ebook img

The Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin, June-August, 2009 PDF

2009·2.8 MB·English
by  
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview The Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin, June-August, 2009

Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin JUNE-JULY-AUGUST 2009 Volume 61 I N°. 10 I Sivan/Tammuz/Av/Elul 5769 Summer 2009/5769 / Inspire, Evaluate, Repeat W ow! What a year! It is Rabbi Graetz for his leadership and hope to see unbelievable to think that this him often both here and in Israel. Cantor Abram¬ is the final bulletin article of son and I look forward to welcoming Rabbi Rein 2008-2009. From my arrival and and Cantors Schwartz and Cohen to the clergy installation, to the High Holidays, to a year of team next year. The influx of new ideas and new Torah and ma 'asim tovim (good works), this first voices will undoubtedly make next year an excit¬ year has been a non-stop flurry of activity. Our ing one. community has welcomed many births, mourned Sarah Gribetz has done a marvelous job with the passing of loved ones and celebrated the adult education and programming. Ron Koas and Jewish year throughout. Even now, we are bus¬ Shlomi Cohen continue to think creatively about ily planning for the final stretch that will lead us what I believe to be the two most difficult posi¬ to a slightly less frenetic pace of summer programming. Debbie tions in the Jewish communal world - directing Congregational and I continue to be touched by the gracious welcome of the Park and High School education. Marga Hirsch has done superbly Avenue family. Our first year in New York has been wonderful overseeing our library. As a proud ECC parent, I have been so and we have been inspired by the warm and dynamic community very impressed by Carol Hendin’s work with our young families. that we now call our own. I know I speak for our entire community when I thank Cantor However proud we are of the year gone by, the lay and profes¬ Abramson for her unflagging devotion to our congregation and sional leadership of Park Avenue are already actively looking the beautiful voice with which she leads us in prayer throughout to next year. Each program, from our Early Childhood Center, the year. To Beryl Chernov, our hard working executive direc¬ Congregational School and High School, to Shabbat Services tor, I thank you for your guidance, friendship and professionalism and adult learning, is being evaluated regarding its strengths and throughout. Please know how grateful I am to you and the staff weaknesses. Every staff member is busy preparing goals for next you supervise day in and day out. Yasher Koach to the entire year. Together, we are looking at best practices of synagogues staff on a wonderful year! nationwide to ensure that Park Avenue Synagogue continues to Finally, our synagogue owes an immeasurable debt to the lay offer the most dynamic expression possible of congregational leadership for their tireless devotion to the synagogue mission. life. Our plans for next year are taking shape and I encourage Our officers, board, advisors and trustees give of their time and each congregant to get involved in shaping our shared plans for wisdom towards making our community so strong. On behalf the future. of the entire lay and professional leadership, I want to extend As the synagogue year comes to a close, it is appropriate a shared "Thank You" to Steve Friedman for his leadership as to offer words of gratitude and thanks to all. We wish Hazzan our Chairman. Your commitment to our congregational mission Lefkowitz the very best in his retirement and look forward to inspires me every day and I am so very thankful for your constant many years of friendship in the future. We extend our thanks to devotion and encouragement. Rabbi Cosgrove will be hosting our college students on Thursday, August 13 for a send-off event. Please contact Sarah Gribetz at [email protected] with your college students’ contact information so they will be included in the evening. )VV Table of Contents From Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove 2 June Calendar of Events 9 Lay Leadership, Paul Corwin, VP 3 July Calendar of Events 10 Synagogue Family 4-6 August Calendar of Events 11 News from Our Schools 6 A Look Ahead back cover Contributions 7-8 See Program Insert for Arms' News and Announcements of all Programming for the Summer. 2 Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin Lay Leadership: Paul Corwin, Vice President Looking Toward Summer S ummer. Time slows down. Children are off from on a doomed army transport ship. Rabbi Rein will share insights school, the weather is changing and we all spend a little based on his own experiences as an Air Force chaplain. more time outside enjoying the sunshine. This sum¬ Are you a film buff? On Tuesday, June 30, we will be show¬ mer, P.A.S. is focusing on “arts and culture”—we have ing “Waltz with Bashir,” the Israeli film that was nominated for planned museums trips, music outings to Central Park, concerts an Academy Award this year. After the screening, a discussion on the roof, book readings, classes, film screenings and special will be led by Israeli film expert, Avigael Graetz. On Tuesday, family-oriented Shabbat activities. We can’t wait for you to meet July 22, we will show “A Slim Peace,” a documentary about our new clergy-Assistant Rabbi Steven Rein and Interim Cantor an encounter between Israeli and Palestinian women. The film Elana Cohen. was recently shown on the Sundance Channel and has received Interested in fine arts? On Tuesday, June 16, we are offering favorable reviews. On Wednesday, August 12, we will screen the a special evening with Ellen Alt, our artist-in-residence, who will documentary “Black Over White,” about Israeli musician Idan describe her Judaic inspirations and will offer insights into her Raichel and his visit to Ethiopia. creative process. On Thursday, June 25, we will be visiting the Looking to celebrate Shabbat? We will have special “Shabbat exhibit, “Reclaimed: Paintings from the and Ice Cream” on Fridays for our young¬ Collection of Jacques Goudstikker,” at the est members and their families. They will Jewish Museum; and on Monday, July 27, take place on June 26 at 1:00 pm, July 10 we will be visiting Max Miller's watercolor at 5:00 pm, July 24 at 1:00 pm, and August show at Yeshiva University Museum. Max 7 at 5:00 pm. On Saturday, July 18 and Miller is a local artist who painted a series Saturday, August 8, Rabbi Steven Rein will of watercolors while saying kaddish for be meeting with families in Central Park to his father. During this time he visited and play games and do a bit of learning. painted a watercolor of the Park Avenue We will observe Tish'ah Be'av on Synagogue sanctuary which is featured in Wednesday, July 29 and welcome Rabbi the show. James Jacobson-Maisels, a scholar from Are you a music lover? Because last Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, who will be summer’s picnic in the park at the Philhar¬ our guest teacher for the evening. monic Concert was so successful, we’re Rabbi Cosgrove will be hosting our doing it again. On Tuesday, July 14, pack a college students on Thursday, August 13. picnic basket and join P.A.S. for an evening for a send-off event. Please contact Sarah of food, music and fellowship. On Tuesday, Gribetz with your college students’ contact August 4, Interim Cantor Elana Cohen and information so they will be included in the Cantor Nancy Abramson will host a “cof¬ evening. Summer Program Calendar feehouse” evening. They will perform and Finally, Rabbi Cosgrove will be in speak about their musical journeys and interests. Westhampton Beach for the Shabbat of August 21 -22. We will be Do you enjoy beach reading? On Tuesday, July 7, Pat David¬ having a special “P.A.S. in the Hamptons” program that weekend. son will lead a discussion on Meir Shalev’s latest book, “A Pi¬ Watch for more details on this special event. geon and a Boy.” The book won Israel’s most prestigious literary Whether you decide to join us for a film, a class, a book read¬ award, the Brenner Prize, in 2006. Shalev has been called “the ing, a museum tour or a concert with our clergy, we hope that best Israeli novelist you’ve never heard of.” He is talked about in you will take advantage of the P.A.S. exciting summer schedule. the same breath as Amos Oz and David Grossman. On Thursday, There are lots of new people to meet, places to explore, arts to August 11, Rabbi Steven Rein will lead a discussion about the be seen and music to be heard. We look forward to spending the “Sea of Glory,” a historical novel by Ken Wales and David Poling summer with you. which is based on the story of four clergy who traveled together Are you leaving the City less often this summer? Looking for something to do? Sit in the air-conditioned P.A.S. Library or Archives and give us a hand. Many jobs are more fun if you come with a friend! You can help just one time or on a regular basis. Interested? Contact Marga Hirsch, [email protected] or 212-369-2600, xl27. JUNE-JULY-AUGUST 2009 3 www.pasyn.org 212 369 2600 Sivan-ELuL 5769 Synagogue Family Park Avenue Synagogue is your community. 204 Our clergy is there for you. Please let us know when you need us—if someone is ill or in the hospital—or when Rabbis’ you want to share your good news: a new baby, a marriage, or other simcha. Offices We want to know; but you have to tell us. Reception Please call the Rabbi's office at 212-369-2600 ext 120. Gabrielle Sarah Koonesi June 6 Gabrielle Sarah Koones has been attending Park Avenue Synagogue Congregational School since Gan. Gabby is a sixth grader at The Dalton School where her favorite subjects are Art, Literature and Math. She Park Avenue Synagogue warmly welcomes also enjoys acting, swimming, and tennis. these new members to our congregational family: A lover of nature, Gabby plans to return Anne & Peter Wattenberg Buttrick to Cheley Camp in Colorado this summer Evelyn Duave Harris & Daniel Harris where her favorite activities are hiking and backpacking. Gabrielle & David Levene Gabby is kind and compassionate and has a great sense of hu¬ Kane & Martin Nussbaum mor. She is very community-oriented and always ready to help Elisa & Jeffrey Port those around her. Gabby is looking forward to learning more Shirley Stillman about her Jewish heritage on a family trip to Israel this summer. Sharon & David Weiss Gabby and her family would like to thank the clergy, teach¬ Michele & Benjamin Yogel ers and staff at P.A.S. for their guidance and support during her preparations to become a Bat Mitzvah. I Rabbi Michael and Naomi Graefz encourage P.A.S. members fo visit them in Israel. You may keep in touch with them at the following e-mail: [email protected]. * Their address is: 42 Eshel Street, Omer, Israel. m J Celebrating a Simcha? A birthday, anniversary, engagement, wedding, new grandchild, or anything else for which you are grateful? Sponsor a breakfast Kiddush any weekday after our Morning Minyan. For more information, contact Lynn Schneider at 212-369-2600 or [email protected]. PLAZA JEWISH COMMUNITY CHAPEL, INC. ]jeuiman and [evenlhal ^idAaicxi\GloAAkA, luf serving the New York Jewish Community 630 Amsterdam Avenue (at 91st St.) CATERERS, INC. 125 East 85th Street, NYC, NY 10028 Appointed Caterers To New York City (212) 769-4400 (212) 722-4271 Park Avenue Synagogue Andrew Fier, President 50 East 87 Street New York City See our display in the lobby of P.A.S. (212) 427-7912 4 Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin Pride and Congratulations We congratulate Cantor Nancy Abramson on being elected Vice President-at-Large of the Cantors Assembly. The Assembly is the professional organization for Conservative cantors world-wide, and Cantor Abramson is the first woman elected as an officer. Eric Gurevitch received Trinity School’s Rector's Prize "awarded to the student who has excelled in the study of reli¬ gion and ethics." "The year's prize recipient recognizes the importance of thinking both with the mind and heart..." Eric will be attending the University of Chicago in the fall. Adam Mandelsberg has received the award and research grant sponsored by the College Alumni Society Board of Managers and Presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, for his paper, "A Second Look at the Election of 1976: How Jimmy Carter Resuscitated the New Deal Coalition and Why it Failed to Last." This honor will help to fund Adam’s research and travels as he concludes work on a History Department honor’s thesis. Grace Mandelsberg received the Marber Book Award from Johns Hopkins University, where she will begin her undergraduate studies this fall. Stephen Rutman has been named a Bronfman Fellow. He will be part of a select group of 26 high school students from across North America who will spend the next few months travelling to Israel together exploring their Jewish Iden¬ tity, and engaging with thinkers, authors, artists, and educators. Stephen and his family have strong ties to P.A.S., where he is a Torah reader and head of the Food Pantry. . On Sunday, May 3, four of our Vav students competed in the annual bible contest held at JTS and sponsored by METNY. Our students, Noah Martin, Mark Norwich, Brett Silverstein and Phillip Yellen, worked very hard pre¬ paring for the contest. They did an amazing job! They received 37 points out of 40 which means 18.5 correct answers out of 20 questions. This is the fourth time that our school has competed. P.A.S. was the only school from Manhattan among the 15 participants. The Berkowitz Family: Rabbis Miriam and Matt; and Adir, Rachel and Shira Berkowitz are pleased to announce that they are making aliyah. They would like you to let them know if you will be in Jerusalem as they would love to keep in touch with their friends from P.A.S. Contact us at: [email protected]. Our librarian, Marga Hirsch, has been invited to join the Editorial Committee of the Jewish Publication Society. Condolences Park Avenue Synagogue extends heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved of our congregation and their families: Arthur Ainsberg, on the loss of his mother, Zelda Ainsberg; Family and friends of Frances Berger; Harriet and Herb Feiwel on the loss of her father, Alfred Rich; Jennifer and Mark Feldman, on the loss of her mother, Joyce Goodman; Suzanne and Brian Stadler and Heather and Andrew Heller on the loss of their father, David Martin Heller; Family and friends of Henny Pamass; Annette Sherman, on the loss of her husband, William Sherman; Irving Wachs, on the loss of his wife, Bernice Wcichs. 5 www.pasyn.org 212-369 2600 JUNE JULY-AUGUST 2009 Sivan-Elul 5769 Synagogue Family: Our New Clergy Assistant Rabbi Steven Rein Our new Assistant Rabbi Steven Rein will receive ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary this spring, when he will also be awarded a Masters of Arts in Talmud and Rabbinics and where he has been a Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Fellow. In ad¬ dition to significant congregational experience in Metairie, LA; Herndon, VA, and Fitzgerald GA; he has served as Chaplain in the US Air Force Reserves. Interim Cantor Elana Cohen Hazzan Elana Cohen will serve P.A.S. as full time Interim Cantor following her graduation from the HL Miller Cantorial School at Jewish Theological Seminary where she was a recipient of the W Richard W. Briskin Cantor-in-Residence Award. Her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree is from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Throughout her educational experience, she served as e greet with great pleasure our new clergy, a part time educator and cantor for various synagogues through¬ as we bid fond farewell to our beloved Cantor out the metropolitan area. David Lefkowitz and Interim Rabbi Michael Interim Cantor Azi Schwartz Graetz who have been such important members We will get to know Interim Cantor Azi Schwartz as he joins us of our community. After extensive consideration by search for the High Holy Days and other festivals and Shabbatot. He is committees, the Board, and Rabbi Cosgrove, three new clergy a respected cantor and conductor in the US, Israel and throughout members have been selected to serve Park Avenue Synagogue the world. He has a Masters of Music degree from the Mannes beginning July 1,2009. College of Music in New York, and studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute. We look forward to his musical contributions to our services. News from Our Schools End of Another Year... By Ron Koas have to begin by saying what a great honor it is to be A religious school must recognize that there is a world beyond here as the Director of the P.A.S. Congregational School, an the school gates. "There is no life that is not in community." So institution that has been, is, and will continue to be, one of said T.S. Eliot and I think we all agree. Jewish life is based on the great Hebrew schools in the US. community—after all, we need ten people to make a minyan. So The statement “An education ought to be very good to justify our students go out to the community—they visit nursing home depriving a child of its liberty” is attributed to the 18th century residents, go to the Jewish Museum, help out in our Food Pantry. economist, John Stuart Mill. Here at P.A.S. we provide an excel¬ Each grade also participates in Shabbat services so that the lent education, and while learning always comes first, we also youngsters can connect to the greater P.A.S. community. This is have lots of fun and try not to deprive the children of too much what P.A.S. has always, and will always, believe in. liberty! The quality of education our children receive is top- And what of the future? We have spent this past year looking notch. Our staff is experienced and knowledgeable. And yet, here very carefully at best practices in Jewish education. We studied students learn that the soul needs to be developed and nurtured as new and successful models of Hebrew schools and heard from much as the brain. They are taught that being a mensch is more experts in Jewish education. important than being beautiful or wealthy. They are taught that A Hebrew proverb says, “Do not confine your children to your kindness and tolerance are basic Jewish values. They learn that education, for they were born of another time.” The history of the life is for living and that their duty is to leave the world a better Park Avenue Synagogue Congregational School tells us that it has place for them having been in it. Here at P.A.S. the students always recognized the need to change, to rebuild, and to re-equip. learn how to learn, rather than merely what to learn. They often The school has always embraced the future with courage and vi¬ discover that it is just as important, and sometimes much more sion, while holding firm to its traditional values. I look forward to interesting, to color outside the lines—that they can be creative carrying on this path in September, when our 2009-2010 academ¬ and think “outside the box.” ic year begins. 6 Park Avenue Synagogue Bulletin Summer 2009/5169 Consult the Bulletin's Event Calendar pages and website for details of services and candle lighting times. Daily Minyanim Mincha Hashkama Friday Evening Service I 6:15 pm MMoonnddaayy--FFrriiddaayy I! 77::1155 aamm SSuunnddaayy--TThhuurrssddaayy II 55::4455 ppmm will resume in September Saturday Sanctuary Service i 9:15 am Sundays and legal Holidays I 9:00 am Saturdays I 12:30 pm starting June 6 until September Shabbat and Holidays For Children and Families Day School Family Shabbat Services, Erev Tisha B'av Dinner and Program Spiritual Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto Friday, June 5 Wednesday, July 29 I 8:00 pm I James Maisels, guest speaker Calling all Jewish day school families! Please join us for R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira, the rebbe of the Warsaw Shabbat services, dinner, and an evening program for par¬ Ghetto, was an extraordinary scholar, leader, educator and ents and kids. For more information, please contact Phyllis spiritual master in pre-war Poland and during the Holo¬ Spiro at [email protected]. caust. On Tisha B'av as we mourn our national tragedies as a community we are confronted with the question of our response to suffering and persecution, a question which Shabbat for Young Families continues to echo deeply today. Together we will explore a Ice Cream and Kabbalat Shabbat on the Roof with sermon of R. Shapira’s given in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 the clergy which resists Nazi dehumanization and oppression through Friday, June 26 1:00 pm a deep appreciation of the unfathomable divine nature of Friday, July 10 I 5:00 pm every Jew and connect this understanding of our essence to Friday, July 24 I 1:00 pm our own life and practice as Jews and human beings. Friday, August 7 I 5:00 pm rabbi james jacobson-maisels teaches Jewish thought and mys¬ ticism at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusa¬ Shabbat Afternoon in the lem. He holds a BA in Philosophy and Judaic Studies from with Rabbi Rein Brown University and an M.St. in Modem Jewish Studies Location To be determined from Balliol College the University of Oxford. He studied Saturday, July 18 I 5:00 pm at the Conservative Yeshiva, the Hartman Institute of Jewish Saturday, August 8 I 5:00 pm Studies, and in the Advanced Learning Seminar at Pardes and received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes Shabbat in the Hamptons in Jerusalem. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the Uni¬ with Rabbi Cosgrove versity of Chicago in Jewish Studies specializing in Jewish Saturday, August 22 mysticism. He has taught in a variety of settings in America We look forward to creating a special Shabbat program with and Israel on Judaism and Jewish Mysticism. He hopes to Rabbi Cosgrove. Please let us know if you would like to integrate his study and practice and to help teach and live come. Further details will be shared as the date nears. Judaism as a spiritual discipline. A Musical Tribute to Cantor David Lefkowitz I Sunday, June 7 I 6:15 pm I © Cantor David Lefkowitz will be celebrated by the congregation on the eve of his retirement with a Concert Ma'ariv Service, produced and directed by his renowned colleagues and former students, followed by a Champagne Dessert Reception. 1 Park Avenue Synagogue Program Calendar Men's Club Sisterhood Employment Assistance Program Daytime Book Discussion Group Confidential job assistance to men and women of our con¬ Monday, June 15 I 11:00 am gregation is being provided by the P.A.S. Men's Club. We All are welcome to join us in the Rothschild Library for a ask anyone who is in need of a job or has a position to offer discussion of "Maimonides," by Sherwin Nuland. Come, to contact the synagogue office. This will be coordinated by have coffee and cake with us and exchange ideas about a Julius Paige, our Men's Club Job Coordinator. He will use highly acclaimed book. this information and contacts through the regional Men's Clubs to attempt to put people together and find jobs for Yiddish Club those in need. Tuesday, June 16 1:00 pm The Yiddish Club will hold its monthly meeting in the Celebrate Jewish Heritage Day with your Rothschild Library. Coffee and cake will be served. Join friends, family and the P.A.S. Men's Club us for Yiddish conversation and culture—poetry, stories, Sunday, August 23 music, theater, and film. Even if your Yiddish is very rusty, We will go together to Citi Field to watch and cheer for the don’t hesitate to come. We are a very friendly group. NY Mets as they play Philadelphia in an afternoon game. Contact Steven Weinfeld at [email protected] for tickets. Visit to the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden P.A.S. Singles Committee Thursday, June 18 I 1:00 pm I 421 East 61 st Street I $ ® Sunday, July 19 I 7:00 pm Discover one of Manhattan’s hidden gems—an 18th century Latin Night Dancing Under The Stars Event for P.A.S. stone building and lovely garden that were originally part of Singles and friends. Details to follow. Contact Vera a 23-acre estate on the Upper East Side. This estate was the Sullivan at [email protected] or Les Agisim at home of Abigail Adams Smith, daughter of President John [email protected] for more information. Adams. In 1826, the estate was converted into the Mount Vernon Hotel, a popular resort for New Yorkers. Join Sisterhood for a guided tour of the house and its beautiful furniture as well as the garden. All are welcome. The cost is $9 per person. Meet the Sisterhood group at 12:45 pm at the museum. Please RSVP to Helene Agress at 212-362- 1233. 2 Summer 2009/5769 www.pasyn.org 212 369 2600 Synagogue Arms' and Committees Programs continued WEG Private Tour and Reception Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum June 17 I 5:30-7:00 pm I $© Led by WEG member Jean Bloch Rosensaft, director of the HUC-JIR Museum, the tour will feature three exhibits: "Envisioning Maps": 33 contemporary artists employ maps—real or imagined—as metaphors for human relationships, his¬ torical experience, social values, global politics, and issues of identity and heritage. "Arbit Blatas": a career retrospective of the celebrated School of Paris painter and sculptor who created the Holocaust memorials for Venice, Paris, New York, and Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania. "Arie Bar Lev—Israel Then and Now": photographs of identical sites and events, dated fifty years apart, document Israel's transformation from its earliest agricultural roots into a vital, modem nation. The HUC- JIR Museum is at One West 4th Street (between Broadway and Mercer Street, 3 blocks east of Washington Square Park). RSVP: Lucy Becker at 212-288-7523 June is the Month to Join/Re-join WEG A community of women of all ages and interests defines Women’s Evening Group at P.A.S. Organized more than thirty years ago to meet the changing demands of women whose days are busy with work and family obligations, to meet and enjoy programs and activities in the evening.. In June the newly elected and installed officers of Women’s Evening Group begin planning for the coming year. It is also the month that members of WEG are asked to renew their membership and to invite the women of the congregation to join. Like to talk? Like to listen? Like to leam? Like to teach? Like to laugh? Like to meet new people? Like to make new friends? Like to work on projects? Like to visit new places? Like excitement? Like contemplation? Like challenge? Like choice? Then definitely, Women’s Evening Group is for you.. Watch the mail for your invitation to join/re-join. And, remember, you can keep up with the latest news and information about WEG on the synagogue website, www.pasyn.org, under the ‘Arms’ link located on the home page. Evening Book Discussion Group These books have been selected for next year's Monday evening discussions. Get a start on your reading this summer! "Laish" by Aharon Appelfeld "The Believers" by Zoe Heller "All Other Nights" by Dara Horn "Rhyming Life and Death" by AmosOz P.A.S. Is Just a Klik Away Find the latest news, events and times for all synagogue-related activities. Information about classes, programs, events, people, organizations and meetings. Transcripts of Shabbat sermons. Sign up for e-mail notifications. Communicate with clergy and staff. www.pasyn.org 3 Park Avenue Synagogue Program Calendar

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.