The CB WELCOME BACK SUMMER RESIDENTS! Summer 2015 A Very Special Bat Mitvah for Nine Lovely Ladies https://instagram.com/brothersofisrael/ In the fall of 2014, Madeline Forman conceived the idea of giving women who had not had the opportunity to have a Bat Mitzvah at the age of 12, the chance to do so. Ten women were eager to participate in this project. Unfortunately, due to the passing of Ruth Lapidus, our number was reduced to 9. After months of studying with Rabbi Braun, the Torah portions that each of us would have presented as a child, we wrote summaries of our portion and what it meant to us. It was a wonderful experience of camaraderie and getting to know each other better as we Congregation Brothers of Israel - Long Branch, NJ learned together. All our efforts culminated on May 3, 2015, when 9 of us gathered at Congregation Brothers of Israel to finally celebrate our Bat Mitzvahs and share what we had learned with approximately 120 guests. Following the ceremony, we all entered a beautifully decorated social hall and feasted on a delicious lunch. Thanks to Madeline Forman for all her efforts in making all of this possible. https://twitter.com/cbi_longbranch Of course we want to thank Rabbi Braun who not only met with us every week to teach us about our Torah portion but also made it a fun time. Also thanks to Shari Epstein for the beautiful invitation and certificates that she created. In addition, we thank Kim Inside this issue: Mejer for taking our pictures and Monty Fisher for filming videos so that we can look back and recall this wonderful and meaningful day. Roz Fisher Contacts 2 Presidents’ Message 3-4 Rabbi’s Message 5-7 Rosh Chodesh Reminders 8-9 Fire Safety 10-12 Events Past and Present 13-15 Announcements 16 Flyers, Calendars, Etc 17+ Mazel Tov to the above recipients for achieving this goal: From the left, Shari Epstein, Maida Averbach, Marlene Cohn, Ruth Hyman, Bobbie Newman, Marguerite Schanzer, Roz Fisher, Madeline Forman and Phyllis Zuckerman Congregation Brothers of Israel Board and Staff Board of Directors Brothers of Israel Professional Staff Yitzhak Belsh, MD Judy Lekach Fred Stone, MD Alan Bresler, DMD Irwin Levine Raisy Sultan Janet Deneroff Marilyn Stein-Mantz Brian Winters, Esq Rabbi Nasanayl Braun Monty Fisher Yoav Mejer, Esq Cantor Mendel Greenberg Roz Fisher Ed Miller Youth Director Rena Golden Madeline Forman Beverly Rassas Immediate Past President Marc Epstein Elliot Greenstein Harold Rassas Co-Presidents Judie Boim Edward Joseph, Esq Shirley Schneider Andrew Samuel DMD Michael Kaabe Malcolm Schwartz, DO Vice Presidents Avi Fisch, Phd Carol Kaufman Lisa Shapiro Michael Danziger Norman Konvitz Larry Snider Rec. Sec’y Joelle Engel Financial Sec’y Barry Dorf, Esq Treasurer Jonathan Shapiro Committees Building Staff Anibal Rivera Adult Education Marilyn Stein-Mantz Banquet Hall Rentals Lisa Shapiro Office Staff Building & Grounds Elliot Greenstein Barbara Hydrusko 732-222-6666 Bulletin Judy Lekach [email protected] Cemetery Committee Harold Rassas Deirdre Anderson 732-222-6666 Club L’Chaim Liaison Madeline Forman [email protected] Kiddushes Marilyn Snider Fax: 732-222-6668 Programming Steve Pasternak Publicity Michael Kaabe Ritual Committee Sam Engel Sisterhood Liaison Marilyn Snider Youth Committee Liaison Becky Green Past Presidents Edward Boim, DDS Kenneth Chamlin, Esq Alan Cohn, DDS Martin Deneroff Marc Epstein Joseph Foreman Noah Gilson, MD Leonard Goldschein Seymour Greenspan Anderson Harkov, Esq Sydney Lekach Leonard Needle, Esq Burton Resnic Moshe Rosenwein, Phd A Message from our Co - Presidents Judie Boim and Andy Samuel There was an old children's book that began with: “Good morning happy, happy day”. Today at CBI it is indeed a happy, happy day. No snow is falling; no black ice to slip on; and no cold, biting wind to bluster through. The sun is shining; our snowbirds are back; our summer people are here; and our Park Avenue daveners no longer arrive with hats, mufflers, gloves and three layers of sweaters. The sun is finally shining! Summer is finally here! And to paraphrase that children's book: “Good morning happy, happy CBI” We are happy because we have an entire summer's worth of events at CBI culminating in a celebration of Rabbi Braun and Tamar's Tenth Anniversary as our Rabbi and Rebbitzen. To kick off our summer happenings, all members of the CBI community are invited to the Second Annual Shavuot Siyum/festive light luncheon immediately following services on the second day of Shavuot (Monday, Memorial Day.) The Siyum celebrates our achievement of independently learning all of Tehilim and Chronicles I and Chronicles II. A kumzitz on Saturday night, May 30th will inaugurate the summer festivities for those arriving after Memorial Day. Cipora Winters will share her expertise and knowledge on divorce and getting a Get on June 13 th at Seudah Shilishit, as the Mevarchim Ha’Chodesh (bless the new month) Speaker. CBI will celebrate our graduates with a special kiddush in their honor on June 13th. If you have a graduate please allow us collectively to shep nachas , submit their name and be part of the special Shabbat. Want to be media savvy , join the Twitter generation, connect on Facebook , share your photos on Instagram , but don't know how? Are your grandchildren too far or too busy to explain? No problem. Adopt the adept: Tova, Avi, Ariel, Shari, and Robert. Join us Sunday morning, June 28th, for a morning of Twitter & toast, Facebook & fancy cheeses, and Instagram & immediate knowledge. A Message from our Co - Presidents, cont’d Judie Boim and Andy Samuel Take a deep breath, because here comes a host of events for July. Deck out in Red, White and Blue for our Fourth of July Kiddush. At the conclusion of Kiddush, we will have our Second Annual Quiz Game. CBI will once again happily welcome Rabbi Weil for a Shabbaton. Friday night, July 10th he will speak at Park Avenue., Shabbat morning at the Ocean Minyan, and back to Park Avenue for the Mevorchim Hachodesh Seudat Shilishit. Following Kiddush on July 18th, Mark Meirowitz will inform us on the topic: "Turkey, Israel and the Jewish Community: Latest Updates." Nechama Price, our Yoetzet Halacha, will be addressing the women on Sunday Evening, July 19th. Now is the time to clear out the unused, piles of books, old clothes, toys, etc. Donate them to the rummage sale. Drop off is the week of July 5th. Join our fun and sassy sales staff on Sunday July 19th and Monday July 20th for the actual rummage sale. Tisha B'Av, Sunday July 26th, will be a day of reflection and learning. There will be shiurim throughout the afternoon to be followed by an appropriate film, Mincha, Ma’ariv and a break- fast. August will be ushered in by the incredibly talented Eric Stern and his wonderful A Capella group: JTunes. They will enliven our Shabbat Nachamu, as guest chazzanim on Shabbat, August 1st. On August 8th, CBI will once again be marking Mevarchim Ha’Chodesh with a speaker at Seudah Shlishit. Calling all golfers and tennis players, brunch mavens, and auction lovers… Save August 16 th ! Come out to support our partner school The Yeshiva at The Jersey Shore's 6 th Annual Golf Outing at Trump Colts Neck and have a blast while doing so The summer's activities will culminate on Sunday, August 30 th in a gala, fun, delicious Barbeque honoring Rabbi and Tamar's 10th Anniversary as our Rabbi and Rebbitzen. This is an event everyone will want to attend. We are excited to share CBI's SUNNY, HAPPY SUMMER DAYS with all of our friends and fellow congregants. A Message from Rabbi Nasanayl Braun July 4th and the Mussafim of the Parsha Adapted from Rabbi Braun’s Sermon on Parshat Pinchas in 5770 Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest of places. Partial inspiration for today’s sermon comes from a speech given on July 5 th 1852 in Rocheseter by Frederick Douglass. Douglass was an escaped slave who wrote and spoke about the evils of slavery in an attempt to help people understand the need to abolish this cruel treatment of their fellow human beings. Before I get to his words and how they helped, let me set up the problem for you. Parshat Pinchas seems very geared to capturing and settling the land of Israel. After dealing with the Midyanim, we have a military census- a list of those who are going to fight the war of conquest. We are then told that these people will inherit the land via lottery and God explains that the tribe of Levi is different and does not get land. The story of the daughters of Tzelofchad fits right into the theme; these brave young women exemplify for us the love of Eretz Yisrael and the desire to have a portion in the land. Moshe then, with pomp and ceremony, appoints Joshua as the leader who will take them into the land of Israel. God then throws us for a loop. The Torah proceeds to list all of the Mussaf sacrifices, the additional sacrifices, which were to be offered on Shabbat and the holidays. Ostensibly this has nothing to do with entering the land. If anything we would have thought to include it in the book of Vayikra with all of the other sacrifices. One has to wonder, what in the world is it doing here? As with all of the paragraphs in the Torah that seem to be out of place we need to understand the content in order to understand the context. We need to understand the nature of the holidays and the lessons that the Mussaf offerings teach us in order to begin to understand why they are placed here.