issue number 3 sinai scroll march 2020 adar · also, we will be celebrating esther and the holiday...
Post on 28-Jun-2020
3 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
1
Service Schedule
PLEASE JOIN US
Torah Study - Minyan Breakfast
begins at 9:30 AM each Saturday
Friday, March 6
6:00 pm
Shabbat Service
“Ask the Rabbi”
Saturday, March 7
9:30 am Breakfast
10:00 am Torah Study
11:00 am Shabbat Service
Monday, March 9
6:00 pm
Erev Purim
Purim Punch Party and
Megillah Reading
Friday, March 13
6:00 pm Pizza Dinner
6:45 pm Family Shabbat
Service
Saturday, March 14 9:30 am Breakfast
10:00 am Torah Study 11:00 am Shabbat Service
Friday, March 20
7:30 pm
Shabbat Service with Shireinu
Women Composers
Saturday, March 21 9:30 am Breakfast
10:00 am Torah Study 11:00 am
Shabbat Service
Friday, March 27
7:00 pm Joint Reform Service
Temple Beth El
Saturday, March 28 9:30 am Breakfast
10:00 am Torah Study 10:30 am Shabbat Service Luke Carter Bar Mitzvah
Issue Number 3 March 2020
Adar - Nisan 5780 Sinai Scroll
From the Rabbi Reclaiming Esther I remember, as a child, learning the story of Queen Esther, the beautiful and brave Jewish woman who was guided by her uncle Mordechai to become queen and save her people. I remember how Esther was presented as a heroine and role model because she was dutiful in doing what she was told, even at the risk of her life. I want us to keep thinking of Esther as a hero, but I also want to dig more deeply into her story and to reclaim her as more than a brave woman who used her beauty to unmask a scoundrel. Esther is more complex than that and her story is also a story about overthrowing stereotypes and defying preconceptions – especially about women. We often are quick to assume that the Bible views women as little more than property and that their role in the Bible is always secondary to men. For sure, you can find that attitude in many biblical passages. But the Bible is made up of many voices that often contradict each other. The Book of Esther can be viewed as a subversive tale that is meant to undermine the view of women as mere appendages to men. If Esther uses her beauty to win the favor of the King, she is aided by the King's own drunken stupidity. Throughout the book, Esther is portrayed as a woman who is aware of the way she is underestimated by men and the power that gives her. She listens well to the instructions she is given, but she herself is the one who chooses the time and place for putting her plan into effect. She is the one who devises the series of drinking parties she will use to reveal the villainy of Haman (boo!) and set him up to bring about his own destruction. By the end of the story, Esther's uncle Mordechai becomes the faithful and obedient servant of Esther, not the other way around. Esther proves to be a model of a woman who overturns the inferior role assigned to her, a woman who reverses her fortunes to assume real power. I'll be teaching a course on biblical women – including Esther – starting on Tuesday, February 25, at 10 AM, and continuing weekly through March. We'll explore other women who are models of leadership, intelligence, strength and courage to overthrow the preconceptions about their role. Also, we will be celebrating Esther and the holiday of Purim at the Temple on the evening of Monday, March 9, at our annual Purim Punch Party and Megillah Reading. Come join us to nosh on hamantaschen, wear silly costumes, and hear the story of Esther. L'shalom, Rabbi Jeff Goldwasser
Reminder:
Kol Isha
Women Cantors Sing Jewish Music
Then to Now
Sunday, March 22, 2020 4:00 pm
2
From the Cantor’s Desk By Cantor Deborah Johnson
I hope you are excited about the Kol Isha concert on March 22nd! I surely am (and it’s free!). From the bimah to Broadway through the music of Jewish composers and the voices of female cantors – what could be better? The entire weekend will be a celebration of women musicians for Women’s History Month, and for the Shabbat of March 20
th preceding the
concert, Shireinu will sing a service of women composers, put together by Shireinu’s leader, Joel Gluck.
Of course, the premise of the weekend is serious, if ironic in 2020: the long-held prohibition against women’s voices (kol isha) in Jewish prayer that kept women off the bimah until the Reform movement ordained the first female cantor in 1975. The Conservative movement did not ordain female cantors until 1987, and their numbers are still relatively small; there are no Orthodox female cantors.
Singing with me for the concert will be my good friend and mentor, Judy Seplowin from our sister Temple in Providence, Beth-El; my new friend Tami Cherdack Sherman from Glastonbury, Connecticut’s Kol Haverim; and my dear friend, Debbie Katchko-Gray, also from Connecticut, Congregation Shir Shalom of Westchester and Fairfield Counties. Debbie is the founding mother and driving engine of my favorite profes-sional organization, the Women Cantors’ Network, and comes to us with a remarkable history. Let me tell you a little bit about her.
Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray is a fourth-generation cantor and only the second to serve a Conservative congregation. Her sister is a cantor, and her grandfather, Adolph Katchko, wrote the traditional chanting modes that cantors sing on the High Holidays; they are the basis of the curriculum at the
country’s leading cantorial school, Hebrew Union College. Her archives are preserved with the American Jewish Archives and the National Museum of American Jewish History. A former student of Elie Wiesel, her papers and memorabilia from her years with him are housed in the Mugar Library at Boston University with the Elie Wiesel Archives. The story of her special relationship with Wiesel, “Elie Wiesel, Story and Song,” was recorded and archived by the Jewish Broadcasting Service in 2019. Her ten recordings, and many with the Cantors Assembly Spirit Series, are heard on Jewish radio stations worldwide. Debbie’s story is included in the important book “The Invisible Thread- A Portrait of American Jewish Women.” And oh, yes, she is also a cellist with the Danbury Symphony. But what really describes Debbie is her spirit. She is a Yiddish-speaking, guitar-playing cantor whose deep spirituality alternates with a level of ruach that is hard not to find contagious.
One of the songs my friends and I will sing on the 22nd
is a rousing Broadway tune, The Best of Times: “The best of times is now…as for tomorrow, well, who knows?” These are, indeed, the best of times, and we are on our way to an even better tomorrow!
See you at Services…and on March 22nd
, 4:00!
Cantor Deborah
School Scene By Sue Oclassen, Lead Teacher
On Sunday, Suanne Goodman and Jessica Schlachter com-bined their classes' efforts in two projects aligned with the spirit of Tu B'shevat. This photo shows the Tree of Life with our genealogical Jewish roots, starting with Abraham and Sarah, the 12 Tribes of Israel, and the later matriarchs and patriarchs.
Both classes also worked on the Tree of Caring, a project to encourage participation in a simple, yet important, Jewish value.
We all wish Susan Oclassen a speedy and complete recovery.
3
Temple Sinai
OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY
2ND
NIGHT SEDER
THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2020 5:30 PM. Temple Sinai Social Hall
Seder to be conducted by Rabbi Jeff
Complete Seder Meal
Catering by: Cozy Caterers
ADULTS : $36.00
CHILDREN (ages 6 to 12) $15.00
CHILDREN (ages 5 and under): $5.00
Reservations & checks MUST be received by March 31, 2020
TEMPLE SINAI PASSOVER SEDER RESERVATION FORM:
Name(s):
_________________________________________________________________________
# Adults_____$36.00 # Children (6-12)_____$15.00 #Children (5 & under)_____$5.00
Please seat us with:
_________________________________________________________________
I wish to make a contribution to the seder. $________
Those who donated will be acknowledged that evening.
AMOUNT ENCLOSED: $__________
Please send reservations and payment, no later than MARCH 31, 2020 to Temple Sinai,
30 Hagen Ave., Cranston, RI, 02920. For more information, contact the temple office at 942-8350
or dottie@templesinairi.org
4
Rabbi's Discretionary Fund Lori Dorsey, In memory of Myron Silverstein, yahrzeit, father
Arleen & Marvin Jacobson, In memory of Jeanette Perler H. Jack Feibelman, In memory of Sadie Davis
H. Jack Feibelman, In memory of Carolyn Zimmerman Brooks Family, In memory of Bobbie Brooks Freda, Stephen, Stacey & Andrew Lehrer,
In memory of Ruth Stone Deborah & David Greenstein, In memory of
Eleanor Greenstein Deborah & David Greenstein, In memory of Howard Greenstein
Jill & Lindsay Goodman, In memory of Morton Pomerantz Honey Pomerantz, In memory of Morton Pomerantz Susanna Roberts, In memory of John W. Roberts
H. Jack Feibelman, In memory of Ruby Kotler Jan & Al Budnick, In memory of Dr. Jacob Novick
Capital Improvement Fund Steve Pollack, In memory of Sylvia Pollack,
mother of Steven Pollack Howard & Amy Blustein, In memory of Ruth Blustein
Howard & Amy Blustein, In memory of Madeline Cohen The Fertiks, In memory of Natalie Knasin
Dottie & Peter Swajian, In memory of Natalie Knasin Sukey & Malcolm Denniss, Mazal Tov to Deb & Joel Gerstenblatt on
the birth of Violet Jemma Audrey & Steve Hirsch, In honor of the birth of Violet Mandy,
granddaughter of Deb & Joel Gerstenblatt Dennis Byrnes & Frank Cerilli, In loving memory of Glenn Oclassen
Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Natalie Knasin Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Glenn Oclassen
Irene & Curt Abbott, In honor of the birth of Joel & Deborah Gerstenblatt’s new granddaughter
Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Jean Siegel Svetlana Harris, In memory of Leonid Kulik
Fredda & Stuart Yarlas, In memory of Norma Broadman Sondler
Peter & Beverly Rosedale, In memory of Otto J. Rosedale Judy & George Cohen, In memory of David Raduziner
Horovitz/Wexler Minyan Breakfast Fund Susan & Irwin Vederman, In memory of beloved mother of
Paul Knasin, Natalie Knasin Sukey & Malcolm Denniss, In memory of Donald Wexler
David & Nancy Mills, In memory of Raylah Weinstein David & Nancy Mills, In memory of Rena Mills
Stanley Horovitz & Family, In memory of Natalie Knasin Leona Spilka, In memory of Stanley Roberts
Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Donald Wexler Phyllis & Alan Bolotin, In memory of Donald Wexler
The Kiviat Family, In memory of Donald Wexler Melissa & Steven Gergel, In memory of Donald Wexler
Helen Abrams, In memory of Hank Abrams Ellie & Marvin Wasser, In memory of Hank Abrams
Cantor Remmie J. Brown Fund Ann Winograd, In memory of Esther Soifer
Arline Kalin & Family, In memory of Tillie Kalin Joseph & Sandra Joel, In memory of Leah Joel
Rabbi George J. Astrachan Fund Lisa & David Malin, In memory of Ida Malin,
Grandmother of David Malin, yahrzeit
Music Fund Ann & Louis Messier, In memory of Samuel Aron, Zaidie
Jeff, Elaine, Joelye, Blake & Eli Land, In memory of Sheldon Land Helene Klein, In memory of beloved mother, Sadie Deluty
Judy & George Cohen, In memory of Rita Goodman Audrey & Steve Hirsch, In memory of Paul Feldman,
brother-in-law of Richard Saltzman Helene Klein, In memory of Sheila Halperin
Phyllis B. Solod, In honor of the birth of Lily, great granddaughter of Florence Katz
Phyllis B. Solod, In memory of my mother IreneThomashow’s yahrzeit
Judy & George Cohen, In loving memory of Robert Shelz Judy & George Cohen, In loving memory of Sadie Sonnenstein
Pauline & Barry Cohen, In memory of Sheila Halperin Mazel Tov to Louie Messier on his Ordination as a Deacon of his
church
Shapiro/Goldstein Beautification Fund Richard Saltzman, In memory of Andrea Saltzman Richard Saltzman, In memory of Joseph Saltzman
Sam, Ellen & Seth Shapiro, In memory of Emil Shapiro Marcia Dronzek, Ellen & Jeff, In loving memory of Marvin Dronzek
President’s Fund Audrey & Steve Hirsch, In memory of Natalie Knasin
Joel & Deborah Gerstenblatt, In memory of Natalie Knasin Sherry Kriss & Richard Saltzman, In memory of Natalie Knasin
Sherry Kriss, In memory of Paul Feldman Phyllis B. Solod, In memory of Natalie Knasin
Phyllis B. Solod, In honor of the birth of Violet, granddaughter of Joel & Debbie Gerstenblatt
Ellie & Marvin Wasser, In honor of Joel & Debbie Gerstenblatt’s new granddaughter - enjoy!!
Abigail McLean, In memory of Helen Latner, beloved mother, yahrzeit
Sherry Kriss, In memory of Betty Kriss
General Fund Laurie & David Sholes, In memory of Natalie Knasin
Aileen & Michael Lederman, In loving memory of Jean Siegel Robin & Ben Sciarcon, In memory of Irma & Gene Silverman,
yahrzeits The Knasin Family, In honor of Rabbi Goldwasser & Cantor Deborah
Johnson, for everything they did for our family Joan & David Wollin, In memory of Natalie Knasin
Joan & David Wollin, In honor of the birth of new granddaughter, Violet, to Joel & Deborah Gerstenblatt
Henriette Roy, In memory of Anna Flaxman Mr. & Mrs. Sanford Fink, In memory of Roland Remillard
Rabbi Jeff and Jonquil Wolfson in honor of the organizers of the Valentines Concert
Scott & Mitzvah Williams, Blessings to you Dr. Marvin!
Religious School Fund Phyllis B. Solod, to Robert & Lily Wolfgang on the Bat Mitzvah of
your daughter Isa
Howard J. Krasnow Handicapped Accessibility Fund Gerald & Esta Cohen, In memory of David Cohen, yahrzeit
Gerald & Esta Cohen, In memory of Madeline Cohen, yahrzeit
Ira L. Schreiber Music Fund Joyce Schreiber Tesler, In memory of my dear mother,
Ethel J. Cohen
Endowment Fund Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Antonio Gama Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Natalie Knasin
Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Francis Amalfetano Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Inez Elise Burrows Cindi & Richard Portno, In memory of Natalie Knasin,
mother of Paul Knasin Cindi & Richard Portno, In honor of the birth of
Deb & Joel Gerstenblatt’s granddaughter, Violet Mandy Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Ronald Chase Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Marie D’Orsi
Cindi & Richard Portno, In memory of Sol J. Rosenbaum, father of Cindi Portno
Cindi & Richard Portno, In memory of Philip Henry Portno, brother of Richard Portno
DONATIONS
5
Read an article about Managing the Winter Blues in this
month’s latest Kesher newsletter on the temple’s website at
https://www.templesinairi.org/heres-to-your-health. Also, come
to Kosher Café at Temple Sinai on Friday, February 28 to hear
Shana speak about managing the winter blues and Seasonal
Affective Disorder.
What is Kesher? Kesher is the congregational social work
outreach program of Jewish Collaborative Services, which
offers services to congregants at Temple Sinai. Kesher is
generously funded by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode
Island, as well as private donors, and offers a variety of ser-
vices tailored to the unique needs of its member congrega-
tions. All Kesher services are confidential and provided at no
cost to congregants.
What can Kesher offer you? Shana Prohofsky, our Temple's
Kesher worker, is available to meet with congregants,
families, and individuals for consultation, resource guidance,
referrals for counseling, and just to talk.
Are you looking for something? Housing needs? Homecare?
Eldercare? Food programs? Shana can help you find the
information you need.
Shana has access to all the services offered at Jewish
Collaborative Services (long-term counseling, case manage -
ment, Lifeline emergency medical alert system installations
and monitoring, adoption, homecare, kosher nutrition, Meals
on Wheels, and senior housing), as well as those provided
through social service agencies throughout Southeastern
Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Contact Shana at 401-428-4084 or at shana@jfsri.org.
From our Social Worker Shana Prohofsky
Save the Date
Sunday, May 3, 2020
We will be honoring our Temple Administrator
Dottie Swajian
for her 20 years of dedicated service
with a luncheon at the Crowne Plaza.
Details to follow!
Luke Carter will become a Bar Mitzvah on March 28, 2020. He is the son of Susannah and Gregory Carter.
Luke is in the 7th grade at Scituate Middle School. He is a Boy Scout and enjoys playing his trombone and fishing.
NEXT MOVIE:
Sunday, March 29 1 pm
“Walk on Water”
An action thriller in which an Israeli intelligence
agent, following the suicide of his wife, is
assigned to befriend the grandchildren of a
Nazi war criminal.
Snacks will be provided.
6
YAHRZEITS
Yahrzeit Services are
held during Sabbath
services on Friday
evening and Saturday
morning at 11:00 am.
* indicates Hebrew date
For both Hebrew and
English dates, Yahrzeit
begins the preceding
evening with lighting of
the candles at sundown.
March *Morris Kortick 1 *Frances Priest *Marshall Winograd *Benjamin Berman 2 *Haskell Broadman *Richard Ehrens *Saul Lehrer *Dianne Pitchon *Tessie Gesualdi 3 *Karla Faith Hergenrogher *Gary Lappin *Dorothy Waldman Donald Charles 4 *Hyman Feldman *Ida Feldman *Sherry Kerbel *Louis Port *Harry Shuster Sylvia Glantz 5 *Ruth Bloom 6 *Meta Hirsch *Rebecca Kaplan 8 Leo Phillips *George Brown 9 *Michael S. Roberts 10 *Bessie Aron 11
*William Lewis *Gilbert Cohen 12 *Edna Gertsacov *Milton Forman 14 *Charles Kilberg Alvin Levy *Louis Goodman 15 *Daniel C. Gross Marie Mazzacane *Joseph Priest Carl Stoeckel Jacob Davis 16 Teresa Goldstein *Sophie Horovitz *Seymour Kriss 17 *William Meyerson *Isidor Shapiro *Martin Goldberg 18 *Frances Sadler *Irene Belsky 20 *Laura Buckler Eileen Gilbert *John N. Segal *Alfred Baum 21 Etta Jacobson Albert Davis 22 *Eleanor Goldblatt
*Joseph Hanflik *Harold Roberts *Clara Schuster *Mary Worhtman Howard Brooks 23 *Rose Wilk *Abraham Broadman 24 *Marc Friedlander *Gloria F. Warren *Donald Cohen 25 Sidney Gittleman *Andrew Shapiro *Julius Weinberg *Joseph Futernick 26 *Phyllis Kapstein 27 *William Goldstein 28 *Howard J. Pass Barbara D’Ambra 29 Siegfried Feibelman *Frances Friedman *Harry Israel *David Latner *Phillip Pitchon Jane St. Angelo *Pauline Weill 30 *Lena Berman 31
Losses to our Temple Sinai Family
Natalie Knasin – Mother of Paul Knasin, grandmother of Alison & Lauren
Paul Feldman - Brother-in-law of Richard Saltzman
Get Well Wishes to:
Susan Oclassen
Ruth Siperstein
Susan B. Edmiston
We will be honoring our Temple Administrator
Social Action Committee Susan Sklar & Michael Schlesinger
The Temple Sinai Social Action Committee held its second meeting of the year on February 11th. We have developed an overall agenda for 2020 and will start establishing some dates which we'll publicize soon. Our activities will be divided into two different kinds: advocacy and service. With our advocacy work we will work for systemic change through supporting pro-posed legislation, engaging in letter writing campaigns, or participating in demonstrations on issues like women's repro-ductive rights, environmental protection, or gun safety laws, etc. For our service activities we will ask congregants to bring items to the temple to be recycled, to do some house painting for a work afternoon for Habitat for Humanity, to
engage in a beach clean-up, or to participate in an organized walk to combat cancer. The activities dates and times will be posted in the temple's weekly email “See What’s Happening." We'll try to hold a social action activity every month. If you're interested in being notified a week or two before these take place, please sign up with your email address and phone number on the Rabbi's “Prayer is Not Enough” site. We'll also be arrang-ing for rides to these various activites. The next meeting of Temple Sinai SAC is scheduled for March 5th at 7:00 pm at the Synagogue and all members are invited to attend. Mike Schlesinger and Susan Sklar SAC Co-chairs.
7
MINYAN BREAKFAST
AND TORAH STUDY EVERY
SATURDAY MORNING
AT 9:30 AM
Adar - Nisan 5780
March 2020 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
9 am
Religious School
9:30 am
Confirmation Class
11:00 am
Pre-Confirmation
2 3
10 am Adult Ed
Women in the
Bible
4
3:30 pm
Confirmation Class to
State House
7:00 pm
Temple Board
Meeting
5
7:00
Social Action
Committee Meeting
6
11 am
Senior Kosher Café
6:00 pm
Shabbat Service
“Ask the Rabbi”
7
9:30 am Breakfast
10 am Torah Study
11 am
Shabbat Service
8
Daylight Saving Time begins
9 am Religious
School
9:30 am Education Committee
Meeting
9
6:00 pm
Purim Punch
Party & Megillah
Reading
10
Purim
10 am Adult Ed
Women in the
Bible
11
12
13
11 am Senior Kosher Café
Family Shabbat
6:00 pm Pizza Dinner
6:45 pm Shabbat Service
14
9:30 am Breakfast
10 am Torah Study
11 am
Shabbat Service
15
9 am
Religious School
9:30 am
Confirmation Class
16
17
10 am Adult Ed
Women in the
Bible
18
19
20
11 am Senior Kosher Café
7:30 pm
Shabbat Service Women Composers Service with Shireinu
21
9:30 am Breakfast
10 am Torah Study
11:00 a m
Shabbat Service
22
9:00 am
Religious School
10:00 am
Pre-Confirmation Class
4:00 pm Kol Isha Cantor Concert
23
24
25
7:00 pm
Adult B’nei Mitzvah Class
26 27
11 am Senior Kosher Café
7:00 pm
Joint Reform Service
at Temple Beth El
28
9:30 am Breakfast
10 am Torah Study
10:30 a m
Shabbat Service
Luke Carter
Bar Mitzvah
29
9 am Religious School
10 am Pre-Confirmation
Class 10 am Sandwiches at
Sinai 1:00 pm
“Walk on Water” Movie
30 31
6:00 pm
Confirmation Class
Trip to Garden Grille
April 1
April 2
April 3
11 am Senior Kosher
Café
7:30 pm
Shabbat Service
Dr. Alma Gottlieb,
speaker
April 4
9:30 am Breakfast
10 am Torah Study
11 a m
Shabbat Service
8
30 Hagen Avenue
Cranston, RI 02920
(401) 942-8350
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Permit No. 00861
Providence RI
DATED MATERIAL
top related