News

Monday January 12th at 6:30 is our Mah Jongg Club. Please join us for a fun evening of playing Mahj. There is a $10 donation to Sisterhood to play. RSVP to Ilene Rubel at 610-776-1577.

January 14th at 7:30 PM, we will have a Sisterhood meeting at the home of Margie Strauss. All Sisterhood members are invited to attend these meetings. We would love to here new suggestions or ideas of things that you would like to see us do. Please join us.

On Saturday January 31st is Sisterhood Shabbat. Come join us as our very own Sisterhood members lead the entire Shabbat Service. Thanks you in advance to Monica Lemelman and Elaine Langer for all of their hard work in organizing this day.

Miriam's Memos/Jill's Jottings can be found on the Sisterhood main page!

KADIMA Schedule of Events for 2009!

Sunday January 4th - Snow Tubing with USY!

• Leaving synagogue at 11:20AM for Bear Creek.
• Session runs from noon until 3PM, and returning to TBE by 3:30 or so.
  $27 per person - reservations required (they only let a certain number of tubers on at a given time).

Call, or e-mail Ethan Simon

Sunday February 1st: Bowling,or Laser Tag - to be announced (begins immediately after Sunday School!

Sunday March 22nd : Special Event! A local trip to a "Dave and Busters" type Entertainment Center!

Saturday Night May 2nd-3rd "SHUL - IN 2"

Sunday April 19th: Noon - Mall Scavenger Hunt!

USY : Schedule of events!

Sunday - January 4th: SNOW TUBING at Bear Creek!

• Leaving TBE at 11:20 AM Call Noah Diamondstein (call the Temple at 610-435-3521 for contact info)
• Reservations important - limited number of tubers allowed! $27 each - 3 hour session (Noon - 3PM):
• Returning soon after. This looks to be a GREAT event!

Sunday - January 18th: Either Roller Skating or Laser Tag -Your chance to vote on your favorite - let us know! Start time: 12:15 (right after Religious School)

Friday - Sunday: February 13-15th : EPA "WINTER CONVENTION" in West Chester, PA!

Lots of activities ahead – we will keep you posted!

Advisor: Larry Lang: 610-861-8206 or atownusyadvisor@yahoo.com or langl@ptd.net

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Masks We Wear - The Topsy-Turvy world of Purim from the Inside-Out and the Outside-In.  Services beginning at 9:00 AM in the Wax Auditorium

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Free Concert - A morning of song and activities, including a concert by Craig Taubman

Save the Dates

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Mask making program for Adults and Children in preparation for Purim and our Craig Taubman musical weekend.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Masks We Wear - The Topsy-Turvy world of Purim from the Inside-Out and the Outside-In an uplifting intergenerational prayer experience with musical guest

Craig Taubman and Company

Sunday, March 8, 2009 immediately following the Craig Taubman concert.

Join us for the dedication of the newest addition to our building, the Wax Family Auditorium. This is an exciting time for all members of Temple Beth El and our Jewish Community. Don’t miss this special event.

Watch for more details......

A complete list of the JFE activities can be found here.

Features

Beginning our 7th year…..Our Mah Jongg Club dates are all Monday evenings at the Temple. We will begin to play promptly at 6:45 pm. We play for about 3 hours.

Please mark these club playing dates on your 2008 – 2009 calendars:

• September 15
• November 3
• January 12, 2009
• March 16
• May 4

$10 per player donation to sisterhood

NEW FACES ALWAYS WELCOME TO PLAY !!

Don’t miss out on another year of sisterhood, laughter, and a great bunch of fun !!

Looking forward to playing Mah jongg with you !!!

Call with questions and your RSVP to
Ilene Rubel @ 610-776-1577

Happy New Year to all our Religious School Families, we hope you enjoyed the school break. School is back in session and the faculty is raring to go.

The Shabbat Shalom Club will be honored on January 10th. You child’s invitation will arrive in the mail. We will have special school programming to commemorate Martin Luther King’s birthday for both the Elementary and Midrasha students. February will bring a student council meeting for Midrasha on the second, a Tu B’shevat celebration, and hamentashen baking! We always need parent volunteers, please let me know if you can help.

Looking back, we ended 2008 with many exciting programs. The school celebrated Jewish Book Month with a two part event. Students were asked to donate books to the Cops and Kids program, which was a great success! There was an incredible amount of books donate, many thanks families for being so giving. Part two of the program involved the older students reading their favorite Jewish book to the younger ones. Our Chanukah program was a very special morning. Many thanks to Morah Spark for creating and overseeing this event, and to the teachers and their students for creating the booths. Another wonderful school program!

It seems that every month I have a list of families to thank. This month is no exception. I am just thrilled that our families are so thoughtful, and best of all the children of our school benefit from it! Many thanks to Diane Stein, Lisa Silverstein, and Laura Garber for donating items, to students Rebecca Bernfeld and Molly Haas for their volunteer time, and to Sisterhood for purchasing a new laminator for the school office.

Sheryl Block - Administrator

The Holocaust Resource Center (HRC) of the Lehigh Valley is dedicated to Holocaust remembrance through education, preservation of primary sources and outreach to present and future generations in the fight against hatred and bigotry. As an outreach and education organization, the HRC is available to assist all segments of the community, both in the Jewish Community and the community at large. A collection of over 1,000 books, visual and audio media, curricula, artifacts and art dealing with the subject of the Holocaust and the times and circumstances around it, as well as books and curricula dealing with anti-Semitism, hate crimes, genocide and overcoming oppression are available to the public. Most materials may be checked out free of charge. The HRC provides research assistance and a speaker’s bureau on all of the above subjects. The HRC also helps to assist with workshops dealing with the Holocaust and tolerance training through the public schools and coordinates teacher training workshops.

The HRC materials are house primarily at Temple Beth El Allentown. Materials are available Monday-Friday during Temple office hours. To arrange for assistance with the collection, research, workshops or speakers, contact Shari Spark, HRC coordinator, for an appointment.

The HRC is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley. In keeping with our mission of “Memory, Education, Tolerance”, we are eager to assist the community in any way we can, and welcome your calls and visits.

We can be reached at:
Temple Beth El
1305 Springhouse Road
Allentown, PA 18104
(610) 435-3521

Monday - Thursday:  9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
         Friday :            9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The Temple office closes at 3:00 p.m. for Shabbat now that Daylight Standard Time is in effect.

The mosaic Tree of Life has found a beautiful new home in the hallway adjacent to the Social Hall. Leaves on the Tree commemorate happy occasions in the lives of our congregants and memorialize loved ones. The rates for leaves on the tree are $600 for those leaves in the center on the trunk of the tree, and $500 for those on the branches.

Don't forget that buying Scrip is a no-cost way to help Temple Beth El.  Make us a part of your regular shopping routine.  As you may have seen from the Listserv (you have joined the Listserv, haven't you?) you can now buy scrip to many local restaurants.  A list will be available here soon.

Contact Lori Wiener at 610-398-8669 or email her at inkred@aol.com.

A limited number of pew seats are still available. If you made a pledge of $10,000 or more ($5000 for single members) to the capital campaign, you may become a pew seat holder by committing to an additional $125 per seat per year over annual dues. Please contact the synagogue office for more details.

Please Let us Know! 

We Need Your Help

The synagogue is not always notified when congregants are admitted to the hospital. HIPAA laws prevent hospitals from releasing the names of patients.  If you know of a friend or relative in the hospital, please E-mail or phone the Temple so that the Rabbi and Cantor will know.

Another way of notifying the Rabbi or Cantor is to give the hospital our code which is 017. A member of the Temple staff phones the local hospitals every day to check if any of our members are in.

Our Rabbi and Cantor also make many visits to members who are in hospitals, rehabilitation centers or nursing homes.  Please notify the temple office when you or someone you love is in one of these facilities (or is ill and homebound.)

If you have lost a relative, please notify the Temple office so you will receive Yahrzeit notification.

Sunday, January 18, 2009 - World Wide Wrap

Visit the Men's Club Page for more information.

If you haven't already, make sure to return the Membership form that you received in the mail.  If you've misplaced it, you can download it here.

Tzedakah Bowling Event - Sun., January 11—2:00-4:00
$10 per person—2 games, shoes and donation benefiting
The Kosher Food Pantry of Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley
At Parkway Lanes; RSVP by Jan. 8

Dor L’Dor—January 17—10:00 a.m.— “WHY MOSHE?” As we begin the Parasha Shemot, come explore how Moshe qualified for the job of leader...could you apply?

Family Havdallah—Sat., January 24—6:30 p.m.—$5 per family - watch “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and Make Your Own Sundaes

February 8 - 5:00 p.m. Tu B’Shevat Seder and Dinner
$30 per family RSVP by Jan .

Rabbi Re’em is in training to run the Boston marathon as a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training in order to raise money to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma, and myeloma from taking more lives. He is completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers. The team needs your support to cross the finish line – a cure! Please visit the Rabbi’s website at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/boston09/mreem

and help reach the goal of raising $3,600 (double CHAI). Your contribution will help to wipe out blood cancer.

At the new year begins, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our patrons for their support of the Gift Shop and Sisterhood. If you haven’t already seen our new items, please stop by during Gift Shop hours to browse. As a reminder to all B’nai Mitzvot families, please bring your child in to start a gift registry card. This makes shopping for something special so much easier. Gift Shop hours re Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00pm until 6:00pm and Sunday mornings from 10:00am until 12:00 noon.

The Gift Shop Ladies ~ Linda, Jill and Andy

Temple Beth El warmly welcomes our newest members to our synagogue family: (7/1/2008- 10/1/08)
 

David & Holly Odess	Thomas Basseches
Ronald &Olga Gelber	Barbara & Charles Vengrove
Elliot Abrams	Jessica & Dr. Erik Teicher

A message from the Archive Committee

The Archive Committee of Temple Beth El has been meeting for approximately two years. Our goal is to organize the Temple documents, keepsakes, photos, etc. that have accumulated over the past 75 years. We are in possession of numerous items that are unidentifiable or duplicative. We do need some specific items, however, as follows:
• Photos that are accompanied by who, what, when, where and why information
• Documents and other information relating to the formative years of the Temple
• Artifacts and the information relative to them that leads you to believe they belong in our archives.

We would greatly appreciate it if you currently have any items that meet these criteria that you bring them to the synagogue office no later than December 4th, 2008. Items that the Archives Committee feels are unacceptable or that we already have will be returned to you. When all items have been organized and processed we anticipate preserving them in an appropriate manner and in a way they will be readily available to our members for viewing.

Our committee plans to meet from 2-4 pm on the following dates: November 6th and 20th, December 4th and 18th. If you would like to serve as a member of this committee, please call the synagogue office and leave your contact information so I may get in touch with you.

Elwood Kolb
Chairman
Archive Committee

Thursday January 8th, 7-8pm, in the Temple Beth El Chapel. We will be creating a safe space to bring our pain and our questions and our yearning. This one-hour service will include music, silent meditation, traditional prayers and Torah study. For more information, please contact Rabbi Re’em (610-435-3521) or Rabbi Klein (610-435-3775). This program is co-sponsored by Temple Beth El and Congregation Am Haskalah.

Come and feel the spirit of Shira Chadasha (music Shabbat), on Friday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. Sing along with the beautiful music (and the Rabbi's guitar) and give Shabbat a real welcome.

We need 10 people each day to make the minyan. If you can commit to coming one day a week, more or less often, you will be performing an important mitzvah.

Minyan meets on weekdays and holidays at 7:45 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. Come daven with the Rabbi. He’ll be very happy to see you there.

IT’S A SIMCHA MAZEL TOV

Alan Steinberg & Carol Weener on the birth of their grandchildren, Remy and Sam.
Jill & Ivan Schonfeld on the marriage of their daughter, Dr. Toby Schonfeld to James Blasingame.
Linda & Neil Dicker on the birth of their grandson, Ethan Matthew Dicker, son of Megan Calley & David Dicker.
Alan Black on his “special” birthday.
Josh Block, son of Sheryl & Rance Block, on his graduation from Penn State University.
Jan & Bob Kaplan on the marriage of their son, Michael Ira Kaplan to Randi Faye Kessel.
Sheldon Linn on being named Lehigh Valley’s Top OB/GYN.

The College Connection -
A Must for Every College Student

The goal of the College Connection is to keep in touch with your college student compliments of the Temple Beth El Sisterhood. Students will receive 3 holiday packages and greetings, a college directory, and a monthly Temple Beth El bulletin from September through April.

College Connection forms are available in your August Bulletin or from the Temple.

Many compliments have come to Sisterhood from the college kids and their parents about our packages. They always appreciate the goodies, and especially like the fact that each box is different! They also enjoy getting the bulletin and knowing what is going on in their Temple at home.

One last thought. This package is totally supported from our Sisterhood’s budget, with a few generous donations. We do not charge for this service but we could use some help. When you make donations to the Temple, remember the College Connection once in a while. In addition, if you, your employer, or someone you know can donate any items that might be appropriate to include, please think of us as well. Sisterhood and the students appreciate your generosity.

Thank you and we hope to see your form soon and some information about your graduates.

Our own Cantor Kevin Wartell returns to host a weekly radio program entitled “KOL HAEMEK,” The Voice of the Valley, every Friday morning on WMUH FM Allentown, 91.7 on your radio dial or on the web at www.muhlenberg.edu/wmuh.

The Hadassah Study Group will continue to meet through the autumn and winter. Our sessions occur every other Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. at Temple Beth El. We have just begun Lost Tribes: Jewish Fiction from the Edge, edited by Paul Zakrzewski.

Please call Lolly Siegel, 610-439-1851, for future dates and stories

 The purpose of the Social Action Committee of Temple Beth El is to fulfill the commandment of “tzedakah,” the obligation to be righteous and to act with a sense of fairness, and thus to take action that will help improve our community and the world. The Social Action Committee creates or participates in efforts, programs or events that help others in need; encourages the spirit of giving, compassion and acts of loving kindness; raises awareness of important issues; and helps preserve and protect the environment.

Read more about the Social Action Committee.

Dr. Phil Stein
socialaction@templebethelallentown.org
610-653-5231

Administration

We are organizing a "Provide-a-Ride" service to help congregants who wish to attend services on Friday evenings but cannot drive at night. Many of our older congregants who wish to observe a yahrzeit, or to just enjoy sharing Shabbat services with their Beth El family, can no longer drive at night. We are in the process of compiling a roster of congregants who attend Friday evening services, even if only occasionally, and would be willing to make it possible for a fellow congregant to attend with them. Please call the Temple office at 610-435-3521 to register as a driver if you can provide this valuable service.

Honor or memorialize our loved ones by endowing a tree for $1000 at Beth El Memorial Park.  A permanent marker will be erected by the tree chosen.

Contact Ivan Schonfeld at 610-395-8770.  Other items also available to endow.

Back by popular demand…printed renderings of our sanctuary at 17th Street are available again. The price is $136 each whether matte or gloss finish.

Contact Amy Holtz or the synagogue office to purchase your keepsake picture.

As an egalitarian conservative synagogue, Temple Beth El warmly welcomes interfaith families.  Click here for more information about our current policies.

Keruv means “Bringing Closer.” Another word from the same Hebrew root (krv) is kerovim, family.

The Temple Beth El Keruv Committee was formed in the fall of 2005 with Henry Luftman as Chair in order to better address the needs of our interfaith families.  Click here for more detailed information about this very important Temple effort.

The Keruv Committee warmly welcomes new members, programming suggestions and feedback on its efforts. We invite you to contact Henry or Pat Luftman (610-966-0167) or luftman@ptd.net to become involved in this program.