INSIDE THIS ISSUE Service and Candle Lighting ................... 2 President’s Message.................................. 3 Cantor’s Notes.......................................... 4 Distinguished Speaker.............................. 5 CBS Highlights ....................................... 6-7 Shabbat at CBS .......................................... 8 Social Action .............................................. 9 Hineynu ..................................................... 10 Events at CBS........................................... 11 Youth/B’nai Mitzvah ......................... 12-13 School ........................................................ 14 Library........................................................ 15 CBS U/Adult Ed/HAZAK ...................... 16 JUF/Distinguished Speaker .................... 17 Sisterhood........................................... 18-19 Men’s Club .......................................... 20-21 Birthdays/Anniversaries ................... 22-23 See What’s Happening .......................... 24 Milestones ................................................. 25 Yahrzeits ............................................. 25-27 Donations ........................................... 28-29 Ads ........................................................ 30-31 Diversity Shabbat .................................... 32 Rabbi ................................................... Aaron Melman Cantor ..................................................Steven Stoehr Assistant Rabbi ..................................... Ari Averbach Executive Director ............................ Michael Garlin Director of Jewish Life & Learning ................................................. Leann Blue Director of Education .......................... Stacy Ybarra Ritual Director ............. Cantor Raquel P. Gershon Director of Youth & Young Family Engagement................ Matt Rissien Controller ......................................... Susan Karlinsky President .........................................Debbie Solomon Sisterhood President..........................Leatte Gelfeld Men’s Club President ................................. Dan Sher USY President .............................. Rebecca Jacobson
Rabbi Emeritus .......................................Carl Wolkin Executive Director Emeritus .................................... Harvey Gold, FSA z’l Director of Education Emeritus ................... Rabbi Sander J. Mussman, RJE SHALOM INFO Shalom is published monthly by Congregation Beth Shalom, 3433 Walters, Northbrook, Illinois 60062-3298 for the exclusive use of its members and staff. All material contained herein is the property of Congregation Beth Shalom.
DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019 • VOLUME 67 ISSUE 37
RABBI MELMAN’S MINUTES I am sitting beneath the sun in the Jerusalem sky. This holy city represents so much to all of us and to have spent the last week with 18 members of Beth Shalom’s Men’s Club has not only been a remarkable trip, but a true privilege. Our group, made up of both first-time visitors to Israel and those of us who have been here numerous times, has shared experiences that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. We have come as members of the CBS family to learn, explore, delve deep into the issues facing Israel and our people and grapple with many of the tensions that exist for the modern State of Israel as well as the Jewish people. Leading a trip is far different than simply being a tourist. And, as a rabbi, helping to lead congregants through our most sacred places allows me to see things through other people’s eyes. To watch a first-time visitor see the Kotel, the beach in Tel Aviv, the places of the mystics in Tzfat, or even take their first bite of an Israeli falafel or shwarma is tremendous. It truly brings a smile to my face. And to watch return visitors reconnect with Israel, perhaps in new ways, is inspiring. Israel is a complex place. When talking about the very sensitive issues that face the country you will often hear, “It’s difficult” – and it is. There are no easy answers to solve many of Israel’s complex problems. As we have watched the tensions along the Gaza border escalate, or talked about the words of the Chief Rabbi, who offered controversial words after the horrible events at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, or explored the economic issues that face many Israelis, we have gained a much better understanding of our Jewish homeland. One of the many things I reminded the group is that we, as Jews, have just as much right to call Israel home as those who live there. In fact, I once had a spirited conversation with Tzipi Livni about the fact that I didn’t feel, as a Diaspora Jew, I had the right to criticize the government of Israel. She told me that it was my duty as a Jew, no matter where I lived to speak up when I saw something that I did not agree with. There is definitely part of me that has changed my thinking, especially as it relates to Israel/Diaspora relations and in particular the relationship with the non-Orthodox streams of our religion. This, and so much more, have all been part of our Israel experience this time around. An important piece I have tried to instill in our group is that we are more than tourists. In the Cardo (in the Jewish Quarter) I shared with them the poem Tourists, by Yehuda Amichai and reminded them that we are all part of Israel’s story. Visits of condolence is all we get from them. They squat at the Holocaust Memorial, They put on grave faces at the Wailing Wall And they laugh behind heavy curtains In their hotels. They have their pictures taken Together with our famous dead At Rachel’s Tomb and Herzl’s Tomb And on Ammunition Hill. They weep over our sweet boys And lust after our tough girls And hang up their underwear To dry quickly In cool, blue bathrooms.
DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019 • VOLUME 67 ISSUE 37
Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David’s Tower, I placed my two heavy baskets at my side. A group of tourists was standing around their guide and I became their target marker. “You see that man with the baskets? Just right of his head there’s an arch from the Roman period. Just right of his head.” “But he’s moving, he’s moving!” I said to myself: redemption will come only if their guide tells them, “You see that arch from the Roman period? It’s not important: but next to it, left and down a bit, there sits a man who’s bought fruit and vegetables for his family.”