Dear My Extended BAI Family,
Thank you to the following many people who contributed to our spiritual and soulful Shabbat and daily services.
Our talented congregants continue to lead parts of Shabbat services including reading the Torah and chanting the Haftarah. We thank the individuals who read this month during Shabbat: Sheila Bassman, Emily Steiner, Marian Levine, Juliana Messinger, Margie Yavil, Barak, Miriam, and Ilana Zahavy, Barry Kramer, Suzie Fisher, Art Gershkoff, Gaby Lipkin, Sam Wojnilower, Harriet Katz, Corinne Hackman, and Marc Strauss. We have so much talent in our congregation and we are so grateful for the many people who have taught us how to lead prayers and how to read Torah and Haftorah, as well as all the talented leaders themselves.
I always appreciate hearing David Abernathy read his own meaningful prayer for the country.
Eden Charlson became a Bat Mitzvah by leading part of services. She and her extended three generation Charlson family, including Joan, Zev, Noah, Josh, Hannah, and Amy, beautifully chanted most of the Torah reading. Thank you, Lori and Jessica, and Jackie Needleman for handling all the logistics of this Simcha, and their continued work to ensure we can have in-person B’nai Mitzvot safely.
Corinne Hackman and Harriet Katz continue to do an excellent job recruiting and organizing our readers.
Rabbi David leads a small but dedicated group of people in our weekly Havdalah get together. Please join us for a great way to usher out Shabbat and schmooze.
Leslie Lieberman, Phyllis Blumberg, Jackie Needleman, Wendy Greenberg, Donald Erlichman and Johanna Werbach helped to maintain the dignity of the services behind the scenes by helping to host our Zoom services.
Thank you for all of the acts of Chesed or loving-kindness and G’milut Hasadim.
I want to extend a general “thank you” to all of those members that have quietly volunteered this month and previously, for all of the acts of Chesed or loving-kindness that you have bestowed upon our BAI family including cooking or delivering a meal, Challah for G’mulit Hasidim or called to check in on an elderly congregant. I have not named many of you because I am not aware of what you have done. One of the highest forms of charity is where both the donor and the receiver are anonymous. Therefore, you gave one of the highest forms of charity.
Thank you for contributing meals for the interfaith Friendsgiving meals with our partners at Bethel AME in Ardmore: Jackie Faiman, the Beckers, Barbie Henig, Sandy Choukroun, Polly Zavadivker and the Harmon Family
Thank you to members who made meals for members: Julie Cooper, Don Erlichman, Mira Olson, Polly Zavadivker, Ronit Eisenbach, Rita Harris, and Susan Sandler.
Thank you to members who contributed to the HIAS Thanksgiving celebration of refugees: Elisa Abeloff and George Landau, Shelley Ruderman, and Carol Gantman
Thank you to members who baked challahs for others: Nomi Shapiro, Jackie Needleman, Julie Savitch, Phyllis Aaron, Leslie Leiberman, Susan Sandler, and to Tara Radin and others for delivering them.
Thank you, Rabbi David, Hazzan Harold, Gaby Lipkin, Leslie Lieberman, and Irene Glickman for keeping us informed and engaged about current local ways to express our solidarity and support of others. Congregants assisted with Thanksgiving meal packing, organizing labeling and delivering for our friends at Bethel AME Church in Ardmore. Gaby Lipkin coordinated our efforts.
Donald and Barbara Erlichman, John and Randi Harris and new members Russell and Rala Stone and Laszlo Gyulai donated meals for fellow congregants over Thanksgiving.
The following people wrote letters to their Federal elected officials advocating for a fast transition to clean renewable energy: Phyllis Blumberg, and Sandy Choukroun. New letter writers are always welcome.
Thank you to our members and clergy who continue to lead interesting, and educational ongoing programs.
Now because everything is available remotely we can participate in so many excellent lectures, while we continue to benefit from excellent educational programs led by our own members.
These programs have been enlightening very thought-provoking. I would like to encourage more people to attend them.
We have sponsored excellent programs led by members of RA (Rabbinical Association) USCJ (United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism) and the Cantor’s Association (RA). The fall series concludes in early December; more are planned.
Steve Weitzman and his Center at Penn have shared their excellent programs with us.
We also sponsored several excellent programs on contemporary issues in Israel including Diversity in Israel and Beyond: A Conversation with Naftali Aklum. Naftali devotes his life to educating people about the history of Ethiopian Jews and Building Peace & Partnership Between Arabs & Jews in Israel.
Thanks to Alan Garfield for connecting us with Tzippi Moss who gave us a virtual tour along the Israel Trail.
Mira Olson planned a great family-oriented walk around the neighborhood, helping us find awe in the common things around us.
Thank you to our members who continue to lead worthwhile ongoing programs or events.
We thank them for the many ways that we can be connected to each other:
Weekly, Grace and Art Gershkoff continue to lead every moment as an opportunity to practice: mindfulness meditation for their loyal fellow meditators.
Sunday Minyan has been lay- led for decades. This Minyan has helped many people practice their Hebrew and learn to lead a prayer or prayers. Newcomers are always welcome.
Adam Wishkovsky coordinates the weekly Hebrew conversation.
Yoga with Nicole Levin is always appreciated for those of us who need a good stretch and twist to increase flexibility. She conducts two yoga classes per month. She also leads embodied prayer routinely
Laura Wienick coordinates our frequent books discussions.
Thank you to our congregants who are working to recruit and retain members.
Our membership committee does a great job of cultivating friendships and encouraging new people to join our community. The hard-working members of the community of this committee are Michelle Harmon (co-chair), Rob Jacobson (co-chair), Sam Wojnilower, Judy Wortman, Orit Dolgushev, Rich Stein, Margie Yavil, and Carol Gantman. In addition, Denise Gotsdiner does most of the new member basket deliveries.
A membership task force composed of the Rabbi, Lori, Melanie, Jackie, Judy Wortman, Mark Noble, Rob Jacobson, Michelle Harmon, and Phyllis is meeting to discuss short term and long-term membership categories and how we can be more inclusive this year as all our activities are remote.
Thank you to Lori, Jessie, Sarah, and Laura Roeder for keeping us connected with informative email announcements, the website and the total operation functioning.
Please check our website and email reminders for all that is happening at BAI. Thank you to Lori, Jessie, and Sarah who are doing so much work behind the scenes on our website on how to maintain the accuracy and details of our very active calendar. You may have noticed that when you open the calendar on the website and you are logged in, it is customized and personalized for you and your family. You can check Hebrew and English family members’ birthdays, anniversaries and Yahrzeit. You can also add or edit family information on your own and it will appear on the website calendar.
Thanking our amazing clergy of Rabbi David Ackerman and Hazzan Harold Messinger.
Consistently our amazing clergy continue to give more than 100% every month by leading so many varied prayer services, and doing so many other things including Rabbi David leading Talmud and Mussar classes, support groups for those living alone, weekly Torah study on Shabbat morning, and inspirational messages Erev Shabbat and during services. We are so enriched by music made available to us by Hazzon Harold including his new series on the power of prayer, his monthly music prayer lab and coordinating the wonderful concert evening with Elana Arian. Both clergy have been involved with the Community conversations on how to be anti-racist and the Interfaith Thanksgiving service.
I apologize if I neglected to thank you. If you let me know if you did something I will be happy to thank you in my next letter. We certainly are a community that helps each other and I am very thankful for that.
B’shalom,
Phyllis
Phyllis Blumberg
President, Beth Am Israel
