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Rabbi Carl M. Perkins |
Peter Seresky, President Gil Brodsky, Editor |
April 29, 2009, Wednesday, 5 Iyyar, 5769 |
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World-Wide Hatikvah Sing - 3:50 pm today
You won't want to miss this opportunity to join the world in singing. On Wednesday, April 29 at 3:50 (sharp) pm all of our students and others in the community will be gathering in the Sanctuary for a web-linked phenomenon-a world-wide Hatikvah sing-along (call time will be 3:30pm). We will be linked to a site where our singing will be featured along with groups all over the world for this simultaneous experience on Israel's 61st Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day).
You are invited as well, wherever you may be. Go to the website www.LiveHatikva.org for more information and to see the incredible list of places where people will be gathering to sing!!! Come and be part of the Guinness World record.
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A Night of Niggunim and Acoustic Jams — this Thursday night
Enjoy a very special evening of acoustic music, on Thursday, April 30, at 8 pm, when Cantor Gaston jams with Yehuda Katz, leader of Israel’s Reva l'Sheva and former Music Director for Reb Shlomo Carlebach. Yehuda Katz, Debi and Joey Baron’s brother-in-law, will be visiting us before he serves as guest artist/educator at Kehilleth Israel’s family retreat. He is also the founder of Arts and Musicians for Israel (AMI), an arts education program working with communities in both Israel and the United States. According to Joey Baron, “This promises to be quite a musical shidduch.” There is no charge for the event but donations will be collected. Please feel free to bring pasta and raisins for Project Bread, too. To help us set up the room properly, please RSVP to Joey Baron at bafriend@rcn.com.
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Israeli Consul to speak at TA — this Friday, May 1 — and Tot Shabbat
Celebrate Israel Independence Day with a distinguished guest. On Friday May 1, Nadav Tamir, the Israeli Consul General of New England will address Temple Aliyah. Consul General Tamir will deliver a talk entitled “What's so great about Israel,” going beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict to celebrate what he loves most about the vibrant and dynamic Jewish state. The evening will start with a Tot Shabbat service at 5:30 and Minyan Shirah at 6:15, followed by an Israeli dinner ($10 for adults, $6 for children) and Consul General Tamir's talk at 8:00 pm. To register for dinner email Bonnie Gold.
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Project Manna — this Sunday, May 3
The Mass. Avenue Baptist Church, Cambridge, and Temple Emanuel, Newton, proudly present the 20th Anniversary Project Manna Concert, on Sunday, May 3rd at 4:00 pm, at Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward Street Newton.Come listen to Gospel and Jewish choirs join in joyous song to help feed the hungry. Nashir (Temple Aliyah Chorus) is singing, and Cantor Gastón will be featured as soloist. 100% of proceeds will go to the Soup Kitchen at the Massachusetts Avenue Baptist Church. Admission: $20 for adults, $15 for students. Tickets will be available at the door. For more information, visit www.templeemanuel.com, or call 617-558-8100. This is a rolicking, inspiring, foot-stomping celebration. This year for the first time the concert will be held on a Sunday afternoon, to promote the attendance of families. Don’t miss this terrific concert!
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Softball
The red-hot Red Sox aren't the only game in town. Get into the action yourself. Men’s Sunday Softball has now begun! Grab your spikes, glove, and first-aid kit, and join us at Claxton Field on Central Avenue, Sunday mornings at 9:30. For further information, contact Bob Brown, or just show up ready to play.
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Mitzvah Day — Sunday, May 17
Please join Temple Aliyah members of all ages on Sunday May 17th, 2009, with kickoff at 9 am. We will have many social action projects to choose from. Here is a sample:
- Go bowling with residents of a local group home
- Make dolls to be given to hospitalized children
- Prepare meals for residents of Ronald McDonald House
- Serve dinner at a food shelter
- Sing songs to residents of a local nursing home
There will be a number of projects suitable for families and temple members of all ages. Sign-up information will be mailed to all Temple members. Remember to sign-up early because many of the projects will have limited space availability (there will be sign up forms the morning of the 4th). Also, we still have opportunities for people who may be interested in leading a Mitzvah Day Project.
Questions or interested in being a Mitzvah Day Team Leader? Please email Don Lassman.
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Religious School events
Mazal Tov to our Zayin students and their families, who will celebrate their siyyum on Sunday, May 3, at 9:30, and also to our Gimel students and their families, who will celebrate their siyyum on the next Sunday, May 10, at 9:30.
Summer Minyans
You have an opportunity to fulfill a Mitzvah! During the summer weeks, beginning June 23rd and ending September 9th, we offer evening minyans in the chapel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7:30. To make this happen, and to enable all those who are saying kaddish to do so, we need you! Please sign up for even one night as soon as possible so we can fill the calendar with at least 10 minyan volunteers for each Tuesday and Wednesday service. If you plan to attend on a regular basis, we'd like to hear from you also. Thanks so much in advance for your help. Please respond to Rachel Abramson with the dates you plan to attend.
Laymen’s Institute
The New England Region of the FJMC's The 63rd Annual Laymen's Institute will be held at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires from June 11 - 14, 2009 (the weekend before Father's Day).
Laymen's Institute is a wonderful mix of relaxation, sports, eating, learning, prayer, spirited singing and camaraderie. The schedule is centered on our two Scholars in Residence, each of whom will deliver multiple presentations.
This year, we are pleased to be taught by two wonderful scolars: Rabbi Mayer E Rabinowitz, associate professor of Talmud at The Jewish Theological Seminary, on The Internet and Jewish Law, the Kaddish (Ancient ritual and the Modern Jew), and
Getting along with people different than you; and Rabbi Daniel Liben, spiritual leader of Temple Israel of Natick, on Conservative Keruv and on Hasidic Texts on Prayer and Spirituality (Can the insights of Hassidic teaching speak to the prayer lives of Conservative Jews?).
Other activities include our famed “Minyan in the Grove,” a learner’s minyan, softball, a tennis competition, swimming, boating, bike rides and our Hearing Men’s Voices programs, where men have the opportunity to talk about many key personal issues facing us today.
The weekend begins on Thursday afternoon and ends Sunday morning before noon. Men may arrive and leave to their own schedules, though we discourage traveling on Shabbat. Camp Ramah is in Palmer, MA, just a 75 minute drive west from Boston. Carpools are available.
For more information, you can watch a short video highlighting the Laymen’s Institute experience, check out the album of pictures from last year, or contact Stephen Baum.
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New Members
Welcome to our newest member families:
- Mark Sarnak and Flora Sam, and their daughters Sarah and Hannah
- Alexis and Carla Kopikis
If you see these new people around the shul, please make them feel at home!
In the Community
The Vilna Shul could use your help, please! The Vilna Shul, Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture has been selected to be part of the 2009 Partners in Preservation Competition. American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have teamed up to give away $1 million to historic sites in Greater Boston for preservation projects. The Vilna Shul is the first Jewish site to ever be selected to compete for the Partners in Preservation program, a program that has already given away $2.5 million dollars in preservation funds to historic sites in 3 major American cities. Now the Vilna Shul is eligible to win $100,000 to help uncover murals that have been hidden for 70 years in the historic sanctuary. But, we cannot win this grant without your help!! Anyone with email can vote online everyday from April 14th until May 17th. Please vote to uncover and preserve a piece of Boston’s Jewish heritage. Voting is easy. It takes about a minute to register an email address to vote at www.partnersinpreservation.com.
Israel Independence Day Rally Downtown: With an address from Consul General of Israel to New England Nadav Tamir. Come show your support for Israel and celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut with the Greater Boston community! April 30, 2009, 4:45-6:00pm. Beginning at the Consulate of Israel, 20 Park Plaza in Boston, and marching to Copley Square.
The Synagogue Council of Massachusetts cordially invites you to its Annual Meeting, Installation and Awards Ceremony, on Thursday, May 14, 2009, at Temple Shir Tikva, 141 Boston Post Road, Wayland, Massachusetts.
*Gala Dessert Buffet & Silent Auction 7:15 pm
*Awards Presentation & Installation 8:00 pm
Couvert: $36 per person (dairy dessert buffet & program)
The K'lal Yisrael Award will bepresented to Lauren & Bill Gabovitch, the Founders Award will be presented to Dr. Jesse Hefter, the Community Service Award will be presented to Marjorie Berkowitz, and the Annual Meeting will also provide an opportunity to thank outgoing president, Anita Zetlan Redner, for her years of inspiring leadership and to install the new president, Richard Shulman, along with his new Board.
The Case for Israel: Democracy’s Outpost. With special guest Professor Jonathan Sarna. May 3, 2009, at 7:00 pm, at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street. $10 General Admission, $18 Admission includes dessert reception with Professor Sarna. For tickets, visit www.bostonort.org.
The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston presents “Everyday Jewish Life in the Russian Empire”, by Professor ChaeRan Freeze, on Sunday, May 3, 2009, from 1:30–4:30 pm, at the Gann Academy, 333 Forest Street, Waltham. ChaeRan Freeze’s talk will examine everyday Jewish life in tsarist Russia as a site of interaction with modernity, where Jews confronted the unfamiliar and negotiated their environment in strategic and creative ways. She will present several fascinating archival documents from the former Soviet Union and rabbinical responsa that reveal the daily struggles of ordinary Jews as they confronted changes in the areas of family life, religion, sexuality, and health. Rabbi Perkins notes that Professor ChaeRan Freeze is a warm and engaging teacher. She also happens to confound many stereotypes: raised in Africa, she's a non-Jewish, East Asian scholar of Jewish life who has an uncanny grasp of the nuances of Eastern European Jewish life.
Bone Marrow Matching Drive: Two year old Eve has been diagnosed with leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant to survive. The best chance of finding an immunological (HLA) match is from someone else of Eastern European Jewish ancestry. A drive to HLA type as many members of the community as possible will take place at Young Israel of Brookline, 62 Green St, this Sunday, May 3, from 9-12 am. Potential donors must be ages 18-60 and in good health. The test is only a simple cheek swab; no blood draw is necessary for initial screening. Co-sponsored by the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.
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