Lots of News | Mazal Tov | Book Club | TA Chorus | “Conservative Judaism” | Pesach workshop | Moshe Waldoks at TA | “The Passion” | Cookbook | Tot Shabbat/Kabbalat Shabbat | Family Ed Gan & 5th grade | Torah Fund | Israeli Film | Lost Coat | Pesach | The Second e-mail | QuickLinks

The good news is that this email has become a very popular medium for disseminating the news of happenings at Temple Aliyah. The bad news is also that this email has become a very popular medium for disseminating the news of happenings at Temple Aliyah. We have so much to tell you about this week, we can’t possibly fit it in one email, so this will be the first of 2 emails that you’ll get. The other one will come tomorrow night, with all of the “Save the Date” and “In the Community” items.

We’d love your feedback about these emails. If you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to us.

Three new babies! Mazal Tov to the following TA members:

… to Marilyn and Richie Tannenbaum on the birth of their granddaughter, Ellen Morgan Tannenbaum (born to Michael
and Michelle Tannenbaum).

… to Ron and Vicki Hadar on the birth of their second son, Cole Sabin Hadar, born on February 22.

… and to Ina and Moshe Tamir on the birth of their granddaughter, Zoe Tamir Siegel. Proud parents are Mira (Tamir) and Rob Spiegel. The baby was born last November as a “premie,” but she’s now doing very well.

The Sisterhood book club will meet this Wednesday at 7:45 to discuss Three Daughters, by Letty Cottin Pogrebin. Contact Risa Carp or Bess Weiskopf for more information.

We’re still looking for more voices! If you like to sing, please join the TA chorus. We’ll be starting rehearsals on March 17, for a performance on Wednesday, April 28, in concert with several other Boston area synagogue choirs and gospel church choirs for the annual Project Manna program at Temple Emanuel. Rehearsals will be Wednesday evenings at the Brodskys’ house (19 Russell Road in Needham). Please email Gil ASAP if interested.

This Thursday from 7:45–9:15, Rabbi Leslie Gordon will be speaking on “the Principles of Conservative Judaism.” How does our movement differ from the Reform, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist? What are our core values? While this session is designed to be the final part of a three-part orientation series for new Temple members, everyone is invited to attend.

Be prepared for Passover! Join together with other adult learners on Sunday, March 21 from 9:15-11 a.m. in one of 2 workshops for Passover. Rabbi Perkins will teach a session on “How to Conduct Your Seder Your Way — without being disrespectful to anyone else!” Youth Coordinator Miriam Shamberg will lead a workshop on “Passover Foods & Recipes.” To register in advance for either session contact Rachel at the synagogue office. Check here for more information. And check out all the Passover happenings below!

The Men’s Club, Sisterhood, and TA45+ invite you to attend An Evening with Reb Moshe Waldoks—Rabbi, humorist, and raconteur—on Sunday evening, March 21st from 7 to 9 p.m.  The cost is $10 per person and $20 per family. Reb Moshe is the co-editor of The Big Book of Jewish Humor. He is one of the founders of the Jewish-Buddhist dialogue in the U.S. and participated in the first Jewish-Tibetan encounter with the Dalai Lama and his community in Dharamsala, India in 1990. There will be dessert and beverages served.  Please contact Jan to reserve a spot or for more info.

Reactions within the Jewish and Christian communities to the Mel Gibson film continue. Our posting of Rabbi Perkins’s February 28th sermon on the movie has received over 200 hits.

Rabbi Perkins has also written an important and timely letter to the parents of our children in the congregation concerning the effect of this movie.  This is very much a “hot” topic in the media and is definitely a meaningful issue for Jews, especially Jewish children.  The Rabbi has spoken with our Prozdor students and our older Religious School students about how to deal with comments they may get in school and how to respond effectively to them.  Please read this important letter, which was also sent in the recent Pulse.

The Jewish Community Relations Council also has a useful page of links to resources on the film.

Come help the Sisterhood’s new Cookbook project get off to a running start on Thursday, March 25, at 7:30 pm at Suzanne Brand’s house, 13 Plymouth Road in Needham. Share your favorite Passover recipes.

You can also send in your recipes electronically or by snail-mail. All the instructions are here.

Questions? Contact Marcy Goldberg.

Bring your toddler or pre-schooler to welcome shabbat on Friday evening, March 26, with Margie and Gil, for our final Tot Shabbat Friday evening service of the year, from 6:15-7 pm. A special oneg shabbat will follow.

Also, our regular monthly Kabbalat shabbat service will take place the same evening, also at 6:15.

All Gan Families are invited and encouraged to attend a special Gan Family Education program, “Unpacking Shabbat,” on Sunday, March 28, from 9-10 a.m. Shabbat is a major focus of our Gan program. In Religious School, your Gan student has learned about and made some ritual items used in the celebration of Shabbat. This Family Education program is an opportunity for families to: try out the Shabbat ritual items made by your child; unpack and finish the “Shabbat Box” begun during class; learn or review the use of these special Shabbat objects; and take home your family’s Shabbat Box ready for you to use This one program is for all Gan families. “Unpacking Shabbat” will be held during the first hour of the regular Gan class on this Sunday morning. Following this program, the children will return to their class until 11:00.

There will be one more family education program for all 5th grade families on Sunday morning, March 28 from 9-11. From 9-10 families will gather together for the final parent/child Torah study session. This will be followed at 10-11 with a discussion with Rabbi Perkins on “What is Prayer?” We look forward to having you attend both these informative, fun, and engaging sessions.

For information on either of these programs, please contact Terri.

The annual Sisterhood Torah Fund Brunch will take place on Sunday, March 28. The guest speaker will be local author Joan Leegant, who wrote “An Hour in Paradise,” a collection of 10 short stories. This book won the Edward Lewis Wallant Book Award for the best book of Jewish-American fiction for 2003. Copies of her book are still in hardcover and are available for $15 (list price is $23.95) To RSVP and/or to reserve a book to read prior to Torah Fund (and have it autographed at the brunch!) please contact Pam Glass ASAP at pamglass@aol.com or 781-449-7940.

The Israeli Film festival returns to TA. It’s the first Gulf war—1991—and the Iraqi bombing of Tel Aviv makes for an awkward grouping of people in a sealed room. A love story, a war story, a Jewish story—what more could you want? You say you want popcorn too? Okay, we’ll throw in the popcorn (and even the Diet Coke). “Yana’s Friends” was the winner of 10 Israeli Academy Awards. Come see it Sunday Evening, March 28, at 7:30 pm. More info on the web site…

Ladies, please check your closets and see if you may have mistakenly taken home the wrong coat from Shabbat services on Saturday, March 6th. We are missing a 3/4 length car coat, dark gray, probably with an Ann Klein label. What was left behind is a 3/4 length car coat, very dark gray/black, with a Larry Levine label (size 6). If found, please call either Jan at the temple office or Lynn Baum at 781-449-3361 to make the swap. It's still cold so please check ASAP.

Here’s a complete list of all Passover programs, includiing service times.

Pre-Pesach programs this Sunday, March 21: see above.

The Judaica Gift Shop has lots of special merchandise for Pesach: seder plates, matzah plates and covers, afikoman bags, and more. Open Sundays 3/21 and 3/28 from 10:30-12:30.

Our sister congregation in Kiryat Bialik, Israel, includes many Argentinean single parent families. In trying to escape economic chaos in Argentina, these families made aliyah to Israel in hopes of finding employment and a better life. However, they are struggling to make ends meet in Israel’s current harsh economic climate. You can help by sending money to help provide a seder and/or a Shabbat dinner for these immigrants. See the web page for more details and a donation form. Contact Bonnie Gold for more infomation.

Temple Aliyah’s Sisterhood once again will be sending greetings and Passover packages to students who are away from home.  If you would like to have your student included in the Passover mailing please send/email: student’s name, mailing address, college, graduation year and, if possible, a $2 donation to help cover the cost of mailing to holidaypackages@comcast.net.  Deadline for signing up is Wednesday, March 17, 2004.

The Passover Wine Sale continues. Check out the vintages.

Putting all that uneaten cereal and cookies in a corner in the basement or garage? Then you should make a point to sell your hametz. Print and fill out the form and send in before the holiday begins.

Better yet, donate your uneaten hametz to the Needham Community Council Food Pantry. Through April 1st, you can leave canned and unopened non-perishable items of any kind in the designated area of the Religious School Lobby.

Men’s Club Breakfast: Tired of trying to figure out your menu during the week-long holiday? Let the TA Men help out with at least one meal! Breakfast on Sunday, April 11 follows the 9:00 minyan, featuring Murray’s matzah brei with lox! The guest speaker will be our own Keith Lewinstein.

Sponsor a kiddush: We need Passover Kiddush Sponsors for Passover. Help us by sponsoring Pesach Kiddush on Day 1 (April 6th), Day 2 (April 7th), Pesach Shabbat (April 10th), Day 7 (April 12th), or Day 8 (April 13th). Remember that Day 8 is Yizkor, so many people choose to use this kiddush to remember their loved ones who are no longer with us. Each Sponsorship is $54. It is easy to sponsor! Please e-mail to: Kiddush@templealiyah.com, we will be happy to bill you.

Temple Aliyah’s Family Education Committee brings you…“Plagues at your house!” Keep the children — and everyone else! — awake with a toy that makes every seder memorable! Plagues Bag: The already-classic seder toy for children (and adults who like to play). 10 small toys — frogs, lice, sunglasses, etc. — red food dye (kosher l'Pesach, of course). Each ‘Plague Bag’ comes with a full set of plagues and instructions for use at your seder. Only $ 5.00 per bag, or 3 for $12.00. Order yours today! Buy one for your seder or enough for each child! Order directly by emailing Terri.

New for Passover, purchase a new haggadah just right for your family: Temple Aliyah is selling a limited number of these wonderful Haggadot just in time for Passover! Order yours today! This Haggadah is easier to use for a family that doesn't have a lot of planning time — but still with many features that makes this haggadah a best-seller! Compact edition: The Family Participation Haggadah: A Different Night, by Noam Zion & David Dishon (Softcover, color).
Features include: the complete traditional text with a new contemporary translation (gender inclusive) and transliterations; clear directions, historic explanations, Hassidic stories, and folk customs; 8 pages of full-color art (Rembrandt, Chagall, Ben Shahn); children’s activities – find the hidden matza (like Waldo), cartoons, quizzes; women heroines of the Exodus; Passover and freedom songs (with transliteration of Hebrew); optional “bare bones seder” – one hour, (short but meaningful); the 4 children (including the 4 daughters) through many artistic eyes – 20 portrayals from 500 years of haggadot. A preview copy is available in the synagogue office. Only $7.50 each! Limited supply! Order directly by emailing Terri.

JTS Trip 4/25
Retreat 5/28-30
Mitzvah Day 6/13
Laymen’s Institute 6/17
Israel Trip 12/22
Me’ah 2004-06
USCJ eNews
In the Community: lots happening

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