METNY Biennial - Register Now
Presidents' Night - Leadership Moving Forward
Yasher Koach Corner
Kiryah Division USY Training
GreenFaith Initiative
Women of the Wall Gets Full Support
Camp Ramah's Tikvah Program
Nefesh B'Nefesh Aliyah Fair
Rabbi Wernick on Bullying
Masorti Olami Evening of Tribute
USY International Convention
METNY on the Road
Synagogue Transitions
 

Shabbat times for New York, NY
 
Candle lighting: 5:49pm on Friday, 22 October 2010
 
This week's Torah portion is Parashat Vayera
 
Havdalah (72 min): 7:17pm on Saturday, 23 October 2010
 
 
1-Click Shabbat Copyright � 2010 Michael J. Radwin. All rights reserved.

Shabbat Shalom!

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To read the latest updates from national USCJ headquarters, click here for USCJ eNews.
Publicize your event on the METNY Community Calendar. Please email

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METNY Contact Information
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

Sharon Steinberg
President
To read workshop summaries and to download handouts from the 2010 Synagogue Leadership Conference, visit the METNY website.

METNY's Biennial Convention
Nov. 14, 2010



The place to be on Sunday, November 14 is the METNY Biennial Convention!  We hope that you will join all of us from around METNY at Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle for our 2010 Biennial Convention!

Our theme will be "The Charismatic Kehillah". Using the pillars of the book, The Charismatic Organization, we will learn how to transform your congregation into a dynamic kehillah, or community, that is mission-based, forward thinking and attracts and retains volunteers through meaningful engagement and contemporary communications.

Confirmed speakers include:
  • Jeremy Fingerman, Executive Director, The Foundation for Jewish Camp
  • Ruth Messinger, Executive Director, American Jewish World Service
  • Rabbi Alan Silverstein, Spiritual Leader, Agudath Israel, Caldwell, NJ
 
The convention committee has planned an engaging and dynamic program, including the installation of the District Council and Synagogue Recognition and the Rothschild Leadership awards. More details to follow soon.

For more information, please call the METNY office at 212-533-0800 or email Rabbi Charles Savenor at [email protected].
 

Synagogue Presidents Meet Rabbi Hillel @ METNY USCJ

 

On Monday evening October 18th, several dozen congregational presidents and leaders gathered for METNY's annual President's Night. The engaging event was an upbeat mix of great food, Torah study, practical leadership skill building, excellent interactive networking and take-home gifts.

 

The theme of the program was "Moving Our Jewish Leadership Forward". The guest of honor was Rabbi Hillel of the rabbinic texts, who was our teacher for the night. In hevruta (study pairs) we examined three Talmudic texts filled with relevant leadership lessons from us today.  Hillel's passion for learning Torah, humility and style of outreach to people interested in conversion to Judaism have become benchmarks for contemporary Judaism and are models for Conservative Judaism in all of our communities. [You can learn more about Hillel in Joseph Telushkin's new book entitled Hillel: If Not Now, When? You can order the book from the USCJ book service too.]

 

The evening was hosted by Sharon Steinberg, METNY President; Norman Korowitz, METNY 1st Vice President; Rabbi Moshe Edelman, METNY Associate Director; and Rabbi Charles Savenor, METNY Executive Director. Participants came from the four corners of the district and exchanged stories of their recent successes; we even sang a little too! In addition, leaders spent time discussing our shared challenges. Both our successes and challenges will frame our leadership workshops this year. 

 

After a preview of "coming attractions" at METNY, attendees had the opportunity to "make their own kits" to bring home resources and materials with their boards, rabbis, cantors and other synagogue professionals. 

 

A delicious part of this dynamic evening was the main meal, which was catered by Smokey Joe's of Teaneck, NJ. Our leaders enjoyed the sumptuous meal of bbq chicken and beef along with cornbread and onion jam.  Joe Kessler-Godin, the owner of Smokey Joe's, is a Conservative Jew and graduate of JTS' Joint Program. www.smokeyjoesbbq.com.

 

At the end of the evening every leader received two gifts from METNY, a METNY USY water bottle and a copy of Rabbi Reuven Hammer's classic book, Entering Prayer.

 

We encourage you and your leaders to attend future Presidents and Leaders events. Your participation builds community and enables us all to grow together. 

 

See you at the Biennial on Sunday, Nov. 14th!

                                                                       Yasher Koach Korner

Mazel Tov to the South Huntington Jewish Center on their 50th Anniversary Celebration. Yasher Koach to Rabbi Ian Jacknis and President Randi Chavis.  

Yasher Koach to Kane Street Synagogue winning a UJA grant to pursue work in Expectant Parents Group, New Parent Schmooze and Play Group, and the Gay & Lesbian Parent Chavurah. Yasher Koach to Hebrew School/Family Education Director Rabbi Valerie Lieber and Kane Street Kids Pre-school Director Peggy Geller!

 

Yasher Koach to Ilana Kustanowitz, new President of Ramah Berkshires Alumni. Mazal Tov to METNY's own Rabbi Moshe Edelman, father of Ilana.

 
Todah Rabbah to the Plainview Jewish Center for hosting METNY USY's Annual Kickoff Dance this Sunday, October 24th. We are expecting more than 300 USYers!
 

 KIRYAH USY Division Holds Leadership Program for USYers

On October 16th teen leaders from throughout the Kiryah Division met at Hillcrest J.C. for our second annual Leadership Summit.  With members of our Divisional Board, General Board, and our chapter board members present we led off the night with some ice breakers.  The ice breakers enabled USY'ers new and old to meet and learn about one another.

Anna Bessendorf, our Divisional President led a brief discussion on what it takes to be a leader.  She also led the group in a round table chat about challenges each USY'er has faced when placed in a leadership role.

 

We ended the evening with a workshop on Public Speaking.  Rebecca Kane led this workshop and helped our USY'ers deal with fears and concerns they may have when speaking in front of groups large and small.  Several USY'ers gave brief speeches on subjects that Rebecca prepared for them that night.

We gave our leaders a chance to meet, discuss issues, and engage in spirited conversation regarding concerns that each face in building their respective programs and chapters. Yasher Koach to Mark Speilvogel, Kiryah Divisional Director.

 
 
 

Conservative Movement Leaders, GreenFaith Launch

 The Sustainable Synagogues Initiative

 

Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs, Women's League for Conservative Judaism,

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Join Forces for the Environment

 
 

To view the full Press Release click here.

 
 

RABBIS TAKE A STAND

TO SUPPORT WOMEN'S RELIGIOUS RIGHTS IN ISRAEL

The statement signed by twenty-eight prominent rabbis has been sent to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Speaker of the Israeli Knesset Rubi Rivlin, opposition leader and Head of the Israeli Kadima Party Tzipi Livni, Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky, and Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz Shlita.

With the issuing of this statement, we, Orthodox, Conservative (Masorti), Reform (Progressive), Reconstructionist and Renewal Rabbis have launched a new social justice movement called Rabbis for Women of the Wall, a trans-denominational campaign to support the rights of women to lead worship, wear a prayer shawl, carry a Torah scroll and read from a Torah scroll at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, a holy site that carries great symbolic significance for Jews everywhere.

All rabbis everywhere are invited to become Rabbis for Women of the Wall by signing the statement for delivery to Israeli officials. Jewish congregations, federations, JCRC's, JCC's and other institutions are invited to become Organizations for Women of the Wall by endorsing the same statement to Israeli officials. Individuals-including both women and men-are also invited to sign a differently worded statement to the same Israeli officials. To sign on, go to TAKE A STAND on the Women of the Wall website http://womenofthewall.org.il/.

"The launch of Rabbis for Women of the Wall is a defining moment that far surpasses Jewish denominational distinctions," says Rabbis for WOW Co-Chair Rabbi Menachem Creditor. "The status of the Jewish People in Israel, and therefore the world, is at stake, and we, the rabbinic community of North America, have an important voice."

 "Yes, there are unique ideological commitments that lead to spirited encounter when we come together," says Co-Chair Rabbi Pamela Frydman. "But the blessing is in coming together. With the increasing marginalization of non-Charedi (non-ultra-Orthodox) Judaism in Israel, every facet of our people, including Charedim, is in danger. When we segregate our schools, fund intolerance, and arrest women for holding a Torah or reading from it, we are in need of healing."

For questions regarding Rabbis and Organizations for Women of the Wall contact Rabbi Pamela Frydman: [email protected]

 
Dear Friends of Ramah,

 

Forty years ago, Camp Ramah pioneered special needs programming with the establishment of the Tikvah program. Today, Ramah's special needs programs offer children, teens and young adults who are developmentally and intellectually challenged a full, integrated Ramah summer camp experience. Nearly 2,000 campers with special needs have passed through the program in 40 years, and Ramah's special needs programs now serve about 250 campers each summer.

 

We'd like to share with you excerpts from two articles that highlight the success and impact of our special needs programs. "Jews with Special Needs: Strengthening Community Through Inclusion" appears on today's ejewishphilanthropy.com website. Last week, Tom Fields-Mayer, a parent of a Ramah California Tikvah camper, wrote about his son Ezra and their family's search for Jewish educational experiences like those he finds at Ramah:

 

[Ezra] spends four weeks each summer at Camp Ramah, in Southern California, where the Tikvah program serves children that have a variety of special needs. ... While staffers help address his specific challenges, Ezra is fully integrated into the life of the camp. When he's in the art studio, when he swims in the pool, when he sings "Birkat Hamazon," the grace after meals, in the dining hall, he does these things alongside - and together with - his typical peers. The camp assigns some of the most talented teenagers to the special-needs tents. And because so many campers in the oldest age group sign up for a buddy program matching them with the special-needs kids, some years the camp can't accommodate all the volunteers. At Ramah, Ezra experiences something he doesn't get the other 11 months of the year: He spends all day as a full member of a caring Jewish community. (emphasis added)

Click here to read the entire article.

In May 2011, Ramah will hold our inaugural Ramah Galil Ride to raise funds for special needs programs throughout the Ramah Camping Movement. Click here to learn more about the Ride, or click here to donate to any of the Ramah camps and Israel programs.

 

We invite you to learn more about Ramah's various special needs programs and hope that you will continue to ensure the success and vitality of our programs by sharing this information with other members of your community.

 

Shalom,

Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, National Ramah Director
 
Rabbi Steven Wernick,CEO and Executive Vice President of United Synagogue wrote an article for The Jewish Week. To view the complete article click here.  
 
 

The Masorti Olami's Evening of Tribute will take place on Sunday, November 14th at 5pm at JTS in New York.

 

This year our honorees include Rabbi Zachary Heller z''l, who passed away early this year aged 71. Masorti Olami is posthumously awarding Rabbi Heller with a well deserved Community Leadership Award. For those of you who knew Zachary, I'm sure your memories are of a man who was truly dedicated to Conservative/Masorti Judaism. 

 

It is this work which Masorti Olami continues today. We support Masorti Rabbis, lay-leaders and volunteers in South America, Europe, Africa and Australia, providing practical, educational, financial and spiritual support. This support includes sending visiting Rabbis for the High Holidays, sourcing siddurim, chumashim and Torah scrolls, providing Talmud Torah teachers and funding Chagim celebrations. Alongside all of this, we promote and stimulate informal educational activities for young people (NOAM), young adults (MAROM) and for adults of all ages.

 
For more information please visit www.masortievent.org
METNY USY's Walking On Sunshine...




all the way to Orlando!  Registration for IC 2010 is now open!  Access more information by clicking here.
METNY on the Road...







This week, METNY's staff are on the move!

Savenor
On Oct. 21, Rabbi Charlie Savenor is meeting with the Town and Village Board in Manhattan.
 
On Oct. 24, Rabbi Moshe Edelman is meeting with board of Nanuet Hebrew Center in New City, NY for a board training.
 
On. Oct. 24-25, Rabbi Savenor will atttend the "Next Dor" Conference on engaging young adults in our synagogues. This is a "Synagogue 3000" program.
 
On Oct. 26, Rabbi Savenor will present to the executive committee of Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn Heights, NY, on synagogue trends in the 21st century.
 
On Oct. 27, Sharon Steinberg, Norman Korowitz and METNY's staff will host a "New Synagogue Professionals" Lunch at METNY's office. Is your new synagogue professional coming?
 
On Oct. 28, Rabbi Edelman will meet with the S. Baldwin JC on rabbinic placement.
 
On Oct. 28, Rabbi Savenor will co-present with Rabbi Chuck Simon at the JCC Harrison on Volunteer Engagement. 
 

Our road can lead to you, too!  

We can train your synagogue board, work with your clergy and staff, do an adult education program...we'd love to have you on our road map!
 
Do we know who's who in your congregation?


METNY USCJ would like to keep all of your synagogue board members up to date on 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 for 2010-11.
 
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.