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A Message from the Vice President President Sue Katz T’S Midsummer, and As Lewis Carroll Wrote, Donations to Our Future Fund

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A Message from the Vice President President Sue Katz T’S Midsummer, and As Lewis Carroll Wrote, Donations to Our Future Fund Rabbi Martin W. Levy Congregation Cantor Ephraim A. Herrera Beit Tikva Founding Rabbi Leonard A. Helman, z”l P.O. BOX 24094 SANTA FE, NM 87502 TELEPHONE: 505.820.2991 WWW.BEITTIKVASANTAFE.ORG July / August 2018 Tammuz Av Elul 5778 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Officers A Message from the Vice President PRESIDENT Sue Katz t’s midsummer, and as Lewis Carroll wrote, donations to our Future Fund. Some of those vice-PreSIDENT “The time has come…to talk of many Future Fund gifts (and some recent gifts to Philip Goldstone things.” other funds) have been at the $10,000 level. II love our Congregation. For the last many Some are smaller but still quite significant TREASURER years, it has been not just my spiritual home relative to those donors’ means. Their (our) Jeffrey Less but a source of comfort and belonging and, giving expresses what we value. RECORDING in a way, family. Not all of you come at Erev Our Congregation provides much to those SECRETARY Shabbat when I’m usually there, but I may see who want to partake of it. In addition to Larry Singer you other times, at High Holy Days or around services, we have Torah study, adult-education town and know we share this Congregation as programs, bring services to those in the PAST PRESIDENTS well as Jewish life and heritage. Brookdale Senior Living community, and offer Jerry Bork We are Congregation Beit Tikva. We’re not special programs and speakers. We will be the Kate Shane Temple Beit Tikva or Synagogue Beit Tikva, venue for some other (not yet announced) David Pollak although we have a beautiful Jewish space. We programs for the Jewish community this Trustees are Congregation Beit Tikva. The Congregation summer, too. And Cantor Ephraim will be Laurel Abes is, after all, us. The life and breath of our singing for our High Holy Days services in Larry Cohen Congregation is us, too. Many of us pitch September. Windy Dankoff in, as Trustees or as volunteers in other ways. However, as we’ve told you this year in Gary Goldstein And we all provide the financial lifeblood that messages and letters from the Rabbi, we have Gary Katz supports our Rabbi, Cantor, our programs, significant financial challenges that we as Lynn Kelly operations, and maintenance. It’s us. WE Trustees of our Congregation need to address Linda Krull do that. No one else (other than some small with you. Our dues only cover about 60% Gary Podolny but very appreciated program grants from of this year’s expenses (that’s with the Rabbi Lois Podolny Federation). at part-time again this year—it would have Marc Sanders Many of us—many of YOU—believe been an even smaller fraction of our costs if Ed Sorken strongly enough in our Congregation to we had not made that change). Our typical Dirk Wassner contribute donations well beyond our fundraising, while vital and deeply appreciated, Staff (inexpensive by most Temple standards) dues. is not sufficient to make up the difference, so in ADMINISTRATOR Several of us have, each year, been premium the last few years we have had to spend reserve Shana Pava dues donors at the Sustainer or Rabbi’s Circle funds too. Since that was unsustainable, level. Some give to our High Holy Day appeal we also had to reduce our expenditures. In CORRESPONDING or make donations in memory or honor or just addition to shifting the Rabbi to reduced SECRETARY to a specific fund. Most of those donations compensation and time, we have found ways Marcelle Cady are modest; a few are substantial. And many to reduce or eliminate many administrative BOOKKEEPER of us (including the current Board, and and operational costs. Our Cantor is back, but Cathy Turner several individual members) have made extra continued on page 3 GRAPHIC DESIGNER/ ShabbaT AT HOME will be held at Brookdale Senior Living, 640 Alta Vista St. WEBSITE on Friday, July 27 and Friday, August 24 at 5:30pm. Paula Eastwood FRIDAY SHABBAT SERVICES — 7:00 pm 2230 OLD PECOS TRAIL, SANTA FE RABBI’S MESSAGE we gain from studying and delving into texts. Without insight from the Bible, without our capacity for spiritual growth, our continued learning would become shallow. Oil points to the energy and inspiration offered by God; the unlimited message filtered through holy words. s we begin preparing for the opera season, Of equal importance in this process is the challah, the summer travels, and other activities, the world of bread used in the holy sanctuary, and the bread used on “realpolitik” keeps intruding on our daily world. our daily tables. Challah means sustenance: it reminds WeA have witnessed momentous events along the Israeli- us to care for our physical being and rejuvenate ourselves Gaza border, and once again the world blames Israel for on a regular basis. Without bread we would not be able protecting its citizens and its sovereignty. In the U.S. we to absorb the teachings from the divine. With challah we are affected by the rising tide of anti-Semitic incidents, possess the building blocks to strengthen our minds and which the ADL reported as having increased by 57 our congregation. percent in the previous calendar year. While we enjoy Finally, every person requires incense. To the biblical the safety of northern New Mexico, imagine living in the writer, incense was offered as a purification, as a vehicle northern Galilee region, or Haifa, facing the Hezbollah for the healing of a person. For ourselves, incense refers rocket launch pads every day. We live in difficult to prayers—our communication with the transcendent. times, and thus it is imperative that we come together, Incense kindled in our sanctuaries rises slowly to the strengthen our congregation, and support Israel with our divine. Without bread, oil, and prayer, we could rarely own personal words. approach the holy presence in our lives. We need all three Summer is also a period for learning and engaging elements to lead a spiritually directed life. Oil and challah in spiritual activities. It is a season for the rest and are easy to remember but holding onto prayer is not so nourishment of our souls. In Leviticus, Chapter 23, we easy. Yet we need to embrace that incense, so that we read of the priest’s role in cleansing persons who have lead ourselves from the mundane moments to periods of become unclean. The priests needed certain substances in insight and encounter with the divine. order to pronounce a healing, whether for a patient with a serious disease, or a mother recovering from childbirth. B’shalom, The three basic elements for the healing process are oil, challah, and incense. How do we understand these three elements in our modern world? The oil, challah, and incense signify the building blocks needed for a healthy spiritual life. Oil is Rabbi Martin W. Levy the fuel for kindling a fire, and that energy yields light. 505.670.4671 The Talmudic sages referred to this light as the inspiration of Torah. Oil is a metaphor for the energy and inspiration 2 A Message from the Vice President continued from page 3 SUMMER ADULT EDUCATION CLASSES JULY—Entering the Garden of Jewish part-time now as well. The majority of our costs go to our Mysticism taught by Dr. Petr Chylek Rabbi, Cantor, and Administrator. While we continue to make changes to reduce administrative costs, what more Beginning Wednesday, July 11th at 6:00pm can be saved there is limited. This class meets for 4 weeks in the Helman Library and concludes on And our reserves are getting low; we can’t draw on them Wednesday, August 1. The class is an introduction to mystical texts and as we had. We need to raise ourselves to a higher level the 16th century Kabbalah. Each class will include meditations. of financial stability this year. If we do not, then by this All members of the Santa Fe community are welcome to attend. time next year at the latest, or possibly even late in 2018, our Board will have to make some big changes in how we AUGUST—Dialogues on Self-Renewal and operate as a Congregation. The gap isn’t insurmountable, Destinations: Preparing for the Holy Days and our Board members are doing a lot to close that taught by Dr. John Graham gap—but the Board can’t do it alone. We need additional Beginning Wednesday, August 8th at 6:00pm giving from our Congregation now, to stop spending our Our second summer class will be led by Dr. John Graham, noted last reserves, while we work to grow our membership and educator and faculty member at UNM. The class meets for 4 weeks in the dues income over the next couple of years. You will see us not only asking for donations all year long and holding Helman Library . The series will include a weekly presentation by fundraisers later this year—we are also reaching out to Dr. Graham, followed by respondents to his ideas, and a discussion of the many of you individually for your philanthropy (and help topics. The class concludes on Wednesday, August 29, preparing us for recruiting new members). the High Holy Days season. All interested students are welcome. I hope that you value our Congregation as much as I do. For more information regarding classes, please contact Rabbi Martin Levy. If so, please think of that as one of the Board contacts you or when we make a general request for donations. And we would like to know what you feel about this.
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