December 2016 5777 Getting to Know Others Through Social Action In This Issue: On Sunday, November 6th, Beth David joined Christians from Lincoln Glen Church and Muslims from Pacifica Institute to serve dinner at Cityteam men’s From the shelter. Rabbi This team effort provides Page 3 opportunities for our communities to come together to serve hot meals to those in need. And the dialog that President’s takes place between Perspective Christians, Jews and Muslims Page 5 at these interactions is equally as important. November’s event was the 4th such event that Beth David December has co-hosted under the Calendar Abrahamic Alliance International umbrella, and at each event inevitably some Pages 16 & 17 Jews and Muslims made contact for the first time and were pleasantly surprised and enriched by the encounter. Let’s keep this momentum going! Join Social action on February 26th when we once join forces with the West Valley Muslim Association and Saratoga Federated Church to prepare and serve a meal to the December homeless in our community. Birthdays Page 25 Congregation Beth David Annual Meeting Sunday, December 11th December Anniversaries 10:00 to 11:45am Page 25 Come hear about the state of YOUR synagogue and elect new officers and 100% club directors. We need a quorum of 75 members. Pages 26 - 27 You should have received a letter at the end of November. It contains meeting information contributions and your BALLOT VOUCHER. Pages 28 - 30 Please remember to bring your ballot voucher with you to the meeting. 1 Main Office 408-257-3333 Did you know the D’var is available online? [email protected] Help us save resources and money. Stop receiving a hard copy of D’var. Email [email protected]. Rabbis Philip R. Ohriner Senior Rabbi 408-366-9104 [email protected] Leslie Alexander Rabbi of Community Engagement and Outreach 408-366-9105 [email protected] Daniel J. Pressman Rabbi Emeritus [email protected] Staff Sarah Hanuka Director of Lifelong Learning 408-366-9116 [email protected] Tanya Lorien Director of Operations 408-366-9107 [email protected] Barbara Biran Director of Ritual 408-366-9106 [email protected] Monica Hernandez Member Account Associate 408-366-9108 [email protected] Jillian Cosgrave Front Office Associate 408-366-9110 [email protected] Lynn Crocker Mkt & Comm Associate 408-366-9102 [email protected] Andrea Ammerman Admin. Rabbi Alexander & Sarah Hanuka 408-366-9101 [email protected] Jewish Experience for Teens (JET) [email protected] 2 From the Rabbi By Philip Ohriner Dear friends, For many in our community, the election of President-elect Donald Trump is an unexpected and emotional outcome of our robust democracy at work— the end of a bruising, divisive, and battering election season that has taken a political, moral, and social toll on our country. As we move forward, we all realize that our country is even more deeply divided than we imagined. So many in America are hurting. The work of elevating our country to its highest calling as a place of prosperity, justice, and freedom is more urgent and overwhelming than we imagined. Regardless of our political views, many of us wonder, “Now what?” To this question, I offer the following: Now is the time to allow ourselves to feel and heal. Many in our community are grieving, unsure how to explain all of this to their children our even make sense of things. Join your community for prayer services. I know the prayer book has been a source of strength for me this week. Allow yourself the space to feel. Know that your rabbis are here for you if you need a safe space to mourn, brainstorm, pray, or reflect. Now is the time to remind ourselves of what we believe and stand for as Jews. We believe that all human beings are made in the image of God, deserving of dignity. We believe justice demands that we care for those on the margins of society. We believe that love and compassion are the antidote to fear. We believe we have a special obligation as a Jewish community to stand up to hate, xenophobia, and discrimination because our collective memory is permeated by them. Now is the time to engage in the great democracy that is the United States of America by not allowing these beliefs to be pushed aside, to be vigilant and vocal when we see these values undermined by our elected officials and hold them accountable. Now is the time to show respect for the office of the President of the United States and pray that Mr. Trump is granted the wisdom, strength, and leadership to serve all Americans, fulfilling his pledge to “bind the wounds of division”. Now is the time to engage in sacred, civil discourse with those in our community and country that see the world differently than us. Finally, now is the time to reach out to friends, family, fellow congregants, and neighbors in support of one another as we face an unknown future. We need one another. As we go forth as a country, may the words we recite as a community each Shabbat be realized: Our God and God of our ancestors: We ask Your blessings for our country, for its government, for its leader and advisors, and for all who exercise just and rightful authority. Teach them insights of Your Torah, that they may administer all affairs of state fairly, that peace and security, happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom may forever abide in our midst. Creator of all flesh, bless all inhabitants of our country with Your spirit. May citizens of all races and creeds forge a common bond in true harmony to banish all hatred and bigotry and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions which are the pride and glory of our country. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Philip Ohriner 3 Please share our joy as our son, Ron, is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah. Saturday, December 10, 2016 We invite you to join us for Kiddush lunch following the service. Tzvia and Reuven Shelef Please share our joy as our son, Robert, is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah. Saturday, December 17, 2016 We invite you to join us for Kiddush lunch following the service. Michelle and Scott Nathanson Please share our joy as our son, Benjamin, is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah. Saturday, December 24, 2016 We invite you to join us for Kiddush lunch following the service. Anna and Mikhail Slutsky Please share our joy as our son, Ethan, is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah. Saturday, December 31, 2016 We invite you to join us for Kiddush lunch following the service. Robin and Martin Rauchwerk 4 President’s perspective By dan skilken Safe and Secure The recent presidential election unfortunately has brought a lot of hate and bigotry in America to the forefront that was previously hidden from view. This has invoked new fears of religious persecution, not only for Muslims but for Jews as well. As a congregation, we must continue to live our lives proud to be Jewish, and continue our regular synagogue life without fear of harassment. We need to understand how to keep our synagogue secure and be vigilant in protecting our first amendment rights. Back in February, the Beth David board of directors formed a new permanent security committee headed by Opher Harel to oversee security procedures and policies. When the building was under construction, we brought in consultants to review the building and construction plans to make new recommendations for how to secure the building and prevent an attack. Many of the suggestions focused on making us a difficult target. This generally discourages an extremist from even trying to attack us in a particular manner. The triangular benches across our entrance provide a formidable barrier to prevent a car or truck from driving through our entrance into the Mercaz. Fencing along the deep ditch of the bioswale protects our eastern side. Security cameras provide views all the way around the building and are displayed in many areas in the administrative offices so that we can see who approaches. The front doors are made from tempered – laminated glass to make it very difficult to smash the glass and enter the building. We have a new alarm system with panic buttons that can quickly call the sheriff. Preparation is the key to being secure and continuing our programming and prayers without worrying about an attack. The sheriff’s department has expressed interest in swat team training in our building so that they are prepared to respond very quickly to any threat that comes our way. They will help our security committee to develop plans and procedures that minimize our risks of someone getting hurt before they can respond. Both the sheriff’s department and our security consultants have strongly recommended that we keep our doors locked as much as possible. This runs counter to our desire to be as welcoming as possible, but it does keep someone from just walking in when there is no one in our Mercaz during minyan. We also purchased 800 card keys so that congregants can let themselves into the building, now we just need to develop the procedures for issuing them, and how to have people let us know when they need to get into the building after office hours. These keys are not available yet, but once the security committee has developed procedures for issuing the keys, the office will make an announcement.