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BHBIRochester.org Published Monthly Vol 45/No 8 Nissan - Iyar 5771 May 2011 Editor: Stan Schaffer |
Congregation Beth Hamedresh – Beth Israel B U L L E T I N |
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May
President’s Message Dear Friends, This is the 48th
President’s message I’ve written, marking the end of my second stint as
President of BHBI. This is a good time to thank people for all the help I
received while in office. First is Steve Teitel, who has done a lot of
supervision of projects, has taken on the cemetery management, coordinated kiddushim,
has contributed many good ideas, and reins me in when I get overly
enthusiastic (he also makes great soup). Stan Schaffer as bulletin editor and
membership chair is largely responsible for how our congregation interfaces
with the rest of the world. Ira Cohen has kept our finances in order for
years, making sure that we have the resources in hand to get things done. All
of the other officers and Board members have made significant contributions
to our ongoing management, but I would especially note Paula Bobb and Helen
Gulack, as two of the newest Board members, who have made suggestions that us
old timers might not think of. On the ritual side of things, we’ve had the
help and advice of Rabbi Goldberg for these past two years, which I deeply
appreciate. I also appreciate the help of George Kornfeld, our High Holy Day
cantor, who has made significant suggestions about how our services run.
We’ve also had two of our newest members, Rabbi Simeon Kolko and Hermann
Vogelstein, who have made significant contributions to leading services and
reading Torah. Aaron Marsh of Temple Beth Am has been of great help to me
with his cooperation in arranging joint activities between our congregations.
The crew of people who been preparing our kiddushim, Steve Teitel, Andrea
Paprocki, Judith Mercer, and Aline Honickman have contributed greatly to our
Shabbat experience. Finally, I want to thank everyone who participates in any
way as an attendee at services and other events. If you weren’t coming here,
what would be the point of keeping the doors open? In making these thanks,
it’s likely that I’ve overlooked some one. If so, my apologies, and I do
appreciate all of you. The 2011 Annual meeting
will be on May 15th. We will elect officers and Board members. As
with all other years, we need a quorum to conduct business. You can send a
written proxy for your vote with someone else if you desire, but proxies
don’t count toward a quorum. Please come. One important item of business is a
proposal to increase dues by 5%. Our expenses have been rising but our dues
have not gone up for several years. The Board is requesting this increase to
help meet our needs. Please come to the meeting to participate in the
discussion. I look forward to seeing you there. Another upcoming event
on the weekend of May 21 and 22 is the New York Landmarks Conservancy Open
House weekend in honor of the 25th year of their program of grants
to religious institutions, one of which we received about 15 years ago. If
you are interested in participating as a tour guide on May 22 please contact
me. Also, I’m looking for photos of our building as it looked before the
renovations. If you have any please call me. Thank you. Leon Metlay |
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BHBI
Annual Membership Meeting
Sunday, May 15th at 3:00 p.m.
Please be sure to attend!
If you cannot make it, you may give a
written proxy to another member to vote on your behalf. Only members whose dues are paid up may
vote. Each member may hold up to 2
proxies. Only attendees count toward the quorum.
BHBI CALENDAR OF EVENTS – MAY 2011
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Sunday |
May 1 |
9:00 AM |
Service,
Breakfast and Discussion |
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Friday |
May 6 |
7:00 PM |
Shabbat Evening Service at Heather Heights in Pittsford Light candles at 7:58
PM |
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Saturday |
May 7 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service Torah: Emor |
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Sunday |
May 8 |
9:00 AM |
Service,
Breakfast and Discussion |
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Monday |
May 9 |
7:30 PM |
Monthly Meeting of the BHBI Board of Trustees |
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Wednesday |
May 11 |
7:30 PM |
Joint Torah Study with members of Temple Beth Am and Temple Beth David at BHBI |
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Friday |
May 13 |
8:00 PM |
Joint Shabbat Evening Service with congregants from Temple Beth Am at Beth Am with Rabbi Goldberg officiating Light candles at 8:06 PM |
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Saturday |
May 14 |
9:30 AM |
Joint Shabbat Morning Service with congregants from Temple Beth Am at BHBI Torah: Behar |
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Sunday |
May 15 |
9:00 AM 3:00 PM |
Service and Discussion Annual BHBI Membership Meeting |
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Friday |
May 20 |
8:00 PM |
Joint Shabbat Evening Service with congregants from Temple Beth Am at Beth Am with Rabbi Goldberg officiating
Light
candles at 8:13 PM |
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Saturday |
May 21 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service Torah: Bechukotai |
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Sunday |
May 22 |
9:00 AM 11 AM – 3 PM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion NY Landmarks Conservancy Open House at BHBI |
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Friday |
May 27 |
8:00 PM |
Shabbat Evening Service
Light
candles at 8:20 PM |
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Saturday |
May 28 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service. Torah: Bamidbar Blessing for the New Month. |
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Sunday |
May 29 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
Join Us as BHBI Hosts visitors from the NY Landmark
Conservancy
on Sunday, May 22nd from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
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FROM THE RABBI’S DESK By RABBI GEOFFREY GOLDBERG May 2011 |
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On
the second night of Passover we started to count the omer, the
counting of which continues for seven weeks until we reach Shavuot. The
Counting of the omer connects the physical liberation of the
Israelites from bondage in Egypt to the true spiritual liberation of the
people by means of the giving and acceptance of the Torah at Sinai. The
meaning of the omer (lit. “measure”) is multifaceted. The original
biblical meaning referred to the harvesting of the new grain of barley on the
second night of Passover and the waving of the first sheaf before the altar
in the sanctuary the following morning (according to the explanation of the
Mishnah). The Torah commands that seven weeks be counted from the time of the
offering of the omer. This entire period became known as the Sefirah,
the literal meaning of which is “counting.” After seven weeks shtei ha-lehem,
two loaves of bread were offered in the sanctuary. Originally, therefore, the
omer was entirely agricultural in significance, and the offerings with
which it began expressed hope for the harvest and thanksgiving for the land
and its produce. When, however, Shavuot (lit. “weeks”) was reinterpreted by
the rabbis and connected with Matan Torah, the Giving of the Torah, so
too was the counting of the omer associated with anticipation and
preparation for spiritual liberation under the Torah. Later,
another level of meaning, one of mourning, was associated with the counting
of the omer and the Sefirah period. The most common explanation
for this is a very brief Talmudic passage which refers to the death of
thousands of pupils of Rabbi Akiva in a plague because they did not treat
each other with sufficient respect (Yevamot 62b). However, no mourning
practices in connection with the omer period before the eighth
century. In the time of Rashi the omer period was associated with
persecutions and massacres of German Jewry during the time of the Crusades, a
far more convincing historical event than the story about the pupils of Rabbi
Akiva. In recent years the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the
Rabbinical Assembly has limited the mourning restrictions of the omer
period after Yom Ha-Atzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day, which falls
during the omer. In
the sixteenth century R. Isaac Luria and his students transformed the sefirah
period entirely. The seven weeks were not only a historical journey from
Egypt to Sinai, but a personal, inner journey and struggle to free oneself
from inner slavery. Each day of counting was connected to one of the seven
kabbalistic sefirot of the emanations of God. Each sefirah was
connected to an attribute of God, such as the sefirah of Hesed,
or loving kindness, or the sefirah of Tiferet (beauty) with
compassion. Hassidic thought adopted this level of meaning and so Rabbi
Nahman of Bratslav taught, “When a person pays attention to what happens to
him during the days of the sefirah period, he soon becomes aware of
all he sees and hears on that day is but the activity of that sefirah
and that can align him to God’s blessed will.” What an incredible journey the omer has taken since Biblical times! In addition to the journey of liberation from Egypt to the Giving of the Torah at Sinai—an outer journey—there is an inner journey, a personal, spiritual one, as well. We travel them both, the historical and the personal. Rabbi Geoffrey Goldberg |
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THE
RABBI FUND
Contributions to the Rabbi Fund enable us
to engage Rabbi Goldberg to lead additional services at BHBI during the
year. Whenever the funds in the
Rabbi 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 Fund.
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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May 7-8 |
Iyar |
May 14-15 |
Iyar |
May 21-22 |
Iyar |
May 28-29 |
Iyar - Sivan |
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Louis Goldman* Beverly Honickman Hyman Goldberg* Morton Lewis Albert Bernstein* Harry Gordon* Minnie Rothbard |
3 4 6 6 7 7 9 |
Samuel Sanow* Harry Cominsky* Dr. Murray Cowan Chasa Tillie Yablin* Johanna Schild* Haskell Isaac Smith* Samuel Lederman* Samuel J. Weisenberg* |
10 11 12 12 13 15 16 16 |
Libbie Goldberg* Samuel Gastel* Pauline Hobel * Denotes name memorialized
on BHBI Memorial Plaque |
18 21 22 |
Esther Leah Silverman* Reuben Cohen Leopold Beechbinder* Charles Bertman* Isadore D. Goldberg* Harry T. Levinson* Abraham Goldman* Arnold Kauffman* Samuel Schwartz* |
24 26 27 27 27 27 28 28 1 |
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
You can also memorialize
a friend or loved one by purchasing a BHBI memorial plaque. Our memorial plaques are very
reasonably priced. For more
information, contact Stan Schaffer at 473-8072 or stanschaffer@frontiernet.net
TORAH STUDY
Join us for an
interactive session of Torah study with our friends from Temple Beth Am and
Temple Beth David at BHBI on Wednesday evening, May 11th at 7:30 p.m. The discussion is always lively!
LAG B’OMER
What
is Lag B’Omer and why do we commemorate it? The Hebrew letters lamed gimel represent the number 33. Lag B’Omer therefore marks the 33rd
day of the counting of the Omer between Passover and Shavuot. This day is commemorated for 2 reasons:
1) Generally the days between Passover and Shavuot are considered days of
mourning because of the thousands of disciples of Rabbi Akiva who died during
this period in the early 2nd century. Traditionally, it is believed that on Lag B’Omer the
outbreak that killed them ended; and 2) Lag B’Omer also is the day on which
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a sage of the Mishnah and the author of the Zohar,
passed away. Since he had
requested that the anniversary of his death be celebrated as a happy day, Lag
B’Omer is commemorated as a day of picnics and bonfires in Israel. This year Lag B’Omer falls on Saturday
evening, May 21st and Sunday, May 22nd.
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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 |
TO OUR DONORS – THANK
YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
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THANK
YOU TO OUR KIDDUSH SPONSORS
FOR
THE MONTH OF APRIL
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April 2 |
The Congregation |
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April 9 |
Cathy and Winston Block in memory of Winston’s
father, Max Block Joshua and Sheva Faber in honor of the baby
naming of their son, Charles |
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April 16 |
Phil and
Annette Garver in memory of Sylvia Kowal |
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April 23 |
The
Congregation |
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!!
GOODSEARCH.COM
Goodsearch.com
is an on-line internet search program that pays non-profit organizations like
BHBI a fee every time someone uses their search service. Go to www.goodsearch.com, enter the search term
that you want and put in BHBI on the line where it says Who Do You Goodsearch
For? BHBI will benefit from each
search you make!
AMAZON.COM
Why not contribute to BHBI while making on-line
purchases? 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 price. Buy gifts or something for yourself or your family and
support BHBI at the same time!!
EVENTS
IN THE COMMUNITY
Israel
Independence Day (Yom Ha’Atzmaout) will
be celebrated by the Rochester Jewish Community at Temple B’rith Kodesh on
Tuesday, May 10th at 7:00 p.m. with a concert by Seeds of the Sun, a
leading Israeli jazz ensemble. The
evening will begin with a brief commemoration of Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day
for Israel’s fallen servicemen and women) led by area religious school
students.
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Happy Birthday,
Israel! |
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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 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 6 years 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