Beth Ami
Colorado Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
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Colorado Congregation for Humanistic Judaism
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November 2006 Newsletter Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Chanukah! THIS NEWSLETTER IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE DENVER/BOULDER AREA SECULAR HUMANISTIC JUDAISM COMMUNITY! PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - Jon Budoff A funny thing happened on the way to this newsletter ... Just a few short months ago at our annual congregational meeting, everyone was pretty burned out and tired, and we decided that the best we could do for the coming year was to concentrate on a handful of major holiday celebrations and Shabbat services in members' homes. But with the excitement and success of our High Holiday services, including our Yom Kippur events with Rabbi Wine, people became energized. Sheila Malcolm and Michelle Davis volunteered to begin Madrika training, which should help to bring our congregation to new heights in the coming years. Sheila and Michelle, along with other members, spearheaded the effort to put together an Adult Education program, which will begin in January and will present a series of classes led by Rabbi Richard Newman. Other members volunteered their time to check out possible new locations to hold our Shabbat/Havdalah services and other events. We are very excited to be having our December 1st Shabbat service (also with Rabbi Newman) at the brand new DU Hillel building, and have high hopes that this may become a central location for our services/events in the future. Lenore Kingston has brought her energy and enthusiasm to her role as the new Education Chair, and our Jewish Cultural School has been having a fantastic semester. We have had several new students join our school, and with the launch in January of a Kindergarten class, we expect to be joined by even more new students. We are currently putting the details together for our Chanukah party, and laying out the plans for other events for next year. Overall, I am both encouraged and excited by what is going on, and look forward to a year of growth and continued success for our congregation in 2007! TREASURER’S MESSAGE – Barry Levene At the Nov. 12 Executive Committee Meeting, Barry reported 13 responses to the request to renew memberships by November 17. If you have not done so, kindly send your renewal checks to Barry. BETH AMI JEWISH CULTURAL SCHOOL – Lenore Kingston Beth Ami’s Jewish Cultural School began meeting on September 10th at the Westminster Recreation Center, Sheridan Road and 105th Street. September and October were busy months at our school. Our students participated in a Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur service. Rabbi Sherwin Wine, founding Rabbi of the Humanistic Judaism movement, was our featured speaker at our Yom Kippur service. Our school enjoyed Sukkot in the backyard of our Beth Ami president, Jon Budoff. The children built a sukkah with adult help, decorated it, and then ate homemade applesauce, oatmeal, and chocolate cake while we learned about the holiday. A good time was had by all who came, parents included! Our school meets bimonthly on Sunday mornings from 10:00am to 12:00pm. We do craft projects, play games, listen to stories, and learn Hebrew in order to learn about and celebrate our Jewish heritage. We encourage visitors to see our school in action. Please contact Lenore Kingston, 303-828-0704, if you and your child(ren) would like to meet our teachers and students. SCHEDULE OF UPCOMING EVENTS Calendar events will be updated on the website, www.bethami.com. For Jewish events in Boulder, link to www.boulderjcc.org. For Jewish events in Denver, link to www.jccdenver.org. November 19 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School
December 1 (Fri) 7p Shabbat service with Richard Newman* at the new DU Hillel Building December 3 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School December 17 (Sun) 10a-11a Jewish Cultural School followed by Congregation Chanukah Party** at Westminster Rec at 11
January 14 (Sun) 10a-12p Spring Semester starts for Jewish Cultural School January 28 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School and 10:30a - 12p Adult Education followed by Tu B'Shevat Seder 12 – 1p
February 11 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School and 10:30a - 12p Adult Education February 25 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School and 10:30a - 12p Adult Education followed by Purim celebration 12 - 1p
March 11 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School and 10:30a - 12p Adult Education
April 1 (Sun) 4:00p Passover Seder April 8 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School and 10:30a - 12p Adult Education April 22 (Sun) 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School and 10:30a - 12p Adult Education (tentative)
May 6 10a-12p Jewish Cultural School End of Year Party
SHABBAT
On Friday, December 1
at 7pm, we will have a Shabbat service with special guest Rabbi Richard Newman,
Program Coordinator for the ALEPH Institute for Jewish Culture, which is part of
DU's Center for Judaic Studies (see
http://www.du.edu/cjs/aleph_institute_faculty_biographies.html
for more info.). After a short Shabbat service, Rabbi Newman will discus the
history of Yiddish culture. The discussion will be followed by a pot-luck
dessert Oneg Shabbat. This service will be held at DU's Hillel facility at 2390
S. Race St. (see
http://du.hillelcolorado.org/about/contact.php for directions and map).
This is a brand new facility and we are one of the first groups to get to use
it, so we are very excited! Mark your calendar for our annual Chanukah Party on Dec. 17 from 11a - 1p at Westminster City Park Recreation Center (see http://www.bethami.com/Westminster_Rec.htm for address and directions). This is the location of our Jewish Cultural School. We are still working out some of the details, so please check our website in a few days for more information, and then join us for a great Chanukah celebration!
FROM YOUR FUTURE MADRIKHIM Michelle Davis and Sheila Malcolm applied for the Madrikha/Leadership Training Program offered through the International Institute of Secular Humanistic Judaism. The purpose of the program is to develop professional leaders who serve the needs of the Secular Humanistic Jewish movement. “Graduates of the Leadership Program earn the title of Madrikh(a)/Vegvayzer/Leader, a Jewish professional who serves as a community guide, ceremonial officiant, philosophic counselor, educator, and movement spokesperson. Leaders serve the needs of their communities and the Jewish community in general in their area.” According to Rabbi Wine, our training will last approximately three years as we attend 3 to 4 seminars yearly. Most of these seminars are held in Detroit. Others are offered around the U.S. Denver may be a future venue for a seminar, which would include a weekend of adult education for Beth Ami members and other interested citizens. Seminars are taught by Rabbi Wine, other leaders of SHJ and university professors and experts from both the U.S. and Israel. In addition, we will have reading assignments, written responses and agreed-upon activities that support our organization. Those community activities may include planning and participating in services and Jewish Cultural School sessions, writing a newsletter, creating a new committee or event for our organization, etc. After Leadership training, we expect to step up and take a more involved role in Beth Ami, depending on our skills and the needs of the group. Those will all evolve over the next few years. We plan to start with the following seminars: Basic Ideas of Humanistic Judaism in Atlanta in March, Life Cycle of the Jew in Chicago in April, and Managing a Community for a week in July in Detroit. Sheila and Michelle both feel encouraged and inspired to begin this journey for the benefit of the Beth Ami community as well as for our own growth and development. Many thanks to those who have volunteered to financially support our travels. We believe our combined strengths and new knowledge will benefit the community. BASH BOOK GROUP - Ellen & Bennett Inkeles Just a reminder ... The next meeting of the Book Group will take place on Saturday, November 18 at 11:00 A.M. at the home of Bennett and Ellen Inkeles. The book is: The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom by Gerald Schroeder. In addition to reading the book, it would be helpful to be familiar with Genesis, particularly the verses related to creation and Adam. For more information, please contact Ellen Inkeles at beink@msn.com. Ellen will provide directions to their house when you RSVP. A pot-luck lunch will follow the discussion. Remember the new Amazon.com link on our Beth Ami homepage! You can now 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 helping to support our Jewish Cultural School. Consider purchasing any of the book group titles, those mentioned below or any of your holiday buys through this easy process. LOCAL NEWS
DR. JEANNE ABRAMS,
professor and director of the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society and Beck
Archives at the Center for Judaic Studies, has just published one of the first
full accounts of Jewish women in the American West. Her new book, Jewish
Women Pioneering the Frontier Trail: A History in the American West,
portrays the rich history and contributions Jewish women made in this new
frontier. Proceeds benefit the Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society and Beck
Archives. NEWS FROM NATIONAL Staying Sane in a Crazy World by Rabbi Sherwin Wine is now available in paperback for $15. (Link to Amazon through the Beth Ami homepage!) Life is unfair. It often does not give us what we want or even what we deserve. In his newest work, Sherwin Wine explores what it means to cope successfully with an unfair world. Staying Sane in a Crazy World offers a fresh and somewhat outrageous new approach to the search for meaning in life.
Congress Graded on
Commitment to Separation of Church and State – sent by Harriet Maza
Anti-Semitism Seminar EASY OR DIFFICULT? Contest to Award $1000 to Winner The Secular Coalition for America, a lobbying group representing the interests of non-theist Americans, will award $1,000 to the individual who identifies the “highest level atheist, humanist, freethinker or other non-theist currently holding elected public office in the United States of America.” The deadline for the contest is December 31, 2006. Rules, entry forms and more about the organization and the contest can be found by going to www.secular.org. The award money for the contest winner has been contributed by an anonymous supporter and will not deplete the advocacy’s own resources. The Society for Humanistic Judaism was the seventh organization to join the Secular Coalition. SEND A LITTLE SMILE… · Please contact Maida Deborah if you know of someone who is ill, needs help or is celebrating an important life event! Three Jewish women get together for lunch. As they are being seated in the restaurant, one takes a deep breath and gives a long, slow "oy." The second takes a deep breath as well and lets out a long, slow "oy." The third takes a deep breath and says impatiently, "Girls, I thought we agreed that we weren't going to talk about our children." (Thanks, Bert Rothschild!) MAZEL TOV TO… Ron and Lenore Kingston on the birth of Alexander Max, grandchild #6! ABOUT OUR MEMBERS Elaine Bloch graciously offered to present a brief bio as our first highlighted member. Thanks, Elaine.
I was born and brought
up in New York City and earned a degree in fashion design from Pratt Institute
in Brooklyn. After designing children’s clothing for a few years, I got married
and began designing children, five in all. My family and I came to Denver in
1977, and I became divorced shortly afterwards. I went back to school to get an
accounting degree because there is no fashion industry in Denver, and opened my
own accounting business, which believe it or not, was a lot of fun. This newsletter will be 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. (New email) |
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Last modified: 11/05/06 |