Congregational Meeting | Daddy & Me | Shavuot | Book Club | Comedy-Deli Night | Sisterhood Donor Dinner | Softball | Special Adult Ed Course | Zayin Siyum | Mitzvah Day | Maccabbi Games | Trivia | QuickLinks

Please join us for our annual Congregational Meeting, tonight, Tuesday, May 11, at 7:45 pm, immediately following minyan at 7:30 pm. We strongly urge all members in good standing to attend the meeting, where we will be voting on the 2004-05 budget and the slate of officers for next year. We will also hear reports from the Presidents of the Congregation, Men’s Club, and Sisterhood, and the Rabbi. We need a quorum of at least 40 members.

Shavuot begins this year on Tuesday night, May 25, with our annual Tikkun. The Rabbi’s study session is entitled, “Seeing is Believing—Or Is It?—Reflections on the first of the Ten Commandments.”  The study session is in honor of (and in the presence of) our Me’ah graduates. We will continue on Wednesday morning with yom tov services, including the reading in the Torah of those Ten Commandments as well as the Adult B’nai Mitzvah of six of our fellow congregants—Karen Geggel, Carrie Grodman, Scott Hefter, Don Lassman, Susan Maxwell, and Craig Newfield. Evening yom tov minyan will be held again on Wednesday, and on Thursday morning we will again have yom tov services, including the reading of the Book of Ruth and Yizkor.

For a complete list of all the Shavuot programs and times, please click here.

Our 2nd Daddy and Me Program, for toddlers and their Daddies (mommies and others also welcome) will take place this Sunday, May 16th, at 4:15 pm. Even if you didn’t show up for the first session last month, you are still welcome to come. Contact Terri, our Family Educator, for more info.

For those interested, Jackie and David Waller will be hosting a pizza dinner at their house following the program. Please email Risa Carp for details.

The next (and last) meeting of the Sisterhood Book Club will be Wednesday May 12 at 7:45 pm. We will be discussing A Departure From the Script by Rochelle Hollander Schwab. Please contact Risa Carp or Bess Weiskopf if you have any questions.

How can one evening be both so funny and so delicious? Come this Sunday for a delicious deli dinner and comedy night. Paul Nardizzi, Robbie Prinz, and P.J. Walsh will be performing. Paul and Robbie are both Boston Comedy Festival winners, and both have appeared on Conan O’Brien. The evening will begin at 6:30 with a deli dinner. Admission is $18 per person. Everyone is welcome, but we’d love to have some idea how much food to prepare. RSVP to Jan Zidle at 781-444-8522, or via email to Stephen Baum.

There is still time—but it’s running out— to RSVP for Sisterhood Donor Dinner, May 19, 2004.  Please come for a wonderful evening of shmoozing and learning.  Our speaker will be Dr. Alice D. Domar, who is currently the Director of the Mind/Body Center for Women’s Health at Boston IVF (and formerly at Beth/Israel Deaconess Medical Center), as well as a staff psychologist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.  In addition, Dr. Domar is Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School.  She is the author of several books and articles on the topic of mind/body medicine and women’s health issues.  She has appeared often on national television news programs and presents lectures and conducts workshops throughout the United States and internationally.  Dr. Domar will speak to us about “The Application of Mind/Body Medicine to Women’s Health Issues.”  She is a dynamic and entertaining speaker who addresses issues of women’s health relating to all ages and stages of life.  So give yourself the gift of an evening of self-nurturance by attending her riveting presentation!  Please RSVP without delay.

Donor Dinner will also offer the opportunity, for those who are interested, to donate gifts or gift cards to the Mayyim Hayyim Mikva in Newton, which is scheduled to open this month. Help provide the finishing touches and furnishings for Mayyim Hayyim’s four individual preparation rooms. The Mikva needs items such as towels, robes, etc. and has registered at Linens N’ Things for specific items (Registry ID # is: 000502008214). Please consider giving a gift from their registry or a gift card to Linens N’ Things or a gift card from Costco or BJ’s. Donations are also welcome (please make checks out to Mayyim Hayyim).  For questions or further information, please contact kathyb@mayyimhayyim.org or 617-244-6506 ext. 16.

For further information, please contact Penny Gordon.

Every Sunday from now until Labor Day, join the Men’s Club for a “pickup” game at Claxton field, from 9:30 to about 11:30. Everyone plays! So bring your glove and practice your swing. Any questions call (781-449-5133) or email Larry Cohen.

An open letter from Rabbi Perkins to all TA learners:

Dear Friends,
It was just about thirty four years ago that I first discovered the brilliance of Reuven Kimelman’s mind.  I was a youngster who had grown up in a large, Conservative synagogue.  I had often attended services.  I read Torah regularly.  But I hardly had a clue how and why the liturgy was organized the way it is.
Together with my fellow USYers, I was invited (make that, “required”) to attend a lecture conducted by Professor Kimelman.  It is not an exageration to state that, by the end of that lecture, my eyes had been opened.  Suddenly, it all made sense to me.  For the first time, I saw structures and themes and nuances in our liturgy that made sense.  My prayer life has never been the same.
Would you like to experience that same sense of enlightenment?  Would you like to understand our liturgy better?  Would you like to become better able to access prayer, better able to “get into” davening?  Would you like to study with a scintillating teacher who understands our liturgy thoroughly and is extremely skilled at communicating its appeal?  Then I strongly urge you to sign up for this program. The course will be held on three Tuesday evenings (May 18, and June 1 and 8). But please don’t delay:  because Hebrew College is co-sponsoring this program, they must receive registration forms and payment before the first class session.  Thank you!

Temple Aliyah is honored to be hosting this series of lectures in cooperation with Hebrew College by Professor Reuven Kimelman, entitled “Four Questions About the Prayerbook.” This series will meet on Tuesdays May 18, June 1, and June 8, from 7:45 - 9:15 pm. The cost is $75 for the series. For more information and a printable registration form, click here.

Members of the Congregation are invited to join us to celebrate the Siyum HaLimudim, the Completion of  Studies here at Temple Aliyah Religious School by our Zayin students and their promotion  to the Prozdor Program. The Siyum will take place on Sunday, May 23, 2004 at 9:45 A.M. A festive reception, sponsored by the families and the school in honor of our students' achievement, will follow.

Save the date for this year’s Mitzvah Day. The entire Temple community will join for a wide variety of social action projects. If you are interested in participating or helping to plan or organize the day, please contact Peter Krupp.

In addition, on the same day, the Men’s Club will hold its annual Blood Drive, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Please email Bob Rosemark or call 617-964-5525 to schedule an appointment.

A reminder that the Maccabbi Games are coming to Boston this August. If you can help in any way, including being a host family, please contact our liaison Marla Levinson. For more information, please visit the Maccabbiah web site.

Our new trivia question is related to the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, and to the TA chorus.

The TA Chorus once performed a spiritual song based on the Haftarah for the first day of Shavuot. From what book does that haftarah come, and what was the song?

To submit an answer, click here.