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The SPIRIT of Beth Israel Congregation - Chester County, PA SEPTEMBER 2019 ELUL 5779- TISHREI 5780

9/4 4:15 PM First One + Wednesday Religious School 9/5 6:30 PM Ritual Committee Meeting 9/6 6:30 PM Wine & Cheese 7:30 PM Services & Guest Speaker Midshipman Regan Kibby 9/7 9:30 AM Services & Guest Speaker Midshipmen Regan Kibby 9/8 9:30 AM First day Religious School 9/10 7:30 PM Board Meeting 9/13 7:30 PM Choir Shabbat 9/15 10:00 AM Pre-K Parent Workshop 9/18 12:30 PM Interfaith Action Mtg 9/19 7:00 PM Interfaith Relationships at St. Elizabeth’s Church 9/20 6:30 PM Community Shabbat Dinner 9/21 9:30 PM Life Long Learning 9/22 10:00 AM Sisterhood Brunch 9/29 7:30 PM Erev Rosh Hashanah Service & Oneg 9/30 9:00 AM Rosh Hashanah Service & Kiddush/Luncheon

HaRuach

Inside HaRuach Rabbi’s Desk ........................... 2

Religious School ....................... 6

Sisterhood .......................... 8-11

Celebrations .......................... 12

Todah Rabah .......................... 13

Calendar ............................... 14

Yahrzeits .............................. 15

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From Rabbi Cutler’s desk We are in the month of Elul and during the entire month we are obligated to reflect on our lives in preparation for the High Holidays. Therefore, I wanted to share some things that I love most about being Jewish. First, the sense of community. The Jewish community is a family- for better or worse. We may make each other crazy, as family members often do, yet, we are inextricably bound to-gether. This is not something to take for granted, especially in the world of disconnection. When I stand at the ark with our B’nai Mitzvah students one of the things that I try to impress on them is wherever your jour-ney in life takes you, you will always be able to find a Jewish community on whom you can rely if you need help. What an incredible blessing. Second, I love the wisdom of our tradition and the values that we emphasize. We re-ally want to be better people and to make our world a better place, and Judaism of-fers us practical guidance in how to achieve these goals. There are volumes of teaching on how to develop our character, how to be kinder and how to care for the stranger and how to listen more and gossip less. Tzedakah, righteous giving, is a mitzvah, an obligation, not something we do when it makes us feel good. Judaism understands the profound importance of justice, the foundation on which society rises or falls. Third, Shabbat. I like being a rabbi, yet, I don’t think I could sustain my work without a weekly opportunity to step out of the everyday business and cultivate a sense of holiness. My favorite thing is to have nothing on the calendar, to pray together with all of you and to share Shabbat dinner with loved ones. Shabbat is a reminder of creation- God worked 6 days a week and rested on the 7

th. Take a breath. Disconnect.

Fourth, our connection to God through the path of blessings. Jewish life is grounded in a sense of gratitude and appreciation. We are so blessed, and yet our tendency is to focus on what we don’t have and forget to appreciate all the good. Saying a bra-chah, we can articulate our thanks for waking up in the morning, to be free, for the food we eat, for the clothing we wear, for the beautiful world in which we live.

Continued next page

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Continued from Rabbi’s desk

The word “Yehudi”, “Jew,” comes from the Hebrew root meaning- thankful. To be a Jew is to be thankful. Our tradition guides in the direction of gratitude. Fifth, opportunities for study and a culture of learning. “Until when,” asks Maimoni-des, “is a person obligated to study Torah?” “Until the day he dies.”

I love that life-

long learning is a Jewish value and there is richness and depth in Jewish learning to occupy a lifetime. Sixth, Judaism recognizes that we need ritual in our lives. We light Shabbat can-dles, we shake the lulav and etrog, we taste the matzah and the bitter herbs. Yes, learning is a vital part of Judaism. And, through taste and smell, sight and touch and taste, we renew our commitment to the values that are essential to our Jewish lives. We are not only human beings; we are human doings. I love Judaism’s recognition that we need concrete reminders of the holy. Finally, I love that Judaism is a way of life, encompassing not only what happens in this sanctuary, not only what happens in our classrooms, but how we behave in the world. The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) imagines 4 questions that God will ask us when we are called upon to give an accounting of what we did with our precious lives. All 4 questions have one thing in common: they relate to our behavior in the world- were we honest in our business? Did we support the needs of children in our com-munity? Did we make time for learning and did we work towards tikkun olam, to-wards leaving the world a better place than we found it. That is what God is depict-ed as caring about most, not whether we were Jewish scholars or spent our day in prayer. Judaism is first and foremost about how we live our lives.

Shana Tovah, Rabbi Jon

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Please join us as Beth Israel welcomes

Midshipman Regan Kibby as our guest speaker on

Friday September 6 at 7:30 PM and

Saturday, September 7 at 9:30 AM

Regan Kibby is member of the class of 2020 at the U.S. Naval Academy and a resident of central North Carolina. A Jew by choice, Kibby is a member of the Jewish Midshipman Club at the Naval Academy. His studies include history and English. As a transgender man and the first Midshipman to transition while at the Naval Academy, Kibby has worked tirelessly to fight the transgender ban in mili-tary and end bigotry in all of its forms. Midshipman Kibby will join us at services on Friday and Saturday and give us an opportunity to hear his story and his efforts to end the transgender ban. Please join us for this special occasion.

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Saint Elizabeth Interfaith Action Committee invites

you to

A Forum on Mixed-Faith Relationships

discussing “Mixed-Faith Relationships: the Rewards,

Challenges and Surprises.”

Forum Panelists:

Michelle Kagel, LMFT, Marriage & Family Therapist Asheq Fazlullah, Campus Ministry at Villanova University (supporting Muslim life

and Interfaith activities and relationships) Father Sean Bransfield, JCL, Vice-Chancellor, Archdiocese of Philadelphia

(experience in working with couples in mixed faith relationships)

Thursday, September 19, 2019 7:00 PM in the parish social hall

To sign up, visit: www.stelizabethparish.org or call the Parish Services Office at 610-646-6550.

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Religious School Chai-lights

by Joanie Sharp

Welcome back to a new school year! We are excited to welcome back all our returning students, and new ones as well. Our first Wednesday of classes for 3

rd-

7th graders will be on September 4

th, 4:15 – 6:00

p.m. Our first Sunday of classes begins on September 8

th.

We will begin with a light welcome back breakfast from 9:30 – 10:00 a.m., followed by teacher introduc-tions. Then students will leave the Social hall with their first period teachers. Parents should remain for a short parent meeting and are welcome to stay and schmooze with each other following that.

If you haven’t already done so, please fill out your children’s registration forms and Safety Card forms and return to me as soon as possible. Be sure to send children in with a book bag or backpack that is designated for Religious School. It would be helpful to also include sharpened pencils, and some basic school supplies (crayons, mark-ers, colored pencils, glue stick). Any materials or texts that your children take home should stay in their book bags. We also collect tzedakah on Sundays – if your children can bring in a few loose coins each week, it will help give them a sense of gratefulness for what they have, and a sense of happiness to know they are helping others less fortunate than they are. A few additional reminders… If your child needs to leave school before dismissal time, you must park in a designated parking spot and come in through the front door (using your key fob) to pick up your child from his/her class-room; no students will be dismissed on their own without a parent. Please do not leave your car parked in front of the building. No one is permitted to enter or leave through the back doors. If your family has not received a key fob yet so you can enter the building without having to be buzzed in, please let the office know im-mediately. As the High Holidays are around the corner, be sure to note that we will hold special services for our K-2

nd grade children, and 3

rd- 6

th grade children from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. on both the first day of

Rosh Hashanah, and on Yom Kippur. We look forward to a great year ahead, and to having your support as we help to provide your chil-dren with a sound foundation in Hebrew, prayer, and incorporating Jewish values into their every-day lives. Shana Tovah!

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Sisterhood Snippets by Maxine Endy

Sisterhood at Work

Co-Presidents elected to fill vacancy on Sisterhood Board of Directors Maxine Endy and Sharon Zislis have been elected (according to Sisterhood by-laws) as co-presidents to fill the existing term on Sisterhood’s Slate. They will now rep-resent Sisterhood on the BICC Board.

From: My Sister’s Closet at the NMAJH, Phila

. Please show you care: Bring your non-perishable food to BICC in September so that we can fill a wonderful food basket to bring to the food pantry in October..

Sisterhood On the Move with Two Events! On 22 September, from 10:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., Sisterhood Adult Education features debut author, Janet Benton, who will be bringing slides of Phila-delphia during the time in which the book is set. She has appeared to acclaim at many Philadelphia synagogues and the book has won awards!. You need not to have read the book to join us but if you would like the book, Lilli De Jong, it is available in the library or online. Join us for this exciting outside-speaker, community brunch event. All congregants and their friends are welcome with do-nations gratefully accepted. RSVP to mtendy@verizon.net (mailto:mtendy@verizon.net) See the flyer in this issue.

Sisterhood Meeting and Workshop

The Yoga of Eating September 3 6:30 pm for hor d’oeuvres.

7:00 - 8:00 Donna Dufoe will present “The Yoga of Eating”. Donna is a registered yoga instructor and a personal trainer. Workshop explores how breathing and eating patterns can be changed to better listen to what our body needs as well as explore poses to expand the breath making note of tension or restrictions we may have placed on ourselves. Follow-ing the program, there will be a short meeting. All members of Sisterhood are encouraged to attend. Short meeting to follow at 8 pm See the flyer in this issue.

Please RSVP to Cassandra Lam, cassandra_lam@hotmail.com

Continued next page

This Photo by Unknown Author

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More Sisterhood Snippets Boskov’s Certificates Save 25% on mostly all Boscov’s purchases Wednesday, October 16, 2019. Your donation of $5 to Sisterhood will give you this valuable discount card. Please contact Saron Zislis for details at szislis@acm.org or 610-524-6972 to get in on this tremendous savings.

Thank you to Heidi Strauss, Leslie Stein (Cissie Halpern’s family), Barry and San-dra Milberg and family, and Eva and Martin Skolnik for the donations for our Rosh Hashanah flowers which will adorn our Bimah, the Hallway, and the Social Hall for these High Holy Days.

Rosh Hashanah Plans Taking Shape! We are pleased to include Sharon Zislis to our slate. She has taken on the job of Sisterhood Fund Raising and we welcome her expertise. Sharon thanks those who helped bake the delicious apple honey cakes on 8/29 and 8/30. She is looking for cooks to assist in salad making on 9/29. All hands on deck! We are also in need of folks to help on Rosh Hashanah for the gala Oneg and Extended Kiddush on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Please contact szislis@acm.org

Thank you for supporting our apple-honey cake fund raiser (See the High Holy Day Booklet) Your greetings will warm the hearts of all of your friends. And we hear the taste testers had high praise for our new (old) recipe! Meeting on August 6 included a tour of the Whole Foods Bakery, and, of course, dinner with a short meeting. Everyone enjoyed the program and the desserts were delicious! More fun meetings with workshops and speakers are being planned.

This Photo by

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The Yoga of Eating

Tuesday, Sept 3

7-8 pm

This workshop will present a new way of thinking about cravings, diets, food choices, being kind to yourself, and the “yoga” or “union of self”. We will explore how breathing and eating patterns can be changed to better listen to what our body needs, as well as explore poses to expand the breath-making note of tension or restrictions we may have placed on ourselves. Breathing freely is not attained through learning, but through unlearning. We can apply similar logic of to our diet.

Led by Donna Dufoe, E-RYT 500 and ACE Personal Trainer

Compliments of the Sisterhood Pearl Endy Adult Education Fund

6:30 pm-7:00 hors d’oeuvres

7-8 pm Workshop

8-9pm Sisterhood Open Board Meeting

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Save up to 25% on most Boscov’s purchases on Wednes-

day, October 16, 2019 with a $5 donation to BICC Sister-

hood. Contact Sharon Zislis at szislis@acm.org or 610-524

-6972 to get your discount card.

Janet Benton Coming to Beth Israel, Sunday, September 22, 10-12:30 pm Janet Benton is the author of Lilli de Jong, published by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday in May 2017.

Kirkus Reviews called it a “monumental accomplishment.” Library Journal and NPR named it a

Best Book of 2017, Bustle called it one of 2017’s best debut novels, and Amazon picked it as a

Best Book of May. Her writings have also appeared in the New York Times Modern Love col-

umn, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and many other publications. She has edited and co-written TV documentaries for

The Great Experiment, a series on Philadelphia history. Janet holds an M.F.A. from the University of Massachu-

setts, Amherst and a B. A. in religious studies from Oberlin College. She has taught writing at universities and in

private workshops for over two decades. She is coming to discuss her book and show slides of Philadelphia

when the book is set.

Please join us for the author-talk and lite brunch, sponsored by Sisterhood at

Beth Israel of Chester County

Sunday, September 22, 10-12:30 pm

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Daniel Zebrowski 9/1 11th Michael Cohen 9/2 Linda Glazer 9/2 Sarah Steen 9/5 12th Molly Scott 9/6 Isabella Blom 9/10 2nd David Stern 9/10 18th Harold Glazer 9/12 Jacob Egger 9/13 3rd Phyllis Barnett 9/14 Michael Stern 9/14 Charlotte Kramer 9/16 2nd Joshua Stern 9/20 12th Herbert Cadoff 9/22 Ben Schifter 9/22 10th Nate Schifter 9/22 10th Robert Greer 9/23 Rachel Ressel 9/24 20th Beatriz Perez 9/25 David Resnik 9/25 Jacob Dinerman 9/27 15th MacKenzie Blom 9/28 5h Adrianne Liebman 9/29

Steven & Nancy Goldberg 9/1 46th Stuart & Elaine Bran 9/8 51th Mike & Jaimee Helbein 9/17 30th Stuart & Kathryn Solomon 9/18 14th

Michael & Naomi Brodman 9/19 51st Oleg & Amy Levin 9/22 17th Lisa & Harry Leff 9/28 33nd

LACHALL, COHEN & SAGNOR

H. MICHAEL COHEN Attorney at Law

Tel. (610) 436-9300 144 West Market Street Fax (610) 696-7962 West Chester, PA 19382-2985 Email: mcohen@lcslaw.com

Join us for

Wine and

Chesese

on Friday

September 6 at

6:30 PM

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Todah Rabah! Tzedakah is a mitzvah, a unique privilege granted to every Jew. Re-

membering friends and family in this manner is an appropriate way to show our feelings towards

both our loved ones and our community. We want to thank the following for their contributions:

Beautify BI Fund Donation From Linda Jacowitz

Building Fund In memory of Mel Stempler From Barry and Sandy Milberg Donation From Randy and Jeff Steen Choir Fund To Maxine and Allan Endy, thank you very much for your friendship From Barb and Irv Hendel In memory of Joanie Sharp’s brother, Bill From Barb and Irv Hendel In memory of Bruce Stark’s father From Rabbi Jon and Thierry Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund In honor of Samantha Anderson’s engagement to Ben Judovits From Lisa Leff

Cohen Fund In memory of Joanie Sharp’s brother, Bill From Hilary Rosenbaum In memory of Joanie Sharp’s brother, Bill From Steven and Nancy Goldberg In memory of Joanie Sharp’s brother, Bill Miller From Roz Goldstein & Tony Dyckman Yahrzeits In memory of Dr. Charles Goldring, Edward’s father From Edward and Doris Goldring In memory of Jacob Golomb From Sondra Abrams and Family In memory of Kurt Strauss, Dorothy Strauss, Ferdinand Strauss, Frieda Strauss, Alice deJonge and Hilda Corper From Heidi Strauss

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September 2019 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 2 3 9:00 AM BIP: 2,4,5 & Kindergarten

7:30 PM Sisterhood Meeting

4 9:00 AM BIP: 3 & Kinder-garten Enrichment

4:15 PM RS: One + (3rd-7th)

7:15 PM Choir Practice

5 11:00 AM Thursday En-richment 6:30 PM Ritual Com-mittee Meeting

6 6:30 PM Shabbat Yeladim Wine & Cheese 7:30 PM Shabbat Services w/ Guest Speaker Regan Kibby

7 9:30 AM Shabbat Services with Guest Speaker Regan Kibby

8 9:30 AM 1st Day of Religious School (K- Confirma-tion and Breakfast)

11:30 AM Programming Com-

9 10 7:30 PM Board Meeting

11 4:15 PM RS: One + (3rd-7th) 7:15 PM Choir Practice

12 13 7:30 PM Choir Shabbat Services

14 9:30 AM Shabbat Services

15 9:45 AM RS (K-Confirmation)

10:00 AM RS: Pre-K Parent Workshop

11:00 AM Introduction to Biblical Hebrew

16 17 18 9:30 AM BIP: PTO

12:45 PM IAC Meeting

4:15 PM RS: One + (3rd-7th)

7:15 PM Choir Practice

19 7:00 PM RS Committee Meeting

7:00 PM IAC-Interfaith Relationships & Marriages at St. Elizabeth’s Church

20 6:30 PM Community Shabbat Dinner

21 9;30 SM Life Long Learning 8:00 PM Selichot Service at Kesher Israel

22 9:45 AM RS: (K-Confirmation) 10:00 AM Sisterhood Brunch: Adult Education Book

23 24 25 4:15 PM RS: One + (3rd-7th) 7:15 PM Choir Practice

26 27 7:30 PM Shabbat Services

28 9:30 AM Shabbat Services

29 RS: NO CLASSES 7:30 PM Erev Rosh Hashanah Services & Oneg

30 9:00 AM Rosh Hashanah Services

10:30 AM Jr. Congrega-tion & Young Children’s Services

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Yahrzeits

Observed August 30-31 Eleanor Tracton 9/1 Elul 1 Richard Derby 9/2 Elul 2 Abraham Modell 9/2 Elul 2 Joseph Altman 9/3 Elul 3 Sydney M. Katz 9/3 Elul 3 Corey Suib 9/3 Elul 3 Betty Roberts 9/4 Elul 4 Morris Wattenmaker 9/4 Elul 4 Shirley Kauffman 9/5 Elul 5 Ida Klein 9/5 Elul 5 Manny Pogash 9/5 Elul 5 Sarah Ziserman 9/5 Elul 5 Phyllis Fields 9/6 Elul 6

Observed September 6-7 Soley Goldberg 9/7 Elul 7 Mollie Jaffe 9/7 Elul 7 Lester Kaufmann 9/7 Elul 7 Helen Sharlack 9/7 Elul 7 Pearl Davis 9/8 Elul 8 Sari Weinberg 9/8 Elul 8 Sophia Zeller 9/8 Elul 8 Ruth Goldberg 9/9 Elul 9 Warren Reinhardt 9/9 Elul 9 William Ulrich 9/9 Elul 9 Lilian Berman 9/10 Elul 10 Laura Betesh 9/10 Elul 10 Benjamin Strunk 9/10 Elul 10 Harry Gelb 9/11 Elul 11 Sylvia Kimmeldorf 9/11 Elul 11 Toby Rosen 9/11 Elul 11 Ruth Shatzky 9/11 Elul 11 Charles Silverman 9/11 Elul 11 Frieda Steinberg 9/12 Elul 12 Esther Goldfine 9/13 Elul 13 Ted Weiss 9/13 Elul 13

Observed September13-14 Kate Sussman 9/14 Elul 14 Richard Weller 9/14 Elul 14 Leonard George Abrams 9/15 Elul 15 Abraham Kidorf 9/15 Elul 15 Samuel Rosenblatt 9/16 Elul 16 Eva Braverman 9/17 Elul 17 Ida Markson 9/17 Elul 17 Abby Price 9/17 Elul 17 Gertrude Horwitz 9/18 Elul 18 Elizabeth Mandel 9/18 Elul 18 Helen Kline 9/19 Elul 19 Murray Mattleman 9/19 Elul 19

Joseph Silver 9/19 Elul 19 Morris Skolnik 9/19 Elul 19 Rabbi Fred Susman 9/19 Elul 19 Sara Barash 9/20 Elul 20 Tessie Corbett 9/20 Elul 20 Emma Goldberg 9/20 Elul 20 Blanche Nadler 9/20 Elul 20 Albert Wexler 9/20 Elul 20

Observed September20-21 David Hipschman 9/21 Elul 21 Max Tucker 9/21 Elul 21 Frieda Friedman 9/22 Elul 22 Julius Gordon 9/22 Elul 22 Marlene Greenspan 9/22 Elul 22 Harry Riebman 9/22 Elul 22 Dr. Julius Margolis 9/23 Elul 23 Israel Gottlieb 9/26 Elul 26 Maxine Greenburg 9/26 Elul 26 Simon Cohen 9/27 Elul 27 Miriam Feldstein 9/27 Elul 27 Sylvia Levin 9/27 Elul 27 Fagele Wajsfelner 9/27 Elul 27

Observed September27-28 David Babouri 9/28 Elul 28 Carlyn Jacobs 9/28 Elul 28 Jacob Marcus 9/28 Elul 28 Max Mulnik 9/28 Elul 28 Herman Gordon 9/29 Elul 29 Jerome Grossman 9/29 Elul 29 Helen Pechin 9/29 Elul 29 Isadore Braveman 9/30 Tishrei 1 Jerome Frankel 9/30 Tishrei 1 Betty Brodman Orloff 9/30 Tishrei 1 Julius Fleisher 10/1 Tishrei 2 Samuel J Halpren 10/1 Tishrei 2 Ann Hirsch 10/1 Tishrei 2 Leonard Rabin 10/1 Tishrei 2 Fred Reisenbach 10/1 Tishrei 2 Jack Dreyfuss 10/2 Tishrei 3 Joseph Segal 10/2 Tishrei 3 LeRoy Stein 10/2 Tishrei 3 Jack Suss 10/2 Tishrei 3 Newton Block 10/3 Tishrei 4 Ida Kauffman 10/3 Tishrei 4 Harold Schwartz 10/3 Tishrei 4 Seymour Gottlieb 10/4 Tishrei 5 Herman Kravitz 10/4 Tishrei 5

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See up-to-date Calendar on www.bethisraelpa.org for highlights

HaRuach

BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION of CHESTER COUNTY

385 Pottstown Pike (Rte. 100)

Eagle, PA

P.O. Box 678

Uwchland, PA 19480

(610) 458-8550 biccsyn1@gmail.com

www.bethisraelpa.org

Rabbi — Jon Cutler

BOARD OF DIRECTORS President — Halle Schonherz

Executive Vice President — Neal Stone Vice President, Finance — Stuart Miller

Vice President, Program — open Secretary — Roz Goldstein

Treasurer — Stuart Miller Immediate Past President — Mark Segal

MEMBERS John Barnett Cindy Blair-Miller Aaron Blom Nadine Dinerman Linda Glazer Rob Greer Michelle Harbold Morris Kauffman Gary Levin Robin Kerollis-Napiecek Mandy Scott

Heather Simon Martin Skolnik Drew Weintraub Marcy Zeichner Paul Zislis

TRUSTEES

Ed Margolis Jeff Pickholtz Don Suss

Pre-School Director — Adrianne Liebman

Religious School Director — Joan Sharp Office Administrator — Bernice Gause

Music Director — Robin Kerollis-Napiecek HaRuach Editor—Deborah Kaplan