Recent TSE Emails

Dear Congregant:

During the coming weeks, the Nominating Committee will be meeting to propose a slate of Officers and Trustees to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Temple.

We encourage any Temple members with the desire to help make plans and decisions that affect the continued growth and success of our Temple to submit a brief resume, letter of intent or contact any member of the committee. Please have your resume addressed to the attention of the Nominating Committee and in the Temple office by March 1, 2021.  All information will be held in strict confidence.

The Committee’s recommendations for nominations will be presented to the current Board of Trustees on March 7, 2021, and will be announced at the Congregation meeting on March 21, 2021. The election will be held at the Congregation meeting on April 25, 2021.

Nominations from the floor may also be made at the March Congregation meeting for any position.  This is the only time floor nominations can be offered. All nominees will be asked to submit a brief biographical statement for distribution to the Congregation prior to the April Congregation meeting.
The positions to be filled for the 2021-2022 Temple year are President, First, Second, Third, and Fourth Vice Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer, and seven seats on the Board of Trustees.

Please see below for an excerpt from the Temple Policy Book detailing the responsibilities of Board Members. Please feel free to contact any member of this committee with any questions, comments, or suggestions you may have.

The Committee Members are:

Fabian Burstyn, Chairperson
Howard Berson
Evan Breslow 
Gloria Nilsen
Steven Shaw

For the Nominating Committee,
Fabian Burstyn

DUTIES OF BOARD MEMBERS
The following are excerpts from a letter, created by the Nominating Committee, that outline some of the responsibilities of Board members. This letter was approved by the Board of Trustees on February 23, 1997:

Attendance and participation at Board Meetings
Meetings are held monthly, except in July and August, on a Sunday or Thursday evening in the Temple beginning at 7:30 and usually ending around 10:30. The office of any Trustee who is absent from three (3) successive regular meetings of the Board may be declared vacant by the Board.

Committee Involvement
Board members will chair at least one committee and should attend the meetings of other committees.

Shabbat Usher
Board members are expected to usher during one or more Friday night Shabbat Services during the year. This serves as an excellent opportunity to help the Congregation and display your leadership position.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Representative
As a representative of the Board of Trustees, you will make a presentation to our Bar/Bat Mitzvah children at two services during the year.

Attend Services Regularly
As a leader of the Congregation, you should make every effort to attend Shabbat Services regularly, at least monthly.

Attend Temple Functions
Again, as a leader of the Temple, you are expected to support and attend as many functions as your schedule will allow. Your membership in and support of the auxiliaries of our Temple, including Sisterhood, Men's Club, and Youth, is vital.

Support our Fundraising Programs
Your financial support for these programs, consistent with your ability to provide such, is expected and appreciated.

URJ
The Union for Reform Judaism. You should make every effort to attend local Key Leadership Workshops, as well as Regional and National URJ Conventions. These conventions provide an excellent opportunity to learn about Temple life, and to meet Jewish leaders of other Congregations within the Reform Movement.

And if Elected as an Officer
Monthly meetings for Officers are usually held on a Thursday evening, 10 days prior to the upcoming Board meeting. They begin at 7:30 and may last beyond 11:00.

Remember to Register for these Upcoming Programs

Fanny Brice and her Relevance to Jewish Identity, Culture & Religion: Sunday, March 7 11:00am-12:30pm

Delve deep into Legendary Jewish Icon Fanny Brice’s life with Fanny Brice go-to gal and expert Kimberly Faye Greenberg. She will share fun Fanny Brice stories and anecdotes as well as songs in a lecture performance along with Q&A.

Register now

Kimberly Faye Greenberg is the first and only actor to play leading roles in two Off-Broadway musicals at the same time. In addition, Kimberly’s numerous portrayals of Fanny Brice (Four shows and two CDs) have been critically acclaimed by the New York Times, Huffington Post, and Associated Press. In addition, Kimberly has numerous other theater and TV/Film credits.

Rabbi Panken's Jewish Interest Book Club:Kaddish.com by Nathan Englander Wednesday, March 24 8:00pm

Register now

When his father dies, it falls to Larry—the secular son in a family of Orthodox Brooklyn Jews—to recite the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, every day for eleven months. But to the horror and dismay of his sister, Larry refuses, imperiling the fate of his father’s soul. To appease her, he hires a stranger through a website called kaddish.com to say the prayer instead—a decision that will have profound, and very personal, repercussions. Irreverent, hilarious, and wholly irresistible, Nathan Englander’s tale of a son who makes a diabolical compromise brilliantly captures the tensions between tradition and modernity.

Who Will Write Our History:
Sunday, April 4 1:00pm-2:30pm

Who Will Write Our History recounts the work of Emanuel Ringelblum and his resistance to Nazi oppression. In the Warsaw Ghetto of 1940, Ringelblum established Oyneg Shabes, a clandestine organization chartered to document all facets of Jewish life under Hitler and to preserve a historical record. Though decimated by murders and deportations, the group persevered in its work into the spring of 1943. Before Ringelblum and his family perished in March 1944, he and his associates managed to hide thousands of documents in milk cans and tin boxes, which they buried beneath buildings not long before the ghetto was burned, ensuring that the voice and culture of a doomed people would outlast the efforts of their enemies to silence them.

Register now

Samuel Kassow is the Charles Northam Professor of History at Trinity College and author of "Who Will Write Our History: Emanuel Ringelblum, the Warsaw Ghetto, and the Oyneg Shabes Archives”. He served as a consultant for the documentary film version of “Who Will Write Our History,” directed by Roberta Grossman with Nancy Spielberg as executive producer. He was born in a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany to two Holocaust survivors. As a child of survivors, Kassow’s first language was Yiddish and he was very much affected by his background. He developed an interest in Jewish history at a young age. After graduating from college in 1966, he took a Fulbright Scholarship in England at the London School of Economics and studied at Oxford until eventually deciding to get his PhD in history at Princeton. In 1972, he went back to Trinity as a professor, where he has been teaching ever since. Kassow’s first 15 years of teaching had very little to do with Jewish history and more to do with Russia, but after his parents died, things changed. He said, “I realized so many survivors were dying off; the day would come when no one would really care or understand what happened, so I decided I would write about the Holocaust.”

Purim Blessing Bags
Help the Homeless in Monmouth County
Saturday, February 20th

Each year, Temple Shaari Emeth’s College Youth Committee works diligently to keep your college-age children connected to our community. We send Judaica gifts, Temple mail, interesting articles, and more throughout the year, to remind them of their family back home.

Please register your college-age students
​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​(under 23 years of age) TODAY!

Please update information you previously submitted. 

Given this year's unique challenges that college students are dealing with, please include information in the comments section of the form about school vacation dates and extended periods at home. 

Please contact  Anisha Gizersky  with questions
or to volunteer with the committee.

A new registration is needed, even if you signed up last year.
Please submit a form for each child.  Thank you.

Believe it or not, Temple Shaari Emeth is gearing up to celebrate Purim. You can help make the holiday sweet by sending PURIMGRAMS to others. At this time, when so many people feel so isolated, sending a PURIMGRAM to a friend, family member, or neighbor is a sweet way to show you care.

Proceeds from each PURIMGRAM help fund the Toby and Seth Hanover Youth Scholarship Fund, which provides over $10,000 of scholarship each year to support sending our children to Jewish camps and educational programs. The importance of Jewish summer experiences in developing strong Jewish identities as adults is well-documented and a goal of the synagogue. We also help our students make lasting memories and friends. What a deal! By sending chocolate you can help give a child the summer experience of a lifetime!

You can send a chocolate bar to members of the TSE community:  For an initial $18 donation you can send up to 6 PURIMGRAMS, with each additional PURIMGRAM  costing only $2. In addition to the PURIMGRAM, recipients will receive a letter explaining that a gift was made to the Seth and Toby Hanover Youth Scholarship Fund with a list of all the people who sent it to them.  In addition to sending a PURIMGRAM to an individual, you can chose to do on or more of the following:

$36 – Send a PURIMGRAM to all Clergy & Administrative staff

$36 – Send a PURIMGRAM to all ELC teachers and staff

$36 – Send a PURIMGRAM to all Religious School teachers and staff

$36 – Send a PURIMGRAM to all TSE Board of Trustee members

$180 – Send a PURIMGRAM to the entire congregation

Finally, you can also chose to send a PURIMGRAM to everyone who sends one to you (and be billed by the synagogue) or pay how you paid for your initial order.

Even more exciting, three chocolate bars will include a golden ticket, which can be traded in for a $50 Amazon gift card.

Orders are due no later than February 5, 2021. PURIMGRAMS will be delivered to recipients the week of February 21. Those who live out of the area will receive their PURIMGRAM in the mail.

Thank you for helping to give our children the gift of Jewish Camp!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Temple office or respond to this email..

Happy Purim,

Naomi Bressler
Chair of the Seth and Toby Hanover Youth Scholarship Committee

Ways to participate:
TSE Zoom Watch Party - Click to Register
FTBS Ministries YouTube
FTBS Ministries Facebook

Racism in NJ — A Conversation

In celebration of Martin Luther King weekend, we are welcoming guest speakers for a panel on racial justice in America entitled: Racism in New Jersey: Seeking Understanding – Pursuing Justice.  Mark your calendar for an interesting discussion featuring religious and community leaders.

Congregations from around the state will join what should be a powerful program inspiring us to work together to resolve racial disparities and injustices in our state. Our guests will share testimony of their personal experiences of racial injustice, and a discussion will follow about their vision of where change needs to start, and how we can be effective allies.

Sunday, January 17, 2021, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Registration Required
Sponsored by Temple Beth-El and RAC-NJ

It is with great sadness that we share that Sylvia Weiner passed away on Sunday, January 10, 2021.  Sylva is survived by her beloved children, Karyn and Larry Speichler and Gary and Carol Weiner; her granddaughters, Brett Saftlas and Meredith Filiberto; and her great granddaughters, Mollie, Grace, Sydney and Isabella.

A private funeral will be held on Tuesday, January 12, 2021.

If you would like to reach out to the family, you may send notes to:
The Speichler Family
3 Memorial Court
Monroe Township, NJ 08831

May God console those who mourn in Zion, Jerusalem and throughout the world

It is with great sadness we share that Dorothy Benowitz passed away today. Dorothy was the mother of Phil and Howard Benowitz, mother-in-law of Robin and Melissa and grandmother of Daniel, Rachel and Todd.
 
There will be a private funeral on Tuesday.
Shiva Minyan will be held on Tuesday, December 29th and Wednesday, December 30th at 7:00 p.m.
You may join the minyan by clicking here:
https://zoom.us/j/94939282566? pwd=UjRTNkg3MEdYM3hpbG5FNTZjTGlNUT09
Meeting ID: 949 3928 2566
Passcode: 9VpyUb
 
The family will not be receiving guests for shiva, but you are encouraged to call and e-mail to express condolences.
benowitzp@gmail.com
105 Rolling Hill Drive
Morganville, NJ 07751
(732) 946-0186

May God console those who mourn in Zion, Jerusalem and throughout the world

It is with great sadness we share that Brenda Joan Kaplan passed away on  Monday, December 21, 2020. Brenda was the sister of Milton Straus, sister in law of Jean, and aunt of Alicia and Cindy Strauss. The funeral will be held in California on Wednesday, December 30, 2020.

Condolences can be sent to:
Milton Straus
100 Spruce Street
Freehold, NJ 07728
(732) 780-2820

May God console those who mourn in Zion, Jerusalem and throughout the world

Coping with Isolation from Family with Melissa Friedman, CSW: Tuesday, January 12 12:00pm-1:30pm

Register in advance for this meeting
  
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
 
During this period of Pandemic one of the challenges has been the lack of contact with family. Even when we are together, we remain socially distant. Even our holiday celebrations have moved online. Join in a group discussion of this strange new normal, learn some coping strategies and find ways to gain support and connection even in the midst of isolation.

Dialogues of the Children of God: An Interfaith Dialogue of The Golden Rule in Our Traditions: Wednesday, January 13 7:00pm-8:30pm

Register in advance for this meeting  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
 
Join Rabbi Melinda Panken, Monsignor Sam Siriani, Rev. Jonathan Elsensohn and Fatima Jaffari for an exploration of the Golden Rule from the perspective of Jews, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims. This event is sponsored by the Greater Freehold Clergy Association which brings houses of worship together from all different faiths, building tolerance and understanding, and working together as people of faith to make the world a better place.

Rabbi Panken's Jewish Interest Book Club: Wednesday, January 20 8:00pm-9:00pm

Register in advance for this meeting  

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

After a decade as a political speechwriter—serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama, a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama, and chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton on her 2008 presidential campaign—Sarah Hurwitz decided to apply her skills as a communicator to writing a book . . . about Judaism. And no one is more surprised than she is.

Hurwitz was the quintessential lapsed Jew—until, at age thirty-six, after a tough breakup, she happened upon an advertisement for an introductory class on Judaism. She attended on a whim, but was blown away by what she found: beautiful rituals, helpful guidance on living an ethical life, conceptions of God beyond the judgy bearded man in the sky—none of which she had learned in Hebrew school or during the two synagogue services she grudgingly attended each year. That class led to a years-long journey during which Hurwitz visited the offices of rabbis, attended Jewish meditation retreats, sat at the Shabbat tables of Orthodox families, and read hundreds of books about Judaism—all in dogged pursuit of answers to her biggest questions. What she found transformed her life, and she wondered: How could there be such a gap between the richness of what Judaism offers and the way so many Jews like her understand and experience it?

Sarah Hurwitz is on a mission to close this gap by sharing the profound insights she discovered on everything from Jewish holidays, ethics, and prayer to Jewish conceptions of God, death, and social justice. In this entertaining and accessible book, she shows us why Judaism matters and how its message is more relevant than ever, and she inspires Jews to do the learning, questioning, and debating required to make this religion their own.

Tour of Congregation Shearith Israel, the first Jewish Congregation in North America With Janet Kirchheimer from the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy: Sunday, January 24 11:00am-12:30pm

Register in advance for this meeting  
 
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
 
Virtually visit Congregation Shearith Israel, commonly known as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, the first Jewish congregation in North America founded in 1654. Come tour the Synagogue and learn about its very long, rich and interesting history in New York City.
 
The Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy (LESJC,) is a non-profit organization in existence since 1998, whose primary goal is to preserve the synagogues of the LES, the most famous immigrant neighborhood in America. 
 
Janet Kirchheimer is a prize-winning poet and author of a book entitled How to Spot One of Us.  Janet is also a teaching fellow at The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and she has been a member of Congregation Shearith Israel for over 20 years.

It is with great sadness we share that Elaine Bornstein passed away on November 24, 2020. Elaine was the mother of Scott Bornstein, mother-in-law of Sandy Bornstein and the grandmother of Matthew, Robert and Brianna.

May God console those who mourn in Zion, Jerusalem and throughout the world

Temple Shaari Emeth has a holiday tradition of putting a "Miracle Menorah" in the temple lobby covered with paper mittens with the names of children from at risk families, along with gifts the children have asks for. We then pick mittens off of the Miracle Menorah and bring the gifts to the temple so that the Raine Foundation can deliver the gifts to those families.

This year we have chosen to support 20 families by purchasing $200 gift cards for each of the families so that they can purchase their own gifts. This seems like a more sensible way to support the concept behind the Miracle Menorah this year.

If you can please support this effort by contributing money so that we can purchase gift cards for the 20 families that we are going to help this year by making their holiday a little brighter. Any donation, all or part of the cost of a gift card, would be appreciated.

Are you ready for a Doughnut Truck - mini gourmet doughnuts, milkshakes topped with doughnuts, hot chocolate, coffee, loads of fun!

Not your usual Chanukah celebration and not only because we're having an outdoor service in December!

Drive-in Rules (Revised due to current guidelines):

• Must stay in cars (no "lawn chair seating")
• Must wear face masks when outside of cars​​​​​​​
• ​​​We will take doughnut/shake/coffee/hot cocoa orders at your cars (we will hand out order slips upon entrance to the parking lot.)
• We will text you when your "order" is ready for pick-up

Sunday, December 13 11:00 am
Jewish and Democratic: Threats and Challenges to Israel’s Democracy with Anat Hoffman

​​​​​​​
In recent years, authoritarian regimes have been gaining strength worldwide, mostly following financial and social crises. Although our country has managed to keep its democracy intact, we must remain aware and be vocal about its violations. Attacks on the courts and especially Israel’s Supreme Court, have increased. There are also more and more attacks - from the highest government offices - against Israeli journalists, and even against the Attorney General’s office, and other safeguards of democracy. During this webinar, we will scrutinize the different threats and challenges to Israel’s democracy. One of them, the Supreme Court Override Bill, could remove all power from the Supreme Court. While the Knesset is not fully functional, this can open a Pandoras box for extremist behaviors and indoctrination. It is imperative to understand where seemly harmless actions can lead and what we can do about them.

Anat Hoffman, an Israeli born in Jerusalem, serves as the Executive Director of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) since 2002. 

CLICK TO REGISTER

Come Home to Israel and Let Israel Come Home to You
December 19th to 23rd 5:00 to 6:00pm each night
Visit Israel from your Home

Join the incredible Keren Hananel, (Keren has lead multiple trips for TSE) as she takes us on a five day tour through Israel including explorations of some newer sights that have only opened during the pandemic.

December 19: Explore Northern Israel: The Golan heights and Mt. Hermon

December 20:The Story of Caesarea and Recent Archaeological Findings

December 21: Jerusalem

December 22: Kumran (sight of the Dead Sea Scrolls) and Ein Gedi and its Ancient Synagogue

December 23: Southern Israel: Sde Boker, Ben Gurion’s House, Ben Gurion’s Grave and Ovdat

The last night of the tour will include a “Banquet” from 6:00-7:00 p.m. with the opportunity to purchase an Israeli meal to be picked up at the Temple prior to the event, enjoyed with some shmoozing.

CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER

.... and here's the rest of the story

Take a Selfie: Self Care During COVID
with Alison Glaser

Tuesday, December 1, 2020 
8:00 PM

This interactive, hands-on workshop will emphasize the importance of self care and avoiding burn-out. Participants will explore their own personal strategies as well as challenges they face in practicing effective self-care. Participants will develop action plans for enhancing and prioritizing the practice of self-care in their personal and professional lives.

Pre-Registration Required
Link will be emailed, to those that registered, before the event