Messenger October 2016

MESSENGER

100

volume

FROMBâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;NAI THE RABBI HIGHLIGHTS THECALENDAR SYNAGOGUE | CONGREGATION EMUNAH | TULSA | OCTOBER 2016 | NO. 10

ALL THE HOLIDAY MEALS FOR OCTOBER. SEE PAGES 3 & 4 FOR DETAILS

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PERSONALS

MASTHEAD

BEREAVEMENTS

THE MESSENGER

Isadore “Izzy” Levine Husband of Linda Levine

October 2016 - Published Monthly | Bi-Monthly

CONGREGATION B’NAI EMUNAH

Khalid Jabara Brother of Victoria Jabara Williams

1719 South Owasso Tulsa, Oklahoma 74120 Office: (918) 583‑7121 School: (918) 585‑KIDS Fax: (918) 747-9696 Website: www.tulsagogue.com

Terence Crutcher Son of Rev. Joey and Leanna Crutcher

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news. (Isaiah 52:7)

Fannye Rae “Bunny” Marshak

CENTENNIAL NOTES

NOTES

YOUR HELP NEEDED

Please note that the last edition of the Messenger stated that one of our two ornamental platters was gifted to the Synagogue by Vicki and Dr. David Hurewitz. In reality, both of the platters we now display were part of their gift.

We’re planning a big Centennial Year display of yarmulkas (kippot) imprinted for special occasions/life cycle events. If your drawers are full of them, please drop your surplus at the Synagogue. We are also eager to accomplish a project that will require many unused tallitot (tallises). Whatever you can pass along would be very helpful! We’re grateful to say that many of you have started to send your historic pictures to the Synagogue. Please keep them coming, either for the purpose of copying or direct donation. Our archive needs your help this year!

PLEASE CONTRIBUTE TO ART FROM THE HEART BY DROPPING OFF FRAMED WORKS AT THE SYNAGOGUE. HEADED BY DR. MELISSA WEISS, THIS PROJECT HELPS TURN APARTMENTS FOR THE HOMELESS

The same is true for copies of the Messenger, postcards from the Synagogue, or anything that would fall into the category of paper ephemera. We’ve made good use of this material and intend to keep at it.

INTO COMFORTABLE, APPEALING HOMES.

Would you like to participate in the Synagogue’s Centennial Year writing project? Called My Jewish Tulsa, it will feature essays by Dr. Joli Jensen, Eva Unterman, Jason Brimer, Nathan Levit, and many others about the meaning of Jewish life in our city. Please call Rabbi Fitzerman for details.

ON THE COVER This serigraph is part of our collection of works by Lynne Feldman, a talented maker of folkloric Jewish images. Given to us by the family and friends of Leona Glazer, it honors one of her many milestone birthdays. Feldman captures many truths about our community and its holidays, from the egalitarian arrangements of American Jewish families, to the superabundance of Sukkot itself. Especially appealing is the figure of the young boy, who reaches energetically toward the platter of drumsticks on the table. He is the very image of enthusiastic hunger.

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THE OCTOBER CALENDAR AT B’NAI EMUNAH 2-4

16-18

ROSH HA-SHANAH

No tickets, just you. All you have to do is walk through the door. There are no admission requirements of any kind for High Holiday services at Congregation B’nai Emunah. Sit where you like and bring friends who might appreciate a spirited observance of this Jewish New Year. We’ll be waiting for you just inside. Rosh Ha-Shanah evening services begin on Sunday, October 2, at 6:00 p.m. with a short, spirited opening celebration. The next two days, services begin at 9:00 a.m. Sermons will be delivered around 10:45 a.m. Music, big ideas and spending time with community are powerful ways to start the New Year. We hope to see you there.

In honor of the holiday of Sukkot, we invite school-aged children and their families to Footsteps to the Sukkah. Help us decorate the Synagogue Sukkah with your family’s story of arrival in Tulsa on Sunday, October 16, following Religious School. Please be sure to come prepared with a bit of family history, as we decorate the sukkah with beautiful stories of our members and their families arriving in the United States and in Tulsa. Of course, we will also be learning about the holiday itself. The program will begin with a pizza lunch at $5 per person following Religious School and will go until 2:00 p.m. Please be sure to RSVP to Sara by October 13. Sukkot occupies an unparalleled place on the Jewish calendar. After weeks of introspection, we go outside to celebrate in our wonderful surroundings. Yom Tov services will take place on September 17 and 18, beginning both mornings at 9:00 a.m. Assuming beautiful weather, we will chant services in the sukkah. We’ll shake lulavs and etrogim and connect with the world beyond the confines of permanent structure.

LUNCH: YOUNG FAMILIES PLUS

A second day Rosh Ha-Shanah tradition. We invite young families and professionals to convene at the home of Richie and Emily Bolusky for a relaxed holiday meal. With a delicious spread, family atmosphere, and special activities for kids, start the New Year off right with connections to friends, old and new. To make reservations for this meal, call the Synagogue Office at (918) 583-7121 or visit our website, www.tulagogue.com.

SHABBAT FOR EVERYONE: SUKKOT

Congregation B’nai Emunah is delighted to invite the entire community to the single most ginormous Sukkot celebration in Oklahoma. We’ll gather in the sukkah on the south lawn of the Synagogue. We hope that members and guests will be thrilled by what they see. Sukkot Dinner will be supported as always by a gift from Jenny Brouse and Brian Brouse. A joyful Shabbat Sukkot celebration led by the members of Klay Kodesh, B’nai Emunah’s vocal and instrumental ensemble, will follow the meal. Special games, toys and experiences await! No reservation is necessary for the celebration, which begins at 7:00 p.m. But please call the Synagogue Offices or visit our website to make reservations for the 6:00 p.m. dinner.

KAPPAROT | RELEASE OF DOVES

Kapparot is an ancient practice through which we symbolically transfer our transgressions from the year past in preparation for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). Held during the days between Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur, our version of this ritual requires that we release one hundred doves from under the portico at the front door of the Synagogue. This event will begin at 11:45 a.m. All are welcome to participate in the ritual.

11-12

SUKKOT BEGINS

YOM KIPPUR

Just as at Rosh Ha-Shanah, there are no tickets or barriers to entry for our holiday programming at Congregation B’nai Emunah. Kol Nidray/Yom Kippur Evening services will begin at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday evening, October 11. The next day services begin at 9:30 a.m., and observances will last throughout the day. A sermon will be delivered around 12:15 p.m. The concluding service of this holy day will begin at 6:00 p.m. Kids’ programming will accompany every service opportunity throughout the holiday. At the conclusion of Yom Kippur services, please join us for a generous break-fast for the entire Jewish community sponsored by The Sharna & Irvin Frank Foundation. There is no cost to attend; all are welcome.

TASTES OF THE SEASON

Join other Tulsa Jewish millennials for a taste of the Sukkot season’s best beer. Enjoy the Festival of Booths with the Lulav in one hand and a local craft brew in the other. It all happens on Sunday, October 23, in the Synagogue Sukkah from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., with dinner and beer tasting with a local expert. More information to follow on the Synagogue website and Facebook.

Please call the Synagogue to order your new Centennial T-Shirt. The cost is $18.

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OCTOBER [CONCLUDED]

NOVEMBER AT A GLANCE

BIBI-DIBI

SISTERHOOD MEMBERSHIP B’FAST

ADULT INSTITUTE BEGINS

BAT MITZVAH OF JULIA BUTKIN

DOING JEWISH: MOURNING AND GRIEF

SHABBAT FOR EVERYONE

SEVENTEENTH STREET DELI

SIMCHAT TORAH

The Synagogue will conclude its celebration of the Fall Holiday Season beginning with Simchat Torah on Monday evening, October 24. This follows Shemini Atzeret on the previous day. The night begins at 5:45 p.m., with a beautiful dinner in the Synagogue sukkah prepared by Alin Avitan and Co. Call us at the Synagogue Office or visit our website to make your meal reservations. At 6:45 p.m., Simchat Torah festivities will commence in Kaiser Miller Auditorium. The congregation will celebrate the conclusion of the annual Torah reading cycle with joyful, whirling processions around the chuppah (wedding canopy) led by Rokday Emunah, the Synagogue’s dance ensemble. Special recognition in the form of consecration will honor our students who are embarking on the next phase of their educational journeys. Look for balloons, confetti, noisemakers, crepe paper, willow branches, sequins, masks and feathers! The evening is filled with joyous song and treats for all.

You can make reservations for any Synagogoue event by calling Gwenn or Caroline at our special Reservations Hotline: (918) 935-3373 or (918) 583-7121. You can also use the Reservations Page on the Synagogue Website at www.tulsagogue.com.

ZARROW FAMILIES LUNCHEON

Join us for the traditional finale to B’nai Emunah’s holiday celebrations, as members and friends gather following services for the annual Simchat Torah Luncheon. Lunch is complimentary; reservations are not necessary. Weather permitting, we will eat for the last time in the sukkah. Simchat Torah services begin at 9:00 a.m. Our thanks to the Zarrow Families for underwriting this final luncheon of the holiday season.

On the back inside page of this edition, you’ll find the monthly calendar of the Synagogue, with candlelighting times, our regular service schedule, the Religious School calendar and other routine events. The calendar on these pages is intended to draw attention to upcoming programs. For a full description of special moments on the calendar, please check the pages headed Featured Events.

PHILANTHROPY

You can find our comprehensive calendar, including events that are months away, on our website: tulsagogue.com.

NEW ART FUND AT THE SYNAGOGUE

Please note that all yahrtzeits listed on the back page of this issue begin at sunset on the night before. They will first be announced at services on the day preceding the listed date.

We’re happy to report the establishment of a new philanthropic fund at the Synagogue, created by Stuart and Sherri Goodall. The fund will be known as the Stuart and Sherri Goodall/Blanc Art Education Fund, and it will allow us to create experiences in the visual arts for students at all levels in our Religious School.

Please let your out-of-town family members and friends know that our Centennial Year

We hope to bring our children into contact with prominent local artists to fashion works of lasting value. Our thanks to the Goodalls for making this possible. As with all of our philanthropic funds, you are invited to make your own contributions to this effort, which will be listed in future editions of the Messenger.

will soon come to an end! We would be delighted to have them at our Gala on December 11. Just have them call the Synagogue at (918) 583-7121 for their reservations.

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JEWISH LIFE AND LEARNING—SARA LEVITT JUST AHEAD For Millenials during the holiday season, look no further than our own Synagogue Sukkah for the season’s most delicious local beers. On Sunday, October 23, join us of for a Taste of the Season beer tasting and Sukkot dinner.

Some of the warmest memories from my childhood revolve around the High Holidays season. The new year meant Rosh Ha-Shanah dress shopping, Yom Kippur breakfast hopping, sukkah building with my Dad, and dancing with the Torahs for Simchat Torah. I have distinct memories of spending hours at our family friends’ homes after services on Rosh Ha-Shanah for lunch, which became dinner and eventually an evening snack of the delicious apple cake from early in the day.

Please also join us on Monday, October 24, for Simchat Torah and the honoring of our new students’ entrance into Hebrew studies on Wednesdays. All of our first-year Wednesday students will be recognized, and we will celebrate with dancing and a festive meal.

My father, unbiasedly the best shofar blower in my synagogue growing up, shlepped his beautiful shofar between children’s services and the larger congregation, as my mom, our synagogue educator, spent hours remodeling the children’s program each year. The weeks sped by in negotiating school off time and making up homework, and all of a sudden this special time had come to an end. In reflection, while our family rituals were rooted in religious practice, many of my most memorable moments were outside of the liturgy and tradition of the holidays. It was rather the great feeling of connectedness to people in my life around a special time of year, which I continue to search for and recreate as an adult.

As you can see, there are many exciting opportunities to connect over the High Holidays season. I encourage you and your family to try something new this year, finding something uniquely yours that you can carry on for years to come. Join us in creating lasting memories together, filled with joy and fun! Shanah tovah u’metukah, and may we all be inscribed in the Book of Life.

TODAH RABAH

As I am preparing for our busy season, I am thinking a lot about how to create experiences for children with lasting impact. There are many ways to plug in and feel connected to our community throughout the month of October, in and out of the sanctuary. Throughout Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur services, you will find our kids participating in varying activities, including youth services, games, a Tashlich walk and learning about the holidays. This program is for school-aged children (Pre-K to 6), with an option for babysitting for our youngest kids.

MANY THANKS With new publicity for the Seventeenth Street Deli, our pop-up restaurant continues to grow and flourish. Many thanks to Tim Wood, our Chef de Cuisine. Our volunteer staff this month included Allen Brookey, Ed Shane, Micah Cash and Allie Wenger. Meal delivery was supported by the Van Hanken family. Many ate heartily, and we’re already taking reservations for November. Sign up soon! Speaking of “pop-up,” thanks to the creative thinking of Eva Unterman, our first Pop-up Rabbi salon conversation took place this month. These open forums in members’ homes offer an opportunity for informal learning and engaging conversation.

If you are interested in babysitting, please let us know ahead of time so we can be best prepared to support your child. At Religious and Hebrew School, we began celebrating the Holidays with a bang, starting with creating and delivering Rosh Ha-Shanah gift bags to our members living at the Jewish Retirement Center at the end of September. Throughout the season, we will have several special celebrations as a larger school community and in the classroom.

We kicked off the new school year with a blow-out Shabbat for Everyone celebration. The evening started with a stand-out meal, lovingly prepared by Alin Avitan and Co. Thank you to Joe Francella, Eric Torianyk, Lianne Torianyk and the Synagogue staff. That same evening, we offered a big Oklahoma welcome to Sara Levitt, our new Director of Jewish Life and Learning. Thank you to all who turned out to offer warm wishes and share in the blessing of this moment for our congregation. Rounding out the highlights from that evening were engaging presentations from Adina Shane, Isabella Lieberman, and Allie Wenger. Each shared a story or impactful moment from their Jewish summer experiences.

In honor of Sukkot and the Synagogue Centennial, we invite school-aged children and their families to “Footsteps to the Sukkah.” Help us decorate the Synagogue Sukkah with your family’s story of arrival in Tulsa on Sunday, October 16, following Religious School. Please be sure to come prepared with a bit of family history, as we decorate the sukkah with beautiful stories of our members and their families arriving in the United States and in Tulsa. Of course, we will also be learning about the holiday itself. 5 October 2016.indd 5

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FROM RABBI MARC B. FITZERMAN

SISTERHOOD We are now involved in some maintenance and restoration in Varaklani and reaching out to survivors and descendants across the world. With some generous help from members of our congregation, this work will continue in 2017.

BRIDGES A hundred years ago in Tulsa, our congregation of mostly Latvian Jews gave life to Congregation B’nai Emunah, the Synagogue that still contains many of our hopes for the Jewish People. The founders were rich and poor, learned and unschooled, but all had some essential confidence or wanderlust that took them far from major cities and out onto the plains. I try to imagine that kind of adventurousness and come up short. My guess is that I would have stayed in Latvia.

My hope is that we will erect a suitable memorial in our cemetery, not only to Varaklani, but to all the Old Country places that any of us come from. All of this will take time, but I’m glad that we took the first step during our Centennial Celebration. In the meantime, I look occasionally at the melancholy little box that arrived this summer from a small Jewish outpost in back-country Latvia. Out of the midst of catastrophic loss and ruin, it managed to find its way to Tulsa.

Many (most?) of the founders came from a small town now called Varaklani, west of Riga and also outside a major metropolitan center. In its day, it was—by percentage of population—the most Jewish city in Latvia, with a large Jewish majority and an active cultural life. Varaklani’s American cousins continued to look homeward in the form of remittances (now much in the news), straight-out relief (particularly in periods of war and epidemic), and in their eagerness to form a landsmanschaft, one of the thousands of fellowship groups that typified the world Jewish community until the late sixties and seventies. These groups kept the home fires burning, offering mutual aid in America and giving institutional form to immigrant nostalgia.

REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE By the time this reaches you, it will be just days before Rosh Ha-Shanah, and I hope that many of you will make it to the Synagogue. Please be sure to help us open our doors to all. We long ago abandoned the metropolitan Jewish style of charging for seats or High Holiday “tickets.” I keep a sample of such a ticket behind my desk at the Synagogue to remind myself of these fundamental differences. The only precondition we ever talk about is a desire to stand with our community in celebration.

All of this came to an end in America in the years beyond the war. There was frequently no home to visit and what was left was very often an unmarked mass grave. That was the story in Varaklani and it is, regrettably, far from unique. On August 4, 1941, 540 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered in one episode of the “Holocaust-by-bullets.” Their bodies were dumped into a ditch and then reburied in the Varaklani cemetery after the war. A simple monument now stands over the raked-dirt plot, tended by the last Jew of Varaklani, Solomon Segal.

I hope also that you will act the part of ambassador. Loneliness is real. Social anxiety is real. Some people can’t bear to go anywhere unfamiliar. And even people who experience no special fears are unsettled by the thought that we might have expectations that they cannot meet. The only thing to do is to offer unconditional love. Try to put aside your own self-consciousness to embrace the people you see around you. Ask for their names. Offer yours in return. Say that you are glad to meet any and all newcomers. Just in case I have to say it, this is not some strategy for recruiting members. It is simply the right and Jewish thing to do. Every synagogue and temple is a crucial meeting place, an opportunity for building community and strength. The wider we open our doors on the holidays, the greater the confidence we can have in our future.

The last member of our congregation who had a living connection to Varaklani was Genya Reichman, who spent a substantial part of her life in the town. But we now have another, more symbolic connection. About a year ago, I began to work on a project-of-the-heart to bring some remembrance of Varaklani to Tulsa. My idea was somehow to transport a kilo of earth from the Varaklani cemetery to our own, and mark it some special way.

CHICKEN IN THE TUB Our service on the first night of Rosh Ha-Shanah is typically quite short so that people can go straight from the Synagogue to their dining room tables and eat the first meal of the holiday in a relaxed and joyful way. We’d like to begin turning this service into an especially child-friendly experience with a simple story, The Chicken in the Tub, and the lilting melodies of the season. Please consider attending this opening service with your children and grandchildren. Rabbi Kaiman and I would love to have them present, so that we can warmly bless them for the days ahead.

It took forever and then some to make this work. I enlisted the gracious help of Dr. Bob Donaldson, who put me in touch with Astra Kurme, the Latvian Ambassador to the Russian Federation. Eventually I was conected to Gita Umanovska, who heads the National Council of Latvian Jews. After several false starts, failed journeys to Varaklani, and an original package that got lost along the way, a kilo of earth arrived in August in Tulsa, and with it a chance to renew an old connection. 6 October 2016.indd 6

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SISTERHOOD NEWS | JANET DUNDEE

UPCOMING (CONCLUDED)

15, at 1:00 p.m. about her effort to raise funds for a Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem. The Sunday program is open to the general community, without charge.

SISTERHOOD PARTNERS WITH IRON GATE Sunday, October 30, Sisterhood will once again be serving breakfast at Iron Gate in downtown Tulsa. Sisterhood needs volunteers to be at Iron Gate from 8:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Autographed copies of Miracle and Meals will be available for purchase. Watch for additional information about Sisterhood Shabbat in upcoming Messenger editions.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact SarahAnne Schumann at hennschu@gmail.com.

KUM ESSEN AVAILABLE

MEMBERSHIP

Sisterhood’s latest edition of Kum Essen is available for sale at the Synagogue. The cost for this new cookbook is $36. For further information, contact either Carol Mandlebaum or Janet Dundee.

Jill Wenger, Past President of Sisterhood, is chairing Sisterhood’s annual breakfast on the morning of Sunday, November 6. Breakfast and the presentation are free to Sisterhood members. If you have not joined Sisterhood, Randee Charney is waiting to hear from you. Dues are $36 for each year.

GIFT SHOP You can help fund Sisterhood’s donation to the Religious School while shopping at the Sisterhood Gift Shop. Proceeds from the Gift Shop help to finance Sisterhood’s annual $7,500 donation for Religious School programming.

WORKSHOP The evening of August 30 was an opportunity to socialize with women of the congregation, while creating a leather bracelet under the guidance of Karla Aguirre from Colors of Etnika in the Brady District.

In addition to ritual items, jewelry, greeting cards and fun children’s gifts, the Gift Shop is also your source for ordering invitations for simchas as well as personalized items such as Kippot and Tallit.

Karla began the evening by tracing her experiences before she opened her shop in Tulsa. After traveling to many different companies as a buyer for a corporation, Karla realized that she could make an investment of her time and talent to help women who had little resources to create a better life for themselves. Dealing directly with these women artisans, Karla began purchasing their crafts and adding them to her store. Karla is an entrepreneur with a big heart and the expertise to make the Etnika shop a success.

Contact Gift Shop Chair Nancy Cohen. She is waiting to help you with your Judaica needs.

Over 20 Synagogue women created leather and metal bracelets that evening, chatting and sharing their own stories with each other. It was a delightful evening, produced by outgoing Treasurer Sharon Benjamin. Watch for your friends wearing their bracelets, and take a trip downtown to the Etnika shop (located at 10 East Archer Street, Suite 1-101, in the Brady Arts District). From Sisterhood’s recent bracelet-making workshop.

SISTERHOOD SHABBAT Plans are shaping up for January 14, when Sisterhood will once again lead the congregation in the Shabbat service. Following the service, Sisterhood will host a Shabbat lunch.

SUKKOT DINNER ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21.

Our special guest will be Joanne Caras, author of Miracles and Meals, a cookbook of Holocaust survivors’ stories and recipes. Joanne will present her incredible story during the service. She will speak again on Sunday afternoon, January

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A BEAUTIFUL CELEBRATION AND ETROG VOLLEYBALL!

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THE SYNAGOGUE ARCHIVE

Every family has its defining images. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the one for Izzy Levine, who died this past September after a long and eventful life. Shared with the Synagogue by his daughter, Jodi, it shows us Izzy in 1941, the year of his bar mitzvah in Allentown, Pennsylvania. There was nothing favorable about 1941. At the time this picture was taken, Pearl Harbor was just months away and many adults remember this as a period of enormous anxiety, especially about the situation of Jews in Europe. But Izzy is still at the beginning of his life. He looks at the camera in his customary high spirits, with bright eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. He is dressed like the little men of his era: jacket, fedora, short pants and knee socks. This is still the world of Newsies on the East Coast. Oddly, only his tallis points to the future. This is no longer the traditional wool tallis of times past, but something that looks very much like the synthetic tallises of our period.

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FEATURED EVENTS

High Holiday Sermons

HIGH HOLIDAYS OPPORTUNITIES The High Holidays are nearly here, and we are planning all the meals scheduled for October. We hope that you will call the Synagogue at (918) 583-7121 to register or for additional details. Take a look at the following to stay current about the many opportunities ahead.

First Night of Rosh Ha-Shanah Rabbis Fitzerman and Kaiman

Chicken in the Tub

A kiddush lunch on October 3, the first day of Rosh Ha-Shanah, will honor the memory of Charles and Bessie Goodall. There is no charge, and no reservation is necessary.

A storytelling message for the new year: making peace with imperfection.

A holiday meal for young families and Jewish professionals will take place at the home of Richie and Emily Bolusky on October 4, the second day of Rosh Ha-Shanah. Please call the Synagogue at (918) 583-7121 to reserve a place. The cost is $10.

First Day of Rosh Ha-Shanah Rabbi Marc Fitzerman

Immigration, Again Refugees are the great moral issue of the moment.

A community break-fast in memory of Sharna and Irvin Frank will take place at the close of Yom Kippur on the evening of October 12. There is no charge, but please call (918) 583-7121 to let us know if you are coming.

Why is it so difficult to do the right thing?

Second Day of Rosh Ha-Shanah Rabbi Dan Kaiman

Sukkot Dinner is scheduled for Friday evening, October 21. Please call (918) 583-7121 for reservations as soon as possible for the meal, the largest Sukkot dinner in Oklahoma. Thanks to the Brouses for supporting this event. Please note that there is a charge for this meal.

Ideas and Action It’s one thing to think a noble thought, but our tradition loves the one who acts.

Millenials will gather in the sukkah on Sunday, October 23, to sample the local harvest of new, small-brewry craft beers. We’re part of an interesting development in the local food scene and we want to bring it into the world of Sukkot. Please call the Synagogue at (918) 583-7121 for reservations for this new event on the calendar.

Yom Kippur | Kol Nidray Rabbi Marc Fitzerman

Contorted Vine

Our Simchat Torah dinner will take place on Monday evening, October 24. There is no charge, but please call for a reservation at (918) 583-7121.

The worst people sometimes offer the best guidance to living a worthy and honorable life.

The complimentary Zarrow Families Luncheon will take place the following day at 11:30 a.m. Thanks to the generosity of the Zarrow Families, there is no charge for this lovely meal in the sukkah, with no reservations necessary.

Yom Kippur Day Rabbi Dan Kaiman

Please drop off your unwanted

Right the First Time

WEARABLE SHOES

You don’t have to be perfect, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

at the front door of the Synagogue this season.

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FROM RABBI DAN KAIMAN

LET US HELP YOU

BAT MITZVAH

DAY AND NIGHT?

CHILD CARE AT THE SYNAGOGUE Child care is always available at the Synagogue. All you have to do is to let us know two days in advance of an event or a service and we will be glad to help. We love having children in the Sanctuary and the Chapel, but sometimes they are uncomfortable with their surroundings and make it difficult for others to hear. Please let us help you strike the right balance between having your children at your side and making it possible for others to participate comfortably. Todah rabah!

In a moment of esoteric debate regarding the legal height of a sukkah, Rabbah, one of the great sages of the Talmud, states that these temporary dwelling spaces must not be taller than 20 cubits high. Why limit them in this manner, you may ask? Rabbah suggests that if the sukkah is too tall, you will not catch sight of it. The sukkah is a symbol that reminds us of fragility. It is a physical space that evokes contrasts and questions. The structure is built to protect. But if it becomes too permanent and protective, it is no longer considered a sukkah. We know the forces of entropy are strong. Nature’s power constantly reminds us how much is not in our control. Our lives are immensely fragile. Humanity impacts nature and nature impacts humanity. The choices we make in this system are essential, and we must continuously remind ourselves of that fact.

MEMBERSHIP NEW FACES AT THE SYNAGOGUE Here’s where we introduce new faces to B’nai Emunah. Members and their families are a source of strength to all of us, and we are pleased to bring good people to your attention. Meet our new members:

We are the ones who build the sukkah. It is entirely possible, if not tempting, to construct a world that does not confront life’s fragility. Highways that divide poor sections of a city from more affluent neighborhoods. Zoning regulations that dictate where and how social service agencies can build and operate. Cemeteries that sit on the outskirts of our cities. All of these choices impact what we see and how we think about our society.

Tina Bollin 812 North Oswego Avenue Tulsa, Oklahoma 74115 Irene Silberg 2025 East 71st Street, #314 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133

And so Rabbah comes along with an important reminder. If you don’t catch sight of its roof, then the sukkah itself cannot serve its function. The suggestion is profound. The things we see actually impact what we think, how we feel and what we do. If the roof of our sukkah is too tall, we will be blind to its message. If we do not see the imperfections of our community and the blemishes of humanity’s impact on the world, then we become complicit in these actions. We all know that the more we see a problem, the more likely we will be to do something about it. May this be a season of seeing and feeling life’s fragility. And may we all be so moved to action in the year ahead.

Natalie Brankle Urijah Brankle 8111 East 93rd Street, #2501 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74133 Yohai and Einat Gross Carmel Gross 4410 East 53rd Street Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135 Jheri Grossman 5248 South Lewis Avenue, #2095 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74105 We look forward to welcoming one and all as official members of the Synagogue family. Here’s to a great and lasting relationship!

SYLVAN TRANSPORTATION FUND We’re glad to bring members to Synagogue events. Please call us at (918) 583-7121 to arrange a ride.

The Altamont Bakery is busier than ever. If you’d like to lend a hand with baking, packing, delivering or anything else, please call Nancy Cohen at (918) 633-1491.

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Centennial Gala Sunday, December 11, at 6:00 p.m. This is the culminating event for our Centennial Year of Celebration. We’ll ring out our year of festivities, exhibitions, tributes and events with a grand feast, a photographic tribute to members of the congregation, dancing, and toasts. We’ve done our research, built the Lego model of the Synagogue, and now it’s time for us to dance the night away. Call us or send in your invitation response card as soon as you can. The banquet is $75 per person, and we are eager to start taking reservations as soon as possible.Look for a meal from the talented hands of Justin Thompson, and the music of Golem, New York City’s best retro-cool Jewish dance band. To the future of Jewish community life in Tulsa, Oklahoma!

11 October 2016.indd 12

9/26/2016 3:24:37 PM

THE SYNAGOGUE

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

CONGREGATION B’NAI EMUNAH

PAID

Tulsa, Oklahoma Permit No. 587

1719 South Owasso Avenue Tulsa, Oklahoma 74120 P.O. Box 52430 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74152

YAHRTZEIT CALENDAR— 28 ELUL THROUGH 29 TISHRAY 5776 Saturday, October 1 - 28 Elul Sidney L. Frieden Sunday, October 2 - 29 Elul Florence S. Andelman Ben Budowsky Pessa Dittman Allen Galerston Leo Kopp Julian Rothbaum Louis Smith Monday, October 3 - 1 Tishray Esther Greenberg Frieda Lasky Max Meyer Lena Mizel Jack Williamson Tuesday, October 4 - 2 Tishray Louis Mandel Wednesday, October 5 - 3 Tishray Felix Aaronson Sam Marks Sadye Rubinstein Anna Shapiro Thursday, October 6 - 4 Tishray Bertha Berelowitz Jim Glass Etta Waldinger Borg Friday, October 7 - 5 Tishray Freda Krawitz Esther Pastor Harry H. Rozen Saturday, October 8 - 6 Tishray Alvin Glass Miriam Cohn Phillips Joseph Grossbard Vicki Walzer Sunday, October 9 - 7 Tishray Louis Mizel Hilde Theresa Roubal Isaac Aaron Schuman Selma Strauss Monday, October 10 - 8 Tishray Sylvia Alexander Bertha Ettleman Phillip Fischbein Alexander Meyer Betty Newman

Tuesday, October 11 - 9 Tishray Leah Katz Morgan Skyler Shiphrah Stockfish West Wednesday, October 12 - 10 Tishray Jacob Chekofsky Raphael Donde Alvin Dundee Ann B. Freed Moshe Chaim Lifsics Sarah Lifsics Philip Trommer Thursday, October 13 - 11 Tishray Elana Wexberg Haas Horska Fanny Kaiser Tillie Rich Bertha Winer Friday, October 14 - 12 Tishray Yvonne Davis Beard Eleanor Cohen Simon Kaiser Walter Loftis Saturday, October 15 - 13 Tishray Lottie Gussman Ella Kahn Herman Renberg Sol Robinowitz Joy K. Smith Aaron Solomon Sunday, October 16 - 14 Tishray Lottie Eiziks Leo Hurewitz Betty LeVine Joe Mickella Joseph Sollosy Monday, October 17 - 15 Tishray Dr. S. Yale Andelman Ruth B. Levy Sol S. Wolff Tuesday, October 18 - 16 Tishray Stuart Beerman Raymond L. Campbell, Jr. Sam Deaktor Bess Frieden Ida Levy Bessie Plost Dr. Arnold Ungerman Morris Zolt

Wednesday, October 19 - 17 Tishray Emanuel Z. Aaronson Evelyn Rose Arbesman Elliott G. Bloch Sarah N. Drissman Sam B. Eisman Rebecca Foreman Herman George Kaiser David Miller Flory Moses Reuben Thursday, October 20 - 18 Tishray Bettye Dritch Mabel Makinen Esther Silver Friday, October 21 - 19 Tishray Tillie Freidlin Futuronsky Harriet Moskowitz Renee Neuwald Joe Pertofsky Saturday, October 22 - 20 Tishray Lisa Glenn Rose Goldstein Mally Marks Sarah Sokolof Fannie Weis Sunday, October 23 - 21 Tishray Cecil Breeding Pearl Brown Fannie L. Budowsky Tom Glasser Rose Kosloff Isadore Oberlander Steven “Reggie” Stafford Mary Stavinsky Markus Wolman Rose Zarrow Monday, October 24 - 22 Tishray Joseph A. Breitfeld Julia Finston Rosenberg Irma Goldenstern Morris Goodall Dina Kaiser Anna Renberg Samuel Shoubin

Wednesday, October 26 - 24 Tishray Nora Satin William David Taubman Thursday, October 27 - 25 Tishray Morris Fell Rebecca Fenster Lena Haas Dr. H. J. Harkavy Joel J. Klein David Shapiro Adolph Weiss Friday, October 28 - 26 Tishray Teresa Fadem Robert Martin Frieden Phillip Katz Sarah B. Sitrin Shainah (S.H.) Stekoll Hermine Weiss Saturday, October 29 - 27 Tishray Devera Cohen Adelson Meryl N. Brodsky Morris Gold Evelyn I. Oleinick Sunday, October 30 - 28 Tishray Dwight Herman Axelrod Hannah Davis Sara Edelman Ethel B. Kaplan Celia Lubin Irving J. Shapiro Monday, October 31 - 29 Tishray Max Bernbaum Bessie Davis Goodall Ira Krawitz Gertrude Rubin Anna Sanditen Max Sternfield

Tuesday, October 25 - 23 Tishray Ray Carnay Rita Newman Max Springer

May their souls be bound up in the bond of life everlasting. Please note that each yahrtzeit begins at sunset on the day before the date listed.