Temple Israel Bulletin
June 2017
June 2017
Issue 5777-08
From the President’s Desk
Inside this issue
President’s Desk…………………..….……1
Rabbi’s Message……………………………2
Hebrew/Religious School …………..…5
It's been hopping around Temple lately!! Religious
School and Hebrew School has come to an end for the
year (Special thank you to Andrea Buck and the rest of
the school staff), new windows in the library, more
work on the butterfly garden, more new members, final
cleanup at the cemeteries from the storm last year,
bagel making, and preparing for Rabbi's return!!
Thank you to everyone that has helped out.
Fundraising Rummage Sale..………...6
Life House Prom.…………..………..……7
Upcoming Events………………………....8
Six Day War………….……………………....9
Those in care facilities…………………10
It's refreshing this time of year to see the grass turning
green and people being more active after our winter
hibernation. Rabbi will return to us on June 16th;
please make sure to come to service and welcome him
back! On June Saturday, June 24th the Temple Board
will sponsor the luncheon after services in honor of the
Rabbi's return and all those that helped out in his
absence. Please join us to celebrate.
Service Schedule………………………...10
Puzzle………………………………………...10
June Anniversaries…….……….…….…11
June Birthdays……..…………..….……..11
Donations………………………………..….12
Office hours……………….………….…….14
Marko's brother in Croatia had a massive stroke and
passed away suddenly. Please give him your
condolences when you see him. Marko is a vital piece
of the puzzle that helps Temple run smoothly. We are
still short of our goal for his retirement fund; please
consider donating. We will have some events coming
up! STAY TUNED!
Josh
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Rabbi's bulletin article
June 2017/ Iyar-Sivan 5777
Last Friday I took a little day trip not far up the coast to the city of Netanya. It’s not
generally considered one of the highlights of tourist itineraries of Israel. However, I
had heard that it was pretty; I had passed by it via bus, car or train on a number of
occasions over the course of the various times in my life that I’ve been in Israel; but I
had never actually visited it before.
Netanya, like Tel Aviv, is beautifully situated along the shore of the Mediterranean
Sea. However, unlike Tel Aviv, the beaches are at the foot of high bluffs, accessible by
steep stairs or a glass elevator. Paragliders were in evidence -- though I was too timid
to try that activity out myself.
I also learned that Netanya had been a principal landing point for Jewish refugees
from Europe in 1937 to 1940 who, with the help of the Zionist underground, broke
past the British blockade. Historical markers about this period can be found along
the pedestrian path that overlooks the sea there.
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Rabbi continued…
Today, as I write these words on Tuesday, May 9th, it’s “Victory Day” in Russia. The
Allied victory over the Nazis took place on May 8th, but apparently the surrender
document wasn’t signed until it was already May 9th in the Moscow time zone.
Wikipedia notes that: “Israel officially designates the Victory Day on the 9 May as
a national remembrance day. Schools and shops however carry on business as usual
and it is not a holiday. As a result of immigration of many Red Army veterans, Israel
now hosts the largest and most extensive Victory Day celebrations outside the
former Soviet Union.Traditions and customs of Victory Day are the same as in
Russia, with marches of Immortal Regiments held in cities with large populations of
Red Army veterans and their descendants.”
Just a couple of hours ago, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on its
Facebook page a copy of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s letter to Russian President Putin
on the occasion of Victory Day. He wrote: "It's hard to imagine what the world would
look like today had it not been to Russian people's incredible sacrifice... A special
chapter in Jewish history is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of Jewish men
and women who fought in the ranks of the Soviet Army,.. Israel, which is home to
many Jewish Red Army veterans, joins you in celebrating this historic event."
But it was quiet and I was the only person in sight when I visited Netanya’s “Victory
Memorial” on May 5th. The memorial is quite impressive. You first walk through a
“bunker” that is decorated with carvings representing the Holocaust, various World
War Two battles and the Red Army entering Berlin at the end of the European war.,
Then you emerge into the light to be faced with giant winged sculptures representing
the victory over the Nazis.
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Rabbi continued…
It gives me pause to think of the ups and downs and previously unpredictable shifts in the
relationships among the United States, Israel and Russia. When I was in college in the early
1980’s, I remember taking part in a trip to Washington, D.C. organized by Student Struggle
for Soviet Jewry to lobby on behalf of freedom for the “refuseniks.” But, fast forward to
today, Israel now has pretty close and positive relationships with Russia, and a huge Russiaspeaking population.
It just so happened that on the same day that I was traipsing around Netanya, members of
the local LGBT community here were demonstrating in front of the Russian Embassy in Tel
Aviv in protest against the reported persecution of gay men in Chechnya. Russia at first
denied that anything of the sort was going on there (Of course, they also deny having
interfered with the American -- and French -- Presidential elections…). For more
information
on
that
emerging
story,
see:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/05/vladimir-putin-backs-investigationreports-violent-anti-gay/ .
Putting all my scattered thoughts on these geopolitical matters into any sort of coherent
form is beyond me at the moment. We live in interesting times, that’s for sure.
In the meantime, I’ll just conclude by saying that it has been a wonderful adventure for me
to spend most of my sabbatical in Israel. And, indeed, it has been fantastic just to have a
sabbatical for the first time in my twenty years as a rabbi.
Thank you again for your support and friendship and for “keeping the home fires burning”
during my temporary absence. ‫להתראות בקרוב‬/ Lehitra’ot bekarov (“See you soon”) back in
Duluth.
L’shalom,
Rabbi David Steinberg
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News from the Hebrew and Religious Schools
Though a bit chilly, the rain held off. And students enjoyed games and activities indoors and
outdoors during the Religious and Hebrew School’s picnic to end the school year. Thank you to
parents, congregants, Temple Israel board members and, especially, our teachers. Without your
support, we wouldn’t be teaching Jewish values to these beautiful young people in the manner that
we do.
Youth Education Director
Andrea Novel Buck
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REMEMBER!! Please bring your new or gently used (and clean) items to the Temple
parking lot next Thursday, June 8, between 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm. We can’t have a
successful fundraiser without your rummage! If it's not possible for you to bring your
items at that time, please call John Sillanpa (218.349.5109 [email protected]), and
he will work out another arrangement with you.
DON’T FORGET TO PUT PRICES ON YOUR ITEMS (with stickers or labels)! We can
always negotiate prices, but it would be good to have a starting point…and you know
the value of your stuff better than we do! Also, we will take any spare bags you have!
Acceptable
Not acceptable!
Kitchen items
Clothing
Home décor
Shoes
Jewelry
Stuffed animals
Sporting goods
Worn out items
Antiques
Junk
Camping gear
Tools/hardware
Fully operational toys, puzzles, or games
Remember – your clutter is someone else’s (and Temple Israel’s) treasure!
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LIFE HOUSE PROM 2017 - Friday, June 2, 2017
In case you missed it, there was an interesting article in the May/June issue of the
Duluthian magazine entitled “Never Turned Away”, describing the Life House’s
connection with the area’s homeless population. In response to the “the temptation for
some people…to write off this segment of the population as a lost cause”, Life House
Executive director Maude Dornfeld said “we have yet to find a hopeless case”.
There is, or at least let us hope there is, always hope. I think one of the reasons for Temple
Israel’s connection to Life House over the years has been to find a way to translate that
hope into a vision in the mind of the individual Life House teen, resulting in their
obtaining a high school , or college, diploma.
The article goes on to discuss the origins of the Life House, its many valuable programs,
and the extreme day-to-day challenges that the Life House youth population faces.
Despite the challenges, Life House has been successful. A segment in the article describes
Cheyenne’s story of overcoming alcohol, drugs, housing issues and abuse, to survive, find
purpose, employment, and next year, achieve college graduation, through the support of
Life House.
We can do our small part to be of assistance to Life House by making a donation , which
will encourage youth like Cheyenne to become students and to obtain a diploma. Send
your check made out to Life House, with Temple Israel, Prom 2017 in the memo line, to
John Sillanpa, 3912 Fountain Gate Dr, Duluth, MN 55811. There are also opportunities to
volunteer in the day care during graduation preparations and at the graduation ceremony
at the Radisson Hotel on Friday, June 2, 2017; call John at 218-349-5109 or email
[email protected].
John Sillanpa
1-218-740-1677 (w - direct)
1-218-349-5109 (cell)
1-218-728-6233 (eves)
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Upcoming Events
Please join us as we say Kaddish and recall the memory of Stuart Shamblott, as we unveil
his headstone.
Sunday June 4, 2017 at 11:00 am at Tifereth Israel Cemetery.
Light luncheon to follow at 12:00 PM at Adas Israel 302 E. 2nd Street, Duluth.
"Lest We Forget"
Fred Amram and Sandra Brick
Duluth Art Institute, Depot Morrison Gallery,
4th Floor, through June 18, 2017. Displays for
Holocaust Remembrance are beautifully and
simply displayed. Take your children.
On June 24th for morning services we are going to honor the lay leaders for their
help while Rabbi was gone and honor Rabbi on the retrun from Sabbitcal. The board
will sponsor the Kiddush lunch. Heads up that there will be more people for lunch.
Mike Grossman and Holly Church wish to thank everyone who sent us good wishes in
the templegram for our 35th anniversary in April. Being part of such a caring community
makes it all that much sweeter!
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The Six Day War Retrospective
The Six-Day War took place in June 1967. The Six-Day War was
fought between June 5th and June 10th. The Israelis defended
the war as a preventative military effort to counter what the
Israelis saw as an impending attack by Arab nations that
surrounded Israel. The Six-Day War was initiated by General
Moshe Dayan, the Israeli’s Defence Minister.
The war was against Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Israel believed
that it was only a matter of time before the three Arab states coordinated a massive attack on Israel. After the 1956 Suez Crisis,
the United Nations had established a presence in the Middle
East, especially at sensitive border areas. The United Nations
was only there with the agreement of the nations that acted as a host to it. By May 1967,
the Egyptians had made it clear that the United Nations was no longer wanted in the
Suez region. Gamal Nasser, leader of Egypt, ordered a concentration of Egyptian
military forces in the sensitive Suez zone. This was a highly provocative act and the
Israelis only viewed it one way – that Egypt was preparing to attack. The Egyptians had
also enforced a naval blockade which closed off the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping.
Rather than wait to be attacked, the Israelis launched a hugely successful military
campaign against its perceived enemies. The air forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq
were all but destroyed on June 5th. By June 7th, many Egyptian tanks had been
destroyed in the Sinai Desert and Israeli forces reached the Suez Canal. On the same
day, the whole of the west bank of the Jordan River had been cleared of Jordanian
forces. The Golan Heights were captured from Syria and Israeli forces moved 30 miles
into Syria itself.
The war was a disaster for the Arab world and temporarily weakened the man who was
seen as the leader of the Arabs – Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt. The war was a military
disaster for the Arabs but it was also a massive blow to the Arabs morale. Here were
four of the strongest Arab nations systematically defeated by just one nation.
The success of the campaign must have surprised the Israelis. However, it also gave
them a major problem that was to prove a major problem for the Israeli government for
decades. By capturing the Sinai, the Golan Heights and the West Bank of the Jordan
River, the Israelis had captured for themselves areas of great strategic value. However,
the West Bank also contained over 600,000 Arabs who now came under Israeli
administration. Their plight led many young Arabs into joining the Palestinian
Liberation Organisation (PLO), a group that the Israelis deemed a terrorist
organization. Israeli domestic policies became a lot more complicated after the military
successes of June 1967.
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June Service Leaders
June 2nd - Family service - Chris
June 3rd - Torah study - Maureen
June 3rd - Service - Linda
June 9th - Shabbat service - Mark (Chris, you
don't have to come in from the lake this weekend)
June 10th -Torah study - OPEN
June 10th -Service - Linda
Rabbi will be back for June16-17.
Please let me know of any changes, additions or
errors.
Remember those in
care facilities
Lorrayne Glazman—Edgewood Vista
Memory Care
Shirley Goldberg - St. Anne's
Dorothy Slonim - Benedictine
Health Center
B'shalom,
Linda
[email protected]
If we have missed anyone, please contact the Temple office.
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June Anniversaries
June Birthdays
June 01 – Alexander Chernyshev
June 04 – Jack and Cindy Seiler
01 – Emma Ross
04 – Roger Pellet
05 – Dan and Chris King
05 – John Goldfine
07 – John Herold and Linda Glaser
06 – Bart Polacsek
11 – Jim Perlman and Deborah Petersen-Perlman
07 – Margi Preus
08 – Joe Rosenzweig
12 – Gunner and Ingrid Johnson
10 – Sam Black
13 – Howard and Lynn Krenzen
10 – Daniel Hannah
15 – Peter Wodrich and Deborah Freedman
10 – Shirley Witkin
11 – Scott Hall
18 – Doug and Andria Kaplan
13 – Misha Kahn
19 – Andy Niemyer and Lisa Abrams
14 – Michaela Shamblott
19 – David and Kate Siegler
14 – Abigail Vosen
15 – Bea Levey
20 – Doug Hoffman and Jennifer Pearson
15 – Nadia Swoverland
23 – Steven Christensen and Elizabeth Kaplan
15 – Zipporah Vosen
24 – Mike and Michelle Baddin
17 – Joel Weiner
19 – Casey Goldberg
24 – Dan Kislinger and Linda Eason
20 – Jennifer Pearson
25 – Daniel Hannah and Anna Guttman
21 – Susan Rees
25 – Marty and Laura Weintraub
26 – Gideon and Nicola Mailer
27 – Tom and Andrea Buck
22 – Larry Blunt
24 – Andria Kaplan
25 – Mike Grossman
27 – Andrea Buck
28 – Pauline Brizer
28 – Kai Hoffman
30 – Danny Frank
30 – Theresa Neo
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Donations
Beautification Fund
Steve Davis & Terese Tomanek in honor of Chris King
Cemetery Fund
Pauline Brizer in memory of Fanny Botkin
Mike Grossman & Holly Church in memory of Max Grossman, Rosalind B. Grossman
and Anne Barnett
Hommey Kanter in memory of Dr. Robert Kanter
Endowment Fund
Pauline Brizer in honor of David & Deb Carroll
Jack & Cindy Seiler in memory of Bessie Hyman
General Fund
Joan Bischoff in memory of Moshe Feldman
Sarah Bober in memory of Cindi Orensten
Stacey Bush in memory of Cindi Orensten
Judi Charbonneau in memory of Seymour & Lorraine Chez
Steve Davis & Terese Tomanek in memory of Gary Gordon and Abraham Prober
Dr. Richard & Marsha Eisenberg in memory of Cindi Orensten
Neal Gendler & Marjorie Wasserman in memory of Cindi Orensten
Tracy Goman in memory of Charles Goldberg
Tom & Pam Griggs in memory of Harry Davis
Adam & Myrna Han-Gorski in memory of Cindi Orensten
Sharon Kaner in memory of Cindi Orensten
Richard Kanoff
Paul King in memory of Sally Hallock
Scott Kvenstad
Toby & Sharon Marcovich in memory of Cindi Orensten and Shirley Berman
Barbara Munic in memory of Cindi Orensten
Dale & Sheila Olmstead in memory of Cindi Orensten
Jack & Cindy Seiler in memory of Cindi Orensten
Mark & Carol Weitz in memory of Harry Davis
Shirley Witkin in memory of Cindi Orensten
Jo Ann Youngner
Harry Glazman Kiddush Fund
Neil Glazman & Barb Russ in memory of Cindi Orensten
Tracy Goman in memory of Harry Davis
Judy Gordon in memory of Gary Gordon
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Donations continued
Marko Retirement Fund
Steve Davis & Terese Tomanek in memory of Jure, Marko’s brother
Tracy Goman in memory of Jure, Marko’s brother
Memorial Fund
Steve Davis & Terese Tomanek in memory of Harry Davis
Ed & Colleen Martin in memory of Harry Davis
Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund
Jan & Jay Alridge in memory of Ruth Love
Barbara Brody in memory of Harold Brody
Steve Davis & Terese Tomanek in memory of Mildred Kravitz
Sally Krovitz Children‘s Fund
Marilyn Krovitz Blunt in memory of Abe and Sally Krovitz
Social Action Fund
Carol Cohen in memory of Gary Gordon
Youth Fund
Mike & Michelle Baddin in memory of Cindi Orensten
Francine Gurovitsch in memory of Benjie Gurovitsch
Lloyd Orensten in memory of Cindi Orensten
Kenneth & Gayle Tolchin in memory of Cindi Orensten
Laura White in memory of Cindi Orensten
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Temple Israel
Temple Israel includes people from
traditional
Jewish
backgrounds,
interfaith families, and people with little
or no previous Jewish learning or
experience.
Our
membership
of
approximately 138 households includes
families, couples, and singles; children
and elders; Jews by birth and Jews by
choice (or still choosing), and also
affiliates. We value and seek to include
everyone who shares our commitment to
living and learning about compassionate,
ethical Judaism regardless of age, marital
status, income level, sexual orientation,
gender identity, race or disability.
The Temple Bulletin is in need of a sponsor.
The sponsor will have the opportunity to place a
monthly ad in this section. If you would like to
sponsor the bulletin, please contact the
Temple office at 724-8857 or via
email [email protected].
Temple office hours:
Tuesdays – 7:30 am to noon
Wednesdays – 12:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Thursdays – 8:00 am to 2:00 pm
Fridays – 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Temple Israel - 1602 East Second Street
Duluth, MN 55812
(218) 724-8857 – www.jewishduluth.org
[email protected]
Temple Israel
PLEASE
PLACE
STAMP
HERE
1602 East 2nd Street
Duluth, MN 55812
Phone: (218) 724-8857
E-mail: [email protected]
www.jewishduluth.org
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