June/July 2014 5774 Tzedakah: The Meaning of Meaningful In This Issue: By Bonnie Slavitt-Moore “Tzedakah is not about giving. Tzedakah is about being.” From the Rabbi Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson Page 3 I invite you to think about this for a moment. Earlier this month I found myself discussing the layers of meaning in Rabbi Artson’s observation with President’s Rabbi Leslie Alexander, Michelle Nathanson, and Vanina Sandel Mutchnik. Perspective The context was what it does for us personally when we make a meaningful Page 5 gift to the Next 50 Campaign. Rabbi Alexander: Tzedakah is not just about the action of giving. It’s also Calendar about how the action transforms you. When you make a meaningful gift of any amount, you look at yourself in a new way - as a crucial part of a society Pages 14 & 15 or community. You count. Giving is intertwined with who you are and who you want to be. June and July Michelle: Giving a meaningful gift is a mitzvah. It doesn’t have to be Anniversaries millions of dollars, or tens of thousands of dollars. If $180 is a stretch for Pages 20 & 21 you, then it’s a meaningful gift. If your first grader gives $3.42 from a lemonade sale or your teenager gives $36 from babysitting, it’s a meaningful gift - a mitzvah. June and July birthdays Vanina: Every member of our community can perform the mitzvah of tzedakah by participating in our Million Coin Campaign. By contributing Pages 22 & 23 your spare change, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that our beautiful, renovated space contains something of yourself. And if you’re a parent, you 100% CLUB get an opportunity explain to your children the meaning of tzedakah, and to Page 24 build a memory of jointly performing the mitzvah of giving to a greater cause. Contributions Bonnie: To me, “tzedakah is about being” means that my giving helps to define who I am and reflects my values. My values come from my mom and Pages 25 & 26 dad, who raised me to give back to my community. Two Mitzvahs in One! Mitzvah a You’ll be receiving a call to schedule a Jewish conversation about the Next Month 50 Campaign. Think of it as an opportunity to perform a double mitzvah. Page 27 One is tzedakah. The other is allowing the person who calls you to do the mitzvah of asking for tzedakah. Here’s to tzedakah, self-transformation through giving, and the Next 50! 1 Staff List Main Office 408-257-3333 [email protected] Religious School 408-366-9101 [email protected] Daniel J. Pressman Senior Rabbi 408-366-9105 [email protected] Philip R. Ohriner Rabbi 408-366-9104 [email protected] Tanya Lorien Director of Operations 408-366-9107 [email protected] Barbara Biran Ritual Director 408-366-9106 [email protected] Monica Hernandez Bookkeeping Associate 408-366-9108 [email protected] Jillian Cosgrave Front Office Associate 408-366-9110 cosgrave@beth- david.org Lynn Crocker Mkt & Comm Associate Help Us Gather Memories for 408-366-9102 [email protected] Rabbi Pressman’s Memory Book We are creating a congregational memory book to give to Rabbi Iris Bendahan Pressman on June 28th. Please contribute any special experiences that School Principal you have shared with the Rabbi, including photographs if you have 408-366-9116 bendahan@beth -david.org them (they will be returned). Please also comment on the ways in which Rabbi strengthened your sense of Jewish affiliation and Andrea Ammerman practice. School Admin. Assistant 408-366-9101 Deadline: June 6th JYEPAdmin@beth -david.org Your contribution will be most warmly appreciated. We prefer that JET submissions be sent electronically to [email protected]. (Jewish Education for Teens) If this is not an option, you may mail submissions to the admin office: [email protected] 19700 Prospect Road, Saratoga, 95070 ATTN: RDP Tribute. 2 From the Rabbi My Last Column By Rabbi Daniel Pressman After many hundreds of columns and thousands of words, here I am. The term for gratitude in Hebrew is hakarat ha- tov, which means “recognizing the good.” As I look back over 33 years of service to Congregation Beth David I am grateful for so much, more than I can express in this short column. The people of Beth David gave me the privilege of being part of their lives, and I am grateful. There are many Jewish jokes about the difficulty of being a Rabbi, but for me, the positive far outweighs the negative. I have partnered well with every Beth David president and worked cordially with every board. That doesn’t mean that we’ve always agreed, or that my opinion has always prevailed, but we always worked together with mutual regard. For that I am grateful. Beth David has been blessed with a culture of respect and of mutual concern. I have tried to nurture that culture, but I didn’t create it, and I thank the members who have sustained it. I wish it were more common in American Jewish life and, for that matter, in American life. I am grateful for my family, my late wife Beverly and my children Aliza, Benjamin and Rebecca, who had to share me with CBD, but who also were very much a part of this community. And I will never forget so many people’s kindness and support during Beverly’s illness and after her death. People have asked me what I will be doing in retirement. I hope to write at least two books that I have been thinking about for a long time. I want to improve my photography skills and finally learn how to edit on the computer. I want to travel. I have been exercising regularly and I intend to do that even more. I hope to visit my children and grandchildren, Batsheva, Avital, and Nathan, more often. I will be spending more time with my parents, still alive and in their 90’s. I will continue studying Torah (including unread books from my current library). I hope to work in some capacity for the Conservative movement, to which I have devoted my life and which I treasure. And I look forward to sitting in the congregation and davening with you on Shabbatot and holidays, and enjoying our wonderful Rabbis’ words. I have complete trust in Rabbi Ohriner’s ability to move Beth David forward and I am delighted that my friend Rabbi Leslie Alexander will be his partner. I am excited about the opportunity to refresh and expand our building, and what it will mean for Beth David’s ability to effectively engage people in our community. The greatest thanks and the most meaningful tribute you could give me is to continue your support of Beth David, to deepen your involvement with synagogue and Jewish life, and to walk forward as active partners with Rabbis Ohriner and Alexander in creating Beth David’s future. There is so much more to say. But the summary is: I am so grateful for the privilege of teaching Torah, of sharing your lives, and the many acts of kindness I have seen along the way. I finished my High Holy Day sermon with these words: Judaism flourishes when we treasure it, when we learn its lessons of community and compassion. When we find strength from God and Torah. When we feel connected with Jews everywhere, especially in our miracle state of Israel. I have tried to impart Judaism’s joy and richness, its wisdom and guidance. Along the way I have learned much and known many wonderful people. Thank you for your support, your friendship, and your inspiration. May Congregation Beth David go from strength to strength. 3 4 President’s Perspective By David Hoffman, CBD Board President Shalom friends, This month’s perspective is bittersweet. It is the last Rabbi taught how to be a mensch by modeling that column I will write with Rabbi Pressman as our behavior. When Rabbi Schonbrun was hired, there spiritual leader. was a smooth transition - Rabbi Pressman met The last several columns I have written have been Rabbi Schonbrun as an equal. They worked as a forward-looking. Looking toward our next 50 years; team, each able to maximize their gifts and our new building; the hiring of Rabbi Alexander; the strengths because they encouraged and supported new vision of how we will meet our mission as a each other. House of Worship, a House of Study and a House of When Rabbi Schonbrun left, and Rabbi Ohriner, Assembly. And while we are moving forward on all hired, Rabbi Pressman, while on sabbatical, worked fronts, I’d like to take this moment - this column - to behind the scenes to meet with Rabbi Ohriner to look backward and thank Rabbi Pressman for his 33 ensure a smooth transition when he and his family years of leadership at Beth David. arrived. And as before, Rabbi Pressman encouraged and supported Rabbi Ohriner. Many of you don’t know this, and I’m not even sure Rabbi Pressman will remember, but I first met him and Those of you who know Rabbi Pressman know that Bev when I was a Rosh Edah at Camp Arazim - a local he has an ego, and a healthy one at that. But the Jewish summer camp in Northern California supported teachable moment for me was watching him put his by the Conservative shuls of Northern California and ego aside, hold out his hands in welcome, and work Nevada in the 1970s and 1980s.