Shabbat Musings from Rabbi Taff

 Udderly Cool!

I thought I would share something really positive about cows.  Many times we take for granted things like milk. I was intrigued by an article below about the impact that Dairy Cows in Israel is having in comparison with cows throughout the world. 

Israeli Dairy Cows are Cream of the Crop

Thu, June 16, 2011

JERUSALEM -   Israeli dairy cows produce more milk than dairy cows in the United States and Europe.

The Israeli dairy cows produced an average of nearly 2,642 gallons of milk a year in 2009, according to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday. Some 344,480 gallons of milk was produced by Israeli cows in 2010.

By comparison, dairy cows in the United States produce 2,465 gallons of milk per year and European Union cows 1,622 gallons per year, according to The Jerusalem Post.

There is an estimated 25 percent increase in the purchase of dairy products by Israelis in the days leading up to Shavuot, when Jews traditionally eat dairy holiday meals.

A cow from Kibbutz Karmia near Gaza was named the best milk producer for the second year in a row, giving more than 20,000 liters of milk, or about 5,283 gallons, in one year.

There are some 125,000 dairy cows in Israel, and the average Israeli consumes about 45 gallons of dairy products a year.

MLC Campus News

Courtyard Bricks - May means Graduations, Weddings, Showers, Mosaic Law Courtyard Bricks are a nice way to honor or memorialize someone special in your life. Consider having a brick placed in our lovely courtyard. We need 11 more brick orders in order to have them installed before the High Holydays. The cost is $125.00 a brick. Contact Judy Persin, Courtyard Brick Chairperson, at 487-0088 or jbpersin@aol.com for more information.

This Father's Day let the PJ Library honor the fathers and grandfathers in your life on June 19th. With a gift of 'chai' ($18), a child in our region will receive a book each month all summer long. To send a Father's Day Tribute card, contact The PJ Library chair Sue Sperber at ses@winfirst.com.

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The Men's Club and Rivercats Baseball - June 19th - Our next Men'/s Club event will beat Raley Field for a River Cats baseball game! This is definitely a family event so I want to encourage bringing out spouses and family to the game.  Sundays here are great because, after the game, kids can run the bases with their parents (usually the kids win). Please contact Alex Zamansky at azamansky@rivercats.com or call at (916) 376-4869 to order tickets. A set of seats have already been blocked off for us as this day is historically a sell-out - so we need to buy now! I have been challenged by a senior member that if we couldn't get 30 to the poker night, we can't get more than 75 out for the game (which seems ridiculous), but I accepted his challenge (he will remain un-named for now).  Any questions please let me know, and I look forward to seeing the MLC Men's Club represent on Father's Day!

October 29th, 2011 - Mosaic Law will be honoring Cantor Emeritus George Wald. Mark your calendars and come out to honor this beloved member, and former Cantor, of Mosaic Law. Additional honorees are Dr. David Lerner and Danny Weiss for their many years of lay Cantorial service.

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Rabbi Taff to Lead Trip to Israel in December, 2011

On Sunday, December 25, 2011, members of Mosaic Law, relatives and friends, and others throughout our community will have the opportunity to join Rabbi Reuven Taff on a memorable 10 day tour of Israel.  The trip is for adults and families, first-timers and those who have already been to Israel.   Highlights of the tour will include staying at deluxe five-star hotels, and an optional one-day tour of the ancient ruins of Petra, Jordan.  The itinerary will include a jeep tour of the Golan Heights, including a visit to the mystical city of Tzfat, a tour of Massada and a day of leisure at the beautiful southern city of Eilat.  Those traveling with Rabbi Taff will fly El Al Airlines non-stop from Los Angeles on Sunday, December 25th.  The group will return to Sacramento on Thursday, January 5, 2012.  Opportunities to extend beyond the tour are available as well.  Look for the complete information (itinerary and costs) which is prominently located on our Mosaic Law Website (www.mosaiclaw.org).  A $200 per person deposit will hold a space accompanied by the registration form found on our website.   For further information please contact Mary Blumenstein at mary@mosaiclaw.org or Rabbi Taff directly at rabbi@mosaiclaw.org. Most importantly, do not delay.  This trip is expected to be sold out.

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Help Hillel at Davis! With a click of the mouse, you can help Hillel win $10,000 worth of painting for our beautiful new building! Hillel is a finalist for the 2011 Charity Paint Give-Away from Brooks Painting, a local painting company in Davis. There are only 4 finalists. Whoever receives the most votes, wins. It's that simple. You can vote as many times as you want, so long as it is from a different computer. (The system won't accept repeated votes from the same IP address). So vote from work. Vote from your smart phone. Then vote from home. And please, do forward this email to anyone you know. Just click here, and then choose Hillel: www.brookspainting.com/vote. Voting closes June 30. Thank you for your support! If you would like to learn more about our new building, click here: http://www.hillelhouse.org/projects/html.

HELP WANTED

The  new "Monday Midrasha" program is seeking an active, enthusiastic and fun individual to coordinate the weekly high school program that will be held at Congregation Beth Shalom (first semester) and Mosaic Law Congregation (second semester) on Monday evenings beginning September 12, 2011 from 6:30 to 8:30pm.  Interested candidates should have experience dealing with teens, the ability to manage a budget, the tact to deal with parents, and the knowledge to hire and supervise instructors.  This position is part-time and will begin August 1st.  Please send your resume and cover letter via email to Mary Blumenstein (mary@mosaiclaw.org). 

Tuesday, June 21st at 5:30pm - JERICHO Jamboree Jonathan Lightman is being honored at the JERICHO Jamboree. The Celebration will be at Cathedral of the Blessed Sacramento, 1115 K Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Tickets are $45.00. There will be food and drinks provided by Sacramento's finest, a live auction and a silent auction. For information, visit the web site: www.jerichoca.org or call 916-441-0387.

October 29th, 2011 - Mosaic Law will be honoring Cantor Emeritus George Wald. Mark your calendars and come out to honor this beloved member, and former Cantor, of Mosaic Law. Additional honorees are Dr. David Lerner, Danny Weiss and Benjamin Wald for their many years of lay Cantorial service.

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Kiddush Sponsors, Hosts & Co-Sponsors

Davina Dubnick in honor of her sister, Barbara on her Hebrew birth date, Shavuot
Rita & Ed Abbott in honor of their 50th anniversary
Eleanor & Gene Elzufon in honor of their anniversary
Hester & Eddy Joelson in honor of Hester's birthday
Joyce & Stephen Weinberg in honor of Joyce's birthday
Julie & Art Terner in honor of their birthday
Stanley Greenberg in honor of his birthday
Molly & Bernie Goldberg in honor of his birthday.
Sheri & Karl Zeff in honor of their anniversary and the birthday's of Karl & Danny
David Cummings in honor of the Yahrzeit of his dear mother, Elizabeth Cummings
Anonymous in honor of Larry Brownston on his 60th birthday
Goldie & Charlie Block in honor of their 62nd anniversary
Sylvia & Peter Greenstein in honor of Sylvia's birthday and their 62nd anniversary
Randy & Jeffrey Goldstein in honor of their anniversary
Rich Janis in honor of his upcoming trip to Israel 
Beverly & Art Zimmerman in honor of their grandson, Ryan, reading Torah at MLC
Rita Swedlow in honor of her birthday
Jeanne & Irv Herman in honor of Irv's 91st birthday
Ben Yassinger in honor of his new great-grandson, Dylan Myles
DeeDee & Larry Mozes in honor of their birthdays
Lou Weintraub in honor of his wife, Roz on her birthday
Roz & Lou Weintraub in honor of their anniversary

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Leah Gumpert on getting her Masters of Nursing from Samuel Merrit Universtiy and her Nurse Practitioner license.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Yom Huledet Sameah

Karen Gray

Hester Joelson

Sophie Rubin

Harriet Ruderman

Aviva Spector

Steve Kutler

Maddy Marks

Bernice Schumer

Omer Shenhar

Danny Weiss

Lester Adelman

Scott Dosick

Shira Gilbert

Samantha Greenspan

Joshua Kravitz

Yael Rosenberg

Nancy Bernheimer

Viva Ettin

Sylvia Greenspan

Rachel Holland

Nina Goldberg

Alexandra Barth

Jamie Lerner

Lloyd Rich

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Yom N'suin Sameah 

Charlie & Goldie Block

Yoav & Orna Harel

Bob & Loretta Lentzner

Peter & Sylvia Greenstein

Stephen Waks & Mehrnaz Halimi

Frank & Janie Gumpert

Harry & Sue Sperber

Bob & Rosalie Mazur

Allen & Judy Prohofsky

Joe & Harriet Schwartz

Steven & Cheryl Block

Joe & Teresa Green

Marvin & Linda Kamras

Daniel Weitzman & Jill Stecher

Ron Dworitz & Eva Teilmann

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Yahrzeits

Raymond Foster

Israel Kamil

Philip Raphael

Frances Varshawsky

Isadore Weinberg

Gabriel Daru

Susan Kabakov

Maxine Abels

Miriam Venetsky

Rachel Kaufman

Frank Weisberg

Moshe Azoulay

Celia Baylinson

Lipman Solomin

Norman Kaufman

Edythe Rosenberg

Barbara Spirzer

Jack Weintraub

Clara Deutsch

Samuel Hanig

Sol Benatar

Samuel Aronson

Eliezer Jacobson

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Condolences

In Memoriam...

Our Congregation extends sincerest condolences to:

David Spector on the loss of his dear father, Biill Spector, of blessed memory

Mehrnaz Waks and Bebe Pollack on the loss of their dear cousin, Iraj Michael

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Ahuva bat Yehudit

Fiby Azoulay - sister of Elias Azoulay

Maureen BarShar (Menuha Yaakov bat Aliza) - daughter of Martin and Edith Asch

Joan Bowie - step-mother of Betsy Singer

Diana Bowington - friend of Sandy & Lloyd Shaffer

Elaine Carter - friend of Rosalie & Jerry Roth

Leslie Cohen (Chaya bat Hannah bat Bunta)

Rachael Diane Cosby - friend of Marily Benson

Devorah bat Chanah

Shirley Dubnick (Sarah bat Chanah)

Stephanie Duncan - friend of Ricki Lobel

Diane Duroff - friend of Judy Persin

Ashley Fink (Rachel bet Leibel David)

Sue Gershenson - friend of Jill Stecher

Gabrielle Giffords (Gavriela bat Sarah)

Loretta Gontarski - friend of Sandy & Lloyd Shaffer

Jane Lynne Graves (Chanah Leah bat Dafna)

Teresa Green (Devorah Leah bat Sarah)

Janie Gumpert (Shayna Faigel bat Miriam)

Jacklin Harouni (Esther bat Rachel) - sister of Jack Harouni

Rhoda Ann Herzog (Ruchell Chana bat Yitta)

Jan Highman (Shunamit bat Sarah)

Dianne Hirsch (Chia Sara bat Linda) - friend of Betsy & Mike Singer

Melissa Huang - daughter-in-law of Arnold Roth

Georgia Clarke Keitges - friend of Delores Spitzer

Kira bat Aviva

Sophia Gabriela Kraft - Will & Rachel Rosenberg's goddaughter

Sandy King - friend of Randel Rabon

Bunny Lemesis (Bayla bat Rachel) - mother of Sheri Zeff

Luise Manavi (Devorah bat Gohar) - aunt of Hilda Sadigh Harouni

Libby Parr (Leah Sarah bat Leah)

Mary Lou Pavlick - sister of Judy Daru

Alice Polakoff (Chana bat Sarah)

Melissa Riley - friend of Ricki Lobel

Morgan Roberts - friend of Nancy Brodovsky

Tovah Shainberg (Tova bat Schuma) - friend of Betsy & Mike Singer

Sherry bat Malkah - sister of Rina Racket

Janice Shamberg (Shana Rachel bat Esther) - mother of Ardyth Sokoler

Iris Siebe - friend of Ian Lobel

Lorraine Solomon - mother of Diane Dulberg

Natalie Thompson - cousin of Barbara Gibson

Barbara Tomiyama (Brina Rifka bat Sura)

Dorothy Weisberg (Devorah bat Rishel)

All the wounded Israeli and American soldiers:

Gilad Shalit - IDF

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