HATIKVAH
Beth Tikvah Synagogue Newsletter         
May 22, 2015

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Greetings! 

   

     Our religious school year ended the way it began, with a beautiful havdallah service. Our students had a lot of fun on their last day of school, playing field games designed by our madrichim. School was followed by the last youth group activity of the year, a barbecue put on by the youth group parents. Everyone had a great time enjoying the fantastic weather, good food, and fun games. They can't wait til next year for a new year of school and youth group. Now is the time to register for school for next year. Please fill out the deposit/registration forms as soon as possible so that Cindy can adequately plan for next year. If the deposit is an issue, especially for those of you who have more than one child in the school, please contact Paul Chastanet to make alternate arrangements.

 

By now, all members of the Beth Tikvah mishpacha (family) should have received their letter announcing the congregational meeting on Sunday morning, May 31, 2015 at 10 AM. If you did not receive your letter, please contact me as soon as possible. Please do your best to attend this meeting as we need a quorum of 51% of our members to conduct business. In addition to voting on the slate of officers for next year, the proposed bylaw changes, and approving the budget for next year, attendees will see a demo of our new synagogue software system from Shul Cloud.

 

I've updated our bylaws to include all amendments through last year. If you see any errors in the bylaws, please send an email to Shelley Dubin.

 

For those of you have paid attention to my President's speech at the High Holiday services you might have noticed that I'm not a fan of membership dues. I have been troubled by the dues concept for a long time. To me, dues sound more appropriate for a gym or country club, not a synagogue. I also believe our current dues model is complex and unsustainable over the long term.

 

Last year our board read Ron Wolfson's book, "Relational Judaism". This book validated a lot of my thoughts regarding dues. Others on the board shared these feelings as well. Then, this past winter, Mike Smith, Benita Amsden, and I went to a Synagogue Council Meeting that focused on synagogues that have embarked on a pledge based model. All the synagogues represented there that adopted the pledge model spoke about its success. We then had a few meetings to address the concept with our current and potential members. In addition, I have had conversations regarding this plan with many of you. A few months ago, I shared the article from the NY Times on the Synagogues that adopted the pledge based model and several other articles. This past week, Mike, Benita, Rabbi Mike and I attended a conference on the pledge based model. There were over 150 attendees representing synagogues up and down the East Coast. Clearly, this is a movement that is gaining momentum.

 

The UJA-Federation of New York conducted a study of synagogues who adopted the pledge based system. Their findings were extremely encouraging with the average synagogue increasing membership and income by 4%. Interestingly, the pledge based model seemed to work better in smaller congregations. The UJA prepared a guide, "Are Voluntary Dues Right for Your Synagogue? I recommend that you take a look at this document in preparation for the congregational meeting. I have annotated the document and highlighted paragraphs that particularly resonated for me. Here is comment from one of the synagogues interviewed for the study (page 28):

 

"A third of our congregation is already on abatement and we already let them pay what they want, so let's just call it what it is and make the switch. Why say we have an abatement policy if we don't use it? We need to change this now."

 

That is almost word for word what I said at one of our meetings with our members. The whole abatement process is broken. It puts one of our members as judge and jury over what another member can afford. On what basis does anyone decide what anyone else can pay? Also from the guide (page 11):

 

"We removed the whole paternalistic system of dues forgiveness, where people had to justify why they paid what they paid. Now, our model honors everyone for whatever s/he is able to pay, everybody in on the same "honor" system, and most people choose to be "honorable". This is much more compatible with the kind of Judaism that our members - including myself - want to be part of."

 

Therefore, our proposed bylaw changes this year are focused on membership. The most significant change will give the board the authority to accept pledges in lieu of setting membership fees/dues. After much discussion based on all of the above, we felt that dues, by its very nature are transactional in nature, you pay "x" and you get "y". However, how do we set "x" and what is "y"? The "y", and the value of "y" varies from individual to individual. The pledge based model flips this into a relational model. You the member will decide how much having Beth Tikvah means to you. You will decide how much to pledge based on your perceived value and what you can afford. Of course, you will not do this in a vacuum. One of the benefits of this model is it will add a lot of transparency to the process. We will recommend a sustaining amount that will allow us to meet our budget. We will provide a lot more details about this at the congregational meeting. Our new website and software program will also make this process much easier for everyone. The congregational meeting should end by noon. I will stay after to talk further about this to anyone who still has questions or concerns that were not answered during the formal meeting.

 

Don't forget that even though the year is coming to an end, we still have services coming up. Sunday, May 24, 2015, 10 AM, we have a joint Yizkor service with Congregation Bnai Shalom at Beth Tikvah Synagogue. There will be a study session prior to the service. See Rabbi Mike's letter below for more information.

 

The following Saturday, May 30, 2015 is a Shabbat morning service at 9:30 AM. In addition to our regular, spiritual, participatory service, Ella Sharon will be called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah during that service. Our final Shabbat morning service of the year will be on Saturday June 20, 2015 at 9:30 AM. At this service we will honor all our recent graduates. Please email me if you have a child graduating from high school or college this year so that we can recognize them at the service. In addition, Maya Farizon will be called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah. I hope everyone in our Beth Tikvah kehilla (community) joins us for these Shabbat services as we welcome Ella and Maya into Jewish adulthood. If you have friends who are looking for a synagogue for next year, please bring them to one, or both, of these services.


 

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In This Issue
From the Rabbi - Shavuot Study Session and Yizkor

     As you know from elsewhere in this newsletter, we are having a study session followed by a Yizkor service on Sundaymorning starting at 10:00 am.  I want to provide some background and context.

 

     Shavuot, or "The Feast of Weeks," begins on Saturday night.  Some Jews observe it for one day (Israel, The Reform and Reconstructionist movements), others for two days (Orthodox and Conservative).  It is arguably the least familiar of the three "Pilgrimage Festivals" (Shalosh Regalim) along with Sukkot and Pesach.  The Yizkor memorial service is recited on each of the Shalosh Regalim and on Yom Kippur, hence our service on Sunday.

 

      Shavuot, in addition to its agricultural origin as an early summer grain harvest and first fruits celebration, is "the time of the giving of our Torah."  One of the traditions of Shavuot is therefore to study Torah.  In some communities this is done via all-night study sessions.  We are observing this tradition with a brief study session prior to Yizkor.

 

      I am delighted that B'nai Shalom is joining us on Sunday morning.  Rabbi Gurevitz and I will each offer brief Shavuot-related teachings before our Yizkor service.  We hope to see you there.


 

From the Rabbi - Mazel Tov to Ingeborg Rapoport!

     

     As you know this is graduation season.  At our Shabbat service on June 20 we will be inviting our high school and college grads to mark their milestone with an Aliyah.

 

     In the meantime, I want to offer my mazel tov to Ingeborg Rapoport, who successfully defended her doctoral thesis a few weeks ago, 77 years after she completed it.  She is 102-years-old, and is believed to be the oldest living person ever to receive a doctoral degree.

 

     Rapoport completed her thesis, which focused on the disease diphtheria, at the University of Hamburg in 1938 but she was denied the chance to properly defend it because her mother was Jewish, according to the Wall Street Journal (one of several media outlets to carry this story).  In Nazi Germany it made no difference that she was raised as a Christian-one of her parents was Jewish, and she lost her academic standing as a result.

 

     "My medical existence was turned to rubble," Rapoport said. "It was a shame for science and a shame for Germany."

After she was unable to complete her academic studies, Rapoport moved alone to the United States to pursue her medical career. Here she met her husband, Samuel.  Sadly, because of their ties to communism that were controversial in the U.S. in the 1950's (read McCarthy Era!), they eventually moved back to Europe with their children, settling in East Germany.  This was a shame for the U.S.!

 

     Rapoport continued to advance over the following decades, traveling to Hiroshima, Japan, with the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and founding a neonatology clinic at Charit� Hospital in Berlin.

 

     Just last week, on May 13,  Rapaport was given a second chance at a fair academic assessment by members of the medical faculty from the University of Hamburg. They gave her thesis formal approval.

"I have never felt bitterness," Rapoport told the Wall Street Journal. "I've been shockingly lucky in all this. For me it all came out well: I had my best teachers in the U.S., I found my husband, I had my children." 

 

    And finally, her doctorate.  Mazel Tov, Ingeborg Rapaport!


Kvell and Tell

     Congratulations to Rachel, who graduated Magna Cum Laude from Muhlenberg College's Dana Scholars Honors Program this week.  She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science with a Minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.   Rachel was awarded Muhlenberg's Dean's Grant for Research in Biology.  She was also the recipient of a National Science Foundation REU program, through which she interned at Rutgers University Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences. During her term as Musical Director of the a cappella group, InAcchord, she supervised a studio recording of the group's repertoire to be marketed this year.  Rachel has also recorded classical pieces for a Holocaust film project, documenting the music of the camps, soon to be broadcast publicly.  We are so proud of her achievements, and look forward to having her home as she pursues her next steps.


 

-Wendy, Alan and Sarah Gonsenhauser


 

If you have a kvell to share, please email me by Thursday night for the weekly newsletter. 


 

Membership
   Membership in a synagogue is an important decision. Beth Tikvah Synagogue is a growing congregation that enjoys the sharing of Jewish rituals and customs, a superior Religious School, and of course, fun and socializing.  If you are not currently a member, and would like to be, please fill out and send in this membership form to:
Beth Tikvah Synagogue
PO Box 1042
Westborough, MA 01581
ATTN: Benita Amsden, Membership  
 

 For information on our dues, please click here.


 



Shabbat Shalom,

EJ Dotts
President

Beth Tikvah Synagogue

[email protected] 

About Beth Tikvah
Beth Tikvah provides a warm and relaxing place to worship, study and share with other Jewish families.  It is an inviting and spiritual place which provides a unique opportunity for families to grow together under a Jewish umbrella.  We encourage each individual to contribute his or her skills and ideas to maintain our Jewish heritage and history so that our children appreciate their Jewish roots.
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Updated Calendar!


EventsUpcoming Events
5/24/15 - Yizchor service, 10 AM

5/30/15 - Shabbat service 9:30 AM, Bat Mitzvah of Ella

5/31/15 - Congregation Meeting and Brunch 10 AM

6/20/15 - Shabbat service 9:30 AM, Bat Mitzvah of Maya and Recognition of Graduates


Youth Group
See you next year!


events
Community Events
 

Jewish Federation of Central Mass Young Adult Division

Are you a Young Jewish Adult 22-45 looking to connect with your peers living in and around the Central Massachusetts area?Then join YAD on facebook and find out what's happening in our area.


 

Singing Through The Decades: A Cantor's Concert

Congregation Beth Israel

15 Jamesbury Drive, Worcester, MA

Sunday May 31, 2015

2 PM

Featuring Jewish and secular hits from the 1920's to Today! Performances by Cantor Annelise Ocanto, Cantor Bonnie Streigold, Beth Israel Children's Choir and High Holy Days Quartet. 

$15 in Advance - $20 at the Door - Children under 6 Free Light reception to follow concert.

Click here to purchase tickets.
 


 


 

Volunteers Needed

Torah Reading (contact Rabbi Mike)

 

Leading Wednesday Evening Minyan (contact Michael Smith)

 

 

 

Form Fillable PDFs

A lot of the links connect to form-fillable pdfs.  You may need to follow these steps to save your filled out form:

1. Save to your computer first. 

2. Open the file you saved

3. Fill in the information and save it with a new name. 


 

 If you don't wish to save the form, just fill in the information and print.