FEBRUARY, 2015 VOLUME 11, # 6 THIS MONTH The New Year brings some changes to WCHJ, including the unfortunate news that our Rabbi, Frank Tamburello, has Fri. Feb. 20, 7:30 PM had to curtail his activities because of Shabbat and discussion at the home of Jack Billig and Judy North, 1 Hilltop problems with his health. We are pleased that he will still be able to lead Lane, White Plains. Members only. some of our programs when he is able. [email protected] 914-448-0180, Please RSVP Sat. Feb. 7, 2:30 PM Tu B’shvat Seder Community Unitarian Church, White Plains, refer to page 3 for details. Jewish History Buffs on Sat.Feb. 28, 10:15 AM at the home of Pat Hammer 12 Westway, Hartsdale, NY [email protected] 693-3156 Please RSVP (January’s meeting was cancelled because of weather.) As planned for last month we will compare readings in Abba Eban’s My People with Ari Shavitʼs report on the settlement of Palestine and the 1948 war, and discuss the “New Historians”. On the plus side, Rav Aliza Erber has expressed willingness to become our fulltime rabbi. She has already participated in several of our events, including our summer Havdalah under the Stars last July, injecting some Israeli spirit into our regular program. Please go to page two to read Rav Aliza’s letter of introduction. On Jan. 23 we celebrated shabbat at Ann Toffel’s home, with Rav Aliza officiating. Because the first of a series of snowstorms was heading our way, the group included only a few brave souls, but we all enjoyed the evening, which included some discussion of the Exodus and its possible interpretations. We had a lively discussion and are looking forward to monthly shabbats, with other interesting topics on the menu. Ann’s fruit and custard pie was, of course, a very welcome addition to the evening. Gloria Weil WCHJ uses environmentally friendly products for our programs whenever possible. BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS Rabbi’s Corner Shalom WCHJ Haverim: 2015 Board of Directors Dmitry Turovsky .........................President Ann Toffel.....................................Vice-President Irving Kleiman Treasurer Janine Simon ............................... Secretary Jack Billig ............................ Member-at-Large Diane Steinfink ..................... Member-at Large Committees Ceremonial....... Rabbi: Aliza Erber [email protected], 914-761-2773 Education....................................Channing Stave Jewish Education School..............Channing Stave [email protected] 914-793-7770 Jewish History Buffs...........................Gloria Weil [email protected] 914-235-2612 Hospitality......................................rotating Membership ( Co-chairs) Janine Simon and Barbra Baum [email protected] 725-5431 [email protected] 725-1402 Programs.................................. Channing Stave [email protected] 914-793-7770 Publicity Co-chairs Charlotte Klein- advertising [email protected] 914-218-8535 Gloria Weil- newsletter editor [email protected] 914-235-2612 For general information or questions Please contact Dmitry Turovsky, 713-8828 [email protected] or search our website, wchj.org With much joy I would like to introduce myself to you, as the new Spiritual Leader/Rabbi of the WCHJ. I have enjoyed every moment I have spent with you so far and look forward to many more times spent together in services, text study, holidays and social events. I also look forward to meeting each and every one of you personally. A little of my bio will reveal that although Dutch born, I spent much of my early childhood in Israel. I came to the USA at the age of 15. My upbringing was completely secular, or we could call it Humanistic, as is the case with most Israelis. I went to school and became a Podiatric Medical surgeon. I think because my father thought that medicine was the most noble of professions. I enjoyed my 20++ years in private practice while raising my three children. As a child of holocaust survivors I felt that I needed to learn a lot more about my religion and heritage and went to study at the ALEPH Seminary for Jewish Renewal. I was ordained as a Rabbinic Pastor while also studying at both Norwalk Hospital and Roosevelt Hospital in NY under the umbrella of CPE to become a certified chaplain. I have worked primarily as a Hospice Chaplain at Phelps Memorial. My Institute, BeYakhad, has offered meetings for senior adults as a venue to explore Judaism, and we also teach and prepare children for their Bar and Bat Mitzvah over which I then officiate. Finally, of-course as a Rabbi, I perform all the Jewish life-cycles from baby naming to funerals. I absolutely love being a [secular] Rabbi. I hope to bring to WCHJ a lot of RUAKH (spirit),interesting discussions, more traditional melodies and a joyful presence. With the best of good wishes to you all. Please call me when you need me. Rav Aliza 914-761-2773 2 The Westchester Community for HUMANISTIC JUDAISM INVITES YOU TO A HUMANISTIC JEWISH TU B’SHVAT EARTH DAY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2:30 PM Community Unitarian Church-468 Rosedale Avenue, WP • • LIGHT SEASONALLY APPROPRIATE REFRESHMENTS A NATURE THEMED SERVICE BY RABBI TAMBURELLO • A HUMANIST KIDDUSH • SHARED READINGS • MUSIC • COST- NON MEMBERS $10 pp( CHILDREN UNDER 13 NO CHARGE) Make checks payable to WCHJ Send to I. Kleiman, 165 West End Ave,apt.12D New York 10023 Please RSVP before February 1 to [email protected] For more information visit website www.wchj.org 3 WCHJ INTRODUCES MONTHLY SHABBAT PROGRAMS Beginning this month WCHJ will hold Shabbat services once a month at members’ homes. Our new rabbi, Rav Aliza, will conduct the services and choose a text for study. The plan for the moment is to explore the Torah from a Humanistic point of view. Rabbi Aliza will announce the topic before we meet so we can prepare ahead for a stimulating evening. WCHJ WANTS YO Relax- no marching required, and certainly no guns allowed. But we really do need you. Irv Kleiman has held the post of treasurer for almost 10 years, and would still continue to do so if his eyesight were not giving him a hard time. For the moment the meetings are You don’t need to be an accountant- all only open to members. you need is a computer and the ability ************************* to count beyond 100. There is a IN MEMORIAM THE WCHJ Board would like to offer their deepest sympathy to Lourie Wasserman on the death of her husband, Steven. Laurie is a a relatively new member of WCHJ and we hope to get to know her better during the rest of this year. Laurie’s address is 1085 Warburton Ave. Yonkers, 107091 for those who would like to drop her a note. The family will be sitting shiva Sunday afternoon, Feb 1. Dmitry and Olga Turevsky plan to visit then. computer program that will do the rest, including filling out government tax returns. Irv will continue to be available to support the person who takes over this very important but not very timeconsuming job. Please step up to the plate (and try to ignore my mixed metaphor.) Contact our president, Dmitry: 914-713-8828 or [email protected] 4 Judaism is Elementary (by David Wolpe-spiritual leader of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles) I am a great fan of mystery novels. I have read more than I can count, along with books about the history of the genre, and have many favorites. Part of the joy is that mysteries both illuminate extremes of human character and satisfy our craving for justice, usually with a clever puzzle thrown in. From Poeʼs Dupin, often reckoned the first fictional detective, through Holmes and the golden age of Bentley, Christie and up to Rex Stout, P.D. James, Connolly and Jo Nesbo today, the detective usually represents, however imperfectly, the thirst for what is right. Of course there is almost always a murder. The detective seeks justice but the plot is predicated on injustice. You cannot open a mystery novel and assume you will find well-adjusted families and honest businesses and whistle-clean characters. The mystery novel at its heart is very Jewish. The world is always broken and restoring what we can is our task. The detective in this sense is generalized to each Jew. We are deputized to find the wrong and seek to redress it, with tools of reason, intuition and right conduct. “Justice, justice you shall pursue,” we are told (Deut. 16:20). It is our task to rise from lethargy and make the world better; as Holmes would say, the game Is afloat. (contributed by Rhoda Kleiman) Here is your chance to put Rabbi Wolpe’s words into action: CHILDRENʼS LITERACY PROGRAMS The Family Service Society of Yonkers is looking for adult volunteers to give an hour or two a week to mentoring children in the Yonkers schools. “We are a non-profit, intergenerational organization serving children in Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Elmsford and White Plains. We are now opening new programs in Yonkers and need additional mentors to fill our programs. As you may know, prior to becoming a division of Family Service Society of Yonkers, our organization was the Jewish Council of Yonkers, an organization with a long history of service to the community.” Call or write Viveca Teuber, 914-423-5009,914-233-1402, www.jcy-wcp.com 5 ! ! ! ! 92Y @ MJH Wednesday, February 11, 7 P.M. Lincoln and the Jews With Gary P. Zola, Hebrew Union College, and Jonathan Sarna, Brandeis University From the time of Abraham Lincoln's presidency to the present day, American Jews have viewed him as a sympathetic figure. Two leading historians of American Judaism consider how Lincoln acquired his exceptional status. JEWISH TRIVIA From :” Eating Delancey:A Celebration of Jewish Food”-! Jordan Schaps By Aaron Rezny and “You know how they butcher kosher meat, right?” Ms. Rivers asks. “The cows aren’t slaughtered. They’re nagged to death.” You don’t have to be Jewish to get heartburn. ! ! ! ! An Introduction,by Joan Rivers “The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for 30 years she served the family nothing but leftovers,” Calvin Trillin is quoted as saying. “The original meal has never been found.” 6 DATES AT A GLANCE 2015 Sat. Feb 7, 2:30 PM Tu Bʼshvat CUC* Sat. Feb 20, 7:30 PM Shabbat evening J. Billig and J.Northʼs Sat. Feb. 28,10:15 PM Jewish History Buffs Pat Hammerʼs Sat.March 7, 2:30PM Purim CUC* Tues Mar 31, 7 PM Model Seder CUC* Sat. April 18, 2:30 PM Ya Shoah- Film on Theo. Hezl CUC* * CUC- Community Unitarian Church Executive Board Meetings: Feb.7, 1 PM, CUC DIRECTIONS TO THE COMMUNITY CHURCH 468 Rosedale Ave. White Plains, NY Take the Hutchinson River Pkwy. to exit 25, which is North Street. Follow the signs to White Plains, left if you are going,south, onto North St. At first traffic light left onto Rosedale Ave. The church is one block down on the right. Look for red sign at entrance. 7 Coming from Mamaroneck Ave. to Rosedale Ave, turn right at the gas station and continue on Rosedale for about a mile to the red sign. Tentative programs for 2015 PURIM PASSOVER Model Seder, 7 PM YOM HASHOAH Film- Life of Theodore Herzl SHAVUOT Art Show and Norah Ephron ANNUAL MEETING and LUNCHEON March 7 March 31 April 18 May 23 June 20 8