INSIDE THIS ISSUE CBS Highlights ........................................... 2 President’s Message .................................. 3 Cantor’s Notes.......................................... 4 Religious School ........................................ 5 Moving Traditions/CBS Connections .. 6 B’nai Mitzvah/Shabbat at CBS ................ 7 Youth/Simchat TorahTONE .................. 8 Young Family Programming.................... 9 Adult Education/Programming............. 10 Distinguished Speaker............................ 11 Sisterhood........................................... 12-13 Men’s Club .......................................... 14-15 Sukkot/SheminiAtzeret/SimchatTorah .. 16
S.K.I.P. ........................................................ 17 Social Action ............................................ 18 Library........................................................ 19 Calendar/Highlights ................................ 20 Birthdays/Anniversaries ......................... 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.
October 2019 • VOLUME 75 ISSUE 45
TISHREI 5780 | OCTOBER 2019 • VOLUME 75 ISSUE 45
RABBI FERRATIER’S FINDINGS celebrate Simchat Torah, and then resume our normal lives, hopefully I hope that every- re-energized for the year whose beginning we so recently celebrated. Not one is having a everyone can afford to go away on meaningful High vacation, but everyone can observe Holiday season. Sukkot, even if they do not have a Sukkah of their own. I’ve sometimes heard people say that after Rosh However, Sukkot isn’t just a vacation. Hashanah and Yom Kippur, it seems as Sukkot is about being grateful for what though we should be done with we have. Sukkot is about recognizing holidays for a while. After the intensity the importance of having both permaof Rosh Hashanah, the Ten Days of nence and impermanence in our lives. It Repentance, and Yom Kippur, people is about recognizing what is essential to often feel ready for a vacation. our existence and what is merely window dressing. Viewed in the right light, Sukkot Rabbi Ferratier
Chag Sukkot Sameach!
becomes that vacation. During Sukkot we are charged with making our permanent dwellings as though they are temporary, and our temporary dwellings as if they are permanent. The whole idea of going away on a vacation is that we leave our permanent homes and go somewhere else, perhaps to visit family and friends, perhaps to tour a new place, or perhaps just to get away from everything. We pack some of what we need to take with us, we eat nice meals, and we try not to stress ourselves out. When we return, we come back to our homes re-energized and ready to resume our normal lives.
My recent experience has helped me to appreciate this lesson. As many of you know, Luis and I have lived a pretty nomadic existence the last few years. Since deciding to go to rabbinical school, most of my belongings have been in a storage unit. Although I’ve missed many of those things, what I kept with me were those things which were most essential to my life. It’s nice to have my stuff, but the truth is, I was just fine with the few suitcases of possessions I carried with me.
May this festival of Sukkot grant all of us the opportunity to appreciate the things that are Ideally, Sukkot should be exactly the central to our existence. same. We build a temporary residence, May we enjoy our and if the weather cooperates, we eat our meals, welcome visitors, and try to temporary vacation and finish the enjoy ourselves in the Sukkah. We try festival energized for the coming year. to make it comfortable, but we don’t Chag Sameach! try to make it exactly like our regular homes. At the end of the festival, we