|
Chadeish Beiteinu Update October 16, 2009 |
|
On October 15th, the Roxbury Township approved our renovation plan. Thanks to the help of our attorney, Larry Kron, our architect, Seth Lieb, our engineer Mark Walker and approximately a dozen congregants who came out that night to show their support, the plan was unanimously approved. Discussions regarding a possible building renovation began five years ago. After so much hard work including raising over $2.1 million dollars, we are very close to putting a shovel in the ground.
Although we are in a 45 day public appeal period, our attorney is confident that we can proceed with our plans. The next step is to go out for contractor bids. Jordana Zeger and Mary Ellen Goldberg will be working with our general contractor and architect in overseeing that the renovations and making sure they meet our expectations. Committees such as the construction finance committee, the building committee and the interior architect committee are now ready to get back into gear and begin moving forward. We hope to begin construction in early 2010 with completion taking approximately 1 year.
The four most significant changes will be: moving the main entryway to the rear of the building, moving the day to day administative operations including clergy, downstairs, raising the roof as part of enlarging the social hall and the creation of our Judaic Study Center. The goal will be to avoid as much as possible any disruption of temple functions. More details are available on our temple website. Once we have a timeline as to the specific areas of renovation we will share them with you as well. Please continue to check our website (www.tshalom.org) for updated information.
Marcia Geltman and David Ensel |
|
|
From the President
Have you ever been confronted with anti-Semitism? In Middle School my son Josh was on the school bus when a fellow student was making fun of Jewish people because they wear yarmulkes. Josh at the time was wearing an Israel t-shirt and this young man called Josh a dirty Jew. A fight ensued and the young man was suspended from school for three days because of his anti-Semitic actions. It was Josh’s first and only experience with anti-Jewish feelings that left him bewildered, frustrated and angry.
I share this story because just several months ago during this year’s High Holy Days there were two separate bias incidents: the discovery of spray painted swastikas at an Edison synagogue and the arrest of a teenager accused of harassing three Jewish residents of Highland Park. These incidents, which occurred around Yom Kippur, have fueled local concerns about anti-Semitism in the aftermath of an attack on a 19 year-old Jewish man in Edison two weeks earlier.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Rabbi's Reflections
Got Shabbat?
On a blog I follow written by Leah Jones, a Chicago New Media consultant, she recently offered a few reflections inspired by the documentary, We Live in Public, which tells the story of Josh Harris and his experiments with a life lived publicly on the internet. Among her reflections was the following personal musing on recapturing Shabbat in an age of constant connection:
“Shabbat
On my DC trip, which my friends must be sick of hearing me talk about, not only did I observe Shabbat more than I ever do in Chicago, I stayed offline when I got to the Conversation in Baltimore. While some chose to keep their smart phones handy, I left it in my room and also didn't take any paper with me. I was completely unplugged and totally present.
It was exhausting. I realized that I use my Blackberry as a shield. A wall. A way to protect myself. My blackberry has not kept my heart from getting broken, but it keeps me out of the muck that can be so hard to handle at times.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
Notes from the Cantor
Chanukah, Chanukah, Chag yafeh kol kach ... here it comes! It doesn't really matter if anything else happens in December - as far as our children are concerned, it's all about Chanukah! The inhabitants of Israel felt the same way, even over two thousand years ago. They loved this holiday that celebrated light at a time when the earth was its darkest. The winter solstice is celebrated in many ways all over the globe, in many different cultures, but ours is tied in with our worship of God and coveted family rituals and of course, food. Even though originally the holiday was derived from a delayed Sukkot, and commemorated the Macabbean victory over Antiochus IV, who tried to Hellenize the people, the Rabbis found that when they wanted to downplay this lionization of the Macabbees, they couldn't eliminate the holiday. The people wouldn't let them. So the midrash of the oil and the eight days of light came into being.
Junior choir gets to lead the Family Service on the first night of Chanukah, December 11th (come and check out their new T-shirts!) and we will light our outside menorah, sing songs, share suf ganiyot and I'm sure the children will all tell me what they want and what they're getting. We get two Shabbatot this Chanukah - two Friday nights to sing the music of the holiday and two Shabbat mornings to celebrate our fabulous children.
Chag Sameach!
Cantor Barr |
|
|
