Congregation Kneseth Israel Congregation Kneseth Israel OUR VOICEOUR VOICE

Volume No. 29 Issue No. 7 Tammuz - Av 5774 July 2014

The Kneseth Israel Sanctuary - Photographs Courtesy of Mark Goldberg

Dr. Christian Tremblay performing at Kneseth Israel Thank you Ali and Haley, we will all miss you next year

Dear Congregants,

Sunshine and summer adventure has arrived. Classical Annapolis boating, outdoor

activities and long restful Shabbatot are on the calendar for the Hebrew month of

Tammuz. Additionally, the 4th of July Independence holiday offers us a time to

celebrate religious freedom. This year marks the 200thAnniversary of our National Anthem, the Star

Spangled Banner. Written by Francis Scott Key, with lyrics by John Stafford Smith, it was conceived

in neighboring Baltimore. In honor of this landmark historical occasion, a colleague of mine, Rabbi Dovid

Katz, led an interesting bus tour entitled” American Jews and the War of 1812”, including a visit to

Fort McHenry, a National Monument and shrine. How proud we should feel that our Jewish ancestors

were amongst the soldiers and volunteers who fought for our countries military achievements!

This week I traveled to Israel for a family simcha. My daughter Ayala became engaged and it was a

time of Mazel-tov meetings and future wedding plans. Moreover, the country is bustling with tourists,

entrepreneurs, and professional organizations from around the world. A lot of positive ideas and

energy!

While the personal perspective is joyful, there is also a political concern for certain disturbing

developments. We pray for the safe return of the three kidnapped teenagers. Specifically, the merger

of Hamas with Fatah, a terrorist organization is troubling for Israel due to their track record of anti-

Semitic violence and destruction. We must strengthen our prayers, charity, and acts of kindness to

receive divine assistance and protection.

As I always say, we need to be vigilant and garner our allies to support and protect Jews worldwide

and in the Land of Israel. One of my advocacy plans is to attend the Christians United for Israel

convention in Washington D.C. on July 21st-22nd. Building bridges is a way we can thank our non-Jewish

families and clergy, who work to promote democracy and freedom in the Middle East.

Regarding our own spiritual house, at KI we are always looking for ways to improve our synagogue. In

the works, is a beautiful upgrade of the Educational Directors office. A sincere thank you to devoted

friends, and loyal members, for your financial generosity to help make this happen.

Looking forward to sharing ongoing good news.

Much Blessings.

Rabbi Moshe P. Weisblum

From your Rabbi / Cantor

My dear fellow congregants,

Summer is certain with us now, with very warm or hot afternoons, however along with all

this heat in Annapolis come a wealth of activities one can perform to keep cool. We are

blessed to live in such a beautiful location so close to such an historic and beautiful body of water as the Chesapeake

Bay. With the Summer in Annapolis, we all look forward to the Annual Rosenblatt Memorial Lecture, Gary and Jason

always seem to find the most interesting speakers, and this year was no exception as former Israeli ambassador, Dan

Kurtzer and Sheila Kurtzer spoke in our sanctuary. A big thank you and great job to Leslie Gradet for coordinating

this event.

We were treated to a beautiful fathers day concert, courtesy of our musical director Shouvik Mondle. We were

treated to music performed by Dr. Christian Tremblay on violin, now a KI regular Diane Kinsley on piano, Shouvik Mon-

dle Baritone and Rabbi Weisblum Tenor. It was such an enjoyable concert, with very diverse music presented. These

are certainly events to look forward to. In addition, the Sisterhood sold out an antique appraisal program at KI. This

event was such a great idea, as almost everyone has one of those family keepsakes that they always wanted to know

if it was worth something.

In early June we celebrated Shavuot, the second of our three festivals. This year we did things just a bit different-

ly, starting services at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. We felt that since this was a weekday service, there were many that

would like to attend but also could not miss much work. This way services were wrapped up by 10 a.m. and those that

had to could still work a relatively full day. This was very well received, as several members mentioned if we did not

start at 8 they would not have been able to attend. We plan to continue this for future holidays that may fall on a

weekday (other than Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). We will continue to strive to be innovative in our approach to

meeting our congregants and the Jewish community’s needs, there are many gaps that can be filled, and KI as the

front runners and leaders of the Annapolis Jewish community can fill those gaps.

As Tzipporah and I celebrated our 6 month anniversary, we thought it would be nice to host a President’s Shabbat

Dinner, and we plan to do this in August. Please look for an invitation soon. Of course everyone is invited, so please

plan to come and to bring guests!

I would like to take a moment to thank Mark Goldberg for the beautiful photographs of our sanctuary on the front

cover of this Kolenu. We are planning to release a “new look” Kolenu toward the end of this year, and Mark has of-

fered his photographs to be used. Mark is an excellent photographer and I recommend that anyone in the area that

needs some photographic work done, consider Mark.

Our in-house chef and caterer, Steve Lebowitz and family, in the form of Allot catering continue to blossom and

grow. I was really pleased to read this article on the Lebowitz’s and Allot Catering on jewishfoodexperience.com.

We are also working hard to ensure we provide the best communication to our members. Currently we communicate

via email, internet through our website, telephone calls and US Mail. Our Shabbat page and Kolenu are now available

online or via email as well as by US mail. If you have a preferred method of receiving these publications, please con-

tact the office and let us know your preference. We are developing a streamlined and efficient method to communi-

cate and ensure nobody is left out.

I hope everyone has a very enjoyable summer, but don’t stay away from the Shul!

David Sliom

President, Congregation Kneseth Israel

President's Message

Yahrtzeit Donations

Michael Goldstein by Corinne Earle

Phyllis Kopen by Harriet Rubin

Frieda Riegel by Roslyn Zimmerman

Manuel Schenker by Rita Cohen

Judith Rubin by Shirley Sweren

Adam Mandelkorn by Esther Mandelkorn

Morton H. Wilner by Larry Wilner

Rose Rattner by Shirley Lieberman

Dr. Ludwig Schwarzschild by Lore Singerman

Albert Greenbaum by Harry Greenbaum

Aaron Goldschmidt by Fritz Goldschmidt

Bernice Stark by Nancy Schoenburg

Sam H. Snyder by Debra Snyder Lipsky

Jeffrey Torf by Arthur Torf

Ezra E. Ani by Joyce Ani

Ida Goldstein by Corinne Earle

Louis Zimmerman by Roslyn Zimmerman

Etta Kaufman by Max Koman

Michael Sachs by Annie Frieman

Rose Sutton by Laura & Stephen Sutton

Miriam Goldrat by Esther Mandelkorn

Grete B. Schwarzschild by Lore Singerman

Arthur Koplin by Francine & Barnett Rattner.

Elaine Lisa Goodman by Peter Goodman

Sondra Snyder by Debra Snyder Lipsky

Mark L Lipsky by Debra Snyder Lipsky

MAZEL TOV TO...

Ina and Jeffrey Legum on their anniversary

Donna and Alan Berusch on their anniversary

Lori and Howard Hoffman on their anniversary

Bernice and Stanley Cohn on their wedding anniversary

Judge Jonas & Jean Legum on the marriage of their daughter

Lauren to Andrew Slone

Haley Janowitz for being salutatorian of the senior class of

South River high school

Rabbi & Rebbetzin Weisblum on the engagement of their daughter

Ayla to Dolev Nizri

SUPPORT YOUR

SISTERHOOD

We will gladly send out donation

cards for all occasions, condolence,

birthdays, anniversary, etc. We also

sell packages of cards for your own

use.

Please contact Marilyn Halpern at

410-263-5537

SISTERHOOD GIFT SHOP

Judaica for All Occasions and

Holidays

Bar and Bat Mitzvah Gifts, Kippot

Israeli Crafts and Jewelry

Contact:

Libby Monias 410 268-8500

Laura Sutton 410 721-0679

Kneseth Israel Sisterhood Gift Shop

We recently added to our inventory of art pieces by Israeli artist Yair Emanuel. This month

the Gift Shop is featuring a beautiful Emanuel 13” x 15” fabric multi-

color Shalom wall hanging. Other pieces by Emanuel are displayed in

the showcases in the auditorium, as well.

This is the season of simchas with graduations, engagements, and

weddings. Shop the Gift Shop where items are available for your

convenience and give you the opportunity to support the KI Sister-

hood. The Shop is open at most synagogue events.

Questions/requests- Please contact-: Libby Monias: mon1lib62@gmail.com or 410 268-8500

Laura Sutton: ls217@comcast.net or 410 721-0679

Kneseth Israel Sisterhood News

June was relatively quiet for Sisterhood. We did get two quotes on the handicap access to our entrance. One

was outside our budget, and the other one was within our budget. We are working on the fine print before we

present the drawing and sign a contract. The plan includes the ramp, new carpeting, railing, and a new canopy to

cover the stairs and the ramp. Hopefully we can make this a reality before winter!

At the time of this writing, we have not yet held our “Antique Appraisal Road Show”. However, we have reserva-

tions for appraisals enough to fill our evening, and it looks like it will be a fun and educational evening for all! We’ll

report on this next month.

We had hoped that one or more of our congregrants would have been able to donate funds to purchase a new com-

puter for the Rabbi and Jeri Shaffron, our nursery school director. Computers and printers are badly needed,

and we are so outside of our budget that we must depend solely on donations to make these purchases. Please, if

you can help, your donation will only be used to purchase the computers and printers. It will not be used for any

other purpose. We are trying to work within budget to put us back on our financial feet, but sometimes these

unbudgeted items come up. Yes, we need computers, but we also have repairs to our building and systems that

must be made. Your donation would be a true mitzvah!

Thank you to Lore Singerman, who recently became a “Double Chi” member of Sisterhood! In addition to her orig-

inal Life Membership, Lore donated another $100.00 to become a “Double” Life Member. Thank you, Lore, for

your faith in Sisterhood!

And don’t forget that the Sisterhood Gift Shop is open by appointment with just a call to Libby Monias at (410)268-8500 or Laura Sutton at (410)721-0679. Now that’s “service with a smile”!

We wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July, and we hope to have lots to talk about in our next Kolenu!

Shalom!

.Nancy Gordon President

“Perpetual Torah Fund” Solicitation

June 1, 2014

Dear Congregants,

As we say goodbye to old man winter and we begin to welcome spring and summer, it is also the time to re-member the past and look to the future. As the chairperson of the Religious Committee and on behalf of the entire Religious Committee, I’m writing to you concerning an extremely important matter for our Congrega-tion. As all of us are aware, our Torahs have been providing us with many, many years of comfort, learning, and a sense of well-being. Without our Torahs, we cannot exist. As with anything that is used often, and in this case, they are used three times a week, 52 weeks a year, even on a rotating basis, they need to be maintained in a proper manner to maintain their Kashrut. The religious committee feels that there is a definite need to establish a “Perpetual Torah Fund” for just that purpose. The monies in this fund will be used strictly for the repair and maintenance of our Torahs on an as needed basis to ensure that our Torahs are kept in “kosher” condition at all times. The funds collected through your generous donations will be kept in a sepa-rate account, aside from the General Fund.

The Religious Committee feels that this is the best direction to ensure the continued use of our Torahs.

The following guide will provide you with an understanding of what funds are needed for maintenance and to do specific types of repairs. Currently, we have 3 Torahs that require repair; two major and one minor.

$250.00 – To have a scribe check a sefer Torah for it’s Kashrut (Kosher). $ 50.00 - To repair a letter. $150.00 - To repair a word.

$3,000.00 to $4,000.00 - To do a significant repair. (One Torah)

We look forward to any amount, be it small or large, that you feel comfortable donating. When making your donation, please specify the “Perpetual Torah Fund” on the For________________ line of your check. If you wish to make your donation via credit card, specify that it’s for the “Perpetual Torah Fund” so that your dona-tion will be handled properly. Thanks again for contributing to this fund that will benefit all of us.

Respectfully, Michael Snyder Religious Chairperson

1) ATTENTION:

For those men who wish to recite their Bar Mitzvah Haftorah, you are encouraged to contact Rabbi

Weisblum for assistance in preparing for that special recitation. This would be a great honor and mitzvah.

2) "THE GREAT BIRNBAUM SIDDURIM GIVE-A-WAY"

2) Sunday, June 22 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

If you would like to have a Birnbaum Siddur (light blue Shabbat prayer book) that you have some sort of

connection to from the past, that you donated in honor of or in memory of a family member, you are wel-

come to come pick it up at the synagogue on the date and at the time designated above. This would be a

wonderful opportunity to donate a new Koren Siddur to perpetuate the honor of that special occasion or

the memory of your family loved one. The purchase of a new Koren Siddur would include a duplicated

new book plate. The price of a new Koren Siddur to replace a Birnbaum Siddur would be $50.00. Select-

ing a Birnbaum Siddur to take home does not require the purchase of a replacement Koren Siddur.

If you would like to make a contribution to the

Synagogue, there are many opportunities to do

so.

Leaf on the Tree of Life Min of $225.00

Rock under the Tree of Life Min of $1000.00

Simcha Plaque in Auditorium Min of $200.00 (Single)

Min of $400.00 (Double)

Memorial Plaque $300.00 for members or their families

For non-members $400.00 with no connection to KI

Prayer books and Chumashim for

purchase and dedication $50 per book

(contact the Shul Office and the Rabbi

will select the book most needed).

Donation Cards

Minimum of $10.00 per name

(in honor of … or memory)

There is also a list of items in the Synagogue that can

be purchased.

For more information about

those items, call Steve Sutton

at 410-721-0679.

GIANT Gift Cards in denominations of

$50 or $100 where 5% of the money

goes toward our Synagogue.

If you shop at these stores, using

these cards it can be a great way to send

money to KI.

Contact Shirley C. Aronson or

Marcia Diamond if interested.

Congregation Kneseth Israel

1125 Spa Road

Annapolis, MD 21403

410-263-3924

410-260-0740

410-263-5740 (fax)

Rabbi/Cantor:- Moshe P. Weisblum, PhD.

President:- David L. Sliom

Vice President:- Lore Singerman

Sisterhood President.:- Nancy Gordon

Director, Nursery School:- Jerri Shafran

Director, Day Care:- Patricia Calomiris

Office Manager:- Jeanne Smit

Bookkeeper:- Dave Stout

Would you like to become a volunteer Big

Brother (for a couple of hours twice a

month)?

The Jewish Big Brother and Big Sister League is in

need of Jewish men of all ages to match with boys

and teens who are waiting for a Big Brother.

Please call or email Lia Weisbord at

410-843-7462

or lweisbord@jbbl.org

“To the world, you may be one

person, but to one person, you may be the world”

Shalom! I would like to introduce myself to you, if we have not had the opportunity as yet to meet. I am Ellyn Kaufman

and very excited to be starting up a new Hebrew School at KI, which will be known as the Jewish Education

Center of Anne Arundel County.

How did this come to be and why was I asked to start up this school?

After working in Arnold for 13 years as a Jewish Educator, the position I held as Director of Education for a

local Hebrew School was changed and shortly thereafter, Rabbi Weisblum invited me to start a new Hebrew

School with KI.

As a Jewish Educator for the past 38 years, I accepted the challenge and have been meeting with local people

since to see how we can best build this entity for our current KI families with children, for people in AAC who

are unaffiliated and as an option for other families who may be looking for a new Jewish home to call their

own.

My Jewish philosophy is simple – I believe we need to help our children be proud of our Jewish heritage; catch

them doing mitzvot and help them realize that we are the future of our peoplehood. We need to establish a

Hebrew School that is relevant, educationally viable, fun, and a social environment where they will want to

come and be with other children. At the Jewish Education Center, we have the opportunity and obligation to

teach our students about our holidays, Jewish customs, Jewish history, Siddur and some conversational He-

brew, Torah stories and studies, a love of Israel and about Jewish identity.

A few words about me and my background:

I am from Portsmouth, Virginia, a neighbor to Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Being raised in an area with very

few Jews, I can relate to the uniqueness of being a minority as are our Jewish children in the Annapolis area.

After going to Israel as a teenager and falling in love with the country, I chose (against my parent’s advice) to

continue my college studies first at David Yellin Teacher’s College in Jerusalem before continuing studies at

Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I met and married my “practice husband” in Jerusalem and a few years lat-

er, we moved back to Tidewater Virginia where my 2 amazing children, Avi and Mindy Elfersy were born. I

went back to school when my children were teenagers to attend Old Dominion University for a Masters Degree

in Education Administration.

Please allow me to brag for a moment about the joys in my life. Avi and wife Kathie are parents to my brilliant

grandsons Benjamin and Jackson and they reside in Nashville, Tennessee. My daughter Mindy and fiancé Jim,

parents of wonderful Aidan, reside in Crofton. I came to Arnold as a single woman and thanks to JDate met

my “b’shert”, Martin Kaufman, in 2003 and we married in 2006.

I am beyond thrilled to be part of the family at KI as of July 1, 2014 and I look forward to working with Rabbi

Weisblum and getting to know the KI families!

Thank you for welcoming me to your community and into your lives.

Shalom v’kol tuv, wishing you all the best,

Ellyn Becker Kaufman

Director of Education

Jewish Education Center

Jewish Education Center of Anne Arundel County.

Donations to Kneseth Israel In Honor Of….

Susannah Carr’s birthday

By Shirley C. Aronson

Joy & Mark Goldberg

Stephen Heup

Roxanne & Michael Heup

Shirley Lieberman’s

Special birthday

By Shirley C. Aronson

Bar Mitzvah of Dr. David &

Roz Krimims’ grandson

By Shirley C. Aronson

Nancy & Lenora Gordon &

Harry Ballman

Haley Janowitz’s graduation &

Salutatorian

By Gail & Michael Snyder

Dr. Charles Zimmerman

By Gail & Michael Snyder

Esther Cohen

The Wohlfeld Family

Nancy Strong & Paul Stessel

Nancy & Lenora Gordon and

Harry Ballman

Bonnie Legum Thistle

By Nancy & Lenora Gordon &

Harry Ballman

Leonard Bulman

By Nancy & Lenora Gordon

& Harry Ballman

Dr. Ernest Halpern

by Phyllis & Eliot Siskind

In Memory Of….

In Honor Of….

Graduation of Edye Greengold’s

Grandson, Sam Easter

By Lenora & Nancy Gordon &

Harry Ballman

Ali Kay’s graduation

By Gail & Michael Snyder

Jeremy Schmerling’s graduation

By Gail & Michael Snyder

Bobby Rubin’s graduation

By Gail & Michael Snyder

Would you like to sponsor a kiddush at KI to celebrate an upcoming simcha,

to commemorate a special event, or to honor a loved one?

Please contact Leslie Gradet at 410-268-5801 or at ldgradet@verizon.net

Thank you for your kindnesses,

considerations, and condolences on the death

Of Dr. Charles Zimmerman.

The Zimmerman Family

Rabbi & Rebbetzin Rosenblatt

Memorial Fund

NEW SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED:

The Religious Committee will provide a new service to those who are unable to attend religious services to

say the Mourners Kaddish for a loved one on a daily or yahrtzeit basis. For this service, an appropriate dona-

tion is requested. For further information, please contact :-

Michael Snyder at 410-269-1789 or via e-mail at sales@partsdiversified.com.

July Yahrtzeits Tuesday, July 1st Rosita Greenfield

Edward Levy Herbert Needle

Wednesday, July 2nd Max Kanter

Eugene Shapiro Harry Wollman Sarah Zelkowitz

Thursday, July 3rd

Friday, July 4th Henry Abrams Fannie Blum Fanny Kaplan Rachel Moyal

Saturday, July 5th Nettie Hankin

Jacob L. Schaftel

Sunday, July 6th Joseph Donner Bernard Legum

Monday, July 7th Henry Cohn

Louis L. Goldstein Charlotte G. Krohn

Hyman Snyder Bessie Snyder

Tuesday, July 8th Stanley Carr

Israel S. Kotzin Samuel Kotzin

Molly Mask

Wednesday, July 9th Dr. David Greengold

Rabbi Morris D Rosenblatt Max Snyder

Thursday, July 10th Ida Brenner

Phillip H. Katcef

Friday, July 11th

Max Aschkynazo

William F. Krone

Flora D. Lachman

Joseph Siskind

Saturday, July 12th

Harry W. Goodman

Bessie Rosenbloom

Sunday, July 13th

Sylvia Goldstein

Beatrice Katcef

Tillie Kotzin

Abraham Krissoff

Rowena Rosenberg

Monday, July 14th

Tuesday, July 15th

Joseph A. Cooper

Louis Feldman

Juliet P. Simon

Wednesday, July 16th

Anna Cohn

Jacob Legum

Feige Leah Rosenblatt

Grete B. Schwarzschild

Thursday, July 17th

Hannah Golombek

Julius Michaels

Miriam Shraga

Samuel H. Snyder

George Walters

Friday, July 18th

L. Michael Goldsmith

Rebecca Gordon

Isidor Levinson

Frieda Messinger

Nathan Stein

Saturday, July 19th

Rebecca Lebovitz

Jacob Silverberg

Leon Strauss

Sunday, July 20th Isadore Walder

Monday, July 21st Adolf Goldrat

Lance Garrison Solomon Ethel Block Zieve

Tuesday, July 22nd Lena Silverstein Reichel

Cecilia Stern

Wednesday, July 23rd Mary Glickman Ida Greengold

Thursday, July 24th Donald Levy

Israel Schwartz

Friday, July 25th

Saturday, July 26th Isidore Monias

Sunday, July 27th Abraham Abrams

Bonnie Goldschmidt Ernest Mitzner Samuel Parks

Sondra E. Snyder

Monday, July 28th David Alper

Fannie Koman Dr. Ludwig Schwarzschild

Eva Turk

Tuesday, July 29th Dr. Clarence Berman, Jr.

Anna Greengold

Wednesday, July 30th Sarah Katsef

Mary Loox

Thursday, July 31st Hyman Gorelik Harry Siegel

Congregation Kneseth Israel extends its deepest sympathy to

Lynn & Daniel Monias on the passing of Lynn’s father

Theodore Kahn.

Congregation Kneseth Israel 1125 Spa Road

Annapolis, Maryland 21403 Time Sensitive Material

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID

ANNAPOLIS MD PERMIT NO. 205

The Kolenu is also available

Online or by email

Over One Hundred Years of Service to G-d and Community

Photograph by

Mark Goldberg