BHBIRochester.org Published Monthly Vol. 51/No 4 Tevet-Shevat 5777 January 2017 Editor: Stan Schaffer |
Congregation Beth Hamedresh – Beth Israel B U L L E T I N |
President: Leon Metlay
First Vice-President: Paula Bobb
Second Vice-President: Stan Schaffer Treasurer: Ira Cohen
Financial Secretary: Harris Honickman
Recording Secretary: Nina Klionsky |
|
January PresidentÕs
Message Friends: We have come to the end
of a challenging year, and we look forward to another challenging year. All
around I'm seeing articles about the famous artists, actors, sports figures,
etc., who died in 2016. In our own congregation, we lost two of our past
presidents, Laura Levinson and Janet Grable. I wrote something about them in
my September message. They were brought to mind again by the Chanukah Party.
We had the party jointly with Temple Beth Am again this year. The dinner was
orchestrated by Steve Teitel ably assisted in cooking by Judith Mercer, Paula
Bobb, and Esther Vogelstein, with setup by Ronna Marsh, Nina Klionsky, and
me, and cleanup by Judith Mercer, Stan Schaffer, Elaine Schaffer, Nina
Klionsky, and me. Everyone had a great time at the party, but, for the first
time in many years, we missed Janet's signature cake. Janet would always come
up with a delicious and very original decorated cake for the party. This year
we had pie and ice cream. It was delicious, but not the same. Is there anyone
in the congregation who feels an urge to express themselves through cake
decoration? We would like to talk to you. The only event of
Jewish religious significance during the month of January is coming up on the
8th. It is the Fast of the 10th of Tevet. It
commemorates the date on which the Babylonian army arrived to lay siege to
Jerusalem. Jerusalem held out for two and a half more years, before falling
on the 9th of Av. According to tradition the day is also used to
commemorate the death of Ezra the Scribe and the translation of the Tanach
into Greek. In modern-day Israel, the Chief Rabbinate declared that the 10th
of Tevet is a day of General Kaddish. People who don't know the date of a
relative's death (for instance, of Holocaust victims) say Kaddish and light
Yahrzeit candles on that day. On the fast day, eating
and drinking are prohibited from dawn to dark, but there are no other
prohibitions. If you are sick, you don't have to fast, even if it's not a
life-threatening illness (just in case you were wondering). There are some
extra selichot prayers to add to the service. We'll be having a service on
January 8th, with no breakfast to follow. There are a couple of
calendrical anomalies related to this fast. In our current fixed calendar, it
never falls on the Sabbath, but it is the only fast that can fall on a
Friday. Before the calendar was fixed, it could fall on the Sabbath, and when
it did, the fast was observed (even as we do for Yom Kippur). When the fast
falls on a Friday, the fast continues until the Sabbath kiddush is recited
(you normally wouldn't start the Sabbath hungry from fasting.) I'm going to leave you
with a mystery. Most histories place the siege of Jerusalem as starting in
588 BCE and culminating with destruction in 586 BCE. This seems to agree with
the Babylonian chronicles. However, some Jewish sources say the siege
actually started in 425 BCE. Why is this? Where did those 163 years come
from? I'm sure the answer exists somewhere, but I just haven't looked in the
right place yet. If you know the answer, please let me know. Have a great January. Leon Metlay |
SUPER SUNDAY IS
COMING UP!
Sunday, February 12th
has been selected for the Jewish FederationÕs Super Sunday fundraising event.
The Federation is looking for volunteers to help on February 12th.
If you would like to volunteer your time at the Super Sunday event, contact the
Federation at 461-0490.
BHBI CALENDAR OF EVENTS – JANUARY
2016
Sunday |
Jan 1 |
9:00 AM |
Service and Discussion |
Saturday |
Jan 7 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service Torah: Vayigash |
Sunday |
Jan 8 |
9:00 AM |
Service and Discussion |
Monday |
Jan 9 |
7:30 PM |
BHBI Board of Trustees Meeting |
Friday |
Jan 13 |
7:00 PM |
Joint Shabbat Evening Service with Temple Beth Am (at TBK Room 103) |
Saturday |
Jan 14 |
9:30 AM |
Joint Shabbat Morning Service with Temple Beth Am at BHBI Torah: Vayechi |
Sunday |
Jan 15 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
Wednesday |
Jan 18 |
7:30 PM |
Small Conservative Synagogue Collaborative Torah Study at BHBI |
Saturday |
Jan 21 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service Torah: Shemot Blessing of the New Month |
Sunday |
Jan 22 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
Saturday |
Jan 28 |
9:30 AM |
Shabbat Morning Service Torah: VaÕeira (Shabbat Rosh Chodesh) |
Sunday |
Jan 29 |
9:00 AM |
Service, Breakfast and Discussion |
SHABBAT CANDLELIGHTING TIMES
Friday, Jan. 6 – 4:32 PM
Friday, Jan. 13 – 4:40 PM
Friday, Jan. 20 – 4:48 PM
Friday, Jan. 27 – 4:58 PM
MAKE
YOUR PURCHASES AT AMAZON.COM
AND
SUPPORT BHBI AT THE SAME TIME!
Why
not contribute to BHBI while making on-line purchases? ItÕs easy to make
purchases on-line at Amazon.com and support BHBI financially at the same time.
Just 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. The more you buy in this way, the more BHBI
makes!
FIGURING OUT THE
JEWISH CALENDAR
The Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar, meaning that months are
based on lunar
months, but years are based on solar
years. The calendar
year features twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days, with an extra lunar month added 7 times every
19 years (in years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19) to
synchronize the twelve lunar cycles with the longer solar year. The beginning
of each Jewish lunar month (Rosh Chodesh) is based on the appearance of the new moon. Although originally the new lunar
crescent had to be observed and certified by witnesses, the moment of the true new moon is now
approximated arithmetically as the molad, which is the mean new moon to a
precision of one part.
The mean period of the lunar month is very close to 29.5
days. Accordingly, the basic Hebrew calendar year is one of twelve lunar months
alternating between 29 and 30 days.
In leap years, an additional month, Adar I (30 days) is
added after Shevat, while the regular Adar is referred to as "Adar
II." The insertion of the leap month mentioned above is based on the
requirement that Passover—the
festival celebrating the Exodus from Egypt, which took place in the
spring—always occurs in the [northern hemisphere's] spring season.
DONATIONS
THANK
YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
GENERAL FUND
In memory of Louis
Gastel Ruth Polur |
In memory of Tanja
Block Cathy Block |
In memory of Emma
Aranow Eileen Kovel |
|
HIGH HOLY DAY APPEAL Peg Toker |
THANK YOU TO OUR KIDDUSH SPONSORS
FOR
THE MONTH OF DECEMBER
December 3 |
Katharine Metlay in memory of her mother, Fannie
Titof |
December 10 |
Steve and Ruth Teitel in memory of SteveÕs
mother, Eleanor Teitel |
December 17 |
Leon Metlay and Nina Klionsky in honor of
HannahÕs birthday, 23 on the 23rd! |
December 24 |
Jill Clark-Foulkes in memory of her aunt,
Barbara Bertman |
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!
SMALL CONSERVATIVE SHUL
COLLABORATIVE TORAH STUDY
This monthÕs Small Conservative Shul Collaborative
Torah Study session will be held at BHBI on Wednesday, January 18th at 7:30
p.m. at BHBI. Come and bring your friends. Everyone is welcome! If you havenÕt
attended before, give it a try – you will definitely enjoy the lively
discussion.
AD SPONSORS
We are always looking
for additional businesses that are interested in placing an ad in the BHBI
Bulletin. If you know of someone
whose business or company may be interested, contact Stan Schaffer at 473-8072
or by e-mail at stanschaffer@frontiernet.net
EVENTS
IN THE COMMUNITY
The Jewish Federation is
hosting Saturday Night Live, an evening out for kids ages 5-12, at the JCC on
Saturday, January 7th from 5:00 – 8:30 pm. Tickets are $25 per
child, $15 for JCC members. For information, contact Joy Getnick at 461-2000
x239 or at jgetnick@jccrochester.org
Families with young
children are invited to join the PJ LibraryÕs Big Splash Pool Party at the JCC
on Sunday, January 8th from 3-5 pm. Events include free swim from
3:00-3:20, pool games from 3:20-4:00, snacks, songs and Storytime from
4:00-4:30 and a raffle from 4:30-5:00. The event is free for all families.
The JCCÕs Jewish Film Festival
will screen the film Rosenwald on Sunday, January 15 at 5pm at the JCCÕs Hart
Theater. Aviva
KempnerÕs Rosenwald is the incredible story of Julius Rosenwald, who never
finished high school, but rose to become the President of Sears. Influenced by
the writings of the educator Booker T. Washington, this Jewish philanthropist
joined forces with African American communities during the Jim Crow South to
build over 5,300 schools during the early part of the 20th century. The film
screening is free and open to the public.
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.
January 6-7 |
Tevet |
January 13-14 |
Tevet |
January 20-21 |
Tevet |
January 27-28 |
Shevat |
Selma Kauffman Lansky* Rebecca H. Nussbaum* William Silverstein* Maurice Bloom* Sadye Abelman* Sol Lazarus* Fannie Osband* Joseph Morris* Celia Suskind* Dora Rogovin* |
9 10 10 11 12 12 13 14 14 15 |
Nathan Goldberg Fannie Sablowsky* Philip Sanzel* Joseph Schiff* Hannah Senzel* Louis Bernstein* Carl Kleinstein* Rose Needler* Estelle Hirsch* Shie Schnidman* Anna Buff* Benjamin Dvorkin* |
16 17 17 17 17 18 18 18 19 19 21 21 |
Goldie Simon* Leah Keyfetz* Esther Sanzel* Samuel Meilstein* Ida Boyarsky* Philip Hershkowitz Jack Glazer Joe Lazarus* |
23 24 24 26 27 27 28 28 |
Jean Spencer Morris Weinstein* Etta Levinson* Ida Silver* Sidney Appelbaum* Jacob Komenski* Gidda Strauss* Morris Suskind* *Denotes name memorialized
on BHBI Memorial Plaque |
1 2 4 4 6 6 6 7 |
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 on a BHBI memorial plaque. Our memorial plaques are very
reasonably priced. For more
information, contact Stan Schaffer at 473-8072 or stanschaffer@frontiernet.net |
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 |
CEMETERY PLOTS
Did
you know that BHBI has designated sections at Stone Road, Britten Road and Mt.
Hope Cemeteries and that we sell cemetery plots? If you would like more
information, contact Steve Teitel.
BHBI WEBSITE
Have you checked out the BHBI web site
lately? If you havenÕt there is a
lot that youÕre missing. The web
site at www.BHBIRochester.org
provides information about many aspects of our congregation, lists the BHBI
calendar, has electronic versions of this and previous bulletins going back
several years, has an extensive history of our congregation along with historic
photos, includes photos from several BHBI dinners, picnics and other special
events, and has the unique Adon Olam Songbook with information on over 100
melodies for Adon Olam.
JEWISH TRIVIA
Which 2 of the following famous entertainers were Halachically Jewish from birth? See page 6 for the
answer.
a.
Elvis Presley b.
Frank Sinatra c.
Kirk Douglas d.
Charlton Heston
Event Details:
7 pm
Hors DÕOeuvres
Sushi Bar
Open Bar
8:30 pm
Dinner
Awards
10 pm
After Party (incl. Entertainment,
Munchies and an Elaborate Dessert Reception)
Contact the JCC to reserve your spot
today!
OFFICE:
The synagogue office is checked regularly for mail and
messages. The synagogue phone is
244-2060. For urgent issues, call Leon
Metlay at 271-2945 or Stan Schaffer at 473-8072. You can also e-mail us at BHBIRochester@gmail.com
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 Fund, Kiddush Fund, Harry Rogachefsky BHBI Building Fund, Torah Fund,
Rabbi Aaron Solomon Scholarship Fund, Special Events 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? DonÕt worry. BHBI Bulletins going back several 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
TRIVIA ANSWER: (a) Elvis Presley and (c) Kirk Douglas
Congregation Beth Hamedresh-Beth
Israel
1369 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14610