Temple Beth Shalom Newsletter

Friday Night Shabbat Services

Rabbi Alan Freedman leads Shabbat Services each Friday night in the Community Hall of the DJCC. Cantorial Soloist Abby Gostein leads the congregation in prayer through music. Each service is followed by an Oneg.

Babysitting is now available for Shabbat evening services every Friday night (does not include Tot Shabbat service times). No need to make a reservation.

Saturday Morning Torah Service

Rabbi Freedman leads Torah Study and a Torah Service on the first and third Saturday of each month. In April, Torah Service/Torah Study will be held on Saturday, April 3rd and Saturday, April 17th in the library located on the 2nd floor of the Education Building of the DJCC. Torah Study begins at 10:00 a.m. with a Torah Service following at 11:00 a.m.

Upcoming Services

Friday, April 9

7:15 – 7:45 p.m. Shabbat Sing-Along

7:45 p.m. B'rachot In Blue Jeans (a Shabbat Service in casual dress)

Friday April 16

6:30 p.m. Early Shabbat Service using Young Adult Liturgy

Saturday, April 17

10:00 a.m. Torah Study
11:00 a.m. Shabbat Morning Torah Service

Friday April 23

7:15 – 7:45 p.m. Shabbat Sing-Along

7:45 p.m. Shabbat Service

Friday, April 30

7:45 p.m. Our guest speaker will be Rabbi Laura Sheinkopf from Temple Emanu El in Houston. If you would like to participate in the service please contact Stephanie Puente at 418-9594 or spuente@aol.com. Please see additional information below in the SISTERHOOD section.

Shabbat Sing-Along!!

LOVE TO SING old favorite Jewish songs and learn new ones? Join Abby Gostein and the TBS community for a fun-filled SHABBAT SING-ALONG (only love of music is required)

April 9, 7:15-7:45
April 23, 7:15-7:45

Hope to see you there!

Looking for TBS musicians because....

THE NEXT “SHABBAT SHIR SHALOM” DATE IS SET:
Fri, May 21, service to begin at 6:30 p.m., warm-up at 6 p.m.

Rehearsal dates are as follows:
Sun 4/4 3:30 p.m.
Sun 4/11 3:30 p.m.
Wed 4/21 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. (purposeful 1/2 hour overlap with Sisterhood Shabbat rehearsal)
Sun 5/2 3:30 p.m.
Wed 5/5 7:30 p.m.
Sun 5/16 3:30 p.m.
Wed 5/19 7:30 p.m.

All rehearsals should last approx. 1 hour.

Please RSVP to Abby at music@bethshalomaustin.org to let her know if and how you (or another member of you family) would like to be involved in the service.

HOLD THE DATE!
TBS Annual Congregational Meeting
Sunday, June 6
10 am - noon
JCAA Community Hall

ADULT EDUCATION

Rabbi's Lunch Time Seminars

Please mark your calendar for the monthly lunch time seminars with the Rabbi: Second Wednesday of each month 12 Noon to 1:30PM at JCAA in the RabbiÆs office. The seminars are open to the community

Contact Ira Goodman by email or call 418-1905 for more information.

April 14 - Martin Buber

In this session, we will briefly explore the principals behind the work of this highly influential 20th century Jewish philosopher and activist. Buber concept of religion as relationships forms the basis for many of our theories about the role of religion in daily life today.

May- 12 -Shavuoth: The Unknown Festival

Of all of the Pilgrimage Festivals, Shavuoth is the least known and practiced. Come explore the history and traditions of this most interesting festival along with its opportunities for a fun a meaningful observance.

Contact Ira Goodman by email or call 418-1905 for more information.

SOCIAL ACTION

Mitzvah Day - April 25

Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 25th-The Austin Jewish Community Mitzvah Day. This is an opportunity for us to give back to the great community in which we live and perform the commandment of Tzedakah-which is Hebrew for Justice. There will be many different projects available for which you can sign up.

Speaking of Tzedakah, please continue to pick up our Beth Shalom Tzedakah boxes at Friday night Shabbat services and at Sunday School. Please fill them with coins and bring them back full to Shabbat services or Sunday School, for a receipt and a new empty can. The funds collected by our congregants are used by the congregation for social action projects.

Storybook Program Receives Recognition and Thanks

“Storybook Program” sponsored by Temple Beth Shalom and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, an interfaith Social Action project, was selected as one of fifty programs featured in a national publication highlighting promising practices in crime prevention. The National Crime Prevention Council, through its Faith and Service Technical Education Network (FASTEN), scoured the country for examples of effective faith and criminal justice partnerships. The Storybook Project was selected because it promotes the value and utility of partnerships with faith-based organizations among the criminal justice community. 50 Strategies for Faith and Justice Collaboration will take readers behind the scenes of some of the best programs in the country, with a discussion of the partnerships and components necessary to successfully apply their strategies in any setting.

Volunteers from Temple Beth Shalom and St. Mark’s Church travel to a women’s unit at Gatesville Prison one day each month with tape recorders, audio tapes and brand new children’s books. The volunteers record the mothers (offenders) reading books to their sons and daughters as well as personal messages. The book and tapes are then mailed to their children. While half of the group of mothers are recording their stories and messages, the other half are attending a parenting class which we are funding from contributions.

We have had wonderful feedback about our monthly mitzvah. One such letter was received by 6 year-old Cameron:

Dear who ever gets this note,
Please let my mome keep reading the books on tape. One more thing, I love hearing her voice.
By Cameron

Those interested in learning more about this project, please contact Judith Fox at judithfox@ev1.net

SHALOMITES

Don't miss Tot Shabbat this Friday, May 7! Welcome Shabbat with song and friends at our special program for families with children ages five and younger.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATION COMMITTEE

TBS "Volunteer Central" Matches Willing Volunteers with Projects in Need of Help

Are you a willing volunteer in waiting? Are you a committee or event chairperson looking for a few good volunteers? If so, TBS has a new committee formally known as the "Volunteer Coordination Committee" that is the perfect resource for you! The Volunteer Coordination Committee matches willing volunteers with committee chairs and event chairs who need willing helpful volunteers to help them accomplish their goals. If you are either a volunteer or someone in need of a volunteer, please contact Joan Edelstein at 340-0330, or at RED42750@aol.com.

SISTERHOOD

Upcoming Sisterhood Events

Sisterhood Shabbat - Friday April 30 at 7:45pm

Temple Beth Shalom will hold a very special Sisterhood Shabbat on Friday, April 30 at 7:45 pm in the Community Hall at the Dell Jewish Community Campus. The theme for the service will be "Choosing to Lead a Jewish Life".

The evening promises to be unique and meaningful and will focus on the personal importance of prayer and how it affects our life as jews. The guest speaker will be Rabbi Laura Sheinkopf, who serves as an Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Emanu El in Houston, TX.

Rabbi Sheinkopf will focus her talk on how the story of the Jewish people is built upon the struggles and the triumphs of individual lives. In the Torah we experience the trauma and the triumph of our Biblical ancestors as we see how their experiences illuminated the faith around which Jewish life revolves. In this age we too can integrate our personal experiences into our Jewish lives. Personal history is an important piece of the ongoing Jewish story. Rabbi Sheinkopf will demonstrate this by sharing her own path toward a Jewish life and to the rabbinate. Like each of our personal stories, it is one that is dignified and better understood in the context of Jewish history and Jewish life.

We hope you will join us for this special evening.

First Annual Mother's Day Israeli Rose Sale

Attention husbands, fathers and sons!! Order your roses now for Mother's Day and support Israeli families and Temple Beth Shalom Sisterhood. Roses will be available for pick up on Sunday May 9 at the JCC. We'll even send you a reminder to pick them up! Email susanmiller@austin.rr.com to place an order or obtain an order form. Last day to place your order is April 12.

The Story of the Israeli Roses

Moshav Sde Nitzan, in Negev, Israel, was established 30 years ago in the southwest corner of Israel, near the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian border. The population of the Moshav has grown from 27 to 74 families. However, the position of agriculture in Israel, and in the Moshav, has steadily declined over the years, leading to economic hardships. Many of the original members have left the Moshav. Others have abandoned agriculture as a significant source of their livelihood. Severe competition from African and South American flower growers has resulted in a long period of shrinking profits for Israeli flower growers. One Moshav family has begun exporting roses, grown in Moshav Sde Nitzan in the Negev, to the United States and are the only Israeli rose growers to offer this service. They have been growing roses and exporting them to Holland for nearly 30 years, which are then sold at the famous Dutch flower auctions. Identification with Israel has been a significant ! motive for people ordering flowers from Israel. In these days of strife there are great numbers of people, who are seeking a way to support Israeli businesses and identify with Israel. Purchasing "Roses from Israel" is a beautiful way to do this.

TRIBUTES

TO THE GENERAL FUND:

In honor of Kaitlyn Rose Cohan
Dale & Howard Rubinfeld

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BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

Mazel Tov to the following Temple Beth Shalom adult members who are celebrating their birthdays and anniversaries for the weeks of April 5 - April 11.

Birthdays

April 5 Dr. Sheldon Landsberger

April 9 Stephen Perry

April 10 Gail Miller

April 10 Becky Shidlofsky

Anniversaries

April 5-11 No Anniversaries this week

Please contact admin@bethshalomaustin.org if you have any corrections or if you have been inadvertently left off the list.

RECENT BIRTHS

Invitation to Naming Celebration for Kaitlyn Rose Cohan
Friday, April 16th at 6:30 p.m., at Temple Beth Shalom's Shabbat Services

Eric, Sharon and Alex Cohan would like to invite the Congregation to the naming of new daughter of Sharon & Eric, and sister to Alex, at Shabbat Services on Friday, April 16, 6:30 p.m. Kaitlyn Rose was born on February 23, 2004, weighing in at 6 lbs, 1 oz.

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