Published Monthly

BHBIRochester.org

Published Monthly

Vol 44/No 6

Adar/Nissan 5770

March 2010

Editor: Stan Schaffer

Congregation Beth Hamedresh – Beth Israel

B U L L E T I N

March President’s Message

Friends,

“When Adar comes, joy increases.” By the time you are reading this, the month of Adar will be half gone. I hope your joy is increasing, as mine has. On the personal front I’ve enjoyed a family reunion and celebration. On the BHBI front other great things are happening. We’ve closed out the books on 2009 in better financial shape than we expected. One year ago we had a disaster. A year later, does anyone even remember the Great Flood? Just look at us now! Our sanctuary is beautiful (thanks in large part to Steve Teitel). Our collaboration with Temple Beth Am is going smoothly. We have a rabbi. We’re getting good minyans on Shabbat mornings. OUR WHEELCHAIR LIFT IS OPERATIONAL (also thanks in large part to Steve Teitel)! I shouldn’t just thank Steve. It is the effort of many volunteers that keeps our shul alive and vibrant.

The lift operates by holding down the button to make it move up or down. Any of you who have not been coming to services because of difficulty with the stairs can now get into the building with ease. If you would like to come to services but need a ride, just call and we’ll try to find you a ride.

Early this month is the Shabbat Across America dinner, hosted by Temple Beth Am. I hope you got your reservation in, as it should be a fun evening.

We just celebrated Purim. I hope yours was joyful. If Purim comes, that means that Pesach is only a month away. Time to clean house and get ready. Rabbi Goldberg will be selling our chametz this year. Please complete and send in the form that can be found on Page 6 of this bulletin. I wish you all a happy and kosher Passover.

B’shalom,

Leon Metlay

Have a very happy and healthy Passover!

During Passover, we will be having a series of joint services with

Temple Beth Am and Temple Beth David according to the following schedule:

Tuesday morning, March 30^th at Temple Beth David beginning at 9:30 A.M.

Wednesday morning, March 31^st at Temple Beth Am beginning at 9:30 A.M.

Monday morning, April 5^th at BHBI beginning at 9:00 A.M.

Tuesday, April 6^th at BHBI beginning at 9:00 A.M. with Yizkor (joint service only for Beth Am and BHBI)

BHBI CALENDAR OF EVENTS – MARCH 2010

Friday	Mar 5	6:00 PM	Joint Shabbat Evening Service with Temple Beth Am at Beth Am with Rabbi Goldberg officiating followed by Shabbat Across America Dinner at 6:30 PM Light candles at 5:46 PM
Saturday	Mar 6	10:00 AM	Joint Shabbat Morning Services with Temple Beth Am at Beth Am Torah: Ki Tisa
Sunday	Mar 7	9:00 AM	Service, Breakfast and Discussion
Monday	Mar 8	7:30 PM	Monthly Meeting of the BHBI Board of Trustees
Wednesday	Mar 10	7:30 PM	Small Shul Collaborative Torah Study Session at BHBI
Friday	Mar 12	8:00 PM	Joint Shabbat Evening Service with Temple Beth Am at Beth Am Light candles at 5:54 PM
Saturday	Mar 13	9:30 AM	Joint Shabbat Morning Service with Temple Beth Am at BHBI with Rabbi Goldberg officiating Blessing for the new month. Torah: Vayakhel-Pekudei
Sunday	Mar 14	9:00 AM	Service, Breakfast and Discussion
Friday	Mar 19	8:00 PM	Joint Shabbat Evening Service with Temple Beth Am at BHBI Light candles at 7:03 PM
Saturday	Mar 20	9:30 AM	Shabbat Morning Service Torah: Vayikrah
Sunday	Mar 21	9:00 AM	Service, Breakfast and Discussion
Friday	Mar 26	8:00 PM	Shabbat Evening Service Light candles at 7:11 PM
Saturday	Mar 27	9:30 AM	Shabbat Morning Service Torah: Tzav Shabbat Hagadol
Sunday	Mar 28	9:00 AM	Service, Breakfast and Discussion
Tuesday	Mar 30	9:30 AM	Joint 1^st Day Passover Service with Temple Beth Am and Temple Beth David at Beth David Light candles after 8:16 PM
Wednesday	Mar 31	9:30 AM	Joint 2^nd Day Passover Service with Temple Beth Am and Temple Beth David at Beth Am

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO MAKE A DONATION TO HELP US PAY FOR THE WHEELCHAIR LIFT! IF YOU HAVEN’T DONE SO YET, PLEASE MAKE YOUR DONATION TODAY Name(s): ______________________________ Donation Amount: $________ Send this form to BHBI, 1369 East Ave., Rochester, NY 14610 along with your special donation for the wheelchair lift today!
	FROM THE RABBI’S DESK By RABBI GEOFFREY GOLDBERG March 2010
I am sure that none of us can believe that Passover is just around the corner, so we all had better get into gear preparing for it and move into a Pesachdik mode! It is appropriate to start reflecting on the message of Passover, and the meanings of the many rituals associated with it. Take the four cups of wine, for instance. We drink four cups on account of the four expressions of Redemption used in Exodus 6:6–8, “I will free you…. and deliver you…I will redeem you…I will take you to be My people.” A fifth expression “I will bring you into the Land” is the basis for having the Cup of Elijah. Rabbi Irving Greenberg has expanded upon the meaning of the four terms thus, “God too them (the Israelites) out of their burdens and suffering, saved them from hard labor, liberated them with mighty acts, and dedicated them as a holy people” (The Jewish Way, p. 51). Many Jews have taken the Four Cups to represent The Four Freedoms which President F. D. Roosevelt declared in 1941: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom from want…..which will secure a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants; freedom from fear.” It is worth the effort to study the entire speech and to ask to what extent this vision has been fulfilled. If we only look at the state of our nation today, this vision has far from been achieved. Millions live in want, unable to find employment, millions fear whether they will keep their jobs, and millions without health insurance live in dread of sickness, and many who do still live in fear of financial ruin. Regardless of one’s own political viewpoint and what should be done to redeem ourselves from this shocking situation, I am deeply saddened, if not angered, by the attitude of those who seem to express the attitude of, “I’m OK, I don’t want to pay for others.” I malignant selfishness seems to pervade too many of the American people. This is not the Jewish way. Pirkei Avot (5:13) discusses four different types of characters. The worst type of character is the one who says, “What is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine.” The trait of the person who says, “What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours,” is merely mediocrity. What happens when the other does not have anything? While the ideal character trait of “Mine is yours and yours is yours,” the trait of the saintly, cannot reasonably be applied on a societal level, but at the very least those who have should not be content until everyone can live with dignity and without fear. Roosevelt’s words are more than relevant to us in these hard times. Wishing you a ḥag kasher ve-sameaḥ. Rabbi Geoffrey Goldberg

KASHRUT RULES FOR PASSOVER

When purchasing foods for Passover, look for the words ‘Kosher for Passover’ or a small letter ‘P’ next to the hecksher, which indicates that it is Kosher for Passover. Unopened packages of sugar, pure (not herbal) tea, salt (not iodized), pepper, natural spices, frozen fruit juices with no additives, frozen (uncooked) vegetables, milk, butter, cottage cheese, cream cheese, ripened cheeses such as cheddar, muenster and Camembert, and baking soda do not require Kosher for Pesach designation if purchased before Passover. Of course, fresh fruits and vegetables (except legumes for most Ashkenazi Jews), eggs, fresh fish and fresh meat do not require a Kosher for Passover designation. The Conservative Movement’s Rabbinical Assembly Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has also ruled unanimously that peanuts and peanut oil are permissible. Finally, how does one kasher a dishwasher for Passover? After not using the dishwasher for 24 hours, a full cycle with detergent should be run to kasher it.

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.

March 5-6

Adar

March 12-13

Adar-Nissan

March 19-20

Nissan

March 26-27

Nissan

Louis Rickler*

Harry Aronow*

Carl Astrachan*

Leila Markus*

Herman Sarachan*

Percy Cohen*

Ida Sallerson Levine*

Barnet Stern*

* Denotes name memorialized on BHBI Memorial Plaque

Harris Priceman*

Rebecca Cohen*

Eva Friedman*

Karoline Hess*

Sarah Shulsky*

Sadie Rose

Mollie Wolk*

Sam Wolk*

Lena Levi*

Lester Miller*

Benjamin Braz*

Dr. Charles Cohen*

Eli Gerber*

Bessie Friedman Reicher

Esther Rosenthal

Morris Sherman*

Jacob Shiffman

David Gross*

Gertrude Kleinstein*

Rachel Weinstein*

Flora Priceman*

Esther Bertman*

Max Block

Seymour Ouzer*

Sadie Leitman

Morris Lipman*

Harry Veeder

Stanley Solomon

Helen Neiman Goldman*

Harry Toker

Leo Beechbinder*

Sol Levin*

Rose Jossem*

Judith Potter*

Minnette Taylor

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.

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

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!!

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

TO OUR DONORS -- THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!

WHEELCHAIR LIFT FUND

Katie Metlay

GENERAL FUND

In memory of Nathan Goldberg

Phil and Annette Garver

In memory of Leila Markus

Mitchel Markus

In memory of Sylvia Levy

Joe Yudelson

TORAH FUND

In honor of Katie Metlay’s 90^th birthday

Stan and Elaine Schaffer

THE RABBI GOLDBERG FUND

Contributions to the Rabbi Goldberg Fund enable us to engage Rabbi Goldberg to lead additional services at BHBI during the year. Whenever the funds in the Rabbi Goldberg Fund reach a predetermined level, we will schedule an additional service with Rabbi Goldberg. To contribute to this purpose, please send a check in to BHBI with a notation that the contribution should be used for the Rabbi Goldberg Fund.

THANK YOU TO OUR KIDDUSH SPONSORS

FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY

February 13	Leon Metlay and Nina Klionsky in honor of Katie Metlay’s 90^th birthday
February 20	Stan and Elaine Schaffer in memory of Stan’s father, Werner Schaffer
February 27	Katie Metlay in memory of her husband, Max Metlay

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, March 10^th at 7:30 p.m. The discussion is always lively and engaging!

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!!

EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY

Hear Ami Nahshon, CEO of the Abraham Fund, present his vision for coexistence between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel at Temple Brith Kodesh on Thursday, March 4^th at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

CONTRACT FOR THE SALE OF CHAMETZ

We include, as a public service, a legal form for the sale of chametz. Besides not eating chametz (leavened foods such as bread, cakes, cookies, pasta, beer, whiskey, etc.) on Pesach, we are also forbidden to possess chametz. In order to avoid this prohibition we lock up any chametz (this includes "chametzdik" utensils) and empower a rabbi (through power of attorney) to sell it to a non-Jew before Pesach. This is a legal binding sale that is recognized by the courts. After Pesach the rabbi then buys the chametz back from the non-Jew and we are thus able to use it again. Fill out the form below, sign it and mail it to BHBI and Rabbi Goldberg will take care of the sale of chametz for you.

KNOW YE that I, the undersigned, fully empower and permit Rabbi Geoffrey Goldberg to act in my place and stead, and in my behalf to sell all chametz possessed by me (knowingly or unknowingly) as defined by the Torah and Rabbinic Law (e.g., chametz, possible chametz, and all kinds of chametz mixtures.) This includes chametz that tends to harden and to adhere to inner surfaces of pans, pots or cooking and usable utensils. And to lease all places wherein the chametz owned by me may be found, especially in the premises located at:

__________________________________________________________________________________________

and elsewhere. Rabbi Geoffrey Goldberg has the full right to sell and to lease by transactions as he deems fit and proper and for such time which he believes necessary in accordance with all detailed terms and detailed forms as explained in the general authorization contract which have been given this year to Rabbi Geoffrey Goldberg full power and authority to appoint a substitute in his stead with full power to sell and to lease as provided therein. The above given power is in conformity with all Torah, rabbinic regulations and laws, and also in accordance with laws of the State of New York and of the United States. And to this I hereby affix my signature on the __________day of _______ in the year 2010.

Signature__________________________________________________________________________________

Name_____________________________________Address_________________________________________

City/State/Zip______________________________________________________________________________

To avoid having chametz in your possession during Passover, please fill out the form and mail it to:

BHBI, 1369 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14610, Attn: Rabbi Geoffrey Goldberg, and we will take care of it as a public service. Mail the form early, so that it reaches us NO LATER than Friday, March 26^th.

Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y YY Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

The Jewish Community Federation’s population study of the Greater Rochester Jewish community can now be completed on-line. The Federation plans to survey every member of our community including those who are unaffiliated. The study welcomes everyone to contribute their opinions and input. The study, sponsored by the Federation with substantial financial support from Jewish Senior Life, includes several in-depth questions for those helping to make planning decisions for aging parents, as well as those planning for their own retirement needs. Additional questions will explore the needs of interfaith families, singles, teens, and other key sub-populations. And then there’s the issue of our numbers: How has the size of our community changed since our community’s last demographic study in 1999? Help answer these questions by completing the survey today. If you don’t have a computer, call the Federation at 461-0490 to set up a phone interview.

Complete the survey on-line at http://www.countmeinsurvey.org/

ADOPT A JEWISH SOLDIER FOR PASSOVER

BRING PESACH TO JEWS SERVING OUR NATION BY HELPING TO SEND PASSOVER CARE PACKAGES.

------------------------------------------------

Yes, I want to help send a Pesach Care Package to a Jewish Soldier.

Name: ___________________________________________

Address:__________________________________________

E-mail/ Phone #:___________________________________

Amount of Donation: $ _______

PLEASE MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: “Temple Beth David” and put “Soldiers Passover Package Project” on the memo line.

Send to: Temple Beth David, 3200 St. Paul Blvd., Rochester, N.Y. 14617

Questions or the help: Keith Freedman kdfreedy@aol.com

PLEASE SEND DONATIONS BY SUNDAY MARCH 21, 2010

OFFICE: The synagogue office is checked regularly for mail and messages. The synagogue 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, Rabbi Goldberg Fund 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