1836 Rohrerstown Road Lancaster, PA 17601 office@tbelancaster.org 717-581-7891 www.tbelancaster.org

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT JUNE 2016 Mission Statement

The mission of Temple Beth El is to pro-vide a house of Conservative Jewish worship which fosters spiritual fulfill-ment, Jewish theology, life-long Jewish education, and community support throughout the cycles of the seasons.

Board of Directors Pres. - Dolly Shuster 1st VP - Vacant 2nd VP - Vacant 3rd VP - Randi Jacobs Secy - Debbie Rubin Treasurer - Linda Hutt Financial Secy - Samantha Besnoff Lynn Brooks, Abshalom Cooper, Lee Franklin, Steve Gordon, Zvi Naveh, Judy Anthony, Bob Matlin, Arne Ostroff, Earl Stein, Sue Friedman Sisterhood Rep. - Joan Goldman Rabbi Daniela Szuster & Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky Principal - Larry Besnoff Men’s Club - Steve Kleinman USY/Kadima - Megan Hart & Alyssa Gottlieb Sisterhood - Sisterhood Board Membership - Sue Friedman

Inside this issue: Rabbi Daniela’s Message 2&5 President’s Message 3&4 Principal’s Message 6 Shavuot Services 7 Installation of the Rabbis 8 Our Temple Family 10 Calendar 18

Candle Lighting Times

June 3 8:11 PM June 10 8:15 PM June 17 8:18 PM June 24 8:20 PM

JUNE EVENTS June 5 Rosh Chodesh meeting @10:00 AM

June 7 Executive Committee meeting @6:45 PM

June 12 & 13 SHAVUOT June 14 ANNUAL MEETING @7:30 PM June 21 1st Reform Church dinner June 26 INSTALLATION OF RABBIS RAMI & DANIELA @3:00 PM

Schedule of Shabbat Services

June 3 Shabbat Services Robin Adler - Congregant of the Year 2016

*DAIRY Oneg Friday night sponsored by Temple Beth El in honor of Robin 7:30 PM Weekend sponsors: Carol & Michael Gleiberman in honor of Cassidy’s Bat Mitzvah Also Numa & Dick Lavy in honor of their 59th wedding anniversary. June 4 Torah Reading:Behukotai 9:45 AM *Cassidy Gleiberman Bat Mitzvah - Afternoon service June 10 Shabbat Services 7:30 PM Weekend sponsors: Pam & Ken Lessans in honor of Max’s birthday June 11 Torah Reading:Bamidbar 9:45 AM June 17 Shabbat Services 7:30 PM Weekend sponsors needed June 18 Torah Reading:Naso 9:45 AM June 24 Shabbat Services 7:30 PM Weekend sponsors needed June 25 Torah Reading:Beha-Alotekha 9:45 AM

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 2

Hesed (loving kindness) in the Torah, in the story of Ruth and in

the Festival of Shavuot Rabbi Daniela Szuster

During the Festival of Shavuot we read Megillat Rut. Why? There are many explanations:

The book of Ruth takes place at harvest time, and Shavuot also occurs at har-vest time in Israel. Indeed, Shavuot is also called Chag Hakatzir (The Harvest Festi-val).

According to tradition, King David died on Shavuot, and the Megillah tells us the story of the beginning of the Davidian dynasty. Ruth was the mother of King David’s grandfather.

Like Ruth, who converted and accepted God and the Jewish tradition, so too the people of Israel made a covenant with God on this day as they eagerly accept-ed the Torah.

At this time, I would like to share with you one of the central topics of the Book of Ruth, which is Hesed (loving kindness). The value of

Hesed appears in the text many times, and the word itself appears three times: at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the story.

1. In the beginning, the text in-forms us that Naomi’s hus-band and her two sons died. Her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, were with her dur-ing this difficult time. The text highlights that Naomi recog-nized that her daughters-in-law did Hesed in honoring the memory of the dead in Na-omi’s family and that they will receive Hesed from God:

“With her two daughters-in-law she (Naomi) left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah. Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the Lord show you (Hesed) kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me” (Ruth 1:7-8).

After hearing Naomi’s request, Ruth answered with the very famous quote, which also expresses Hesed, an act of living kindness: “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from follow-ing you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God”. (Ruth 1:16).

2. In the middle of the Megillah, we see that Boaz treated Ruth with loving kindness and Ruth did Hesed for Naomi, from working in the fields to bringing Naomi food. After that, Naomi thanked God for His act of Hesed:

“At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar. When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she

wanted and had some left over. As she got up to glean, Boaz gave or-ders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t repri-mand her. Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”

So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the bar-ley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said. The Lord bless him!” Nao-mi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his (Hesed) kindness to the living and the dead.” (Ruth 2: 14-20).

3. At the end of the story, Bo-az recognized Ruth’s loving kindness:

“The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This (Hesed) kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor” (Ruth 3: 10).

The book of Ruth relates the loving kindness Ruth bestows on her mother-in-law Naomi, the benevo-lence shown by the people of Beth Lehem towards the impoverished and Boaz’s thoughtfulness towards Ruth.

Every character in this brief story, from Naomi to Ruth to Boaz to the minor characters, behaves in a man-ner that demonstrates some form

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MESSAGE FROM RABBI DANIELA

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This is my last mes sage to you as the President of Temple Beth El. My term is over at the end of June. I have served for almost three years, moving up from 1st Vice President to cover the last half of Dave Ehrlich's term and then serving my own two year term. A lot has happened in these three years.

During my Presidency we have had four Rabbis. Rabbi Parnes retired and many members of the congregation participated in the long and compli-cated task of engaging in our search for a new Rabbi. Our busy Search Committee Co-Chaired by Hal Koplin and Diane Penchansky filled out the necessary forms, reviewed the re-sponses, conducted initial interviews (what a wonderful invention Skype is) and then handled the multitude of details involved in bringing the best candidates to Temple Beth El for the congregation to meet the Rabbis and see them conduct services - and for the Rabbis to meet us. It was an ex-tensive, time consuming procedure that led us to Rabbi Rami and Rabbi Daniela - and introduced us to the long, drawn out, complicated won-derful world of the immigration pro-cess. The additional intricacies that were involved required us to engage a temporary Rabbi, and we were ex-tremely fortunate in having Rabbi Geoffrey Goldberg, who was not only a wonderful Rabbi, but was willing to be extremely flexible, extending his stay with us time after time as the complexities of the immigration pro-cess created delay after delay. Throughout the process, our active Religious Practices Committee Co-Chaired by Ralph and Lori Taber made sure that our services contin-ued to be covered between Rabbis,

and while the Rabbis were on vaca-tion, aided by numerous congregants who answered the call for service leaders, and Torah and Haftarah read-ers. With Rabbis Rami and Daniela's arrival with their family, our Search Committee morphed into a Transition Team, helping the Rabbis adjust to their new country and congregation. Working these past several months with Rabbis Rami and Daniela has been a pleasure. We have tried to meet every Wednesday so that we can go over what is new, what needs to be done and, especially in the be-ginning, some of the vagaries of their new life in America. I particularly re-call a conversation about driving on icy roads. The Rabbis have brought an enthusiasm and a wealth of ideas for programs that ensured that life at Temple Beth El will be anything but boring.

As if this weren't enough excitement, over the last few years we have had focus groups that looked into the di-rections that Temple Beth El should be taking in order to grow and be an active, vibrant congregation. This pro-cess was started under Dave Ehrlich's presidency. In trying to determine what is best for our congregation, we have undertaken a review of the old dues structure, and what other syna-gogues are doing today to meet their financial needs in a way that is re-sponsive to the needs of their congre-gants and the realities of how today's congregant's view their financial com-mitment to their synagogue. Our Fi-nancial Commitment Task Force led by Samantha Besnoff held several Fo-cus Group meetings and has devel-oped a financial commitment plan designed to sustain the synagogue and respond to the concerns ex-pressed by our members in the Focus Group meetings. Once again, we have another example of dedicated people who have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to make our synagogue life better for us all.

I have been fortunate in that there have been many wonderful occa-sions during my time as President at Temple Beth El. Because of the hard work of our outstanding Food Festi-val Committee led by Sherry Ostroff, and the congregants, including Reli-gious School students, who have pitched in to help, we have contin-ued to grow our Food Festival, reaching a wider audience in our community and becoming a more impressive fundraiser each year. Our Annual Food Festival is some-thing that the entire Lancaster com-munity, not just the Jewish commu-nity looks forward to each year. On a different, but equally pleasant, note was our Beit Mitzvah the weekend of November 6-8, 2015. The installation of our 16 beautiful stained glass windows and the pro-grams held during that weekend fulfilled a promise that we made to ourselves when we moved into our new building. When we had the money for the windows, we would install them. Our congregants came through for us, and we have these magnificent windows as a result. In the last couple of years, Temple Beth El has also grown in spirit. I am specifically referring to the work of the Chesed Committee. Co-Chairs Robin Adler and Judy Anthony have rapidly grown the work of this com-mittee to provide aid, assistance and comfort to numerous persons who need assistance, or, in some cases, just someone to visit them. The work of the Chesed Committee truly goes to the essence of what we are as a synagogue.

There is so much more that I can say about Temple Beth El. The wide range of programs that are offered have grown tremendously in the last few years. Lynn Brooks and her Adult Education Committee and the Beth Pomerantz Education Series

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

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have provided many excellent pro-grams. Sisterhood remains active in all aspects of our synagogue life, whether it's fundraisers like the Leagrams or Shaloch Manot, the donations they make to the syna-gogue , the programs they present - all are part of the Sisterhood's never-ending involvement. The Men's Club maintains its regular meetings and also helps to sponsor temple activities. We have a wonderful Reli-gious School thanks to our dedicat-ed principal Larry Besnoff and our excellent teachers.

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge all of the hard work performed by our Facilities Com-mittee, Co-Chaired by Steve Gordon and Arne Ostroff. If you want to know why we have a beautiful building - just say thank you to the Facilities Committee. Lori Taber, the Chair of the Cemetery Committee, and the committee take care of what many would find an unenvia-ble task. Sue Friedman has basically been a one-woman Membership Committee (she can use some help people). I now come to the members of the Executive Committee. Samantha Besnoff, Financial Secretary and Linda Hutt, Treasurer, have been utterly amazing in the amount of work that they have done in han-dling Temple Beth El's finances. They have put in long hours and worked closely with Janet in dealing with everything from dues, bills, working with the congregation (remember those Focus Groups?) to create a financial commitment pro-gram for sustaining the synagogue. On top of that, Samantha has been handling our Facebook page and working on the redesign of our con-gregational e-mails. Debbie Rubin is more than the Board Secretary. She is Personnel Committee Chair and

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handles the facilities contracts. Randi Jacobs as 3rd Vice President has done a fantastic job with advertising, coor-dinating publicity between Temple Beth El and the other synagogues and Jewish organizations, working with Samantha on the bulletin on the webpage and, along with Samantha, dealing with a multitude of issues that have been necessary to bring us into the 21st Century. Everyone has been doing far more than their By-Laws job description since we were working for the past two years without a 1st or 2nd Vice President.

Last, and by no means least, there has been the pleasure of working with Janet and Carol. For Janet, this is the second time that we have worked together with me as President. I think that she was hoping that the second time around I would have learned to get my Bulletin articles in on time. Fortunately for me, she has been very forgiving and is as accommodating as ever. Carol, as I am sure you all know, is a bundle of energy who is deter-mined to keep us properly fed while creating lovely centerpieces for the tables to provide the right atmos-phere, and maintaining the building in a manner that makes us proud. Both Janet and Carol have made my job as President a lot easier.

I want to thank all of you - the congre-gation of Temple Beth El, for the hon-or and privilege of being your Presi-dent for the past three years.

Dolly Shuster

BULLETIN DEADLINE

The deadline for

July & August’s Combined Bulletin

is Wednesday, June 15th

Guidelines for Requesting Office Manager’s Assistance

Committee Chairs and Congregants, Please be aware of the updated pro-cedures that are now in place when asking Janet for assistance. This would include sending cards, helping with mailings, opening the gift or wine shop, planning to cook in the Temple, etc. All requests should be in writing, either by email or a hand-written note. Temple office email: office@tbelancaster.org . Putting all requests in writing will lessen the instances of misunderstandings and errors. Please be very specific and not vague with your requests. When scheduling a service technician to be in the building, please notify Ja-net that someone is expected to per-form work in the building along with the company name, time or range of time that someone is expected, and a brief description of what work is to be done, such as electrical work in Sanctu-ary, appliance repairs in kitchen, etc. When arrangements are made, please ask that the technician or work-er leave a slip explaining exactly what was done. Or, if you prefer, ask the worker to telephone you with that information. Janet will not be respon-sible for reporting what work was done. Her work hours are as fol-lows: Monday and Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.; Tuesday, Off. Please keep these hours in mind when scheduling work to be done at the Temple. Generally, if you are planning to stop by the Temple, please call ahead to make sure Janet is there. It’s possible she may be on a Temple errand, starting later, or leaving early due to an appointment. Thank you for your attention to this important policy.

Personnel Committee

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 5

of Hesed. The main actors in the story all act in the spirit of Hesed; some perform ordinary Hesed, and some, especially Ruth, extraordinary Hesed.

In fact, the sages of the Midrash also pointed out the main value of Hesed that appears in the Megillah:

“Rabbi Zeira said: "This Megillah contains neither matters of defile-ment or purification, nor laws of permission or prohibition. Why then was it written down? To teach the reward that is reserved for those who perform acts of loving-kindness" (Midrash Ruth Rabbah 2, 16).

Doing Hesed means to do an act of benevolence. In other words, it is an act that is not done out of obliga-tion. In addition, you do it with love, without the intention to receive a reward for that action. One of the greatest examples of this aspect of Hesed is the mitzvah of Tahara, a ritual act of purification of the body before it is buried. It is considered an act of Hesed shel Emet, the tru-est act of kindness, because we do this action with love, respect and dedication to a person who never will thank us. We don’t have a re-ward for doing this. It is just an act of loving kindness.

During Shavuot we celebrate the giving of the Torah, and according to one teaching in the Talmud, the Torah starts and ends with deeds of loving kindness:

“Rabbi Simlai expounded, The Torah begins with loving kindness and ends with loving kindness. It begins with loving kindness, as it is written (Genesis 3:21), "And God made for Adam and his wife coats of skin, and he dressed them." It ends with lov-ing kindness, as it is written

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(Deuteronomy 34:6), and He buried him in a valley." (Sotah 14a)

Saying that the Torah starts and fin-ishes with deeds of loving kindness means that the whole Torah contains this value in all its length. We have many rules and commandments in the Torah. Nevertheless, the spirit and the way to follow them should be with Hesed, with loving kindness. Conse-quently, we can say that we read the book of Ruth on Shavuot because the Torah, which was given on that day, is based on Hesed.

In addition, I can affirm that unlike other books of the Bible, the story of Ruth takes place in a peaceful society, without wars, conflicts nor hostilities. It is described as a society where peace, harmony, respect and benevo-lence reign among the people. It is a model society, which teaches us that if all of us do acts of Hesed, deeds of loving kindness, our society can be peaceful, united and benevolent too.

During this month, when we are close to the celebration of Shavuot, it is important to receive all the com-mandments of the Torah and practice them with Hesed, with loving kind-ness, as the characters in the Book of Ruth did.

Shavuot Sameach!

CASSIDY GLEIBERMAN BAT MITZVAH

SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2016 AFTERNOON SERVICE

Cassidy Gleiberman will be called to the Torah on June 4, 2016. Cassidy is in 7th grade attending her first year at Lancaster Country Day School. Cassidy’s favorite subjects in school are math, science, and ro-botics. She is a member of the Math Counts Team which won the county competition this year and went on to compete at states. Her robotics team also competed locally and went on to states. When she is not busy studying, Cassidy enjoys play-ing lacrosse for her school as well as a travel lacrosse team. She also en-joys playing tennis and looks for-ward to the day when she can beat her Nana. Cassidy has also been tearing up the mountains in Vail, Colorado since she’s been two years old. For Cassidy’s Bat Mitzvah project, she made Hope Totes which she donated to the Water Street Rescue Mission. “Hope Totes,” a name coined by her sister, Annie Gleiber-man, are toiletry kits that are given to assist the homeless in Lancaster County. Cassidy, with the help of her friends, made 750 Hope Totes which were donated to Water Street during a visit on Friday, April 29th.

KIDDUSH & ONEG SPONSORS

JUNE Weekend Sponsors

June 3 Temple Beth El in honor of

Robin Adler—Congregant of the Year

June 4 Carol & Michael Gleiberman

In honor of Cassidy Gleiberman’s Bat Mitzvah

June 3 & 4 Numa & Dick Lavy In Honor of their

59th wedding anniversary

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 6

With the end of the school year behind us, I wanted to take a look back at all that was accomplished within our small Reli-gious School. Here is a list of just a few of

them: We held Youth Services during

the High Holy Days. We celebrated in the Sukkah

during Sukkot. We collected and organized

school supplies to be donated to Lancaster County Schools.

We raised money for the school through our annual HaKaFoT-A-Thon.

There were several Religious School Led Friday Night Services and Junior Congregation ser-vices allowing the students to gain experience on the bima, share their abilities, and refine their skills.

The students learned about the Clare House organization and collected books and bagged up toiletries donated by the con-gregants to donate to the fami-lies that reside in these homes.

We held a TuBishvat seder and planted parsley to grow and use during Passover.

We held a Passover seder (unfortunately, the parsley did-n’t live long enough).

Decorated and packaged bags and boxes for delivery of the Passover Basket Program

The students brought in Tzedukah to class that raised a yet uncounted amount of mon-ey to be donated to a local charity of the student’s collec-tive choice.

On top of all of this, the stu-dents learned a great deal in

their classes about themselves, Judaism, Israel and the rest of the world. We couldn’t have done all of this without the numerous parent and congregant volunteers that helped out throughout the year. A special thank you to Robin Adler, Judy Antho-ny and Alyssa Gottlieb for helping to organize and run some of these pro-grams and classes. I especially wanted to thank Rabbi Goldberg, Rabbi Szuster, and Rabbi Pavolotzky and the following teachers for their work in planning lessons for the classrooms and for planning and leading special programs and events. Leah Zebovitz - 4-6 year olds

Gaby Joseph, Ariana Solodar, Absha-lom Cooper - 2-4 graders

Becky Rhoads and Jacob Wolfe - 5-7 graders

Rabbi Goldberg and Rabbi Szuster - Hebrew High This was another great year with a wonderful group of teachers and stu-dents who are all very special in their own way and impress me with their knowledge and understanding (and ability to play backyard football) every time I interact with them.

Have a wonderful summer.

Jewish Family Service – A life line to our community

Give Tzedaka in any amount

to: Jewish Family Service of Lancaster

75 East James St., Lancaster, Pa. 17602

Get involved - Volunteer 2 hour shifts basic office work

and Seniors needing visitations,

rides, reading to visually impaired

Contact Jill Weisberg at jfshelps@gmail.com

TREE OF LIFE

Leaf #1 In honor of Robin Adler - Congre-gant of the Year 2016 Lauren & Ken Firestone Randi & Steve Jacobs Dave Ehrlich Julie Kerich & Dan Rosenberg Carol Woodman Judy Anthony Jon Adler Elliot Adler Leaf #2 In honor of Robin Adler - Congre-gant of the Year 2016 Sue Friedman Michele Matlin Debbie Rubin Sue Wolf To order a leaf for the Tree Of Life, contact Jill Sherman at email treeoflife@tbelancaster.org

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

TEMPLE BETH EL ANNUAL MEETING

TUESDAY, JUNE 14

7:30 PM

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 7

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 8

Sunday, June 26, 2016 3:00 pm

Temple Beth El 1836 Rohrerstown Road

Lancaster, PA (near East Petersburg)

The rabbis became the spiritual leaders at Temple Beth El in November 2015.

They officially will be installed by Rabbi Richard Hammerman, a member of the

Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism.

The program will include music and singing, along with the installation ceremony.

A dessert reception will follow at approximately 4:15 pm. The entire community is invited to attend.

RSVPs are not required, but are appreciated. Please call the temple office

at 581-7891, or email office@tbelancaster.org by Wednesday, June 22.

Join us for the Installation of Rabbis

Rami Pavolotzky and Daniela Szuster

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 9

CONGREGANT OF THE

YEAR 2016

ROBIN ADLER

Thank you so much for selecting me for Tem-

ple Beth El 2016 Congregant of the Year. I am extremely honored to re-ceive this recognition. I have been a member of Temple Beth El since 1984, when I first moved to Lancaster to get married. During these 32 years, I have been involved in many aspects of congre-gational activities.

I grew up in Long Island in a non-observant home. Bagels, bialys, corned beef on rye and chocolate bubka, along with Chanukah and Passover seders, were the seeds of my Jewish identify. While living in Philadelphia in the early 1980’s, I was involved with the Germantown Jew-ish Center Minyan, a chavurah of “New Age” Judaism, which was my introduction to what would become my future religious life. I had my adult Bat Mitzvah at Temple Beth El in 1988, under Rabbi Jacob Rosner, with Elliot at less than 2 years old, sitting on my bed with me singing along as I learned the prayers.

When Howie and I joined Temple Beth El, my first job was that of art teacher at the Religious school. To be fair, I was really an “arts and crafts” teacher. In subsequent years, I helped to organize fund rais-ers for the religious school, where we sold Passover candy, pizza, and cookie dough. I also served on the curriculum committee and the edu-cation committee.

I served on the Temple Beth El Board under six different presidents and was board secretary for at least one of those terms.

Among my passions, and one of the important mitzvahs in Judaism, is helping to make the lives of the less fortunate a little easier. As a result, I organized, along with Julie Kerich, the first of many Crispus Attucks meals that Temple Beth El members cooked for and served to hungry people in Lancaster City. I feel that this was one of my greatest accomplishments as a parent: teaching my children that there are people who are less fortu-nate than we were, people who didn’t always know from where their next meal was coming.

Having worked as a special education teacher in many districts within Lan-caster County, I taught some very needy students, some of whom, in addition to their disabilities, were homeless. I was aware of the Lancas-ter School District Homeless Student Project, for which I organized the reli-gious school students and congre-gants as a whole, to donate toiletries for these needy children. We were able to pack at least 700 of these toi-letries kits over several years. In addi-tion, I typically can be found serving food at the First Reformed Church dinners coordinated by Sue Wolf.

I have helped on the Chevrah Kadisha committee, with the ritual washing of deceased persons.

Fast forward to the early 2000’s. My son Jon was the first Bar Mitzvah in our new building. Unfortunately, also at that time, began a very painful time in my life and the life of my family. My husband, Howie, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and he subsequently passed away in No-vember 2003. Two years into his diag-nosis, I was diagnosed with the same illness. Fortunately for me and my two sons, I am now an 11 year survi-vor after extensive treatments that included a stem cell transplant. One doesn’t come away from such an ex-perience without being profoundly changed.

During our illnesses, we were so well taken care of by friends in the congregation; we were too ill to cook, clean and do other chores involved with running a household and raising two teens. Congregants graciously provided many meals for our family of four, a gift certificate for 6 months of house cleaning ser-vice , they ran errands, watched our boys, took my older son Elliot to some college visits, helped with gardening, and made caring visits. All of these kindnesses from many of you influenced the person I was to become.

Approximately 3.5 years ago, it be-came clear that Temple Beth El was lacking a method to systematically make sure that the needs of people who were ill, in nursing homes, or assisted living were being met. A group of people started the Bikkur Cholim Committee which was for visiting the sick. We subsequently changed the name of the com-mittee to the Chesed (kindness) Committee. Judy Anthony and I became Co-chairs of this com-mittee. We developed procedures for finding out who was ill, and with our committee members, began to visit people who were ill, alone or in nursing homes. We also send cards to these same people for Jewish Holidays and for birthdays. Over the last three years, it has been gratifying to know that this com-mittee has helped many people within our congregational family. We have provided many meals for people who are discharged follow-ing surgery or hospitalization, we make assurance calls to people who live alone, we have made arrange-ments to match drivers with those in need of a ride to services or occa-sionally to doctor’s appointments. We have also helped a person to move into a new living arrange-

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Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 10

ment, and coordinated giving cash to congregants who were in dire financial straits. In short, we serve as a resource for many needs that congregants may have. All of these activities are done while maintain-ing strict confidentiality, unless the recipient wishes to make their needs known. Along with helping people, we report our activities and needs to the Board, to the monthly Bulletin and to weekly emails.

Since my retirement from IU 13 in spring 2013, I have had the time to continue the work of the Chesed Committee. In addition, I played a large role in running focus groups to find out what congregants were looking for in a new Rabbi. Subse-quently, I served on the Rabbi Search Committee, and was pleased to be able to visit the Jewish Theo-logical Seminary, along with two other committee members, to inter-view several rabbinic candidates. We all attended numerous and in-tense meetings, (thank you Hal Koplin), and I learned to ask ques-tions via Skype during many inter-views. I drove rabbinic candidates around Lancaster to show them key attractions as well as housing op-tions. Upon hiring Rabbi’s Daniela and Rami, I was asked to help with the Rabbi Transition Committee. Along with Pam Lessens, we searched for housing, compared and contrasted pros and cons at several apartments and houses, and traipsed through the cold to time the walking dis-tance from the apartment they sub-sequently chose to the Temple. I helped to collect and deliver dona-tions for their home. Upon their arrival, after they were handed the keys and looked at their townhouse for the first time, and after taking them to lunch at F&M’s kosher din-ing hall, I drove the family to Wal-Mart, where I enjoyed watching the

(Continued from page 9) kids try on their first mittens and hats. I participated in driving the children to Harrisburg during their first week in school. And finally, with the expert guidance of Linda Hutt, I helped the Rabbis to obtain medical insurance through the Affordable Care Act (Obama care), which was complicated due to their immigration status. Most recently, I helped with the Pass-over Project, which was spearheaded by Jewish Family Services. I am proud that, along with the Chesed com-mittee, I was able to involve the Reli-gious School, USY and Sisterhood in this endeavor to collect food, assem-ble baskets, make cards and deliver them to 12 of our congregants in need and those who live in senior facilities. Special thanks to Alyssa Gottlieb for coordinating all aspects of this pro-ject. I also helped to organize the Women’s Seder that was held at Tem-ple Beth El in mid April of this year. Another activity which I coordinated this year was organizing a monthly mitzvah project for the religious school students. This was done with the help of Larry Besnoff, the school principal, Alyssa Gottlieb and Julie Kerich.

I serve as a member of the Beth Pom-erantz Education Series Committee. Beth was a good friend of mine, and I am grateful to be able to help with the planning of this series, which hon-ors and remembers her.

Finally, how many people can say they rolled batter into 1000 falafel balls for the Jewish Food festival??

All of the activities that helped me to earn Congregant of the Year would not have been successful without the many people who served as my co-chairs, sounding boards, committee members and assistants. Again, thank you for this recognition, and please know that I am happy, not for myself, but for the fact that the activities which I hold so dear to my heart, have been recognized as worthy of being

honored.

OUR TEMPLE FAMILY

Mazel Tov

To Edna & Zvi Naveh who are the proud grandparents of twin boys born to their daughter Sharon and husband David. To Debbie and Steve Rubin on the birth of their grandson, Grant Marcus Rubin.

Graduates Shamayah Cooper is graduating from 6th grade. Jacqueline Buffa is graduating from High School. Anna Taber graduated from Franklin and Marshall College. Jack Zuckerman graduating from Lan-caster Country Day and will be attend-ing Washington University in St. Louis next year. Brian Miller, grandson of Numa and Dick Lavy will be graduating from Ves-tal High School, Vestal, NY and will be attending Syracuse University in the fall.

Get Well Abbey Harris

Renee Hartman

Congregational Thanks Dear Sisterhood Board, Thank you so much for your generous gift to the Rosh Chodesh program. Sisterhood’s support will allow us to provide unique, memorable program-matic offerings. Toda Raba!! Gracias! Rabbi Daniela and Lori T. We wish to express our appreciation and thanks to our many friends for their donations to Temple Beth El in honor of the birth of our twin grand-sons. Todah Rabbah Edna and Zvi Naveh We would like to thank all our friends & family for the love they showed us during our 52nd wedding anniversary, last month. The leagram and well wishes were deeply appreciated. Thank you very much!

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 11

BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES JUNE

Birthdays 1st Marci Nelligan 7th Marilyn Reichenthal 8th Andi Shiroff 9th Delaney McCormick 11th Alex Sherman 12th Joan Goldman 12th Cera Thorpe 15th Amanda Gottlieb 16th Larry Besnoff 23rd Paul Binder 30th Janet Gitomer Anniversaries 6th Helene & Len Kallman 8th Samantha & Larry Besnoff 9th Numa & Dick Lavy 10th Nan & Allan Geller 12th Andrea & Jonathan Liss 13th Marcie & Eli Natan 15th Sonia & Robert Holbrook 15th Michele & Bob Matlin 16th Marilyn & Jay Reichenthal 17th Donna & Bob Brosbe 18th Jill & Michael Sherman 19th Marci Nelligan & Lee Franklin 21st Joan & Marc Weiner 22nd Joyce & Sam Taub 25th Megan Hart & David Frank 25th Jodie & Sandford Frisch 25th Joan & Joel Samitt 26th Joan & Beryl Sherman 26th Diane & Adam Wilikofsky 27th Enid & Irwin Hirsch

Landmark 9th Eileen & Lam Wong (20th) 22nd Karyn & Bob Macy (30th)

MONTHLY YAHRZEIT LISTING

Yahrzeit begins the evening before the day listed. The names of departed loved ones are memorialized at Shab-bat services the week prior to the yahrzeit observance.

Sunday, June 5 Irving Mall Mother Becky Rhoads Father Wednesday, June 8 Shellie Gordon Mother Thursday, June 9 Diane Penchansky Father Friday, June 10 Joan Weiner Step-father Joan Samitt Mother Sunday, June 12 Stewart Abowitz Father Monday, June 13 Sheila Cohen Mother Ira Grushow Father Wednesday, June 15 Stewart Abowitz Mother Max Lessans Friend Friday, June 17 Gordon Hutt Father Sunday, June 19 Randi & Steve Jacobs Brother-in-law Wednesday, June 22 Alan Hertz Father Bob Ruder Mother Thursday, June 23 Shellie Gordon Aunt Saturday, June 25 Steve Kadushin Aunt Marilyn Reichenthal Father

Sunday, June 26 Ira Binder Father Tuesday, June 28 Berel Arrow Father Wednesday, June 29 Irwin Hirsch Mother Thursday, June 30 Irving Mall Sister Friday, July 1 Lauren Firestone Mother Steven Finkel Wife Jerrold Harris Mother Leonard Kallman Mother

Congregational Thanks Thank you very much to everyone who sent us cards and good wishes as well made donations in honor of the birth of our grandson Noam Elijah Goldwyn. We are so thrilled with his joining our family and look forward to seeing him over Memori-al Day weekend! Thank you all once again. Linda & Gary Kogon

The TBE Communications Committee has come up with guidelines for submission of in-formation, programs and events to the Temple. This document is for Temple Beth El Board mem-bers, Committee members, Rab-bis and the Congregation. See guidelines below. Please note we have an approved policy in place for outside organi-zations for submission. If you are part of an outside organization and would like a copy of that poli-cy, please email the Communica-tions Committee at communications@tbelancaster.org

* guidelines are on page 12 & 13

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 12

Guidelines for Social Media and Bulletin

Submissions by Rabbi(s), Lay-leaders and Congregants

These guidelines address the posting of information (events, messages, programs, etc.) on Temple Beth El’s Social

media (Website, Facebook, Weekly Newsletter) and monthly Bulletin by leaders and members of the congregation

including the rabbi(s). The Communication Committee has the discretion to deviate from these guidelines. This is

the best method to communicate ALL messages publicly and effectively. Any issues or disputes to these guidelines

will be addressed by the Temple Board.

Submission and deadlines will vary depending on the online or print method for the bulletin. Please make sure you

read through the guidelines to ensure you are properly following each area. Any questions or concerns may be ad-

dressed directly to the Communications Committee by emailing communications@tbelancaster.org.

When sending your submission, please include title, event date/time, RVSP deadline/time, contact email/phone, de-

scription, and any image(s) as appropriate. We would prefer content be submitted in electronic format in the original

editable format (MS Word, Power point, Google doc, etc.).

All photo and flyer submissions should be in jpeg or gif format only. Images of congregants that are posted in any

of our methods below must follow our current Media Release policy. If we do not have a current Media Release

form on file, we will need that completed before we can use an image that is submitted. The current Media Release

forms are on file in the Temple office.

It is against TBE guidelines for congregants to send their own emails to the temple membership for a program with-

out prior approval from the Communications Committee or Temple Board. They should contact the Communica-

tions Committee, and work with the committee to evaluate the best way to promote their program. If a congregant

is not sure when to submit information for a specific event/program, they should contact

communications@tbelancaster.org.

Publication Methods

Website:

A. Submissions for the Website should be sent through email to communications@tbelancaster.org.

Please make sure you clearly identify the request in the subject line of the email. Also, please do

not submit any copy for the website to Janet in the office.

B. The Homepage Slider will be reserved for the most current Temple programs and events. We will be

limiting the slider to three or four items at the discretion of the Communications Committee.

C. Postings to our homepage will be done in a chronological order. The committee will post items on

the website at least 3 - 4 weeks in advance unless special circumstances (such as a major temple

event) are deemed necessary. The committee requires at least 2-3 weeks prior to the posting date

requested to prepare and post the requested information. Event information will be included until

the event is held. This keeps our page looking fresh and current. All postings will remain searcha-

ble on the website and within the archive as well.

D. Past event articles for the Temple wide events or other activities, at the discretion of the communi-

cations committee, may also be posted along with images from the event. They will stay on the

homepage until other current events occur.

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 13

Facebook:

A. Submissions for Facebook should be sent through email to

communications@tbelancaster.org. Please do not submit any copy for Facebook to Janet in the

office.

B. Information will be placed on the TBE Facebook page chronologically either as a post or event.

If a program requires a Save the Date message, you may submit an additional request regarding

that event. In special cases the committee may highlight a program that recently occurred in-

cluding pictures or additional information.

Weekly Newsletter/Email:

A. Submissions for the Weekly Email Newsletter should be sent through email to

office@tbelancaster.org with a copy to communications@tbelancaster.org. The submission

deadline is Wednesday evening by 11:59pm. Weekly Emails are sent out on Thursday. Any sub-

missions received after the deadline will be held for the Newsletter the following week.

B. Information will be included in the weekly newsletter that goes out on Thursday. Important and

timely items will be given top priority as determined by the committee.

Bulletin:

A. All bulletin submissions should be sent to Janet at office@tbelancaster.org or contact by phone.

Please make sure you provide all necessary information and format for what you would like to

submit.

B. Deadline- All information for the bulletin is due by the 15th of the preceding month prior to the

monthly bulletin mailing. Due to processing time for the bulletin, anything received after the

15th of the month runs the possibility of not showing up in that bulletin.

Guidelines for Social Media and Bulletin

Submissions by Rabbi(s), Lay-leaders and Congregants

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 14

The Finance Committee and Task Force would again like to thank all of the con-gregants who participated in our Focus Groups this past winter. Your insight and

conversations were extremely useful to the Finance Committee as we prepared the 2016-17 budget which includes what our Financial Commitment structure will look like. We have been busy putting together the Financial Commit-ment information as well as our Budget and, based on the Finance Committee's recommendation, the Board decided that our Temple will move to a Sustaining

Model for Financial Commitment starting with the upcoming Fiscal year in July 2016.

One of the hopes in switching to the Sustaining Model is having a structure built on transparency, so that together we can meet the goal of a being a welcoming,

vibrant and financially secure congregation. Our Sustaining Model is meant to ed-ucate our congregants with a guideline of what the true cost is of maintaining our

Temple. At the same time, we think that the Sustaining Model responds to the con-cerns expressed by the Focus Groups about membership categories based on

age and the need for people to seek exemptions from required categories.

What is a Sustaining Model?

A Sustaining Model for our Temple means that our budget would break even - we would not have a deficit and we would not make a profit. Our Sustaining Model has been determined to be $1,200 per adult in our congregation as a Financial Commitment. The current number of adult members of our congregation is 164. We determined that our expenses for the upcoming fiscal year will be $195,320. This results in this year's Sustaining Financial Commitment of $1,200 per adult -

$195,320 in expenses divided by 164 adult members.

Please look for more information in the next few weeks, as well as in our June bulletin. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email the

Finance Committee at treasurer@tbelancaster.org.

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 15

Social Action Meal at First Reformed Church Tuesday June 21, 2016

This is the third time Temple Beth El is preparing and serving a summer meal for people in need through the Community Meal Program. The meal will be served at First Reformed Church at 40 East Orange Street in Lancaster City. Shift on Monday 6/20 at TBEL - need 5 people to prepare food. 9:30 AM Shifts on Tuesday 6/21 at First Reformed Church: 3:00 to 5:00 PM: 6 people to schlep items into the kitchen set up, prep food and make sandwiches 5:00 to 7:30PM: 10 people needed to do last prep, serve meal, deserts & beverages at 5:30 PM, as well as greet & circulate among guests to assist as needed E-mail Lydia Pease or use Sign Up Genius to volunteer Items needed: 4 large size canned tuna, 66 oz each-(kosher) to be dropped off no later than 6/17 2 quarts Mayonnaise - (kosher) by 6/17 2, 16 oz mustard - (kosher) by 6/17 ice berg lettuce - 5 heads & 1 head of celery 4 dozen large slicing tomatoes 4, 32 ounce bottles Italian Dressing (we only need Italian this time for the pasta salad) pickles - any kind: sweet, chips or spears drinks - 3 gallons milk, juices any type & 95.7 ( 5.98 lbs) oz powdered iced tea mix desserts - 21 dozen (more is welcome) cut brownies, cut bar cookies or items of your choice 6 lb pasta (already promised) 250 pieces fresh fruit - small apples & bananas 250 dinner size plates 250 cold cups 8 oz. E-mail Sue Wolf or use Sign Up Genius to provide needed items. Non- perishable items can be dropped off at Temple Beth El any time, box outside the office. Perishable items can go in the kitchen fridge, check with Janet. The Simon Lever Family donates seed money for Social Action. We thank them. Without financial sup-port this meal is not possible. If you wish to donate funds please send a check to Temple Beth El and write Community Meal in the memo. On behalf of Social Action, Lydia Pease Sue Wolf

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 16

SISTERHOOD FUND

*Sisterhood Fund cards are now $3.50 due to increase in postage costs. If your last name begins with A-M, please contact DEENA HERTZ at Sis-

terhoodFundA-M@tbelancaster.org

If your last name begins with N-Z, please contact BEV RUBIN at SisterhoodFundN-Z@tbelancaster.org IN HONOR OF Hilde & Al Month - 65th anniver-sary Gwen Weisman Linda Hutt - special birthday Gwen Weisman Randi & Steve Jacobs - Justin’s en-gagement to Tali Gwen Weisman Amy & Josh Goldwyn - birth of son Noam Elijah Gwen Weisman Lynn Brooks - special birthday Gwen Weisman Hal Koplin - special birthday Gwen Weisman Linda & Gary Kogon - birth of grandson Noam Elijah Sue & John Wolf Joan & Gary Goldman Francine & Hal Koplin Sherry Ostroff - publication of your book “The Lucky One” Dolly Shuster & Jeff Edelson Robin Adler - Temple Beth El Con-gregant of the Year Dolly Shuster & Jeff Edelson

Edna & Zvi Naveh - birth of their new twin grandsons Lori & Ralph Taber Sue & John Wolf Sandy & Greg Weekes Dolly Shuster & Jeff Edelson Joan & Beryl Sherman Deena & Alan Hertz Randi & Steve Jacobs Joan & Gary Goldman Michele & Bob Matlin Francine & Hal Koplin Debbie & Steve Rubin - birth of their 1st grandchild Deena & Alan Hertz Sherry & Arne Ostroff GET WELL Abbey Harris Sherry & Arne Ostroff Renee Hartman Jan Gitomer Michele & Bob Matlin Dolly Shuster & Jeff Edelson Sue Friedman Dolly Shuster & Jeff Edelson Sue & John Wolf IN MEMORY OF Suzanne Goldberg Tobi & Bob Sherman Patty May Tobi & Bob Sherman

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL Contact Shellie Gordon

RelSchoolFund@tbelancaster.org

MAZEL TOV Linda & Gary Kogon - birth of grand-son, Noam Elijah Shellie & Steve Gordon

Edna & Zvi Naveh - birth of twin grandsons Shellie & Steve Gordon Lynn & Chris Brooks Debbie & Steve Rubin - birth of grandson Shellie & Steve Gordon Michele & Bob Matlin Lynn & Chris Brooks IN MEMORY OF Sheila Yaris’s father Michele & Bob Matlin

RABBI’S DISC. FUND Contact Temple Office at office@tbelancaster.org

IN HONOR OF Carolyn & Steve Kleinman - birth of grandson Alan Glazer Abbey & Arnie Harris - birth of granddaughter Alan Glazer Linda & Gary Kogon - birth of grandson Alan Glazer Edna & Zvi Naveh - birth of twin grandsons Alan Glazer Nina Shapiro & Barry David - mar-riage of Shira Billig Alan Glazer Sabrina Lessans’ Bat Mitzah Pam & Ken Lessans Judy Anthony

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 17

Rabbi’s Disc. Fund cont. IN HONOR OF Robin Adler - Congregant of the Year 2016 Judy Anthony Steve Kleinman - retirement Judy Anthony GET WELL Renee Hartman Judy Anthony

MEN’S CLUB

Barney Epstein Programming Fund

Contact Temple Office at office@tbelancaster.org

IN HONOR OF Robin Adler - Congregant of the Year 2016 Evy Epstein

GENERAL FUND Contact Temple Office at office@tbelancaster.org

IN HONOR OF Debbie & Steve Rubin - birth of grandson Grant Marcus Rubin Elliott Rubin IN MEMORY OF Professor Sumner Joseph Paul Germain The Germain Family

YAHRZEIT FUND IN MEMORY OF Scott Alpert Samuel Tokarsky Evy Epstein Frances Schulman Shellie & Steve Gordon Hettie Rosten Eve & Walter Kamlot Naaman Nathan Anne S. Edelman Marcie & Eli Natan Benjamin Hirsch Enid & Irwin Hirsch

BETH POMERANTZ EDUCATION SERIES

Contact Temple Office office@tbelancaster.org

IN HONOR OF Robin Adler - Congregant of the Year 2016 Francine & Hal Koplin Sherry & Arne Ostroff Dolly Shuster & Jeff Edelson Randi & Steve Jacobs Sheila Cohen Bev Sideman Sandy & Greg Weekes Linda & Gary Kogon Michele & Bob Matlin Linda & Gordon Hutt Elliott Rubin Carol Woodman Lauren & Ken Firestone Enid & Irwin Hirsch Scott Fix Ira Grushow Edna & Zvi - birth of twin grandsons Jerry & Terry Stevens

CHESED COMMITTEE FUND

Contact Temple Office office@tbelancaster.org

IN HONOR OF Robin Adler - Congregant of the Year 2016 Alan Glazer & Family Deena & Alan Hertz Michele & Bob Matlin Evy Epstein Joan & Gary Goldman Joanne & Lloyd Goldfarb Carol Woodman Martha Welzant Lauren & Ken Firestone Norma Rosenfeld Jerry & Terry Stevens Sherry & Arne Ostroff Mindy & Jerry Greitzer Joan & Beryl Sherman Scott Fix Donna & Bob Brosbe Dolly Shuster & Jeff Edelson Linda & Gordon Hutt Randi & Steve Jacobs

“Rabbis Daniela and Rami will be happy to meet with Temple Beth El congregants. If you want to talk with them privately, please call or email: 717-618-2388/rabbidaniela@tbelancaster.org (Rabbi Daniela) or 717-618-2383/ rabbirami@tbelancaster.org (Rabbi Rami) to set up an appoint-ment. You can also call the Temple office 581-7891

Temple Office Hours

Monday - 9:00 am - 2:30 pm Tuesday - office closed Wednesday - 9:00 am - 2:30 pm Thursday - 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Friday - 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Volume 68, No. 10 SHAVUOT June 2016 Temple Beth El Page 18