INSIDE THIS ISSUE What’s Happening @ CBS ..................... 2 President’s Message .................................. 3 Cantor’s Notes.......................................... 4 Fundraising .............................................. 6-7 Youth ....................................................... 8-9 Adult Learning & Programming ...................................... 10-13 Anniversaries/Birthdays ......................... 14 Calendar .................................................... 15 Keruv ......................................................... 16 Library........................................................ 17 Sisterhood........................................... 18-19 Men’s Club .......................................... 20-21 Donations ........................................... 22-23 Yahrzeits ................................................... 24 Milestones ................................................. 25 Advertisements ................................. 26-27 Candle Lighting and Services................ 28
Rabbi ................................................... Aaron Melman Cantor .................................................. Steven Stoehr Assistant Rabbi ..................................... Ari Averbach Executive Director ............................ Michael Garlin Director of Jewish Life & Learning ................................................. Leann Blue Director of Education ......................... David Barany Ritual Director ................................ Raquel Gershon Director of Youth Activities................ Matt Rissien Controller ......................................... Susan Karlinsky President .......................................... Larry Grossman Sisterhood President................................. Beth Sher Men’s Club President ............................Scott Rogoff USY President ................................... Brandon Gitles
Rabbi Emeritus .......................................Carl Wolkin Executive Director Emeritus .................................... Harvey Gold, FSA z’l Director of Education Emeritus ................... Rabbi Sander J. Mussman, RJE
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MARCH 2017 • VOLUME 49, ISSUE 19 Rabbi Averbach
RABBI AVERBACH’S REVELATIONS There has been a rash of anger spreading across the country and unfortunately it has not been able to avoid our neighborhood. We are somehow no longer phased by stories of graffiti swastikas, smashed windows and vitriolic language at JCCs, synagogues, and even the Illinois Holocaust Museum. Dozens of Jewish communities, including some locally, have been threatened with bombs and we have sadly been re-briefed on what to do if such violence erupts. These seem like problems of yesteryear, of a time thankfully long gone by. Unfortunately it is our current reality. When it hit Whitefish, Montana, with particular impudence, we were saddened but perhaps not surprised. A tiny mountain town with few Jews seems like a classic bastion of anti-Semitism. We have sent friends over there to stand with them in solidarity against the white supremacist marches and to remind them that they are not alone. And somehow, Northbrook, one of the most Jewish areas around, has incident after incident reported. Anti-Semitic, Islamophobia, xenophobic, racist chants, scribbles, online posts, take us out of our usual insouciance and into a brand-new, chilling reverie.
The great sage Hillel teaches in our Mishnah: In a place where there is no humanity, strive to be a mensch. Rabbi Tarfon, one generation later, says that it is not up to us to finish the task but we are not allowed to ignore it. We need to change the way we speak with each other, allowing more room for listening. We need to send less venom out into the world – whether in conversation or in online postings. We need to join together in benevolence, in uplift, in compassion. A community-wide gathering has been planned near the Northbrook library for 3pm on Sunday, March 12, which is Purim, the holiday when we thought goodness would be eliminated and malevolence would reign supreme. In gratitude, we reread the scroll of Esther, the story of our near-demise, giving gifts to friends and to those in need. In addition to the usual physical gifts sent around this year (hamantaschen and other sweets), I encourage you to join us for giving a very different kind of gift: the message of togetherness, of hope, and of kindness within our community. May it start with us here and spread out to all corners of the world.