INSIDE THIS ISSUE Celebrate18/Rabbi Melman .................... 2 President’s Message.................................. 3 Cantor’s Notes.......................................... 4 CBS Spain Trip........................................... 5 Purim ........................................................ 6-7 Youth/Young Family Programming ....... 8 B’nai Mitzvah .............................................. 9 Shabbat @ CBS ....................................... 10 Religious School ...................................... 11 CBS U/Adult Education/HAZAK ........ 12 Yom HaShoah .......................................... 13 Sisterhood........................................... 14-15 Men’s Club ................................................ 16 Social Action ............................................ 17 Library........................................................ 18 Birthdays/Anniversaries ......................... 19 Calendar .................................................... 20 See What’s Happening .......................... 21 Milestones ................................................. 22 Yahrzeits ................................................... 23 Donations ........................................... 24-25 Ads ........................................................ 26-27 Candle Lighting & Service Times ........ 28
Rabbi ................................................... Aaron Melman Cantor ..................................................Steven Stoehr Assistant Rabbi ............................. Warner Ferratier 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 ……… Eric Golberg Controller ......................................... Susan Karlinsky President ........................................... Tanya Solomon Sisterhood President................... Robyn Rosengard Men’s Club President .......................... Steven Elisco USY President ............................... Brandon Wagner Rabbi Emeritus .......................................Carl Wolkin Shalom Designer/Editor .............. Deanne Friedman 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.
MARCH 2020 • VOLUME 79 ISSUE 49
ADAR/NISAN 5780 | MARCH 2020 | VOLUME 79 ISSUE 49
RABBI MELMAN’S MINUTES I just finished watching a new documentary, Fiddler: Miracle of Miracles, detailing the history of Fiddler on the Roof. The film takes us from its origins in the stories of Sholom Aleichem to productions of the show in places like Japan and Thailand. As someone who loves everything there is about this show, I was incredibly moved by the documentary. Many of you know that I have a love for musical theatre and playing Tevye in my last year of high school has stayed with me and will always be a part of me. It has been a privilege to see the show several times, the first when I was young; my mom took me to see the show in Toronto staring Theodore Bikel – not a bad way to start. Everyone has their favorite Tevye, mine happens to be Topol. In 2006, I knew a member of the Broadway cast and was lucky enough to go on the stage and see the sets after a performance – and yes, I was able to do my Tevye “If I Were a Rich Man” dance. Why is it that I share all of this with you? Not only is the film moving, there is one word that permeates throughout the show. Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein did something remarkable in that they were able to take the word, “tradition,” and carry it throughout the show. Fiddler is more than a story about one man, his family, and his community. It is a story about our people. Yes, it focuses on people in Rabbi Melman
Imperial Russia at the beginning of the 1900s and yet its message is as relatable today as it is timeless. Our traditions are the backbone of who we are and who we have always been as a people. We celebrate and commemorate events that took place thousands of years ago and each year they continue to take on new significance in our lives. We remember the heroine, Esther, and celebrate her and our survival each year during Purim. We sit around our seder tables and eat matzah, just as our ancestors did during the exodus from Egypt. And we sit on the floor on Tisha B’Av and commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples. We carry the traditions of our collective history as a people, and we carry the traditions of our families and pass them on from one generation to the next. Yes, sometimes our traditions change. As we have done throughout history, we bend, adapt, and grow. It is not a new concept. Tevye struggles with change. We see that played out through his daughters’ life decisions. In a sense, they all break the mold, and ultimately, Tevye learns to live and embrace these decisions because he doesn’t want to lock a door that cannot be opened from the other side. Tradition doesn’t mean being frozen in time. It is so important that the varying messages of tradition be passed on to the entire community. The essence of who we are as the Jewish people can be summed up in the powerful ending line of Fiddler on the Roof, “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as, as a fiddler on the roof.”
