Newsletter

Beth Ami/Colorado Congregation for Humanistic Judaism

March 2005

President's Message

By Barry Levene

At its December meeting the Executive Committee agreed that a quarterly newsletter was about all we could manage at this time, so this is it for the next three months. In between newsletters, I will continue to send out announcements of upcoming programs and other events through our automated email server. Those who have asked to be notified via regular mail will get copies through the US Postal Service.

We are coming off three months of excellent programs. The Chanukah party was well-attended and lots of fun, as it should be. The meeting at Gordon's in January was attended by about 25 people and included a havdalah service, inspirational music, and a great discussion, not to mention the wonderful view from his living room. The Shabbat service and presentation by Rabbi Field on February 18, attended by about 25 people, gave us an overview of his new organization, Judaism Your Way, and demonstrated a new approach to a Shabbat service. I was inspired and energized by the poetry he presented. Many thanks to all of you who helped put together these programs and provide the behind-the-scenes support.

Membership in our organization is critical to our ability to carry out the program. It pays for practically everything we do. We have completed our membership drive for this year. The result is a membership level about the same as last year. Our membership now consists of 24 households or about 37 individual adult members. With this number, we should be able to carry out the program we had planned at the beginning of the year. That means we will have one event each month and an ongoing Sunday school program. Of course, it would be great if we find a way to increase our membership significantly so that we could provide even more programming. Our efforts in the past have had mixed results. Our new Sunday school may bring in more families. We will see.

I recently attended a performance of the children's opera, "Brundibar," at the Newman Center. This is the opera performed 55 times in 1943-1944, by the children of the Terezin concentration camp in an attempt by the Nazis to mask the reality of what was really happening. One performance was filmed and used in a Nazi propaganda film. Out of 15,000 children who were sent to Terezin, only 120 survived. One of those survivors, who played the role of the cat in the opera, was present at the Newman Center and spoke about her experiences. It was all very moving and thought-provoking. Members of the Colorado Children's Chorale who played the various parts were excellent. If you can't get to see the opera, I would recommend reading the children's book written by Tony Kushner and illustrated by Maurice Sendak that tells the same story. The poem I have copied below, written by one of the children interned at the camp, was used as lyrics in the cantata by Charles Davidson in memory of all the children who perished there. It was sung by the Colorado Children's Chorale as part of the program.

--Barry Levene

On a Sunny Evening

On a purple, sun-shot evening
Under wide-flowering chestnut trees
Upon the threshold full of dust
Yesterday, today, the days are all like these.

Trees flower forth in beauty,
Lovely too their very wood all gnarled and old
That I am half afraid to peer
Into their crowns of green and gold.

The sun has made a veil of gold
So lovely that my body aches.
Above, the heavens shriek with blue
Convinced I've smiled by some mistake.
The world's abloom and seems to smile.
I want to fly but where, how high?
If in barbed wire, things can bloom
Why couldn't I? I will not die!

--Michael Flack, 1944

Schedule of Upcoming Events

March 18   7:00, Aspen Village. Shabbat service followed by presentation by Ellen Rosenthal on Jewish Ethics.

April 17     Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture at Temple Sinai. Beth Ami is a sponsor of this event. The speaker is Anna Rosmus, the subject of the highly acclaimed German film, The Nasty Girl. As a high school student in Germany Anna researched, then wrote an essay about, her hometown during the Third Reich. What she found dramatically changed her life. The movie will be shown at 4:00 followed by a light supper (there will be a charge for this), and then her presentation about her experiences in a lifelong fight against antisemitism and bigotry. See below for more details.

April 24     Community Seder at Lynne Drazin's clubhouse in southeast Denver. Specific plans are being developed. Expect to start about 5:00 pm.

May 13     Shabbat service and continuation of educational program by Ellen Rosenthal.

Sometime in May    Community service project.

June 11    Annual picnic at Chatauqua Park in Boulder.

Weekend of July 17    Rabbi Lauren Werber from Cleveland to visit. Program under development.

Beth Ami School Invitation

Double Header!

On Sunday, March 13, we will read  the story of Purim, with appropriate noises and comments, from our very own scroll.

Time: 9:45 to 10:45    Place:  JCC (350 South Dahlia)    Reservations: Gerrie at 303-422-3110

THEN

We will drive  to Rodef Shalom (450 South Kearney) for the program “Bridges of Understanding/Rites of Passage,” which looks at how six different cultures (Jewish, Muslim, Hispanic, African/African American, Asian Pacific, and Native American) deal with the rites of passage (birth, coming of age, adulthood/marriage, and death/remembrance).

Time: 11:00 to 12:00    Cost: $2.00 per person     Reservations: Gerrie at 303-422-3110

CORRECTION

Reservations: Gerrie at 303-422-3110

Tsunami Relief Donation Made on Behalf of Beth Ami

Many thanks to those of you listed below, who generously contributed to the tsunami relief fund initiated by Gerrie Karasik. Through Gerrie's efforts we were able to make a donation of $875 to the American Jewish Committee (AJC). The AJC is absorbing all administrative costs associated with this effort. Details on how AJC is spending the more than $900,000 collected can be found on its website.

Long-term needs still exist for those affected by this disaster. If you would like to make a contribution, you can easily do so at the website of the AJC or other organizations recommended by the Society for Humanistic Judaism, including www.jdc.org or www.ajws.org. In making a donation, indicate that you are making the contribution in the name of "Humanistic Judaism."

Contributions were received from:

Jon and Toni Budoff
Lynne Drazin
Steve Greenspan and Helen Apthorp
Mike and Estelle Handler
Kathy Kane
Ely Karasik
Len and Gerrie Karasik
Joyce Kohn
Julie Lapides
Barry Levene
Bert Rothschild
Hillel and Rena Segal

Sheila and John Malcolm

Around Town

Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture and Film

Beth Ami has joined 70 other organizations, businesses, individuals, and foundations to co-sponsor the third annual Fred Marcus Memorial Holocaust Lecture at Temple Sinai, 3509 South Glencoe Street, on Sunday, April 17, at 4 p.m. The speaker will be Anna Rosmus, who as a 20-year old non-Jewish woman in Passau, Germany, entered an essay contest and wrote about her town’s history during the Nazi era. Despite official disapproval and constant obstruction, she exposed a long history of ardent Nazism and antisemitism. The storm of opposition from friends, family, and city officials grew even greater when the Academy Award-nominated film, The Nasty Girl, was made about her and her quest.

Rosmus left Germany and moved to the Washington, D.C. area with her two daughters, devoting her life to fighting against bigotry and antisemitism and neo-Nazis. In the face of death threats and hate mail, she continues to lecture all over the world and has written four books.

The Nasty Girl will be shown on two big screens at 4 p.m., followed by a light kosher supper. Then Anna Rosmus will speak about her fascinating experiences.

This annual lecture is named after Fred Marcus, a Denver Jewish educator who grew up in Nazi Germany and escaped to Shanghai, China, in 1939. Marcus was a revered teacher of adults at Temple Sinai for over 20 years and a well-known speaker before groups of school children, organizations, churches, and synagogues on growing up in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. He was a past president of the National Association of Temple Educators and the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education.

The event is sponsored by the Fred Marcus Adult Education Fund of Temple Sinai. The program is open to the public and is appropriate for adults and older children. The cost of the dinner is $10.00 a person ($8.00 for ages 12-18). An essay contest will be held for students ages 12 to 18 who attend the lecture (entry forms will be available there). For reservations, send a check made out to Temple Sinai to Walli Richardson, 3509 South Glencoe Street, Denver, Colorado 80237 before April 8, 2005. For information, call Audrey Friedman Marcus, 303-770-2020 or Walli Richardson, 303-759-1827.

Want to Sing?

The Colorado Hebrew Chorale is looking for new members. All voices. We meet Monday evenings 7:30 to 9:30 at the HEA, 3600 South Ivanhoe. For information:  303-355-0232.  No knowledge of Hebrew necessary. 

Theatre at the Mizel

The Denver Children's Theatre presents The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi by Y York
Sundays, March 6-May 8, 1 p.m.
(No performances March 27, April 24 & May 1)
$8/general admission; $6/children, students, seniors
Tickets & information: 303-316-6360

Ssssss…there's a cobra in the garden! In this playful comic adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic tale, Darzee (the diva bird), Chuchu (the rat), and Rikki Tikki Tavi (the mongoose) learn that honesty, courage, perseverance, friendship and cooperation will help them overcome a dangerous enemy. Set in a lush garden in exotic India, this timeless story will captivate audiences while teaching important lessons in character education on sharing and acceptance.

The Mizel Center Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Poignant Irritations by Melissa Lucero McCarl
 
April 7-May 22
Thursday & Saturday evenings; select Sunday matinees
Tickets: $20/general admission; $18/students & seniors
Tickets & Information: 303-316-6360

A new work by the acclaimed local playwright Melissa Lucero McCarl brings the life and achievements of Gertrude Stein to the stage. For almost half a century, the American-born writer was at the center of the literary and artistic circle in Paris, where she lived with her companion Alice B. Toklas. Defying the "handicaps" of her religion and gender, Stein created radical new prose rhythms in works that ranged from autobiography to operas. Her writing had a major influence on Ernest Hemingway, and her salon attracted such artists as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, who painted her portrait. Melissa Lucero McCarl's two-character play evokes the complexities and power of Stein's life and work. McCarl is the author of Painted Bread, a critically lauded play about Frida Kahlo. The work, which was named "Best Play of 2003" by the Denver Post, was first performed at the Colorado Women's Playwright Festival in 1997. It went on to run at the Denver Civic Theater and Theatre On Broadway.

Art at the Mizel

Upstarts and Matriarchs
Jewish Women Artists and the Transformation of American Art
A Multidisciplinary Project
January 13-May 22, 2005

Curated by Simon Zalkind, this new exhibition presents a powerful survey of the most significant artists associated with the women's art movement—artists whose creativity and chutzpah challenged and transformed the role of art, artists, and art institutions. For much more information, see http://www.mizelcenter.org/exhibitions.htm

Mel Brooks on Being a Jew

I may be angry at God or at the world, and I'm sure that a lot of my comedy is based on anger and hostility... It comes from a feeling that as a Jew and as a person, I don't fit into the mainstream of American society.

Feeling different, feeling alienated, feeling persecuted, feeling that the only way you can deal with the world is to laugh - because if you don't laugh you're going to cry and never stop crying - that's probably what's responsible for the Jews having developed such a great sense of humor. The people who had the greatest reason to weep, learned more than anyone else how to laugh.

Based on the accomplishments of individual Jews, Nobel Prize winners, and heroes of modern culture, as well as the amount of attention Jews get in the media, you'd never believe the correct answers: There are little more than 13 million Jews in the world, comprising less than 1/4 of 1% of the world's population !!!!

Do you think it's just a coincidence? Twenty-one percent of Nobel Prize winners have been Jews, even though Jews comprise less than one-quarter of one percent of the world's population. Choose any field, and you will find that Jews have excelled in it.

Think of the names of many modern-day figures most responsible for the intellectual turning points in history - MARX, FREUD, EINSTEIN - and you will find proof of the Biblical verdict: "Surely this is...a wise and understanding people." There simply is no way to deny it.

Jews really are smart. There must be a reason - and I can give you three:

HEREDITY, ENVIRONMENT and A UNIQUE VALUE SYSTEM:

HEREDITY - Historians have pointed out a fascinating difference between Jews and Christians. In Christianity, as well as in many other religions, holiness was identified with asceticism, great spirituality with the practice of celibacy. For centuries the finest minds among Christians were urged to join the church and become priests. That effectively condemned their genetic pool of intelligence to an untimely end.

Jews, on the other hand, took quite seriously the first commandment to mankind - to be fruitful and multiply. Sex was never seen as sinful, but rather as one of those things created by God that he surely must have had in mind when he declared, in reviewing his work, that "Behold everything was very good."

Among Jews, the most intelligent were encouraged to become religious leaders. As rabbis, they had to serve as role models for their congregants as procreators and "fathers of their countries." Brains got passed on from generation to generation, and Jews today are still reaping the benefits of the frequent sexual activities of their ancestors.

ENVIRONMENT - If challenge and response are the keys to creativity and achievement, it's no surprise that Jews are smart; they've been challenged more than anyone else on earth. The school of hard knocks is a wonderful teacher. Jews had no choice but to learn to be better than anyone else since the odds were always so very much stacked against them.

When you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you tend to get fat and lazy. When you're born with the lash of a whip on your back, you quickly learn to become crafty, street smart, and knowledgeable in everything that will help you make it through life.

A UNIQUE VALUE SYSTEM - We still haven't touched on the most important reason of all. Jews are smart because they have been raised in a tradition that treasures education above everything else, that considers study the highest obligation of mankind, and that identifies the intellect as part of us created in "the image of God." To be illiterate was unheard of in the Jewish world, not only because it was a sign of stupidity, but, more significantly, because it was a sin.

Jews are obligated by law to review the Bible in its entirety every year, dividing it into manageable weekly sections. The widespread custom when a child turned three years old was to write the letters of the Hebrew alphabet on a board in honey and have the child learn them as he licked them off, equating their meaning with the taste of sweetness.

Jews studied the Midrash, and it taught them: The Sword and the Book came from Heaven together, and the Holy One said: "Keep what is written in this Book or be destroyed by the other." Jews studied the Mishna and it taught them, "Say not when I have leisure."

Philosophical Tevye, that delightful creation of the Yiddish writer Shalom Aleichem and the star of Fiddler On The Roof, explained that Jews always wear hats because they never know when they will be forced to travel. What he didn't say, which is probably more important, is that they always made sure to have something under their hats and inside of their heads - because physical possessions could be taken from them, but what they accumulated in their minds would always remain the greatest" merchandise" a Jew possesses.

And you thought Mel Brooks was only a funny man.

From SHJ’s Society Pages

Albert Einstein, the Humanist

by Cary Shaw

Albert Einstein’s anniversary is being especially honored this year, yet how many people know he was a humanist? Yes, it’s true. Albert Einstein was a humanist. He did not believe in a personal god. In his own words, he did not believe in a god who would create weak creatures and then punish or reward them for their weaknesses. Nor did he believe in an afterlife. He said he believed in Spinoza’s god, which is essentially the order in nature, no more, no less. Not something to which one would pray with the expectation of help or even personal interest.

Einstein was Jewish and proud to be a Jew. He wrote, “A desire for knowledge for its own sake, a love of justice that borders on fanaticism, and a striving for personal independence--these are the aspects of the Jewish people's tradition that allow me to regard my belonging to it as a gift of great fortune.”

Einstein is being especially honored this year. It is the 100^th anniversary of his “miracle year.” In 1905 he published one incredible paper after another: proving atomic matter as the cause of Brownian (random) motion in liquids, the deduction of the size of molecules, and the revelation that light behaves as a beam of tiny particles, photons, which would, he predicted, enable gravity to bend light waves. That truth of that prediction was observed and measured in 1919, securing Einstein’s fame. He capped that off in 1905 with the theory of relativity: that the speed of light is constant, the universe may expand, and mass and energy are equivalent.

Einstein is also being honored this year because it is the 50^th anniversary of his death on April 18, 1955. A series of events will culminate with the unveiling of a new statue of him at Princeton on Monday April 18. The U.N. has declared 2005 to be World Physics Year in his honor. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder pronounced 2005 "Einstein Year" in Germany.

There are many ways Humanistic Jewish congregations many learn about Einstein and celebrate his memory. We can hold an event. It may be a candle lighting in his memory, and what better way to connect with his discoveries about light? It may include a presentation/discussion on Einstein. The possibilities are endless. We can also publicize our events and invite the wider community.

Sources on Einstein include the books Judaism in a Secular Age edited by Kogel and Katz, and The Faith of Secular Jews edited by SaulGoodman, both available from SHJ (see www.shj.org, Book Store). The Quotable Einstein is available in libraries. Material is also available from the SHJ’s password-protected private online library at www.grovesite.com.  Someone at your HJ congregation will have access, or email Cary Shaw at fresser25@aol.com.

International Institute Spring Seminars Open to All

The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism is delighted to offer to both the public and to matriculating students the following Spring Seminars, 2005:

Great Weblinks

DribbleGlass—Funny, funny, funny, especially the billboards!

Japanese Watermelon Carvings

Lileks.com—One of your editor’s favorite humor sites. Check out the Institute of Official Cheer! Marvel at the Grooviest Motel in Wisconsin!

Rotten Tomatoes—All the movie reviews you could possibly want, from all over North America and the Net.

Please send all your interesting links, news, articles, book reviews, poetry, pix, essays, and events to the editor, Aviva Rothschild, at showDIESPAMMERDIEDIEtunes@rationalmagic.com, being careful, of course, to remove the DIESPAMMERDIEDIE garbage to get to the real email address!

Send mail to webmaster@bethami.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 11/05/06