Temple

Thursday, April 18, 2024
Issue #664

Letter from Rabbi Ross

Dear TBS Friends and Family,

This Passover will be an opportunity to confront our emotions and anxieties of the past 6 months as we consider liberation, freedom, and joy this spring.
In Prayer Lab, on 4/20 we will have a special session reviewing the Haggadah as we prepare for the holiday. It’s a perfect opportunity to bring new insights to your seder tables! Additionally, we will have a Family Seder for religious school families and friends on Sunday, 4/21, and on Friday, 4/26 we will host our Community Seder.

Below is my Passover column for the Record-Courier this weekend:
For Muslims, Jews and Christians, our spring holiday this year feels different. Spring is bursting out everywhere in Northeast Ohio. Many of us spent time witnessing the drama and impact of the eclipse last week. The natural world was announcing itself to us all as a deep, unbounded source of holiness.
However, the celebration of the holiday of Passover, a festival of liberation, seems confined by the effects of the war in Gaza and Israel. My heart breaks again and again for the trauma experienced by both sides in this terrible war. Hostages are waiting to be freed from their confinement. Gazans encountered much of Ramadan from the perspective of starvation and near famine. We have witnessed shatterings that have devastated our perspectives.
It’s hard to find a reason to celebrate. It’s hard to sing songs of freedom right now. And yet, taking a clue from our Muslim and Christian neighbors, this is a time to come together in community. In community, we can experience our sense of holiness in our shared space, and a deep sense of getting out of our own heads.
A colleague and friend of mine, Rabbi Sharon Brous has a wonderful new book called, “The Amen Effect.” Her idea is that we live in a time of profound brokenness and that connecting with our spiritual communities can help us cope with the emotions and anxieties of these difficult times. She uses the example of the mourner’s prayer in Jewish services, which concludes every Jewish prayer service. She writes that when the mourners rise for that prayer they are symbolically letting their community know that they have suffered a significant loss, and we, the community, are being asked to hold them. We can do that by saying “amen” to their statements of grief.
So as we gather in our homes and in our community for Passover next week, may we celebrate the unmitigated joy of spring, and may we be able to bring our tears and anxieties to our community so they can say “amen” to our pain. May we each hold two cups at our holiday gatherings, one overflowing with wine and joy, and the second cup overflowing with tears of sadness and grief.
May we cultivate the humility to get past our own pride and arrogance as we greet Passover this year. During this time of uncertainty, may we lean into humility. May we discover the questions we need to ask at our Passover seders this year, and may we hear the questions others have to ask as well. May our Passover point us to paths of holiness, meaning, and eventual freedom.

Religious School Updates

– We have begun advertising for a new education director for next fall. Please let us know if you know anyone who might be interested! We have formed a search committee for this opening, and will be sharing info and details in the weeks to come.

– All religious school families, parents of small kids, and community members are invited to our Family Seder on Sunday 4/21 at 11:00 am!

From the Boardroom 
June Annual Meeting to be held on Friday, June 14.

James Field and Laurie Frankino complete their two-year term as co-presidents on June 30. James will transition to Immediate Past President and will assume the position of Treasurer, currently held by Jonathan Selinger who is retiring from the board. Laurie will also become a Past President and will continue her role as Ritual Chair.
The voluntary position of President of TBS calls for one person or a team of 2 to lead the TBS Board of Trustees in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the temple. For the next fiscal year, July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025, Past President, Larry Terkel has volunteered to take responsibility as president once again. Larry will use his vast experience working with our temple community and his relationships in the Hudson and Cleveland communities to continue the good works accomplished by the current board of Trustees. As our constitution states, Larry, and the rest of the slate of officers will be voted in during the Annual Meeting to be held on Friday, June 14.

The TBS Board of Trustees welcomes your questions, comments and suggestions. Please feel free to contact co-presidents James jdfield23@aol.com or Laurie lfrankino@gmail.com

Judaism 101 – 12 Sunday afternoons (3/3-5/12 at 4:00 pm)
Have you ever wanted to learn more about Judaism from an adult perspective?
Are you considering conversion to Judaism?

If so, this class can form a great foundation to get you started. We will focus on Jewish history, holidays, ideas and traditions.
There will be a few paperback books as part of the class as well.

• Class fees – $10 for TBS members or $56 for the entire course, $18 per class non-members or $154 for the entire course. College students can pay a donation. (Fees for the class will go to pay our zoom manager/teaching assistant.)
• RSVPS are needed in advance. Please email rabbimichaelross to RSVP or get more info and syllabus. 

Donations to support Israel can be made at
Cleveland Federation: 

  ISRAEL EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN  

FAMILY  PASSOVER  SEDER

Temple Beth Shalom

FRIDAY, April 26, 2024
Doors open at 4:30 pm. Seder begins promptly at 5:30 pm

Join Rabbi Ross, Song Leader Chuck Fink and fellow TBS members and friends as we celebrate Passover with a family friendly service and delicious
Passover Seder dinner on the
5th night of Passover, Friday night, April 26.

The service will begin promptly at 5:30 pm followed by a family style dinner
catered by Mr. Brisket, back by popular demand.
Dinner will include traditional Passover foods, accompaniments & dessert.
A vegetarian option is available.

An invitation and response form will be mailed to all congregants. Friends of TBS may RSVP email to Laurie Frankino to hold your reservation lfrankino@gmail.com.
Confirmation of your reservation + payment options will be e-mailed
back to you immediately.

TBSBrotherhood meetings/events 
• Brotherhood Membership
Please contact treasurer Art Busch, ascyb34@yahoo.com with any questions. Your financial support is much appreciated.

The Brotherhood performs much needed projects for TBS. Even if you cannot participate in Brotherhood, PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION. This will help to complete the many projects planned for 2023-2024 for TBS.
We meet throughout the year in the spirit of friendship and good humor. We sponsor social events, fundraisers and building beautification projects to support and enhance the TBS community. Contact: Mike Miller at mikemillercsi@roadrunner.com

TBS Sisterhood meetings/events 
• It is time to RSVP for our Sunday May 5th docent-led tour at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday May 5th 1:20 pm on “Seeing Nature through the Eyes of the Artist” after which you will be treated to coffee/tea/dessert and a short presentation of Jewish writings about Nature. Please bring your significant other if you would like.  Please RSVP to jeanrhodes16th@gmail.com.  If you are running late we’ll text each other so you can meet up.  

And it is time to send in any photos you would like to share for the service booklet to jeanrhodes16th@gmail.com.  

• We are also planning a walk/hike in the CVNP led by Marcy Caplin, Beth Madis and Randy Herman.  There will be a longer and shorter walk to meet all abilities.  Randy will be our ornithologist on the hike! She will be pointing out birds and other wildlife.
Hike date/rsvp hopefully in next e-megillah.

• I would like to gauge interest in a car pooling to the community-wide All-night Learning Tuesday June 11, 2024 (Erev Shavuot).  It is a splendid thing to do.  And we need not stay all night!  Let me know if you’d consider it at jeanrhodes16th@gmail.com.

Temple Beth Shalom Website Notes

We are looking for volunteers for many other important tasks, big and small, to help our Temple.
Please email James Field at jdfield23@aol.com if you would like to be a TBS Super Supporter. Some ways to volunteer include:
• Backup to our Email czar Harry Berman (Harry will show you the ropes)
• Coordinator with the Cleveland Jewish Federation for security support
• Setup/takedown of furniture and refreshments for Prayer Lab, Judaism 101 or other regular Temple activities
• Sponsoring an Oneg
• Coordinating Zoom for services (we do hire a professional for major holiday observances)
• Many other activities to match your interests, abilities and availability

Please send us your announcements, engagements, weddings, graduations, sports news, kid news, etc. to: e-megillah editor, hberman44236@yahoo.com no later than ONE WEEK PRIOR to the next issue. Please include ‘e-megillah news‘ in the subject field.

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