Past President's Writings - Al Herbach

It sure is hard to believe that it is 2010. Why, I remember when… No, I won’t go into what I can (and can’t) remember. But it does feel a bit different to be in a new decade. There has been a lot going on at the temple and I would like to review and preview some special events.

In December, we started off the month with the Brotherhood sponsored Art Auction. This year we tried something new and held the art over through Sunday morning, so that additional people could participate in purchasing art. The results were positive, with almost 2/3 of the total sales coming on Sunday morning. We will look to make this a part of future art campaigns.

Next we celebrated Hanukkah with all of the required events: Candlelighting during services at Shabbat (twice), the Hanukkah Kids Craft Party and the Hanukkah Family Fun Night (a tradition in the making). During Hanukkah, we were also privileged to hear Samantha Margolis from AIPAC explain the purpose of AIPAC and gave her impressions of the current Israeli issues. Later in the month, the Library Committee presented two movie events, an adult movie night featuring Defiance and a children’s movie presentation of An American Tail.

On Christmas Eve, the PADS team opened our Social Hall for PADS guests on a Thursday night, since other churches that are usually open on Thursday were closed for the holiday. A hearty thank you to all of the PADS volunteers who cooked, served, oversaw and cleaned up for this occasion.

On Friday the 25th, we offered a little more with our Shabbat services. Like many Jewish homes in America, we ate Chinese food on December 25th. We offered a Chinese Dinner at the temple before services.

But December is behind us and most of our kids are back at school. January is here and the calendar is pretty full for January as well.

Brotherhood and Sisterhood will be joining together for several events this month. On January 10th, they will have a joint meeting. Then on January 15th, they will have the annual Brotherhood/Sisterhood Shabbat dinner and service, where members of the ‘hoods will lead us in worship.

January 10th is also the next day to purchase Manna. Remember that Manna is one way to contribute to the temple without costing you anything additional. Buy your grocery, restaurant, airline or hotel gift cards and a percentage of the purchase price goes directly to the temple.

On January 17th, we will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a special presentation in the sanctuary at 10:00AM.

On January 23rd, Brotherhood and Sisterhood bring us the always fun, always tasty, Soup Bread and Game night for adults. Bring a soup or bread (or even dessert) and a game.

We end January on a high note with our annual Shabbat Shira, a service with singing led by the LifeTree Ramblers on January 29th, and prior to services our Membership committee invites you to come at 7:30PM and enjoy some Wine and Cheese.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t remind everyone that our 50th Anniversary Celebration is set for April 16-18. There is a committee putting together a commemorative book for the occasion and if you would like to place an ad, please contact Ken Markwell or Jim Weiskopf with any questions concerning ad placements.

Keep warm!

In my speech on Rosh Hashanah, I discussed the topic of Kehillat Kedosha, or Sacred Community. I introduced the idea of making a Rosh Hashanah resolution to find a way to become more active in the temple. There are a lot of opportunities and throughout the year, I will use this column to identify some ways that you can find a way to help the temple become more Kedosh through your involvement. This month I want to highlight 3 of our committees and talk about their missions. Each of these committees report to Vice President Janet Widmaier.

The Office Committee, chaired by Gina Carter, is responsible for facilitating the efforts of the office staff and ensuring that all of our communications methods are as efficient as possible. Some of the major activities of this committee include managing our technology infrastructure, coordinating the maintenance of the temple website and coordinating our public relations and advertising activities. The committee has recently developed an online directory which will save the congregation approximately $3,000 biannually. Other recent projects included the purchase of a new telephone system, a change to the website header and development of a procedure for committees to use to reserve space in the temple for an event. Meetings of this committee are usually held on the second Monday of the month at 6:30 PM in the Social Hall and include dinner.

The Library Committee, chaired by Ellie Lapidus, is responsible for all activities in the Jeremy Bruder Memorial Library. Our library is a place filled with adult and children’s books, religious books, DVD’s and audio disks, periodicals and computer access all in a welcoming and relaxing facility. The Library Committee coordinates the activities of a group of passionate volunteers as well as making acquisition decisions for the collection. In addition, the Committee has developed programs that work with the Religious School, such as the Umbrella Decoration project and held social events, including Movie Nights. This year, the committee also developed a reading contest that attracted over 100 religious school students to win prizes for reading materials checked out of the library. Meetings of this committee are held monthly.

The Adult Education Committee, chaired by Robin Dombeck, is responsible for the learning programs directed towards adults of the congregation. A main responsibility for the committee each year is to coordinate the Jack and Sophie Edwards Scholar in Residence Program. This program regularly brings in acclaimed scholars to teach our congregation in depth about a particular topic over a weekend. In addition, the committee manages our Artist in Residence program biannually. There are also a number of additional programs throughout the year, taught by Rabbi Bob or Rabbi Cosnowsky or other local speakers that are coordinated through this committee. Meetings of this committee are usually held on the 4th Tuesday of the month at 6:30 PM

For more information on any of these committees, please feel free to contact Jan Widmaier or the committee chair.

Even though school is out, there is still a lot going on at Etz Chaim over the summer. Believe it or not, we are less than 2 months away from Rosh Hashanah. Preparations for the High Holidays are well underway. We also use the time over the summer to freshen up the inside and outside of the building in areas such as the parking lot and painting the interiors. The office staff is busily processing Membership Commitment and School Registration forms. Mazel Tov to Carol and Howard Meyer on the upcoming marriage of their son Brad to Tracy Johnson.

The rabbis have their own work to accomplish. Mazel Tov to Rabbi Andie and Jane Cosnowsky on the birth of Jared and Joseph. Rabbi Cosnowsky will be taking some time on maternity leave, but it won’t be long before the twins are showing up for Tot Shabbat. Another Mazel Tov to Rabbi Bob and Tammie Bob on the upcoming marriage of their daughter Abbey to Asaf Nagola. Rabbi Bob is participating in the second half of Chalutzim at OSRUI, playing soccer, teaching Hebrew and Jonah and not leading the songfests.

Speaking of OSRUI, there are a lot of Etz Chaim kids at OSRUI this summer. All reports are that our children are having a fantastic time, making new friends, learning some Hebrew and learning new skills.

Anne Stein is preparing for another year of Religious and Hebrew school, after returning from her sessions at OSRUI. Thanks to Anne for taking numerous pictures and posting them on the web for parents to see. Reminder to all parents… get those registration forms in to ensure that you are able to choose your preferred times for Hebrew school. First come, first served.

Lastly, our Membership Committee is planning a Prospective Member Brunch on August 15th. If you know of a Jewish family that is not already a member, please let Nikki Sigale know. We would love to be able to show off for any new prospective members.

Even though the heat has not really abated, it is starting to feel a little more like fall is on the way. Events and programs at the temple have started to take shape for the New Year (5771).

All of our kids are back from OSRUI and by all reports it was another hugely successful year in Oconomowoc, with most kids planning for their next summer’s adventures.

High Holiday tickets will be mailed out this week to those who have submitted their Membership Commitment forms. If you haven’t sent yours in yet, please do so as soon as possible. Remember that you must be a member to get your High Holiday tickets and to enroll in Religious School. Speaking of High Holiday tickets, just a reminder that this year you will receive color coded tickets for each service. The ushers will be collecting tickets at the door this year, so make sure that you bring your tickets to services.

It is just a few weeks until Religious School starts. Class lists are being prepared and book orders have been placed. As has been our custom over the past several years, the Brotherhood will prepare and serve a BBQ lunch on the first day of school on September 19th. Don’t miss any of the fun or food.

This past Sunday we held our annual Prospective Member open house/brunch. There were a large number of families that attended who were able to get a tour of our facilities and hear from the Rabbis and Anne Stein. Several members of the board were also present to answer questions and tell their own stories. Thanks to the Membership Committee and the Board of Trustees for helping to welcome all of our prospective members.

Our calendar is starting to fill up with some informational events.

On Monday, August 23rd at 7:00 PM, we will be hosting a speaker from the College of DuPage who will bring us up to date on what is going on at the college. On Tuesday, August 24th at 7:00 PM, US Representative Peter Roskam of the 6th District will speak at the synagogue on his recent trip to Israel. I look forward to meeting Congressman Roskam and hearing his perspectives on the situation in Israel.

As you know, much of the work of the temple is done by our many volunteer committees. We are always looking for interested volunteers to join these committees. In order to provide as much information about the work of our committees in a single venue, our committee chairs will be hosting two Committee Rushes. These events held on September 26th at Westlake and October 3rd at the synagogue will provide information about all of our committees. Please stop by and find a place where you can lend your skills and passions to enrich the life of the community.

B’Shalom,
Al