VOLUME 58 EDITION 9

1 May 2016

23 Nisan 5776

Congregation Sha’arai Shomayim Founded 1844

Springhill Avenue Temple

The Temple Bulletin

springhillavenuetemple.com

We are coming together as a caring, inclusive community united in a common commitment to Judaism and to furthering

our spiritual growth. We desire to do this recognizing that worship of God, study of Torah, caring for the Jewish people

and our community, are central to our being as a Reform Jewish congregation. With these principles as our foundation

and guided by a historic past, we anticipate our future, one of continual lifelong self-renewal.

RELIGIOUS SERVICES Wednesday, May 4 7:00 p.m. Yom Hashoah – Holocaust

Commemoration Service

Friday, May 6 6:00 p.m. Student/Teacher Appreciation Service

with the Congregational Choir

Friday, May 13 6:00 p.m. Yom Haatzma’ut Shabbat Service

Friday, May 20 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service

Welcome Leonard Wells to Judaism

with the Congregational Choir

Friday, May 27 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service

with the Congregational Choir

The Temple Offices will be closed on Monday, May 30th

in observance of Memorial Day

Torah Selection:

Leviticus 16:1 – 18:30

Haftarah – I Samuel 20:18 – 42

ALL SHABBAT SERVICES ARE CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES.

PLEASE JOIN US IN WORSHIP

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FROM OUR RABBI

e are hosting a Yom Hashoah

Commemorative Service on

Wednesday, May 4th at 7:00 p.m. in

our sanctuary. This service is being

organized by Don Berry of the Gulf

Coast Holocaust Center. We are

hoping to read from our Holocaust

Torah, which was brought from

Czechoslavakia to us via London in

the late 1970s. There were many

members of our congregation who

played roles in arranging for this

transfer with Lowell and Bobette

Friedman and Perrye Lewis and the

late Dr. Julien Lewis being central to the effort. The term Holocaust was first used by American

journalist Paul Jacobs. In one of the reports that

he sent back from the Eichmann trial, he wrote

of “the Holocaust, as the Nazi annihilation of

European Jewry is called in Israel.” The Israelis

actually used the Hebrew word shoah , meaning

catastrophic upheaval, or hurban, meaning total

destruction. Both words had very different

implications than the English word Holocaust,

which could be understood as implying that

those who died did so as a noble religious

sacrifice paralleling the ritual sacrifice of

animals in the Jerusalem Temple. Despite the

potential theological problems with the term,

Elie Wiesel popularized it throughout the 1960s,

making the word Holocaust synonymous with

the Nazi murder of the Jews. Wiesel had written Night, a short book dealing

with his experience in Auschwitz. First

published in English in 1960, the memoir

described a teenage boy deported from his

Orthodox home in Hungary along with his

family. He was shocked to realize that God

could betray His own people, but is even more

upset by the way he behaved toward his dying

father. The book became a publishing sensation

because the language was graphic and yet

mythic, its events both set in a specific historical

context yet seemingly timeless. In 1986, Wiesel

was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an award

that was widely viewed as acknowledging the

importance of the Holocaust and the suffering of

the Jewish people. The Eichmann trial marked a turning point for

how Holocaust survivors were perceived. Up

until this point they had kept a low

profile. Believing that nobody wanted

to hear their stories, they tried to

rebuild their lives and avoid looking

back. But the Eichmann trial changed

the way they were perceived by others

as well as the way they saw

themselves. Holocaust survivors

played a key role at the Eichmann trial,

providing testimony concerning all

aspects of the Final Solution as

planned and implemented by Eichmann and

other Nazis. Now these Holocaust survivors

began receiving requests to speak, not only at

synagogues, but schools and churches and the

gamut of other venues. Their status as survivors

gave them an authenticity and legitimacy that

was irreplaceable. In the years following the Eichmann trial, both

fiction and nonfiction works on the Holocaust

became international best-sellers. American

Jews as well as many others became interested in

the Holocaust and wanted to understand it in

historic, as well as religious terms. By the 1970s, the inhibitions that had

encouraged repression of such discussion lifted.

Many books were being written about the

Holocaust itself, as well as the passive role that

the American government played in allowing

mass murder to take place. The Jewish

community became obsessed with the subject. Not only was it important to teach the history of

the persecution and destruction, it was also

important to convey what was generally

acknowledged to be the central lesson: Jews had

an obligation to perpetuate Jewishness so as not

to let the Nazis retroactively “win the war.” Philosopher and Reform rabbi Emil Fackenheim

spoke of a 614th commandment. Every Jew

living after the Holocaust should know that he or

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(continued from previous page) she was, in a sense, a survivor, part of “an

accidental remnant.” Fackenheim said that “the

authentic Jew of today is forbidden to hand

Hitler yet another, posthumous victory” by

failing to survive as a Jew. Fackenheim’s

understanding was based on the fact that “a Jew

today is one who, except for an historical

accident — Hitler’s loss of the war — would

have either been murdered or never been born.”

As a consequence of this horrible reality,

religious faith cannot continue as it was before

the Holocaust because faith in the covenant

presupposes “an unbroken historical continuity

from past to present.” That continuity was

traumatically ruptured by the murder of six

million Jews. Fackenheim was, of course, aware

that many might see this as proof that the

omnipotent God of the Torah could not possibly

exist, but that was not his message. Rather, he

felt that Jews should devote themselves to

making sure that the Jewish people survive as a

religious, as well as political response, to the

Nazis’ attempt at genocide. Please consider attending this commemorative

service. It is our way of paying our respects to

the six million Jews and the large number of

other people who were killed by the Nazis during

the Holocaust.

Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan

FROM OUR PRESIDENT

ow, it is already May and the middle

of spring. Where does the time go?

As always, this time of year brings in

a lot of new life, both animal and vegetable. The

plants and trees are turning green, the flowers are

blooming, the eggs are hatching, and new life is

all around us. It may be the "most

wonderful time of the year" (with

apologies to Edward Pola and

George Wyles)! There are also a lot of eggs

hatching and flowers blooming at

our Temple. Not only is the garden

blooming at our beautiful facility,

thanks in large part to master

gardener Larry Miller, but Sha’arai Shomayim is

growing and blooming, as well. As you know by

now, we are in the process of hiring Rabbi

Kaplan to be our full time Rabbi. I am very

excited about this opportunity. He has been very

well received and I think he will do our

congregation well. We are very fortunate to have

him with us. While on the subject of rabbis, I

would like to take a minute and also, one more

time, to thank Donald Kunstadt for his 28 years

of service to our beloved congregation. He has

the distinction of being one of the longest tenured

rabbis of our historic congregation. For me

personally, he officiated at all three of my

children's life cycle events, from consecration to

Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, to confirmations. He was

not only my rabbi, but also my friend. Thank you

Donald Kunstadt for what you did for Sha’arai

Shomayim and for me personally, as well. There is so much going on at our beloved Temple

that if you haven't been by lately, you should

check it out. We had a very good

Town Hall Meeting where many ideas

were suggested and are being

tabulated in order to address the needs

of what our congregants want. In

order for things to bloom at our

Temple, we need all the "gardeners"

to come out and help us grow our

congregation, make it flourish, and

turn it into the most beautiful, thriving, and active

congregation in the City of Mobile, bar none. We are still pursuing the idea of wanting to do

more with others. We have had joint worship

services with other Jewish congregations and will

hopefully continue to do so. We have had many

speakers, some Jewish and some of other faiths,

and it is our intent to continue this, as well. The

more we reach out to others, the better it is for all. Please mark your calendars now for the Temple

Annual Meeting scheduled for Sunday, June 12th

at 10:30 a.m. You will get a chance to review

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(continued from previous page)

anything you want to know about what is going

on and a chance to make your voice heard. I

personally welcome anything you may have to

say and, as always, I want to know what is on

your mind and your thoughts on how to

continually make Sha’arai Shomayim the best it

can be. See ya around the Temple,

Alan V Hirsch, President

Meet at springhill avenue temple Cemetery

Sunday, May 15th @ 9:00 a.m.

We’re going to spruce up the Temple’s cemetery!

Bring your lawn and gardening equipment

(gloves, rakes, shovels, loppers, etc.)

You are cordially invited to

Springhill Avenue Temple’s Annual Meeting

Get a status report on your Temple!

Participate in the nomination, election, and

induction of new officers

Don’t Miss This Very Important Meeting!

Sunday, June 12, 2015 at 10:30 a.m.

Men’s Club and Sisterhood will provide

Light Food and Refreshment after the meeting

ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE

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CONTRIBUTIONS

In honor of the birth of Julianne Walsh Holberg – Iris & Nate Ginsberg, Alan Hirsch, Mazel Tov to Michael Holberg & Aimee Walsh-Holberg on the birth of their daughter

Julianne - Murray Levine & Patti Grandquest Speedy recovery for Terry Barkin – Jill Gottlieb Speedy recovery for Sandy Holberg – Murray Levine In memory of Nan Altmayer – David Rose, Martha & G.B. Kahn, Phyllis Feibelman,

Amy & Jack Friedlander, Margaret & Milton Brown, Friedman’s Fine Jewelry, Margaret Luce,

Iris & Nate Ginsberg In memory of Ralph Holberg, Jr. – Mimi Holberg, Elaine & Robert Holberg In honor of the yahrzeit of Charlotte Zivitz Martin – Terry & Peter Kopel In memory of Janet Weiner – Patricia & Howard Silverman In memory of Matilde Scheuer – Martha & G.B. Kahn In memory of Cyrus Neuman – Jill Gottlieb In memory of Max Muchnick – Frances Mutchnick, Sherry & Glen Mutchnick In memory of my grandmother, Janette P. Gardberg – Naomi Gardberg In memory of Vi Hirsch – Mary Ann Friedlander In memory of Fannie Whitehead – Mark Gilberstadt In memory of Sid Magnes – Cindy & Phil Magnes In memory of Dr. Norman Lichtenfeld – Martha & G.B. Kahn In memory of Lila Kogon – Iris & Nate Ginsberg, Peter & Gail van Oosten,

Shirley & Howard Hochman In memory of Maury Friedlander – Mary Ann Friedlander, Michael Friedlander,

Madelyn Friedlander, Beth Vorwaller, Rachel Vorwaller In memory of my husband, Joe Passero – Fran Passero In memory of Nathan N. Aronson, Jr. – Judi Aronson In memory of Leonard Metzger, Jr. – Mildred Metzger In memory of Isadore Barkin – Teresa & Terry Barkin In memory of Cecile Olensky Mishkin – Linda & Eddie Blassingame In memory of Elaine Long – Iris & Nate Ginsberg

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YAHRZEIT

It is a true Mitzvah to honor those whose memory we hold dear by attending services on the

Shabbat Yahrzeit (year’s time), joining your congregation in reciting Kaddish, and the

giving of charity in their memory.

May 6 Morris Loeb, Stanley Nussbaum, Frieda Friedman, Minnie Piser Schwarz,

Karin Appelman, Miriam Yassem Gandler,

Beatrice Zelnicker, Gladys Kahn

May 13 A.E. Fingerhut, Fran Brown, Issac Friedman, Elsa Keller Lewis,

Sylvia Rose, Milton F. Rubel, Sr.

May 20 Bruce Fox, Jennie Spitzberg, Edward Gandler, Richard Tolpin,

Camille Baer, Sarah Kopelman

May 27 Gertrude Kopelman, Valdivia Vogel, Irving Gandler,

Ellen Muhlfelder, Jerome Goldman, Molly Long,

Louis Goldman, Sarah Pozner Cherniak,

Samuel Diemar

June 3 Helen Koffler, Karen Kopelman, Kenneth Morrow,

Elaine Heart

URJ Jacobs Camp - Registration Now Open!

URJ Jacobs Camp (jacobs.urjcamps.org) is a Reform Jewish

summer camp in Utica, MS serving children from the Deep

South entering grades Pre-K to 12. Plan now for a great

summer experience! Registration is now open! Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, Temple

youth will be able to receive a $1,000 incentive grant for

first-time campers and $500 for continuing campers. These

funds are in addition to the first time campers scholarship

program of $1,000 from the Goldring Family Foundation. In addition to these scholarships, supplemental funding may also be available. Interested parents should contact Rabbi Kaplan at the Springhill Avenue Temple for

more information (251)478-0415.

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FROM OUR SHALIACH, ARAD LERNER

Shalom y’all! As we know by now Shalom has three

meanings: hello, goodbye, and peace. Hello

It’s me, that Israeli that came here two years

ago, not knowing much about the south,

except for some stereotypes that

didn’t really matter to him. I have seen a beautiful part of

this country and experienced the

culture of all of its ingredients -

from food (as much as I could)

to Mardi Gras, through you

guys, your families, and friends. Before coming to this Shlichut, we were told

the Shaliach doesn’t only bring something to

a destination, but also takes something away

with him from that destination and I have

boxes on boxes of feelings and memories to

take back with me. Goodbye

I always like to be on the giving end and not

the receiving, since it is always hard for me to

show how grateful I am for what people do

for me. It seems like there are not enough

words and acts that will describe how

thankful I am for the past two years.

Everything that was done for me, it does not

go unnoticed, just so you know. I understand

the greatness of each and every one of you for

going out of your way to do something for the

Shaliach, community, or your synagogue. Being involved in your community isn’t so

obvious these days and I would like to thank

you for that and for opening your hearts and

homes for me. Shalom

You can’t say Shalom without thinking of

unity, togetherness, and the sense of comfort

that fills you.

My only request for you guys when

I’m gone, is to make sure you try to be

more involved at your house, at your

temple, and mostly, in the community. With the rise of anti-Semitism in the

world, it is important to remember

that we are all in the same boat. We

are all in this together. We all share

that amazing thing of being Jewish and all of

its components. We would all love to see our

community thriving, uniting, and working

together in doing good. It is for our kids, our

future, and for Israel. In Hebrew we have a saying, “L’hitraot”,

which basically means, until I see you again

(in Israel). It is not a goodbye. Last year, when I thought I was going back to

Israel, I wrote a goodbye for the bulletin that

ended with a quote that I carry with me every

day: “A successful journey never ends, the miles

do, but the time stays engraved in you,

becomes a part of you, at the end of the

journey I don’t feel as if I won, but

grateful, like the road has passed through

me and not like I’ve passed through the

road.”

Arad Lerner

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Annual Yom Hashoah Commemoration Service

Wednesday, May 4

7:00 p.m.

This is a special commemorative service and program at which we remember the victims

of the Nazi Holocaust and announce the annual Essay and Poetry Contest winners from

submissions sent in by Mobile area grade school students. There will also be a reading of

names of some of the Holocaust victims.

Please make time for this very special event.

A couple of years ago, at the ripe old age of 96, Simon Wiesenthal died in his

sleep. Wiesenthal survived nine different concentration and labor camps and

faced certain death on two occasions, but somehow, he outlived his Nazi

tormentors. Following the war, Wiesenthal appointed himself advocate of the

tortured, the starved, the degraded and the slain. It is estimated that the Holocaust was perpetrated by at least 600,000

Germans and very willing collaborators from other nations – but to date, only

7,000 executioners have been tried. To measure Wiesenthal’s achievement,

we need only recall that of the 7,000 prosecuted, it was Wiesenthal who

discovered and brought to justice 1,100 of them. Most notably, he is credited with leading the Israeli

government to notorious Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Why did he do it? In an interview that he gave to the New York Times Magazine in 1964, Wiesenthal

told of a Shabbat that he spent at the home of a former concentration camp inmate who had become a

wealthy jewelry manufacturer. After dinner, the host said to him, “Simon, if you had gone back to

building houses, you’d be a millionaire. Why didn’t you?” Wiesenthal told him, “You’re a religious man. You believe in God and life after death. I also believe.

When we come to the other world and meet the millions of Jews who died in the camps and they ask

us, ‘What have you done?,’ there will be many answers. You will say, ‘I became a jeweler.’ Another

will say, ‘I have smuggled coffee and American cigarettes.’ Another will say, ‘I built houses.’ But I

will say, ‘I didn’t forget you!’” When Simon Wiesenthal took his last breath and closed his eyes, he could rest assured that he had

done more than any other person to keep the world from forgetting the Shoah, the darkest moment in

all of human history.

Taken from http://www.reformjudaism.org/blog/2012/04/19/never-again-bystanders

Simon Wiesenthal

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FROM OUR ARCHIVES

By Susan Thomas, Archivist James Gilbert Adler, an insurance executive,

served as president of the Temple’s Board of

Trustees from 1945 to 1946. Adler served as

secretary from 1917 to 1941 and as vice-president

in 1944. His term as president was cut short as he

was forced to resign due to illness in April 1946.

He died at home on June 8, 1946, at age 60.

Apparently, he never married. At the time of his

death, he resided with his brother, C. H. “Booney”

Adler and his wife Lurline. The only survivors

listed in his obituary were Booney and Lurline

Adler and their daughter, Mrs. C.P. Rowan. James Adler is buried in the Temple cemetery, as

are his parents, Louis Adler and Belle Strauss

Adler. Interestingly, Booney Adler died in

Montgomery and is buried in Mobile’s Pine Crest

Cemetery. The Temple Archives contains little

additional information about the Adler family. James Adler resided in Mobile for at least 40

years. His career included working as an office

manager for the Tom Boone agency and later as

an insurance solicitor for the Schley and Boone

Realty Company. In 1944, the Mobile City

Directory lists him as president of the Brown-

Adler Insurance Agency. (Another Temple

congregant, Hugo Brown, was vice-president of

the agency.) The Temple Archives contains a

collection of cancelled checks from 1932-1933

from Adler’s business. These checks offer a

glimpse into the expenses of running an office

during this time period: During one month, Adler

paid Alabama Power $1.18, Bell Telephone $9.75,

and Western Union Telegraph Company $5.66.

He also wrote a check for cash for $5.00. James Adler’s tenure as Temple president was

relatively uneventful. Minutes from that year

indicate he dealt with problems that seem

surprisingly contemporary, such as trying to get

the Temple insurance to cover damages from a

windstorm, asking members to pay delinquent

dues, and considering whether to raise cemetery

fees. During his term as president, a part-time

bookkeeper was hired, apparently for the first

time. As far as can be ascertained at this time, James

Adler has no descendants living in the Mobile

area. It is not known how the Temple Archives

came to possess the collection of cancelled checks

from his business. The small amount of

information on Adler in the Temple Archives

indicates he was a dedicated business man and an

involved congregant at the Temple.

Springhill Avenue Temple Gift Shop Think of the gift shop for confirmation, graduation,

wedding, and baby gifts. Take time to visit our beautiful

selection of candles, Shabbat candlesticks, mezuzahs,

Groom's glass, menorahs and many additional items.

This is the time of year we buy gifts for many occasions.

Proceeds from sales support many Sisterhood projects.

Judy and Amy

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May Birthdays and Anniversaries

Happy Birthday To … 1 Donald Friedlander 12 Lori Michaelis 22 Mark Brown

1 Ralph Holberg 12 David Rose 22 Debbie Clolinger

1 Robert Zimmerman 12 Richard Rose 25 Julie Kogon

2 Jerry Schjott 12 Ryan Sophie Small 25 Alan Lewis

2 Carrie Waldrop 14 Stephen Conrad 27 Diane Franco

2 Kimberly Zelnicker 14 Joseph Fetterman 27 Maure Sternberg

3 Alain Gamble 15 Heidi Kinsella 28 Lisa Emanuelli

4 Becky Hoffman 16 Todd Lewis 28 Irving Koffler

6 Ron Berman 17 Ira Frederic Cherniak 29 Aaron Denson

7 Randall Kogon 19 Christine Norris 29 Abbe Fass

8 Arik Sokol 19 Mike Pereira 29 Richard Zimmerman 10 Nicole Appelman 20 Michelle Klein 30 Shirley Boyd

10 Dana Handmacher 21 Kenneth Altman 30 Gladys Cherniak

10 Elsa Simon 21 Lucas Ryan Michaelis 30 Sloane Maisel Parker

12 Lauren Friedlander 21 John Webster 30 Allen Levy Ross

Happy Anniversary To .. 9 Christine Norris & Daryn Glassbrook

15 Ada & Sam Small

17 Cindy & Benjamin Bloom

24 Yaffa & Mark Brown

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June Birthdays and Anniversaries

Happy Birthday To …

1 Emily Miles 7 Addison Hall 19 David Brown

2 Joshua Denson 8 Rick Hirsch 19 Jonathan Gardberg

2 Cheri Silverman 9 Phil Linnick 19 Alan Goldberg

3 Veronica Cherniak O’Brien 9 Sarah Webster 21 Mark Berklin

3 Vickie Cherniak Shuchart 10 Shirley Gaggstatter 21 Samuel Feibelman

3 Gretchen Goldberg 10 Albert Klein 22 Jill Conrad

3 Lynn Zelnicker 12 Richard Mazey 23 Robert Brown

4 Paul Bergman 13 Matt Friduss 23 Roy Hoffman

4 Patricia Fishbein 13 Amy Holberg 26 James Barkin

5 Bradley Ennis 13 Adam Sack 26 Sandra Gandler

5 Kim Zimmerman 16 Jerry Dobbins 27 Benjamin Fishbein

6 Bonnie Kidd 17 Marc Gottlieb 28 Harriet Kahn

6 Sam Small 18 Dana Friedlander 30 Jeff Silverman

30 Brian Susman

Happy Anniversary To ...

1 Pinkie & David Cherniak 14 Sherry & Glen Mutchnick

2 Flo & Tom Kessler 16 Kay & Gerald Friedlander

4 Nancy & Charlie Brown 18 Elaine & Robert Holberg

5 Emily & Harold Fink 19 Bettina & Steve Prager

12 LeNae & William Denson 22 Alain & Gary Gamble

13 Iris & Albert Klein 23 Susan & Michael Rosenbaum

13 Lynne & Harvey Switzkey 27 Jenny & Gary Rich

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CALENDAR Torah Study Wednesday 5:30 p.m. May 11, 18, and 25th

(no Torah Study May 4th) Weekly Torah Saturday s 10:00 a.m. May 7, 14, 21 and 28th Hebrew School Sundays 8:30 a.m. May 1 and 15th

Friday 5:00 p.m. May 6 (Student/Teacher Appreciation)

(no Religious School May 8th) Religious School Sundays 9:45 a.m. May 1 and 15th Wednesday, May 4 7:00 p.m. Yom Hashoah – Holocaust

Commemoration Service

Friday, May 6 6:00 p.m. Student/Teacher Appreciation Service

with the Congregational Choir

Friday, May 13 6:00 p.m. Yom Haatzma’ut Shabbat Service

Friday, May 20 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service

Welcome Leonard Wells to Judaism

with the Congregational Choir

Friday, May 27 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service

with the Congregational Choir

The Temple Offices will be closed on Monday, May 30th

in observance of Memorial Day

THE TEMPLE BULLETIN (USPS-

966-900) is published monthly by

Springhill Avenue Temple,

1769 Springhill Avenue

Mobile, AL 36607.

“Periodicals Postage Paid at Mobile,

Alabama.” POSTMASTER:

Send address change to:

1769 Springhill Ave.

Mobile, AL 36607

Dana Evan Kaplan, Rabbi Jerry Silverstein, Second Vice-President

Alan Hirsch, President Aaron Solomon, Treasurer

J. Michael Pereira, First Vice-President Maure Sternberg, Secretary