JANUARY NEWSLETTER
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"GROW " YOUR FAMILY TREE
GENEALOGICALLY!!!
OUR WAY OF CELEBRATING TU BI-SHEVAT:
THE BIRTHDAY OF TREES
WHO
Lee Levin: With decades of experience in the field and expertise in the online sources that provide the keys to our not-so-hidden past, Lee will help us unearth fascinating facts about our families. The program will demonstrate how to carry out genealogical research, record facts and share our findings. WHEN Saturday, January 18, 2014, 1-3 PM (Open to the public) WHERE The Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 E River Rd RSVP or Becky Schulman, 296-3762, [email protected]
Please bring a snack to share and a food donation for the Community Food Bank.
We Hope You can Join Us!! You Might Win A Door prize!!
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A FEW WORDS FROM OUR PRESIDENT Marshall Rubin
As we start 2014 it is hard to realize that the past year has gone so fast. It has been a busy and productive year in which we enjoyed many activities. For me the highlight was our High Holiday celebration, stimulated by enthusiastic leadership and participation of our own membership. We showed that we have the ability to draw inspiration from within. I would like to express special recognition and appreciation to my eight fellow board members who have worked diligently throughout the past year and have all consented and been re-elected to serve another year. In addition, I am very happy to welcome two new board members who have been elected. They are Sandee Binyon and Hafez Ward. Once we received the election results in October, our board voted and they both accepted to fill the two empty board slots for the remainder of the year. Both have become very actively involved in planning. It is great to have a full board!! There are still many needs for members to become involved and volunteer in planning during 2014. Please feel free to contact me to learn how you might help make our SHJC community grow by volunteering your own time. We need your help! I encourage our total membership to join us at our Annual Meeting on February 15th to formally install our board, learn more about how you can help, and have fun socializing. My best wishes for a very happy and healthy new year to everyone.
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CALENDAR
Jewish Genealogy
Saturday, January 18
1:00 p.m.
(Open to the public)
Rabbi Eva Goldfinger
Humanistic Judaism Today
Sunday January 26,
10 a.m.
(Members/prospective members only)
Annual Meeting
Saturday, February 15
11 a.m.
(Members/prospective members only)
Board Meeting
Saturday, February 15
1:30 p.m.
(Members welcome)
Lecture Program
Sunday, March 9
3:00 p.m.
(Open to the public)
Board Meeting
Monday, March 31
2:00 p.m.
(Members welcome)
Passover Seder
Saturday, April 19
(Open to the public)
High Holiday Observance
Saturday, September 27
(Open to the public)
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HIGH HOLIDAY OBSERVANCE
(Article by Hafez Ward)
High Holiday service took place at the peaceful St. Francis of Assisi Church on Sept. 7, 2013. Susan Rubin, a longtime SHJC member and one of the founders, was the service leader. She made us welcome with her warmth and humor.
Traditionally the High Holidays encourage us to look into ourselves and consider how the past year has been. These thoughts and emotions provide guidance to us in continuing the process in the coming year. We are asked as well to consider those in need.
Candle lighting enhanced this reflection and symbolized the freedom we enjoy as American Secular Jews. The Tashlikh ceremony helped us to ease pain in our lives.
As the shofar blew in its traditional manner, many of us were "blown away" by Stu's increasing talent as a shofar blower.
The beautiful Kol Nidre carried us to a profound space where we could meditate on issues of our past and search for truth and strength within ourselves.
By placing flowers in a vase we acknowledge the love we have for individuals in our lives who may have passed.
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Anyone Missing a Bracelet?
At the close of the High Holiday celebration a bracelet was found at the church hall. If someone is missing such an item, please contact Becky Schulman.
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SUCCOT POT LUCK
for members and invited guests was held on September 21st
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LECTURE BY DAVID SILVERMAN
(Article by Kent Barrabee)
On October 20, more than 80 people attended a lecture/program featuring David Silverman, president of American Atheists. The audience included Circle members, Free Thought Arizona members and other interested parties from the general community. His topic was "I am an atheist and so are you."
As an experienced debater, he insisted on a paradigm: If all Jews do not share a particular characteristic, then that characteristic is not part of the definition of what makes a person a Jew. Since all Jews do not share the same culture (cuisine, dress, music, language, history, values, etc.), racial background, matrilineal decent, geographic location, etc., not one, nor a combination of these characteristics makes a person a Jew.
To Silverman, being Jewish requires accepting Jewish theistic religious beliefs. According to him, calling oneself a secular Jew is a form of self-deception; secular Jews are really just atheists, like himself. As he has said in the past, "secular Jews should really call themselves atheists." Some in the audience who considered themselves to be Jewish disagreed with Silverman's all-or-nothing paradigm. Some found his generally dogmatic tone to be disrespectful. Others found his views to be stimulating. Note: If our organization were to agree with his conclusions, we would have to consider changing its name to the Secular Humanist Atheist Circle or the Humanist Atheist Circle, since the word secular would be redundant.
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SHJC CHANNUKAH CELEBRATION
LET THERE BE LIGHT
Lots of light and lots of tradition were the focus of our Hanukah celebration. To ensure the sun does not die as the days get shorter (belief of ancient people of Israel), lit menorahs made a spectacular glow throughout the room.
The festivities took place in the afternoon of Saturday, December 7th. Traditional food were augmented by a variety of salads and fruit. Once again there was a gift exchange - a fun time as a number of the items were popular that they changed hands repeatedly.
Once again, the clubhouse at Fairfield in the Foothills was used by our group. We thank Shirley and Sheldon Silverman for facilitating making this room available to our group.
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MEMBER'S THOUGHTS
Carolyn Simon, one of our longstanding members and frequent contributor to this newsletter, submitted this article about genealogy - a pursuit dear to her heart.
EMBARKING ON THE PERSONAL
Making sense of often closely held family secrets is an endeavor that too many of us do not undertake until we have time that is not swallowed up by studies, work and family. Too often older family members who hold the key and may (or may not) be willing to divulge the facts are no longer with us.
Fortunately, there are a few experts around to direct us on the right path. One of them, Lee Levin, of the Southern Arizona Jewish Genealogy Society will be our speaker on Saturday, January 18, at 1:00 p.m. at the River Library. He has decades of experience in the field and expertise in the electronic tools that provide the keys to our hidden past. In fact, he hopes that one or two of our members will come forward with a family mystery they hope to solve. We promise you a fascinating afternoon. Lee oversees the group's blog:
http://sajgs.wordpress.com
Once people are gone, descendants are forced to turn to research to find answers. My own background as a reference librarian made me very prejudiced toward the ancestor hunters who haunted the library, eager to have us do the work of helping prove that their forbears, if not Eleanor of Aquitaine or Increase Mather were at the very least Abe Lincoln or some other peasant who made good.
Even bigots want answers. For a long time, I was embarrassed to admit this to myself. My uncle talked frequently about his great-grandfather, a minor Prussian official, who had fled in the wake of the 1848 troubles and eventually emigrated to Koenigsburg and later sent his issue to the US. How much of this was true? And what about my grand-father's disinherited sister who became an actress? And there was the story about the ancestor who robbed a Polish shrine and wound up with a fortune. Where is it now?
This led to the Internet and JewishGen.com, the mother of all Jewish genealogy sites, and eventually to the local organization. Jewish genealogy is special and often must be approached by different routes. Results can be golden. The search is addictive. Not all the answers are found and sometimes they are not what we sought. Sometimes it leads us to explore cemeteries, libraries, DNA and foreign shtetls. We meet interesting people.
Proving some legends true continues to elude me. I have learned many other things about my family's past. Census records showed that a great-grandmothers was ten years older than her husband and had lost six of her nine children. While she was once considered stupid, we now understand she had a learning disability. She had a reputation for being grouchy. No wonder! And I have connected with several cousins who have provided new facts and even a couple of old documents, including my great-great grandparents Russian marriage certificate.
And I did find hundreds of articles and on the web about the actress. In one interview, she talked about her Hungarian childhood, which, of course, was my grandfather's.
We hope this article wets your interest for our January 18th program on GENEALOGY.
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NEW MEMBERS (since early summer)
Liz Betts
Sandee Binyon
Jane and Merlin Cohen
Linda and Richard Sampliner
Roberta Zelikow
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To those of you who have been ill or have had accidents, we warmly wish a speedy recovery and a health New Year.
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SHJC WEBSITE
Currently, our website is up and running. Susan Rubin has assumed responsibility for this venture and coordinates with the webmaster.
Please visit the website. Among other items, there are lots of pictures and copies of early newsletters.
Congratulations Susan - you're doing a great job.
Visit our website: www.secularhumanistjewishcircle.org
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INFO ON THE SECULAR HUMANIST JEWISH CIRCLE
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BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP
Become a part of a caring, compassionate community reflecting the values of secular humanist Judaism
Help build a new organization that meets your needs and interests.
Minimal financial costs. Members pay reduced fees for those events that have an admission cost.
Opportunity to join a committee
Affiliation with the national organization opens up a wealth of resources to individual members and the chapter as a whole.
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MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
For 2014, dues are the same as in 2013, $110 for one member for the calendar year and $160 for a family. This includes the member payment for affiliation with The Society for Humanistic Judaism, the national organization.
For more information about membership, please contact Cathy Becskehazy, 293-3919 or [email protected].
Renewal for everyone was January 1.
But, it's not too late.
Please send in your check to Secular Humanist Jewish Circle.
Address to SHJC c/o 930 S Goldenweed Way Tucson, AZ 85748
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NEW BOARD MEMBERS
At our recent election for new and continuing Board members, two additional members were voted to the Board: Hafez Ward and Sandee Binyon.
Sandee has a social service and administrative background. She has been involved with numerous non-profit boards.
Hafez also has a social service background and she has been involved with special needs populations. We welcome both of these new board members and are delighted by their energy, creative ideas and enthusiasm.
The continuing Board members who were elected for an additional 2 year term are: Hal Safron, Judy Teitler, Kent Barrabee, Cathy Becskehazy and Susan Rubin.
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SECULAR HUMANIST JEWISH CIRCLE
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Name or Names _____________________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________Zip______________________
Phone ___________________________Email ______________________________________
Types of Programs which interest you _____________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Talents or skills you would be willing to use on behalf of SHJC (e.g. lead a discussion, art or graphic design, music/singing, desktop publishing, etc.)_______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Comments or suggestions_______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Make your check payable to Secular Humanist Jewish Circle and mail to :
SHJC
c/o 930 S Goldenweed Way
Tucson, AZ 85748
Amount Enclosed $______________________Date_______________
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Committees
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Chairperson(s)
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Celebration/ Holiday/
Educational Events
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Becky
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Publicity/Communications
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Judy
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Organizational Structure
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Marshall & Hal
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Membership
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Cathy
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This Newsletter was prepared by the
Publicity Committee: Judy Teitler and Kent Barrabee. Additional content was provided by Carolyn Simon, Hafez Ward, and Marshall Rubin.
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