March 2022
From the Heart with Rabbi Liebowitz
“And Moses gathered all of the congregation together” (Exodus 35:1)
Dear Friends,
Unlike other colleagues who sought employment in Jewish organizations I chose early on to be a part of a Synagogue and Temple. I believed then as I do now in community, even in a time when institutions are either ignored, criticized, or simply abandoned. Places of worship are not alone in this regard. Civic organizations are also in the decline. Our hi-tech society has facilitated such disregard and at times, disrespect.
Some of my colleagues have even become “rent-a-rabbis.” Performing on the fly Bar and Bat Mitzvah ceremonies, weddings, and funerals and more! What had been heartfelt community experiences are now commodities to be secured. This is the price we often pay for living in a commercial market-oriented society. Our hi-tech streaming services have not helped much either. So many can simply turn on the tube and switch it on or off to any broadcast they wish. There is a difference between viewing a community and being in community.
And yet, when emergencies come up, such as the horrible Tree of life murders, non-members who contribute nothing by way of time or resources knew where to go, where to sit in a sanctuary they did not help to create, one which is situated beneath the lighting that they have not paid for, nor of the vacuuming and cleanup that sustains a sanctuary as a place of holiness. The same is true when other needs are to be fulfilled by a congregation or by a rabbi. I deeply understand how annoyed some members must feel when a funeral is asked for and when the services are secured for a nominal contribution. The nonmembers get the same dedication and compassion as members who have for decades supported the synagogue. It is hard for such members to feel anything but resentment. We are stuck between enhancing the temple structure and advocating for the compassion and the charity that it houses. We would look terrible were we to turn people away. It would be a betrayal of the holiness we are to embrace.
Some time ago, someone in the general community asked my counsel and my time which in good measure is the synagogue’s time. Curiously, the individual said, “You’re my rabbi!” How that ownership was declared is puzzling to me as it came from someone who had not ventured into the Temple for years, not for a service, not for study, and not for charitable participation in the community. I hope that you would know that I limit my response to one of acknowledgement, a small smile for what was meant as a compliment.
As for the members, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that a synagogue is not merely Bricks and Mortar, furniture and lighting and heat for its members. No matter how beautiful or how endowed, a synagogue is only as strong as the mission it upholds by those who are “the Jews in the pews!” A synagogue is called by three names; Bet Midrash – a House of study,
Bet Tefilla – a House of prayer, Bet Knesset – a House of gathering. These three are the pillars of what synagogue life is all about. Without it, we have an edifice complex, worshipping stone and mortar, forgetting what it was built to
contain. Without it, we have created a museum and not a Temple. You may notice that the Hebrew letters KufKuf – precede the name of synagogues. It stands for Kehila K’dosha, a holy congregation, for as scripture records, “Unless the Lord builds the House, its builders toil in vain!” (Psalm 127)
Yossi Liebowitz, Rabbi
Sisterhood News
Thank you all who sent in your annual contribution for Sisterhood Dues. Membership is open to all women in our congregation. It is not too late to help us boost our membership so we can join to do more for our congregation.
This month the sisterhood was able to donate $5000.00 to the temple. They will use this money to replace a broken heater in the school. Our teachers and children are grateful we were able to help get the heat back on.
It has been wonderful to see more people attending the services on Friday night. Our Oneg after services provides an important way for us to share fellowship, and welcome new, prospective members, and visitors to our congregation. Nancy Rosenburg will be contacting members of the congregation to help provide for the Oneg on the anniversary of a family Yahrzeit. This will be a very personal way for you to share with the congregation in remembering your loved one.
We will be having a General Membership Meeting for Sisterhood – It will be a business meeting, along with a drop in brunch/ Mimosa meet and greet on Sunday, March 20, from 11:00 am. I hope you will be able to join us in the Sisterhood Room. We have missed seeing everyone.
Peggy Ann Buchman Sisterhood President
A Message from Our President
Friends,
One of the most interesting gifts I gave my father was a beekeeping starter kit. I ordered the kit from the Sears catalog around 1986. My father had mentioned beekeeping would be an interesting hobby, and I thought the gift would motivate him to set up some hives on our farm. Before he set up the hives, my father met with a beekeeper who lived a couple of miles from our home. The beekeeper mentored my father and told him which books and magazines to purchase about beekeeping.
Along with my father, I read the books and could hardly wait for the magazines to arrive. I learned much about bees and beekeeping. Beekeeping was mesmerizing to me. One of the most thrilling things about bee-keeping, besides having raw honey, was how a beekeeper could order honeybees and have them delivered by the United States Postal Service. The mail carrier would have to drive around with a contained swarm of bees in their vehicle until they ventured to our home. I am sure the mail carrier would change their usual route and put our house first on his list of deliveries to not endure hearing bees buzzing all day on their route. The bees were delivered in a wooden frame which was covered with a screen like you see on a screen door or porch. I would be charged with task of feeding the bees several times a day by brushing sugar water on the screen of their container, until my father arrived and suited up in his beekeeping safety gear and put the bees in their hive on our farm.
Learning about and watching bees taught me several life lessons. I learned the importance of working well with others. Every bee has a job and if each bee does their job and cooperates the hive thrives, if not, the hive dies. I learned to plan for the future. Bees make extra honey to feed the hive during the winter, they plan ahead so their hive can continue grow- ing. I learned to do good without a reward in mind. Bees are selfless. If one or two scouts know where some colorful flowers are, they don’t hoard the pollen for themselves so they will look like heroes to the other bees. They go to their hive and do a wiggle dance that tells all the bees exactly where the beautiful flowers are, so they can go gather pollen, too. Overall, bees work to create a vibrant community that is achieved through communication, planning ahead and doing the selfless hard work necessary to thrive.
Our Temple community is much like a beehive. We are each a bee in the hive. Like bees, we need to communicate, work, plan and cooperate to keep our Temple vibrant and growing. Selfless contributions make our Temple a wonderful place to be.
I appreciate each of you. Thank you for your membership. Please continue to help our Temple thrive and grow.
I wish you a wonderful March and happy spring. Whenever you see a honeybee during the upcoming warm months, think about all the things they do for us and all the lessons they teach to be contributing members of our beloved Temple.
Tina Lyon Board President
March Birthdays
3/3 Sarah Halley
3/10 Ruth Friedberg
3/13 Keith Bell
3/24 David Lyon
3/25 Karen Fuller
3/26 Airelle Wilson
3/28 Anne Poliakoff
3/29 Margaret Freedman
3/29 Lexy Lyon
3/30 Debby Gordin
March Yarhzeits
3/3 Samuel Hecklin
3/4 Gussie Hecklin
3/4 Emma P. Rattner
3/5 Lenore Axelrod
3/6 Jeanne Hutchison
3/7 Moises Retelny
3/8 Alvin H. Levin
3/9 Samuel Cohen
3/9 Emil Mortge
3/10 Abraham Felsher
3/10 Abraham Koshak
3/10 Alan Silverman
3/11 Haya Sara Gilpin
3/11 Allen Haughay
3/13 Ray Fishbein
3/15 Iman H. Bornstein
3/16 Kathleen Bruck
3/16 Anne P. Gray
3/16 Sam Kassler
3/16 Louis Levy
3/18 Lillian Bernstein
3/18 Esther Garrell
3/22 Sidney August
3/23 Molly Black
3/23 Rose L. Katz
3/23 Margaret Wachter
3/25 Earl B. Yoffe
3/26 Samuel Davidson
3/26 Irwin Leader
3/26 Pearl Liebowitz
3/28 David Gordin
3/28 Eleanor B. Oppenheimer