A big thank you to everyone who came to help us make butterflies on June 4th. It was nice to have so many helping hands and to visit as we worked. We have over 500 butterflies in the freezer ready to package for our November 2nd sale.
Our next baking day will be on August 9th. Come help and learn how to make strudel.
This year, in addition to the usual things you help with, we will need lots of cookies and bars. We will be packaging them for our inside sale. It has been a long wait, but this year the sale will be open to the public in the socialhall.
Pre-orders are due by October 20th. On October 27th we will be packaging everything. We will also fill the pre-orders and get them separated in the freezers. We will need any baking you can help us with before the 27th of October.
The freezers in the Sisterhood closet and the silver one off the kitchen have lists taped to the doors and a pen for you to mark what you have put into the freezer. This list will help us keep track of the pre-sales to ensure we can fill all the orders and have enough for the day of the sale. Please label the items so we know what they are.
August 31st we will put together pot pies at my home. They were so popular last year that we will need to make at least 50 this year. Please let me know if you would like to come help.
Again, thank you for all your help making the Sisterhood Bake Sale a success.
What do we mean by Jewish humor? To begin, it is humor that is overtly Jewish in its concerns, characters, definitions, language, values or symbols. (A Jewish joke, goes one definition, is one that no goy can understand and every Jew says he has already heard.) But not all Jewish humor derives from Jewish sources, just as not all humor created by Jews is necessarily Jewish. In these matters it is best to examine not the singer but the song.
Jewish humor is too rich and too diverse to be adequately described by a single generalization. Jewish theologians used to say that it is easier to describe God in terms of what He is not; the same process may be useful in understanding Jewish humor. It is not, for example, escapist. It is not slapstick. It is not physical. It is generally not cruel and does not attack the weak or the infirm. At the same time, it is also not polite or gentle.
But individual humorists come to mind immediately to negate each of these tendencies: The Marx Brothers are slapstick performers; Jerry Lewis and Sid Caesar are physical; Don Rickles is cruel; Sam Levenson is polite and Danny Kaye is playful. So much for generalizations.
What Jewish humor is may be even more difficult to determine, and we offer the following broad statements in full awareness of the possible futility of the exercise:
1. Jewish humor is usually substantive.
It is about something. It is especially fond of certain specific topics, such as food (noshing is sacred), family, business, anti-Semitism, wealth and its absence, health, and survival. Jewish humor is also fascinated by the intricacies of the mind and by logic, and the short if elliptical path separating the rational from the absurd.
As social or religious commentary, Jewish humor can be sarcastic, complaining, resigned, or descriptive. Sometimes the “point” of the humor is more powerful than the laugh it delivers, and for some of the jokes, the appropriate response is not laughter, but rather a bitter nod or a commiserating sigh of recognition. This didactic quality precludes laughing “for free,” as in slapstick humor, which derives its laughter from other people’s misfortunes.
2. Jewish humor tends to be anti-authoritarian.
It ridicules grandiosity and self-indulgence, exposes hypocrisy, and kicks pomposity in the pants. It is strongly democratic, stressing the dignity and worth of common folk.
3. Jewish humor frequently has a critical edge.
This edge creates discomfort in making its point. Often its thrust is political–aimed at leaders and other authorities who cannot be criticized more directly. This applies to prominent figures in the general society, as well as to those in the Jewish world, such as rabbis, cantors, sages, intellectuals, teachers, doctors, businessmen, philanthropists, and community functionaries. A special feature of Jewish humor is the interaction of prominent figures with simple folk and the disadvantaged, with the latter often emerging triumphant. In general, Jewish humor characteristically deals with the conflict between the people and the power structure, whether that be the individual Jew within his community, the Jew facing the Gentile world, or the Jewish community in relation to the rest of humanity.
4. Jewish humor mocks everyone — including God.
It frequently satirizes religious personalities and institutions, as well as rituals and dogma. At the same time, it affirms religious traditions and practices, seeking a new understanding of the differences between the holy and the mundane.
On Friday, June 30, 2023, our Rabbi, Yossi Liebowitz, retired after 20 years of service at our Temple. This is an incredible accomplishment as
Rabbi Liebowitz has held numerous B’nai Mitzvahs, weddings, funerals,
Brown Bag Lunches, and over 1000 Friday evening services and Saturday Morning Services or Torah Talks. Wow, Rabbi, just wow! Thank you for all your time spent with us at Congregation B’nai Israel.
On Friday, June 23, 2023, our Rabbi led a wonderful service and expressed how grateful he is that he became a Rabbi. He told stories of how rewarding his career has been. If you did not attend the June 23rd service or watch it on our Temple Facebook page, I encourage you to take time to watch this service and listen to our Rabbi’s sermon. It is touching to hear the Rabbi talk of his reasons for being a Rabbi all these years.
At the end of the service, Rabbi Liebowitz was honored with a “stone” to be added to our Tree of Life at the end of our main social hall. This stone will represent how our Rabbi has been a rock for our Temple for two decades. Our Rabbi was also given a beautiful painting that will be placed in the Sunday School, along with a plaque honoring Rabbi Liebowitz. The artwork is created by Elena Kotliarker, born in Kiev, Ukraine. She studied at the Spiritual Art Academy in Ukraine. She specializes in spiritual representation through art. Elena currently lives in Israel. Kotliarker’s painting is called “Miram with Timbrel-Tanakh Story”.
Board members selected this painting because of the theme of Miriam being represented through art. As many of you are aware, our Rabbi sings the song “Miriam by the Sea” almost every Friday evening at services. It is an iconic song that will always remind our congregation of the time Rabbi Liebowitz spent with us.
The painting has many Hebrew words incorporated into the artwork. TheHebrew words include Success, Luck, Happiness, Love, and Health, all of which we wish our Rabbi as he embarks upon the next chapter of his life.
Kotliarker’s painting also includes Traditional Jewish Symbols that include a pair of birds for love and harmony, pomegranates for joy and fruitfulness, and five fishes for abundance.
Beginning July 1, this painting will be on display in the foyer of our Synagogue for the month of July. Please stop by to view it before it is added to the walls of our Sunday School Building.
If you have not had a moment to speak to our Rabbi and wish him well as he begins his retirement, please be sure to send him an email, text or even better, an old-fashioned phone call or hand-written note.
Please check our calendar for events and services throughout the summer. Even though our Rabbi has retired, there will still be fellowship and services at our Temple.
Many wishes to you for a happy and healthy summer!
A big thank you to everyone who came to help us make butterflies on June 4th. It was nice to have so many helping hands and to visit as we worked. We have over 500 butterflies in the freezer ready to package for our November 2nd sale.
Our next baking day will be on August 9th. Come help and learn how to make strudel.
This year, in addition to the usual things you help with, we will need lots of cookies and bars. We will be packaging them for our inside sale. It has been a long wait, but this year the sale will be open to the public in the socialhall.
Pre-orders are due by October 20th. On October 27th we will be packaging everything. We will also fill the pre-orders and get them separated in the freezers. We will need any baking you can help us with before the 27th of October.
The freezers in the Sisterhood closet and the silver one off the kitchen have lists taped to the doors and a pen for you to mark what you have put into the freezer. This list will help us keep track of the pre-sales to ensure we can fill all the orders and have enough for the day of the sale. Please label the items so we know what they are.
August 31st we will put together pot pies at my home. They were so popular last year that we will need to make at least 50 this year. Please let me know if you would like to come help.
Again, thank you for all your help making the Sisterhood Bake Sale a success.