A Reform Congregation Practicing Progressive Judaism Member, Union for Reform Judaism September 2014 Vol. XXIV No. 1 “May you be inscribed President’s Message page 2 and sealed From the Rabbi’s Study page 3 BIW page 4 for a Men’s Club page 5 good year!” Library page 6 92nd St Y page 7-8 Leadership Circle page 10 Yahrzeits page 12 SELICHOT Donations page 12-14 Saturday Night, September 20 @ 7:30pm Birthdays & Anniversaries page 13 Advertising page 15-19 EREV ROSH HASHANAH Wednesday Night, September 24 @ 8pm ROSH HASHANAH 2013 – 2014 Board Officers Kathy Brooks, President Thursday, September 25 @ 10am Elise Galinsky, Vice President Allan Goldfarb, Vice President Marion Levine, Vice President Richard Levine, Treasurer KOL NIDRE Shirley Fein, Financial Secretary Ruth Engman, Recording Secretary Friday Night, October 3 @ 8pm Judith Nelson Feldman, Corresponding Secretary Nessa Levine, BIW President Robert Vigder, Roger Goldstein, Men’s Club Presidents Ben Krause, Endowment YOM KIPPUR Maye Lavinson, WOOO Sy Klionsky, Immediate Past President Saturday, October 4 @ 10am September 2014 page 2 Worship Services Friday Evenings 5:30pm* Saturday Mornings 10am *8pm Friday Services resume November 7th. High Holy Days Service Schedule Selichot Saturday, September 20, 7:30 pm Erev Rosh Hashanah Wednesday, September 24, 8 pm Rosh Hashanah President’s Message Thursday, September 25, 10 am I hope everyone has had a healthy and relaxing summer! Kol Nidre We have not been relaxing here, however; the Temple Friday, October 3, 8 pm has been a beehive of activity since May. After some 30 years, we have a new air conditioning system, the roof Yom Kippur and gutters have been cleaned and repaired, the building Saturday, October 4, 10 am, has been painted on the outside, and new windows have Afternoon (followed by Yizkor) 2:30 pm replaced the old, leaky ones in the Rabbi’s office and the front office. We are now up to code with our insurance, Sukkot which would not have been renewed if we had not made Thursday, October 9, 10 am the repairs. I want to thank Allan Goldfarb, our new Vice President Simchat Torah in charge of the building, for supervising this project Friday, October 16, 10 am EVERY DAY this summer—he has done a stellar job. In addition, he and his wife Miriam donated a new “panic button” system to the Temple, which has made the office staff feel much safer when they are in the building alone. Thank you Allan and Miriam! And MANY thanks to all of you who contributed so willingly to the building fund The High Holy Days will soon be here, and we will started by Sy Klionsky, whose efforts made all of these be observing them again with Rabbi Katz, cantorial improvements a reality. soloist Robert Marinoff and our wonderful Temple Not to be outshined by the outside work, our Sister- Beth Israel choir under the direction of Dr. Ann hood, under the supervision of Marion Levine, has had Stephenson Moe. I look forward to seeing you during the social hall and the entry foyer painted a lovely new that time. color. The kitchen also has been painted, and we are Our Board of Trustees, Rabbi Katz and I want to now working on replacing the carpeting in the social wish you all a sweet, happy and healthy New Year. hall. All in all, our entire building has received a much- needed facelift! L’Shanah Tovah, We in our congregation have much to be proud of– our beautiful and well-cared-for building, our enthusi- astic Rabbi, and most of all the generosity of so many of you who have shown your commitment by contributing Kathy Brooks, President to the well-being of our Temple. Temple Beth Israel Bulletin page 3 From the Rabbi’s Study Hamas, Exotic Birds of Eastern Africa, and the High Holy Days Boarding a bus during a visit to own life in order not to violate three rael and the Palestinians, especially Israel several years ago, I noticed a essential Jewish commandments: in terms of Gaza. Beyond the issue young Israeli soldier intently reading committing idolatry, engaging in sex- of land claims the Palestinians, no a book. In the aisle on the way to my ual acts such as incest or adultery or doubt, feel daunted by the tremen- seat I glimpsed the title, Exotic Birds perpetrating murder. The Jewish re- dous strides Israel has made, in a of Eastern Africa. ward for kiddush haShem is to be for- relatively short time, in technology, That memory remains etched in ever regarded as kadosh, “a holy one.” science, education, medicine and my mind. I am sure the soldier would Hamas and others certainly have many other fields. have preferred pursuing his avid in- other options available to them than This does not mean Israel should terest in birds rather than having to terror. Yet, they are discountenanced shy away from vigorously defending devote three years of his life to the in favor of constantly demonizing and itself and forcefully retaliating in the IDF. While Israelis bravely heed the pursuing Israel’s elimination. The re- face of rocket fire. After all, regard- call to defend their country, they tend nowned psychologist, Alfred Adler, less of her achievements and military to be inclined more to stimulating insightfully noted that, “It is always capability, Israel’s security can never their minds than preparing for war. easier to fight for one’s principles than be taken for granted with so many How different this reluctant war- to live up to them.” eager to see the nation “Pushed from rior mindset is from those bent on In other words, irrational belliger- the river to the sea.” Nevertheless, it Israel’s destruction. Rather than enjoy ence is a way to release frustration and would be wise for Israel to, when pos- a peace that could allow for the flow- distract attention from a perceived in- sible, keep these psycho-social aspects ering of their intellectual, economic ability to fulfill certain expectations. of the conflict in mind concerning fu- and cultural potential, many are more Hamas prefers to foment hatred and ture dealings with the Palestinians. enamored with death than life. carry out acts of heinous violence rather We will soon be called to perform Muhammad Deif, Hamas’ shadowy than pursue purposeful communal aspi- cheshbon hanefesh, the age-old “ac- military leader, recently maintained in ration. Why might this be so? counting of the soul” that is at the core an audio message to the Israeli public: Dr. Adler recognized the key role of our High Holy Day observance. This “We love death for Allah the way that feelings of inferiority (i.e. “the inferi- should be a personal confrontation you love life.” This kind of statement is ority complex”) play in human devel- without dodges, rationalizing, or the hardly rare in the fundamentalist Mus- opment. When an individual or group blaming of others for own faults and lim world where martyrdom is regarded possesses a sense of inadequacy, a misdeeds. In doing so, we attempt to cut as offering generous heavenly reward. range of responses can be engendered. through the falsity, self-delusion and Judaism, too, also emphasizes the A strong, determined effort may be personal contrivances that can prevent virtue of martyrdom, kiddush haShem undertaken to overcome it. Howev- us from embracing our true character. (the sanctification of the Divine name), er, less productively, attempts can be Our ultimate aim is not the van- but from a markedly different stand- made to place blame for the inadequa- quishment of others but to come to point. Jewish martyrdom does not cy on others, leading to an irrational more candid terms with ourselves. consecrate the active seeking of death lashing out against them. As time goes We do not seek dominance but the in order to claim as many innocent on it often becomes more facile and possibility of greater enlightenment lives as possible. self-justifying to simply intensify the and growth through the opportunity, On the contrary, kiddush haShem fight than consider a change of course. in security and peace, to read books is associated with, in the absence of This perspective appears to char- like Exotic Birds of Eastern Africa. no other option, the taking of one’s acterize the situation between Is- September 2014 page 4 Beth Israel Women A new season is upon us. Where did the summer go? Books and Brown Bag You may be noticing some improvements in the appearance of the Social Hall. Sister- The six selections for the 2014-15 season of Books hood has hired a decorator for guidance. The and Brown Bag are literally a “mixed bag.” The topics walls have a fresh coat of paint. By the time you run the gamut from a serious look at FDR’s relationship read this, the new window treatments and car- with the Jewish community to the theft of a famous peting may be installed; if not, they are coming painting from an Austrian museum. In between there’s soon. These upgrades are funded by the Cuba more fiction and another non-fiction book. Use those trips we ran the past two seasons. lazy, hot summer days to curl up with an interesting, Sisterhood in June presented a check for sometimes provocative book, and be prepared for the $5,000 to the Temple for its general fund. We intellectually stimulating discussions running from also were able to donate over $5,000 to charities. November through April of next year. These included The Senior Friendship Center, All Faiths Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, JFCS, The Jewish Housing Council, Planned Parent- hood, and several others.