March 2013 Bulletin
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The Bulletin Riverdale Temple y:y} μve lL;hum] /abom] d[' vm,v, jræz]Mimi From the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof, the name of the Eternal One is to be praised. Vol. 66 March 2013 (5773) No. 7 Worship Services (see p. 6 for details) Fridays THE RABBI’S COLUMN March 1 6:15 p.m. Kabbalat Shabbat March 8 5:30 p.m. Tot Shabbat New York, New York 6:15 p.m. Shabbat Service Go figure, as they say. I confess that I usually write my Friday March 15 6:15 p.m. Shabbat Service evening sermons on Friday mornings. It’s a habit I picked up on Professional Choir September 11, 2001, when I had diligently prepared my High Holy March 22 6:15 p.m. Shabbat Service Day sermons well in advance. So much for that. March 29 6:15 p.m. Shabbat Service So, wouldn’t you know, the first time in years that I actually had my Friday evening sermon written on the Monday of that week, a Saturdays snowstorm caused us to cancel Shabbat services! But since you will March 2 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service probably be reading this on or about the “shloshim”—or thirty-day Jeremy Sklar Bar Mitzvah period of mourning—for Mayor Ed Koch, I hope that my reflections Ki Tisa will still be relevant. March 9 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service I guess you would have called it something like a busman’s Kayla Thomas Bat Mitzvah holiday. What did I do on my day off? I sat glued to the television Vayakhel-Pekudei set (I suppose I could have walked over to Temple Emanu-el—the March 16 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning public was invited—but I reveled in the anonymity of attending the Service funeral via the airwaves). I am not ashamed to admit that I shed Vayikra a tear or two when that great big Temple Emanu-el organ started playing “New York, New York.” It was a great funeral—and I know March 23 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning from funerals! Service Tzav Two things in particular made it so great. First, it was a family funeral, not a state occasion. Ed Koch spent his life pretty much March 30 10:30 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service ignoring the trappings of state. So many people have commented on Passover Day 5 an encounter with him—the “how’m I doing?”; I, myself, enjoyed Pesach Shabbat Chol ha-Moed a few of those. Koch wasn’t “the mayor.” He was your neighbor. ------------------ His nephew talked about the side of “Uncle Eddie” most people March 26 10:30 a.m. Passover Study Session didn’t get to see; but in fact, that was the same Ed Koch we all saw— March 27 10:30 a.m. Passover Study Session fiercely in love with, his extended family—New York. April 1 10:30 a.m. Yizkor Service And that, of course, was the second thing that was so wonderful about the funeral. It was a New York family funeral. It made one Remember Mitzvah Day—April 21 recognize what a tight-knit little village we live in. Thirty-two years ago I stood right where Koch’s casket lay, to receive my “s’micha”— my rabbinic ordination. I remember the days when Rabbi Posner WRJ Seder Tuesday, March 12 (p. 4) didn’t wear a yarmulke. And, of course, when it comes to funerals in New York City, it’s highly likely that I will have at least a passing acquaintance with the behind-the-scene professionals who arranged Second Night Seder Tuesday, March 26 (p. 6) the ceremony. continued on p. 3 1 Riverdale Temple Bulletin Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 19 Adar 5773 20 Adar 5773 Nursery School Ki Tisa 5:15 pm Adult 10:30 am Shabbat Volunteer Choir Morning Service Rehearsal Jeremy Sklar Bar 6:15 pm Kabbalat Mitzvah Shabbat Service Junior Choir 1 2 21 Adar 5773 22 Adar 5773 23 Adar 5773 24 Adar 5773 25 Adar 5773 26 Adar 5773 27 Adar 5773 9:30 am Religious School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Vayakhel-Pekudei 11:30 am Jr Choir Noon Lunch and Learn 7:00 pm 5:30 pm Tot 10:30 am Shabbat 2013 March 4:00 pm Hebrew School Membership Shabbat Morning Service 7:30 pm WRJ Executive Committee 6:15 pm Shabbat Kayla Thomas Bat Committee meeting Eve Service Mitzvah Adult Volunteer Chavurah Passover Choir workshop following 3 4 5 6 7 8 service 9 28 Adar 5773 29 Adar 5773 1 Nisan 5773 2 Nisan 5773 3 Nisan 5773 4 Nisan 5773 5 Nisan 5773 9:30 am Religious Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Vayikra School—Model Seder Noon Lunch and Learn 6:30 pm Adult Ed. 6:15 pm Shabbat 10:30 am Shabbat 11:30 am Jr Choir 4:00 pm Hebrew School Class with Rabbi Eve Service Morning Service 11:30 am Men’s Club 7:00 pm Women’s Seder 7:30 pm Executive Professional Choir Committee meeting meeting 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 6 Nisan 5773 7 Nisan 5773 8 Nisan 5773 9 Nisan 5773 10 Nisan 5773 11 Nisan 5773 12 Nisan 5773 No Religious School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School Nursery School: Tzav 11:45 am KRMH pickup No Lunch and Learn 7:30 pm Board holiday program 10:30 am Shabbat and delivery No Hebrew School meeting 6:15 pm Shabbat Morning Service 1:00–4:00 pm WRJ Eve Service Card and Game Party (rescheduled) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 13 Nisan 5773 14 Nisan 5773 15 Nisan 5773 16 Nisan 5773 17 Nisan 5773 18 Nisan 19 Nisan No Religious School Passover Eve Passover Day 1 Passover Day 2 Passover Day 3 Passover Day 4 Passover Day 5 No Nursery No Nursery School No Nursery School No Nursery School No Nursery School Pesach Shabbat School No Hebrew School 10:30 am Passover 6:30 pm Adult Ed. 6:15 pm Shabbat Chol ha-Moed 10:30 am Passover study study session Class with Rabbi Eve Service 10:30 am Shabbat session March birthday Morning Service 6:30 pm 2nd Night Seder blessings March birthday 24 25 26 27 28 29 blessings 30 20 Nisan 21 Nisan Passover Day 6 Passover Day 7 Easter Sunday 10:30 am Yizkor No Religious School service 31 April 1 As I was watching Charles Salomon, the president of to study Yiddish in New York for the summer. One night I Riverside Chapels, stand solemnly in front of the casket on was walking down Amsterdam Avenue—I recall it clearly to the steps of Temple Emanu-el, I tried to call my husband, this day—when a young man walking uptown passed by. I Otto—to let him know that Charlie was getting wonderful swear to you that I was not under the influence of anything coverage. NY 1 was even gracious enough to put in a nice that could have altered my perceptions; he had a small plug, saying something about how funerals like this are green man (or at least what appeared to be a man) sitting usually held at Riverside, and I guess I just felt the need to on his shoulder, and they were carrying on a conversation share the emotions I was feeling. Ed Koch became mayor the with each other. (OK, I realize it must have been perhaps a same year I moved to New York. I was feeling the passage monkey, or a parrot, or something, but it looked like a little of time. So, I called my daughter, who also now works at man!) At any rate, I wasn’t so much impressed by the little Riverside, and has gotten to know Mr. Salomon as well. She green man as I was overwhelmed by the fact that no one on clearly shared the same mixture of emotions I was feeling, the street—and there were plenty of people—even looked only then she asked, “Can you see Mike? He’s driving the twice. That was the day I said to myself, “I want to call this hearse. Do you see him? Is he there?” And sure enough, town home!” Mike moved into view to help guide Ed Koch’s casket into Thank you, New York, for Ed Koch, for little green men, the back of the hearse. for a town that allows people to be themselves, and, not in Why did I experience such a personal sense of involvement the least, for a place where congregations like our own can in the funeral of Ed Koch? Because I feel profoundly grateful take pride in diversity and, God willing, thrive! to have shared my destiny with this small town I’ve called —Rabbi Judith Lewis home for the past 35 years. Forgive me for indulging in a story of how I found my way to New York City. I was attending Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. It was not a tolerant, accepting town. On the contrary! I decided THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN If one were to peruse the Simcha Wall found in the lower that you celebrated at the temple, getting a plaque to lobby at the temple, one might come to the conclusion that memorialize it on the Simcha Wall is a way to declare, “I was there hasn’t been a simcha at Riverdale Temple in many, here and I celebrated!” I hope that by calling attention to this many years.