Category Archives: MAJCO
ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL TO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Join us for a special evening with Dr. Andy David, Israel’s Consul General to the Pacific Northwest.
August 4 – 7:00 PM – The Shul of Bozeman
RSVP by CLICKING HERE or by calling 585-8770
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/66060/israels-new-man-in-san-francisco-inspired-by-rabin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consulate_General_of_Israel_to_the_Pacific_Northwest_Region
Additional Israeli Consul General Presentation:
MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2015, MISSOULA
Laurie Franklin
Spiritual Leader and Rabbinic Intern
Har Shalom/Missoula, MT
email: laurief@har-shalom.org
cell: (406) 546-9368
Har Shalom mailing address: PO Box 3715/Missoula, MT 59806
street address: 3035 South Russell St/Missoula, MT
Phone: 406 549-9595
SPECIAL PROGRAM at Har Shalom
Monday Aug 3 5:30 to 6:30 pm
3035 S. Russell St/Missoula, MT
“Israel and the Iran Nuclear Agreement”
• Why is Israel so concerned about this agreement?
• What about American guarantees and help to Israel to offset any additional risks?
• Has the agreement affected relations between Israel and her traditional opponents among the Sunnis Arab states?
• Would Iran actually use a bomb even if they had one?”
Dr. Andy David
Israel Consul General to the Pacific Northwest
Dr. David’s Biography:
http://embassies.gov.il/san-francisco/AboutTheEmbassy/Pages/The-Consul-General.aspx
TORAH STUDY INVITATION
Rabbi Yanai: “whoever learns Torah from [only] one Rabbi will never find blessing in his study” (b. Avodah Zarah 19).
Rabbi Yannai (or Rabbi Jannai; Hebrew: רבי ינאי) was a Jewish sage, living during the first half of the 3rd century, and of the first generation of the Amora sages of the Land of Israel. He was a disciple of R. Judah haNasi – the sealer of the Mishnah. R. Yannai founded a Beth Midrash that was located near Safed in the Upper Galile, where he taught the Torah, and at the same time served as a dayan, religious judge, in the Beth Din, rabbinical court for the Sepphoris community.
His name is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud 176 times, and in the Jerusalem Talmud 254 times.
___________________________________________________
Hi,
Congregation Beth Shalom is inviting you to this WebEx meeting:
Congregation Beth Shalom’s Torah Study – Coveting & Craving
Sat, Aug 1, 9:30 am | 2 hr 30 min
Denver (Mountain Daylight Time, GMT-06:00)
Host: Congregation Beth Shalom
Join
Add the attached iCalendar (.ics) file to your calendar.
Agenda
This meeting does not have an agenda.
Access Information
Where: WebEx Online
Meeting number: 190 293 188
Password: This meeting does not require a password.
Audio Connection
+1-415-655-0001 US TOLL
Access code: 190 293 188
Can’t access your meeting? Get help.
Delivering the power of collaboration
Cisco WebEx Team
IMPORTANT NOTICE: This WebEx service includes a feature that allows audio and any documents and other materials exchanged or viewed during the meeting to be recorded. By joining this meeting, you automatically consent to such recordings. If you do not consent to the recording, discuss your concerns with the meeting host prior to the start of the recording or do not join the meeting. Please note that any such recordings may be subject to discovery in the event of litigation.
©2015 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
MT-A-001
CONCORDAT WITH MAJCO REAFFIRMED UNANIMOUSLY AT ELCA MONTANA SYNOD CONFERENCE
Adapted from http://www.elca.org
Established in the early 1990s, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Consultative Panel on Lutheran-Jewish Relations was formed to investigate the history of Jewish-Christian relations, to combat common misinterpretations of Judaism, and to identify areas of potential cooperation and understanding.
The Consultative Panel was responsible for the development of the Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America to the Jewish Community, adopted on April 18, 1994, by the Church Council of the ELCA, in which the Lutheran Church repudiated Luther’s anti-Semitic writings. The text follows.
Declaration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America to the Jewish Community
“In the long history of Christianity there exists no more tragic development than the treatment accorded the Jewish people on the part of Christian believers. Very few Christian communities of faith were able to escape the contagion of anti-Judaism and its modern successor, anti-Semitism. Lutherans belonging to the Lutheran World Federation and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America feel a special burden in this regard because of certain elements in the legacy of the reformer Martin Luther and the catastrophes, including the Holocaust of the twentieth century, suffered by Jews in places where the Lutheran churches were strongly represented.
“The Lutheran communion of faith is linked by name and heritage to the memory of Martin Luther, teacher and reformer. Honoring his name in our own, we recall his bold stand for truth, his earthy and sublime words of wisdom, and above all his witness to God’s saving Word. Luther proclaimed a gospel for people as we really are, bidding us to trust a grace sufficient to reach our deepest shames and address the most tragic truths.
“In the spirit of that truth-telling, we who bear his name and heritage must with pain acknowledge also Luther’s anti-Judaic diatribes and the violent recommendations of his later writings against the Jews. As did many of Luther’s own companions in the sixteenth century, we reject this violent invective, and yet more do we express our deep and abiding sorrow over its tragic effects on subsequent generations. In concert with the Lutheran World Federation, we particularly deplore the appropriation of Luther’s words by modern anti-Semites for the teaching of hatred toward Judaism or toward the Jewish people in our day.
“Grieving the complicity of our own tradition within this history of hatred, moreover, we express our urgent desire to live out our faith in Jesus Christ with love and respect for the Jewish people. We recognize in anti-Semitism a contradiction and an affront to the Gospel, a violation of our hope and calling, and we pledge this church to oppose the deadly working of such bigotry, both within our own circles and in the society around us. Finally, we pray for the continued blessing of the Blessed One upon the increasing cooperation and understanding between Lutheran Christians and the Jewish community.”
The Montana Synod Conference of the ELCA was held Friday and Saturday, June 5-6, 2015. Representing MAJCO on Saturday were Jerry Weissman and Arnie Schandelson. On behalf of the Jewish community, Jerry Weissman offered some extemporaneous remarks, after which the Concordat between MAJCO and ELCA was unanimously reaffirmed
The following is taken from an email from Jerry Weissman concerning his remarks on this occasion.
“The original authors of the Concordat were there in recollection of the events of April 1994 to the signing in June of 1995. They spoke of how Martin Luther turned against the Jews when they would not join him in his version of the New Christian religion, afterwards called the Lutheran church. They spoke about more than 1000 years of slaughtering Jews culminating in the Holocaust, and they spoke about the Holocaust itself. Then it was my turn.
“I thanked them for inviting Arnie and myself, and reminded the crowd that Arnie and I were there 20 years ago, and also said that the members present looked strong enough to join the two of us again 20 years in the future when we celebrate 40 years.
“I welcomed the crowd from the representatives of the Grandfather Religion, Judaism.
“I spoke then about what the world was like in 1994 when the idea of this concordat was made. Christians were being rounded up in Concentration camps in Kosovo. That got a lot of head shaking in agreement. I reminded the crowd that 70 years ago Christians and Jews invaded Europe to rid Humanity of the scourge that killed so many Jews, Gypsies, Russians, Christians, homosexuals, and people who were physically and mentally challenged. The Nazi’s were at war with the world and people of faith. Again lots of head shaking in agreement.
“I then spoke about what is happening today in Iran, In Iraq, In Syria, in Libya, where Christians, Yazidis and others were being rounded up to be sold into Slavery, to be raped, to be immolated and to be beheaded. I declared that what is happening today to the Sunday people of faith was being done by people declaring their actions to be commanded by their religion, and I described those people as those of no faith. This is a new and at the same time old war on people of faith.
“I ended by recalling that in 1982 we were in Jerusalem and had been to the Western Wall, and that I was with Mike Traub, who was then the Secretary of the guides union. I described the distance from the wall to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Queen Helen was said to have found the remnants of the true cross. I asked Mike what he would say if the Messiah (Moschiach) were to appear and he could ask him a question. He replied that he would ask Him If He had been here before.
“I think for such an unusual event for Jews, it went rather well.”
Jerry
MAJCO SHABBATON 2015 IN BUTTE (REGISTRATION FORM INCLUDED)
Shalom Chaverim,
As Holocaust Remembrance Day comes to a close, and we remember to never forget, let us now also look forward, with hope in our hearts! Here is an opportunity to strengthen the bonds of our Jewish community, and enjoy our bright and fulfilling future. Below is the agenda and registration form for this year’s MAJCO 2015 Shabbaton. We look forward to seeing you in Butte.
MAJCO Shabbaton 2015 in Butte
Honoring Our History and Celebrating Our Community
June 26-28, 2015
Congregation B’nai Israel
327 West Galena Street
Butte, MT 59701
Congregation B’nai Israel Watercolor by Sonia Ehrlich, 1976
Nancy Oyer
Congregation B’nai Israel President
406.490.8989
neogeo@montana.com
MAJCO Agenda and Registration 2015
MAJCO Shabbaton 2015 in Butte
Honoring Our History and Celebrating Our Community
June 26-28, 2015
Congregation B’nai Israel
327 West Galena Street
Butte, MT 59701
Agenda
All Events at the Synagogue
Friday, June 26
- 5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Registration
- 6:00 p.m. – 7:20 p.m. Dinner
- 7:30 p.m. – Shabbat Evening Service led by Rabbi David Fine
Saturday, June 27
- 9:00 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Torah Study led by Rabbi Ed Staffman
- 10:00 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service led by Rabbi David Fine
- 12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. Lunch
- 1:00 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. Programming led by Rabbi David Fine
- 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Free Time
- 6:00 p.m. – 7:20 p.m. Dinner
- 7:30 p.m. – 8:20 p.m. Programming – Ellen Burke, Area VP, Desert Mountain Region of Hadassah
- 8:30 p.m. – 9:20 p.m. Programming – Jewish Music or To Be Determined
- 9:30 p.m. – Havdallah (Sunset is 9:26 p.m.)
- 9:45 p.m. – Hadassah Silent Auction Opens
- 10:15 p.m. – Hadassah Silent Auction Closes
Sunday, June 28
- 8:00 a.m. – 8:50 a.m. MAJCO Business Meeting (with breakfast for attendees)
- 9:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Butte History/Jewish History Custom Trolley Tour – Group A
- 10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. Butte History/Jewish History Custom Trolley Tour – Group B
- 12:00 p.m. – 12:50 p.m. – Lunch with Programming – Bruce Barrett, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Regional Director for the Mountain West Region. Lunch sponsored and executed by Montana Hadassah
- 1:00 p.m. MAJCO Adjourns
- 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Hadassah Business Meeting
MAJCO Shabbaton 2015 in Butte
Honoring Our History and Celebrating Our Community
June 26-28, 2015
Congregation B’nai Israel
327 West Galena Street
Butte, MT 59701
Accommodations
Blocks of rooms are reserved at two hotels in Butte. Mention “MAJCO/Congregation B’nai Israel” to get the following rates:
- UPTOWN: Historic Finlen Hotel, 100 East Broadway, Butte, MT, 59710. 406.723.5461. Rates are $82 for a single and $92 for a double, plus tax. Rooms held until May 26. The location is one-half mile (7 blocks) from the synagogue.
- ON THE FLATS: Best Western Plus Butte Plaza Inn, 2900 Harrison Avenue, Butte, MT, 59701. 406.494.3500 Flat Rate: $99 plus tax for 1-4 people, specify 1 king or 2 queens. Rooms held until June 5. Includes full breakfast and shuttle. To see amenities, visit the Best Western website.
Additional Information
- Trolley Tours: Tour designed by Congregation B’nai Israel, led by Ellen Crane, Director, Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives. Seats are limited, so reserve your spot ASAP by sending in your MAJCO registration. The tour starts and ends at the synagogue. You will be notified which tour you are on upon receipt of registration.
- Donations to Safe Space: It is a Montana Hadassah tradition that when meeting for a Shabbaton, our members bring donations for the local women’s shelter. This year we ask all MAJCO participants to bring hotel or full size toiletry items. Items will be donated to Safe Space, the Butte women’s shelter.
Meals Included in the Registration Fee:
Friday Dinner: Organized by the Hettingers:
- Chicken
- potato salad
- green and other salads
- challah
- gluten-free bread (to be available throughout the weekend)
- desserts
- coffee, tea, water
Saturday Lunch: Catered by Nancy’s Pasties:
- Butte famous cocktail pasties
- Butte famous sweet potato salad
- cole slaw
- brownies, lemon bars – desserts will be marked “contain dairy.”
Saturday Dinner: Catered by the Uptown Café:
- Baked sole
- tarragon chicken
- artichoke curry rice salad
- green beans almondine
- pasta with marinara
- poppy seed cake, –cake will be marked “contains dairy,”
- fruit
- coffee, tea, water
- If you enjoy wine, please bring a bottle to share!
Sunday Breakfast for Business Meeting Attendees:
- Bagels, shmear
- hard-boiled eggs
- smoked salmon
- lox
- onions, capers
- coffee, tea, water
- Any leftovers will be available to all.
MAJCO Shabbaton 2015 in Butte
Honoring Our History and Celebrating Our Community
June 26-28, 2015
Congregation B’nai Israel
327 West Galena Street
Butte, MT 59701
Registration Form
Name __________________________________________________________________________
Address_________________________________________________________________________
Phone __________________________________________________________________________
Email __________________________________________________________________________
I am enclosing the following registration fee (please check appropriate box):
- $54
- I am a presenter and my fee is waived.
- $__________ Amount other than $54
- I cannot afford the full price, so I will pay what I can (and MAJCO will cover the rest)
- I am able and willing to donate extra to defray costs, which also helps those who can’t afford the full price to attend
- I am a presenter and my fee is waived, but I wish to donate.
The registration fee covers attendance to all services and programming; Friday dinner; Saturday lunch, dinner and entertainment; Sunday trolley tour and lunch.
I would like to reserve a seat on the trolley. My first choice is:
$_
- Group A: 9:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.
- Group B: 10:30 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
Please make your check payable to Congregation B’nai Israel and send it with this form to:
Nancy Oyer
527 Edison Street
Butte, MT 59701
Any questions, call Nancy at 406.490.8989, or email her at neogeo@montana.com
CHAG SAMEACH PESACH!
Chag Sameach Pesach
MAY YOUR MATZAH BE TASTY AND YOUR SEASON FREE FROM WORRY!
Submitted by Brian Schnitzer
MAJCO
Hanukkah Reflects America’s Religious Liberty: Vignettes From Montana, Idaho, and Utah
Hanukkah Reflects America’s Religious Liberty: Vignettes From Montana, Idaho, and Utah
Brought to you by RAC.org
By Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut, Ph.D , 12/18/2014
In 1974 in Philadelphia, a small menorah was lit in front of Independence Hall, home to the iconic Liberty Bell. The menorah was crude and made of wood. Five people attended what is now considered to be the first Chabad-Lubavitch public-menorah lighting. Regardless of the constitutional implications of this action, the idea of religious freedom embodied by the Hanukkah holiday deeply resonates with the core principles of American democracy. The attention currently lavished by American Jews on Hanukkah makes it difficult to imagine that there was once a time when it was a minor holiday. Yet, across America, Hanukkah’s magnification as a Jewish holiday now has broader implications.
In recent years, Hanukkah has evolved into a symbol of religious liberty for all Americans. In 165 BCE, after the Maccabees, a minority, successfully revolted against the majority – the Syrian kingdom led by Antiochus Epiphanes IV – there was a rededication of the Jerusalem Temple and the rekindling of its golden menorah for eight miraculous days. This origin story naturally translates into contemporary American motifs of religious liberty and survival represented by a Hanukkah festival of lights. The story of Hanukkah also recalls the first pilgrims who arrived on America’s shores after fleeing religious oppression in Europe.
Three vignettes from Montana, Idaho, and Utah exemplify how the holiday’s underlying Jewish message of religious freedom is now embraced for its strong American values.
Consider this: the largely non-Jewish residents of Billings, MT, used the menorah as a means to fight the anti-Semitism and bigotry that surfaced in the town in 1993. In December of that year, Isaac and Tami Schnitzer placed a Hanukkah menorah in their window. A town resident hurled a cinder block through the Schnitzers’ window and threatened other families and institutions displaying menorahs. The townspeople decided to take a collective stand against bigotry. Through a campaign waged by the Billings Gazette and the town’s sheriff, families and businesses were asked to display pictures of menorahs in their homes and jobs. People responded so enthusiastically that by the time the campaign concluded, an estimated 10,000 people had answered the call. This community-wide protest dramatically decreased the incident of hate crimes in Billings.
Indicative of Hanukkah’s mainstream popularity, even in states with small Jewish populations like Idaho, then-Governor Dirk Kempthorne signed a symbolic proclamation on December 1, 2004, naming December 7, 2004, National Menorah Day in the State of Idaho. The governor declared, “the message of Chanukah resonates quite powerfully with the fundamental principles of American life, as this nation was founded on the principles of hope and religious freedom.” The proclamation reads, in part:
WHEREAS, This year [2004] marks the 25th anniversary of the National Menorah which was first lit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter and given its name by President Ronald Reagan in 1982; and
WHEREAS, Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, is among the most widely celebrated of Jewish holidays;
NOW THEREFORE, I DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Governor of the State of Idaho, do hereby proclaim, December 7, 2004, to be national Menorah Day in Idaho.
Finally, the Americanization of Hanukkah is evidenced by the popularity of
“Eight Days of Hanukkah,”
a song written by Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, a Mormon with an affection for Jews and a love of Barbra Streisand. A video of the song debuted via Tablet, an online Jewish cultural magazine, just prior to Hanukkah in 2009.
The production of this song was a multicultural endeavor. The writing was inspired by a challenge to Senator Hatch from journalist Jeffrey Goldberg. Hatch’s collaborator was Jewish songwriter Madeline Stone, who hails from the Upper West of Manhattan and now writes Christian music in Nashville. She said, “I’m a pretty liberal Democrat. But it became more about the music and the friendship for me and Orrin.” The song was performed by Rasheeda Azar, a Syrian-American vocalist from Indiana. [According to Goldberg, “Rasheeda’s participation closes a circle of sorts, since the Syrian King Antiochus was, of course, the antagonist in the story of the Maccabean revolt.”]
Senator Hatch calls “Eight Days of Hanukkah” a “gift to the Jewish people.” He said his ultimate goal would be for Streisand to perform one of his songs. “It would be good for her and good for me,” Hatch said, while acknowledging that given her outspoken liberalism, “that union might require another miracle.”
Submitted by Brian Schnitzer
Candle Lighting and MAJCO this Thursday in the Capitol Rotunda, noon
The Capitol Rotunda will be the site for our annual Chanukiah lighting this coming Thursday, December 18. Tables will be set up for the community chanukiahs and if additional tables are needed let me know so I can arrange.
Rabbis and spiritual leaders have been asked to speak and it appears that the lieutenant governor, Angela McLean, will join us. Governor Bullock is unavailable.
We have reserved Room 172 beginning at 1 pm for a meeting of the MAJCO board.
Looking forward to seeing many of you and hoping the forecast for clear skies holds.
b’shalom,
Bert Chessin
406.531.5193
Missoula, Montana
Chag Chanukah Sameach
Light One Candle
Light one candle for the Maccabee children
With thanks their light didn’t die;
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied;
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand;
And light one candle for the wisdom to know
That the peacemaker’s time is at hand!
Chorus:
Don’t let the light go out,
It’s lasted for so many years!
Don’t let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears!
Light one candle for the strength that we need
To never become our own foe;
Light one candle for those who are suff’ring
A pain they learned so long ago;
Light one candle for all we believe in,
That anger not tear us apart;
And light one candle to bind us together
With peace as the song in our heart!
Chorus:
Don’t let the light go out,
It’s lasted for so many years!
Don’t let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears!
What is the memory that’s valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What’s the commitment to those who have died?
We cry out “they’ve not died in vain,”
We have come this far, always believing
That justice will somehow prevail;
This is the burden, This is the promise,
This is why we will not fail!
Chorus:
Don’t let the light go out,
It’s lasted for so many years!
Don’t let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears!
Don’t let the light go out!
Don’t let the light go out!
Don’t let the light go out!
Submitted by Brian Schnitzer
PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Please mark your calendars to remind you of these upcoming events.
- Tuesday, 12/16/2014—Wednesday, 12/24/2014: Chanukkah.
- Tuesday, 12/16/2014, 5:30 P.M.: Erev Chanukah. We will light the first candle of the Diane Kaplan Memorial Chanukkiah at the Civic Center. If you come at 5:30.30, you’ll probably miss it, especially if it is cold.
- Wednesday, 12/17/2014: First day of Chanukah. We will light the second candle at the Civic Center at precisely 5:30 P.M.
- Thursday, 12/18/2014, 12:00 P.M.: Annual MAJCO Chanukiah lighting at the Capitol Rotunda in Helena.
- Thursday, 12/18/2014: Second day of Chanukah. We will light the third candle at the Civic Center at precisely 5:30 P.M.
- Friday, 12/19/2014: Third day of Chanukah. We will light the fourth candle at the Civic Center at precisely 5:30 P.M.
- Saturday, 12/20/2014: Fourth day of chanukah. We will light the fifth candle at the Civic Center at precisely 5:30 P.M.
- Sunday, 12/21/2014, Fifth day of Chanukah, 3:00 P.M.: Chanukah party at the home of Stuart and Hilary Lewin, concluding with the 5:30 lighting of the sixth candle of the Diane Kaplan Memorial Channukiah at the Civic Center.
- Monday, 12/22/2014: Sixtht day of Chanukah. We will light the seventh candle at the Civic Center at precisely 5:30 P.m.
- Tuesday, 12/23/2014: Seventh day of Chanukah. We will light the eight candle at the Civic Center at precisely 5:30 P.m.
- Wednesday, 12/24/2014: Eighth day of Chanukah.
- Wednesday-Thursday, 12/24-25/2014: Christmas at the Mercy Home. See separate article in Ram’s Horn.
YOU ARE PART OF THE STORY
A little warmth as cold weather begins.
(Developed for fund raising purposes by the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, but still stirring.)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=O8_8z2quiBs%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded
Submitted by Brian Schnitzer, MAJCO
The Aitz Chaim Ram's Horn 