May 2018 Iyar 15, 5778 – Sivan 17, 5778

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What Really Happened on Mount Sinai?This marks the beginning of my third year as your part-time Rabbi. I feel very blessed to be a part of your community…to be there for all of you in times of both happiness and sadness. I hope to continue to get to know all of you better and to help maintain our Temple’s heritage of being a vibrant part of the community at large in Northeast Louisiana.

I hope everyone had a pleasant April. I missed being with you! But, I will be back the weekend of May 18-19 when we will celebrate Shavuot and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. Our service on Friday evening will include a Torah service and I will read the 10 Commandments from the book of Exodus in the Torah. As I mentioned to you last Shavuot, there are actually a total of 613 commandments in the Torah. The 10 that are singled out are meant to represent categories that all the other commandments fall under.

On Saturday, May 19th, we will have a Tot Shabbat at 9:30 am and Torah Study will follow at 10:30 am. I would like to begin a Torah study examining what really happened on Mount Sinai beginning in May and continuing through the summer. I have come across some very interesting commentary and examination of the events that occur in Exodus and again in Deuteronomy. There are many contradictions and a closer look with a group of people could prove quite interesting and stimulating. I hope you will join us. Please try to bring a copy of the Hebrew Bible with you for reference.

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Also in May, we will host an Introduction to Judaism course on Saturday, May 19th

from 1 -4 in the Social Hall at the Temple. This course will give people a Taste of Judaism – what we believe, our history, our traditions and holidays with room for

questions. Please invite anyone that you know who might like to learn more about Judaism. It will be very similar to the one I presented last year. The class is free and open to all. Shirley has flyers in the office and Tanya Shlosman will be getting the word out to the community at large.

And, looking ahead – I will be doing a Family Concert at the Northeast Louisiana Children’s Museum on Saturday, June 16th at 6:30 pm. Hope to see some of you there.

See you soon….

Rabbi Judy

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END OF THE YEAR/ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, May 6 at 2:00 pm in the Sanctuary.

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SERVICE SCHEDULE

May 4th TBA May 11th TBAMay 18th Rabbi JudyMay 25th TBA

Lay leaders are subject to change.

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YAHRZEIT

MAY 4 TH

Bessie Ann Roby Rebecca DubinWilliam Fogel Henry GersonMortimer Goldenberg

MAY 11 TH

David Mayer Kaplan Ansel Harris SmithJoseph Dubin Maurice FinkelorHenrietta Scherck Kirkpatrick Arthur William RoseBertha Marie Masur Gorn Leon LaSovHenry Haas, Jr. Esther MarcusMichael Moss

MAY 18 TH

Bertha Krauss Anna Plonsky SternRalph Saber Sam WeissmanJacob B. Abrams Carrie Masur HymanGoldie Mintz Clara Tanenbaum

MAY 25 TH

Trudy Aron William MintzHyman Israel Seligman Emma Jane UllmanFanny Kettay Charles Marx

MAY 31 ST

Carolyn Masur Rose Marie AlbumDr. Natt B. Album Bernice RobyLarry Blate

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CONGRATULATIONS

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Jeffery and Kelsey Laudenheimer May 4th 10 yearsDvorah and Wesley Palmer May 26th 5 yearsAbraham and Michelle Hakim May 26th 8 years

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Jimmie Kern – May 2nd Jackie Rosenberg – May 7th Kash Schriefer – May 8th Susan Kenney – May 12th Minette Saber – May 17th Dominic Agbasi – May 27th Sue Ellen Hobart – May 29th Joe Rosenberg – May 30th

Congratulations to Matthew Marx on his graduation from Neville High School. He will be attending LSU in the fall. Matthew is the grandson of Don and Judy Marx.

Congratulations to Gail Levy on her graduation from FSU. She is the granddaughter of Charles and Janet Masur.

Congratulations to Will Raderman on his graduation from college. He is the grandson of Sylvia Masur Thompson.

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BRONZE PLAQUES AVAILABLE FOR SALEThere is space available for bronze plaques on the Yahrzeit Board in the front foyer. The plaques include the name of your loved one and their Yahrzeit date in both the Gregorian date and the Jewish date. The lights on both sides of their plaque are turned on the week of the Yahrzeit. This is a wonderful way to remember your loved ones. The cost of each plaque is $250.00. Contact the office for more information and to place your order.

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TASTE OF JUDAISM CLASS On Saturday, May 19th, Rabbi Judy will offer a Taste of Judaism class in the social hall from 1-4 pm.  The class is open to anyone in the community who wants to learn more about Judaism.  There is no charge, but reservations should be made with the Temple Secretary so we can know how many to expect.  The class will give participants a taste of information on Jewish customs, holidays, traditions, beliefs, etc.  It will also include a tour of the sanctuary and Temple museum and time for questions.  Please let friends in the community know about this.  Shirley will have flyers advertising the event in the office.

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RITUAL AND WORSHIPWe had 41 people for the Seder on March 30th, including serval visitors.

Thank you to Kash Schiefer, Bob Eisenstadt, Alan Barth, and Mike Rhymes for leading services in April.

Rabbi Judy’s next visit will be on May 18 th - 19th. In additional to our regular service, Tot Shabbat, and Torah Study, she will also conduct the class “Taste of Judaism”. The class is free and is open to the public. If you have family, friends, or neighbors that would like to learn a little bit about Judaism, please invite them.

Gay Nell Barth, Chair

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MEN’S CLUB

The Men’s Club will NOT be meeting in May. They will be having Kosher-style Hot Dog Sale on September 4th.

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ARCHIVES/MUSEUM NEWS

On the right is one of our newest exhibits to the museum. It is a buttonhook from Meyer Bros. Department Store.

This past April, Professor Josh Ockman, brought 66 students from Darbonne Woods Charter School to tour our Precious Legacy Archives/Museum. One of the students has taught himself Hebrew. During a discussion of the Hebrew language, many were surprised to learn that Hebrew is read from right to left. One of the students declared “I told you it was backward!” It will be interesting to read the student’s evaluation forms. Once again, a big thank you goes to Jackie Rosenberg for sharing his parent’s story of the Holocaust. And a thank you also goes out to Alan Barth for helping out during the tour.

Drop by the Temple and enjoy the art exhibit in the Masur Social Hall that was made possible by material donated by Rabbi David and Barbara Kline when they moved from Monroe. How exciting it would be if families or groups of congregation members would sponsor events at the Temple!!

We are participating in the Cooley House project “Steamboats A’Coming 1819-2019”. Our Temple has been selected as “interview headquarters”. The project will pay tribute to the many ways the Ouachita River has affected our community-past, present, future. One of those influences has been the Jewish community and our members are being asked to share their information, thoughts, and views on the history of the Jewish impact on Monroe. This will also allow us to preserve our history for our 150th Anniversary. All congregational members will have the opportunity to be interviewed. Interviews are conducted on Friday afternoons. You will be contacted to be interviewed in the coming months. Because of the importance of both these projects, the videographer is donating his time.

Enjoy a life filled with sunshine, joy, and laughter!Sandra Blate, Administrative Director

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