomen. Eating the afikomen Wednesdays Series: means that you have found it. How have you located the parts of yourself that are hidden away? 13. Barech – reciting grace… AND welcoming Elijah, who will usher “Conversations we wish in the time of redemption. How do you make time to feel and show we could have during the appreciation for your blessings? AND… as we seek to welcome service (but the train has Elijah, what can you do to help have a positive impact on those around you, on those in need, on our environment??? already left the station.)” 14. Halel – reciting psalms of praise. Each moment can be an Co-Facilitated by opportunity to show appreciation for what you have… for what you Rabbi Lader and Julian Ross don’t have… Wednesday, March 10th, 7:30 p.m. 15. Nirtzah – concluding declaration that we followed all the steps. It is a time of completion, a time of celebration. A time of continued We continue to slowly hope in a future of freedom and peace. What are your hopes? make our way through the Shabbat services and 15 steps. It’s a personal journey… that we take together. invite everyone to make With wishes from my family to you and yours for a zissen Pesach – comments and ask questions as we a sweet Passover, go along. Rabbi Enid Zoom link will be sent in the News [email protected] You Can Use. Bulletin published 11 times a year by: Congregational Beth Israel—The West Temple Educator: Debbie Chessin 14308 Triskett Road, Cleveland OH 44111 Ritual Committee: Luis Fernandez Phone (216) 941-8882; [email protected] Buildings & Grounds Committee: Rick Keller On the web: www.thewesttemple.com Social Action Committee: Barbara Feldmar & Ken Dunn Rabbi: Enid C. Lader (216) 228-9735 Membership Committee: Sandy Pankiw President: Peter Sackett Finance Committee: Robin Kaufman Vice President: Walter Wright Cemetery Committee: Rick Keller Treasurer: Robin Kaufman Public Relations Coordinator: Becky Watts Secretary: Judy Wright Bulletin Editors: Jan Miyake, Pat Outlaw April Deadline: Monday, March 15th Table of Contents March 2021 Beth Israel – The West Temple 3 Passover Planning PASSOVER SEDER PLANS Via Zoom Rabbi Lader will be leading our Community Second Seder on Sunday, March 28th at 6:30 p.m. and Barbara Schwartz and Rabbi Lader will co- lead our Women's Seder, with special guest Trisha Arlin, on April 1st at 7:00 p.m. The haggadot for each seder will be sent out ahead of time, and screens will be shared, so we'll all be on the same page! Rabbi Lader will lead our Passover Festival Morning Service Sunday, March 28th at 11:00 a.m. All Zoom links will be sent in the News You Can Use If you or someone you know in our congregation would appreciate a Seder-in-a-box, please let Rabbi Lader know, and we will deliver our seder boxes before Passover. Our hope is that each box will include: Passover matzah, matzah ball soup, an easy-to-read Haggadah, and Passover sweets... If you or someone you know in our congregation would like a box, please call the temple office to let Rabbi Lader know as soon as possible - 216-941-8882. Contributions to the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund will be used to help make this mitzvah possible. Sunday Morning, April 4th Yizkor & Healing Service for the Concluding day of Pesach at 10:00 a.m. with Rabbi Lader MITZVAH OPPORTUNITY Our Passover seder includes the famous invitation: Let all who are hungry, come and eat. As we are coping with the challenges presented by the coronavirus, let us keep in mind those who face economic challenges every day. We encourage you to make a tzedakah contribution to the SCAN Hunger Center, to help them support all those who are hungry. Please make out your check to: SCAN Hunger Center Send to: SCAN Hunger Center c/o 11556 White Tail Run Columbia Station, OH 44028 Table of Contents March 2021 Beth Israel – The West Temple 4 update on the 21st-century Renovations Kitchen Almost Out of the Oven We are nearing the end of the renovation of our kitchen! We are awaiting delivery of the sinks, which are on back-order from the manufacturer, and the installation of the appliances. Unless we are very unlucky with the sink delivery, we could be done by Passover. The pictures below show what the kitchen looks like at the moment. Todah Rabah to those who have responded to our $2,000 challenge appeal. So far, $1,364 has been received. If we can get to $2,000, some anonymous donors have pledged to match it. That means $636 will unlock another $2,000. Your gift could be the one that gets us over the line. You don’t even need to write a check or address an envelope or affix a postage stamp; just go to www.thewesttemple.com and click on the Donate Now! button. Luis Fernandez, Chair, 21st Century Renovation Campaign [email protected] Table of Contents March 2021 Beth Israel – The West Temple 5 BI-TWT Supporting Statement for the Ohio Historical Marker In his essay “The Soviet Jewry Movement” in Remembering: Cleveland’s Jewish Voices, Louis Rosenblum, one of the founders of the Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism recalled “I believe that, for the Jewish people, the struggle for the right of Soviet Jews to freely emigrate stands as the great redemptive event of the latter part of the 20th century.” Rosenblum and several other members of Beth Israel–The West Temple in Cleveland, Ohio, had formed a study group in the fall of 1961, which examined why Americans had not acted against the activities in Germany that would result in the Holocaust.