INSIDE THIS ISSUE Men’s Club ..................................................2 President’s Message ..................................3 Cantor’s Notes ..........................................4 Purim ............................................................5 Religious School/Youth/ B’nai Mitzvah ....................................... 6-7 CBS U/ Adult Education/Programming......... 8-9 Sisterhood .......................................... 10-11 Men’s Club ......................................... 12-13 CBS Happenings................................ 14-15 CBS Sisterhood ....................................... 16 Social Action ............................................ 17 Calendar ............................................. 18-19 CBS Happenings...................................... 20 Birthdays and Anniversaries ................ 21 Milestones ................................................ 22 Yahrzeits ................................................... 23 Donations ........................................... 24-25 Ads ....................................................... 26-27 Candle Lighting and Service Times .... 28
Head Rabbi ............................................ Aaron Melman Senior Cantor.........................................Steven Stoehr Rabbi ..................................................Warner Ferratier Rabbi Emeritus ..........................................Carl Wolkin Executive Director ..............................Michael Garlin Director of Jewish Life and Learning................................................. Leann Blue Director of Education ............................ Stacy Ybarra Controller ............................................Susan Karlinsky President .....................................................Bob Spector Sisterhood President ....................... Jackie Zelkowtiz Men’s Club Co-Presidents.... Dr. Andrew Wagner & Steven Lessman USY President ................................................Paige Star 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 2022• VOLUME 99 ISSUE 69
ADAR II 5782 | MARCH 2022| VOLUME 99 ISSUE 69
RABBI FERRATIER’S FINDINGS Early March is a time of surprises. Will it still feel like the endless part of February, or will it tease us with the first hints of spring? Should we bundle up in our heavy coats and boots, or should we optimistically pull out our lighter-weight jackets? Rabbi Ferratier
It just so happens that it is the early part of a Hebrew month as well. Adar II begins on March 3. You might remember back around Labor Day, everyone wondered why the High Holidays were so early, and certainly none of us can forget that we lit Chanukah candles while we were still stuffed from Thanksgiving dinner. Whenever the holidays fall so “early,” it’s a pretty good indication that we’ll be going into a leap year on the Hebrew Calendar. On the secular calendar, the leap year is a single day, and mostly a source of humor. In the Hebrew calendar, it is an entire month, and we really feel its effects. When we have both Adar I and Adar II, we put off all of the commemorations which occur in Adar I until Adar II. That means if one had a birthday or a Yahrzeit on 5 Adar, this year, it occurs on 5 Adar II. Whereas Purim is normally celebrated on 14 Adar I, this year, it is on 14 Adar II. If Purim feels “late” this year, this is the reason why.
This delay seems like a perfect metaphor for the way in which many of us have been feeling. Two years into the pandemic world, it feels as though much of what we look forward to has been delayed. I can’t tell you how many people I know have postponed weddings, b’nai mitzvah celebrations, milestone birthdays and anniversaries, and vacations. It’s as though our joy has been put on hold, and the winter Omicron spikes seemed to push these things off even further. It's easy to feel discouraged, and even understandable. I think we’re all impatient, and are just ready for it all to be over. However, just like winter itself, it ends in its own time. It’s not something that we get to control. In this sense, we’ve all been stuck in Adar I, holding our breaths for Adar II. Just as with this leap year, even though the joy of our Purim celebrations is delayed by the calendar, we know it’s still coming. It’s almost here. We can taste it. We just need to hold out a little longer. Similarly, with the rest of our lives, we know that restrictions imposed by the latest surge of the virus will go away, but we are tired and impatient. However, we know it’s coming. Just as with Purim, the anticipation of our joy will make its arrival all the more sweet.
One side effect of having the holidays fall later in the spring is that winter seems a little longer. It feels like a long time since May the joy of Adar find all of us, so that we Chanukah, and usually, Purim is a bright spot can celebrate the end of winter, the coming to lighten up the endless part of winter. This of Purim, and the feeling that we can (both year, that bright spot feels delayed. literally and figuratively) breathe more easily.
