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TIDINGS May/Jun/Jul 2021 Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Iyar/Sivan/Tammuz/Av 5781 DGMENT CURIOSITY LOVE OF LEARNING FAIRNESS LEADE REATIVITY HOPE ZEST SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE FORGIVNESS EAMWORK LOVE SPIRITUALITY HUMOR APPRECIATION OF OF BEAUTY & EXCELLENCE HONESTY PERSEVERANCE SOCIAL IN KINDNESS PERSPECTIVE BRAVERY SELF-REGULATION LOVE PRUDENCE GRATITUDE HUMILITY JUDGMENT HOPE TEAMWO URIOSITY LOVE OF LEARNING FAIRNESS LEADERSHIP CREA Y HOPE ZEST SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE FORGIVNESS TEAMWO OVE SPIRITUALITY HUMOR APPRECIATION OF BEAUTY & EXC HONESTY PERSEVERANCE KINDNESS FAIRNESS PERSPECTIV RAVERY SELF-REGULATION PRUDENCE GRATITUDE HUMILITY JGDMENT CURIOSITY LOVE OF LEARNING FAIRNESS LEADE CREATIVITY HOPE ZEST SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE FORGIVNESS TEAMWORK LOVE SPIRITUALITY HUMOR APPRECIATION OF HONESTY PERSEVERANCE KINDNESS FAIRNESS PERSPECTIVE BRAVERY SELF-REGULATION PRUDENCE GRATITUDE HUMILITY J DGMENT CURIOSITY LOVE OF LEARNING FAIRNESS LEADE REATIVITY HOPE ZEST SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE FORGIVNESS EAMWORK LOVE SPIRITUALITY HUMOR APPRECIATION OF OF BEAUTY & EXCELLENCE HONESTY PERSEVERANCE SOCIAL IN KINDNESS PERSPECTIVE BRAVERY SELF-REGULATION LOVE PRUDENCE GRATITUDE HUMILITY JUDGMENT HOPE TEAMWO URIOSITY LOVE OF LEARNING FAIRNESS LEADERSHIP CREA Y HOPE ZEST SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE FORGIVNESS TEAMWO OVE SPIRITUALITY HUMOR APPRECIATION OF BEAUTY & EXC HONESTY PERSEVERANCE KINDNESS FAIRNESS PERSPECTIV Welcome Congregation B’nai Jeshurun We are pleased to welcome the newest members to our TBJ family! Board of Trustees Stacy & Jordan Blenner, Stella 1 2020-2021 Jan & Adam Brenner, Jagger 1 Elyssa & David Broderick, Sophia 4, Laila 0 President Craig Parker Lauren & Jason Caretsky, Zoey 2, Cooper Sara & Jared Fertman, Bennett 5 Vice Presidents Rachel & Brad Frank, Avery 2, Logan 0 Karen Feldman Jami & Ben Glanzman, Grayson 1 Laurie Goldberg Jamieson Greenwald & Christian Leone, Cameron 1 Todd Shriber Jacqueline & Brian Helweil, Cole 0, Blake 2 Stacey Tavel Samantha Kagan, Ari 2 Treasurer Robyn & Marc Kamler, Cameron 1 Jason Kaplan Melanie & Adam Kaplan, Milo 1 Staci & Jordan Kapnick Assistant Treasurer Jen Keys & Aaron Weintraub, Isabelle 2 Richard Mandelbaum Craig & Amanda Kornhauser Secretary Deborah & Aaron Kozick, Jacob 2, Talia 5 Jen Biegelsen Jamie & Benjamin Kruger, Shane 1, Spencer 0 Leigh & Daniel Lampert, Vivian 1, Alana 4 Members of the Board Michael Landau & Tara Dornstreich J. Scott Berniker Jessica Lautin & Brian Fischkin, Evan 4, Leah 2 Eleonore Cohen Eric Lebovich & Jennifer Marcus, Sara 6, Ari 3 Jodi Cooperman Jamie & Matthew Leskowitz, Remy 4, Noah 2 Amanda Damesek Sheri Goldberg Michael & Samantha Levenson, Taylor 2 Jeffrey Kaplan Elana & Simon Lisch, Ashton 2, Alex 0 Seth Ladetsky Heather & Jared Lowy, Dustin 0, Lance 8 Jeff Lipkin Elana Mizrahi, Sienna 3 Howard Margolis Meredith & Matt Paley, Owen 3, Violet 6 Mark Peroff William & NaSheena Poznansky, Lena 1 Jeffrey Rosen Shira Rost Rebecca & Jared Prince, Marley 0, Jack 3 Gwen & Jared Rosen, Xander 1, Zoe 3 Voting Past Presidents Jeffrey & Kelly Rosenblum, Max 2 Charles Oransky Jillian Schnell, Spencer 0 Richard Mandel Carrie & Scott Silver, June 1 Maggie & Evan Soff, Lila 2 Women’s Association Co-Presidents Michelle Burger Rachel & Daniel Solomon, Dylan 3 Stephanie Silberstein Brittany & AJ Somers, Lennox 2 Sarah Stefanakis, Nate 3 Brotherhood President Adina Steiman & Brit Till, Alma 2 Brett Freimauer Abby & Stephen Suomela, Jordan 3, Isabelle 1 Justine & Pete Tabone, Avery 2 Past Presidents Harriet Perlmutter-Pilchik Benji Tiger & Lloyd Sacks, Landon 1 Charles R. Dreifus Lauren & Joshua Troper, Oliver 1 Robert D. Rosenberg Yuwen Wang & Kang Zhang, Nathan 4 Leslie Sporn Samantha & Aaron Weinglass, Ty 4, Ellyot 3 Fred Fraenkel Fredric M. Smith (January 16 – March 31) Andrew S. Harris Know someone interested in becoming a part of our community? Linda K. Levi Contact Marc Rothstein at [email protected] or call 973-379-1555. Eric Polans Richard L. Zucker We love to hear exciting news about our members! If you have any updates Stephen A. Greene to share with us, please send an email to: [email protected] Eric Sellinger Maureen Spivack 1025 South Orange Avenue Short Hills, New Jersey 07078 Tel:973-379-1555 Fax:973-379-4345 Email: [email protected] www.tbj.org 2 www.tbj.org From Your Clergy The Rewards of Perseverance By Rabbi Leah H. Sternberg Each year around this time, I anxiously await us a yearly reminder to reaffirm our commit- the springtime weather. After a long winter, ment to the covenant with God. Our Biblical I look forward to when I can take an evening tradition, on the other hand, tells us this holiday run outside because the sun has not yet set, is known as Chag HaBikkurim, the Festival of see the trees come more alive with each passing the First Fruits. Bikkurim are the offering of day, and swap out my boots for sandals - the first fruits of the harvest season, a gift to signs that summer is right around the corner. express gratitude to God for the food we eat and the land that provides that food. The farmers in the This year, these warmer days are more precious than ever, Land of Israel would bring a variety of the Seven Species as we have eagerly anticipated this shift for a much larger from their fields in baskets adorned with flowers and flock purpose. Along with the added protective layer that vaccines to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer the first fruits during this gift us, the weather allows us to reunite with family and time of year. As consistent with our pilgrimage festivals, friends in a return to a semblance of normalcy. The warm air this tradition was tied directly to the agricultural cycle lets us take a deep breath coming off a winter where we of the land, and a true sign of spring. demonstrated a collective perseverance in which staying home was not just for the purposes of staying warm, but There is a beautiful Midrash that combines the Rabbinic and was necessary in order to keep us safe. Biblical understanding of Shavuot. We are taught that when God gave Torah to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, the entire At the same time, we don’t just see people re-emerging, we mountain bloomed with flowers and trees in anticipation see spring coming alive. Around each corner there are new of this moment of revelation. It is as if the only way that we expressions of life in nature reviving themselves, with were ready and prepared to receive Torah, and become a beautiful flowers blossoming and trees regaining their color new collective People of Israel, was if we were supported and strength. The energy and calm beauty evokes feelings and surrounded by a rebirth of spring. of joy and awe. Each flower symbolizes a reward for our diligence and a fresh perspective. There is a sense that we As the farmers in ancient Israel brought these bikkurim – the truly are springing forward to a new chapter. first fruits – to the temple to express their abundant gratitude for the season’s harvest, we also have an abundant gratitude In just a few weeks, we are approaching the festival of for the revival of our own spring. May this season be a Shavuot. Our Rabbinic tradition teaches that Shavuot is the reward for our perseverance. One that provides us much time in our Jewish calendar in which we commemorate the needed rebirth and renewal, for ourselves and our world. receiving of Torah and revelation at Mount Sinai, allowing 3 www.tbj.org Religious Education Center We made it through a Zoom Winter “A righteous person can fall seven times and rise.” -Proverbs 24:16 The Jewish value of hatmadah, perseverance, is about staying corner. We awaited the reopening of our outdoor learning on task and not giving up. When you dial up your perse- spaces, and got really creative when mountains of snow verance, you keep trying in spite of obstacles. Our Jewish melted, leaving our outdoor learning center unready for our tradition asserts that the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and return. It’s been an amazing start to spring as we welcomed Jacob, would never have succeeded in entering a covenant students back on-site and the ruach, spirit, can be felt in the between God and the Jewish people had it not been for their air. This is a testament to the incredible flexibility and resilience extraordinary hatmadah. Perseverance is anchored in hope; of our faculty, and the unwavering commitment of the and hope is rooted in the belief that things will get better. TBJ family to Jewish learning and engagement. Looking back at the last few months, our Religious Education As we continue to look forward with hope, we will mark faculty, staff and students really dialed up their perseverance! the end of this extraordinary year with song and celebration The winter weather moved most of our teaching and learning on Sunday, May 16. On this day we will celebrate a year from the beautiful and spacious outdoor learning center to of teaching and learning and honor all students who have Zoom. Separated by screens, our teachers continued to build started their formal Jewish learning journey in a most relationships with and among students, and our clergy unprecedented time. Save the date and watch your email and education team created sacred space during our weekly as well as the REC Family Engagement Newsletter for virtual tefillah. It wasn’t easy to be apart from each other and more information. continue the work of engaging our learners in meaningful th Jewish experiences. And still, we looked forward to the Kgn – 12 grade enrollment for Fall of ’21 will be open warmer months that we knew would be right around the this spring. Don’t miss your opportunity to join the fun! HERE’SALOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS SPRING: Song and Prayer in the Harriet & Milton Perlmutter Family Outdoor Chapel Religious School of Rock? th 7 Graders returned to the outdoor learning center and began a new course in Jewish identity for teens, called Bayneinu: Between Us.