Sisterhood Our 2020/21 year of Sisterhood is going strong. This morning I saw an ad for a parody book called Good Morning Zoom. I was intrigued by this book and how it followed the story pattern of the classic, Good Night Moon. My mind wandered a bit – who would have thought that seven months ago when we were all introduced to Zoom that it would still be controlling our daily lives and we would be following each other around our Emunah Zoom room! In appreciation of the wonderful Temple Emunah Zoom initiatives made in the months prior to, and for the High Holidays and “now beyond,” Sisterhood has earmarked a $5,000 donation to the Technology Fund to help pay for the expense of this virtual programming. In addition, we are contributing another $500 to pay for a Sisterhood Zoom account for our own programming and the remainder of the money will be donated to the fund. Sisterhood had a fabulous Paid-Up Membership supper with over ninety members attending our TV Dinner. Many thanks to Rachel Raz for bringing the Space Torah film to our Sisterhood; to Rabbi Kling Perkins for her inspirational words; to Barbara Posnick for facilitating the program and to Joelle Gunther and Alison Dick who helped with the RSVPs and distribution of 130 meals. Our PARTNERSHIP theme is working well. We are so happy that Sisterhood can partner with so many committees. We have many events in the future such as co-sponsoring initiatives with Adult Education, Family Education, the Religious School, the Membership Committee and the other Temple Emunah committees. Our ability to provide financial support for these have helped Sisterhood to increase participation while reaching out to more people in our diverse temple population.
Rabbi Lerner
In October, we partnered with the Israel Action Committee on a program called “Building a Shared Society in Israel” by Zoom where we heard from two dynamic speakers, Dr. Amal Elsana Alh’jooj and Mohammad Darawshe. In November we had our signature Dinner and a Movie program featuring the film “Operation Wedding,” a documentary about the Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair, an escape attempt from the Soviet Union by a group of young Soviets, mostly Jewish people, who were denied exit visas. The documentary is told from the personal point of view of the filmmaker, Anat Zalmanson-Kuznetsov, daughter of group members Eduard Kuznetsov and Sylva Zalmanson. Anat joined us for a Q&A during our dinner. In December we will be having a community H.anukkah dinner. Individual boxed holiday meals will be offered for purchase and picked up in a parking lot drive-up prior to our Zoom program. Looking ahead to 2021, make sure to Save the Date for a Mitzvah Day project in early February with the religious school; Pre-Purim Libations (some kind of adult cocktail event with appetizers on Feb. 11), our Community Brunch (Feb. 28) and our Dinner and a Movie (date TBD). In closing, I am thinking of the dates on the calendar that will keep me busy throughout the remainder of the year and into 2021. I hope you will mark your calendar for our wonderful Sisterhood programs. In the spirit of the holiday season and the upcoming new year, I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2021 and I look forward to seeing you at our Good Morning Zoom and Good Evening Zoom programs. Janet Goldberg, Sisterhood President janet.goldberg2@verizon.net
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celled a speech in memory of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, z”l, may his memory be blessed, chaired by Mandy Patinkin for Americans for Peace Now. While even AOC admitted she was not an “expert in geopolitics in this issue,” Weiss claims that AOC knew perfectly well what she was doing and that even great peace-makers like Rabin are now treif if they are associated with Israel. But AOC is a product of her times and the milieu that has been created not just by the left. What should have happened when AOC was first elected in 2018? AOC should have been taken on a trip to Israel as used to be de rigueur for most new members of Congress. Who should have brought her? There is an incredible pro-Israel organization that takes newly-elected Congressmen and women to Israel – pretty awesome, right? This amazing group is AIPAC. As a supporter of AIPAC for years, I say proudly that AIPAC has had a most impressive track record: they have organized trips for new members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to teach the history of the State of Israel in all its complexity. These trips were also rare opportunities where Republicans and Democrats could come together.
But, sadly, AIPAC allowed itself to become a bit too partisan, especially during these last four years. Though the organization tried to avoid the left/right fights, it got sucked in. In 2016, the Policy Conference was whipped into a Trumpian frenzy, one that turned off many young attendees. Thus, AOC did not go to Israel with AIPAC and in fact, has not been at all. The second fact is that AOC simply made a mistake. It’s not part of some far-left movement, but rather, like many other politicians, she made an error. She went too far and the proof that this is not a left-wing agenda is that left-wing organizations criticized her for her actions. For example, see the head of J-Street, Jeremy Ben-Ami’s piece on September 29, 2020 (https://jstreet.org/rep-ocasio-cortezs-decisionand-the-legacy-of-yitzhak-rabin-yom-kippur-reflections/#. X62J8MhKiUl). * * * Ms. Weiss’ second topic is anti-Semitism in general in the United States. Here, I think she is correct and the data bear this out. There is a rise in anti-Semitism. It is most disturbing to see left-wing protestors spray-paint “Free Palestine” on a synagogue in Kenosha, Wisconsin. However, some of her (continued on page 12)
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