THE VOICETEMPLE BETH ABRAHAM, 1301 WASHINGTON STREET, CANTON, MA 02021

PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY IYAR-TAMMUZ MAY-JUNE 2012 ISSUE NO. 6

FundrFundrFundrFundrFundraising Gala June 3: Honoring Our Graising Gala June 3: Honoring Our Graising Gala June 3: Honoring Our Graising Gala June 3: Honoring Our Graising Gala June 3: Honoring Our Groundbroundbroundbroundbroundbreakeakeakeakeakererererersssss

We are pleased to honor theGroundbreakers of Temple BethAbraham at our FundraisingGala on Sunday, June 3, 5:00-9:00 p.m., at Temple BethAbraham.

The Groundbreakers areTBA members who wereinstrumental in making it possiblefor the congregation to move intoits current location at 1301Washington Street. Their dedi-cated efforts and enthusiasmhave served to inspire us all.They are as follows, in order oflongevity:

Alan and Dorothy Golub,September 1953

Frank and Helen Weiner,May 1958

Clifford and PhyllisSeresky, July 1958

Toby Krieger, July 1958Nathan and Barbara

Slawsby, August 1959Ruth Scott, November

1959Harvey and Thelma

Sandberg, November 1959Ted and Doris Goodman,

February 1960Harvey and Judy Malin,

December 1960Dr. Melvin Brockman,

September 1961Howard and Estelle Levy,

July 1960

Louis and DorothySnapper, August 1961

Ted and Sandra Liftman,August 1961

Sumner and Anita Baker,November 1961

Benson and Ruth Diamond,June 1963

Ann Starr, June 1963Melvin and Harriet

Blackman, August 1965The Gala will begin with a

cocktail and hors d’oeuvres houralong with a silent auction to themusic of ‘Jazz in the Air’. Ahandful of large items will bereserved for the live auction.

At the end of the evening, wewill raffle a two-year lease on thered Mustang in front of TBA,provided by Rodman Ford. The

winner will have the option of takingthe lease or up to $10,000. Pleasebuy a raffle ticket. Invitations were mailed April23. Please send me the names (continued on page 4)

In a nine-year journey, TBAmember Yale Zussman recentlycompleted (February 25) readingevery parsha in the Torah at TempleBeth Abraham, a journey thatbegan when he joined oursynagogue nearly ten years ago. Since Conservative synagoguesread only a third of the parsha eachweek, Zussman’s accomplishmentis a major hurdle for a volunteer.

With 54 parshas to complete, itindeed took some planning to readall 162 sections.

Rabbi David Paskin said: “Weare so proud of Yale. He hasdedicated hours upon hours overthe past several years to learn andperfect his chanting of Torah. He isa teacher, a scholar and an inspira-tion to us all.”

It all began when CantorHarold Lew taught Zussman to

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Sometimes change happensbecause there is an opportunity.Other times, changehappens out ofnecessity. Whetheryou see theregionalizationdiscussions asopportunity ornecessity, I think wecan all agree: changeis-a-comin’. For reasons that Idon’t fully understand,the clergy of the fourcommunities engaged in thesediscussions have not been invitedto be active participants in thediscussions. So I thought I wouldshare my two cents with you here.I invite you to consider thesethoughts as you participate in dis-cussions and decisions about ourfuture at TBA. These are incom-plete, but perhaps a place to start. My greatest concern is thatwhile we may have acknowledgedthat change is coming - we are stilllimiting our imagination to themodels, systems, structures andrealities of the 20th century Jewishcommunity. If we are going tochange, then let’s embrace theopportunity and really dosomething dynamic, exciting,engaging and different. Let’s re-imagine and re-discover what“community” means. Re-discovering Community While the Jewish communitiesof the last fifty years served theJewish people well, ourdemographics, our modes ofconnection and commitment, ourreligious expressions and ourspiritual needs have changed. Inour modern age, “community” is

formed not only in a shared space,but around shared interests.

Communities thrive on-line, on Facebook, in theparking lot, in people’sliving rooms and in theintimacy of sharedmoments of prayer. For my 41stbirthday I did notreceive a single birthdaycard. I did receive onephone call, a few emailsand 34 birthday wisheson Facebook. The

wishes were just as genuine; theywere just wrapped differently.To Be(long) or Not to Be(long) As our conceptions ofcommunity change, ourunderstandings of “belonging” to acommunity must change as well.Young Jews today no longer feelthe need to “support the localsynagogue” the way we did ageneration ago. This is due in partto the changing demographicswhich have a synagogue servingJews from many differentcommunities, thus doing away withthe idea of a “local synagogue.” The dues model thatsupported synagogues in the1900’s is no longer sustainingsynagogues. Many contemporaryJews feel that being Jewish is “tooexpensive” and are not willing topay the exorbitant cost ofmembership which affords themthe privilege of sustaining a Jewishinstitution which they rarely visit. New models of “member-ship,” “affiliation” and “belonging”must be considered for the futureof the synagogue. Our constituentsare much more giving andphilanthropic when we trust and

empower them. Unfortunately, weare so busy demanding proof ofincome and imposing fee after fee,we turn them off from supportingour communities at levels theywould otherwise consider. Why Are We Here? Synagogues are selfish. Withsome notable exceptions - liberalsynagogues exist...to exist. Ourmissions include financial stabilityand membership growth. Becausethe definition of “community” haschanged, the defining character-istics and missions of ourinstitutions must change as well. We can no longer exist for thesake of existing. For generations we have soldwhat we do and how we do it. Inthe 21st century we must sellWHY we do what we do. Wemust ask ourselves, “Why are wehere? What is our greaterpurpose?” Synagogues cannot be allthings to all people. We mustdefine and focus our purpose, findour niche and work to be superbat filling it. The Business of Building

Community A person’s checkbook can nolonger be his/her ticket into thecommunity. Synagogues musttransition to a model that dependson the participation of everymember (financial, time, energy,visioning, leadership, etc.). Eachmember must be encouraged andempowered to find his/her ownways of contributing to the life ofthe community. Your heart must beyour “ticket” in. Synagogues of the 21stcentury can no longer survive on

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The synagogue would like to be informed about all important eventsand occasions, including births, engagements, weddings, awards,etc., as well as illnesses and deaths. Please notify the office at (781)828-5250.

Wonder of wonders, miracleof miracles. Sounds crazy, no! I’msure Zero Mostel won’t mind meborrowing his words to describethe recent buzz around the shul.

We just camethrough Passover, aholiday rife withmiracles andexperiences that tookour senses from aslofty a place as ourimaginations can takeus to as visceral as ourtaste buds canexperience. Fromfrogs, vermin and boilsto locusts, darkness and death,from the sea splitting and thedrowning of the Egyptian army tothe revelations at Sinai. WOW! Ifonly we could experience miracleslike those, then we would believe.Hallelujah, then I (we), wouldbelieve.

Many of us are familiar withthe midrash about Nachman andthe splitting of the Red Sea. Itseems that the people of Israelwere waiting for the sea to splitand, guess what, nothing washappening. The only thing that washappening was the closing in onthem of the Egyptian army,chariots and all. Finally Nachman,who never learned how to swim,growing up in the desert, steppedinto the water, first up to hisankles, then knees, then stomach,chest neck and finally, just whenhe was about to drown, G-dmade the sea split. There wasprobably no one more relievedthan Nachman. But I believe G-dwas also relieved. G-d neededand still needs a partner in this

world, a people who have faithand belief strong enough to takeaction, even in the face of greatodds. You know the old saying,“When the going gets tough, the

tough get going.”Right now we are on

the precipice of our owngreat abyss. Let’s be likeNachman and lead, notbe led. Let’s be moversof history not victims of it.Let’s keep the buzzgoing, create acommunity and see themiracles which surroundus every day. Maybe by

seeing these miracles we cancreate a vision that worth passingon to our children.

We are a small part of G-d’sgreatest miracle: The existenceand flourishing of the Jewishpeople. Rabbi David sent arounda link to a video. Its words arespoken by the chief rabbi ofSouth Africa and the music of thesong, Vehi Sheamda, is sung byYaakov Shweky. This can befound at www.chiefrabbi.co.zaThis beautiful and movingselection is well worth listening toa few times.

After listening to this video, Ihope you will roll up your sleevesjump in like Nachman and makethe June 3 Fundraiser into aFUN-RAISER.

Rekindle the flame.Michael Shain

LibrLibrLibrLibrLibraryaryaryaryary

It is our pleasure to let youknow that all the books havefinally been catalogued and are onthe shelves. Our newest books arein the Chapel. We have addedsome books on tape and largeprint books to the collection.

You can find out what isavailable by clicking the link on theTBA web page and follow thedirections. Please return books ina timely manner, as others arewaiting to read them.

Our next project is organizingthe TBA memorabilia. This will beon display in the glass case in thetemple foyer. If you have anythingthat you feel would be appropriateto add to our collection, please letus know.

Harriet Lavine andWendy Lustbader

Misplaced Tefillin?

Have you misplaced yourTallit, Tallit bag, Tefillin or Tefillinbag? We have many unclaimeditems in our coat closet. Take apeek and check them out.

CongCongCongCongCongrrrrreeeeegggggaaaaational Educational Educational Educational Educational Educationtiontiontiontion

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(continued from page 1)and addresses of anyone wemissed who have connectionsto our Founders and TBA. Tickets are $90 each. We already have more than60 retailers and service providersin the Canton area who havedonated gift certificates or goodsfor our auction at the gala. The listcontinues to grow. Raffle tickets for the FordMustang two-year lease can bepurchased by ordering online at:

Wow, this year we AmericanJews have a problem the lastweekend in May. Usually it isspent filled with red, white, andblue,burgersand hotdogs onthe grill. Sowhat isthe prob-lem, youask? Thatsameweekendis also Shavuot. Now as many ofyou had no problems thinkingabout Memorial Day, Shavuotimages may be harder to think of.First, it is important to rememberthat Shavuot is the second of thethree major festivals (Passoverand Sukkot are the others). Thisis the holiday when we celebratethe giving of the Torah at Mt.Sinai.

There are several customsthat surround Shavuot. One is to

stay up all night on the firstevening of the holiday and studyTorah. We will begin our nightof learning at 7:30 p.m. onSaturday, May 26th. Don’tworry, we don’t go all night.

Decorating the temple andhome with flowers and greeneryis another tradition. BecauseShavuot is a harvest holiday, theflowers and greenery showsigns of a successful growingseason.

Another custom for Shavuotis to eat dairy. Now you see theBBQ dilemma regardingMemorial Day. There areseveral explanations for why weeat dairy on this holiday. Oneexplanation has to do with ShirHaShirim (the Songs of Songs).In verse 4:11 it says “milk andhoney are under your tongue.”Some people feel that the milkin the verse is the Torah. Likemilk, Torah can sustain us.Typical dairy items to eat on thisholiday are cheesecake,blintzes, and ice cream. So I

was thinking … we may not beable to grill outside, but the red,white and blue can so be built into our meal. Think cherry andblueberry blintzes with a side ofsour cream. Decorate yourcheesecake to look like the flag.For ice cream, I am stuck otherthan adding sprinkles.

If you have any other greatfood ideas, I would love to hearfrom you. Hope to see you allon May 26th for a wonderfulnight of learning together.

B’Shalom,Melissa RudmanCongregational Educator

Hello, friends. We have a fewnew exciting programs to share.

First, we have a special inter-congregational Shavuotexperience shaping up forSaturday evening, May 26, atTBA. Rabbi David is workingclosely with our neighboringspiritual leaders to develop awonderful learning experience for“building a spiritually strongcommunity.” Stay tuned for moredetails as the date gets closer.

Secondly, I recently had theprivilege of discussing educationalopportunities with Rabbi Davidand Rabbi Netanel Friedman ofSharon. It was such an enrichingexperience to discuss and learn ina room with two rabbis that Iwanted to provide everyone withthis opportunity. They will befacilitating a four-part series, “TheKaddish: Its significance andhealing power.” The series will be (continued on page 8)

Adult EducaAdult EducaAdult EducaAdult EducaAdult Educationtiontiontiontion

FundrFundrFundrFundrFundraising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3

www.TBAFord.org, mailingchecks to TBA with “Raffle” onyour check, or contacting KenGordon, Raffle Sales, at 978-580-1848. Tickets are$100apiece, with a maxium of 400 tobe sold. The raffle winner will bedrawn at the Gala at 9 p.m. Volunteers are encouraged topaticipate on the following com-mittees: * Auction Committee * Raffle Committee

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The Lego event on March18th was a huge success. We hada turnout of more than 100 peoplefrom TBA as well as the greatercommunity. For those of you whohaven’t seen the pictures, here aresome showing the Old City ofJerusalem in its early stages.

While the Lego-building wasabout play, a lot of work went intoturning the event into a success,both behind the scenes and on thatday. We’d like to give specialthanks to the following people:

Adrienne Jacobson, MelissaRudman, Andi Woolner, AmyDelaney, Elissa Gordon, DebAlkalay, Lisa Galeota, DavidJacobson and Sam Evans (forschlepping Legos without evenbeing asked), Judy Steinberg, andRabbi David.

In addition, an extra specialthank-you goes to The Village ToyShop of Canton/Easton forgenerously supporting our eventwith more than $300 worth ofraffle donations.

On March 25th, we held afollow-up meeting with schoolparents to discuss the 2012-2013school year. Yes, it’s that time ofyear to start planning next year’s

curriculum, and we areworking diligently towardthat end.

Passover Universitytook place on March 25.Religious School families,along with other membersof the TBA community,learned how to put a twiston the “same-old, same-old” seder year after yearby engaging the kids (andkids at heart) at the table withcrafts, snacks, new songs, andeven re-enactment of portions ofthe Passover story (for example,building pyramids from Legos).

Building JerBuilding JerBuilding JerBuilding JerBuilding Jerusalem in Leusalem in Leusalem in Leusalem in Leusalem in Legggggososososos

Wishing you and all of yourfamilies a Chag Sameach. Amy Litwack, Ellen Orkin

Board of Ed Co-Chairs

KenGordon

anddaugher

Alexa

Josh and Sydney Jacobson

FundrFundrFundrFundrFundraising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3aising Gala June 3

(continued from page 4) * Ticket Committeee * Tribute / Ad BookCommittee. Tributes may be sentwith your response card. We are excited about makingthis fundraiser a big success inorder to enable Temple BethAbraham to begin the next fiscalyear on a solid footing, and wehope this will become an annualevent.

It is important for everymember to participate in someway: donating goods or servicesto the auction, buying and/orselling raffle tickets, and/orattending the Gala. The moreparticipation we have, the moremoney we will raise to stabilize theTBA budget. Larry Finklestone Gala Chair, 781-267-6112 larryf1965@hotmail.com

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(continued from page 2)a “pay-to-pray” basis. The ideathat we should pay for “tickets”to attend services does notresonate with the modern Jew.We must find other ways tosupport ourselves financially. We Jews have fought sodesperately for the separation ofchurch and state in our secularworld that we have forgottenhow antithetical that argument isto the serious Jew. Synagoguescannot be non-profit businesseswith hints of spiritual energy fromtime to time. We must see everymoment, both religious andsecular, as a new opportunity toembrace Jewish values anddiscover God. This meansensuring that Torah (study),Avodah (prayer) and G’milutChasadim (acts of lovingkindness) are a meaningful part ofthe daily life of the community. Synagogues of the 21stcentury cannot be run by a Boardof Directors and Robert’s Rulesof Order. These models ofmanagement are outdated and donot speak to the very memberswe seek to entrust with positionsof leadership. Instead, we mustbuild our community, in everyrespect, from Jewish values andteachings. As a spiritualcommunity, we must insist thatthere is no separation betweenthe “spiritual” and the“community.” We must be both atall times. Talking the Talk and Walking the Walk Synagogues must do a betterjob of balancing chesed(lovingkindness) and gevurah(judgement). We are too quick to

judge, while at the same time weare not honest with one another.Synagogues must demand thatevery member, in every setting, beseen as created b’tzelem Elohim,in the image of God. As such, wemust demand that every memberearn and be given proper respect.We must hold one anotheraccountable, while never judgingtoo harshly or too quickly. We must learn to trust oneanother. No one person in asynagogue is more of an expertthan another. We are all learning,and we are all journeying. Thereare bound to be mistakes andsometimes pain. It is essential thatsynagogues live and work in anenvironment of trust. There mayvery well be times when thecommunity or its members getburned by this trust, but these timesare far outweighed by the sanctitythat will be created by nurturing acommunity of faith - faith in Godand faith in each other. Good communication must beat the center of any healthycommunity. A synagogue iscertainly no exception. Allmembers of the community, bethey lay or professional, must beempowered to speak openly,honestly and compassionately.Lines of communication andmultiple modes of communicationmust constantly be available to allmembers. Assumptions, pre-conceived notions, and secrecycannot be allowed in a spiritualcommunity. While synagogues mustencourage constant communica-tion, we must also prevent lashonhara. Tale-bearing, spreadingrumors, speaking behind other

people’s backs and lying cannotbe permitted in a Jewish, spiritualcommunity.

Building Blocks Synagogues, many of whichhave shrinking memberships, areoften housed in huge buildings.These large buildings were builtfor large congregations, large HighHoly Day services, and largecelebrations. Today, many of theselarge buildings have created largeproblems. Maintenance, repair,utility and upkeep costs unneces-sarily burden congregations. Instead of our buildingsserving the communities for whichthey were built - the communitiesare serving their buildings. Tokeep up with rising costs andunpaid mortgages, our memberscontinue to see increased duesand building funds. We must turnthis tide. We must think creativelyabout what type of buildings orstructures our community reallyneeds. In thinking about ourbuildings, we also must rememberthat as a spiritual community ourgoal should be to create sacredspace. Our spaces must representour communal Jewish values.Many of our synagogue buildingswere crafted in response to thebeauty and majesty of nearbychurches. This architecture andmajesty rarely speaks to themodern Jew. It would behoove usto return to our sources todiscover what makes spacesacred in Jewish history and howwe might apply those texts to ourcommunal spaces. A House of Prayer, a

House of Study (continued on page 9)

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Good andGood andGood andGood andGood andWWWWWelfelfelfelfelfararararareeeee

Social Action in ActionSocial Action in ActionSocial Action in ActionSocial Action in ActionSocial Action in Action

Our next Voice is September-October. Deadline is August 1.Email articles and photos tosherry@alpert-publicrelations.com.

Thank you all for participatingin our monthly collection of 25cans of Kosher soup and 25cans of vegetables. Yourcontributions are very valuable.When we work together, we trulydo a mitzvah that is appreciatedby the people who are servicedby Family Table, which is run byJewish Family and Children’sServices. Please continue to bringin those cans. They depend on us.

Thank you to Rabbi Davidand Judy Steinberg for helpingSocial Action in creating a verysuccessful Purim Basket (MishloatManot) celebration. Purim is aholiday when Jews all over theworld rejoice and celebrate theirfreedom. Originally Purim Basketswere given out to the poor, but atTemple Beth Abraham, all thecongregants receive a basket.When you order baskets for othermembers of the temple, this is awonderful way to connect withand tell people that you arethinking of them. And, as youknow, it is a wonderful way tocontribute to the Temple. Thisyear people who chose not toreceive a basket checked that boxon the form. This way, bags werenot left over and wasted. Manycongregants helped out by

delivering to friends andneighbors. Thank you to thosewho helped. We hope that youenjoyed the goodies in the basket.

Thank you to the children andparents of the Religious School forparticipating in the collection ofPassover macaroons for FamilyTable. To make it more interesting,we had a contest to see whichclassroom could collect the mostcans. Congratulations to KitahGimel and to Mrs. MichelleLangmead for collecting thelargest number of cans ofmacaroons. Their celebration willtake place on Tuesday, May 1st

with a large chocolate chip cookiepie. Thank you again to all whoparticipated.

Lesley Shain, ChairSocial Action

CONDOLENCES:Kimberly Lurie on the loss of her brother, Jerry Wittenberg.David and Wendy Lustbader on the loss of his father and her father-in-law, Carl Lustbader.Marvin and Gayle Feldman on the loss of his father and her father-in-law, Burnett Feldman.David and Adrienne Jacobson on the loss of his mother and her mother-in-law, June Jacobson.

MILESTONES:Mazal Tov to the Latkes on winning the great Latke/ Hamantaschen Debate: Latkes – 54, Hamantaschen – 13!!!Avital Rech & Liat Hoffman on the birth of their son, Ariel Lev.Michael Bloom on being honored as a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.Brenda and Joel Kessel on the birth of their grandson, Louis Meir Kessel.Diane and Warren Foreman on the bat mitzvah of their granddaughter, Emma Rose Hoffstein.

SPEEDY RECOVERY:Ruth DiamondFrank WeinerGeorge Chism

Yard Sale,scheduledforMay 20,ispostponed.Stay tunedfor a newdate.

BlankBlankBlankBlankBlankets fets fets fets fets forororororHospitalizedHospitalizedHospitalizedHospitalizedHospitalizedVVVVVeteretereteretereteransansansansans

I will be making a delivery ofblankets in June to the VeteransAdministration Hospital in WestRoxbury. Please leave alldonations in the TBA office.

Harriet Lavine

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(continued from page 1)read Torah at Temple Israel,Sharon, in preparation for his barmitzvah. Here is Yale’s story:

I had Shabbat Hahodesh. Themaftir for Hahodesh is fairly longand has the critical property ofhaving an example of the entire setof standard trope markings. Aftermy bar mitzvah, I made mydeparture from the Torah-readingbusiness.

Over the next 38 years, I canremember doing only threereadings. The firrst came theweekend I started college, when,using what I had learned for mybar mitzvah, I read ParshatShoftim for Hillel’s Orthodoxminyan. The other two readingswere at my brother’s synagogue inVirginia, including my niece’s batmitzvah. I attended servicesmainly for the holidays.

And then, nine years ago, mybeloved father died and I resumedattending services. Some weekslater, I got the call to accept analiyah. Shabbat Hahodesh wasonly a few weeks away, so Ioffered to do the maftir andhaftarah. Those of you who werehere that day may recall that bothwent very well. In the weeks andmonths that followed, I was calledupon to do the haftarah withincreasing frequency, and I alsodid the occasional Torah reading.

Seven summers ago, I did myfirst back-to-back Torah readings,and as the summer progressed, Ifound myself doing consecutivereadings several times. It was thenthat I sat down to do the numbers.

There are 5845 verses in theTorah, divided into 54 weekly

sections calledparshiyot. AtTBA, as atmanyConservativesynagogues,we read a thirdof the parshaeach week.Some of the54 parshiyotare dividedinto only twoparts, and twoare alwaysread in theirentirety, sothere were 142 readings. If Imanaged to average a readingevery other week, it would takeabout six years to read the entirescroll. I would simply need topersist, prep, and develop a goodmethod to keep track of myprogress. In a manner of speaking,the rest is now history.

Over the years, I estimate thatI have done between 250 and 300readings, mainly here at TBA, butalso at Ahavat Torah where Iteach, and at Newbridge on theCharles where my Mom lives. Ialso got to chant the TenCommandments at the synagoguein St. Thomas, with a thousand-year-old menorah prominentlydisplayed on the wall behind me.

As I approached completion, Isought to discover whetheranother volunteer had done this. Iwrote to JTS’s cantorial school,and got no answer. Most people Iasked simply said it wasimpossible. I guess they werewrong. If you know the answer,please tell me.

Zussman Completes EvZussman Completes EvZussman Completes EvZussman Completes EvZussman Completes Every Pery Pery Pery Pery Parararararsha in Tsha in Tsha in Tsha in Tsha in Torororororah, 9-Yah, 9-Yah, 9-Yah, 9-Yah, 9-Year Questear Questear Questear Questear Quest

Adult Educa Adult Educa Adult Educa Adult Educa Adult Educationtiontiontiontion

(continued from page 4)held at TBA on Mondayevenings, April 30, May 7, May14, and May 21 from 8-9 p.m.

We have some additionalamazing series being offered thatwill help us to further explore themeaning of ritual, our theme forthis year’s study. As always,these sessions will be websimulcast live and available on-demand.

“Love and Death Beyond inSix Scrolls: Jonah, Song ofSongs, Ruth, Lamentations,Qohelet, Esther.” Using modernliterary criticism and ancientRabbinic Midrash, we will beexploring how these books dealwith birth, death, marriage,repentance, suffering, humor,love, loss, sex, wealth, Jewishidentity, and the meaning of lifeitself. Remaining dates areTuesdays 8:00-9:30 p.m. May 8,22, and 29.

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(continued from page 6) Synagogues in the 21stcentury must renew acommitment to making worshipits a priority. We must continue towork at making it richer andmore vital. Spiritual communitiesmust be serious about nurturingthe spirit and faith development.To do so, we must be willing tolook carefully and critically at ourliturgy, our services, our ritualsand our practices. Learning must be at the coreof a spiritual community. It is notenough to throw program afterprogram out and see what sticks.Jews, traditionally, learn inchevruta, partnership. Thismodel, which places therelationship developed in learningabove all else, is one worthrediscovering. Rather than focuson trying to find the program orclass that will bring in the largestaudience, let’s dedicate ourselvesto building chevrutot: learningrelationships around existingfriendships, shared interests andnew connections. We must also ask more of

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r(continued from page 8)Please note that you may attendany one session individually if youhave not attended the others.Come, learn, and enjoy.Facilitator: Reb Hal Schevitz, ourRabbinic Intern.

“Lifecycle Rituals: Birth, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Marriage, Death.”Discover how Jewish ritual helps usmark these milestones. Thursdays,8:00-9 p.m. on May 3, 10, 17, and24. Facilitator: Rabbi David.

Book GrBook GrBook GrBook GrBook Groupoupoupoupoup

Our book for Monday, May21st is Leaving a Doll’s Houseby Clare Blume. Details to follow.

Our dinner night will be atBertucci’s at Cobb’s Corner onMonday, June 18th. If there is abook you would like to discuss atthat time, please let me know sowe can all read it. Remember,nothing too new.

We meet on the third Mondayof the month. if a holiday isinvolved, we will move it to the2nd Monday.

Harriet Lavine

Adult Educa Adult Educa Adult Educa Adult Educa Adult Educationtiontiontiontion

Our standing Adult Educationgroups are continuing. We wel-come new participants at anytime.

Bible Babble – Rabbi Davidwill continue to lead a livelydiscussion of the Bible everyWednesday at 12 noon. Thesesessions are also web simulcast liveand available on-demand.

Parsing the Parsha – Thursdaymornings at 9:30 a.m. If you have any questionsabout the above mentioned

planned programs or any ideas forthe future, please contact me atmichael@bloomforcoach.com or774-226-0755.

Michael Bloom Adult Education Chair

our members. The days of out-sourcing the education of ourchildren to the “Jewish profes-sionals” are gone. Members of the21st century synagogue must takemore responsibility for their ownand their families’ Jewish learning. There is much more to say, andI have only begun toscratch the surface.Let me end bysuggesting that atthe end of the day,successfulsynagogues willrecognize that thestrength of a spiritualcommunity comesnot from buildings orbudgets, boundariesor bureaucracy, butin the depth ofrelationships builtamongst membersand betweenmembers and God. Change is-a-comin’. Thechallenge is to makethe most of it. -Rabbi David

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Temple Beth Abraham Staff

Spiritual Leader...............Rabbi David PaskinCongregational Educator......Melissa RudmanPresident.................................Michael ShainOffice Manager......................Judy SteinbergThe Voice Editor......................Sherry Alpert

Temple Beth Abraham1301 Washington StreetCanton, MA 02021(781) 828-5250www.templebethabraham.orgtheoffice@templebethabraham.org