January 2025 Bulletin

January 2025 CEI Bulletin

Congregation Emanu-El Israel

222 North Main Street, Greensburg, PA. 15601          

                Kislev – Shevat  5785                 

January 2025

 724-834-0560    

 

The Mission of Congregation Emanu-El Israel is:  To support Judaism and the welfare of our community.

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FROM THE DESK OF:  Rabbi Lenny

How can we hold ourselves accountable for our actions? How can we follow through with changing our own lives?

As we experience yet another secular New Year, questions like these might weigh heavily on our minds. The Jewish tradition teaches us to engage in t’shuvah during the days between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Often translated as repentance, t’shuvah more literally means returning – returning to our truest selves, returning to connection with the Divine, or returning to make amends with those we may have wronged. Broadly, it’s the kind of work we do to realign our actions to our values – to return to our moral compass. We contemplate all the ways in which our actions of the past year have missed the mark, and we pray for the strength to do better in the year to come.

The secular new year presents another opportunity to make “new year’s resolutions.” In marking a new year, we focus on our capacity for change, to get better, and to grow. But we also know that, even with the best intentions, holding ourselves responsible for our choices and changing our ways are never easy. Studies of resolutions from the secular new year demonstrate just how difficult it can be to commit to new behaviors and routines; according to Forbes, up to 80 percent of people give up on their resolutions by February.

The Torah addresses the theme of accountability and responsibility for our actions. It calls the heavens and earth itself to be witnesses to our behavior.  In Parasha Haazinu it says:

Give ear, O heavens, let me speak;

Let the earth hear the words I utter!

May my discourse come down as the rain,

My speech distilled as the dew,

Like showers on young growth,

Like droplets on the grass.

Biblical scholars understand the poem to be a foreshadowing of exile, as it metaphorically describes the “relationship gone awry” between Israel and the Divine.  It portrays the people, who stray from the covenant made at Sinai and God, who guided us through the desert even as we faltered and failed along the way.  The poem concludes with the hope that God will forgive Israel once again.

The words that follow the poem remind us of some of the same core messages of the Torah. Follow in God’s ways, aspire to holiness, and keep the mitzvot. We are reminded to be accountable for our choices.

Ultimately, we become the ones who must hold each other accountable for pursuing holiness in our lives, our communities, and our society at large.

We cannot always control what plagues may attack us. Our world is sometimes cruel, and it may feel like God, or the world, is punishing us. Yet the New Year reminds us that we can always turn things around. T’shuvah is about choices we can make every day so that our lives can be a force for good.  We can strive to live in relationship to the words and the teachings of our Torah, bringing each of us the goodness of our Tree of Life.

Amen, Rabbi Lenny

CEI LINK Program – a video conference experience.  Even though CEI is open for in-house worshipers, we will continue to video conference the Shabbat Services on Friday at 7:30 PM, so you can continue to attend services from home.  Visit our website www.ceigreensburg.org for instructions on how to log into the meeting and for the meeting code (which should be the same each week).  If you have any questions, please call and talk with Rabbi Lenny.  Songs for the service will be available on the website.  The Mishkan T’filah (prayer books) used in the service are available digitally on the website.

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CHATTER

Happy Birthday to:  Chris DeMarco, Kala Gau, Shoshana Halden, Margaret Kates, Jody Keating, John Lieberman, Irene Rothschild, Loren Vivio, Jack Wilder and Owen Winters.

Happy Anniversary to:  Jonathan & Margaret Kates.

We mourn the death of former member Myra Louise Abromson and offer condolences to her family.

SISTERHOOD NOTES:  Terri Katzman, President

Look what Sisterhood has to offer in the upcoming months:

* Congregation Game Day on Sunday, January 19th.

* Book review and discussion on Monday, February 17th.  Shirley Shpargel will lead the discussion on The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams.  Even if you are unable to read this “easy reading book”, attend a fun discussion.

* Sisterhood Shabbat on Friday, March 21st.

* Congregation Passover Dinner on Sunday, April 6th.

* And, our closing dinner slated for Wednesday, May 14th.

The next delivery of packages for our project of Food2Go4Kids will take place on February 6th.

Because we will not be having “official” meetings during March and April, we will have our election of officers at the February 17th meeting.

If you need a 2025 calendar, the Congregational Calendar is only $15 and is a valuable asset of info.  To purchase one now, contact Marion Slone or the CEI office.

Also, remember that you can purchase a High Holiday prayer book in honor or memory of someone special.  To purchase this honorable gift, contact Bea in the CEI office.

Happy 2025!

ALFRED RATNER LIBRARY NEWS:  Shirley Shpargel, Librarian

The Wolf Hunt: A Novel by Ayelet Gundar Goshen centers around a family, Mikhael and Lilach  Schuster, who are Israeli immigrants living in Silicon Valley.  The novel begins with a terrorist attack by a black man who walks into a Reform Jewish synagogue in Silicon Valley and kills a young white congregant.  The attack shakes the family’s sense of safety.  The mother in the story, Lilach, fears that her weak, passive teenage son, Adam, could be the next victim, so she enrolls him in self-defense class taught by a former Israeli commando.  In the class, Adam gains self-confidence and friends.  Tragedy strikes the community again, when an African American boy, Jamal Jones, dies apparently from a drug overdose at a house party which Adam attended.  At first, Adam claims that he didn’t know the classmate Jamal, but investigators suspect Adam to be involved in Jamal’s murder.  Antisemitic graffiti gets sprayed painted on the inside and outside of the high school accusing “The Jew Killed Him”.  Racial tensions in the community are ignited and “The Nation of Islam” makes threats against the family.  Lilach doesn’t believe her son is capable of such violence.  To understand Adam and Jamal’s relationship, Lilach visits Jamal’s mother, where she sees Adam’s missing shoes, skateboard, jacket and other items Adam claimed he lost were taken by Jamal.  Only then, Lilach understands that Adam has been bullied by Jamal and fears maybe he could be involved in Jamal’s death.

The characters are seen through Lilach’s narration which wanders from past to present. Lilach tries to uncover the truth; she wants to know Adam, but is afraid of the truth, like her son, she is lonely.  Lilach is not quite an American, but no longer Israeli.  There are many twists and turns in The Wolf Hunt.  From the title, the author uses the metaphor of the wolf and the sheep to compare the relationship between Adam and Jamal.  The Wolf Hunt can be checked out from any WLN library.

INVITATION TO WORSHIP

Do you know of someone who is Jewish and currently unaffiliated?

Do you know of someone who would like to worship with us as a member?

If so, please give info to Anna Spor.

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ESTATE PLANNING

If you are planning to initiate or change your will or estate plan, please remember to include Congregation Emanu-El Israel (CEI) as part of your legacy.  The monies can be used for a specific purpose as designated by you, or added to an Endowment Fund already set up to assure the ability to continue providing a full-service Congregation to serve the Jewish people of the area.

This legacy can be accomplished by a simple bequest in your will, by one of the allowable charitable trusts where you get an immediate tax advantage, or through life insurance.

PLEASE DO IT NOW!  Please check with your attorney or insurance agent.  If you have any questions or need additional information, contact Robert Slone (724-836-5468) or Gary Moidel (724-244-6421).

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TREE OF LIFE

Share your joy by inscribing simchas on our Tree of Life… an everlasting remembrance of the meaningful happy events that touch us.  Inscribe a leaf our Tree of Life. Leaf – $180 ea.  (Price includes engraving)

The golden leaves may be inscribed to commemorate joyous events such as births, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, graduations, weddings, anniversaries, etc.  Share your joy by inscribing simchas on our Tree of Life… an everlasting remembrance of the meaningful happy events that touch us.

Memorial Plaques are for remembering a loved one.  You may purchase a plaque for the sanctuary Memorial Boards by contacting the CEI office (724-834-0560).  Cost per plaque $300.00.

Memorial Boards.  For more details, please contact the CEI office at 724-834-0560.

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WHEN MAKING A DONATION

When making a donation, whether to a CEI Fund or the Remembrance Fund, please provide complete information.  This will make it easier and faster to process.

1    The name and address of where to send the response to let them know you made a donation.

2    The reason for the donation (in memory of, in honor of, speedy recovery, etc.) and the full name of the honoree.

3    Name and address of donor.

Example:  Please send a card (or accept this donation) to Jane Doe, XXX Main St, Greensburg, PA 156XX.  In Honor of the Birthday of Jane Doe!  From Jack Jones, XXX Broadway Dr., Greensburg, PA  156XX.

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WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THESE GIFTS

PULPIT FLOWERS:  In Memory of:

Nov. 22:  Abe Berman by Marion & Robert Slone.  Stevan Gold by Marilyn & Jim Davis.  Ruth Roth by Shirley Ratner.

The CEI Office is open Monday, Tuesday & Friday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  Wednesday & Thursday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Rabbi Lenny, generally, has office hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM.  Making an appointment is highly recommended, since emergencies and meetings outside the office do occur.  The Rabbi can also be available at other times, for your convenience.  Please call 724-834-0560 or Rabbi directly at 724-963-0789.

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CEI LEADERSHIP

Rabbi Leonard Sarko

CEI Officers:

President: Irene C. Rothschild.  Vice President: Jamie Kaufer.  Treasurer: Julie Goldstein.  Recording Secretary: Virginia Lieberman.  Sisterhood President: Terri Katzman.  Men’s Club President: Gary Moidel.  Bulletin Editors: Mary Ellen Kane, Karen Sarko & Bea Harrison.

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HONORING THEIR MEMORY

Families of the following loved ones will honor their memories and mark the occasion of their family history by reciting the Kaddish this Shabbat.

The following Yahrzeits will be honored at CEI:

Jan. 03, 2025:  *Benjamin S. Browdie, Mildred Davison, *David Flamm, *Miriam Gillis, *Celia R. Goldberg, *Rachel Gordon, *Martin D. Gordon, *Gizella Holtzer, *William Jay Karelitz, Daniel Katzman, Jenny Lalli, *Anna Lewis, *Gorden Litchfield, *Bess Marchel, Jacob Meyers, *Sam Miller, *Lena Pomerantz, *Louis Rubin, *Ellen Rochelle Rudt, Louis Segal, *Charles Shendowich, *Morris Shendowich, *Paul Shoff, Lillian Weiner and *Sarah Weiner.

Jan. 10:  Florence Clovsky, *Minnie Dates, *Alfred Engel, *Norman Epstein, *Max M. Finkelstein, *Morris Gold, *Ben Gross, *Benjamin M. Harris, *William M. Kahanowitz, *Charlotte Krinock, Carolyn Lieberman, Dr. Irving Lieberman, Marjorie Lieberman, *Sylvia Moidel, Alex Pavloff, *Isadore Pittler, Ruth Schrag, *Alex Shofnosky, *Elder H. Stein, *Sylvia Becker Victor, *William Wolfe, *William Wolinsky, *Elizabeth Ziff, *Morris Ziff and *Morris Zwibel.

Jan. 17:  *Benjamin Conn, *Maurice J.K. Davis, *Simon Davis, Julius Diamondstone, *Eva Drexler, *Lt. Ivan I. Elpern, *Rosalind Elpern, Dorothy C. Farber, *Dora Feinberg, *A. Harry Felder, *Eva Glicenstein, *Max Glickman, *Fannye Hochberg, Edythe Kane Hoffman, *Benjamin Kaufmann, Frank Keating, *Erica Susan Pittler, *Isaac B. Rabinowitz, Bernard Redlich, Faye Rose, *Max Segal, *Eleanor Segal, Louis Strauss, *Bessie V. Young and *Ivan B. Young.

Jan. 24:  *Harold Bloom, *Samuel Brill, Ella K. Button, Estelle Fried, *Solomon Gross, *Anna R. Gross, *Joseph Hochberg, Joseph Krokosky, *Joseph H. Levin, Ida Liebman, *Andrea B. Millstein, Leonard Poster, *Bessie Rubenstein, *Alfred A. Wolf D.P.M. and Charles Zalevsky.

Jan. 31:  *Dorothy K. Abramson, *Walter W. Baker, *Jane Goldberg Berkman, Anna Bernstein, *Anna Brill, Rose Buchman, *Lewis C. Daniels, *Abraham Davis, *Celia Farber-Glantz, Howard Gold, *Louis Grossman, *Nahum Jacobson, *Robert Kane, Daniel Katzman, Irving Kaufer, *Rabbi Joseph Levine, *Alfred J. Levy, *Louis Lewis, Eugene LIpowitz, Sandra Moldovan, *Jay M. Morris, Chuck Pearlstein, *Joseph Pomerance, *Herbert G. Ratner, Sr., *Isidor Reisberg, *Rose Rosner, *Harry E. Rubin, Ivan Schwartzman, *Dreza Shirey, Stanley Tattenbaum and Miriam Dreifus Wallach.

Feb. 07:  Joseph Anderko, Barbara Aurick, Jack Axelrod, Joseph Blum, *Fannie Daniels-Solof, Leah Dorfman, Helen Stoll Feuerstein, Harold Freeman, Gerald Fried, *Katherine D. Friedlander, *Richard T. Goldberg, Edith Mindlin, Sidney Minushkin, *Emma Rose, Jennie Roth, *Frank Rubenstein, *Ignatz Schneider, *Charlotte Shapiro, *Sarah L. Shapiro, *Benjamin Victor and Norman Weiner.

* A light will be lit on a Memorial Board