March 2012 Adar-Nisan 5772 An IntImAte And dynAmIc communIty Worship ServiceS Congregation Kol ami’s i. m. Wise program graduates Friday, March 2, 7:30 p.m. reCognized For Commitment to advanCed JeWish study “Shabbat Across America: erev shabbat Service, Friday, March 16, at 7:30 PM A Musical erev Shabbat with Children Welcome!” - Join us as we welcome potential members to dine with us and to rejoice together in song during worship at our “First- Friday” blessings for everyone celebrating their birthday or anni- versary this month; our Adult Choir will add their voices (see page 16). saturday, March 3, 10:00 a.m. Shabbat Service and Torah Dialogue Wednesday, March 7 5:30 p.m. - Pizza and Soda oss 6:00 p.m. - Our “Early” erev Purim ny M Ken Megillah reading is for our young y O B t O h children and their families! Dress P up in fun, colorful, and creative Join us as We honor Purim attire! Certificates will be our 12th-grade students who are graduating from the given for “The Most Amazing Purim Isaac Mayer Wise Program of Gratz College’s Jewish Community High School, Costume,” “The Happiest Purim along with our religious school assistant teachers. Costume,” and “The Most Colorful Joshua Benjamin Holin . Elliot and Susan Holin Purim Costume” and much more. Becca Leifer . Stewart and Sally Eisenberg and Adam Leifer Prizes for everyone! Lindsey Pashko. Stephen and Susan Pashko 7:30 p.m. - This innovative erev Samie Pashko. Stephen and Susan Pashko Purim Service experience is for adults! Alex Schilder. Russell and Jodi Schilder ■ Remember when we unrolled our Torah Scrolls and read and chanted from them on erev Simchat Torah? That’s what we will do with Megillat Tired of your old Mac laptop? Esther—the Purim Scroll—this eve- Looking to buy yourself a new Mac laptop? ning as Rebecca chants from it and we intersperse the text with stories Willing to donate your old one to the synagogue? from Chelm to give Purim a happier... Please contact Elaine Stevens at 215-635-3110. continued page 2 WorShiP SErviCES (continued from page 1) rendition! Afterwards, a self-serve PresidEnT’S Letter “Shushan bar” awaits you in accor- dance with the halachic requirement DENOMINATIONS. that one should drink on this holy day in particular (see page 15). ne of my favorite teachers, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, once chided: “I don’t care which denomination you’re a member of—as long as Friday, March 9, 7:30 p.m. you’re ashamed of it.” I understand this to mean that the respon- Chai Notes! erev Shabbat Service with O sibility for each of our Jewishness lies with us and not any particular Jewish our Student Choir; Emma Long will movement. chant from the Torah on the fifth anniversary of her Bat Mitzvah In December, I briefly attended the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Biennial held in Washington, DC. It was, in a word, incredible! The passion and excite- saturday, March 10, 10:00 a.m. Bat Mitzvah of Lia Pratt Hyman ment among the thousands of attendees was inspiring and infectious. I left (see page 4) feeling an elevated level of pride in being a modern American Jew associated with the Reform movement (sorry Yitz, no shame.) Friday, March 16, 7:30 p.m. I. M. Wise erev Shabbat Service - More recently, I heard Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, president of the World Union for This is a special service to honor our Progressive Judaism, speak at a Kol Ami erev Shabbat Service about the great 12th-grade graduates of the two- work that his organization does for Jews around the world on behalf of the year Gratz College Isaac Mayer Wise Reform Movement. Again, I beamed with pride. This close feeling of connec- Reform Teaching Certificate-Jewish tion to a particular denomination contrasts with my history of skipping the Studies program and to congratulate denominational choices and checking the “Just Jewish” box on the American them for their devotion to continued Jewish Committee’s annual survey. Jewish study and as student teachers in our religious school. My view is that each denomination plays a critical role within Jewish life. We are a stronger people when each of them is strong. saturday, March 17 10:00 a.m. - Shabbat Service and I also believe we are healthier when the boundaries among our denominations Torah Dialogue are porous, allowing for ease of movement among them. The Orthodox pro- 4:00 p.m. - “Jews in Sports” - A vide an anchor and force us to confront every contemplated change and lapse. Havdalah experience for the entire The Conservative movement has contributed serious scholarship to Jewish family with guest speaker Robert practice. Our Reform movement has prioritized Tikun Olam and our commit- Alan Katz; come in your favorite ment to the pursuit of justice. team’s athletic apparel (see page 18) My experience at the URJ Biennial allowed me to experience firsthand the Friday, March 23, 7:30 p.m. value of the Reform Movement’s work. However, like Rabbi Greenberg, I erev Shabbat Service am more concerned about the individual’s attachment to Judaism than the saturday, March 24, 10:00 a.m. merits of a particular denomination. The more important label/categorization Shabbat Service and Torah Dialogue for me was captured by Jewish commentator and self-described Reservadox Jew, Dennis Prager, who reflected that: “Jewish life would be immeasurably Friday , March 30, 7:30 p.m. enriched if instead of focusing on denominational description and goals, Jews erev Shabbat Service would focus on a distinction that is simpler, more accurate, and far more con- saturday, March 31, 10:00 a.m. structive: serious and non-serious Jews.” Shabbat Service and Torah Dialogue So what is a serious versus non-serious Jew? In which category would you Friday, April 6 place yourself? If you’d like to discuss it with me over lunch, I’ll pick up There will NOT be a late service this the tab. evening in deference to the First Seder celebrated by families and friends in David Hyman their homes and other locales. 215-496-7224 continued page 3 [email protected] ■ PaGe 2 CONGREGATION Kol ami March 2012 WorShiP SErviCES (continued from page 2) FroM ThE rAbbi’S STudy saturday, April 7 Rabbi Elliot J. Holin 10:00 a.m. - Shabbat Service and Torah Dialogue 6:00 p.m. - Join us at our Congregation’s annual Second tikun Philadelphia Seder to celebrate the timelessness of Passover ■ tikun United States Torah & haftarah tikun olam, healing the world March 3 - Tetzaveh Exodus 27:20-30:10, I Samuel 15:2-34 March 10 - Kee Tissa t our erev Shabbat Service on January 13, we were addressed by my Exodus 30:11-34:35, I Kings 18:1-39 dear friend and colleague, Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, the recently installed president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ). The March 17 - Vayakhel-Pekudey A Exodus 35:1-40:38, Ezekiel 36:16-38 WUPJ strengthens Jewish life by connecting Jews to one another and to Israel in 47 countries around the world in the name of progressive Judaism. March 24 - Vayikra Leviticus 1:1-5:26, Ezekiel 45:16-46:18 ■ Reform Judaism’s birth was the creation of a synagogue in Seesen, Germany, in 1810; and over the next decade, its roots spread to Hamburg and Berlin. Long before the Nazi period, German Jewry was predominantly liberal in its Committee Meetings approach to Judaism. The WUPJ was founded in 1926, and its first conven- Environmental Stewardship tion took place in Berlin in 1928. Five years later, in 1933, the dark age com- Committee menced: in January, Hitler became chancellor of Germany; in February, the Sunday, March 11, at 11:00 a.m. Reichstag fire was set; in March, Dachau was established as a concentration Chair: Mark Kaplan, 215-635-2920 camp for opponents of the Nazis; in April, a government-organized boycott Fund development Committee of Jewish stores began, and that same month, the Gestapo was created; a Sunday, March 18, at 2:00 p.m. month later, book burnings occurred; in July, the Nazi party was declared to Co-chairs: Jennifer Streitwieser, 215-635- be the only political party in Germany; and in September, Jews were removed 0304, and Bart Weiner, 215-233-4712 from fields of music, art, and literature. In that same year, Leo Baeck, a Liberal rabbi, was chosen to be the leader of a German Jewry even more united by interfaith relationship dialogue Thursday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. crisis; and five years later, he became the second president of the WUPJ, after Co-chairs: Nigel Blower and Julie the death of Claude Montefiore. Cohen, 215-635-4716 Even during the Nazi years, German Jewry played a significant role in the religious School Committee WUPJ, an organization in which Liberal Jews from Germany, England, France, Tuesday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m. and America were included. Jewish communities in distress felt strengthened, Chair: Sheryl Cohen, 215-885-243 and those that could offer voices of hope were empowered by their commit- operations Committee ment to do everything possible to save lives. Wednesday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. Now the WUPJ helps develop and strengthen Reform communities Co-chairs: Guy Appel, 215-938-9330, throughout the world. As a member of the Union for Reform Judaism and Jeff Cohen, 215-635-3232 (URJ), we are also a member congregation of the WUPJ. Tikun olam— Social Action Committee healing the world—is a significant philosophy and practice of Reform Monday, March 19, at 7:15 p.m.