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ORZ 510 Jan/Feb News, 18.3 Congregation A Traditional, Egalitarian, and Participatory Conservative Synagogue IYAR/SIVAN/TAMMUZO 5770rZarua NEWSLETTER/VOLUME 22:4 MAY/JUNE 2010 Lights…Camera…Action…ISRAEL! Salute to Israel Day Parade, Sunday, May 23 P H on’t miss it this year! Imagine O T O S it’s springtime on Fifth Avenue B Y G and Congregation Or Zarua E R R Y members are marching north, S O L as a group, carrying signs and O M O D N singing aloud. Behind you is a sea of faces, signs and floats. Ahead are stream- ers, floats and people of all ages sporting color-coordinated T-shirts. You are there taking part in the Salute to Israel Parade. It is awesomely inspiring to march in this crowd. We are all one, each supporting Israel in our own way and yet together. This year we salute Israel’s creativity in drama, with “Lights…Camera… Action…ISRAEL!” as our theme. Save Or Zarua members marching north up the date of Sunday, May 23, 2010. More Principal Ilana Burgess (third from left) Fifth Avenue during the 2009 Salute to details will be available in Or Zarua and students from OZ’s Hebrew School Israel Day Parade. announcements and on the website. enjoying the 2009 parade. ANNUAL MEETING, PICNIC Going Green: DINNER AND MUSIC A Jewish Response MONDAY, MAY 10, 7:00 P.M. Tikkun Leyl Shavuot, Tuesday night, May 18 Congregation Or Zarua’s 21st Annual Meeting on Monday, May 10 will begin rev Shavuot will begin at Or Zarua After the panel discussion, everyone at 7:00 p.m. with a festive picnic on with Minhah/Ma’ariv services is invited to Or Zarua’s annual Dairy the roof of our synagogue and a per- on Tuesday, May 18 at 8:00 p.m. Delights in the social hall, where a feast formance by the Or Zarua Klezmer in the sanctuary. Following the of ice cream and cheesecake will be Band. The business meeting at 8:30 Eservice, a panel of Or Zarua served in keeping with the tradition of p.m. will include reports from Rabbi members, led by Rabbi Wechsler, will dis- eating dairy foods on Shavuot. (A brief Harlan J. Wechsler, President Andrew cuss “Going Green: A Jewish Response” discussion of some Shavuot traditions Frackman and Treasurer Alan Nadel, in the Or Zarua library. can be found on page 13). as well as the election of officers and members of the Board of Trustees. Please make dinner reservations on MEET, GREET AND SEAT Ushers are needed for Shabbat services through- www.orzarua.org or by calling the out the year. Please email Janet Katz at [email protected] to add your name to our list synagogue office at 212-452-2310, of volunteers. You will be contacted by email only. Your help is greatly appreciated. extension 39. 1 CONGREGATION OR ZARUA MAY/JUNE 2010 President’s Message Congregation by Andrew J. Frackman s I begin my last year as the number of students, increase our visi- OrZarua president, I would like to share bility in the external community, and find A CONSERVATIVE SYNAGOGUE with you some of my goals for ways to improve our connection with post- FOUNDED 1989 the next 12 months. By now b’nei mitzvah members of our Or Zarua you are familiar with my community. Of course, new development 127 East 82nd Street A mantra. Or Zarua occupies an important and outreach will require additional finan- New York, NY 10028 and unusual position in the spectrum of cial resources. phone: 212-452-2310 fax: 212-452-2103 Jewish communal life. We have remained Third, Rabbi Wechsler and I are look- www.orzarua.org true to our mission, and we should not ing at ways to bring greater joyfulness to hesitate to pursue it. We remain committed our prayer and to improve the musicality DR. HARLAN J. WECHSLER, Rabbi to Torah, Avodah, and G’milut Hasadim. of our Shabbat services. I firmly believe ANDREW J. FRACKMAN, President We cannot be afraid of being different this is one of the keys to attracting new HARVEY M. BRENNER, FTA, Executive Director from your typical Conservative synagogue. members; it is also important for our own Our founders intentionally created this spirituality. This has been a priority over ILANA BURGESS, Youth Education Director institution because of the need to offer a the past two years. Although we have CHARLES SPIELHOLZ, Newsletter Editor different experience. The success of Or made some important strides on this Zarua over the past 20 years confirms the front, we still have more to do. From my insight of our founders. standpoint, all options are worth con- Having said that, we should not hesi- sidering. Some of these are: 1) changing OZ Committee Chairs tate to reexamine some of what we do in nothing, recognizing the importance to our ADMINISTRATION Alan Ilberman an effort to reinvigorate and improve it. I community of Congregant-led davening and set out below what I view as the four top the high quality of our leaders; 2) hiring a ART GALLERY Bobbi Coller priorities or challenges for the community. full-time or part-time music director who AESTHETICS Aaron Shelden First, Rabbi Wechsler and I will be could lead some services and continue to BOOK DISCUSSION Reed Schneider meeting in May with the leaders of our build on what we have started with Joey BUILDING Diane Okrent High Holiday Services to re-examine those Weisenberg; or 3) hiring a hazzan for some services and consider ways to improve of our Shabbatot (if only to introduce CEMETERY Aliza Kaplan them. From this starting point, and with some variety into what can become rote). Mort Schwartz input from the Congregation, we should be The latter two options both require addi- HESED Stephanie Failla able to develop a range of possibilities tional financial support. I know that this is HEVRA KADISHA Vera Silver that will lead to the development of a topic that many Congregants feel strongly Gerry Solomon improved High Holiday Services. I also about. I see these strong feelings as HOUSE Janet Katz want us to reconsider the Alternate High providing an opportunity to develop new Holiday Services that are held on the first approaches to our Shabbat services. ISRAEL Aliza Kaplan day of Rosh Hashanah and on Kol Nidre. Fourth, we are going to aggressively LIBRARY Barry Feldman It is a wonderful service, as those of us investigate the possibility of establishing MEMBERSHIP Michael Schwartz who have attended know well. Years ago, I an Or Zarua nursery and preschool program. MINYAN Sheldon Adler was one of the initial proponents of trying Jewish nursery and preschool programs something different in a smaller minyan are attractive to young, committed Jewish PROGRAMMING Sara Stone for the High Holidays, but, given the small families. The absence of a nursery and PUBLIC RELATIONS Aaron Shelden number of participants, whether this is preschool puts Or Zarua at a competitive PURIM SPIEL Arthur Rosenbloom the best use of our leaders and of the disadvantage to other congregations that Bonnie Maslin available space, warrants discussion and offer such programs. Implementing a Tibor Feldman evaluation. nursery and preschool at Or Zarua will Barbara Sassoon Second, I have appointed a committee involve renting or buying suitable space. SCHOOL Betsy Dizengoff to review what we do in our wonderful Although it may not be something that Hebrew School, and to help Ilana Burgess, we can achieve immediately, I believe that TORAH/HAFTARAH Yaakov Shechter me and the Board prepare a strategic plan this is the time for us to begin a very WEBMASTER Jay Palmer for the school’s continued development serious investigation that will result in a If you are interested in serving on a synagogue over the next few years. Our Hebrew strategic plan for the development of the committee, please contact the office for the School is one of the best after-school pro- Or Zarua Preschool. committee chair’s email address. grams I know of. But we need to expand continued on page 5 2 WWW.ORZARUA.ORG MAY/JUNE 2010 A Fantastic Year of Programming by Sara Stone r Zarua was filled with exciting In May there will be an Or Zarua panel work in curating Or Zarua’s art shows. programs during the past year: discussion on the environment for Tikkun This year was also about new pro- old programs as well as many Leyl Shavuot. And, finally, our annual meet- grams. First, there was our warm and won- new ones. Both the depth and ing will be preceded by the Tar Beach derful Family and Friends Shabbat Dinners, Obreadth of our programs have Picnic dinner on the rooftop of our syna- which offered everyone a chance to use been awesome, with attendance at many gogue. Dayenu! the synagogue as their “dining room.” events so overwhelming that some were Many on-going study programs were Congregants and their guests gathered sold out! We hope you attended at least offered: Talmud class with Rabbi informally to share a traditional Friday night one of these programs, while some of you Wechsler; the Me’ah Graduate Study dinner. Look for this event again next year! were able to participate in many of them. course; the OZ book club; Marc Ashley’s Another exciting new program was Most of Or Zarua’s traditional programs Oral Law Course between Pesah and Synaplex 2010 on Lag B’Omer, May 2. continued. We began the year with our Shavuot; and Hebrew and Torah reading This cornucopia of events was designed to “Welcome Back” Kiddush in September.
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