Beth Ami
Colorado Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
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Colorado Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
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May 2007 Newsletter This newsletter is intended to provide information to the Denver/Boulder area Secular Humanistic Judaism community. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE – Jon Budoff Our yearly Congregational meeting is coming up soon on Saturday, July 14th. This year, it will be held at Westminster Recreation Center, where we have held numerous events. Hopefully, this will provide a more easily accessible and centralized location, and more members will be able to attend. As I have mentioned before, we are holding this meeting earlier than usual, so that we can get membership renewal letters out by the end of July, with the intent that all renewals are done by the end of August. This will allow us to get this done prior to the High Holidays, so that it doesn't drag out as has happened in past years when we have tried to get it done after the High Holidays, when everyone was completely exhausted. More details about the meeting will be published in the near future. I am pleased to announce that I plan to continue on as President of the congregation for the coming year, assuming that the membership is ok with this. Toni and I both feel that this is best use of the time I have available to dedicate to Beth Ami, and will in turn allow others to continue contributing the significant efforts that they routinely put forward. Part of the reason I will be able to do this is because of the generosity of a number of other members, who have offered to take on some of the other tasks which I have been doing for the last few years, such as website maintenance, maintenance of the official members and potential-members database, and management of the King Soopers voucher program which benefits the Jewish Cultural School. I thank Ron Kingston, Barry Levene, Michelle Davis, and Gerrie Karasik for their offers to take these tasks on, in addition to all of the other work that they put forward. As president, I will continue to develop agendas for and facilitate Board meetings, send out announcements for events, serve as primary contact for the congregation, and do my best to continue helping us move forward as a congregation.
I would also like to thank the
following individuals who plan to continue in these leadership roles for the
coming year: As always, we can use additional help, so please let me know if you are interested in getting more involved, in a big or small way. I think we accomplished much as a congregation in the last year. In the next Board meeting on June 3rd, we will be focusing on preparing for the Congregational meeting and laying out our goals for next year. If you have any ideas, please email me. Or better yet, come to the Congregational meeting and present your ideas yourself. Thanks to all of you for your continued support of Beth Ami! TREASURER’S MESSAGE – Barry Levene
Leadership Training Fund Off To A Good
Start Barry Levene, Beth Ami Treasurer, at 12449 E. Amherst Cir., Aurora, CO 80014. All donations are tax deductible. BETH AMI JEWISH CULTURAL SCHOOL – Lenore Kingston A highly successful year ended with several exciting activities. In honor of Earth Day and with an emphasis on tikkun olam, the school took a field trip to the Butterfly Museum in Westminster. The group learned about the rainforest as the “lungs of the earth” while deepening their understanding of ecology. On the last day of school, students, staff and parents shared lunch and honored Adam Schonberg for his dedication and skill as the Jewish Cultural School has evolved and grown. Adam was presented with a photo collage signed by JCS students and stakeholders. We wish Adam and his wife the best with new work endeavors, and a new baby on the way! Many thanks, also, to Marti Hirsch, JCS teacher and parent, for her skills and enthusiasm this past year. With the help of a talented staff, our school is growing and improving. School plans for next year include an increased emphasis on social action and tzedakah infused into the curriculum to align with Secular Humanistic Judaism beliefs. Please attend the June 10 end-of-year school meeting, facilitated by Gerrie Karasik and Lenore, to wrap up and review this past year and discuss future plans. Join parents and staff at 10 a.m. at Westminster Rec. Also, consider joining Lenore at the school section of the Boulder Jewish Festival on the same day, June 10, to learn more about groups and opportunities in the Boulder area. ADULT EDUCATION – Barry Levene & Michelle Davis
Adult Education Program Concludes on
High Note SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING EVENTS – Check updates at www.bethami.com. For Jewish events in Boulder, link to www.boulderjcc.org. For Jewish events in Denver, link to www.jccdenver.org. May 6 (Sun) 10a-12p, Jewish Cultural School End of Year Party May 19 (Sat) 5 pm Havdalah service & potluck at Gordon Gamm's in Boulder. HOW DOES THE CONCEPT OF SOUL AFFECT TODAY’S POLITICS? Gordon will facilitate. RSVP to Sheila for potluck contribution of appetizer, main dish, side dish/salad or dessert at 303-499-5933 or email by 5/16. May 22 (Tues) BIHI and the AHA present an evening with Michelle Goldberg and Damon Linker entitled, “Secular America under Siege – The Rise of Christian Nationalism.” See below. June 3 (Sun) 10 am Beth Ami Executive Committee at the home of Gerrie & Len Karasik June 10 (Sun) 10 am End-of-Year Jewish Cultural School meeting at Westminster Rec for parents, staff and advisers June 10 Boulder Jewish Festival on the Pearl St. Mall from 11-5 June 23 (Sat) Havdalah service and Darwin presentation at DU Hillel (details TBD) July 14 (Sat) Congregational Meeting at Westminster Rec. This important, annual event sets our course for the next 12 months. Please arrive at 9:30 am to schmooze and munch bagels. The meeting will run from 10 to 11:30 (approx.) followed by brunch. Please bring brunch food. Older children can swim. Aug. 25 (Sat.) Musical fundraiser by Michelle Davis and Donna Levene. Details to follow. LITERARY NEWS – Sheila Malcolm Congratulations to Bert Rothschild and Irving Franke, who were both featured in the most recent “Humanistic Judaism” magazine. Bert’s article, “Life Decisions,” discusses issues around Marilyn’s death. Bert is also complimented, in a letter to the editor from Arizona, on his recent piece “Where Do We Fit?” “Do Words Matter?” by Irving explains his musical dilemma reconciling religious music and secular beliefs. Anyone want to join me in reading The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by one of my favorite authors, Michael Chabon? I want to find out if he can beat Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Jews relocated to Sitka instead of Palestine? The New York Times calls this new book “a screwball, alternative-reality, hard-boiled mystery, set, for maximum incongruity, in Alaska.” RECENT EVENTS Passover Our largest seder yet was highlighted with lovely vocals and instrumentals, matzo frisbees, gone-in-a-flash brisket, the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and the cutest “plagues” you’ve ever seen. Thanks to Maida for again securing her clubhouse, and to all who attended, contributed and enjoyed! Beth Ami Jewish Cultural School was thanked, and we thank Lenore Kingston, by Jewish Family Service of Colorado for a seder contribution which helped provide “goody bags” to more than 70 seniors living independently or in Boulder County facilities. JFS can be accessed at 303 415-1025. April Havdalah The Denver University Hillel was the scene for a Havdalah service and presentation by Rabbi Richard Newman, our favorite adult educator. Thanks, Richard. We wish you safe travels. Madrikha Training Michelle and Sheila are back from their second seminar on the path to Madrikha certification. The weekend in Atlanta was “Basic Ideas of SHJ,” facilitated by Rabbi Wine. The Chicago weekend with Rabbi Adam Chalom of Kol Hadash was called “To Life! Celebrating the Jewish Life Cycle.” A bonus was actually attending a secular Jewish/Muslim wedding, which Adam officiated on Saturday! Our next training is in July in Detroit, entitled “Managing a Community” with Rabbi Miriam Jerris. LOCAL NEWS The ANNUAL GOLDEN HILL CEMETERY CLEANUP has become one of our community's key joint communal programs. This mitvah project serves as an invaluable lesson to all sectors of our community. Your participation and support is always greatly appreciated. Call the Synagogue Council of Greater Denver at 303-759-8485 or 303-399-6269 a/h.
On Tuesday, May 22nd, BIHI and the AHA
present an evening with Michelle Goldberg and Damon Linker entitled, “Secular
America under Siege – The Rise of Christian Nationalism.”
If you value preserving the separation between Church and State, you won’t
want to miss this! The event includes discussion and book signing by
both speakers. Location is the Glenn Miller Ballroom at the UMC at CU, corner of
Broadway and Euclid in Boulder. Tickets are $7.00 in advance and $10.00 at the
door. Students and faculty are free with ID. Online ticket purchase and parking
information is at <http://www.bihi.info/>
Call Gordon Gamm at (303) 543-9166.
Damon Linker, author of The
Theocons, is intimately familiar with the rise of the “theoconservatives.”
His experience working in the center of the theocon world as an editor of its
flagship journal, First Things, led to his resolve to write a critical
history of the movement. The Bush administration’s overt religiosity represents
the triumph of an ideological movement that for the past several decades has
devoted itself to fashioning a theocratic governing philosophy for the U.S. and
has actively sought to roll back the division of church and state in American
life. MEMBER PROFILE – Vic & Debra Goldberg The Goldberg family (Vic, Debra, Barry & Janelle) moved back to Colorado in summer 2005 after a long, nine year absence. Now living in Louisville, we've belonged to two other Humanistic Congregations, Kol Haverim Finger Lakes Community for Humanistic Judaism in Ithaca, NY (where Barry was part of the first Sunday School class), and Kahal B'raira in Boston. Debra and Vic were both born in Brooklyn, NY, and were high school sweethearts. (We just recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of our first date!) We married after college, lived in Maryland for a couple of years, then moved to Colorado where Barry was born in 1994. After spending a number of years working in aerospace, Debra decided to follow her dream and go back to school to get her PhD. During our five-year sojourn to Ithaca, NY (the land of the seven month cloud cover), Janelle was born in 1998. After a four-year side trip to Boston, MA, where Vic worked at a very large database consultant and Debra did a post-doc, we were happy to be able to return to Colorado. Debra is now an Assistant Professor at CU Boulder in the Computer Science department, while Vic is an Associate Director of the Office of Financial Aid, also at CU, where he gets to give away millions of dollars of other people’s money to help kids go to school. How cool is that? Barry is finishing up 7th grade at Monarch K-8. He participates in community theater (he's had roles in Oliver, Comedy Tonight, and Oklahoma!), studies voice, plays soccer, and is active in a number of online games. Janelle is finishing up 3rd grade, studies piano, has appeared in community theater (Honk! Jr.), and just became a junior girl scout.
Remember the Amazon.com link on our Beth Ami homepage! You can shop for items from Amazon.com, Target, ToysRUs, BabiesRUs and Office Depot through the Amazon.com link on your own Beth Ami homepage, www.bethami.com. Beth Ami will receive a percentage of all purchases, which will go towards supporting our Jewish Cultural School. This newsletter is published at least four times/year with the goal of communicating events and information to inform our members and those interested in celebrating "Jewish culture and identity consistent with a humanistic philosophy of life." Kindly send submissions by email to sheilamalcolm@comcast.net. |
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Last modified: 11/05/06 |
