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Rabbi’s Reflections…
Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof—Social Justice & Temple Shalom
A Month in the Life of our Congregation
“Reform Jews are committed to social justice. Even as Reform Jews embrace ritual, prayer, and ceremony more than ever, we continue to see social justice as the jewel in the Reform Jewish crown. Like the prophets, we never forget that God is concerned about the everyday and that the blights of society take precedence over the mysteries of heaven. A Reform synagogue that does not alleviate the anguish of the suffering is a contradiction in terms.” --Rabbi Eric Yoffie,
The unique timeline for publishing a Temple bulletin such as the Menorah means that articles that appear in this March bulletin were written a month or more in advance. Thus, as I reflect on the month past, I am reflecting on the month of January; a month during which the central role social justice plays in our Judaism and in the life of Temple Shalom was most clear.
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From the President
My brother Alan called Jill and me in the beginning of January and asked what we are doing for Passover this year. We told him we are hosting our own seder the first night of Passover and going to a friend’s home the second night. Although he already knew the answer, he asked if he could join us with my beloved sister-in-law, Lisa, and Jack and Julia, our nephew and niece. Jill and I were thrilled because for many years Alan and his family would travel to North Carolina to celebrate Passover with Lisa’s uncle. This year, they want to spend the holiday with us and start a new tradition of celebrating Passover with our family, as we also do on Thanksgiving and Chanukah. Imagine, it is only January, we have not had a hamentaschen for Purim yet, and we are already thinking of Passover! It seems so early, but in truth, when I thought about it, I realized that Jill and I start Passover preparation almost as soon as last year’s seder is complete. I like to find new ideas to bring to the
seder, new readings and songs. Jill scours kosher-for-Passover cookbooks for new ideas for main courses and side dishes—although we always end up with brisket and turkey because it is so traditional (at least in our home). This year, we are going to borrow a wonderful tradition from a personal friend. Rather than giving money for finding the afikomen, we will give out a personally selected and inscribed book for each young person at the seder table. In this way, not only will these books be a fond memory of celebrating Passover
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Notes From the Cantor…
Shalom!
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hamentaschened out! Purim was lots of fun! I want to thank everyone who participated in making our Purim extravaganza so joyful (and silly). Our children's spiel was great (roar!) and the adult spiel was loads of fun (dah dah dah!). TSHY did their usual spectacular job on the Purim carnival, and a great time was had by all. A HUGE todah rabah to all our Purim spiel participants—adult and children—for wonderfully fun, silly and well-done spiels!
March brings a wonderful panoply of programs. The Adult Choir will be presenting a Jazz Service on March 26th. This service, written by Bob Applebaum, employs familiar melodies so everyone can sing along, but with accompaniment that gives them a whole new twist. The choir has been working very hard on this, and we know it will be an enjoyable service.
Our Junior Choir continues to amaze me with how fast they learn songs and with their enthusiasm. In January, they led a family service with a brand new anthem that they didn't even get to rehearse because of a snow day! They were wonderful!
As we look forward to matzoh and charoset and chicken soup with matzoh balls at the end of this month, I wish you a ziessen Pesach, as we celebrate our festival of freedom.
Chag Sameach!
Cantor Kathy Barr |
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Chadeish Beiteinu Update October 16, 2009 |
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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 |
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