Page TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS Edition 608 Temple Israel of the Drawing by Marilyn Margolies Poconos May 2015 Iyar/Sivan 5775 Edition 608 A monthly publication of Temple Israel of the Poconos Inside this Issue CREATOR OF DARKNESS Rabbi’s Message 1 President’s Message 3 by Rabbi Baruch Binyamin Hakohen Melman Norman Gelber 4 Concert 6 Hebrew School 7 Ask the Rabbi 8 Holiday Page 10 Scientists have recently discovered that 95% of the cosmos is made up of Dark Word Search 12 Matter (25%)and Dark Energy (70%). The other 5% is what we had always thought of Save the Date 13 as the principal "stuff" of the universe - i.e. the stars, the galaxies, the planets and Donations 14 the stardust from whence we all come. What does this mean? It means that dark- Chessed 15 ness is not merely the absence of light! There is an actual invisible substance that is Birthdays/ inherently dark in its own right, irrespective of the presence or absence of a light Anniversaries 16 source. We only know that it is there because of gravity. We cannot see it directly, Yahrzeit Lists 17/18 but we can see the distortion of light caused by its gravitational pull. Calendar 19 Advertising 23 At the start of the Shacharit Service following the public call to prayer (the Barchu), we say "Baruch...Yotzer ohr uVorey Choshech, Oseh Shalom uVoreh et aKawl." "Blessed are You... Sovereign of the Universe, who forms light and CREATES DARKNESS, makes peace and creates everything (including evil)." Darkness is therefore created, and is not merely the absence of light. Only now does this make sense. This is astounding! It clearly implies that our rabbis knew all along, thousands of years ago, that which our top physicists have only recently discovered (similarly, the Torah's Creation Narrative was confirmed only as recently as 1946, with the discov- ery of the Big Bang Theory). The Dark Matter's gravitational pull holds the galaxies BOARD MEETING together, while the Dark Energy's force acts to expand the universe and cause sepa- ration in the celestial realm. Darkness and Light were both conscious creations. WEDNESDAY Good and Evil are actual, real forces which vie for our allegiance. May 6 7:00 p.m. What causes separation here on Earth between ourselves and others, and between ourselves and our Creator? Transgression, which is "aveirah" in Hebrew. Aveirah is from the root la'avor, which means to cross over from one side to the other side. When we sin we cause conscious energy to "cross over" and become dark energy and cause separation and ego and loneliness in the world. When we follow the To- rah we transcend ego, create community and draw ourselves and others closer to the Creator's Light. Even our name, our identity - as Hebrew (IVRI), comes from this same root! There is dark energy and there is light energy. Torah brings us into the Light. Ohr Torah — the Light of Torah! In the light of this truth we should be aware that every act we do or word we say, either brings more light into the world - or more darkness. Shavuot is the celebra- tion of the awakening of this consciousness and the challenge to choose between Good and Evil, between Light and Darkness, between Life and Death. Choose Life! Page 2 TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS Edition 608 Temple office: (570) 421-8781 Rabbi Baruch Melman [email protected] (570) 730-4799 www.templeisraelofthepoconos.org [email protected] 711 WALLACE STREET, STROUDSBURG, PA 18360 President Sandra Alfonsi 223-7062 [email protected] 1st Vice President Bernie Driller 421-6103 [email protected] 2nd Vice President Lois LaBarca 421-6103 [email protected] Secretary Barbara Rosenberg 894-4537 [email protected] Treasurer Norman Rabinowitz [email protected] Asst. Treasurer Herb Rosen 424-1161 [email protected] Sitting Past President Suzanne Tremper 588-6148 [email protected] 3 yr Trustee: Art Glantz 424-7876 [email protected] 2 yr Trustee: Esther Graves 426-7020 [email protected] Mark Entenberg [email protected] Merle Turitz 223-1131 [email protected] 1 yr Trustee: Ed Krawitz 421-3139 [email protected] Mitchell Marcus 588-0991 [email protected] Cemetery: 209/ Barry Tremper 588-6148 [email protected] Eliezer Gardens Charlie Cahn 424-7955 [email protected] Hebrew School Debbie Smith 610-751-7692 [email protected] Ritual Bernie Driller 421-6103 [email protected] Art Glantz 424-7876 [email protected] Finance Dave Rosenberg 894-4537 [email protected] Membership Sandra Alfonsi 223-7062 [email protected] Kitchen Lois LaBarca 421-6103 [email protected] Sandra Alfonsi 223-7062 [email protected] House Herb Rosen 424-1161 [email protected] Barry Tremper 588-6148 [email protected] Chesed & Wishograms Suzanne Tremper 588-6148 [email protected] Newsletter Barbara Rosenberg 894-4537 [email protected] Gift Shop Debbie Smith 610-751-7692 [email protected] Programming Barry Tremper 588-6148 [email protected] Barbara Rosenberg 894-4537 [email protected] Temple Publicity Marci Rabinowitz [email protected] Hebrew School Publicity Rebecca Bear [email protected] Rabbi Melman’s Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 10:30 — 12:00 Please provide Barbara with Wednesday 6:00—7:00 any information that is missing for you in the above By appointment ONLY grid. Thank you. Page 3 TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS Edition 608 A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT …… Dr. Sandra Alfonsi As I sit here writing my message for May, I am looking back at the month of April at Temple Israel. Foremost in my mind is the successful Pesach week which we spent together. We inaugurated our new kitchen with the First Seder and kept it open throughout Pesach. We shared two Pesach Kiddush luncheons and for the first time we had a Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Melman. Our Seder and both Shabbat Pesach services were well attended as was our Yiskor service. So do I think that all went well this Pesach? Not really. We did not have a Minyan – actually we had almost no attendance, the first two days and next to the last day of Pesach. I admit honestly that I did not attend, not because of indifference but because of exhaustion. It is not an excuse just an explanation. But as President of my Congregation I must write about the importance of having a Minyan not only for Shabbat but also for the first and last days of our major holidays. Services really demand very little of our time. Even two hours are not excessive when and if we remember that those two hours are our acknowledgement of the grandeur of Hashem and of our special relationship to Hashem. If we consider the number of hours per day we spend on profane pursuits then giving Hashem a few hours per week of our time is not too much to ask. April was a meaningful month in the life of Temple Israel. Your Executive Board spent several months discussing how to grow our membership. Some of the discussions were philosophical in nature, stemming in part from the Pew Report which speaks at length about the decline in synagogue affiliation. Much time was spent on the fact that some of our members react negatively to the terminology Membership Dues. This is not a problem native to Temple Israel. According to the Pew Report and newspaper articles trying to explain it, discontent with the word dues is rampant. In addition the word membership seems to have taken second place to affiliation – we no longer speak about membership in a synagogue but rather affiliation with a synagogue. So Temple Israel’s Executive Board has adopted the new terminology and I am bringing the news to my membership that as of July 2015 we will have an Affiliation Fee rather than Membership Dues. Basically it is semantics – you are a member of TI or you are affiliated with TI. Choose your own preferred vocabulary. I am proud of my Board for tackling the problem of membership outreach by showing enough flexibility to exchange vocabulary and acknowledging our members’ personal comfort level. In conjunction with this our Board grappled with the economic problems facing all spectrums of today’s society. Your Temple Israel leadership is proud to announce the following policies which we will implement July 2015 We are adopting a universal Affiliation Fee of $200 per person affiliating with Temple Israel. As always this membership is accorded to any Jewish individual seeking affiliation with Temple Israel. As an example a Jewish couple will pay $200 per person = $400 per couple. This responds to two needs: (1) Only the Jewish partner of an intermarried couple will pay the affiliation fee. (2) If one member of a Jewish couple does not want to be affiliated, the other member may pay his/her affiliation fee and join. There will NO LONGER be Family, Individual or Associate Memberships. We are adopting one universal fee/ per person affiliating. Children and grandchildren of the affiliated Jewish member(s) receive free Hebrew School. Rabbi Melman must be consulted on all admissions of children of intermarried couples. As is the custom of Temple Israel there is NO CHARGE for High Holiday attendance. Anyone owing outstanding dues MUST pay same in full before qualifying for new “affiliation fee” structure for 2015-2016. (connued on page 5) Page 4 TEMPLE ISRAEL OF THE POCONOS Edition 608 The “Normal Mystics” by Norman Gelber The rabbis who wrote the Talmud have been described as “normal mys- tics.” The normal mystic is described as God-intoxicated, so drunk with his nearness to God that he sees the divine presence in everyday life: a beautiful sight in nature, a storm, a rainbow, birth, and growth.