Shofar Av/Elul 5770
Jewish Family Congregation www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
August 2010
From the Rabbi’s Desk Recently, Israel was in the news, and it was not good for our tiny Jewish state. The Israeli navy intercepted a flotilla of ships bringing materials to the Gaza Strip, despite a blockade intended to prevent that from happening. This brought the blockade to world attention, and unfortunately, the event was mishandled by the Israelis so it resulted in a lot of negative publicity for that country. The blockade is intended to prevent other countries from providing weapons and other military items to the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. The blockade went into effect when the residents of the Strip elected a Hamas government; Hamas is a terrorist organization with the stated goal of destroying Israel. From the Gaza Strip they and their supporters have, for years, fired rockets into southern Israel. You may recall that we contributed money to the JNF project that built an underground indoor playground for the children of S’derot, because that little town, very close to the Strip, has been the primary target of rocket fire, and it was not safe for the children there to play outdoors. The blockade has been criticized because the list of items it intends to keep out of the Strip includes things like chocolate and concrete. I have no idea why chocolate would be interdicted, but it seems clear that the Israelis fear that concrete, which can be used for building innocent things like houses and schools, can also be used to construct bunkers. In recent days, as I write this, the Israelis have agreed to lighten the blockade. It should be noted that Israel is not the only country trying to contain Hamas. The southern end of the Gaza Strip has a nine mile border with Egypt, and the Egyptians have attempted to keep Hamas out of their country by a blockade similar to what the Israelis have imposed. Egypt regards the extreme Islamic terrorist organization, Hamas, as a threat to its fragile non-Islamic government. At the same time, the Palestinians in the Strip have dug an elaborate system of tunnels to give them a route into Egypt, where they buy arms and all sorts of other things. From the Rabbi’s Desk Service Schedules The President’s Message Oneg Schedule Early Childhood Center The Religious School Social Action Committee
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Egypt is in the process of building barriers to those tunnels, to prevent more access by Hamas to its population. Yet one never hears about this in the media. No one decries the effort of the Egyptians to protect their citizens from Islamic extremism. There have been no UN resolutions reprimanding Egypt for its blockade. The incident involving the flotilla resulted in nine deaths. This apparently resulted from weak intelligence that the Israelis were operating from. It gives a real black eye to the otherwise amazing Israeli intelligence and military services. The deaths make the whole incident tragic, and they prevent Israel from presenting a good case for the blockade to the world public. Unfortunately, the event was mishandled by the Israelis so it resulted in a lot of negative publicity for that country. The blockade has not prevented humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip, as some people have asserted. Basic food and medical supplies have always been allowed through. But it is also clear that weapons and ammunition have also entered the Strip, via the tunnels, because the rocket fire has not ceased. When then candidate Obama visited Israel before the election, he went to S’derot, and commented that he too would feel compelled to protect his children, as the Israelis are trying to do against the rocket fire from the Strip. Though we should all deplore the deaths that happened during the flotilla incident, we should also try to understand the history behind the blockade, and consider what it must be like to live within range of those rockets. We should be aware that Iran has said it will defy the blockade and deliver, by ship, arms for Hamas. We should reflect upon the serious threat that Israel faces from all its neighbours. And we should also try to create practical and imaginative strategies for Israel to employ in its own fight for survival. We should certainly do that as much as we criticize Israel.
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Jewish Family Congregation Shofar
SERVICE SCHEDULES
Jewish Family Congregation 111 Smith Ridge Road P.O. Box 249 South Salem, NY 10590 Phone: (914) 763-3028 Fax: (914) 763-3069 e-mail: jfc@bestweb.net
jewishfamilycongregation.org
Rabbi Carla Freedman jfc@bestweb.net Cantor Kerry Ben-David cantorbd@aol.com
August 2010
AUGUST Friday, August 6/ Av 27
7:30 pm
Parshat Re’eh
Friday, August 13/ Elul 4
7:30 pm
Parshat Shoftim
Friday, August 20/ Elul 11
6:30pm 7:30 pm
Shabbat In The Great Outdoors Bring your own picnic musical service
7:30 pm
Parshat Ki Tavo
Friday, August 27/ Elul 18
SEPTEMBER School Director Leslie Gottlieb lesliejo1960@gmail.com Early Childhood Center Director Fern Tannenbaum jfceccenter@gmail.com Temple Administrator Jolie Levy jfcoffc@gmail.com Board Of Trustees Richard Mishkin, Co-President 914-764-8305; Jeanette Sanders, Co-President 914-763-0311; Mark Lavin, Vice President; Polly Schnell, Vice President; Bill Pink, Secretary; Andrew Serby, Treasurer; Carrie Kane David Marceau Beth Tessler Debra Verbeke Elisa Zuckerberg and Johanna Perlman, Past President
Shofar Editor Jolie Levy Shofar Publisher David Emmer
Friday, Sept 3/ Elul 24 Saturday, Sept 4
7:30 pm 10:00 am
Parshat Nitzavim-VaYelekh Bat Mitzvah of Leandra Fischman
Wednesday, Sept 8/ Tishre 1
8:00 pm
Erev Rosh HaShanah
Thursday, Sept 9
10:00 am 10:30 am 1:30 pm
Rosh HaShanah morning #1 Youth Service Tashlikh (at the Sterns’ home, 188 Smith Ridge Road)
2:30 pm
Children’s Service
Thursday, Sept 9/ Tishre 2
8:00 pm
Second Evening, Rosh HaShanah
Friday, Sept 10/
10:00 am
Rosh HaShanah morning #2
Friday, Sept 10/ Tishre 3
7:30 pm
Shabbat Shuva
Friday, Sept 17/ Tishre 10
8:00 pm
Kol Nidre
Saturday, Sept 18
10:00 am 10:30 am 2:00 pm 4:30 pm
Yom Kippur morning Youth Service Children’s Service Concluding Services (includes Yizkor)
Friday, Sept 24/Tishre 17
7:30 pm
Sukkot service
Saturday, Sept 25
10:00 am
Shabbat morning service
CHOIR If you would like to join the choir, or for more information, please contact Kathy Storfer at kstorfer@aol.com We welcome all adults -- 13 or older!
Av/Elul 5770
Jewish Family Congregation Shofar
The President’s Message My term as co-president with Jan Sanders began on July 1, 2010. I am delighted to take this opportunity to share some thoughts and memories of JFC. The board has been so focused on the budget, preparing yearly statements (with the extremely capable help of our office staff) and learning what else it is we really have to do, that I didn’t give this column much thought until, whoops – didn’t Jolie say she needed it tomorrow? So I quickly logged on to our website and reread the President’s Messages from the last six issues of the Shofar (that are now available on line) to see what I might write about. What has been the prevailing message? “What you need to do for the Congregation -financially and as a volunteer.” Since you have heard a lot about how much we depend on you, I thought I’d share some of the reasons why I’m sitting where I am. My wife Cathy and I moved to Pound Ridge in June of 1978, and our son was born the following January. My folks were first-generation eastern European Jews who were, as many of their generation, ardently Jewish by custom and convention but not very religious. Cathy was raised in a traditionally religious Catholic family, attending Catholic schools and weekly mass. Before we were married, we discussed “exposing” our kids to both religions so when they were old enough they could “decide for themselves” what they were. We realized, I think wisely, that at best, they might decide what they were but would not understand who they were. In 1984, a friend told us about High Holy Day services in a pretty white church in South Salem that anyone could attend for free. So off we went with my parents, a five-year old and a two-year old. My mother took a few minutes to adjust to the fact that she was actually in a church and the Rabbi, Steve Rosman, was only a boy. The service was unlike any I had ever attended but was also very familiar. We looked around at the other families who were all very different but similar to us in one way or another, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We officially joined JFC when Sam started Hebrew School in the fourth grade. He made new friends at JFC that he still sees today; this past June he attended a JFC classmate’s wedding. Outside of family, JFC was Sam’s and Rebecca’s only anchor to any kind of a Jewish community. Over those early years, I saw my kids develop a Jewish identity and an understanding of who they were as Jews and as children of an interfaith marriage. I was overjoyed at how comfortable it was for them. I know I gained a new perspective on who I was as a father, a husband, a son, and a Jew in Northern Westchester – a very different experience than it had been on the Upper West Side in the 50’s. How much of a role JFC played in this process is impossible to measure. Suffice it to say that we would not be anything like we are as a family and as individuals without the JFC experience. Bar and Bat Mitzvah -- first let me say that nobody, nobody, I knew as a kid was Bat Mitzvah -- girls got confirmed. They didn’t sit upstairs at B’nai Jershuran, but they sure didn’t sit on the bema unless, maybe, they were Bella Abzug or Golda Meir. Cantor Siegel was not our friend (or
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by Richard Mishkin teacher as far as I could tell), and the only reason I was able to chant my Torah portion was because of Shoshanna, who, in my 12-year old eyes, was the most beautiful woman in the world, and for $5 an hour she tutored me after school. My parents did read over my “today I am a man” speech, but that was about it. The B’nai Mitzvah experience for Sam and Rebecca at JFC had the same basic elements one would expect but wow, did it have more. The relationship our kids developed with the rabbi and cantor, the process of learning not just to recite or chant Hebrew but grasp what this “coming of age” meant and means, and the time we spent together as a family discussing, working, writing, planning, laughing (and maybe crying) is now part of our family’s core. A year or so before my nephew Max’s Bar Mitzvah and Sam’s that followed two months later, my mom was told she had about three months to live. She smiled and shook her finger at the doctor and said “oh no, I have two Bar Mitzvah’s to go to and dying is not an option.” She went to both, had the time of her life, was hoisted over head in a wheelchair while we danced the Hora, and passed away three months after Sam’s Bar Mitzvah. JFC was an integral part of one of the best years of her life. Another “only at JFC” story, in brief, was “where in the world is Rebecca’s Bat Mitzvah?” We were still waiting for the Certificate of Occupancy for the temple’s new home on Smith Ridge Road when we sent out invitations. No one was sure if it would be issued in time for us to use the building or resort to the church, so the invitation had both addresses listed with a note to call a voice mail number on Thursday after 12:00 PM (two days prior to “the day”) and find out where the service would be held. We made it, and it was great; lesson learned from JFC -- roll with the punches and make the best of what happens! I remember speaking at my dad’s funeral in 1998. There were far too many people for our building to accommodate, and I was humbled and moved by how many people came. But what also stays with me was what I heard, especially from colleagues (most of whom are not Jewish), when they called or visited: how lucky I was to have the comfort of and belong to such a wonderful, caring and loving community. Like everyone, we have had our share of happiness and joy, suffered illness and misfortune. But for the past 26 years, JFC has been a constant source of comfort, help, a place of reflection and prayer, and fun through it all. As I look at our congregation, I see familiar faces; and many I don’t know, but yet I do. The wonder of JFC is it has become a real community; its heart and soul is the sum of all of us, and when our members, trustees, religious leaders, staff, even our building change, we are still who we are – The Jewish Family Congregation. So though I could be fishing more, reading and spending more of my time in pursuit of the things that I love to do, I am honored to have been asked to serve as your copresident. How could I say no?
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Jewish Family Congregation Shofar
August 2010
Av/Elul 5770
Jewish Family Congregation Shofar
ONEG HOSTS August 6 Alan & Jeanette Sanders Greg & Ginger Schwartz BOARD HOST: Carrie Kane (914) 248-5254 August 13 Matthew & Julie Portnoy Andrew & Nicole Rose BOARD HOST: Jeanette Sanders (914) 763-0311 August 20 Leonardo & Allison Junquera Felice Kempler Raymond & Susan Valente BOARD HOST: David Marceau (203) 438-2177
Please find a substitute if you cannot host your assigned Oneg. Please contact the JFC Office with the names of the new hosts. Please contact your Board Host if you have any questions.
August 27 Ilene Benjamin & Heidi Auerbacher BOARD HOST: Andrew Serby (203) 894-1720
Have you checked out our Gift Shop lately? Stop in and take a look! The items change frequently! If you are interested in purchasing anything, please let the JFC Office know.
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Early Childhood Center By Fern Tannenbaum
Moving Up day has come and gone. It is hard to believe I just said goodbye to our departing four year olds. They have grown and learned so much over the year and are more than ready to move on to their new schools. Included in this Shofar you will find some great pictures of the wonderful ceremony and reception held to mark this special event. I am very fortunate to be able to see many of these students again as they will be back at Jewish Family Congregation attending the Religious School Kindergarten class next year. With the Moving Up ceremony having taken place only a few short weeks before it is hard to believe I am already planning for the coming year and a few new changes. As everyone knows, some things change and some things stay the same. I am happy to announce that many of the things we love about the ECC will stay the same but will also feel brand new. Our beautiful classrooms will be freshly cleaned to show off the new carpets and furniture acquired last year. The experienced ECC teachers will be returning with new ideas that they cannot wait to implement. Ellen Weisberg, our social worker and educator, will be with us again to continue to provide support and parenting advice to our parents and educational support to our teachers. She may even offer new “Parenting Coffees” to create a continuing parent dialog. Our returning children will also be taller and more ready to take on the challenges of being in an older class while our new students will be full of wonder upon viewing their classrooms filled with new toys and friends. In fact, everything that is wonderful about the ECC will remain the same and yet feel brand new. We will continue to have music in class and our weekly Shabbatot, but there will also be new songs interspersed with our usual repertoire. In addition, there will be many trips taken during the year but this year they will be to new and exciting places. Even our challah, which we eat every week to celebrate Shabbat, will taste better. This is because the challot will be coming from Steve’s Bagels in Ridgefield Connecticut. These extra delicious challot will be the same ones we will be selling as part of our Challah Fundraiser. You are invited to participate in the ECC fundraiser by purchasing a school year’s worth of these challot. The challah will be available for pick-up each Friday morning at JFC when school is in session. These are many of the new things that are already in place for next year, but more exciting and new activities will be coming from the Early Childhood Committee that will be headed by our new chairs, Rachel Clott and Elise Serby. I am anxiously awaiting some wonderful events for the students and the parents. New and special Shabbat experiences are being planned as well as fundraisers and get-togethers. There will be more parenting classes with current topics that are sure to guide and interest even the most proficient parents. One thing that makes our Early Childhood Committee special is that it is open to all of the parents of children who are enrolled in the school as well as to one or two JFC members at large. Please consider
joining this terrific committee which is dedicated to improving the ECC in every area including Tzedakah, fundraising, communication, special activities and parent events. Shabbat In the Great Outdoors or SITGO is a great time to reconnect with friends from the ECC whether they are children or adults so I hope many of our families will have an opportunity to attend at least one of these lively services before school begins. They take place on June 25, July 23 and August 20. In fact, High Holiday services will also happen before the ECC begins, on the evening of September eighth, and that will be an excellent opportunity for the ECC families to meet our entire JFC community. Our first day of school will begin on Monday, September13th with fifteen minute visits for the children in the daytime and Parent Orientation at night. Summer has a way of soothing the soul and making time appear to move more slowly with longer and warmer days. Here at the ECC summer is a time of renewal and planning. Please enjoy every ray of sunlight and sweet vacation day and know that when the Early Childhood Center opens its doors again in September we will be ready to begin a new year with the same quality program and many great new changes.
4’S MOVING-UP DAY
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The Religious School by Leslie Gottlieb
Change can be a huge challenge-- but it can be a very good thing, as we know. Take for example the case of Linda Yates and Paul Holland of Silicon Valley…. They have decided to build the greenest house possible. This is a good thing for sure and their experience will provide lessons for us all, good and bad I am sure. Here’s what they have told one author: “The couple’s 5,600-square-foot home will be outfitted with a host of aggressively ecofriendly technologies and materials: a recycled-steel roof that diverts rainwater to a 50,000-gallon underground cistern; reclaimed stone left over from the construction of Chicago skyscrapers; solar panels powerful enough to provide electricity to the home, charge five electric cars, and still return energy to the grid; a cedar interior cut from sustainable forests (where trees are selectively harvested to minimize environmental damage); doors and windows of Portuguese eucalyptus approved by the Forest Stewardship Council; oak floors salvaged from old granaries; recycled-glass sinks; a recycled-steel kitchen hood. The house has no paint, ducts, or HVAC, and it uses no fossil fuels. Sliding glass walls let in the breeze during the summer, and in the winter the home’s ground-source heat-exchange system pumps water deep underground to be warmed by the Earth’s thermal energy, then pushes it up to heat the floorboards. The home’s climate, lighting, and irrigation will be controlled remotely—by iPad, of course.” Very inspiring!
that good. We tried to get them to deliver to us in the past, but with the help of Elise Serby and her personal relationship with Steve’s, Mark is now on board. Please do consider support of this program run by both the Religious School and ECC. It is “Shabbat in a bag” as we like to say— that is, if you can hold off picking at it until Friday night. Also next year, the school will begin a student government program yet to be named. Students in all grades can volunteer for this but only two representatives from each grade will be chosen lottery style for each semester. We will work to get as many students involved as possible over the years. Student government members will help plan events and vote on various issues that affect the Religious School. We want to open up this kind of participation so that our student body feels truly invested in things that directly address their concerns. It is also a great way to build community. Next up is our new “Rock Shabbat” program to be led entirely by our Youth Group. This Friday evening service (to be held twice during the year on November 19 and January 28) will take place from 6:30-7:00 PM prior to the regular evening service, and these services will count twice toward our STARS requirement to encourage as much participation as possible. We strongly urge parents to put these dates aside now. We are trying hard to accommoYou MUST check out this awesome date everyone’s schedules and this program will especially shopping card program! help those families with younger siblings and grandparents who can join the family for a Shabbat dinner at home beIt’s so EASY! fore heading over to JFC. Of course, all are welcome and we hope that many of you will stay on for the JFC 7:30 PM Tons of vendors you already love! service if possible—or for part of it anyway. Speaking of the STARS program, we will initiate a grade And, of course, you’re helping JFC. -wide competition to stimulate renewed interest for our KCall the JFC Office for details! grade 6 students. The two grades that accumulate the most number of Friday night services across the board during the school year will enable their entire grades to participate in the STARS party. There will be a sign-in register So it is with great delight that I share some new changes for all students in the Youth Lounge so remember to check for the Religious School beginning this fall. We will not be in and get the credit you deserve. More details on that will rewiring the building or installing solar panels anytime follow. soon—but all the same we will try to keep conscious of This year the school will host two very special events: a turning off lights, redoubling our effort to recycle—that Talent Show (December 18 from 5:30-7:00 PM) and Bingo sort of thing. Protecting the environment is a distinctly Night (Saturday, February 5 from 5:00-6:00 PM). Bingo Jewish—and human—value. More importantly for our stu- Night will be used as a fund raising event for the Religious dents and their families there are some other interesting School and TIKVA. We will offer this program instead of changes and additions. the Walk of Hope this year as a way of changing it up a bit. In the fall, we will be using a new vendor for our school We ran a bingo event twice in the past and the crowds challah fund raising program. Everyone always talks loved it! We hope you will be able to join us for both of about the challah from Steve’s in Ridgefield even with the these fun activities. More information about the Talent eponymous Steve now gone. Mark is the new proprietor Show will be available shortly. Students need to practice and he has happily agreed to deliver challot to us each their instruments over the summer months and learn a Thursday. Seriously, the challah is not to be believed; it is (Continued on page 21)
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Jewish Family Congregation Shofar
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JFC 2010-11 Religious School Opening Day Schedules School/Congregational calendar will be out shortly (then available at www.jewishfamilycongregation.org)
Grades K-3 First Thursday Sept. 16th - 4:15-5:15 PM only NOTE: NOT A REGULAR CLASS SCHEDULE 4:15-4:45 PM Parents & students meet with teachers in classrooms for an informal gathering 4:45-5:15 PM Parents and students meet with the rabbi and school director in the sanctuary
Next regular schedule day for Thursdays: Oct. 7 due to Sukkot) ***************************************************
Grades 4-6 First Sunday
Sept. 19- 9 AM- 12 PM (Regular Day) 11:30-12:00 PM Teachers “Meet & Greet” with parents in classes while students attend a service in the sanctuary *Dismissal from classrooms *****************************************************
Grade 7 First Monday, Sept. 20 (Special Program Day)
Students meet at JFC at 4 PM on September 20 for the HHD Food Drive Dismissal at 6 PM at La Famiglia in Katonah Shopping Center
First Regular Class on Monday September 27- 4:20 PM-6:15 PM (Regular Day)
FIRST CHALLAH DELIVERY: THURSDAY, OCT. 7
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Jewish Family Congregation Shofar
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The JFC Social Action Committee On June 12th, the Social Action Committee conducted another successful Midnight Run, and we want to thank each and every one of you who facilitated its success. It was a wonderful collaborative effort and we brought food, clothing and a little caring and conversation to the many homeless men, and quite a few women, that we met. Again, we had donations from the South Salem Presbyterian Church of bag dinners, toiletries and clothing, and two young women from the church came with us on the run, Natalie and Lauren Reddy. JFC congregants who attended the run were: Sierra Shafer and her dad Pat, Sean Kaplan and his dad Peter, Curt Shulman, Jeanette Sanders, Debbie and Mark Lavin. Thanks to the "runners" for the meals they contributed, and also for the meals that were contributed by Fran Apfel, Zach and Michael Horwitz, Sue Kaufman, Carrie Kane, and Abigail Gabor and her mother Lisa Papernik. You will be pleased to know that every ounce of food was given out and gratefully received by the homeless in Manhattan that evening. An especially huge thank you to our drivers, Mark Lavin and Pat Shafer, who maneuvered the city's streets and stayed awake for the long ride home in the wee hours of the morning . Those of us who participated arrived home somewhere in the vicinity of 5 a.m. exhausted, gratified and enriched by our experience. Please see the note written by Peter Kaplan praising the experience. We will be doing two Midnight Runs in the fall; the dates will be set soon. We encourage the new B'nai Mitzvah class to consider coming on one of the fall runs -- it is a moving experience and it would be great to get a jump on your Mitzvah projects! We would also appreciate bag dinner-making from the B'nai Mitzvah families. Some
families could get together to coordinate a number of B'nai Mitzvah families to make bag dinners and take responsibility for all 60-90 dinners! Let us know if you're interested-- taking charge of coordinating all the meals would make a great project, even if you cannot come on the run itself. We are again in need of donations of gently used men's clothing (we do not need women's or children's clothing). The following are always needed: men's jeans; backpacks; sneakers; belts; hooded zipper sweatshirts; blankets; winter coats, hats, gloves, scarves; new men's jockey-style underwear; new white athletic socks. Toiletry items: disposable razors, mini-shaving cream, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mini-deodorant, washcloths; gallon-sized ziploc bags. (We have enough shampoos and soaps for now, thanks to Ed Verbeke and many others!) We are accepting donations for the fall and winter runs next year, so if you are giving away a man’s jacket, hats or gloves, please keep us in mind. We package the toiletries in gallon-sized ziploc bags, so donations of those are welcome as well. Cases of water are also always welcome. Financial donations in support of the midnight run help us to purchase toiletries that we are short of and new socks and underwear. Thanks again to all contributors for sharing and being part of such a terrific run. We really couldn't do it without the support and assistance of all the families who contributed. Please keep up your efforts so we can continue to take part in this very important program. Best regards, Jan Sanders & Debbie Lavin Social Action Chairs
Want to help too? Call Debra Lavin (232-0756) or Jeanette Sanders (763-0311)
Top row (left to right): Mark Lavin, Peter Kaplan, Curt Shulman, Pat Shafer, Sean Kaplan Bottow row (left to right): Jan Sanders, Lauren Reddy, Natalie Reddy, Sierra Shafer Front row: Sanders’ dog, "Buddy"
Jan, First, my thanks to you and all the volunteers who plan and organize the event for months in advance, and collect all the clothes and prepare the food that enables the Midnight Run event to be a success. Second, this was a very worthwhile experience for both myself and my son, Sean, and “eye opening,” allowing us to get up close and personal with people who literally have nothing and are truly appreciative for the helping hand and caring support that the Midnight Run organization provides. We are generally blind to the plight of the homeless, and it felt great to brighten the day (or in this case the dawn) of New York City’s downtrodden and provide a glimmer of hope for those in great need. It felt great to volunteer our time and make a difference to help improve the lives of our “fellow man.” The personal satisfaction from helping others made the experience very worthwhile. I plan to take my twin boys, Greg & Zach, on a future Midnight Run. Best, Peter Kaplan
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JFC WELCOMES NEW MEMBERS: Allan and Alice Gottlieb of South Salem, NY Their children: David and Mari, Michael and Maureen And Mom, Eva Schenk Rich and Miriam Wetchler of Pound Ridge, NY And their children: Stella, Jacob and Zachary New WJCS Project: Baby Naming Bima Baskets WJCS has launched a new project -- Baby Naming Bima Baskets, asking new parents to “share your joy” and at your baby naming consider decorating with a basket of layette items to donate to WJCS consumers in need. Among the items being collected are receiving blankets, disposable diapers, bottles, baby wipes, children’s books, onesies, bibs and towels. For more info, contact Meryl Lewis at 7610600 X222 or mlewis@wjcs.com. WJCS JEWISH SPIRITUAL HEALING CENTER SETS FALL/WINTER SCHEDULE Beginning September 2 the WJCS Jewish Spiritual Healing Center is offering a variety of programs including Spiritual Support Groups, Spiritual Journeying Groups and Healing Services. For information go to http://tinyurl.com/wjcs-healcenter or contact Rabbi Pamela Wax, WJCS Spiritual Care Coordinator, at pwax@wjcs.com or 914-761-0600 X149.
TASHLIKH, JFC-style
Tutoring High School and Middle School SAT and ACT Prep. Michael Horwitz, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., LMHC Professor of Academic Strategies Instruction (914) 533-1141 Mikewitz@aol.com
Our sages knew that a ritual benefits from an action or activity. And for the act of getting rid of our sins, they gave us the Tashlikh ceremony. We bring breadcrumbs to a body of water, and we cast the crumbs into it, as we would cast away our sins. This is a brief and delightful ceremony, especially attractive to children (of all ages!). We do it on the first day of Rosh HaShanah, directly after the morning service, at 1:30 pm. Some drive down the road to park their cars on the lot of Stevens Memorial United Methodist Church, and from there to walk across Rte 123 to the home of John and Barbara Stern, at # 188. Others will walk down the road (under police escort); this takes about half an hour, and is a nice break between the services. Please bring your own breadcrumbs. Following the short service (don’t be late...you’ll miss it!), we return to the tent for the Family Service, advertised for 2:30 pm. Many families regard the Tashlikh service as the informal beginning of the Family Service.
The Tzedakah of the Month For
AUGUST is
“Support Connection's Annual Support-A-Walk” Selected by the
JFC Social Action Committee (see page 25 for more information)
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Jewish Family Congregation Shofar
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ASK THE RABBI Question: I see that Tisha B’Av was observed this year on July 20. How come we didn’t do anything to observe it, here at JFC? Answer: Tisha B’Av, (Hebrew: the ninth {day} of Av) is the occasion on which Jews have traditionally mourned the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, not once, but twice on that exact date. First, in 586 BCE, the Babylonians destroyed the Temple that Solomon had built in the late 10th century BCE. Then the Babylonians exiled the leadership of the Jewish world to Babylon. When Babylon itself was defeated by the Persians, the victorious leader, Cyrus the Great permitted the Jews to return to their land and to rebuild the temple. Later, the Temple was enhanced by Herod the Great, and then it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. At that time, the Romans destroyed Jewish Jerusalem as well. Coincidence? Orthodox Jews would say no; they would argue that God used the Babylonians and the Romans to punish the Jews for their transgressions; otherwise the Temple, from their perspective, could not have been destroyed. Reform Judaism does not take issue with the amazing timing of these two events. There are other significant occasions in Jewish history that also took place on (or very close to) this same date, including the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and several events during the Holocaust. However, Reform Judaism does not consider the destruction of the Temple the great tragedy that Orthodox Judaism sees in it. First, the Temple was the site of animal sacrifices, something we reject as a form of worship. Second, it was the domain of the priests, the kohanim, who were the pinnacle of the caste system of the Jewish people, something
that Reform also rejects as inconsistent with the values of democracy and merit, since, to be a priest, kohen, you have to be (male and) born into the right family. And third, we are aware that Jewish spiritual life, while it revolved around the temple, was mainly a “spectator sport”, a series of rituals and choreography that were performed by the priests, kohanim, and the Levites, their assistants, in which the majority had no role or function. Reform is inclined to celebrate what happened after the temple was destroyed. The kohanim were stunned by the loss of the Temple; the earliest of the rabbis stepped into the void, and they created the origins of Jewish religious life as we know it today. They taught that the family dinner table was to replace the priests’ altar, and that instead of sacrifices, Jews would now offer verbal prayer, including the many blessings over food. They created rituals to concretize the teachings of Torah (lighting Shabbat candles to make the day holy; wearing t’fillen to fulfill the commandment to put God’s words between our eyes and on our arms; a seder ritual that did not involve the eating of the Passover sacrifice; etc.), and took the emphasis off the Temple and put it on the Torah. In so doing, they made Judaism a very portable religion, and that was the key to the survival of Judaism from then onward. Jewish history shows how our people went from one location to another, reconstituting Jewish communal life everywhere they went. Had the Temple remained the central focus of Judaism, this could not have happened. So we Reform Jews do not, generally, mark Tisha B’Av. I personally concluded that this was a meaningless experience for me when I observed Tisha B’Av (fasting from dawn to dusk) the year I was a student in Jerusalem. How could I mourn the loss of Jewish Jerusalem when I was living in it myself? And since I reject the ideas of animal sacrifice and the inherited priesthood, I have not pushed JFC members to participate in a Tisha B’Av service; it is difficult to assemble a minyan mid-week, and even more so in July than during the regular year. Please let me know your thoughts on this subject.
BLOOD DRIVE We will again be holding our annual Blood Drive on Veteran's Day, November 11. PLEASE plan to donate blood. Call Debbie (232-0756) or Jeanette (763-0311) if you want to volunteer to help organize the drive or otherwise help out. This is a significant community service that can save many lives.
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YAHRZEITS Ferdinand Aufsesser Samuel Berger Sadie Dutka Theresa Ehrman Sam Feinleib Abraham Feldman Seymour Kalter Dina Leitner Edward Mendell Dax Nemerov
Kenneth Rosenthal Henry Salmon Joseph Salpeter Melvin Tessler Janet Treitman
Please call the JFC Office when any relevant information arises or changes so all Birthday, Anniversary and Yahrzeit listings are accurate and up to date. JFC can only list names/dates that have been reported to us.
ANNIVERSARIES Mark & Donata Albert Jeffrey Berg & Debra Paget Theodore Bloch & Lisa Block Jonathan Clott & Rachel Africk-Clott Adam & Robyn Cohen David & Sally Firestein Allan & Ellen Goldstein Lawrence & Leslie Gottlieb Richard & Lydia Hellinger David & Erica Levens Harold & Ruth Ossher Linda & Douglas Paulding Steven Sturm & Amy Rackear Harry & Sandra Rosenhouse Steven & Judy Vandervelden Rich & Miriam Wetchler David Warren & Lauren Zeltzer
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BIRTHDAYS Marc Alintoff Zachary Amerling Adam Andrade Charlotte Bellinson Ilene Benjamin Samantha Berg Richard Bersch Andrew Boies Barbara Boies Zachary Boies Cole Brand Jason Breslin Dr. Dan Brodoff Debra Cohen Benny Davis Jane Emmer David Firestein Dillon Firestein Sally Firestein David Fischer Lillian Gilbert Mr. Michael Gitlitz Abbey Grzymala Dillon Haims Nicole Haims Abel Hansonbrook Alexandra Helburn
Alexander Junquera Spencer Kane Peter Kaplan Spencer Kaplan Hillary Lavin Dylan Leitner Emily Malamet Aaron Mathias Sarah Raimondi Emma Richman David Salz Alan Sanders Debbie Schefer Carly Schwartz Anthony Senese Steve Shainmark Denise Simon Brian Smith John Stern J. J. Stevelman Robert Strongin Matthew Tessler Paul Tessler Zoe Vandervelden Marc Waldman Zarabeth Waldman
Please consider celebrating significant birthdays and anniversaries with a leaf on our Simcha Tree of Life. Call the JFC Office for details.
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Don’t miss this great offer… Purchase a 5 X 7 photo of your child’s entire grade set in an attractive paper fold (including your child’s teacher and Rabbi Freedman).
This will be a special keepsake!! As your child moves up through the grades each year, he/she will have a way to remember and cherish all of his/her Hebrew school friends. When your child is in his/her Bnai Mitzvah year, won’t it be amazing to look back at friends who started at JFC with him/her?
Each grade photo: $18 Grade photos will be taken during school on… Thursday, October 7
(Grades K-3)
Saturday, October 16
(Grade 7, 10:45 AM)
Sunday, October 17
(Grades 4-6)
Grades K-7: Return the form below with payment on or before Monday, Oct. 20th to your child’s teacher or the Religious School office. JFC Religious School Photo Fundraiser ($18 each) 1.
Student Name: ________________________________________________________ Grade: ______
2.
Student Name: ________________________________________________________ Grade: ______
3.
Teacher: ________________________________________________
Student Name: ________________________________________________________ Grade: ______
4.
Teacher: ________________________________________________
Teacher: ________________________________________________
Student Name: ________________________________________________________ Grade: ______
Teacher: ________________________________________________
Total fee included: $ _____________ Total number of photos ordered: _________
Please support this very special fundraiser.
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2010-11JFC Religious School Challah Program Featuring (new vendor) Steve’s Bagels in Ridgefield Want to make Shabbat a special time in your home ? A fresh-baked challah on hand can help distinguish Friday Evening dinners from all the others. Use the form below to register. All proceeds go to the Religious School fund. Challah will be distributed during our K-3 program on Thursdays (all school participants may register if Thursday pick up of order is possible). Your challah will be wrapped in a plastic bag so that it will be fresh for Shabbat. If your child is absent, we will hold it for you until noon on that Friday. If we do not hear from you, the items will be donated to that week’s Oneg Shabbat.
2010-11 Challah Dates: October 7– April 28 (22 dates) If we cancel school on a Thursday due to weather conditions, additional days will be added at the end of the school year . you will receive notification.
School year cost: $143 ($6.50 each; 22 dates) ******************************************************************** Please return
2010-11 JFC Religious School Challah Program Student’s Name: ________________________________________________________ (last) (first) Grade: ________
Teacher: (for office to fill in) _______________
Payment/ Total Amount issued: $_____________________________ Payment Form: ___________________Home phone #: (____)_______-__________
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Please Support our Advertisers
JFC CLASSIFIED ALL ADS ARE A FLAT $18 AND MAY NOT EXCEED 50 WORDS. THEY WILL RUN FOR ONE MONTH ONLY. To place an ad, submit the text and your payment to the JFC Office. You may email the text to jfcoffc@gmail.com and either drop off or mail your check (payable to JFC). Credit card payments are also accepted.
ShopWithScrip! And help support JFC at no cost to you while shopping at the stores you already visit!
If you have not yet created an account with ShopWithScrip, please contact the JFC Office and we’ll get you started! It’s easy! It’s free! And there are many exciting offers!
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Kids Ask the Rabbi Question: What language is Jewish?
Yiddish is a very rich and colourful language, which, unfortunately, is not spoken very much anyAnswer: Some people used to refer to Yiddish more. It was replaced by Hebrew as the language as “Jewish”…and in fact, the two words probably of the Jewish people when Hebrew became the mean about the same thing. So I am guessing that spoken language of the State of Israel. you are referring to Yiddish. Yiddish words have found their way into EngBut it is really not correct to identify Yiddish lish, and many people, including non-Jews, use them as Jewish, because today we use the term “Jewish” very often: think of schlemiel; chutzpah; and my to refer to a person’s religion, or a person’s culpersonal favourite, farklempt. tural identity, and we do not use it to identify a There have been many books written about Yidlanguage. dish recently, and there is a place in MassachuYiddish is a language that was created when setts called The Yiddish Book Center, which colJews settled in places like Germany, Poland, Russia lects and preserves Yiddish books from all over the and others that today are considered “Eastern world; the folks who work there are trying to preEurope”. They picked up some of the language of serve Yiddish as a spoken language. the country they came to, and combined it with It is important to note that there is another Hebrew, which has always been the language of the language that grew the same way that Yiddish did, Jewish people. They wrote this new language in but it combined Hebrew and Spanish; today that Hebrew characters, but they pronounced it more language is called Ladino, or Judeo-Espanol. It was like whichever local language they learned. created by the Jews of Spain and was carried There are various dialects of Yiddish, which ex- from there to parts of the Arab world when the plains why a person from Poland who spoke Yiddish Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492. There are mixed with Polish could not necessarily understand a number of musical groups preserving the Ladino a person from Hungary. The parts they could all heritage, and the music, not surprisingly, incorpounderstand were those that came from Hebrew. rates some of the Spanish musical style. All of these languages have been and can be spoken by people who are not Jewish, so they are better identified by their proper names than by “Jewish”. I encourage everyone to learn some Yiddish, because it is such a lively language. Ask your parents and grandparents whether they know any Yiddish.
Have you checked out the JFC Blog yet? Go to www.jfc.rjblogs.org
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OPENING DAY at EISNER CAMP July 27, 2010
Andrew Emmer
Claire Lichtman
Jacob Furic
Jeremy Fischer
Renna Gottlieb
Sam Fischer
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The Religious School (cont’d) few show tunes by December. Everyone is welcome so make sure to reserve tickets for your family when they are made available. This will be the first full year (2010-11) that the URJ Camp Fund sponsored by the Religious School will be in place. The board happily approved this fund during this school year and we have been getting many contributions and encourage yours. There will be an application process for anyone interested/eligible in applying for funds collected. Our URJ camp presentation will be held on Sunday, November 14, directly after Religious School at noon. Running it this early in the year will help folks decide if these camps are right for them when it’s early enough (we hope) to register. Call the individual camp/s sooner to reserve a spot just to be sure. Finally, the end of the school year will be an exciting time for not just students but for all congregants and community members. Since the calendar for grades 4-6 will afford us an unusually early end-time in May, the school and congregation will co-host a family Tag Sale Carnival event on Sunday, May 1, and begin during Religious School. The STARS kids will get to make good use of the
Todah Rabbah from the Religious School to… Jolie Levy for her organizational help as we plan for the next school year
Fern Tannenbaum for her ongoing support of the Religious School
Andrew Serby for his continued support
lawn inflatable (wouldn’t a giant water slide be fun?) before the actual event begins. Hold the rain date, too (Sunday, May 8). There will be lots more to share about this in the coming months but start saving/organizing your family’s piles of old ice skates, garden tools and sand toys because, as they say, one man’s/woman’s garbage is another man’s/woman’s treasure. Everyone stands to win and have fun that day. Don’t worry, the face paint will be washable but we can’t be held responsible for all of the fun foods you may consume that afternoon. Seriously…. This is gonna be big!!! So we look forward to this year, especially with all of these great additions/changes to our already wonderful educational program—even if we can’t turn JFC into a completely green environment like the couple mentioned earlier in this column. Besides all of the great teachers and wonderful religious/holiday activities we run, there will now be new ways for you to get and stay involved. We look forward to your continued support in the coming year. A happy and healthy New Year to all!
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Now Registering for Fall 2010
Limited Spaces Available for 2’s, 3’s and 4’s Don’t let your child miss out All registration forms are available on our website: www.jewishfamilycongregation.org Click on Education, then ECC
ECC Lunch-Bunchers This year we will be offering: Karate Cooking Nature 2010-2011 Religious School Registration
Lunch-Bunch takes place Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays 12:00 - 1:00
All forms available now at: www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
And is available for all of our 3- and 4-year old ECC friends
Early: Feb. 10-Mar. 17 Regular: Mar. 18-May 11 Summer: May 12-Aug. 31
Watch for details!
Registration periods: (rates increase each period)
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Donations to JFC Last Month Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund Elizabeth Goodman The Blum Family (Michelle, Josh, Sam, Isaiah, Ella) Dr. Resa & Charles Fremed Religious School Fund The Blum Family (Michelle, Josh, Sam, Isaiah, Ella)
In Memory Of Julius L. Goodman In Honor Of Rabbi Carla Freedman on the occasion of Sam’s Bar Mitzvah With love and best wishes for Lila Gordon In Honor Of Leslie Gottlieb, Ruth Ossher and Linda Paulding on the occasion of Sam’s Bar Mitzvah
Music & Choir Fund The Blum Family (Michelle, Josh, Sam, Isaiah, Ella)
In Honor Of Cantor Kerry Ben-David on the occasion of Sam’s Bar Mitzvah
JFC-URJ Camp Fund Eileen Laxer Sid & Liz Geller Philip & Barbara Finn
In Honor of Barbara Stern’s 70th Birthday In Honor of Barbara Stern’s 70th Birthday In Honor of Barbara Stern’s 70th Birthday
Tree of Life Simcha Leaf The Blum Family (Michelle, Josh, Isaiah, Ella)
In Honor Of Samuel Leo Blum on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah
SUPPORT-A-WALK -- OCTOBER 3 On Sunday, October 3, members from JFC will participate for the 3rd year in Support Connection's annual SupportA-Walk at FDR State Park in Yorktown Heights. Support Connection provides free personalized support programs for people affected by breast and ovarian cancer. The walk is held to raise breast and ovarian cancer awareness with all proceeds benefiting Support Connection's free services. The three-mile walk begins at 10am, with prewalk activities starting at 9am. JFC already has a team formed - men, women, and children are all welcome! To join the team and help us raise money online, follow these simple steps: 1. Go to http://www.firstgiving.com/jewishfamilycongregation 2. Click on "Join this Team" on the right hand side 3. Click on "Join Now" 4. Enter your email and password to create your account 5. Create your page and start fundraising! Please let Debra Paget (dpaget@aol.com) know if you are planning on walking with the team. If you can't walk with us but would like to make a donation to support our fundraising efforts, you can make donations directly on the team's home page: http://www.firstgiving.com/jewishfamilycongregation
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Remember How Much Fun We Had? The Shekel Shop Blowout
The Youth Group Party
The STARS Party
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August 2010 - Av/Elul 5770 Sun 1
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Service 7:30 Tot Shabbat 18
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SITGO Shabbat in the Great Outdoors Picnic 6:30pm Service 7:30 Tot Shabbat 22
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Service 7:30 Tot Shabbat 29
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Jewish Family Congregation 111 Smith Ridge Rd/Rte. 123 P.O. Box 249 South Salem, NY 10590
CURRENT RESIDENT OR
Non Profit Organization Postage PAID White Plains, NY Permit No. 9022