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Kol Ha'Emek   
              April 2015
              Nisan - Iyar 5775  
 

In This Issue
Quick Links
Membership
We welcome recent new  members:

Elizabeth Markell & James Excell


Do you have friends or family interested in services or events at TES, or interested in membership? Please have them contact the office at (541) 488-2909 or [email protected], or send us their name and address and we will be happy to send out an informational packet.


TES is on Facebook
TES now has a Facebook page. Be sure to visit the page and "Like" us.
Education
Shul School

Shul School dates in April:

April 12
April 25 (Rogue Shabbat)


Adult Education

Watch this space in upcoming months for new and enlightening adult education programs!


B'Nei Mitzvah
We are pleased to announce the additional B'Nei Mitzvah dates for 2015. 

Anais Graumann (in Israel)
3/28/2015
Maya Lieberman
6/13/2015
Max Empol
6/27/2015
Ilan Werblow
8/8/2015
Dane Stewart
8/29/2015
Leah Aaronson
9/5/2015
Lucas Cook
10/10/2015

Details for B'Nei Mitzvah will be announced as dates approach.



MazeltovMember News!

Gabe Young was among 17 freshmen entering Indiana University to be named a Herman B. Wells Scholar. The scholarship ranks among the most competitive and prestigious awards offered by any American university. Mazel tov, Gabe!



We love to hear about and share your personal life events, simchas and accomplishments. Please send us your joyous news for the monthly newsletter to Kathy Balint, Office Manager at [email protected].


Anniversaries
Bob & Frieda Golding4/3/2015
Eugene Majeski & Syl Zucker4/4/2015
Norman & Surry Tresser4/8/2015
Donna & David Wyte4/18/2015
Adam & Cheri Sperber4/23/2015
Guenevere Haney Berg & Aaron Berg4/29/2015
Vivian & Robert Keyes4/29/2015
  
       
Birthdays
Douglas Falkner4/2/2015
Larry Wolfson4/4/2015
Alaiya Aguilar4/6/2015
Kathy Pete Newman4/6/2015
Stan Druben4/8/2015
Karrie Haney4/8/2015
Oliver Ramsey4/9/2015
Noah Slater4/9/2015
Judith Entinger4/10/2015
Joshua Smith4/12/2015
Dana Schallheim4/14/2015
Adam Sperber4/14/2015
Sara Weber4/15/2015
Wendy Werthaiser4/15/2015
Sara Glasser4/17/2015
Constance Ben-David4/18/2015
Avi Feldman4/18/2015
Frieda Golding4/20/2015
Sheldon Slomowitz4/22/2015
Hannah Bellinson4/23/2015
Dale Crowe4/23/2015
Lisa Sclan Cooper4/24/2015
Lauren Croyle4/24/2015
Itai Aaronson4/25/2015
Don DaSaro4/25/2015
Lisa R. Horwitch4/25/2015
Dr. Karen Muller4/25/2015
Elana Rose Cooper4/26/2015
Norman Lawrence4/26/2015
Matthew Silverberg4/27/2015
Susan Lander4/29/2015
David Wyte4/30/2015
 
   
         

candleYahrzeit Candle
Lighting Prayer

For the love that death cannot sever, for the time we shared along life's path, for the gifts of heart and mind, we are grateful. Divine one, help us to understand that grief and love go hand in hand.

As we are made more aware of light by kindling this Yahrzeit candle, may we remember the light which (say the name) brought in the world.

Zich-ro-no(m) Zich-ro-nah(f) liv'ra-cha.
May his/her memory be for a blessing.



Business Sponsors

TES Business Sponsors are helping to underwrite the cost of digital communication.

Be sure to support and show appreciation for our business sponsors (shown below). Their contact information can be found in TES Weekly, Kol Ha'Emek and on the TES website.

If you would like to become a business sponsor please contact Larry Diamant at [email protected].
 
  Message from Rabbi Boettiger
Advent Calendar Envy
 
Shavuot is the only holiday that the Torah does not affix a particular date to; instead we are commanded to count these seven weeks from Passover, and told that when those seven weeks are complete we will arrive at Shavuot. One would think that it would have been easy enough for the Torah to provide us with the date and so we can infer that there must be something to this counting business, something that the tradition wants us to engage in, actively.

  

Counting is inextricably connected to waiting. When we are counting down to some date, we are usually doing so with dread or excitement-and often a healthy mix of both. Either way there is anticipation, a sense that we are drawing near to something that will test us, change us, or offer something to us-for better or for worse.

 

My father is Episcopalian and we were raised also celebrating Christmas. So my pre-Omer template for waiting is the advent calendar. We counted down 25 days and each day I would open a little compartment on our calendar that would yield a small piece of chocolate. And of course all the waiting would culminate with a smorgasbord of presents on Christmas morning. (Now I have to count almost twice as long, sans chocolate, and all the waiting culminates with cold cheese blintzes.)

 

As a child, I listened with rapt attention as John Leader counted down the top 40 songs on the Countdown America radio program. I remember that it was always a bit of a letdown after the #1 song was announced and the show ended.

 

Can waiting be a spiritual practice? I think of the hasid in the story who is waiting so fervently for moshiach's arrival that every time he hears a noise from the street (a fishmonger, a car backfiring) he runs outside thinking it is the blast announcing the arrival of the messianic age. Is the hasid's waiting bringing him out of the moment and distracting him with future fantasy, or is his waiting a holy vigil?

 

I think of shomrim work, where community members take shifts sitting with the body of someone recently dead, between the time of death and the funeral-a waiting for one's shift to pass, but also a waiting for something infinitely larger and more mysterious than that. A waiting that makes me think of the verse in Psalms 130:6, "I am more eager for the Lord than watchmen for the morning." I know of no practice more holy than this kind of waiting.

 

And I think of the Omer, this period of time about to begin: learning to count, learning to wait. On one hand, we know what we are waiting for: the moment of Torah being given. On one hand, we know what's coming. But, like anything that we await with some mixture of dread and excitement, we don't know how we will show up for this exchange. We don't know who we will be in the presence of the awaited moment.

 

Waiting doesn't go away; there is always the next thing to wait for. In some very real sense, we are all waiting for our own death, even if we wouldn't often phrase it that way or don't think about it in that language. We don't know who we will be in the presence of that moment either. Perhaps this, then, is the task: to wait with dignity, curiosity, and openness for what is inevitable, but also unknown. To wait in a way that won't wrench us from the present moment, but bring us more deeply into it. I suppose we learn this through the accumulated experience of being human, but we also need specific practices that teach us how to wait, that teach us how to treasure each day, that teach us not to grasp or attach as we count down to what awaits us.

 

 L'shalom,

 

 

 

Rabbi Joshua Boettiger 

     

SpecialEventsUpcoming Special Events & Announcements
Israel - past and present through a personal perspective, Repeat Performance!

For those who missed any of the presentations, TES Member Emanuel Ben-David will present once more, in a series of 3 gatherings, the story of Israel and the Israeli people from his own personal experience. To be held at the Havurah Shir Hadash, three Sunday afternoons from 2:00-3:00 PM:

 

April 5: Introduction and weaving the personal story with the Nation's history 

April 19: The Ten "Commandments" that make up the typical Israeli 

May 3:  A journey in the world of Israel's Defense (and not just...) Technology

 

Emanuel will examine the characteristics of the "typical" Israeli, (and by extension the country at large), through looking at some of the driving forces and origins of who Israelis are and how they came to be that way. He will do this through a broad review of the recent history (last 100 years or so) of the Jews in Israel and elsewhere.  The story will also be tightly connected to Emanuel and his family's personal experience. Once the foundation is established, he will teach on some of Israel's technological successes.


Shmita
 (Sabbatical Year) Exploration Group
Next Meeting - Tuesday, April 14th at 4pm at TES 
In the Jewish calendar, every 7th year is a shmita year, a time of release of many routine practices. Amongst other things, Jewish law states that the land should be left to lie fallow and debts released. We are currently in a shmita year - what relevance does this practice have in our modern life? 

We will be exploring this question on a monthly basis, until next Rosh Hashanah when the new seven year cycle begins. We will look at it through the lens of Jewish text, through personal experience, and through what it could mean for our community at large. This is a joint endeavor of the Havurah and Temple Emek Shalom. 

Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 14th at 4pm at TES. Please join us, even if you were unable to make prior meetings. We are rotating facilitation
throughout the group and this session Stephanie Baum will be looking at the topic of debt relief - "A Radical Question of Debt: From Jewish Law to Modern Reality." All levels welcome.

 

Community Yom HaShoah Observance, April 15

On April 15th at 7:00pm here at TES we will be observing Yom HaShoah jointly with the Havurah.

Rogue Shabbat, Saturday, April 25
Join us for our second special inter-generational Shabbat! This Rogue Shabbat will be particularly focused on Yom Ha'atzmaut / Israeli Independence Day. Our Shul School students and families will join the rest of the congregation for a Shabbat experience designed for everyone. The day itself will run from 9:00am until 2:00pm (though people can come for portions of that time). The schedule will be as follows:

9:00-10:00am Torah Study / Yoga / Pastry Eating

10:00am-12:00pm Shabbat Morning Services in Sanctuary (including speakers from TES trip to Israel sharing their experience)
Children's Service and Shul School in Library and Classrooms

12:00-1:00pm Catered lunch with Israeli food and slideshow from TES trip to Israel

1:00-2:00pm  Elective activities including Israeli dance, inter-generational art project, and more.

As we did last time, Rabbi Joshua is asking for folks in our community who are so moved to make a donation to help sponsor the catered lunch. One can make a donation in honor or memory of anyone or anything, though it will have just been Yom Ha'zikkaron (Israel's Day of Remembrance) so this Shabbat could be a special time to contribute in memory of an ancestor/relative. If you'd like to do this, please contact Kathy in the office at (541) 488-2909. Thank you.

Mitzvah Kitchen, April 23

The Mitzvah Kitchen continues and is scheduled to bake loaves of challah again on Thursday, April 23rd, in the Temple kitchen.  We ask you, our congregants, to contact the Rabbi or Kathy at 541-488-2909, so a challah can be delivered to you or a fellow congregant who is experiencing a special event or an illness in the family.  If you are to receive a challah and are not at home, the challah will be left in a sealed bag by your front door.  We hope that the challah that we provide will add to your Shabbat celebration or give you some comfort during a difficult time.  

 

The Women of the Havurah Invite the Women of TES to join them at a Women's Passover Seder, April 11

Please see the flyer below for details.

timetorememberA Time To Remember

James Entinger4/1/2015
Dorothy Feinlieb4/2/2015
David Greene4/2/2015
Max Weitzman4/5/2015
Victor Abel4/6/2015
Ruth Bercovich4/6/2015
Sylvia Brand Frimkess4/8/2015Nissan 19, 5775
Minnie Marks4/8/2015
Marion Rosenberg4/9/2015Nissan 20, 5775
Israel Elson4/11/2015
Toby Hershman4/12/2015
Samuel Jaffee4/12/2015Nissan 23, 5775
Gertrude Latker4/12/2015Nissan 23, 5775
Helen Matter4/12/2015Nissan 23, 5775
Sylvia Silverman4/12/2015Nissan 23, 5775
Rose Horowitz4/14/2015
J.B. Sherr4/14/2015Nissan 25, 5775
Jeanette Goldberg4/15/2015Nissan 26, 5775
Eva S. Wright4/15/2015Nissan 26, 5775
Arnold Hemley4/16/2015Nissan 27, 5775
Israel Kessler4/16/2015Nissan 27, 5775
Ethel Novak4/17/2015Nissan 28, 5775
Jennie Slipchinsky4/17/2015Nissan 28, 5775
Minna Gross4/19/2015Nissan 30, 5775
Henry Simon4/19/2015
Minnie Skolnick4/19/2015Nissan 30, 5775
Virginia Lee4/20/2015
Anne Rubenstein4/21/2015Iyar 2, 5775
Alfred Matter4/23/2015Iyar 4, 5775
Celia Wolf4/23/2015Iyar 4, 5775
Paula Canal4/25/2015Iyar 6, 5775
Etta Kruh4/25/2015Iyar 6, 5775
Anna Siletsky4/25/2015Iyar 6, 5775
Erwin Sydney Weiss4/25/2015Iyar 6, 5775
Irving Reifman4/27/2015Iyar 8, 5775
Jack Gross4/28/2015Iyar 9, 5775
Julia Doree Ratner4/29/2015Iyar 10, 5775
Fred Wilcox4/29/2015Iyar 10, 5775
Katherine Berman4/30/2015Iyar 11, 5775
Shirley Rubin Sendar4/30/2015
Bessie Serinsky4/30/2015Iyar 11, 5775
Rudy Solomon4/30/2015Iyar 11, 5775




 tributesTributes

General Fund
David Melendez

Indigent Fund
Christina BagiIn the spirit of Purim.

Teen Fund
Karen GoodThis donation was made in memory of Devara Feir, Karen's stepmom, who passed away in February. We didn't realize what an impact Dee had on our lives until her passing.
 
TES Contact List
contactStaff


Rabbi
Joshua Boettiger
[email protected]
Chazzan/Education
Bella Feldman
[email protected]
Office Administrator
Kathy Balint
[email protected]
Bookkeeper
Sonia Rangel
[email protected]
Website
Debra Wolfson
[email protected]
Pomegranate PreSchool
Robin Heald
[email protected]
Officers


President
Michael Schames
541-488-7476
Co-Vice President
Susan Aaronson
541-292-0062
Co-Vice President
Tom Treger
541-770-1567
Recording Secretary
Joan Steele
541-482-7019
Treasurer
Russ Hannan
541-601-6550
Immediate Past President
Vacant





For complete listing of Board of Trustees and Committee chairs please click here.
 April 2015 Calendarcalendars
The calendar for April may be viewed on the TES website: emekshalom.org/calendar

Click here for a printable copy of the April calendar
sponsorsBusiness Sponsors



RogueValleyCounseling.com


Caskets specifically made for Jewish burial


  Medicare Specialist


Temple Emek Shalom | 541-488-2909 | [email protected] | http://emekshalom.org
1800 E. Main Street, Ashland, OR 97520

Temple Office Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 10 am to 4 pm, Closed Mondays