Category Archives: July, 2011
BRUCE BRESLAUER NAMED REGIONAL MANAGER OF BLIND/LOW VISION SERVICES GREAT FALLS
It is my pleasure to announce that, as of July 14, 2011, Bruce Breslauer has been named the regional manager for BLIND/LOW VISION SERVICES In Great Falls. Bruce has worked for BLVS for five years as an Orientation and Mobility specialist, which he will continue to do. During the last eleven months he has been acting regional manager.
How To Get the July Issue
Our experiment here, moving our former magazine-style newsletter to these “pages” is becoming a success. How do we know this?
Since last week, when we began posting articles for the July “issue”, readership on these pages has spiked with over 150 page views in the past two weeks. Our experience over the last several months is that readership “spikes” after we post articles here. In weeks we do not post articles, readership goes down.
We have made another recent change. As you may have noticed, the “address” for these pages is now simply “aitzchaim.com”. We hope that you will find that this simplification will make it easier for you to find us online!
You may have also noticed the “category tags” that we apply to articles. These “tags” are a great way of narrowing down information. For instance, if you want to just read the articles that we consider to be part of the “July Issue,” just click on the “July, 2011” category tag and you will just get those articles. You can also get a customized listing of any other category.
We look forward to seeing you over the coming weekend. It looks like we will have some very interesting discussions!
G-d’s Air Traffic Controller by Hazzan Elliott Magalnick
I have decided to pick the topic of the/a Jewish view(s) of Life After Death. I have three sources, one is the current issue of MOMENT magazine, and the other two are books:Does The SOUL SURVIVE? by Rabbi Elie Spitz and the Death OF Death by Rabbi Neil Gillman. I am going to introduce several topics and viewpoints and some anecdotal data since we are unable to come up with personal interviews of the dearly departed. I put this title on this letter because I want to narrate a talk that Rabbi Spitz had with a woman who was on her deathbed and unable to let go. This woman’s name was Gertie. This following soliloquy is from Marielle Fuller and Rabbi Spitz:
“Know Gertie, that you need not fear death. You will leave your body gently, surrounded by GOD’S caring light. With your permission, let me lead you in a guided imagery that will ease your way. See yourself walking on a path. Alongside the path is a river with fresh flowing water that comes down from a tall waterfall. At a certain point some of the water of the stream gathers to form a pool. a kind of mikvah. Read the rest of this entry
THE THREE WEEKS
Posted in The July Ram’s Horn with permission from Rabbi Chaim rabbi@jewishmontana.com
The Three Weeks
The Three Weeks is an annual mourning period that falls out in the summer. This is when we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple and our launch into a still-ongoing Exile.
The period begins on the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, a fast day that marks the day when the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans in 69 CE. It reaches its climax and concludes with the fast of the 9th of Av, the date when both Holy Temples were set aflame. This is the saddest day of the Jewish calendar, and it is also the date of other tragedies, spanning our nation’s history.
Article on the Challenges of Rural Judaism featuring Butte’s B’nai Israel
The most recent edition of the Forward contains a fascinating article on the challenges faced by small, rural Jewish communities. The article features an interview with Janet Cornish of Butte, Montana.
As the article notes, smaller rural communities like Aitz Chaim and B’nai Israel are facing extreme demographic changes that are reducing our sizes. Keeping yiddishkeit alive in the face of these demographic pressures remains a challenge.
Aitz Chaim will be holding Jewish services this coming Friday evening, July 22, 7:30 p.m. at the Bethel, 1009 18th Ave SW. We will also be holding torah study at 10 a.m. and an adult discussion and milchig (dairy) potluck at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday morning, July 23.
Please join us as we attempt to fly in the face of these demographic pressures and continue to offer yiddishkeit to Northcentral Montana!
JOKE
Chaim Yankel was walking down the street when a security guard came up to him and said, “Why is there a penguin following you?”
Chaim Yankel said, “I don’t know, he just followed me.”
The security guard replied, “You take that penguin to the zoo right now.” And Chaim Yankel complied.
A couple of hours later, Chaim Yankel came out of the zoo with the penguin still following him.
The security guard said, “I thought I told you to take that penguin to the zoo.”
Chaim Yankel replied, “I did, but he enjoyed himself so much that now I’m taking him to the library.”
BORSCHT
dice everything else up and add to pot with sugar.
Serve hot or cold with boiled potato and sour cream,
Amy-Jill Levine to Lecture in Helena, September 23-25
Professor Amy-Jill Levine of Vanderbilt Divinity College will again be lecturing in Helena!
Professor Levine, who last lectured on the Jewish roots of Christian traditions, will be lecturing on “Sex and the Bible: Thou Shalt Not, Thou Shall and Though Might Want To — What the Bible Says about Sexuality” as part of the annual St. Paul’s United Methodist Church lecture series, September 23-25, 2011.
Congregants can sign up for lectures at the series through this brochure. The lecture series is offered at $25/day or $50 for the entire series.
Article By Clair Baiz in the Jewish Magazine
Our sharp-eyed Cantor, Hazzan Elliott Magalnick, noticed that our own Clair Baiz, daughter of Arlene Reichert, penned a very poignant and personal article in the May issue of the Jewish Magazine entitled “Growing Up Jewish in Great Falls, Montana.”
The article talks about many of the Jews that lived in Great Falls over the previous years and our previous worship space at the Malmstrom AFB chapel. The article is worth your time and attention — mazel tov Clair!
Mark Your Calendar for 2012 MAJCO and Hadassah Shabbatonim
The Montana Association of Jewish Communities (MAJCO) held its annual Shabbaton over the past weekend, July 15-17, near Glacier Park hosted by Congregation Bet Harim of Kalispell. By all reports, it was an exceptional event. The weekend saw a keynote address by Rabbi David Sapperstein, the Director and Chief Legal Counsel for the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center.
Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts kept any congregants from Aitz Chaim from attending the Shabbaton. The next MAJCO Shabbaton will by hosted by Congregation Beth Aaron in Billings over October 5-7, 2012. The 2013 Shabbaton is scheduled by be hosted by Great Falls.
During the MAJCO business meeting on July 17, Hadassah also announced that their 2012 Hadassah Shabbaton will be June 22-24, 2012 at Big Sky. (ed note: This information has been corrected as of 7/26/2011).
Other news from the meeting included:
* Announcement of an election for MAJCO officers during the December, 2011 meeting in Helena (coinciding with the annual menorah lighting in the Capitol).
* A series of changes to the MAJCO bylaws. Those by-law changes will be the subject of an additional article on this site.
The Aitz Chaim Ram's Horn 