Shofar Shevat/Adar 5772
Jewish Family Congregation www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
February 2012
From the Rabbi’s Desk Many years ago, a good friend of mine, a member of our little Reform congregation in Winnipeg, got it into his head that he should be the next president of the congregation. When someone else was chosen by the nominating committee, he sued the congregation; the judge threw the suit out of court. I relate this story to make the point that the internal politics of a synagogue are a breeding ground for factions, for power struggles and for enlarged egos. This applies to all synagogues, in all places, at all times. We all know the story of the Jew finally rescued on a tiny tropical island, who shows his rescuers the two synagogues he built there, the one he goes to and the one he would never go to. He’s the only person on the island, yet he gets into synagogue politics without hesitation! I had thought, for the first 13 1/2 years of my service to JFC, that we had escaped the curse of internal politics, and it really did seem that way. This was especially gratifying because I am well aware that my predecessor’s 2 years here were fraught with just those kinds of problems. The secular year just concluded was a year of internal politics and this turbulence has really distracted us from doing the job we are here together to do: to create and nurture community, so that we are a source of comfort, inspiration, and joy for each other and for our community as a whole. If this congregation is to succeed, then we have to get back to our real purpose, and put factionalism aside. I ask you to join me in this. From the Rabbi’s Desk President’s Message Service Schedule Recent Donations to JFC Early Childhood Center The Religious School Kids Ask the Rabbi
page page page page page page page
1 2 5 6 7 11 12
We have shaken up the JFC Shabbat schedule and introduced several new elements, in the hope of meeting more people’s needs, and offering more opportunities for congregants to get to know each other. I hope you will take advantage of them. These include more Youth Group led services; some early services for pre-schoolers and their families; some pot-luck-dinner-and-laterservices; some musical services; in addition to all the usual programmatic Shabbatot (grade services, festival and holiday services, etc). On Saturdays we have added a few lunch n learn programs, from 11 am till 1 pm, to return to the tradition of study and thinking about important Jewish matters on Shabbat. Beginning in February, on Tuesday evenings (except the 2nd Tuesday, when the Ritual Committee meets), I am offering a Beginners’ Hebrew class, at 7:30 pm. If you cannot read Hebrew, this is the class for you…you will learn to follow in the prayerbook, and even to read aloud correctly; comprehension is another matter, requiring much more time than a class once a week. But you can learn to read Hebrew this way, and you will certainly increase your comfort in services. The Board of Trustees has also scheduled a list of social events, intended to give congregants an opportunity to get to know each other, outside of services. These activities range from a revival of the Women’s Group to a series of sporting activities: golf; tennis; and skating; some for the whole family and others for adults only. I hope you’ll support these as well. And there will be a series of fundraising events also.
JiFTY Birthdays/Annivs/Yahrzeits Ask the Rabbi February Oneg Hosts Donations Form JFC’s February Calendar
page page page page page page
17 18 22 24 30 31
Please Support Our Advertisers