May 2001 - אִיָּר .. סִיוָן תשס״א Iyyar..Sivan 5761

Shavuot celebrates the Gift of the Torah, given by God on Mount Sinai, fifty days after the Exodus from Egypt. We celebrate Shavuot with communal worship and the reading of the Ten Commandments. Some years we have Confirmation on Shavuot, because Shavuot also celebrates the first fruits of the Spring harvest, and our children are the choices fruits of our labors. (This year Confirmation will be on Saturday, May 19th. See From the Rabbi column (Item #2.) Finally, at home we eat dairy only on Shavuot, because the animals were with us when we stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and received the Torah. According to Jewish tradition, we all stood at the foot of the mountain on that historic day, so please come again and join us in worship for Shavuot worship on May 27th, 28th and 29th. Chag samayach!

Item #1 - Mothers' Day is Sunday, May 13th. In our congregation we have some pretty remarkable mothers, and I would like to salute one in a salute to all of the mothers. Fritzi Bing is a long time member of Temple Beth Sholom along with her daughter and son-in-law, Rita and Sidney Goldhor. Fritzi lived in Berlin prior to WW II and made a living as a photographer. When the Nazis came to power she made the supreme sacrifice and sent her daughter, Rita, to safety in England on the Kindertransport. She stayed behind until her husband was arrested and sent to Dachau. Selling everything they had, she bribed some official and her husband was released on the condition that they leave Germany immediately. The only place on earth that would accept Jews at that time was China, and so they settled in Sanghai until they finally found Rita and moved to US to be together. Fritzi then made a living as an accountant. This year Fritzi Bing celebrated her 100th birthday. What a remarkable woman! What a remarkable family! Happy Mothers' Day to one and all!

Item #2 - Confirmation this year will be on Saturday, May 19th. Mazal tov to our lone Confirmand, Jonas Temple! Jonas is a sophomore at Hayward High School and one of the school's top ranked tennis stars. He is also an accomplished Jazz musician. Instead of traveling to Israel this summer with the Midrasha, Jonas has opted to play in the Maccabbia games, pitting the country's best Jewish athletes against each other in competition. We congratulate Jonas on his accomplishments and wish him good luck in the summer games. Please join Jonas and the Temple family for a Havdalah/Confirmation service on Saturday, May 19th, beginning at 8 PM.

Item #3 - The energy crisis on is everyone's mind. We, at Temple Beth Sholom, encourage everyone to conserve as much as possible. For our part at the synagogue we are trying to be creative and safe at the same time. We have lowered the lights in Zucker Hall to the center bank of lights. This is one third of the full lighting. Until the crisis is over, we have decided to leave the outside arch lights off. The arch lights illuminate our beautiful stain-glass windows and it is a shame not to enjoy the windows at night, so we eagerly anticipate the time that we can rekindle those lights. We have also lowered the lights in the entryway, and turn off all office machinery when not in use. If you can think of any other energy saving techniques, please let us know. This is as much of an ethical issue as it is a financial need. Also, please do your part in your home and office. It's a mitzvah!

Item #4 - If all goes according to plan, by the time this Kol Sholom is in print, I will have submitted my dissertation to my committee of advisors at UC, Santa Barbara. Assuming that they accept my work, I will have the honor and pleasure of being ‘hooded,’ that is receiving my Ph.D. on Sunday, June 17th. I want to thank all of you for making this possible. The encouragement and support from the members of Temple Beth Sholom was a critical element in my realizing this life long dream. However, I want you to know, given the choice of Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D. or Dr. Harry A. Manhoff, Rabbi, I will always consider the former to be who I am. Thank you again for making all of this happen.

Chag Shavuot Samayach!

—Rabbi Harry A. Manhoff, Ph.D.

April

Index

June