Shofar - February 2012 - Shevat/Adar 5772

Shofar Shevat/Adar 5772 Jewish Family Congregation February 2012

www.jewishfamilycongregation.org

From the Rabbi’s Desk page 1 President’s Message page 2 Service Schedule page 5 Recent Donations to JFC page 6 Early Childhood Center page 7 The Religious School page 11 Kids Ask the Rabbi page 12

JiFTY page 17 Birthdays/Annivs/Yahrzeits page 18 Ask the Rabbi page 22 February Oneg Hosts page 24 Donations Form page 30 JFC’s February Calendar page 31

From the Rabbi’s Desk

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Many years ago, a good friend of mine, a member of our little Reform congregation in Winnipeg, got it into his head that he should be the next president of the congre-gation. When someone else was chosen by the nominat-ing committee, he sued the congregation; the judge threw the suit out of court. I relate this story to make the point that the internal politics of a synagogue are a breeding ground for factions, for power struggles and for enlarged egos.

This applies to all synagogues, in all places, at all times. We all know the story of the Jew finally rescued on a tiny tropical island, who shows his rescuers the two syna-gogues he built there, the one he goes to and the one he would never go to. He’s the only person on the island, yet he gets into synagogue politics without hesitation!

I had thought, for the first 13 1/2 years of my service to JFC, that we had escaped the curse of internal politics, and it really did seem that way. This was especially grati-fying because I am well aware that my predecessor’s 2 years here were fraught with just those kinds of prob-lems.

The secular year just concluded was a year of internal politics and this turbulence has really distracted us from doing the job we are here together to do: to create and nurture community, so that we are a source of comfort, inspiration, and joy for each other and for our community as a whole. If this congregation is to succeed, then we have to get back to our real purpose, and put factionalism aside.

I ask you to join me in this.

We have shaken up the JFC Shabbat schedule and intro-duced several new elements, in the hope of meeting more people’s needs, and offering more opportunities for congregants to get to know each other. I hope you will take advantage of them. These include more Youth Group led services; some early services for pre-schoolers and their families; some pot-luck-dinner-and-later-services; some musical services; in addition to all the usual programmatic Shabbatot (grade services, festival and holiday services, etc). On Saturdays we have added a few lunch n learn programs, from 11 am till 1 pm, to re-turn to the tradition of study and thinking about impor-tant Jewish matters on Shabbat.

Beginning in February, on Tuesday evenings (except the 2nd Tuesday, when the Ritual Committee meets), I am of-fering a Beginners’ Hebrew class, at 7:30 pm. If you can-not read Hebrew, this is the class for you…you will learn to follow in the prayerbook, and even to read aloud cor-rectly; comprehension is another matter, requiring much more time than a class once a week. But you can learn to read Hebrew this way, and you will certainly increase your comfort in services.

The Board of Trustees has also scheduled a list of social events, intended to give congregants an opportunity to get to know each other, outside of services. These activi-ties range from a revival of the Women’s Group to a se-ries of sporting activities: golf; tennis; and skating; some for the whole family and others for adults only. I hope you’ll support these as well.

And there will be a series of fundraising events also.

Page 2 Jewish Family Congregation Shofar February 2012

CHOIR

If you would like to join the choir, or for more information,

please contact Kathy Storfer at [email protected]

We welcome all adults -- 13 or older!

From the Rabbi’s Desk (cont’d)

Without successful fund-raisers, we cannot operate the congregation. We are well aware that everyone is experiencing the financial pinch of the current economy. And so is JFC. But, in the spirit of pulling together to put JFC back on track this year, we are counting on you to support these events as well. They all have a social com-ponent to them, and should be fun.

The generic term for a Jewish house of wor-ship is the Greek word, synagogue. This word is a good translation of the Hebrew, beyt knesset, which means “house of as-sembly”. Archaeology has shown that there were synagogues in ancient Israel, even while the Temple stood in Jerusalem. Worship was originally the exclusive func-tion of the Temple, while the synagogue served as the community’s meeting place; after the Roman destruction of the Temple, the synagogue became the house of wor-ship, too.

So we are on good firm ground in seeing our synagogue as the community’s place of assembly, for all sorts of activities.

But the primary function of this and every other synagogue is simply the Jewish com-munity’s home. Since our building was originally a home, this place has a much warmer feel than many larger places that somehow feel like institutions.

The question is, are you at home here? And another question is, what will you do to make our community’s home more invit-ing and comfortable for yourself, for others in the congregation, and for the newcom-ers we need to keep our congregation vi-brant?

I invite you to join me in what it takes to make this place warm and welcoming, safe and secure.

Jewish Family

Congregation 111 Smith Ridge Road

P.O. Box 249 South Salem, NY 10590 Phone: (914) 763-3028 Fax: (914) 763-3069 e-mail: [email protected]

jewishfamilycongregation.org

Rabbi

Carla Freedman [email protected]

Cantor Kerry Ben-David

[email protected]

School Director Leslie Gottlieb

[email protected] Early Childhood Center Director Jane Weil Emmer

[email protected]

Temple Administrator Jolie Levy

[email protected]

Board Of Trustees

Richard Mishkin, President

914-764-8305; Mark Lavin,

Vice President; Polly Schnell,

Vice President;

Hal Wolkin, Chief Financial Officer;

Carrie Kane Diane Richman

Elise Serby Patterson Shafer Debra Verbeke

Elisa Zuckerberg and

Johanna Perlman, Past President

Shofar Editor Jolie Levy

Shofar Printer EnterMarket

We now have a Facebook page!

If you are on Facebook, go to: http://facebook.com/

jewishfamilycongregation

and like us!

JFC’S 7TH

ANNUAL COMEDY NIGHT

Feb. 11, 2012

See page 9

for more details.

http://facebook.com/jewishfamilycongregation

http://facebook.com/jewishfamilycongregation

Shevat/Adar 5772 Jewish Family Congregation Shofar Page 3

President’s Message by Richard Mishkin

As many of you read in my email of December 15th*, the JFC Board of Trustees approved a motion to extend Rabbi Freedman's contract through June 30, 2013. Her current contract would have ended on June 30, 2012, if not for this extension. The Board has heard from many congregants in numerous forums. A large group of congregants attended our annual meeting in June and, over the past six months, we have received letters and phone calls from members who wanted to make sure we knew how they felt and why. We have held focus groups, conducted face-to-face inter-views and undertaken phone interviews. It is clear that the views of the congregation with respect to the process to be used in making a decision with respect to renewal of Rabbi Freedman’s contract vary greatly. It is equally clear that the views of the congregation with respect to what the ultimate decision should be vary greatly. The Board is committed to listening to them all, but what is also appar-ent is that our membership has been energized by this is-sue. Boards have long sought more engagement from congregations – members willing to do the work that needs to be done to maintain the family community based principles on which we were founded, and to provide for financial stability. So from my point of view, as President of your Board, ironically, controversy has brought us to-gether and we now have many more congregants willing to give of their time.

There was a special telephonic Board meeting held on January 26th for the purpose of identifying a way to involve members of the congregation in developing a process to address the decision concerning Rabbi Freedman’s con-tract. In addition, we discussed the need to take a fresh look at JFC’s present and future financial capacity as the Board believes that having a clearer vision of our financial future is important to decision making, including decisions relating to its Clergy. We are now fortunate to have Hal

Wolkin and Donn Henshaw involved as our Chief Financial Officer and Controller, respectively, guiding us through this process. There is a regular Board meeting scheduled for February 2nd in which we will continue to address these subjects.

We realize that the decision concerning Rabbi Freedman’s contract must be based upon many considerations and that financial capacity is just one of those. We have an opportunity now that we did not have before, to take ad-vantage of Hal Wolkin’s and Donn Henshaw’s substantive financial backgrounds to gain a considerably greater un-derstanding of JFC’s financial capacity, and we think that doing so is important.

We have been and will continue to be in close contact with the URJ, in particular with Rabbi Marcus Burstein, who is our congregational representative, and Rabbi David Wolf-man, whose job is to help Congregations resolve issues where membership is split, including as it relates to clergy. We are also seeking the help of congregants who have ideas to share.

We want to thank all of you who have been so forthcom-ing during the past several months. We will continue to reach out to the congregation for suggestions for bringing all of us together as a Jewish Family as we plan for the fu-ture.

*The original message was emailed to all JFC members. If you are not receiving email blasts or would like them to go to addi-tional family members or to another email address, please con-tact the office so they can update your information.

With best regards,

Richard Mishkin, President, JFC Board of Trustees

- - - S A V E T H E D A T E - - -

PURIM CARNIVAL SUN., MARCH 4

12:00 - 2:00

ALL ARE WELCOME!



SERVICE SCHEDULE

FEBRUARY

Feb 3/ Shevat 11 7:30 pm Shabbat Shira (mi khamokha-thon) With Cantor Ben-David and the JFC Choir Parshat B’shallakh Ruth Ossher chants Torah Saturday, Feb 4 10:00 am Shabbat Morning Service

Friday, Feb 10/ Shevat 18 7:30 pm Youth Group Rock Shabbat

Saturday, Feb 11 10:00 am Shabbat Morning Service 11 am-1 pm Lunch N Learn+++

Friday, Feb 17/ Shevat 25 6:30 pm Pot Luck Dinner*** Shabbat Sh’kalim^^^ 8:00 pm Parshat Mishpatim Friday, Feb 24/ Adar 2 7:30 pm Parshat Truma +++Lunch N Learn is an opportunity to discuss a topic on Shabbat afternoon, over lunch…bring your own dairy or veggie lunch, and join us for a consideration of the critical Jewish values we want to transmit to the next generations.

*** Please bring a veggie or dairy dish to share with six people. This time, our theme is Israeli food. If you need recipe ideas, please contact Rabbi Freedman, who will gladly share her new Israeli cookbook. These dinners have proven very enjoyable…doing the familiar blessings, sharing a meal, singing Shabbat table songs, and then cleaning up so we can enjoy the service. Do join us!

^^^ Shabbat Shkalim is the first of five special Shabbatot that lead us to Passover.

Want to learn to chant torah?

It’s stimulating, rewarding, and you get to meet some great people!

Join Ruth Ossher on Tuesday evenings to learn Torah Cantillation, the system for chanting Torah. The first seven classes cover the system; the following six classes review this material. In this hands-on class, each student picks a Torah portion early on and prepares it to chant at a JFC service. Each student is given plenty of support, and there is always a gabbai (person to help out) when Torah is chanted at services. Classes will be held from 7:45-8:45 on Tuesdays, Feb. 28 through June 19 (no classes on 3/27, 4/3,4/10, 6/12). The cost of the 13 classes is $260, plus an additional $40 text fee. For those students who have taken the classes in the past and would like to come in for specific sessions only, the cost is $20 per class. A minimum of four students is required in order to run this class. If you are interested, please contact Ruth Ossher at [email protected].


Jewish Family Congregation Early Childhood Center

Where Family is our middle name

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO REGISTER!

Please visit our website at www.jewishfamilycongregation.org

Recent Donations to JFC

IF ANY DONATIONS ARE NOT LISTED, KINDLY CONTACT THE JFC OFFICE AND LET US KNOW.

General Fund Stephen & Robi Margolis In Memory Of Freda Schuler Stephen & Robi Margolis In Memory of Bernard Shuler Susan Stillman In Memory of Julius Fuchs Susan Stillman In Memory of Bernard Shuler

Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund Pearl Feldman In Memory of Nathan Bell Pearl Feldman In Memory of Sarah Feldman HIGH HOLY DAY DONATIONS Heidi Auerbacher & Ilene Benjamin Peter & Liza Breslin David & Carrie Kane

Did you know…

A donation to the JFC-URJ Camp Fund helps send children to summer camp who would not otherwise have this privilege. Memories that will be cherished forever.

Thank you for remembering this fund!


It is that time of the year, when our friends and family with children of age, are looking for a pre-school for their little ones. It is my hope that you are enthusiastic about the quality of programming that we offer. It is also impor-tant that our prospective families believe in our philoso-phy. What is our educational philosophy at Jewish Family Congregation Early Childhood Center.? Funny you should ask…

We believe that children deserve early childhood experi-ences that develop their multi-faceted potential and in-crease their love of learning. Mutual respect between teachers, children and families are hallmarks of our school.

Teachers build on the perceptual and cognitive powers of children. Experiences are provided that meet children’s needs and stimulate learning in all developmental areas, physical, social, emotional and intellectual.

Each child is viewed as a unique person with an individual pattern and timing of growth and development. Different levels of ability, development and learning styles are ex-pected, accepted and used to design appropriate activities.

Our family engagement approach is reflected in everything we do, from how families are welcomed in the morning, to communication about each child to make parents partners in the educational enterprise, to the ways we engage fami-lies in Jewish life and learning.

Jewish values and ideas are the lenses through which we view our play-based, academically rich curriculum. We focus on interpersonal interactions as well as fostering in-dependence. We provide opportunities both indoors and outdoors with an emphasis on relevant experiential learn-ing.

Below, please find a few suggestions on important things to look for in a good early childhood program. This list is a summary of the recommendations of the National Asso-ciation for the Education of Young Children | NAEYC.

Children spend most of their time playing and working with materials or other children

Children have access to various activities throughout the day. Look for assorted building blocks and other construction materials; props for pretend play, pic-ture books, paints and other art materials, and table toys such as matching games, pegboards, and puz-zles.

Teachers work with individual children, small groups, and the whole group at different times during the day. They do not spend all their time with the whole group.

The classroom is decorated with children's original art-work, their own writing with invented spelling, and stories dictated by children to teachers.

Children learn numbers and the alphabet in the context of their everyday experiences. The natural world of plants and animals and meaningful activities like cooking, taking attendance, or serving snack pro-vide the basis for learning activities.

Children work on projects and have long periods of time (at least one hour) to play and explore. Worksheets are used little if at all.

Children have an opportunity to play outside every day. Outdoor play is never sacrificed for more instruc-tional time.

Teachers read books to children individually or in small groups throughout the day, not just at group story time.

Curriculum is adapted for those who are ahead as well as those who need additional help. Teachers recog-nize that children's different background and ex-periences mean that they do not learn the same things at the same time in the same way.

Children and their parents look forward to school. Par-ents feel secure about sending their child to the program.

When you assess our program, you will find that we excel in all areas listed above. We focus on each individual and at the same time build a community of learners. Our cur-riculum provides opportunities for exploration both in-doors and outdoors. The classrooms are literature rich environments. We all should be very proud of the supe-rior Early Childhood Program at Jewish Family Congrega-tion. Please help us spread the word!

The Early Childhood Center Jane Weil Emmer, Director

http://www.naeyc.org/

http://www.naeyc.org/


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The Religious School Leslie Gottlieb, Director

A few weeks ago I was home one morning, and the phone rang. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it’s not. The caller ID announced, “Out of area” and I must admit my initial reaction was not a generous one-- but I decided I could challenge myself to be a person of peace and respond to yet another interruption from Verizon with a kind, “No thanks.” What a surprise it was to find out who was calling and from where….

Harris Henshaw, JFC former student, mentor and Youth Group member (and current JFC member) was calling from Sderot, Israel. Some of you may recall that for several years in a row, the Reli-gious School supported the efforts of the JNF (Jewish National Fund) as they tried to raise funds to help build a to-tally secure underground playground for

the children of Sderot, a fairly poor town right on the Gaza border. Sderot was, for many years, the daily target for those in Gaza looking to cause harm to average Israeli citi-zens going about their days—whether it was Kassam rock-ets or rocks, children were at risk as well as all others—on a daily basis. ( According to Wikipedia: The Qassam rocket (Arabic: Ṣārūkh al-Qassām; also Kassam) is a sim-ple steel artillery rocket developed and deployed by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas. Three models have been produced and used between 2001 and 2011.) President Obama while campaigning for the 2008 election went to Sderot and publicly spoke about the fact that if his daughters lived there, he would want to do everything to stop the violence to protect them. Harris was in Sderot-- and at the time of his call was standing at the entrance of what we decided was an ordi-nary bunker-- one with a small play area—but he was so excited because he thought he was standing in front of the playground that JFC helped to build. We sent the JNF over $1,000 over a span of two years but we did not make the $1,800 cut-off which would have secured our synagogue’s name on the permanent plaque which resides on the wall of the playground. Nevertheless, it was a big deal to our students and members at the time and many will still re-call the fund-raiser kickball game we all played one Sunday morning (the Rabbi, too!) in mid-winter in some very deep snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To think that through Birthright Israel -- which our school tzedakah program supports each year which helped send Harris and many thousands like him to Israel every year—that Harris not only made it to the Jewish Homeland but that the connection to JFC went even further so that he felt pressed to call me from a town we helped years

ago!!!! This put an enormous smile on my face-- and this is the kind of thing that propels me every day to come to work at JFC with energy and passion. I am always search-ing for new ways of connecting our kids to our faith and traditions. I am very grateful for this opportunity. Only ten minutes after I hung up with Harris, feeling a great sense of satisfaction from his call, one of my dearest old friends called to say that her 23 year old son (who had met a girl two years ago on his Birthright trip) was in Israel at that very moment with his girlfriend and her family who lives there (her father is Israeli). He had just proposed to her as he stood at the top of a unique staircase in Tzvat (in northern Israel) thought to have special powers of bringing two people together for life. Amazing. Two Birthright sto-ries in a row on one morning! They say good things come in threes. Just the day be-fore, I wrote out a check from our school’s tzedakah ac-count to Birthright to help them with their annual appeal. The circle was complete. Now we are waiting for Harris to arrive home so that he can bring in his slideshow to the Religious School kids for their enjoyment. One generation has to do provide excitement for the next one right behind it. As you realize, we, as educators and parents, need to perpetuate this cycle over and over. We are obligated to teach the next generation but our kids need to understand their role in all of this. Their job is to generate excitement for those younger who are watching and listening. And coincidentally, I just got an email as I write this, from someone at Birthright asking me to recommend fu-ture enrollees for their upcoming registration in February. Maybe good things come in fours now?? I just gave her the names of my sons (22 and 25) who have never been to Israel. Their sister was there for a month two years ago, and we have been there but without the kids. I hope they get to go with Birthright. It is a very noble way to donate dollars if you plan to allocate money to a Jewish cause. All of your children can benefit from it for as long as the fund-ing lasts. In any case, I am giddy with a feeling that what we do here at JFC and in the Religious School really does matter to some in that they, on their own at a certain stage, reach out for ways to stay a part of the Jewish scene long after their years here. I am tempted --just a little bit if not more-- to say that we help set the stage for our students’ life-time relationship-- with their Jewish selves. If we do not help them create Jewish identities, then we fail at what’s most important.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artillery_rocket

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izz_ad-Din_al-Qassam_Brigades

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izz_ad-Din_al-Qassam_Brigades

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas


Next Midnight Run: March 17, 2012

Todah Rabbah From The Religious School to…

All of the families who came to the RS Bring a Parent to Religious School day in January!

All of the parent chaperons who plan to sleep at JFC next month at our Youth Group’s Shul- In!!

The Youth Group for planning this month’s Rock Shabbat on February 10!

Karen Blum for her help with Youth Group last month!

Don’t forget to check out

the JFC Blog!

Go to www.jfc.rjblogs.org

Kids Ask the Rabbi Question: What is Tu B’Shvat, and how do we celebrate it?

Answer: Tu B’Shvat is actually a date…the 15th day of the month of Shvat. About 2000 years ago, the famous rabbi Hillel and his students es-tablished that date as the one to use in calculat-ing the age of a tree, for the purpose of knowing when it is permitted to eat the fruit of the tree (the Torah forbids eating the fruit of a tree till it is 5 years old). They decided that, once the sap starts rising in a tree, a new year of fruit bearing has begun, and so, this date, the 15th of Shvat, became known as “the new year of the trees”.

Amongst people of European Jewish ancestry, we celebrate by eating things that grow on trees in Israel. So we will eat dates, grapes, oranges, figs, olives, grapefruit, etc. Some of these, like or-anges, grapefruit, and even avocadoes certainly grow on trees in Israel now, but did not grow there naturally; they were imported and have done very well in Israel’s soil and climate.

A tradition has grown up that, at a meal to cele-brate Tu B’Shvat, we also consume 4 glasses of wine or grape juice, just as we do at a Pesakh se-der. But there’s an interesting twist to this. The first glass of wine (or grape juice) is white, to symbolize the winter. The second glass is white

with a tiny bit of red mixed in, to symbolize the earliest flowers of spring. The thirds glass is half red, half white, to symbolize the emergence of many flowers, and the fourth is all red, to symbol-ize the bold colours of summer.

The other thing done to celebrate Tu B’Shvat is the planting of trees…not here (at this season!), but in Israel. When the earliest Jewish pioneers came from Europe in the late 19th century, they found the land empty of trees, so they began to collect donations to buy trees, to change the land from barren to fruitful. And they succeeded be-yond anyone’s imagination.

We continue to send money to Israel to plant new trees there, and you can do that through the Jewish National Fund.

You could also plant some things indoors here, like parsley seeds, which, if grown under special lamps, will produce enough parsley for your family’s se-der plate for Pesakh. Tu B’Shvat is exactly 2 months before Pesakh (except in a leap year, when it is three months earlier…this is not a leap year on the Jewish calendar). And Tu B’Shvat is one month before Purim! So when we eat the things that grow on trees in Israel, we know that spring is not that far away!

http://jfc.rjblogs.org


Harris Henshaw's Trip to Israel was with Taglit Birthright Israel!

Taglit-Birthright Israel provides the gift of first time, peer group, edu-

cational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26. Taglit-Birthright Israel's founders created this program to send thousands of

young Jewish adults from all over the world to Israel as a gift in order to diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communi-

ties around the world; to strengthen the sense of solidarity among

world Jewry; and to strengthen participants' personal Jewish identity and connection to the Jewish people.

The JFC Religious School supports Taglit Birthright Israel

through its tzedakah fund!!!!!



JFC CLASSIFIED

ALL ADS ARE A FLAT $18 AND MAY NOT EXCEED 50 WORDS. THEY WILL RUN FOR

ONE MONTH ONLY.

To place an ad, submit the text and your payment to the JFC Office. You may email the text to [email protected] and either

drop off or mail your check (payable to JFC). Credit card payments are also accepted.


WJCS Offers Bereaved Spouse Support Group

Bereaved Spouse Support Group, offered by WJCS Pathways to Care, will meet on Tuesdays (Jan. 31, Feb. 7, 14 & 28 and March 13 & 20) from 5:00 – 6:30 PM at WJCS 141 North Central Avenue, Harts-dale. Suggested donation of $60 for the six-week session. To register, contact Jane Slevin, LMFT, at 761-0600, X143 or [email protected].

Pot Luck Dinners at

JFC

Enjoy dinner with

fellow members and friends before

Friday night services.

NEXT POT LUCK DINNERS: Feb. 17, May 18, June 2

-- SAVE THE DATE --

MARCH 20

ECC BOOK SWAP

5:00 - 7:00 P.M.

http://www.wjcs.com/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=PathwaystoCare&category=Jewish%20Community

mailto:[email protected]


Over the past few weeks, JiFTY has been planning a shul-in to be held at the Jewish Fam-ily Congregation on March 3 – 4, 2012! A shul-in is when various Youth Groups travel to other synagogues and sleep overnight. Jewish Family Congregation has hosted a num-ber of times in the past, and everyone enjoys these get-togethers! A shul-in normally

has a theme, and JiFTY’s theme this year will be Pixar movies (such as Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc to name a few). The members of JFC’s Youth Group are looking forward to

this exciting event! These pictures are from a recent shul-in.

JiFTY By Jessica Sheptin


David & Carrie Kane

Elizabeth Amerling Kase Aufsesser

Kenneth Aufsesser Karina Barth Blake Berg Lowell Berg

Brian Besterman Lisa Block

Joshua Blum Zander Bolgar Peter Breslin

Michael Carson Ellie Carter

Rosie Ceisler Jillian Chipman

Jeff Dodes

Charlotte Dutka Ethan Falconer Guss Firestein

Leah Alana Friedman Victoria Friedman

Iris Glass Ellen Goldstein Iliana Hellinger Jacob Hellinger Donn Henshaw Drew Hoffman Eugene Kahn Carrie Kane David Kane

Adam Kirker Ryan Kirker

Hannah Klotz Benjamin Kurlander

Yvonne Lerner Paula Levine

Claire Lichtman Catherine Lipper

Ian Marceau Robi Margolis

Daniel Minnock Morgan Minnock Johanna Perlman

Jennifer Pink Joseph Pink

Adam Portnoy Joel Portnoy Sandy Radin

Aviva Salpeter Ethan Serby Alan Sheptin

Zachary Sheptin Alexandra Slogoff Madeline Slogoff

Zachary Sobel Eli Tubbs

Pia Vandervelden Jill Waldman

Zayla Waldman Michael Waxman

Michael Wein Nita Weissman Laurie Wolkin

BIRTHDAYS

ANNIVERSARIES

Bessie Belsky Joseph Drawec

Judith Eydenberg Sarah Feldman

Walter Goldman John Grzymala

Gertrude Hodes Miriam Isaacs

Ruth Kahn Charlene Lavin

Mary Lazarus Philip Levens

Solomon Lichtbach Marcy Lissau Daniels

Helen Rosenblum Joseph Rosenhouse

Charlotte Stadler Jacob Stern Arthur Stoll

Norton Worster

YAHRZEITS

Have you considered celebrating significant birthdays

and anniversaries with a leaf on our Simcha Tree of Life?

Call the JFC Office for details.

Please call the JFC Office when any relevant information arises or changes so all Birthday, Anniversary and

Yahrzeit listings are accurate and up to date. JFC can only list names/dates that have been reported to us.




If you would like to “announce” a Simcha in your family, please send the text (pictures are welcome too!) to Jolie Levy at

[email protected].

Announcements must be received by the 15th of the month to appear in the next month’s Shofar.

Please feel free to acknowledge your Simcha with an $18 donation to any JFC Fund or with a leaf on our Simcha Tree.

Donation forms appear in every Shofar.

Next Midnight Run: March 17, 2012

JFC ANNOUNCEMENTS


ASK THE RABBI

Question: I know that certain prayers are supposed to be said standing up, during a service. But what about people who cannot stand?

Answer: This raises the interesting question, more broadly speaking, of what accommodations Judaism makes for those who are “differently abled”.

First, your specific question. There are indeed prayers that are supposed to be offered while the person is stand-ing upright. However, as you correctly imply, that does not apply to everyone. Certainly today we acknowledge that some people cannot stand upright (or stand at all), and that need not disqualify them from prayer. I specifi-cally say, prior to the Yom Kippur service, that as the day wears on and one grows weak with hunger, a person may not be able to stand for the long sections of the service where standing is expected. Only the individual can know what s/he can do, and that is nobody else’s business. So, during the rest of the year, we simply assume that those who can, will stand for certain prayers, and those are not standing are not able to do so.

In regard to the more general matter of accommodating people with disabilities, Judaism has altered its expecta-

tions as medical science has allowed us to understand the limitations that certain conditions create. In ancient times, for example, deaf people were considered uned-ucable because they didn’t communicate with others, but today we know that sign language and modern technol-ogy can enable the deaf to communicate well; there are, in some large cities, whole congregations of deaf people, who relish their religious experiences.

Our sages of long ago thought that people with intellec-tual deficits were incapable of fulfilling religious obliga-tions, and so they were exempt (as were women and mi-nors…a subject for another time). But today, we know that religious experiences can be tailored to the specific needs and abilities that people have. So there are rabbis and communities doing exactly that.

The bottom line is that Judaism adapts to its time and place. There are those who like to think that Judaism has never changed at all, but that argument cannot be sup-ported by the facts. And the subject of the differently abled is one indication of the ways in which Judaism has changed a lot in our own time.

Todah Rabbah from the ECC to:

All of our Mystery Readers this month:

Rabbi Carla Jen Carter Whitney Wasserman Dina Zusel Laurie Hammer Patty Ivry (Dylan Cooper’s Grandma) Susan Shapiro David Fried Tara Kauftheil Meredith Rudin

Meredith Rudin for handling our Scholastic Fund Raiser

Cantor Kerry for sharing his music.. .and Baxter too!

Pat Shafer for fixing our fence in the playground.

The parents in the ECC for their donation to the Eisner/Crane Lake Scholarship fund in honor of Jane .

The ECC Committee for your wonderful support and energy!


Priority________________ Date received___________ Check #_______________

Application for 2012-2013 School Year Child’s Name __________________________________________________ Gender _______________ Date of Birth _________________________ Home Address_________________________________________________ Home Phone_____________________________ Parent Name__________________________________________________

Parent Occupation______________________________________________

Business Address___________________ Business Phone_______________

Cell Phone___________________ E-mail_____________________

Parent Name__________________________________________________

Parent Occupation______________________________________________

Business Address___________________ Business Phone_______________

Cell Phone___________________ E-mail_____________________

Other Children: Names/Ages __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

Please Check Appropriate Class

2-day 2’s_______ 3-day 2’s _______ M/W/F 9:30-11:45 4-day 3’s_______ 4-day 4’s _______ M/T/W/F 9:15-12:00 5-day 3’s_______ 5-day 4’s _______ M-F 9:15-12:00


TUITIONS FOR 2012-2013

The tuition can be paid in full or in three equal installments:

April 27, 2012 June 29, 2012 September 28, 2012

Please include a non-refundable

$350 deposit made payable to JFC ($50 registration fee; $300 will be applied to tuition).

Mail to:

Jewish Family Congregation 111 Smith Ridge Road

P.O. Box 249 South Salem, NY 10590

Please find a substitute if you

cannot host your assigned Oneg.

Please contact the JFC Office with the name(s) of the new hosts.

Please contact your Board Host if you have any questions.

FEBRUARY BOARD HOST: Diane Richman (914) 763-0575

FEBRUARY ONEG HOSTS

FEBRUARY 3 Michael Horwitz & Fran Apfel

Tammi Jacobs Shulman

FEBRUARY 10 GRADE 3 SERVICE

FEBRUARY 17 Allison & Leonardo Junquera

David & Carrie Kane

FEBRUARY 24 Terry Kalter & Marcia Sher-Kalter

Andrew & Dayna Kaplan


PLEASE SUPPORT

OUR ADVERTISERS

Don’t forget to stop

in and check out the

JFC Gift Shop!

If you are interested in

purchasing anything,

please let us know in

the JFC Office.

Dear Leslie,

We asked you for a lot in 2011, and you responded. You re-sponded to the worst fire in Israel's history and provided Israel's firefighters with millions of dollars' worth of new equipment. You planted more than 20,000 trees to honor Gilad Shalit's homecoming. You contributed to Israel's water supply by dou-bling your impact with our gift-matching campaign, and you developed new communities in the Negev. That is only the be-ginning of what we were able to achieve together.

Our work never ends. I am sure that we will need your help just as much in 2012 and for many years to come, but today, I am simply writing to say thank you.

Thank you for your support and for continuing to believe in the work that JNF does and will continue to do for the land and peo-ple of Israel. I look forward to working alongside you in 2012.

With my very best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2012,

Russell Robinson CEO, Jewish National Fund

P.S. - It's never too early to start thinking about your 2012 con-tributions.





Thank you to all those who shop at DeCicco’s Family

Market in Cross River and have remembered to tell

the cashier that you are a member of JFC.

We’ve received our first check already!

Remember, each time you shop at DeCicco’s, just tell the

cashier you a JFC member before ringing up your order.

JFC gets a rebate from your purchase. It’s that easy!

(You may still use your DeCicco’s cards…)



Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 ECC

2 K-3/CC/SMP

Bd Mtg

3 ECC ECC Staff Mtg. 12:15

(Ashkenazi Service postponed to 5/18) Shabbat Shira Service 7:30 Tot Shabbat

4 Gr. 7 9-10:45 NFTY Winter Kallah

SHABBAT SHIRA

5 Gr. 4-6 9:00-12:00 PAJAMA DAY NFTY Winter Kallah

6 ECC Gr. 7 4:20-6:15

7 ECC Beginners’ Hebrew 7:30

8 ECC

Tu B’Shvat

RS Early Regis-tration begins

(ends 3/14)

9 K-3/CC/SMP/YG Tu B’Shvat Cele-bration RS Staff Mtg 6:15-7:15

10 ECC

Gr. 3 Service

YG ROCK SHABBAT Service 7:30 Tot Shabbat

11 Gr. 7 9-10:45 Lunch ‘N Learn

11:00-1:00

7th Annual Comedy Night

7:30-10:30

12 Gr. 4-6 9:00-12:00 Kids Knesset 11:10-11:30

13 ECC Gr. 7 4:20-6:15 Pre-Purim Pizza Planning Party

14 ECC

Ritual Mtg

15 ECC

16 K-3/CC/SMP Kids Knesset 5:10-5:30

17 ECC

Dinner 6:30 Service 8:00

18 NO Gr. 7

19 20

OFFICE CLOSED

21 22 23 24

Service 7:30 Tot Shabbat

25

26 27 ECC Gr. 7 4:20-6:15

28 ECC

Beginners’ Hebrew 7:30

Torah Cantillation 7:45-8:45

29 ECC YG Collection begins - WJCS disabled adults seder

February 2012

JEWISH FAMILY CONGREGATION

P R E S I D E N T S ’ W E E K

NO ECC OR RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

PRESIDENTS’ WEEK

NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

THURSDAYS: K-3: 4:15-6:00 CC: 6:15-7:15 YG: 7:15-8:15

Jewish Family Congregation 111 Smith Ridge Rd/Rte. 123

P.O. Box 249

South Salem, NY 10590

Non Profit Organization

Postage PAID

White Plains, NY Permit No. 9022

CURRENT RESIDENT OR

Documents

Shofar - February 2012 - Shevat/Adar 5772