Beth Israel Congregation’s

BBUULLLLEETTIINN

Rabbi’s Message

I found it amusing that a Jewish woman from Silver

Spring noticed my yarmulke as I was entering the

Grand Hotel in Ocean City on May 19th

. “Who is this

Levinas?” she asked me as she saw the hotel signs for

the North American Levinas Society. Of course, the

majority of Jews, sadly, have never heard of the name

of one of the greatest European Jewish philosophers –

Emmanuel Levinas – who was born in Lithuania and

became one of the giants of French thought. This

year, The North American Levinas Society, which

promotes the publication of academic papers about

Emmanuel Levinas, was held at the Grand Hotel.

Professor James Hatley of Salisbury University is a

published Levinas scholar and an active member of the

organization. I was honored to attend the conference.

In a nutshell, Levinas’ philosophy is rooted in absolute

respect and commitment to the Other, what he calls

“alterity”. For Levinas, the pursuit of the ethical is

primary. Unlike the history of Western thought that

begins with the Self – think of Descartes’ famous line,

“I think therefore I am” – Levinas begins with the

perception of the Other. His thought draws heavily

from his rich foundation in Jewish study as well as the

influence of the European philosophers Husserl and

Heidegger. Levinas was shocked when Heidegger,

one of Germany’s greatest thinkers, became supportive

of the Nazi Party. It is said that Levinas brought

Talmudic insight to the continental philosophers of

Europe – that he translated “Hebrew into Greek”. Of

course, his writings are much more profound than that

simple statement. The Levinas Society has applied the

philosopher’s ideas to such diverse discussions as

environmentalism, prison reform, and Asian studies.

Levinas’ personal story is as moving as his

philosophical contributions. He was detained in a

political prisoner camp during the Holocaust and lost

many of his family members during this period. His

wife and his daughter hid in a convent.

Continued on page 2

June 2014/5774

Save the Date!

General Service Schedule

Friday—7:30pm; Saturday—10:00am

June

June 4 @7:30pm—Shavuot Yizkor Service

8 @TBA —BIRS end of year party

14 ---Corinne & Dori Krasner

Bnot Mitzvah

Shabbat Candle Lighting Times

June 06 – 8:05pm June 13 – 8:09pm June 20 – 8:11pm June 27 – 8:12pm

ConGRADulations to Beth Israel Congregation’s

2014 Graduates

Ethan Kahn graduated from Washington University

(parents Fred & Andrea Kahn). Ethan has been accepted

into the PhD program in physics at Penn State

University.

Aaron Kleiman graduated from the Kennedy School of

Public Policy at Harvard University (parents Gary &

Annette Kleiman).

Zach Sherr-graduated PharmD from UMES School of

Pharmacy (parents Jeff &Joanne Sherr). Zach will be

joining the family business at Apple Discount Drugs.

Evan Caplan graduated from Sussex Technical High

School (parents Mike & Dana Caplan). Evan will be

attending the University of Delaware.

Melanie Goldman graduated from James M Bennett High

School (parents Karen & Andy Karten). Melanie will be

attending the University of Delaware.

Isaac Paciga (parents Tom & Susan Lewis Paciga) will be

attending the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Rabbi’s Message, Continued …

His academic career took him from teaching in a

private Jewish school to teaching philosophy at the

Sorbonne in Paris. His commitment to his family is

still evident at the meetings of the Levinas Soceity.

His family members attend the annual event and the

program concluded with a presentation of family

pictures.

The diversity reflected in the fifty participants at the

meeting was inspiring. There were two professors and

two students who attended from the University of

Alaska. I was particularly impressed by a paper given

by the recent graduate of the University of Alaska –

Juneau. He had mastered one of the languages of the

native people of Alaska – the Tlingit. He began and

closed his paper in the Tlingit language. His paper

focused on the need to respect Native Alaskans as the

Other. Levinas would have been proud. At the final

dinner, I sat with academics from Brazil, the Czech

Republic, and England. Of course, it is always a small

world. It turned out that one of the presenters from

Israel was married to a former congregant of mine

from Toledo!

The Eastern Shore of Maryland should be very proud

of the international gathering of academic scholars that

discussed one of the giants of contemporary Western

thought. I offer my gratitude to Professor James

Hatley who brought these great scholars to Ocean City,

Maryland. --Rabbi Bienstock

Beginning July 1, 2014 Beth Israel

Congregation’s summer office hours will be

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from

10:00am-2:00pm.

From Our President…

Our religious school year has come to a close, and we

had our final Shabbat dinner of the school year on the

16th. Thanks for that Israeli dinner go to Chris

Parypa, Sara Stivelman and Shari Silbert. Shari and

Sara have worked hard this year running our religious

school progam, and we appreciate all that they do so

well. We also appreciate the great teachers we have.

Our Shabbat and Oneg honoring Al Berger

was very nice on the 23rd. We missed those members

who were away for Memorial Day weekend, but we

had a good crowd. We dedicated the lovely Barry

Berger Youth Lounge which was recently renovated,

and we extended our appreciation to the Berger and

Guldelsky family for their generous contribution.

Thanks to Susan Land for providing beautiful flowers

for the event and Richard Polin for the tasty bagels

and lox. Thanks also to Jackie Middleton for her help

with the event and for assisting me in the kitchen.

Early in the month, we had our annual open

board meeting. We are happy to have a full board, but

we will meet in June to decide who will fill the

various positions. Let someone know if there is a

committee you would like to work on or a job you

wish to do during the 2014/2015 year. We need

everyone’s help!

On June 8th

, the Bermans are graciously

hosting the end of religious school picnic at their

home. On the 14th, we will celebrate the Bat Mitvahs

of Corinne and Dori Krasner.

Do not forget that we have Shabbat services

every Friday and Saturday in June, July and August.

Please come to services when you can. Since our

students have a break from schoolwork and school

activities during the summer, it is a good time for

them to come to services and participate, in

preparation for Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Have a safe

and enjoyable summer!

--Susan Tilghman

End of the Year BIRS Pool Party!!

All That’s Missing is You!!

Help Us Celebrate another successful year of Beth Israel Religious School

Classes.

When: Sunday June 8th 11:00-4:00pm

Where: Todd & Pam Berman’s House

27855 Pointer’s Lane Salisbury, MD 21801

Please RSVP (Jackie, 410-742-2564 or

Shari, 443-859-7242) and let us know what you would like to bring.

Member-to-Member Happy Birthday to Rabbi Bienstock on June 17th. Thank you to everyone who attended our Al Berger Celebration and the renovated Barry Berger Youth Lounge dedication. It was wonderful to have Al Berger, his son, and members of the Gudelsky family, join us. Thank you to Susan Tilghman for putting together the food for the event, and Richard Polin, for supplying the bagels and lox and Susan Land for the lovely flowers. Thank you to the cleanup crew: Susan & Mark Tilghman, Richard Polin and Susan Paciga. Mazel Tov to Andy Karten on his new job. We wish you the very best! Congratulations to Spencer Tilghman and the It’s Academic Team from James M Bennett High School for winning the State Competition. Thank you to each of our Religious School teachers. We appreciate the hard work, time and dedication you spend with our children. Thank you to Jamie & Jeff Albright for hosting an Oneg in May. Thank you to Shari Silbert, Sara Stivelman and their crew for hosting the BIRS Shabbat Israeli Dinner. Thank you everyone who helped with the BIRS students Mitzvah Day project at the Wicomico County Humane Society on June 1, 2014. Between Beth Israel and Bat Yam we had over 30 people participating in this project.

BIC Cards

*Condolences to Rabbi Bienstock & Hadas on the loss of Rabbi’s mother, Eleanor from: Dena & Bob Hirsh *Condolences to Albert Berger on the loss of his wife, Nancy from: Dena & Bob Hirsh *Condolences to Gil Bers & Family from: Dena & Bob Hirsh *Thank you to Al Berger for his generosity from: Hilliary & Harvey Needleman

Above: Beth Israel’s Religious School students,

David Caplan, Sadie Hall, Gabe Berman and Ben

Honick made superheroes in one of their last

classes of the year.

Spencer Tilghman, Kaya Manizade and Kieran Murphy,

members of Bennett’s Academic Team, won the Baltimore

championship in May. Giant, the sponsor of the TV program, hosted

a dinner in their honor and presented the team with a check and

plaque. The television host and the producer of the show were there

as was a representative from Giant headquarters and the Salisbury

store manager. Dr. John Fredericksen and other Wicomico County

Board of Education officials also attended. The semi-final

competitions will be aired on June 7th

and June 28th

at 10:00am.

YAHRZEIT NAME SERVICE DATE

URSULA STEIN Jun 6-7, 2014

JACOB SADICK Jun 6-7, 2014

GERTRUDE GERSHENFELD Jun 6-7, 2014

JACOB HOROWITZ Jun 6-7, 2014

MICHAEL BENJAMIN Jun 6-7, 2014

MAURICE BLACK Jun 6-7, 2014

LEAH BEATUS Jun 6-7, 2014

CELIA KRASNER Jun 6-7, 2014

MINNIE MILLER Jun 6-7, 2014

FAYE GANGI Jun 6-7, 2014

ANNA GELBARD Jun 6-7, 2014

JUDY GLENN Jun 13-14, 2014

BENJAMIN GIVARZ Jun 13-14, 2014

BERNARD S. LIEBMAN Jun 13-14, 2014

WALTER Weinberg Jun 13-14, 2014

BESSIE BERMAN Jun 13-14, 2014

FANNIE KRIGER Jun 13-14, 2014

ALEXANDER BURTON Jun 13-14, 2014

FAY GUERRIERI Jun 13-14, 2014

HARRY RUBENFELD Jun 13-14, 2014

PEARL WOORMAN Jun 20-21, 2014

SOL LIEBMAN Jun 20-21, 2014

JOSEPH SHUSTER Jun 20-21, 2014

MORRIS ROSENBERG Jun 20-21, 2014

PRISCILLA COLBY Jun 20-21, 2014

ABNER M. GNATT Jun 20-21, 2014

ROBERT STARR Jun 20-21, 2014

EVA COHEN Jun 20-21, 2014 ISAAC RABINOWITZ Jun 20-21, 2014

THOMAS TEATES Jun 27-28, 2014

ANNA LANSMAN Jun 27-28, 2014

HERMAN LEWIS Jun 27-28, 2014

HERB KAPLAN Jun 27-28, 2014

LITMAN LITOW Jun 27-28, 2014

GOLDIE M SILBERT Jun 27-28, 2014

MAURICE STEIN Jun 27-28, 2014

DR. BERNARD GREENBERG Jun 27-28, 2014

Yahrzeits:June

Donations for May 2014

Yahrzeits

Richard Polin Yahrzeit of Ursula Stein

Jamie & Jeff Albright Yahrzeit of Mildred Albright &

Yahrzeit of Malcolm Pierce

Joe & Regina Beatus Yahrzeit of Leah Beatus

Murray Lustig Yahrzeit of Susan Lustig &

Yahrzeit of Arthur Goldstein

In Memory of Martha Bers

Arlene Miller

Gail Koppelman

Jan Koppelman

Barry Berger Fund Al Berger—Yahrzeit of Tilly Berger & Israel Myers

Happy Birthday to: Jason Tarpley—June 7

Ann Hansen—June 12

Rabbi Bienstock—June 17

Harvey Needleman—June 19

Hilliary Needleman—June 24

Tom Paciga—June 27

Happy Anniversary to: Andy & Karen Karten—June 29

Bruce and Nicole Krasner invite you to

join Corinne and Dori Krasner as they

celebrate their joint Bnot Mitzvah on

Saturday June 14th. Mazel Tov!

Do you love ONEG?

Who doesn’t? So come celebrate a simcha, remember a yahrzeit or just make it a great end to a long week by hosting one! It’s easy and quick. Call Jackie in the BIC office for details. 410-742-2564.

Beth Israel Staff Rabbi: Arnold Bienstock Office Manager: Jackie Middleton

Board of Governors President: Susan Tilghman Vice President/House: Todd Berman Secretary: Andy Karten Treasurer: Susan Land Youth: Shari Silbert and Sara Stivelman Religious: Jaimi Hall Social: Arlene Miller Lifetime Member: Albert Berger Contact Us 600 Camden Avenue, Salisbury, MD 21801 Phone 410-742-2564 Fax 410-742-2697 www.bethisraelsalisbury.org General Information: bicsecretary@verizon.net Office Hours: Tuesday - Friday 10:00 a.m.—2:00 p.m. Shabbat Services: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

The mission of this Congregation shall be to establish and maintain a Synagogue and such educational,

religious, social and recreational activities as will help further the cause and objectives of

the Synagogue and Conservative Judaism.

Established 1926

Beth Israel Cards Appropriate for every occasion and affordable,

BIC Cards can be purchased in the Office.

Gift Shop Sale

Stop by and visit the BIC gift shop for all your jewelry

and giftware needs.