In This Issue
High Holiday Appeals Leadership Conference
Bone Marrow Registry Drive for Ramah Parent, Matt Fenster
Yasher Koach Corner
METNY's Annual Dinner - June 7
Save the Date - Salute to Israel Parade May 23
New Directors' Institute
Webinar: So What's New About Mergers?
Mayyim Hayyim Mikvah Conference
A Special Message from METNY
To read the latest updates from national USCJ headquarters, click here for USCJ eNews.
To read workshop summaries and to download handouts from the 2010 Synagogue Leadership Conference, visit the METNY website.
Check out our Website!
Publicize your event on the METNY Community Calendar. Please email

Kimberly Bastin at [email protected] to have your event posted.
Click here to view the calendar.

Follow METNY on the Web!
 
 
 
Click here to become a fan of
METNY USCJ on Facebook!
 

Twitter
@CharlieSavenor
 @MetnyUSY
 
FREE BOOKS!

METNY USCJ has an extra set of Encyclopedia Judaica. If you are interested in attaining this set for your synagogue library please contact Rabbi Charles Savenor at [email protected].
Contact METNY
820 Second Avenue, 10th Fl.
 New York, NY 10017
 
212-533-0800 (p)
 212-533-0400 (f)
 
Rabbi Charles Savenor
 Executive Director

Rabbi Moshe Edelman
Associate Executive Director

Rabbi Paulette Posner
Director of Education

Dave Siegel
Interim Director of Youth Activities

Sharon Steinberg
President
SAVE THE DATE!

METNY District's 
Biennial Convention
2010 
will be held on

Sunday,
 November 14

at Beth El Synagogue Center
in New Rochelle.

More information will be forthcoming.

The Metropolitan New York (METNY) District of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

 

presents newly restructured and freshly redesigned

 

LEADERSHIP CONFERENCES

 

for Synagogue presidents, officers, committee members, clergy and professionals



 

Conducting a Successful High Holy Day "Appeal"

Facilitator: Jeff Horowitz, Vice President of METNY District

 

 

May 17th at 7:30 PM at the Orangetown Jewish Center, Orangeburg in Rockland County.

Guest presenters: President Karen Goldstick and Rabbi Aubrey Glazer of the Jewish Community Center of Harrison, NY

 

 

RSVP by May 16th by contacting Rabbi Edelman at 212-533-0800 or [email protected].

 

Here is a report from the first session, last night: In the Fall 2009, METNY United Synagogue surveyed its 100 congregations to determine the style of High Holy Day/ Yizkor/ Kol Nidre Appeals and their effectiveness as a form of tzedakah and fundraising. We promised to follow up with two seminars within the district. The first of the seminars took place on Thursday May 13th.
 
We had 10 people in attendance this evening. A very excellent presentation by Lee Grebstein, past president of Dix Hills Jewish Center began the proceedings. The seminar was attended by leaders from Beth El Synagogue Center of New Rochelle, East Northport Jewish Center, Commack Jewish Center, North Shore Jewish Center of Port Jefferson, South Huntington Jewish Center, Orangetown Jewish Center as well as Dix Hills Jewish Center.
 
Executive Vice President of METNY District, Norman Korowitz, chaired the session and Rabbi Moshe Edelman offered a Dvar Torah on the theme of tzedakah with two Hasidic stories. Moshe also summarized the  results of the survey.
 
Norman Korowitz distributed the excellent text "Maximizing Your High Holy Day Appeal" prepared by Lisa Harris Glass, District director of the Mid Atlantic United Synagogue which initiated further dialogue and inquiry as to our approach in gaining the contributions of our membership and those who join us in prayer on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

 

 

The Leadership Series is coordinated by Norman Korowitz , METNY Executive VP and Rabbi Moshe Edelman, METNY Associate Director.

 

 

To RSVP or for more information, contact Rabbi Moshe Edelman at (212) 533-0800 or [email protected].

 



Family Activities and Resources for Shavuot

Compiled by Rabbi Cara Weinstein Rosenthal, METNY's "Building Our Jewish Home" Coordinator

Shavuot is an important but little-known holiday. It commemorates the time of the barley harvest in Israel and the receiving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Shavuot takes place seven weeks after the second day of Passover, and it's a tradition to eagerly count the Omer - the period of time between the anniversary of our freedom from slavery and the anniversary of the giving of the Torah. On Shavuot, our ancestors would show their gratitude to God by bringing an offering of the first fruits of their harvest. Shavuot is a time to celebrate spring, the outdoors, and the Torah - what's not to love?


To download the Family Activities and Resources for Shavuot packet, visit METNY's website.







Bone Marrow Registry Drive for Ramah Parent, Matt Fenster

Jennifer & Matt Fenster
Jennifer and Matt Fenster

The Fensters, a deeply committed Ramah family, need your help. Matt, Jennifer, and their four children spend summers at Ramah Berkshires and Nyack. He has worked endlessly to help his community in Riverdale, NY, and beyond.
 
Matt was recently diagnosed with AML, acute myelogenous leukemia. He needs a bone marrow transplant to save his life and we are desperately searching for a marrow match for Matt. His family and friends are now calling on the Ramah community to assist in this time of need.


There are two opportunities to register as a potential bone marrow donor:

  • Sunday, May 16 from 9:00-5:00 p.m. at Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale (CSAIR), 475 West 250th Street, Bronx, NY
  • Sunday, May 16 from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at The Jewish Center, 131 West 86th Street, New York, NY
  • Sunday, May 23 at the Salute to Israel Parade, details to follow
Both drives are coordinated by the Gift of Life Foundation. Registration involves a simple cheek swab (adults age 18-60). 

You can also make a contribution to the Matt Fenster Donor Circle to defray the costs of processing of the donor kits.  Each donor kit costs $54 to process. The more kits collected and paid for, the better chance we will have of finding a bone marrow match for Matt.
 
More information about this effort, including how to make a contribution can be found at www.mattfenstercircle.org.
 
If you have already been tested, please consider donating $54 to cover the cost of someone else's test.

For more information or to volunteer to assist with this effort, please contact [email protected].

A Message from Matt

I was diagnosed with leukemia on April 23, 2010, not long ago. Until that day, I never would have guessed that I had cancer. Since then, my family's world has been turned upside down. Overnight, we went from the normal family down
the block whose biggest concern was getting all the kids dressed, fed, and into the car in time for school, to a family fighting this potentially fatal disease. We have been sustained through all of this with the overwhelming support of our family, friends and community.


Those people have not only taken it upon themselves to bring us meals, make playdates for our kids, and coordinate
Yonah, Ari, Leah and Elie Fenster
Yonah, Ari, Leah and Elie Fenster
visits, but they have now made it their mission to help me beat this disease by finding me a donor who will provide the bone marrow that I will need to survive. I have full confidence in them, and know that they will find that person out there who will save me, and in the process, help to keep intact my family, including my wife, my daughter (8 years old), and my three sons (6, 4, and 2 years old).


My family and I would deeply appreciate your joining my donor circle and contributing funds to offset the cost of testing. And if you are able to register with the Gift of Life as a potential marrow donor, better yet.

Thank you,
Matthew, Jennifer, Leah, Yonah, Ari, and Elie Fenster

Yasher Koach Corner

Yasher Koach to METNY board member Marty Werber, who spoke at Yad Vashem this past Monday.  Marty's speech coincided with the publication of his father's memoir, Saving Children:  Diary of a Buchenwald Survivor and Rescuer. 



Yasher Kochachem
to the winners of the "5770 Proud to Be Jewish" art contest, a project of METNY's education department in cooperation with the Davidson School at the Jewish Theological Seminary.  This year's winners are:

3rd-5th grades, whose theme was "How My Synagogue Is Important to Me":
First place: Tomer Kort, 4th Grade, Temple Beth Sholom, Roslyn
Second place:  Jacob Gruza, 5th Grade, Beth El Synagogue Center, New Rochelle
Third place:  Sophia Peister, 5th Grade, Beth El Synagogue Center, New Rochelle

6th-8th grades, whose theme was "My Synagogue Is My Second Home":
First place:  Sydney Kravitz, 6th grade, Orangetown Jewish Center, Orangeburg
Second place:  Ilysa Salit, 7th grade, Midway Jewish Center, Syosset
Third place:  Daphne Solomon, 7th grade, Temple Beth Sholom, Roslyn


To see Tomer's, Sydney's, and Ilysa's art, click here!
To read Jacob's, Sophia's, and Daphne's poems, click here!




Did you know that over 370 METNY USYers and Kadimaniks are spending the weekend at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello for Regional Convention and 8th Grade Experience!?

We extend our appreciation to the convention co-chairs, Jamie Adges (Midway Jewish Center) and Andrew Topal (Forest Hills Jewish Center), as well as Ben Guzik (Shelter Rock Jewish Center), the outgoing regional president and his board for planning an amazing weekend!

We also thank our devoted staff, divisional directors - Mike Hirsch, Todd Hausman, Mark Speilvogel, & Bruce Varon; transportation coordinator, Andrea Moskowitz; program coordinator, Ashley Lehrman; and interim regional youth director, Dave Siegel. They always create ruach-filled, fun, learning experiences that inspire our youth and staff!

Stay tuned this weekend to find out who our next regional board members will be! We also announce the winner of our regional Chapter of the Year award. Shabbat Shalom!

Summer at Camp Ramah!


Ramah 2010 Overnight Campership Incentive Program
If it's your first summer at Jewish overnight camp, register today for a Ramah camp and you will be eligible for a $1000 discount off summer 2010 tuition and, in some areas, $750 off for summer 2011.* Click here to find out how you can take advantage of this special offer, or contact the National Ramah office at [email protected] or (212) 678-8881. *Exact program details vary by region.


For more information about the Ramah camps, visit www.campramah.org.


The Salute to the Israel Parade is on Sunday, May 23, 2010.
 
Click here to learn more and have your synagogue march!


 

This year the celebration and parade will mark the 62nd anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. The METNY District of United Synagogue, which  is made up of over 100 congregations, has always had an impressive contingent at the Annual Salute to Israel Day Parade. We hope you will participate and bring your members, friends and family.

 

METNY will be marching with our regional USY group.  Details are below:
 
  • Our assembly time is 1:30 p.m.
  • We will meet at West 54TH Street between 5th and 6th Ave.
  • The parade ends at 74TH Street
  • We march rain or shine!
  • Wear blue and white!
  • Bring water!!


Come hear METNY Board Member, Stanley Hochhauser, blow the shofar down the parade route. He has been leading the way with the shofar for over a decade.


 -------

We have a few simple questions for your synagogue:

 

1. Will your congregation be marching in the parade as its own group, your area or METNY? YES____NO____.  If YES, which one?                                           

 

2. Will you be watching, but not marching? YES_____NO______

 

3. Did you congregation run any special programs for Yom Hazikaron or Yom Ha'atzma'ut this year? If so, please describe it here:                                                                                                          

 

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Name of Congregation:_______________________________________________

 

Address_____________________________City________________Zip_________

 

Your Name __________________________ email__________________________

  

Please be in touch with any questions. We can be reached at [email protected] or 212-533-0800.  We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the Salute to Israel parade on May 23rd!

 

B'shalom,

   Jeffry Horowitz                                               Sharon Steinberg

   METNY Israel Affairs Chairman                   METNY President

 

P.S.  - USCJ has an Israel Affairs Committee with hundreds of congregations represented. If you have not submitted the name of your congregation's chairperson, please do so at this time. You can send your information to Jeff Horowitz at [email protected].


MERCAZ Masorti Olami

Shalom from Jerusalem !
 
As the city prepares itself for this evening's celebration of Yom Yerushalayim, we wanted to take the opportunity to send you the attached article by Dr. David Breakstone, International Vice President of Masorti Olami, who reflects on the challenges which still lie ahead after 43 years since the city was reunified.
 
Please also have a look at our Yom Yerushalayim webpage and download the MERCAZ Olami ceremony which can be used to celebrate this special day in your kehillah/communities.
 

With best wishes from us all,

Masorti Olami and MERCAZ Olami
18 Ha'Uman, Jerusalem, Israel
Tel: +972 2 624 7106  Fax: +972 2 624 7677
Website:
www.masortiworld.org

Eleventh Annual New Directors of Education Institute 2010
Sponsored by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

NDI

Join other new educational leaders for an enriching and inspirational
three days at the beautiful Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center,
5425 Mt. Gilead Road, Reisterstown, MD 21136.

This three-day institute and yearlong coaching program will begin on Tuesday, June 22, at 10 a.m. and conclude on Thursday, June 25, at 4 p.m.

The institute is designed for new directors of education who have less than three years of experience.Participants will complete the institute with many tools and will understand the meaning and importance of becoming an educational leader.

Registration is due by June 2. The cost is $450 for a shared room or $500 single occupancy (while the supply of single rooms lasts). Costs include room and all meals, a director's manual on CD, and plenty of helpful materials. USCJ largely underwrites the costs for the institute and the full year of mentorship.

For more information and to download the brochure and application, click here.


Questions? Call Susan Wyner, United Synagogue's consultant for synagogue education at (440) 473-3165 or email [email protected].



From UJA-Federation of New York's SYNERGY Leadership Development Project

Webinar: So What's New About Mergers?
Wednesday, June 2, at noon and at 7:30 p.m.

In a time of dramatic change in the synagogue world, two things are "new" about an apparently "old" idea-namely, merger. First synagogues have new and urgent motivations to consider such a change. And second, recent research has identified innovative merger approaches few synagogues have ever seriously considered. In this webinar you will:

�     Explore innovative forms of collaboration and merger relevant to the current situation
�     Examine "myths about merger" that could harm your chances of success
�    Consider how congregations shift from a survival focus to a visionary stance that favors thoughtful innovation, and how leaders address the loss and disorientation members experience along the way.

Workshop leaders: Robert Leventhal and Alice Mann, both Senior Consultants with the Alban Institute

For more information please contact Gayle Bloom at 212.584.3346 or [email protected].


Important Message from the Masorti Foundation

Dear Friends,
 
            Even for those passionate about the cause of pluralism in Israel and respect for non-Orthodox streams, this is a story that prompts disbelief.
 
            Noa Raz, a young woman who is a product of the Masorti movement and its NOAM youth group, was physically assaulted in the Beersheva bus station by a haredi man. Why? Because he could see t'fillin strap marks on her arm and called her an "abomination."
 
            Noa reports she was grabbed and kicked and the man otherwise attempted to hurt her. Fortunately, she was able to break away and run to her bus. A police report has been filed. A translation of a story that appeared in Hebrew on YNET on May 13th appears at the end of this message. Noa has also already been interviewed on at least one major Israeli radio station.
 
            While this may be just one man and one incident, it is part of a disturbing pattern of disrespect for non-Orthodox streams. It is not the only time when physical harm was threatened against women who wished to express themselves though ritual observance.
 
            We cannot accept this behavior.
 
            Please help us fight in Israel for the same religious rights we have as Jews here. Make a donation to the Masorti Foundation (perhaps in honor of Noa Raz). Click here to contribute online, or mail your check today to:
 
Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel
475 Riverside Drive
Suite 832
New York, NY 10115-0122
 
Residents of Canada, please contact [email protected].
 
Sincerely,

David H. Lissy
Executive Director & CEO
Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel
 
The mitzvah and its "punishment"

By Noa Raz

"He came closer and asked again, in a loud voice, 'Is that from tefillin?'  I couldn't ignore him anymore, so I answered, 'Yes.  What do you want from me?'  He forcefully gripped my left arm and started kicking me."  Noa Raz was attacked by an ultra-Orthodox man because of her religious beliefs.

Every morning I get up and pray shacharit, with a tallit and tefillin, as God has commanded us.  As a Masorti (Conservative) Jew, it is absolutely clear to me that these mitzvot - to pray, to put on a tallit, to lay tefillin - apply to every believing Jew, including Jewish women.
 
I am used to hearing offensive comments regarding my religious beliefs, from "Conservative?  What's that?" to "You're not even Jews, you're heretics."  Unfortunately, I am also used to reading news about the religious violence that is raging in the country.  It starts with violence against the Women of the Wall, moves on through the growing number of public bus lines where men and women must sit separately, not to mention the ultra-Orthodox opposition to the emergency room construction at the Barzilai Hospital due to some suspect bones, and where will it end up?  I am not so sure that I want to know.
 
But however much I may be used to and aware of all this, it did not help me this last Tuesday morning, when a Haredi man, with hateful eyes, decided to attack me because of my belief in God.
 
"Woman, abomination, desecration"

It was 7.30 in the morning, quiet on the streets.  I had stayed over at a friend's in Beersheva.  We got up. I donned my tefillin. We prayed. I took my tefillin off - very routine.  We left the house and I made my way to the bus station. All I was thinking about was how I could squeeze in a few extra hours of sleep before work, but things didn't quite pan out that way.
 
A few minutes after I got to the station, I noticed an older man, in Haredi garb, standing and staring at my arm.  A few more seconds went by until he realized that his stare was not transmitting his message clearly enough.  He leaned over towards me, pointed to the ruddy stripes on my arm, those that linger on the skin after taking off tefillin, and asked, "Tell me, is that from tefillin?"  I ignored him, but he asked again: "Is that from tefillin?"  Again, I ignored him, but he moved in on me, stood right in front of me, and again asked, in a loud voice: "Is that from tefillin?"  I couldn't ignore him anymore, so I looked at him and replied, "Yes.  What do you want from me?"
 
To be truthful, I was sure that as soon as I would answer him, he would spit out some curse, turn around and leave.  But I was mistaken, he had just started.  He forcefully gripped my left arm and simply began kicking me.  Of course, he didn't forget to scream out a concoction of words such as "woman, abomination, desecration," and more.
 
At first I just froze.  I didn't understand what was going on.  But after a few moments I came to my senses.  I struggled with him to free myself and ran for the bus that had now arrived.  I felt completely alone.  The place was not busy, but there were some people around.  Some looked on with interest, others turned away.  Only one woman shouted back at him, "Leave her alone, already."  I don't want to think what might have happened had I not managed to get away.
 
The strong dominate, women are humiliated

This is not a story about a man attacking someone at a bus station.  It's not even a story about violence against women.  It's a story about religious violence.  It's a story about attacking a person due to his/her faith, due to his/her will to serve God in his/her own way, in private, according to his/her outlook, according to his/her understanding of the Holy Torah.
 
The problem does not only lie with that man, the attacker.  It lies with those who educated him, with his leaders who shamelessly and violently talk out against any religious practice that is not Haredi.  It lies with those who brought him up and nurtured him in an atmosphere in which it is permissible to say, without blinking an eyelid, that Conservative Jews are not religious, that someone from a different ethnic group is a cockroach (some Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox parents recently referred so to Sepharadi girls who they did not want their daughters to study with), that there is only one sector (extremely austere) that decides who is a Jew.
 
We live in a country where the strong dominate and where women are humiliated.  As our society becomes more ultra-Orthodox, more extreme, these boundaries become clearer and more frightening.  Pluralistic Judaism, in its various hues, works day and night to change this situation, through egalitarian and inclusive synagogues, life-cycle events for all, including everybody.
 
In my view, these movements are saving the Jewish-democratic character of the State of Israel, and this is beyond their role in the international, public relations and educational arenas.  But our country, the one that is supposed to defend us from madmen and false messiahs, as well as cultivate positive and progressive forces, this country is shooting us in the foot time and again.
 
We can protest against the Haredim every day, but they are not the only guilty ones.  They are Haredi; this is how they believe and they have the right to believe this way.  It is the State that is also guilty of violence, for authorizing their every rampage; and we just carry on and keep quiet.  If we don't wake up to what is happening around us, we will very soon find ourselves living on the corner of Meah Shearim and Tehran.
 
On Tuesday evening I returned home after work.  A Chabad van was parked at the corner of my street, surrounded by hassidim.  I like the Chabad people, most of them are respectful of their fellow man.  I have had the chance to have fruitful conversations with them, despite our fundamental disagreement.  Fear paralyses, even me.  Of course, the man who attacked me is not a representative sample, but to kick somebody just because she prays to God?  From here to pulling out a knife, the way is very short.  It makes me wonder who among us is the real Jew.
 
The author is a member of the Masorti Movement.  She has filed an official complaint with the police.




mikvah conference

Thinking about the fall?  United Synagogue is co-sponsoring a conference at Boston's community mikvah, Mayyim Hayyim, October 10-12, 2010.  Click here for more information!



Happy Shavuot from all of us at METNY!


Please note that METNY's offices will be closing early on Tuesday afternoon, May 18,
 and closed on Wednesday and Thursday, May 19-20.
Hag sameah!
Upcoming Transitions in YOUR Synagogue Leadership
 
METNY USCJ would like to keep all of your synagogue board members up to date on the METNY programs and information. When your synagogue elects new board members please fill out the Synagogue Leadership form and send back to the METNY office so we can include your leadership on our lists. Please click here for the form.
 
Please email, fax or mail to [email protected] or fax to 212-533-0400. The form can be mailed to 820 Second Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10017.

Furthermore, many of our congregations are currently in search for professional and spiritual leadership. METNY is here to help. Please contact any of our staff with questions. We wish our congregations success in this sacred enterprise.