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BHBIRochester.org Published Monthly Vol 43/No 9 Sivan/Tammuz 5769 June 2009 Editor: Stan Schaffer |
Congregation
Beth Hamedresh – Beth Israel B U L L E T I N |
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May
President’s Message Friends, First, I want to thank
Steve Teitel for the wonderful job he did as President and for all the work
he will continue to do for the congregation. My thanks also to all who put
their time, effort and love into BHBI. I suppose in this year
of challenges, it’s appropriate that BHBI gets with the “green” trend by
doing more recycling. In my case, I’m the first recycled president since at
least the 1980’s. The previous time I was president was roughly 20 years ago.
Since that time, a lot of things have changed. Some very basic things have
stayed the same. We were small 20 years
ago, we’re even smaller now. We have become the smallest of the Conservative
synagogues in Rochester. Recruiting new members was an issue then and it
still is. The fact that the majority of our members were not members of this
congregation 20 years ago is an indication that we have succeeded in
recruiting new members. We need to continue to do so. The hottest and most
divisive topic 20 years ago was the amount of participation by women in our
services. That, at least, seems to have been settled. We now have complete
participation by women in our services. In this we have followed the trend of
the majority of Conservative synagogues. What will the hot topic be for the
coming year? Our size has become a
major issue. The various jobs that need to be done to keep us functioning are
being done by a smaller and smaller cadre of people. We usually get a minyan
on Saturday mornings, but all other services are problematic. We need more
members. At the same time, the demographic trend in the Rochester Jewish community
is for fewer people to identify themselves as Conservative. We can compensate somewhat for our
size by increased participation. Getting a minyan on Shabbat morning means
that 20-25% of our membership is attending regularly, which is astonishingly
good. We also need additional people to sign up for our various committees. One potential solution
to the problem of decreasing size would be merger with another congregation.
Both Beth David and Beth Am are considering moving and have had at least preliminary
discussions with us about merger. Over the course of the year we are going to
be increasing joint activities with both of them, both as a way to assure
minyans at services and as an opportunity for our members to get to know each
other. Mergers between congregations carry risks, especially when you are the
smaller partner coming into the merger. When there are differences in custom,
compromises are necessary, and there is a risk that some important custom or
activity will get lost. The way I see to minimize this is for our members to
be very active in the dialogue. If we sit back and let the other parties
define the terms, we will lose out. Don’t just say “If we don’t keep such and
so, I’m leaving.” That doesn’t help. All our members are valuable, we can’t
afford to lose anyone. If something is important to you, make a case for it,
get involved in the discussion, make sure your voice is heard. But, realize
that, as we face our challenges, whether or not we merge with anyone,
compromises are going to happen. There are important
ways you can help me. First and foremost: get involved and stay involved.
Second, if there is an issue important to you, make sure I’m aware of it. I
tend to focus on what I think is important and I may miss something that
other people value, unless they bring it to my attention. Third: don’t let me
get away with procrastination. It is my major failing as an administrator. I
always say “I’ll get around to it”. I think that 2009 will be an important
year for our shul. I’m looking forward to working with you to make it a good
year. B’shalom,
Leon
Metlay |
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BHBI CALENDAR OF EVENTS – JUNE 2009
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Friday |
June 5 |
8:00 PM |
Shabbat Evening Service at BHBI Light candles at 8:28 PM |
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Saturday |
June 6 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Services Torah: Nasso |
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Sunday |
June 7 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
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Monday |
June 8 |
7:30 PM |
BHBI Board Meeting |
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Wednesday |
June 10 |
7:30 PM |
Small Shul Collaborative Torah Study Session at BHBI |
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Friday |
June 12 |
8:00 PM |
Joint Shabbat Evening Services with Temple Beth Am at Beth
Am Light candles at 8:32 PM |
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Saturday |
June 13 |
9:30 AM |
Joint Shabbat Morning Service with Temple Beth Am at BHBI Torah: Behaalotchah |
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Sunday |
June 14 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
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Friday |
June 19 |
7:00 PM |
Shabbat Evening Service at Heather Heights in Pittsford Light candles at 8:34 PM |
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Saturday |
June 20 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service Torah: Shelach Blessing for the New Month
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Sunday |
June 21 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
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Friday |
June 26 |
8:00 PM |
Shabbat Evening Service Light candles at 8:35 PM |
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Saturday |
June 27 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service
Torah: Korach |
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Sunday |
June 28 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
BHBI Officers for 2009-2010
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President |
Leon Metlay |
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1st Vice-President |
Steve Teitel |
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2nd Vice-President |
Judith Mercer |
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Treasurer |
Ira Cohen |
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Financial Secretary |
Stan Schaffer |
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Recording Secretary |
Harris Honickman |
Members of the Board of Trustees
Emily Fishman
Janet Grable
Helen Gulack
Aline Honickman
Dianne Hooker
Katharine Metlay
Harry Rogachefsky
Herb Spencer
YAHRZEITS
At the following Shabbat Services, we will read the
names of our late loved ones whose Yahrzeits will occur on that Shabbat or
during the following week.
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June 5-6 |
Sivan |
June 12-13 |
Sivan |
June 19-20 |
Sivan- Tammuz |
June 26-27 |
Tammuz |
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Janet Riwkin Glaser* Evelyn Goldman Kauffman* Louis Maltinsky* Sadie Stolnitz* Katherine Weinrib* Lyons I. Jossem* Zus Kaminnik Esther Senzel* |
14 17 17 17 17 18 19 20 |
Sarah Rebecca Gerber* Minnie Marcus* Nathan Yablin* Leo Lewin Fannie Warnick* Louis Sanow* Ada Gordon* Stella Getz* Mary Goldman* Betty Newell* Eva Wasserman* |
21 21 21 22 23 24 26 27 27 27 27 |
Elsie Cohen Isadore Goldman* Gerald Braz Hyb Jossem* Marion Bernstein Samuel Hoffman* Sara Sarachan* Rose Joffe* Jennie Epstein* David Glasser* |
28 29 30 30 2 2 2 3 4 4 |
Morris Krinsky* Sarah Shnitman* Rabbi Aaron Solomon* Eva Krinsky* Jael Stekel Phillip Morrow* Rachel Rothschild* * Denotes name memorialized
on BHBI Memorial Plaque |
7 9 9 10 10 11 11 |
We pray that our mourners will be comforted among all
the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and that the memory of the deceased
continues to be a blessing to all who knew them.
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So far our TOPS Gift Card fundraiser has been quite successful. Remember, TOPS
Gift Cards are now available through BHBI in $50 denominations. To purchase TOPS Gift Cards, contact Stan Schaffer at 473-8072 or by e-mail at stanschaffer@frontiernet.net |
THANK YOU TO OUR KIDDUSH
SPONSORS
FOR THE MONTH OF MAY
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May 2 |
Cathy Block in
honor of her husband, Winston Block’s birthday |
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May 9 |
Jill Clark in
memory of her grandfather, Sam Gastel |
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May 16 |
Cathy Block in
memory of her husband’s father, Max Block |
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May 23 |
Janet Grable
in honor of a year’s worth of BHBI members’ birthdays and anniversaries |
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May 30 |
Janet Grable
in honor of Shavuot |
TO OUR DONORS -- THANK YOU FOR
YOUR GENEROSITY!
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TORAH STUDY
Join
congregants from Temple Beth Am, Temple Beth David and BHBI for our monthly
Small Conservative Shul Collaborative Torah Study session at BHBI on Wednesday
evening, June 10th at 7:30 p.m. The discussion is always lively and engaging!
PLEASE VISIT OR CALL OUR
ELDERLY MEMBERS!
Many of our elderly
members are no longer able to come to shul and would love to hear from their
BHBI friends. Please call or visit
them.
AMAZON.COM
The
next time that you want to buy something from Amazon.com go to the BHBI web
page at www.BHBIRochester.org
and click on the Amazon.com link.
Each time you make a purchase after linking to Amazon.com from our web
page, BHBI gets a percentage of the purchase. Buy gifts or something for yourself or your family and
support BHBI at the same time!!
MEMORIAL PLAQUES
Memorialize a friend or
loved one by purchasing a BHBI memorial plaque. For more information, contact Stan Schaffer at 473-8072 or stanschaffer@frontiernet.net
FROM THE BOOKSHELF
We welcome book reviews on topics related to
Judaism or Israel. To submit a
book review, contact Stan Schaffer.
The Thirteenth Tribe
by Arthur Koestler
In this historical book
of non-fiction, author Arthur Koestler writes about the Khazars, a tribe of
Turkic extraction who developed a kingdom of traders located astride the
Caspian Sea shortly after the rise of Islam. Since the Khazars were settled geographically directly
between the Byzantine Eastern Roman Empire with its capital in Constantinople
and the Arab Caliphate headquartered in Baghdad, they tried to remain
independent of their two stronger neighbors by appearing to favor neither over
the other. Thus when given the
choice of choosing Christianity or Islam, the Khazar king in the year 740 C.E.
instead converted to Judaism and was soon followed in doing so by most of his
subjects. The Jewish Khazar
kingdom was relatively liberal, welcomed outsiders, and prospered for over 200
years, located as it was on major trade routes between east and west. However, eventually, Russian tribes
extended their influence southward toward the Caucasus where the Khazar kingdom
was located. After years of
conflict with Byzantium, the pagan Russian king converted to Eastern Orthodox
Christianity in the year 989, after which the Byzantines and Russians turned on
the Khazars, reducing them to vassals.
Koestler argues that some of the Khazars then fled, resettling in
eastern Europe in present day Hungary, Poland and Lithuania and were followed
there in the 13th century by a large outmigration of many more Khazars from the
Caucasus as the Mongols under Genghis Khan pushed through Asia. Koestler
believes that, after their resettlement in Europe, the Khazars then became the
fore bearers of the Ashkenazi Jews.
This book cites many sources from the Middle Ages, brings up intriguing
questions and is an interesting read for anyone who is interested in Jewish
history.
WHAT’S NEW IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
Everyone is invited to attend the Jewish Community
Federation’s annual meeting on Tuesday, June 16th at 7:30 p.m. at
Temple Beth El. The keynote
speaker will be Michael Bar-Zohar, an Israeli academic, soldier, writer and
legislator. He is the official
biographer of David Ben Gurion and of Shimon Peres and has also written books
of fiction including Enigma, which was
made into a movie starring Martin Sheen and Derek Jacobi. He served 2 terms in the Knesset. His talk is titled ‘Israel in a New
Political Landscape’. The
Federation’s annual meeting will be followed by a dessert reception.
THE FINKELMAN SHABBATON
We are currently planning this year’s Finkelman Shabbaton. Once those arrangements are finalized,
you will receive information about this year’s event.
Do
You Know Anyone Who is Unaffiliated and Interested in Joining a Congregation?
Let them know about
BHBI’s special free 3 month trial membership (available to prospective
first-time new members only). Have
them contact BHBI at 244-2060 or BHBI@frontiernet.net
and we will be happy to give them information about BHBI and this great offer!!
GET WELL SOON
The congregation wishes a
speedy recovery to Esther Vogelstein who was recently hospitalized and to Ben
Hobel who is now at the Highlands at Brighton.
ISRAEL INFORMATION SOURCES MEDIA MONITORING
SITES
The Jerusalem Post Online www.jpost.com CAMERA
www.camera.org
Ha’aretz in English www.haaretz.com Honest
Reporting
www.honestreporting.org
Y-Net News www.ynetnews.com MEMRI www.memri.org
OFFICE: The shul office is checked regularly
for mail and messages. The shul
phone is 244-2060. For urgent
issues, call Steve Teitel at 473-5741 or Stan Schaffer at 473-8072. You can also e-mail us at
BHBI@frontiernet.net
WANT TO REMEMBER OR HONOR SOMEONE OR A SPECIAL
OCCASION?
Consider sponsoring a kiddush or making a donation to any one of our funds (General Operating, Kiddush, Library, Torah, Rabbi Aaron Solomon Scholarship, Our Youth, Special Events, or the Sam Malina Memorial Fund). Please indicate which fund you would like your donation to go to and we will send out an acknowledgement card as you indicate and print an announcement in this bulletin. A standard sponsored kiddush at BHBI costs just $40 while a larger enhanced kiddush is just $50.
BULLETIN CONTENT
What do you enjoy reading in the BHBI Bulletin? Is there something that you would like added (or taken out)? If so, please let Stan Schaffer know. We always appreciate feedback.
DID YOU MISPLACE YOUR BULLETIN?
Don’t worry.
BHBI Bulletins going back several months can now be found on our web
page: www.BHBIRochester.org
WANT TO GET YOUR BULLETIN HOT-OFF-THE-PRESS? Consider having us e-mail it to you! Contact Stan Schaffer at: stanschaffer@frontiernet.net
Congregation Beth Hamedresh-Beth Israel
1369 East Avenue
Rochester, NY
14610