the Volume 31, Number 7 March 2012 TEMPLE BETH ABRAHAM Adar / Nisan 5772 Volume 34, Number 9 • June/July/August 2015 Sivan/Tammuz/Av/Elul 5775 R R R R R R R R i i i i i i i i Pu M DIRECTORY SERVICES SCHEDULE GENERAL INFORMATION: All phone numbers use (510) prefix unless otherwise noted. Services, Location, Time Monday & Thursday Mailing Address 336 Euclid Ave. Oakland, CA 94610 Morning Minyan, Chapel, 8:00 a.m. Hours M-Th: 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Fr: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday Evening Office Phone 832-0936 (Kabbalat Shabbat), Chapel, 6:15 p.m. Office Fax 832-4930 Shabbat Morning, Sanctuary, 9:30 a.m. E-Mail [email protected] Candle Lighting (Friday) Gan Avraham 763-7528 May 1, 7:41 p.m. Bet Sefer 663-1683 May 8, 7:48 p.m. STAFF May 15, 7:54 p.m. May 22, 8:00 p.m. Rabbi (x 213) Mark Bloom Richard Kaplan, May 29, 8:05 p.m. Cantor [email protected] Torah Portions (Saturday) Gabbai Marshall Langfeld May 2, Acharei-Kedoshim Executive Director (x 214) Rayna Arnold May 9, Emor Office Manager (x 210) Virginia Tiger May 16, Behar-Bechukotai Bet Sefer Director Susan Simon 663-1683 May 23, Bamidbar Gan Avraham Director Barbara Kanter 763-7528 May 30, Naso Bookkeeper (x 215) Kevin Blattel Facilities Manager (x 211) Joe Lewis Kindergym/ Dawn Margolin 547-7726 Toddler Program TEMPLE BETH ABRAHAM Volunteers (x 229) Herman & Agnes Pencovic OFFICERS OF THE BOARD is proud to support the Conservative Movement by affiliating with The United President Mark Fickes 652-8545 Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Vice President Eric Friedman 984-2575 Vice President Alice Hale 336-3044 Vice President Laura Wildmann 601-9571 Vice President Etta Heber 530-8320 Advertising Policy: Anyone may sponsor an issue Secretary JB Leibovitch 653-7133 of The Omer and receive a dedication for their Treasurer Susan Shub 852-2500 business or loved one. Contact us for details. We COMMITTEES & ORGANIZATIONS: If you would like to con- do not accept outside or paid advertising. tact the committee chairs, please contact the synagogue The Omer is published on paper that is 30% office for phone numbers and e-mail addresses. post-consumer fibers. Adult Education Aaron Paul The Omer (USPS 020299) is published monthly Chesed Warren Gould except July and August by Congregation Beth Development Leon Bloomfield & Flo Raskin Abraham, 336 Euclid Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610. Dues Evaluation Susan Shub Periodicals Postage Paid at Oakland, CA. Endowment Fund Charles Bernstein Finance Susan Shub POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Gan Avraham Parents Toni Mason Omer, c/o Temple Beth Abraham, 336 Euclid Gan Avraham School Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610-3232. Gary Bernstein Committee © 2015. Temple Beth Abraham. House Stephen Shub The Omer is published by Temple Beth Abraham, Israel Affairs JB Leibovitch a non-profit, located at 336 Euclid Avenue, Membership Ulli Rotzscher Oakland, CA 94610; telephone (510) 832-0936. It Men’s Club Jeff Ilfeld is published monthly except for the months of July Omer Rachel Dornhelm and August for a total of ten issues per annum. It Personnel Laura Wildmann is sent as a requester publication and there is no Public Relations Lisa Fernandez paid distribution. Ritual Eric Friedman Schools Alice Hale Social Action Marc Bruner To view The Omer in color, Torah Fund Anne Levine visit www.tbaoakland.org. Women of TBA Molli Rothman & Jessica Sterling Youth Phil Hankin i WHAT’S HAPPENING TBA is a co-sponsor of this event along with other congregations of the area BOOK CLUB Ravenous by Dayna Macy THE TEEN SCENE The Friendship Circle Tuesday, June 08 @ 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Friendship Circle programs pres- All are welcome. ent families of individuals with spe- RSVP and more info: [email protected] cial needs and teen volunteers the opportunity to form real friendships within a non-judgmental and supportive community. Teen Scene: MAH JONGG Teen Scene is a semi-monthly, one and a half hour program on Sunday evenings for teens with special Join us on the second Shabbat needs to join with loving teen volunteers for a fun, of the month as we gather educational group experience. in the Chapel after Kiddush. The program begins with a light dinner and is followed by an hour of activities and Jewish discussion. Teens enjoy various activities, which include dancing, basket- June 13 ball, yoga, drum circle and more. For more information, including Teen Scene dates, Learn Torah with Rabbi Bloom please contact Devorah Romano, [email protected]. and other TBAers Each Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. at the Woodminster Cafe. See additional Adult Education events No knowledge of Hebrew is required. and activities for women on page 6. 1 FROM THE RABBI In Praise of BBYO at TBA by Rabbi Mark Bloom As I have said on many occasions, I would not be a rabbi if not for my experience as a teen in BBYO. I was one of many students who swore they would never return to Jewish life after Bar Mitzvah, but this youth group, specifically Peninsula AZA #545 in the 80’s, awakened a love of Judaism that was inside me. I went on to be Chapter President, President of the Central Region (the Bay Area), and International Vice President. Understanding what an important and inspi- rational experience a strong youth group can provide, I was determined to start one when I arrived here in 2001. Being unaffiliated with the United Synagogue at the time, we started a BBYO chapter. Normally, chapters are From a convention at Camp Swig. separated by gender (AZA for boys, BBG for girls), but to make sure we had critical mass, they were combined. Thus, Dreidel BBYO was born, and its first co-Presidents were Jake Moore and Devi Margolin. David Levin, Howard Zangwill, and Jo Ilfeld served as the first advisors. Members They built the chapter up significantly, and they split into Dreidel AZA #2525 and Oakland BBG #2 a few short years later. It turns out BBYO has an illustrious history in Oakland in general and at Beth Abraham in particular. The reason Oakland BBG has the number 2 associated with it is that Oakland BBG, in its first incarnation, was the second girls chapter ever, following San Francisco BBG #1. At one time there were at least six chapters in the Oakland area, and many of them made donations in the late fifties/early sixties to the school building which now serves as the Gan building. You will find donation bricks on the building with the names of chapters such as Nathan Harry Miller AZA, Oakland AZA, Pacific AZA, Oakland BBG, Jewish Eden Teens BBG (JETS), Henry Monsky BBG and Berkeley BBG. In addition, the official pep song of AZA, called “Up You Men,” was written by Wes Bercovich a relative of founders Abraham and Bertha Bercovich. Five members of our congregation have been Presidents of the Region. Besides myself, there was Alan Silver in the sixties (he now dedicates his time to the chapter as Advisor), Bryan Schwartz (that Presidency thing was in his system from a very young age), and both Jason and Alex Finkelstein in recent days. Current member Danny DeBare is the Regional Vice President right now. Dreidel AZA and Oakland BBG #2 meet every Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. in the Baum Youth Center and have fabulous programming just about every single weekend, ranging from socials at Fenton’s to community service projects. Their programming was so good that Dreidel AZA has won Chapter of the Year for the region two years running, and Oakland BBG #2 won a special award for their program called “Stand Up” in support of women who have been abused, raped, or mistreated. Most importantly, I am proud to say we have a place where Jewish teens can both do great things as well as just be themselves. As Wes Bercovich pep song says, “as the At my “installation” as years go by there will be happiest of memories, rah rah rah!” Central Region AZA President. 2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Telling Our Children About the Holocaust by Mark Fickes As a parent of 10-year-old children, I spend a lot of time thinking about what it means to be young and Jewish. My family’s decision to join TBA nearly eight years ago along with the decision to send my children to Contra Costa Jewish Day School were primarily motivated by the desire to help my children form a strong Jewish identity while they are still young. A couple of years ago, I started wondering when the time would be right to start talking to my kids about the Holocaust. I have tried so hard to make sure they don’t grow up too fast and yet I knew the time would soon come when they would have to learn about the darkest chapter in our history. By the time I was their age, my grandparents had already told me about life in Austria under the Nazi regime, the deaths of their parents and some siblings and their voyage to America. This week, I am in Maryland visiting my in-laws. Whenever we travel to Baltimore, we plan at least one trip to Washington DC. So, we decided this was the year to go to the Holocaust museum in Washington. I am glad we did. While I think that the visit took away from their innocence, I see now that the time was right. For those who have not visited the Holocaust museum in Washington DC, it is located among America’s national monuments to freedom on the National Mall.