Category Archives: Ram’s Horn

COME CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR WITH US!

Sep 5

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It is almost time for Rosh Hashanah! I hope that your new year will be as sweet as apples and honey.

Congregation Aitz Chaim will be again marking the year 5773 with our observance of the High Holy Days, led this year by Student Rabbi Miriam Farber. Please join us for a “meet the rabbi” dairy potluck and discussion at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, September 15 at the Bethel Lutheran Church, 1009 18th Ave SW in Great Falls. Erev Rosh Hashanah services will begin at 7 p.m. on Sunday, September 16 at the Bethel. Rosh Hashanah morning services will begin at 10 a.m. on Monday, September 17 at the Bethel, with our annual observance of Tashlich to follow at Giant Springs.

Erev Yom Kippur services, also led by Student Rabbi Farber, will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, September 25 at the Bethel, with Yom Kippur morning services beginning at 10a.m. on Wednesday, September 26. A milchig (dairy) potluck break-the-fast meal will follow Nei’lah (closing evening services) on Wednesday evening. We hope you can join us for our observance of the High Holy Days.

L’Shana Tova Tiketavu

Posted in 2012, Events, Planning, Ram's Horn

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MORTY AND SELMA .. JOKE

Aug 27

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Morty and Selma, an elderly couple, were driving across the country. The woman was driving when she got pulled over by the highway patrol.
The officer said, “Ma’am, did you know you were speeding?”
Selma, hard of hearing, turned to her husband and asked, “What did he say?”
Morty yelled, “He says you were speeding!”
The patrolman said, “May I see your license?”
Selma turned to her husband once again and asked, “What did he say?”
Morty yelled, “He wants to see your license!”
Selma gave the officer her license. The patrolman then said, “I see you are from New York. I spent some time there once and went on a blind date with the most annoying woman I’ve ever met.”
Selma turned to her husband and asked, “What did he say?”
Morty yelled, “He said he thinks he knows you!”

Posted in 2012, Joke, Ram's Horn

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PIZZA AND PANCAKES — JOKES

Aug 10

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A college pizza delivery boy named Larry arrived at the house of Shmuel. After taking the pizza from him, Smuel asked: “What is the usual tip?”
“Well,” replied Larry, “this is my first trip here, but the other guys say if I get a quarter out of you, I’ll be doing great.”
“Is that so?” snorted Shmuel. “Well, just to show them how wrong they are, here’s five dollars.”
“Thanks,” replied Larry, “I’ll put this in my school fund.”
“What are you studying in school?” asked Shmuel.
Larry smiled and said: “Applied psychology.”

Pancakes and Principles
Rebbetzin Epstein was preparing pancakes for her young sons. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. The Rebbetzin saw this as an opportunity for a moral lesson. “If our great teacher Moses were sitting here, He would say, ‘Let my fellow man have the first pancake. I can wait.'”

The oldest boy said, “You’re right Mom.” He then turned to his younger brother and said, “You can be Moses.”

Posted in 2012, Joke, Ram's Horn

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HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO BE ON THE AITZ CHAIM BOARD?

Well, now’s your chance.

The Election of officers for the year 2012-2013 will take place between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Up for re-election are Aaron (treasurer), Nadyne (secretary), Bruce (Vice-President), and Stuart (board member at large.) Any member of the congregation in good standing who is interested in running for any of these positions is welcome to throw his or her hat into the ring.

The Secretary and Treasurer positions are directly elected by the congregation, and the other positions are at-large board seats. The Vice President and President are chosen from the board, by the board, at the beginning of each fiscal year.

Ballots will be distributed before Rosh Hashanah and tabulated and announced during the break-the-fast after Yom Kippur.

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JULY 2012 BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

Aug 9

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Here is a summary of the Aitz Chaim board meeting, held the evening of July 12, 2012.

  • UGF CLASS – Marty reported that the UGF Outreach class scheduled for the fall needs eight people to enroll in order for GFHA to receive any remuneration. Wendy Weissman is the official class instructor, but Laurie Franklin, who is in Israel, will actually lead the class. The cost of the class is $450.00 per student.
  • ELECTIONS — The Election of officers for the year 2012-2013 will take place between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Laura will distribute, collect, and tabulate the ballots. Up for re-election are Aaron, Nadyne, Bruce, and Stuart.
  • CEMETERY DISCUSSION — A cemetery committee was formed, consisting of Jerry Weissman, Marty Foxman and Stuart Lewin, who will be available for legal advice if necessary. We will need a Policy for each cemetery. Requests have been received to purchase plots in the old cemetery. A Cemetery clean-up Day was scheduled for Saturday, September 15th at 1:00 P.M. Jerry, Stuart, and Marty will go out to the cemetery beforehand and determine where the graves are and what needs to be done. Anyone with a weed eater, a lawn mower, or a willingness to help is welcome to join us.
  • A motion passed to create a restricted Cemetery Maintenance Fund and draft rules for the use of such funds.
  • Old “Eaton Road” Cemetery — Marty has been doing some research about the location and history of the cemetery. He dug up some information from the County Treasurer’s office, including the original deed for the property. A copy of the deed is in the Aitz Chaim Treasurer’s files. Following a lengthy discussion, it was decided that the first step should be to hire a land surveyor and an appraiser to determine the boundaries of the cemetery. Stuart knows someone and will ask if this person is willing to do the job. Someone was going to check with the historical society to see if they have any information on who is buried in the cemetery, as well as any previous surveyor work done there. Aaron will attempt to locate any rules/regulations/laws promulgated by the State of Montana having to do with the operation of a cemetery.
  • Treasurer’s report — Thanks to Steve Boyd and Aaron Weissman, the car donated by Evelyn Kelman has been sold. The new owner is very pleased with his purchase.

    The congregation will end the fiscal year modestly in the black. This is due to our limited schedule for the year, as well as some very prudent airfare purchases by Don Cherry. The board approved a proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2013 (5773.)

    Aaron will send a letter on behalf of the board to all congregants around the time of Rosh Hashanah inviting them to renew their membership and dues in the congregation.

    There was a discussion on Authorization of investment of the Building Fund, and it was decided that for the present time, because of uncertainty in the financial world, the Building Fund should stay where it is. The Board should revisit the account and the issue during the next year.

  • 2012/2013 planning/schedule
    New student rabbi-Meriam Farber – In addition to the High Holidays, Miriam will be coming to GFHA three times during the 2012-13 year. The dates are still tentative, however, the Board was thinking about November 17th, 2012, March 2013 and May 10 or 17, 2013. Laura will check the dates with the Rabbi, and will also ask her if GFHA needs to hire musicians for Kol Nidre.

    To welcome Miriam, the congregation will have a pot luck and adult discussion on Saturday, September 15th. Miriam’s schedule will be as follows:

    • Sunday Brunch – Nadyne & Jerry Weissman
    • Sunday dinner (prior to services) – Helen & Don Cherry

      • Miriam will leave Great Falls following Rosh Hashannah services, and will return for Yom Kippur on Tuesday and Wednesday, September 25-26. Stuart and Max Weissman will be responsible for blowing the Shofar.

      >/ul>

        HOLIDAY PLANNING

      • High Holy days (beginning September 16, 2012) – same schedule as in the past.
      • Sukkot will be from the evening of Sunday, September 30, through Sunday, October 7.
      • The MAJCO Shabbaton will be the week end of October 19-21 in Billings. Aitz Chaim congregants wishing to take part in the Shabbaton should register no later than October 15.
      • Passover – March 26, 2013. Aaron will book the O’Haire for the second night Seder.

Posted in 2012, Board, Ram's Horn

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PLEASE COME TO THE AITZ CHAIM BOARD MEETING THIS THURSDAY 07/12

Jul 9

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You are cordially invited to attend the Aitz Chaim Board Meeting this Thursday evening, July 12, at5:30 P.M., at 1015 1st Avenue North. Among the items to be discussed are the Treasurer’s report, the upcoming Student Rabbi visits, the High Holidays, and the cemetery. If you have any other agenda items you would like discussed, please e-mail them to President Laura Weiss at weissbill@bresnan.net or contact any board member. See you there.

Posted in 2012, Board, Ram's Horn

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WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GOD SURVEY?

Jun 20

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As you may know, Reform Judaism magazine is conducting The God Survey-a survey of the personal God beliefs of Reform Jews-which we plan to report on in a future issue. Thus far, over 1000 people have taken the survey, which was adapted from Rabbi Mark Dov Shapiro’s survey of his congregants at Sinai Temple, Springfield, Massachusetts. To read his article: http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=3036.

If you haven’t yet filled out the survey and would like to be part of the official results, the RJ magazine staff asks that you please take a couple of minutes to complete it. They can speak from experience that it makes you think. It’s also anonymous. And it will provide important information about where Reform Jews are theologically today.

Also, please forward the survey link below to congregants, friends, and colleagues.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/thegodsurvey

L’shalom,

Victor
Rabbi Victor S. Appell
Congregational Marketing Director
Union for Reform Judaism
212-650-4144

urj.org Facebook Twitter Blog

Posted in 2012, Ram's Horn, Uncategorized

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A NEW BABY GIRL

Jun 3

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Begin forwarded message:
From: Dror Eydar

Shalom everyone.
Sorry for not updating you.
Thank God, on 11 of Iyar, May 3rd, 9 minutes after 10 am, a little baby girl came to our world, a sister to Ahuvya, meheytav’el and ‘Ivriya.
We called her: Darya דַּרְיָהּ
Dar is a jewel, so Darya is the jewel of God
Also “Dar” is “to live”. So Darya means God lives (in her)
In Greek Dar comes from Dora, i.e. a present (also in Russian)
In Persian Darya is the sea or the ocean
Also in Persian “Dar” is door or gate – hoping for opening doors for many opportunities…

And a personal word: exactly three years ago we received the bad news that Rachel had cancer.
Thank God it is all behind us now. And not only behind – in the place of the disease that nested in her, new life filled Rachel and another nestling has been added to our nest. In the place of the foreign bodies which attacked her in a cancerous manner, tiny legs and arms grew and pushed to come out from her to her. To us.
“Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 55, 13).

Darya is growing and Rachel is recovering from the surgery, thank God.

May all of you be blessed with Besorot Tovot with all Israel and the world.

Dror and Rachel Eydar

****************************************
Dr. Dror Eydar Ph.D.
Literature, Jewish thought & History
Political thought, Israeli culture & Music
Journalist in IsraelHayom daily newspaper
13 Hava Lutzki street, Flat 16
Rehovot 76251
ISRAEL
Tel.: +972-8-9467070; +972-54-5663007
E-mail: droreydar@gmail.com

Posted in 2012, May 2012, Ram's Horn

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SAVE THE DATE: SHABBATON IN BILLINGS OCTOBER 19-21, 2012

May 30

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We invite you to share community, prayer and Torah Restoration. The date for the Shabbaton has changed so that we can accommodate the visit of Sofer Neil Yerman. As a “Sofer” Neil scribes and repairs Torah and will provide a unique education as well as an opportunity for participants to scribe a letter. http://neilyerman.com/

We hope the date change is not an inconvenience. It is also the weekend of the MEA (Mt Education Association) Educator’s Conference which will be in Billings. We will soon send lodging information and encourage you to bring youth, who may be out of school.

For questions contact: Diane Kersten mtdiane@bresnan.net
Joshua Burnim joshburnim@gmail.com

Posted in 2012, Events, MAJCO, May 2012, Planning, Ram's Horn

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GREAT FALLS INTERFAITH ASSOCIATION REPORT

May 26

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These 2 presentors were guests at the Great Falls Interfaith Association meeting on Thursday, May 24.

  • DANDELION FOUNDATION: Jessica Bray said their focus was prevention of child abuse & domestic violence. They have recently received funding from the United Way. They will make presentations to interested organizations and/or classrooms, especially preschools.

    • HAVEN FOR THE HOMELESS: Fred Hashley said that their organization is forming 2 Task Forces. One is to address the need for long-term shelters. They have contacted various local organizations, including Malmstrom Air Force Base, and Senator Tester, looking for properties (hotels, empty buildings) for lease,
    inexpensively, to house homeless families under the supervision of the Rescue Mission.

    The 2nd Task Force is concerned with this coming winter specifically.

    There are approximately 180 homeless highschool students that were not included on the survey.
    Submitted by Helen Cherry

    Posted in 2012, May 2012, Ram's Horn

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