Temple Beth Shalom Newsletter

Parasha Eikev (Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25)
20 Av 5764
August 6-7, 2004

In this week's Torah portion, Moses reminds the people that life is not always easy; that hardship is part of the growth process. Moses tells the Israelites that God has purposely tested them by making them wander for forty years in the wilderness in order to learn what was in their hearts and to discover if they were capable of keeping God's commandments. He also tells the Israelites that some of the hardships they have endured had an educational purpose, to allow them to learn life lessons and to come to know something about God and about themselves. He ends by saying, "Keep in mind that the Lord your God disciplines you just as a man disciplines his son." (JPS translation)

Life is not always easy. Whether one believes that God specifically tests us as individuals or that God has generally created the universe and people in such a way as to just make life challenging, the fact is still the same--life is often hard. It is because of these difficulties, however, that we come to learn many of the important lessons that make our lives meaningful. The ability to face challenges and to overcome them tells us some truths about ourselves and our inner resources. We learn about our ability to withstand emotional and sometimes physical pain. We prepare for future challenges by going beyond what we thought were our limits and receive the knowledge that, if necessary, we can do it again.

A challenging time in one's life can also be an opportunity to discover something about God and our relationship with the Eternal One. Ultimately, God was there for the Israelites during times of testing in the wilderness. Just as God provided food, water and clothing for the Israelites throughout their journey, God is there to provide us with strength, comfort and a Place of tranquility when life is hard.

As Moses notes, our relationship with God is often like that with our parents. Such a relationship is often complex but the one overriding trait of a good parent is constancy; a sense that they will always be there, in good times and bad. God is the same way. Since the time of Job, those of us facing hardship have always wondered if God has abandoned us. While we are never abandoned by God, the Holy One's love sometimes can take different forms; munificence is not God's only type of love. Sometimes God's love expresses itself in just Being, when so many others just walk away. God is always there for us, even in times of pain and struggle, if only we have the will to seek out the Eternal, to feel God's Presence even when God feels so far away.

Rabbi Freedman

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

Saturday Morning Torah Study

Rabbi Freedman leads Shabbat morning Torah Study twice each month. The next Torah Study sessions will be held on Saturday August 7th and Saturday August 21st in the library located on the 2nd floor of the Education Building of the DJCC.

Beginning Friday July 9th and running through August 27th, Erev Shabbat services will be held at 6:30 p.m. The Erev Shabbat service on the first Friday of each month will still be held at 7:45 p.m.

Upcoming Services

Friday, August 6

5:30 p.m. - Tot Shabbat
7:45 p.m. - Erev Shabbat Shabbat service

Friday, August 13

6:30 p.m. - Erev Shabbat Shabbat service

Friday, August 20

6:30 p.m. - Erev Shabbat Shabbat service

Friday, August 27

6:00 - 6:30 p.m.Shabbat Sing-Along
6:30 p.m. - Erev Shabbat Shabbat service

Additional Pre-Shabbat Services "SHABBAT SING-ALONGS"announced

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

Friday, August 27
Friday, September 10
Friday, October 22

Times will still be 30 minutes before services begin on those dates. Hope to see you there!

Happily It Is That Time of Year Again: Yom Kippur Break the Fast

Harriet Goldman is chairing the Break The Fast for TBS this year. She will need HELP in preparing food and with telephone calls. The menu will be simple: Kugel, Tuna salad, egg salad, herring, fruit salad, cream cheeses, Challah, bagels and finger deserts, coffee and drinks. TBS will set up and clean up. Just lend us a hand for the goodies and we can save some money. We need to know quantities, so please RSVP to Harriet Goldman at 990-7015 or Email to lmgoldman@aol.com . Let her know if you are planning to attend and if you can prepare some of the above. Thanks so much. Looking forward to hearing from EVERYONE.

CALLING ALL TBS SINGERS AND INSTRUMENTALISTS!!

Musical participation by congregants adds so much to the spirit and beauty of our services.

Please consider joining with your voice or other instrument(s) to do a piece or several pieces for High Holidays this year.

If you are interested and have not yet contacted Abby Gostein, please do so by email music@bethshalomaustin.org or phone 343-8434

Here is the rehearsal schedule for musical participation in High Holidays. If times do not work for you and you still want to participate, we can certainly work something out together. If you do not have much time to rehearse, please tell me something(s) you would like to play/lead that you've done in the past that you'd like to "rerun."

The rehearsals for High Holidays are to learn/relearn/practice some pieces for small or large groups to sing/play from the bimah, as well as to learn some pieces that I was hoping you would help me to (vocally) lead the congregation from your seats amongst the crowds.

High Holiday rehearsals:

Tue, Aug 17
Tue, Aug 24
Tue, Sept 7
Tue, Sept 14

ALL REHEARSALS ARE PLANNED FOR 7:30 pm and to last 1 1/2 to 2 hours

Rosh Hashana services are Sept 15, 7:30 pm and Sept 16, 10 am.

Yom Kippur services are Sept 24, 7:30pm and Sept 25 starting at 10am and continuing throughout most of the day.

RITUAL COMMITTEE

Ritual Committee Seeks New Members

Ritual Committee welcomes all members who wish to help in planning for the Jewish rituals and services of TBS. Interested and want to discuss it please phone 272 5235 or e-mail hservetnick@austin.rr.com.

After the last two vastly productive years the Ritual committee still needs your guidance to help develop and (if necessary) modify the religious aspect of our fast growing congregation.

Please contact Harold Servetnick hservetnick@austin.rr.com if you wish to continue to serve on this committee. As in the past - meetings will be held only when necessary and agendas will cover pertinent items.

IMPORTANT FUTURE CONGREGATIONAL EVENTS

HOLD THE DATE!
Temple Beth Shalom Gala

Gala Event Honoring Dee & Don Coplin
October 3, 2004
Driskill Hotel

WANTED: SILENT AUCTION ITEMS

In conjunction with the TBS Benefit-Gala honoring Dee and Don Coplin, there will be a Silent Auction. Think about what you might contribute. Do you own or work for a business that might provide an item or a gift certificate? Are you in a profession that can donate a service? What about tickets that you won't be using for a UT game, the Opera, Ballet or Symphony? Or what about hosting another couple for an event to which you have 4 tickets and picking-up dinner for the group before the show? Do you have a condo or time-share you might want to share? So many possibilities....

Please phone Andie Allen (454-8403) or Lis Chozick (327-0996). We will be happy to provide the necessary forms and answer any questions. We need your help to make this important aspect of our fund raising a success!

Gala Tribute Book

This October, as we honor Dee & Don Coplin, we invite all TBS congregants to share any special thoughts in our tribute book. A Double Chai ($36) tribute enables you to submit about three sentences ( 205 characters) a Chai Five ($90) enables you to express your wishes in 485 characters. For more information about tributes, please contact Traci Grossfeld at tgrossfeld@austin.rr.com or 266-4890.

Also, if you'd like to join our ad team, we could use your help recruiting ads from area retailers and businesses to be included in the event program/tribute book. Ads run from $50 (business card size) - $425 (outside back cover). Please contact Traci Grossfeldtgrossfeld@austin.rr.com or Lori Weinbachlori_weinbach@dell.com for more information.

Gala Car Raffle: Win a Mini-Cooper!!

As part of the Gala fund raising effort, TBS is selling tickets for a raffle for a Mini-Cooper automobile. Only 400 tickets will be sold. Tickets are $100 each. The drawing will take place at the Gala on October 3, and the winner does not need to be present. If 320 tickets or more are sold, the winner can take the car or a cash payment of $ 16,000. If less than 320 tickets are sold, the winner will receive 40% of the money collected.

We need your help in selling the tickets. Tickets are available at the Temple office. You can get tickets there that you can sell to friends and business acquaintances. Posters are displayed with information inserts at the JCC. The car will be displayed at the JCC on Aug. 28-29 and Sept. 11-12. If you would like to sell tickets at the JCC on those dates, please call Charles Wolchansky at 346-6656.

We hope you will help us sell the 400 tickets. The chances of winning are far better than the lottery!!

TBS Board Encourages Congregants to Attend URJ Southwest Council Convention
November 5 - 7, 2004, San Antonio

The URJ Southwest Council Regional Biennial Convention is fast approaching. We want Temple Beth Shalom to have a strong presence with the convention being "right in our backyard" a short drive down I-35 in San Antonio. It will be held at the Doubletree Hotel on Loop 410 in San Antonio on November 5-7. For more information please click this link, call one of your TBS board members, or call the URJ toll-free at (888) 234-8242.

ONGOING TBS MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Marketing Committee Seeks Volunteers: Families to feature; committee membership and input

The Marketing Committee has produced a series of TBS photos and testimonials in the Jewish Outlook. To join this program with your family, contact Michelle Feibus at mfeibus@austin.rr.com during July and August. We have also completed a TBS Brochure. Please pick these up from the office, the J or at services to give to friends and family who may want to join our "family". Any other suggestions for distribution would be welcome. Grateful thanks go to Susan Szafir, Susan Finfer, Dennis Gross, Steve Feibus, Michelle Feibus, Eddie Astrich and many others for their very professional work on both these projects. More volunteers with marketing expertise needed. If you would like to join the committee, please contact its chair, Laraine Lasdon, at llasdon@austin.rr.com.

ADULT EDUCATION

The Adult Education Committee of Temple Beth Shalom is preparing it's calendar of program for the upcoming year. If you are interested in being a part of this dynamic group of indivdulals please contact Shelley Fleishman at SWKFLEISH@aol.com.

One of the new programs the Adult Education Committee wants to begin is a Women's Book Group devoted to Jewish literature and content. If you are interested in participating in a monthly book discussion of the newest in Jewish reading (fiction and non-fiction), please join us for our first meeting on August 26 at 7:30 PM at Shelley Fleishman's. At this meeting we will choose our first book and decide the format for the monthly meetings. To RSVP or for more information contact Shelley at SWKFLEISH@aol.com.

SHALOMITES (a Chavarah for families with children ages five and under)

First Friday of the month is coming up. So, join us for Tot Shabbat on August 6 @ 5:30 p.m. Feel free to bring a picnic dinner to enjoy after celebrating the arrival of Shabbat. And, Shalomites grads, please be sure to attend as we will be presenting Rabbi Freedman with a special thank you gift. And, it will be one more opportunity for the Shalomite Family to congratulate you on your entrance into kindergarten!!!

It's Torah Tots Registration Time! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? If you are a Temple member with a child between the ages of 2-5 (pre-K), send in your registration today! Contact Traci at tgrossfeld@austin.rr.com for more information or a form.

Don't miss the Shalomite's Summer Schmooze! Meet us at Central Market on Sunday August 8th at 9:30 a.m. to socialize as our little ones climb on the playscape. And for those who need a good breakfast, a delicious Sunday brunch and other goodies are always available at Central Market. If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Goodman at lisagoodman37@aol.com or call her at 918-1423.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATION COMMITTEE

TBS Historian Needed

Do you love taking photos, scrapbooking or journaling? Then, WOW, DO WE NEED YOU! The TBS family needs a "family scrapbook," a record of the life and events of our temple. If you are interested in becoming one of our historians, or in volunteering in other ways, please contact Joan Edelstein at 340-0330 or at red42750@aol.com.

SISTERHOOD

Sisterhood Planning Meeting

Sunday August 22, 10:30am - Noon
at the home of Gay Thompson

Beat the heat and help us get ready for another great year! We'll set some goals, and rough in some dates for our annual events. Bring your smile and lots of ideas! This meeting is especially for outgoing and incoming Sisterhood Board members, but anyone interested in getting more involved with Sisterhood is welcome. Please RSVP to Gay at gay_thompson@yahoo.com or 454-3044.

Sisterhood Officer and Board Member Installation
Friday August 27, 6:30pm

Please join us for Shabbat Services Friday August 27, when we will install our new Officers and Board Members. We will also recognize the outgoing Officers and Board Members who founded our Sisterhood.

Nominations

The Nominating Committee is nearly finished with the slate of new Officers. The slate will be sent to all members for voting by email very shortly. If you would like to be considered for a position on the Board and haven't been contacted by the Nominating Committee, please contact Sharon Cohan at sacohan1@aol.com or 342-0885. We encourage new members to apply! And if you are not yet a member of Sisterhood it's not too late!

Friday Night Onegs

Oneg organization for the past year has gone extremely well thanks to Harriet Goodman and all of our monthly volunteers. In continuation of this much appreciated service that Sisterhood provides to the Temple , we are looking for another Hospitality Chairperson and Monthly Oneg Chairs for October through August of next year.

The role of the Hospitality Chairperson is to maintain the master Oneg schedule in an Excel spreedsheet, (all data for the past year has been entered and is up to date), provide an updated call list and instructions to the monthly chairpersons, and to be the focal point for ordering oneg supplies.

The role of a Monthly Oneg Chairperson is to find hosts for each Oneg during their month, provide them with instructions, be the contact person for that month, and keep the Hospitality Chairperson informed of the schedule for their volunteers. Once all the chairpersons have been identified, we will hold a single meeting to get organized.

If you are able to volunteer in either of these areas, please contact Gay Thompson at gay_thompson@yahoo.com or 454-3044.

Thank you to the following people who have already volunteered:
July Lisa Goodman
August Gay Thompson
September Gay Thompson
October BJ Sonstein
November Carol Dochen
December -
January -
February -
March Barbara Robin
April Patti Bridwell
May Lucy Katz
June -
July -
August -

Thank You

Thank you to Ele and Dick Amos for their generous gift of a beautiful Silver Tea Service. Sisterhood will enjoy this gift for many years to come.

If you would like more information about joining Sisterhood, please contact our membership chair, Lisa Goodman, at 918-1423 or lisagoodman37@aol.com.

TRIBUTES

RABBI'S DISCRETIONARY FUND

In appreciation of Max's baby naming
Sherman & Ellen Kusin

GENERAL FUND

In memory of Lil Katz
In honor of the birth of Maxwell Bishop Kusin
Dee and Don Coplin

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SIMCHAS

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Mazel Tov to the following Temple Beth Shalom adult members who are celebrating their birthdays and anniversaries for the week of August 2 - August 8 .

Birthdays

August 2 Leslie Salam

August 4 Leigh Perry

August 7 Gene Snelson

Anniversaries

August 2 Patricia and Scott Becker

August 6 Estelle and Don Singer

August 6 Denise and Matthew Steinberg

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

Other Simchas

There were no simchas submitted for publication this week.

Please contact newsletter@bethshalomaustin.org if you have any corrections or if you have major Simchas to be listed here.

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