Author Archives: Joy Breslauer
MONTANA HADASSAH: PRAYERS AND CARDS NEEDED
From Nancy Oyer, Butte, MT
Dear All,
I just got a call asking for prayers for our lovely life member Donna Johnson from Philipsburg – who you may remember meeting if you were at our annual event in Big Sky. She was there with her husband Richard – they are members of Congregation B’nai Israel in Butte. Another of our members who called me said all she knew was that Donna just came home from the hospital against medical advice, so she could be with her husband, and called asking for prayers tonight. I don’t know many details as I didn’t even know Donna was in the hospital. Please keep Donna in your prayers and if you can send a card immediately, please send it to:
Donna Johnson
PO Box 795
Philipsburg, MT 59858
Thank you.
Nancy Oyer
Butte, MT
406.490.8989
neogeo@montana.com
FUTURE PLANS, BY RABBI RUZ GULKO
First of all, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!
I miss all of you, and it seems unreal that I won’t be able to actually come there for a long time! We are living in the strangest time ever, right?
But I want to share with you my thoughts moving forward.
Regarding monthly study sessions: I think it would be wonderful to designate the first Saturday of each month for a 60 minute class/workshop. Y’all can suggest any topic you want, or leave it up to me, or some hybrid thereof.
Now, I hate to say this, but you’ve probably already figured out that I won’t be able to come for the HighHolydays. Flying just won’t be safe enough for me until there is a vaccine. Given that fact, I’d love to brainstorm with y’all about doing Zoom services of some kind. Taking the proverbial lemon and turning it into lemonade! 😁
Let me know what y’all think about these ideas soon, please.
Sending hugs to everyone!
💜😘
Sent from my iPhone
YAHRZEITS — MAY, 2020
May, 2020
RAM’S HORN POLICY FOR LISTING YAHRZEIT MEMORIALS:
Yahrzeit memorials are listed by consecutive Gregorian month, date, and year, if known, or at the beginning of the list for one calendar year following the date of passing.
Compiled by Aitz Chaim over many years, this list is maintained by the Ram’s Horn. Please send any corrections or additions to editor@aitzchaim.com
May the source of peace send peace to all who mourn, and may we be a comfort to all who are bereaved.
Deceased
Congregant
YAHRZEITS — IYYAR, 5780
RAM’S HORN POLICY FOR LISTING YAHRZEIT MEMORIALS:!
Yahrzeit memorials are listed by consecutive Hebrew month, date, and year, if known, or at the beginning of the list for one calendar year following the date of passing.
Compiled by Aitz Chaim over many years, this list is maintained by the Ram’s Horn. Please send any corrections or additions to editor@aitzchaim.com
May the source of peace send peace to all who mourn, and may we be a comfort to all who are bereaved.
| Name of Deceased |
Hebrew Date of Passing | Deceased Relationship to Congregant |
| Charlotte Weiss | 30 Kislev, 5780 | Mother of Laura Weiss |
| Heidi Jan Berger | 26 Tamuz, 5779 | Ex-wife of Tom Berger, Wife of William Franklin Raley, Mother of Polly Lorien and Jake Berger |
| Blanche Stoll Gulko | 9 Tamuz, 5779 | Mother of Rabbi Ruz Gulko |
| Maurice Weissman | 2 Iyyar, 5751 | Father of Jerry Weissman |
| Marion Kelman | 11 Iyyar, 5776 | Sister-in-law of Evelyn Kelman |
| Sheldon Maznek | 12 Iyar, 5776 | Brother of Evelyn Kelman |
| Ada Handler | 15 Iyyar, 5740 | Grandmother of Wendy Weissman | Bessie Stiegler | 27 Iyyar, 5758 | Aunt of Nadyne Weissman |
| Donald Goldman | 29 Iyyar, 5778 | Father of Abby Drew Syrovatka, Grandfather of Ceecee Drew |
TODAY WE COMMEMORATE THE MILLIONS OF JEWS WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST, BY RABBI GILAD KARIV, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF IMPJ
Dear Friends,
In Hebrew years that do not have the extra month of Adar II, such as the present year, “Memorial Day for the Shoah and Heroism” takes place close to the Shabbat during which we read from the Torah, Parshat “Shemini”.
This Torah portion opens with a description of the day of dedication of the Holy Tabernacle and how it became a tragedy and disaster when Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu, die in front of his eyes after they sacrificed “strange fire” on the altar (which they had been commanded not to do). Only two words are used to describe the reaction of Aaron their father, when the day of joy became one of sorrow: “and Aaron became silent” (Leviticus: 10; 3).
For many long years, most of the refugees and survivors of the atrocities of the Holocaust chose silence. Moses, Aaron’s brother, did not try to penetrate the silence of his brother on that day. Today we have the mission of respecting the silence of those survivors who chose to continue that path, but at the same time to invite them with love and sensitivity, to find the key to their hearts and memories and end their silence. Unlike Moses, we have to convince them that we are more attentive than ever and that their experiences and stories will be treated as a rich treasure, rather than a mere footnote of history.
Throughout the book of Leviticus, the ritual and spiritual role of the Kohanim (High Priests) is described. At the same time, we learn about the material remuneration they receive for carrying out their mission. This teaches us that we cannot ask the survivors of the Holocaust to raise their voices, to bear witness, and to bestow their legacy, without being totally committed to their wellbeing and dignity.
Yom HaShoah is commemorated this year in the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. Not all of the senior citizens who lost their lives in assisted living facilities and homes for the aged were Holocaust survivors; but many were and are. Regardless of this terrible crisis that we are all dealing with, it has had an increased impact on the elderly.
The lack of effective measures in those locations, especially at the beginning of the pandemic (and, to a great degree, to this day) must be prominent in our minds this week when we remember the Shoah. Holocaust survivors are living the past months with heightened anxiety and are in significant danger. The same is true of their cohorts, the generation who founded the state of Israel who didn’t suffer the terror of the Holocaust, but who laid the foundation for life here in Israel for all of us. Like Aaron HaKohen, many of them cannot raise their voices – it is our responsibility to do it for them.
Reform Rabbi and Professor Emil Fackenheim, coined the phrase: “the 614th Mitzvah” – the commandment obligated by all Jews not to give the Nazis victory after their defeat, to guarantee the continuation of the Jewish people, to renew our ability to give hope and to act towards Tikkun Olam; and most of all not to be silent and close off our hearts.
We must maintain the ability to listen to what the survivors have to tell us during their last years of life and have the wisdom to help them and their counterparts escape the silence and feel protected and respected during normal times, and especially during days of crises – this is the foundation of the 614th Mitzvah. Regardless, this terrible crisis has had a devastating impact on the elderly. We must each do our part to take the lessons of past generations into future ones.
I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during this unsure time.
Sincerely,
IMPJ President & CEO Rabbi Gilad Kariv
PESACH GREETINGS, FROM RABBI RUZ GULKO
Shalom,
I want to wish everyone a safe and meaningful Pesach during this challenging time. Finding meaning in comfort at the Seder this year will be hard for us all, myself included. I look forward to better days together, and hope you are all doing well!
Love, Rabbi Ruz
WISHING ALL OUR FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD A HAPPY AND HEALTHY PESACH, FROM IMPJ
Join us Wednesday, April 8, 2020, at 4:30 PM Israel time (9:30 AM on the U.S. East Coast; 11:30 PM in Australia; 2:30 PM in the U.K.), as Student-Rabbi Naomi Efrat of Kehilat Ha Lev (part of the Daniel Center for Progressive Judaism) will be conducting a virtual Seder in English hosted here on our Facebook Page, Reform Judaism in Israel!
“שָׁמוֹר֙ אֶת־חֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽאָבִ֔יב וְעָשִׂ֣יתָ פֶּ֔סַח לַֽיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּ֞י בְּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽאָבִ֗יב הוֹצִ֨יאֲךָ֜ יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ מִמִּצְרַ֖יִם לָֽיְלָה”: (דברים, ט”ז; א)
“Keep the month of spring, and make the Passover offering to the Lord your G-d, for in the month of spring, the Lord, your G-d, brought you out of Egypt at night.” (Deuteronomy, 16; 1)
Dear Friends,
Each year, at the core of celebrating the holiday of Pesach, we are commanded to recall and retell the saga of our peoples’ Exodus from Egypt. It is auspiciously fitting that Pesach falls this week, as the world finds itself grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic. Here in Israel, shops and streets that would normally be bustling with activity in preparation for the holiday are empty and bare. On its surface, it may seem odd – to be preparing for such a celebratory holiday during a time of deep uncertainty and trepidation. However, there is a significant parallel between the Biblical story of Pesach and the times we find ourselves in today.
The night of Pesach, when we hold the Seder and recount the story of the Exodus, is a night that appears to focus on the past. It is, after all, an old story that recounts an event that took place thousands of years ago. But it is also an opportunity for perspective on the present and the future.
Matzah, the unleavened bread we eat each year at the Seder and throughout Pesach, has several names. The most common is “lechem oni” – the” bread of affliction” (Deuteronomy, 16; 3). This seems appropriate, as is says: “For in haste you went out of the land of Egypt, so that you shall remember the day when you went out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life” (Deuteronomy, 16; 1). There are two other translations, however: the “bread of healing” and the “bread of faith” (Zohar II, 41a. Ibid, 183b).
Healing and faith? These seem to be contrary to affliction, what we remind ourselves that we suffered of so long ago. On the contrary, these two seemingly out-of-place elements remind us that Pesach is not just about the past: it is about the past, the present and the future. We need healing right now – at present, the world is in a state of near upheaval, with no corner of the globe left untouched. We need faith right now – that the future will stabilize, for ourselves, for our children and for our children’s children.
This past Shabbat, we had two joint Kabbalot Shabbat between congregations in Israel and around the world: the first between the Sha’ar HaNegev congregation and the Reform congregations in San-Diego, California; and the second between Kehilat Brit Olam in Kiryat Ono and Temple Israel in Johannesburg, South Africa. Other congregations in Israel, such as Ramot Shalom in Be’er Shava, Kehilat Ramot Negev and Kehillat Tzur Hadassah, are holding joint sessions with their DOMIM partners abroad, for both adults and teens.
Now more than ever, it is vital that we stay connected to each other by whatever means are available to us. We send a prayer of Refuah Shelemah to communities around the world who are grappling with this pandemic and to all those who are in need of healing and comfort.
Wishing you all a Chag Pesach Sameach,
Keren b’Kavod, the Israeli Reform Movement’s Center for Social and Communal Activity, continues to assist disadvantaged populations in Israel, including new Olim, immigrants from the Ethiopian community, the elderly, lone soldiers and deprived women.
The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism
13 King David Street
Jerusalem, Israel, 94101
Contact: avrohom@reform.org.il
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