VOL. LIV
MAY, 2015
IYAR-SIVAN, 5775
NO. 5
"The synagogue bulletin is dedicated in loving memory of Sarah Berlow"
President’s Message
My Dear Friends,
Our synagogue is anxiously
awaiting Dudu Fisher’s concert,
to be held on June 21st. Tickets
are selling at a brisk pace; so,
don’t hesitate or you’ll miss out
on a memorable program. And
remember, Dudu will be here
once again for the High
Holidays. If you attend the concert and haven’t been at our
High Holiday services before,
you’ll get a 25% discount off the
purchase of your first High
Holiday ticket! Just imagine,
you’ll not only hear Dudu at the
concert, but you’ll be able to
hear him again during Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur!
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Hol Hamoed
Passover lunch program. The
food was fantastic, thanks to
Rabbi Kroll and Hungarian
Kosher Foods. Special thanks to
those who performed a great
mitzvah by generously donating
to Moes Chitim at the lunches.
Finally, it’s never too late to
make your Yiskor contribution
to the Chicago Loop Synagogue
in memory of your departed
loved ones. Please be generous
and remember that your
donations help to support this
synagogue and enable us to
provide the countless services
and activities throughout the
year, for you, our valued
congregation.
My best wishes for a happy
and meaningful Shavuot. Thank
you.
Mark J. Schechter
Yizkor Service
The Yizkor Memorial Service will
be conducted on the second day of
Shavuoth, MONDAY, MAY 25, 2015
at the following time. Please note
that there will be only one complete
service.
Service
Start at:
9:00 A.M.
Yizkor
Starts at:
10:45 A.M.
All are Welcome
Lunch & Learn
Program
The Lunch & Learn Program affords our community an opportunity
to take a break from work, enjoy a
lunch, hear a spiritually meaningful
D’Var Torah from a guest rabbi and
worship in the time it would normally
take just to have lunch.
The program is offered once a
month on the first Thursday of the
month. Lunch begins at 12:45 P.M.;
the D’Var Torah is at 1:15 P.M., followed by Mincha services at 1:30 P.M.
Kosher lunch is provided by the
Sandwich Club under CRC supervision. Space is limited. Reservations
and a $12.00 donation are required.
Please contact the Synagogue office
for more information. We encourage
you to participate in this excellent
program.
THE BULLETIN OF THE CHICAGO LOOP SYNAGOGUE
The Following Individuals
Have Made Contributions to
The Chicago Loop Synagogue
Shavuot is known
as hag habikurim,
the festival of the first
ripe summer fruits.
The most ancient and
most essential function of Shavuot is to
remind us of the
beauty of the natural world and its constant renewal and to reawaken our
faith in the possibilities in the universe
for beauty and for good. Shavuot
comes to remind us that the world has
summer, as well as winter, the surprise
of spring and the beauty of fall. Its purpose is to give us perspective; for, in
the final analysis, religion as well as life
teaches us that what really matters is
the perspective we have in our lives –
in other words, our point of view.
A very wealthy man once proudly
escorted an artist over his lavish estate.
“You see,” said the millionaire, with a
wide sweep of his arm, “I own all this
land.” “Yes,” replied the artist, “But it is
I who own the landscape.”
The world is ours if we know how
to look at it, how to respect it, how to
appreciate it and how through faith to
wait for its blessings through the hard
winter into the spring that leads into
the beauty of the early summer.
This is most relevant to our presence on earth. How we handle life’s
experiences ultimately depends on our
point of view. Did we come to mourn
our loss or to be warmed by the
memories of what we were privileged
to have? Are we constantly complaining about our lot or learning instead
how to live on with faith, courage and
hope? Of course, we remember the
pains of life, but, if we have the right
perspective, we will also recall its
pleasures. For, when all is said and
done, our lives are determined by how
we look at them.
IN MEMORY AND APPRECIATION
RABBI’S FUND
Beatrice Crain
In Memory of Her Husband,
Richard J. Crain
Beatrice Crain
In Memory of Her Brother,
Barney Goldberg
Samuel F. Freiman
Phil Moss
In Memory of Morris Handman
Sol Lerner
In Memory of His Family Members
Mark & Frances Mann
In Memory of Mark’s Mother,
Evelyn Mann
Mark D. Grant
In Memory of Reada Sabes
RITUAL FUND
Dr. Michael & Gina Maling
In Memory of Their Uncle,
Louis D. Goldberg
Barry & Honey Litka
In Memory of Reada Sabes
Stuart Orelove
In Memory of Bess Shkolnik
Ellis B. Rosenzweig
David & Lois Rakov
In Memory of Reada Sabes
Morey Slodki
In Memory of Lawrence Wilk
James Berland
Anonymous
Sherwin Pogrund
Barry J. Wolk
In Memory of His Wife,
Carol “Corky” Wolk
TORAH FUND
Beatrice Crain
In Memory of Her Brother,
Louis D. Goldberg
MINYANAIRES BREAKFAST
FUND
Bruna Blandin
Morris Miller
Stuart Orelove
Gerald Schur
Morey Slodki
Ross Weisman
Dr. Michael & Gina Maling
In Memory of Their Uncle,
Barney Goldberg
PRAYER BOOK FUND
Earle A. Malkin
In Memory of Reada Sabes
Roger & Eleanor Feldman
In Memory of Dorothy Berke
David Harris
In Memory of Reada Sabes
Charlene Landsberg Smith
In Memory of Fay J. Landsberg,
Dan C. Landsberg and
Thomas R. Smith
Diane Nelson
In Honor of Michael Miselman
Rabbi Stanley E. Kroll
2
Gerald & Lee Zoldan
THE BULLETIN OF THE CHICAGO LOOP SYNAGOGUE
On April 30th, Albert Karoll sponsored a breakfast in observance of the
yahrzeit of his father, Howard Karoll,
of blessed memory.
•
The Chicago Loop Synagogue welcomes into membership the following
individuals: Helen B. Bloch, Barry H.
Braitman, Jim & Gail Jarvis, Ira
Kahn and Samuel & Diana Schuster.
•
On March 28th, Herbert Berg,
Eli Draiman, Nachshon Draiman,
Harry & Annette Gendler, David
& Nancy Given, Rabbi Gerry &
Renee Rosenberg and Shari Vass
co-sponsored a Pre-Passover Cholent
Kiddush Luncheon.
•
On April 6th, The Wigoda Family
sponsored a breakfast in observance of
the yahrzeit of their father, Paul
Wigoda, of blessed memory.
•
On April 7th & 8th, the Chicago
Loop Synagogue facilitated the annual
Passover Lunch program. Over 120
people joined us and enjoyed both
wonderful food and Divrei Torah
•
On April 17th, Leisa Braband sponsored a breakfast in celebration of
Gerald Schur’s 80th birthday.
•
On April 18th, Paula Berger sponsored a Shabbos Kiddush in celebration
of her birthday.
•
On April 22nd, William Nelson
sponsored a breakfast in observance of
the yahrzeit of his mother, Frances
Nelson, of blessed memory.
•
On May 9th, Harry & Annette
Gendler sponsored a Cholent Kiddush
Luncheon in honor of the soldiers and
partisans of all nations, who defeated
the Nazis.
•
On May 23rd, Harry and Annette
Gendler sponsored a Shabbos Kiddush
Luncheon in observance of the yahrzeit
of Harry’s mother, Natalie Gendler, of
blessed memory.
Important
Announcement
The Ritual Committee requests
the cooperation of all synagogue
worshipers who are available for
Mincha and Maariv Services on
Shabbos and Sunday to make a
special effort to be at these services,
thus helping us to maintain uninterrupted Minyanim for the remainder
of the Spring and beginning of
the Summer months. The Mincha
service begins at 4:30 P.M. on
Shabbos and Sunday.
We thank you for your participation in this important Mitzvah.
DAILY KOSHER
LUNCHES
AVAILABLE IN
THE LOOP
KOSHER LUNCHES ARE
AVAILABLE AT
THE CHICAGO LOOP SYNAGOGUE
16 S. CLARK STREET
MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY,
12:00 NOON - 2:30 P.M.
DONATION REQUIRED
3
An Important
Announcement
from
the Ritual and
Seating
Committees
Enjoy, Celebrate and observe
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
5776 as you never have before at
the Chicago Loop Synagogue. This
year the liturgy will once again be
chanted by the internationally
acclaimed Cantor and Broadway
Performer, Dudu Fisher, accompanied by the Tel Aviv Lev-Ran
Singers under the choral direction
of Menashe Lev-Ran. Services will be
conducted by Rabbi Stanley E. Kroll.
For your convenience and
pleasure, hotel accommodations
will be available at the Standard
Club, 3 ½ blocks from the synagogue.
Gourmet kosher holiday cuisine
will be provided. The price for the
entire package, which includes a
High Holiday ticket, hotel and meals,
will be $1,300.00 per person for
single occupancy; $2,075.00 for
double occupancy. High Holiday
ticket and meals will be $775.00. High
Holiday tickets will be $400.00 per
seat.
Inasmuch as we expect that the
demand for seating in the Main
Sanctuary will be greater than the
supply, we urge those who wish to
worship in the Main Sanctuary to
respond promptly when they
receive their seating reservation
forms in the mail in the next few
weeks.
We are pleased to announce that
you can now make contributions and
pay membership dues directly on
our website. The Chicago Loop
Synagogue website address is:
www.chicagoloopsynagogue.org
THE BULLETIN OF THE CHICAGO LOOP SYNAGOGUE
Midrashic Miniatures
We come into this world crying,
while all about us are those who are
smiling. May we so live that we go out
of this world smiling, while all about us
are those who are weeping.
Proverb cited on
Ecclesiastes 7, 1.
•
A man came to a Chassidic sage and
said, “Help me! I am old and a sinner
and I would very much like to die like a
good, upright Jew.” “Don’t worry about
dying like an upright Jew; just live like
one and you will die like one,” retorted
the sage.
Chassidic tale.
(Continued on Page 5)
Chicago Loop Synagogue
Rabbi Stanley E. Kroll
President
Mark J. Schechter
Chairman of the Board
Bernard Wiczer
Vice Presidents
Donald LeBoyer
Michael D. Miselman
Louis Reiff
Morey Slodki
Financial Secretary & Treasurer
David Weiner
Recording Secretary
Martin Wise
Honorary Vice Presidents
David S. Bern, Esq.*
Edward Harris*
Shavuoth, The Feast of Weeks, falls
this year on May 24th and May 25th.
The holiday derives the name by which
it is best known from the fact that it
falls seven weeks (shavuoth in
Hebrew) after Passover. In ancient
Israel, these seven weeks had been the
time for gathering in the grain harvest.
At the conclusion of the harvest, on
Shavuoth, a communal offering of
two special loaves baked from the
newly harvested grain was brought in
the Temple. In addition to being the
end of the grain harvest, Shavuoth is
also called in the Bible “the day of the
first fruits” (Numbers 28:26) and the
“harvest feast” (Exodus 23:16).
The holiday is, then, a harvest
thanksgiving festival; and this is why
many homes and synagogues are
decorated on Shavuoth with boughs,
flowers, and green foliage. While many
of the harvest thanksgiving aspects of
the festival have been reintroduced in
modern Israel, it is still the religious
and historical associations of the holiday which make it so important in
the Jewish religious calendar. For
according to tradition, Shavuoth is
the anniversary of the giving of the
Torah on Mount Sinai. In the siddur, it
is referred to lovingly as zeman
matan torosenu, the time of the
giving of our Torah.
Accordingly, the Torah reading for
the first day of Shavuoth is the
account of the giving of the Ten
Commandments. The eleventh-century
liturgical poem, Akdamut, is chanted
to a special melody before the Torah
reading begins. The excerpt which follows indicates something of its spirit:
Presidents Emeriti
Max Nierman*
Samuel Shkolnik*
* Of Blessed Memory
4
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
Were every blade of grass a quill,
Were the world a parchment made
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above
Would drain that ocean dry;
Nor would the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky!
Among the customs which have
become associated with Shavuoth is
that of spending all or part of the first
night of the festival in the study
of Torah. Very often, a special anthology of representative selections of
the Torah known as Tikkun Lel
Shavuoth is recited. According to one
mystic legend, on Shavuoth night the
heavens open at midnight and receive
with favor the prayers and studious
meditations of those assembled to
observe the night long vigil on the eve
of the Festival of Revelation.
A more familiar custom is that of
eating dairy foods on the holiday. A
prosaic explanation of the custom is
that Shavuoth is a late Spring festival
and, in hot climates, light dairy dishes
would be appropriate at this time of
year. It has also been suggested that
dairy products are eaten on Shavuoth
because the Torah, which was given
then, is compared in the Bible to milk
and honey. Still others declare that
since the dietary laws of the Torah
were given on Shavuoth, the Jews
were not yet able to prepare meat
foods in compliance with them, and
hence ate only dairy foods which were
permitted.
These pleasant customs associated
with Shavuoth help to make the holiday more delightful. It is, however, the
profound moral lesson of the need for
man’s awareness of the Almighty’s
gifts to him – spiritual as well as material – which make Shavuoth of basic
importance in Judaism.
•
There are three things of which a
small quantity is good and an excess
is bad – salt, yeast and obstinacy.
Divine Presence – not even a lowly
thornbush.”
Shemot Rabbah 2:9.
•
Berachot, 34a.
Midrashic Miniatures
(Continued from Page 4)
•
The Baal Shem Tov commented
on the verse: “As in water, face
answereth face; so the heart of man
to man.” (Proverbs 27.19) In order
to see yourself in a pool of water,
unlike the case with a mirror, you
must bend down close to it; so too,
the heart of man can call to his
fellow man only if he bends down
humbly and holds himself small.
A heathen asked Rabbi Joshua,
“Why did God speak to Moses from
a thornbush?”
Rabbi Joshua
replied: “If he had spoken from a
carob tree or a sycamore, you
would have asked the same question, but I will not dismiss you
without an answer. God spoke to
Moses from the thornbush to teach
us that there is no place free of the
The most effective antidote to
temptation is to shut your eyes.
Ibn Gabirol Mivchar
Hapeninim 180.
•
In order to learn how to live a
good life, you must be sure to ask
the right people. One does not
knock on the door of hell and ask
Satan for directions to Paradise.
Folk saying.
Shivche Habesht.
5
16 South Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60603-1801
Telephone: (312) 346-7370
www.chicagoloopsynagogue.org
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
P A I D
PERMIT NO. 6739
CHICAGO, IL
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
THE BULLETIN OF THE CHICAGO LOOP SYNAGOGUE
Special Service Schedule For Shavuoth
Saturday, May 23rd
Shavuoth Eve
Shachris.................................................................9:00 A.M.
Mincha ...................................................................5:00 P.M.
Maariv....................................................................5:30 P.M.
Sunday, May 24th
First Day of Shavuoth
Shachris...............................................................9:00 A.M.
Mincha ................................................................ 4:30 P.M.
Maariv ..................................................................4:45 P.M.
Monday, May 25th
Second Day of Shavuoth
Yizkor Memorial Services will be conducted on the Second Day of Shavuoth, May 25th. Please note that there will be only
one complete service.
Services Start At:
9:00 A.M.
Yizkor Starts At:
10:45 A.M.
Mincha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4:45 P.M.
Maariv* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5:00 P.M.
* While Maariv Services are conducted at this time,
the Festival does not terminate until 8:50 P.M. on May 25th.
THE OFFICERS and DIRECTORS
of the
Chicago Loop Synagogue
EXTEND SINCERE WISHES
for
A Joyous Shavuoth
and
a Pleasant Summer