This year, early April ushers Passover into our homes. From Friday, April 3rd until Friday, April 10th, many of us will abstain from chametz, leavened foodstuffs.

Those of us who gathered last month at Marcia Uri's for a Pesach Snacks and Desserts cooking demonstration by Laurel Fishkin learned that eating kitniyot, grains that do not rise or leaven, is becoming more and more acceptable among observant Jews from Ashkenazi (Central European) upbringing. It used to be that only Sephardi (Spanish) and some Mizrachi (Middle Eastern) Jews considered eating kitniyot acceptable during Passover.

The truth of the matter is that the rabbis of the Talmud found it absurd to refrain from eating grains that don't undergo a leavening process. Many Modern Orthodox halachists have argued that rabbinic laws that are downright silly ought to be overturned.

I think the increased acceptance of eating kitniyot reflects a profound integration of Jewish diversity into Jewish practice. 

For centuries, the rabbis of an emerging Western Civilization believed they were smarter and more civilized than the Torah scholars and ritual artists of the Muslim world, including Spain and North Africa in the Middle Ages, Holland and Turkey in the 1500's, and Iraq and Syria since the Roman exile. I think the rise in political power of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews in Israel since the 1980's, and more recent alliances of religious political parties in opposition to Israel becoming a secular state, have transformed relations among Sephardi, Mizrachi, and Ashkenazi Jews from strangers to family.

It's just no longer weird in religious communities in Israel to see people eating corn tortillas or rice during Passover. The official Rabbinate in Israel even declared recently that if eating kitniyot is one's custom during Pesach, it is acceptable.

I remember years of developing a plausible storyline to infuse my lineage with Sephardic ancestry so that I could justify eating kitniyot during Passover. I loved that Jews from Turkey and Morocco and Yemen ate these grains that don't rise. Why couldn't I embrace that part of Jewish heritage? 

Jews are so incredibly ethnically diverse. Our customs and foods differ, yet we share common stories and perceptions of self because we are Jews. Jews have lived in India for 2000 years! There was once a Jewish community in China that became extinct only in the last century or so. Jews from Ethiopia are finally integrating into Israeli social and political institutions. How about the Dutch Jews who have lived in Kingston, Jamaica since the 1600's? 

As eating kitniyot is becoming more halachically acceptable, I notice that media depicting Jews illustrates more and more ethnic diversity. We Westerners are learning to embrace our Eastern brothers and sisters. Jewish civilization is more beautiful.

This Passover, I celebrate the lack of debate over kitniyot.  Increased acceptance means Mizrachi and Sephardi Jewish practices are valued as much as Ashkenazi practices. Jewish civilization is embracing its diversity and all the beauty and dynamic tension that come with diversity. We, the Jewish people, are better for it.  Amen v'amen.

Members & Friends ~

Spring is officially here; although most of this winter felt a lot like spring.  March came in like a lamb and went out like a lamb.  Speaking of lambs and spring, I want to extend a special wish to you all for a wonderful Passover with family and friends.

To help people with some of those tricky Passover dishes, Marcia Uri graciously hosted a fun Passover Preparation Workshop led by Laurel Fishkin.  Our Community Passover Seder on April 3rd is sure to be a delicious and entertaining event, thanks to the fine organizing by Cathy Wynschenk, Kim Rafilson and the many great helpers.

Also in April, in addition to our regular monthly services and events, there is an important and somber reminder of the terrible events of the Holocaust in our Days of Remembrance event for Yom HaShoah on April 15th.  This year's event is co-sponsored by the Jewish Students' and Historical Clubs at COCC.  We hope you will join us for this event to honor the memory of those who suffered in that tragedy as well as recognize what we need to do even today to prevent similar episodes.

Many of you contributed valuable ideas and suggestions at our Leadership Development Workshops on ways we could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of TBT.  With the experienced guidance of Rabbi Hershenson, the Board has taken those ideas and suggestions to rethink how we are structured and how we operate.  We will be rolling out our new structural alignment right after Passover.  But, let me share a brief preview of some of the significant aspects of these planned changes.

In the short seven years of our existence, Temple Beth Tikvah has grown in size and maturity.  Yet, we realize that to reach our potential, we consistently need to challenge ourselves to make critical improvements in the way we do things.  Our ability to accomplish our lofty goals and objectives is ultimately linked to our members - all our members.  We succeed or fail based on how much we invest in ourselves.

We are always thankful and appreciative of our members who volunteer in so many ways.  Yet, we do not always make it easy for those willing to volunteer. To improve our member involvement, we will have a new area of focus under Membership Engagement to provide better instruction, guidance, support, and recognition for our important volunteers.  Knowing that volunteering is much more gratifying when you can have fun and enjoyment while doing it, we also plan to create Chavurah groups that facilitate members finding others with similar interests to strengthen our connections and sense of a broad Jewish community-family.

Of course, in order to make sure these plans and ideas reach fruition requires strong leadership.  To improve our selection, development, and support for our leaders, we have added this new area of focus on leadership to our Finance and Planning.

The heart of being a Jewish organization rests on our schedule of religious events, education, social action, and simply enjoying our togetherness.  To improve our capacity for more activities, we are developing a Handbook that documents the "How To" for many of these events. The first two sections are ready to distribute - the Event Planning Guide and Oneg Shabbat checklist.  With the development of the Handbook, which will be available on our website, it will be much easier for people to help out in many small ways that collectively make it possible to do more of what we find so meaningful about belonging to TBT.  The more we can share the workload, the more we can get done.

As part of the rollout of our new organization structure and initiatives, you will be given the opportunity to select those areas you feel most interested in.  We encourage every member to choose at least one area or role in which to become involved.  The coming months and years will be exciting times for TBT.  We look forward to your participation, support, and feedback in helping us to create a vibrant and enriching organization to belong to and enjoy.

B'Shalom,

    Mark Schindel

The beginning of April brings us the holiday of Passover.  We will be celebrating with our Community Seder on Friday, April 3rd.  We hope to see many of you that evening as we tell the story of the exodus from Egypt.  

We all love the traditional Passover foods, but nonetheless, going 7 days without bread, pasta, and the many foods we normally eat, is always difficult. Don't miss the opportunity to end the week of Passover by attending our Kaballat Shabbat on Friday, April 10th at Pappy's Pizza.  Join us at 6:00 p.m. to enjoy a delicious meal of pizza as the theme of that Sabbath will be "Shabbat with Leavening."  The evening will include a short service for adults and kids, lots of food and plenty of time to socialize. Please respond to this event on the upcoming email invite.

Our community Yom HaShoah event will be held on Wednesday, April 15th at 5:00 p.m. at COCC.  There will be a film and a discussion led by Rabbi Hershenson and Jessica Hammerman.

Our monthly Munch and Torah with Torah service will be on Saturday, April 18 at 9:00 a.m.  The discussions about the Torah portion are always lively and very interesting.  The Torah service at 10:30 a.m is very informal, short and enjoyable.

We will end the month with an Erev Shabbat service on Friday, April 24th at 7:00 p.m. This evening we will be celebrating Israeli Independence.  Come enjoy the beautiful music, led by Lauren Olander, and a delicious Oneg Shabbat following the service.

Auction Coming Soon - 

Donations Wanted!

The TBT Auction is coming next month on May 16th. We are still accepting more donations to make this fun-filled evening a real success!

Please ask the people with whom you do business for a gift certificate if possible.

Do you have a special talent or service you might offer? Contribute to the auction in your own special way. Susie Richman is donating $120 worth of dog sitting, for example.

Donate a nice bottle of wine for the wine grab. Though we'd love a bottle with a retail value of at least $30, we are happy to accept whatever wine gift you might offer us.

To donate, or for auction questions, please contact Beverly Adler, fiber12@gmail.com. Thank you.

Elections for delegates to the World Zionist Congress, open to ALL Jews, started on January 14th and will run through April 30th.  This is truly a rare opportunity to have a say in the future of Israel and Jewish matters throughout the world.  If you have not voted yet, you should!

The following material is simply for your information and you are free to use it as you see fit.  This is not an endorsement or requirement that you vote for any specific set of candidates. You are free to vote for the delegation of your choice. 

Because we are affiliated with the Union of Reform Judaism, we are sharing with you information from the Association of Reform Zionists of American (ARZA) which is sponsoring a delegation to the World Zionist Congress.  

For information about the election and the ARZA (Reform Movement) delegation, you can directly access their website at: https://www.reformjews4israel.org/about-us/.

This election is world-wide.  The World Zionist Congress is comprised of three separate sets of delegates:

• Israel - 190 delegates
• United Sates - 145 delegates
• Rest of the world - 165 delegates

Any Jew over 18 is eligible to vote (based on the honor system of self declaration).  To vote in the selection of the delegation from the United States, you also have to be a citizen of the U.S. and pay a $10 fee to cover costs of the election ($5 if you younger than 30).  The fee can be paid via credit card, eCheck or PayPal.  You are allowed only one vote for whichever delegation group you choose. 

For more information about the election and ALL the slates that are competing in the US, visit the American Zionist Movement web site at: 

http://www.azm.org/2015elections.php

Every vote counts, so make a difference.

If you have any questions regarding the elections, contact Mark Schindel, schindelme@yahoo.com.