Congregation Chaverim CHAI LIGHTS NEWSLETTER December Mitzvah of the Month: Tikkum haOlam: Repairing the World

Karla Gudeon Designs RABBI’S MESSAGE

POETRY ON THE BIMAH — DECEMBER 2020

These two poems come from the book, Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America’s Poets Respond to the Pandemic, edited by Alice Quinn. I highly recommend savoring and soothing in these poems! Rabbi Aaron

Julia Alvarez is a Dominican-American poet, author, and essayist. She wrote this poem in Weybridge, Vermont from April 27–May 8, 2020. (photo © Brandon Cruz González)

Page 4 Peter Cooley is an American poet and Professor of English at Tulane University, New Orleans. He wrote this poem in April 2020.

Reddish Sweetpeas by Joy S. Olney Page 5 ADULT BEIT MIDRASH

ONE BOOK ONE PEOPLE ONE HADASSAH • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15 at 6:45 p.m. Rabbi Aaron discusses The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner in preparati on for virtual event with the author.

A suspenseful and gripping novel set in 1940s Poland about the ower of music and the bonds between a mother and her musical-prodigy daughter. Join Hadassah magazine for a live online event with the author. Before the event, check out a review of the book and a book discussion guide at hadassahmagazine.org/books. • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16 at 5:00 p.m. Virtual discussion with Jennifer Rosner

Remembering Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. Rabbi Stephanie Aaron discusses his book, To Heal A Fractured World.

Page 6 Meet the Beit Midrash Teachers!

Hi! My name is Calli Bagshaw, and I am the first- and second-grade teacher. I grew up in Tucson and com­ pleted my undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona. I am currently a second-year graduate stu­ dent at UArizona studying to be a speech-language pathologist. I absolutely love working with kids! In my free time I love ballroom dancing and have been a part of the UArizona ballroom club since my fresh­ man year. We attend competitions along the West Coast and participate in local showcases. Throughout college I have become actively involved in the Hillel Foundation attending Shabbat services and working as a student intern. I was the chair of UArizona's 27th Annual Holocaust Vigil in my junior year, which was an experience I'll always remember. Hillel has helped me expand my knowledge about Judaism and discov­ er my Jewish identity along with a love for the Jewish community here in Tucson!

Elyse Pincus Abrahams is excited to return to Congregation Chaverim as the Beit Midrash Pre-K and Kindergarten teacher. Elyse grew up in our congregation where she became a bat mitzvah at 13. Thirteen years later following Jewish tradition,

she became a re-Bat (as Rabbi Aaron loves to call this cere­ mony) when she renewed her bat mitzvah. Elyse taught in Beit Mid rash for several years during college and was a greatly loved teacher. Elyse is currently living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she is a Rabbinical School student at Hebrew College. Although the pandemic has caused many changes, Elyse is thankful for one of them:

she is able to teach from all the way across the country on Zoom. Elyse lives with her husband of six months, Harry, and their dog, Angel. She is especially enjoying the leaves change color in the New England autumn!

Page Page 11 7 Unti l We Are All Free by Judy Rose Sensibar

We help repair the world by making it more beauti ful. Through messages and images in mural art, we call for social jus- ti ce and change. In downtown Tucson a growing collecti on of public art not only brightens barren walls but cries out for fairness and equality. On Toole Avenue there’s a wall that’s been painted twice — both ti mes with an emphasis on acknowledging the underserved. The fi rst mural held a clear message: Make whiteness the other. For the second one, Joe Pagac, our city’s most prolifi c muralist, chose home- less men and women with hands cupping bright “Finding Nemo” fi sh. Pagac paid these undersea protectors to pose for the mural, which he named Harboring Beau- ty. “The concept is something perceived as ugly harboring something beauti ful inside and protecti ng it,” Pagac said. On the Herbert Avenue side of The Historic Y building facing University Boulevard, a young girl reading Paulo Freire’s manifesto, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, represents the charter middle school that took the acti vist’s name. The full name of the school is Paulo

Freire Freedom School, and it uses the tenants of social justi ce and environmental sustainability as its central teaching principles. Karlito Miller Espinosa (aka Mata Ruda the arti st), who teaches an illustrati on class at the Univer- sity of Arizona School of Art, created the mural with the help of his students Analaura Villegas and Brisa Tzintzun. They com- pleted the commissioned mural within a week. Page 8 More recently, Camila Ibarra painted a Black Lives Matt er mural on the side of Hotel Congress in solidarity with Afri- can Americans fi ghti ng police brutality and racial oppression. Finally, I am part of the Fourth Avenue Historic Coaliti on. We created the fi rst Community Benefi ts Agreement with the developer constructi ng the apartments at 6th Street and 4th Avenue. As part of this agreement, the developer coop-

erated with our idea to surround the constructi on with panels painted by local arti sts instead of just ads for the building. While temporary, these panels conti nue to spread messages calling for social justi ce. My favorite, by Racheal Rios, de- picts the endangered jaguar framed by Coleman’s coralroot, a rare desert orchid, with the message Unti l we are all free. Rabbi Laura Geller, rabbi emerita at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, stated that more than half of American Jews report that “working for social justi ce and equality” is an essenti al part of “being Jewish,” while only 19 percent say ritual observance is essenti al Jewish( Journal, October 18, 2017). May we all support our local arti sts as they conti nue to make messages for a bett er world more visible. And please visit these murals to see them in color!

Congregation Chaverim Facebook’s Page (www.facebook.com/ChaverimTucson/) Be sure to like Congregation Chaverim on Facebook! Stay up-to-date with the happenings at Tucson’s greatest synagogue! Please follow our page and share with family and friends. Check out service and programming events along with photos of our vibrant, welcoming multigenerational community!

SHOMRIM haAITZIM

Keepers of the Trees

Perhaps we cannot see clearly all the trees that were planted for us by our parents and our grandparents and the fi rst Jews, our mamas and our papas, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah and Rachel, but their roots have clung to the soil of our lives, sustaining and nurturing us. Even amidst the fi erce winds of pandemic isolati on, anxiety and death our branches are strong. Our roots hold us in hope. We plant because we care because we can because we must!

This is the Jewish year 5781; we have our goal of 5,781 trees planted! Trees planted: 1,163. Trees that are yearning to be planted: 4,618! People let’s get planti ng!!

Rabbi Stephanie S Aaron Beit Knesset – House of Meeti ng

Shalom Chaverimniks! We are looking for high-resoluti on photos from past Chaverim events/holidays for an incredible new project we are joining through the Beit Hatf utsot Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, Israel! The project, called Com.Unity, is an online database of Jewish communiti es from diff erent conti nents across the globe. We will showcase our Chaverim community on our Com.Unity page. If you have high-resolu- ti on photos, please email them to Lisa at [email protected] so we can add them to our page! CHAVERIM on COM.UNITY! In additi on to these photos, the page will have informati on about Chaverim. Here is a peek at one of our answers to the questi on, “What defi nes you as a community?” Answer: “We are defi ned by our history, people, and values. Congregati on Chaverim started with 20 families and has grown to 100 families. Each of our members contributes their en- thusiasm and knowledge to our peoplehood. This, combined with our care for affi rmati ve Jewish identi ty and preservati on of Jewish traditi ons, creates our beauti ful, holy community.” We are so excited to have the opportunity to be showcased for people all across the world to learn about Chaverim and the amazing things we do as a community! We are also looking forward to using this platf orm to learn about Jewish communiti es across the world. To view other communiti es and to learn more about this unique project, go to htt ps://com-unity.bh.org.il/home-page/. In additi on to the Com.Unity project, Chaverim is looking forward to celebrati ng Chanukah virtually (take a look at the fl yer on the inside cover of this newslett er). We plan to make a fun collage of all of our Chaverimniks celebrati ng the holiday. Please take a photo of your house- hold celebrati ng Chanukah and email it to Lisa ([email protected]) so we can make a great collage. These photos can consist of acti viti es such as lighti ng a chanukiah, frying latkes, and/or dressing up in Chanukah PJs. Be creati ve and have fun!!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! The Congregati on Chaverim Annual Meeti ng will be held on Sunday, January 10, 2021 at noon via Zoom. Details coming soon! BEIT OLAM — HOUSE OF BLESSED MEMORY

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Jennifer Barbour, (March 28, 1985 – November 6, 2020) Granddaughter of Nancy Alexander

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of DeDe Fink, (November 3, 2020) Mother of David Fink

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Jane Hepner (November 3, 2020), Cousin of Bonnie Dombrowski

May they rest in shalom.

Cranes Fly in Northern Israel Hula Nature Reserve photo by Ronen Zvulun Page 12 Birthdays Anniversaries Yeladim

December 2020 Eclipse of Moon © Ethan Roberts Congregation Chaverim DECEMBER 2020 15 Kislev – 16 Tevet 5781

Mitzvah of the Month: Tikkum haOlam – Repairing the World Sun Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5

6:00 p.m. Early Shabbat Service

15 Kislev 16 Kislev 17 Kislev 18 Kislev 19 Kislev

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

A Century of Jewish Books Chanukah: Candle 2 Chanukah: Candle 3 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. 4:30 – 6 p.m. Beit Midrash Hebrew School 6:45 p.m. 10:00 a.m. Here All Along Chanukah: Candle 1 7:00 p.m. Meditative Chant Service by Sara Hurwitz Shabbat Chanukah Service

20 Kislev 21 Kislev 22 Kislev 23 Kislev 24 Kislev 25 Kislev 26 Kislev 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Chanukah: Candle 6 Chanukah: Candle 7 Chanukah: 8th Day Chanukah: Candle 4 Chanukah: Candle 5 6:45 p.m. 5:00 p.m. 10:00 a.m. 5:30 p.m. 4:30 – 6 p.m. Hadassah One People One Hadassah One People Chanukah: Candle 8 7:00 p.m. Torah Study Chaverim Chanukah Hebrew School Book Discussion with One Book: The Yellow Bird Shabbat Service Celebration Rabbi Aaron Sings by Jennifer Rosner

27 Kislev 28 Kislev 29 Kislev 1 Tevet 2 Tevet 3 Tevet 4 Tevet 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 6:45 p.m. Discussion with Rabbi Aaron remembering Rabbi Lord Jonathan and his book, To Heal A Fractured World

5 Tevet 6 Tevet 7 Tevet 8 Tevet 9 Tevet 10 Tevet 11 Tevet 27 28 29 30 31

12 Tevet 13 Tevet 14 Tevet 15 Tevet 16 Tevet 5901 East Second Street, Tucson, AZ 85711 Phone: (520) 320-1015 Website: www.chaverim.net BEIT KEHILLAH – HOUSE OF COMMUNITY

Our Suzanne Baron Helming was honored in the following Arizona Jewish Post arti cle!

Volunteers make a diff erence for local Jewish agencies Posted October 12, 2020 / Reprinted with permission

Jewish community agencies honored volunteers with special recogniti on awards as part of the Commu- nity Awards Celebrati on & Annual Meeti ng 2020 that the Jewish Federati on of Southern Arizona hosted last month on Zoom. Here, the agencies off er a closer look at these dedicated lay leaders.

Suzanne Baron Helming served the Hillel board selfl essly for seven years, including fi ve years as treasurer, plus agreeing to stay on for an extra year to conti nue in her role as our fi nancial guru. She is a calming presence who looks at things with an ob- jecti ve and straightf orward perspecti ve, really helping to get things done effi ciently. In additi on to her fi nancial service to Hillel, Suzanne also parti cipated in our policy task force, which over the course of two years reviewed and updated almost every Hillel policy including the bylaws. Her legal experti se and wordsmithing skills were always appreciated and helped us complete the projects in a very ti mely way. We are extraordinarily grateful for her service!

Photo by Matma Popet House of Thanks Beit Todah

Educator’s Discreti onary Fund: Gannady and Leilani Sare in memory of Sara Margolina

Rabbi’s Discreti onary Fund: Linda Yalkowsky in memory of Hyman Mandel Barbara Holtzman in memory of Barney Holtzman Iris Pearlman in memory of Mark Gershon Contact the Chaverim office for information on how you can purchase a brick in the Karla Ember Memorial Patio

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21 ELUL 5778 – 21 TISHREL 5779 SEPTEMBER 2018

21 ELUL 5778 – 21 TISHREL 5779 SEPTEMBER 2018 Light Up the Night, Chaverim!

Join your fellow Chaverimniks for a virtual kindling of the fourth candle of Chanukah on Sunday, December 13! We will “gather” at 5:30 p.m. for blessings and song!!!

Let’s be together for 26 minutes of celebration! Let’s light up the night with the lights of Chanukah, the lights of freedom, courage, joy, and strength!

Chanukah Candles by Sarah Kolatkar Friendship, Warmth, Inspirati on, Spirituality and Community

Mitzvah of the Month: Tikkum haOlam - Repairing the World

Tel: (520) 320-1015 www.chaverim.net [email protected]