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Service Schedule

PLEASE JOIN US

Torah Study - Minyan Breakfast

begins at 9:30 AM each Saturday

Friday, March 6

6:00 pm

Shabbat Service

“Ask the Rabbi”

Saturday, March 7

9:30 am Breakfast

10:00 am Torah Study

11:00 am Shabbat Service

Monday, March 9

6:00 pm

Erev Purim

Purim Punch Party and

Megillah Reading

Friday, March 13

6:00 pm Pizza Dinner

6:45 pm Family Shabbat

Service

Saturday, March 14 9:30 am Breakfast

10:00 am Torah Study 11:00 am Shabbat Service

Friday, March 20

7:30 pm

Shabbat Service with Shireinu

Women Composers

Saturday, March 21 9:30 am Breakfast

10:00 am Torah Study 11:00 am

Shabbat Service

Friday, March 27

7:00 pm Joint Reform Service

Temple Beth El

Saturday, March 28 9:30 am Breakfast

10:00 am Torah Study 10:30 am Shabbat Service Luke Carter Bar Mitzvah

Issue Number 3 March 2020

Adar - Nisan 5780 Sinai Scroll

From the Rabbi Reclaiming Esther I remember, as a child, learning the story of Queen Esther, the beautiful and brave Jewish woman who was guided by her uncle Mordechai to become queen and save her people. I remember how Esther was presented as a heroine and role model because she was dutiful in doing what she was told, even at the risk of her life. I want us to keep thinking of Esther as a hero, but I also want to dig more deeply into her story and to reclaim her as more than a brave woman who used her beauty to unmask a scoundrel. Esther is more complex than that and her story is also a story about overthrowing stereotypes and defying preconceptions – especially about women. We often are quick to assume that the Bible views women as little more than property and that their role in the Bible is always secondary to men. For sure, you can find that attitude in many biblical passages. But the Bible is made up of many voices that often contradict each other. The Book of Esther can be viewed as a subversive tale that is meant to undermine the view of women as mere appendages to men. If Esther uses her beauty to win the favor of the King, she is aided by the King's own drunken stupidity. Throughout the book, Esther is portrayed as a woman who is aware of the way she is underestimated by men and the power that gives her. She listens well to the instructions she is given, but she herself is the one who chooses the time and place for putting her plan into effect. She is the one who devises the series of drinking parties she will use to reveal the villainy of Haman (boo!) and set him up to bring about his own destruction. By the end of the story, Esther's uncle Mordechai becomes the faithful and obedient servant of Esther, not the other way around. Esther proves to be a model of a woman who overturns the inferior role assigned to her, a woman who reverses her fortunes to assume real power. I'll be teaching a course on biblical women – including Esther – starting on Tuesday, February 25, at 10 AM, and continuing weekly through March. We'll explore other women who are models of leadership, intelligence, strength and courage to overthrow the preconceptions about their role. Also, we will be celebrating Esther and the holiday of Purim at the Temple on the evening of Monday, March 9, at our annual Purim Punch Party and Megillah Reading. Come join us to nosh on hamantaschen, wear silly costumes, and hear the story of Esther. L'shalom, Rabbi Jeff Goldwasser

Reminder:

Kol Isha

Women Cantors Sing Jewish Music

Then to Now

Sunday, March 22, 2020 4:00 pm

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From the Cantor’s Desk By Cantor Deborah Johnson

I hope you are excited about the Kol Isha concert on March 22nd! I surely am (and it’s free!). From the bimah to Broadway through the music of Jewish composers and the voices of female cantors – what could be better? The entire weekend will be a celebration of women musicians for Women’s History Month, and for the Shabbat of March 20

th preceding the

concert, Shireinu will sing a service of women composers, put together by Shireinu’s leader, Joel Gluck.

Of course, the premise of the weekend is serious, if ironic in 2020: the long-held prohibition against women’s voices (kol isha) in Jewish prayer that kept women off the bimah until the Reform movement ordained the first female cantor in 1975. The Conservative movement did not ordain female cantors until 1987, and their numbers are still relatively small; there are no Orthodox female cantors.

Singing with me for the concert will be my good friend and mentor, Judy Seplowin from our sister Temple in Providence, Beth-El; my new friend Tami Cherdack Sherman from Glastonbury, Connecticut’s Kol Haverim; and my dear friend, Debbie Katchko-Gray, also from Connecticut, Congregation Shir Shalom of Westchester and Fairfield Counties. Debbie is the founding mother and driving engine of my favorite profes-sional organization, the Women Cantors’ Network, and comes to us with a remarkable history. Let me tell you a little bit about her.

Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray is a fourth-generation cantor and only the second to serve a Conservative congregation. Her sister is a cantor, and her grandfather, Adolph Katchko, wrote the traditional chanting modes that cantors sing on the High Holidays; they are the basis of the curriculum at the

country’s leading cantorial school, Hebrew Union College. Her archives are preserved with the American Jewish Archives and the National Museum of American Jewish History. A former student of Elie Wiesel, her papers and memorabilia from her years with him are housed in the Mugar Library at Boston University with the Elie Wiesel Archives. The story of her special relationship with Wiesel, “Elie Wiesel, Story and Song,” was recorded and archived by the Jewish Broadcasting Service in 2019. Her ten recordings, and many with the Cantors Assembly Spirit Series, are heard on Jewish radio stations worldwide. Debbie’s story is included in the important book “The Invisible Thread- A Portrait of American Jewish Women.” And oh, yes, she is also a cellist with the Danbury Symphony. But what really describes Debbie is her spirit. She is a Yiddish-speaking, guitar-playing cantor whose deep spirituality alternates with a level of ruach that is hard not to find contagious.

One of the songs my friends and I will sing on the 22nd

is a rousing Broadway tune, The Best of Times: “The best of times is now…as for tomorrow, well, who knows?” These are, indeed, the best of times, and we are on our way to an even better tomorrow!

See you at Services…and on March 22nd

, 4:00!

Cantor Deborah

School Scene By Sue Oclassen, Lead Teacher

On Sunday, Suanne Goodman and Jessica Schlachter com-bined their classes' efforts in two projects aligned with the spirit of Tu B'shevat. This photo shows the Tree of Life with our genealogical Jewish roots, starting with Abraham and Sarah, the 12 Tribes of Israel, and the later matriarchs and patriarchs.

Both classes also worked on the Tree of Caring, a project to encourage participation in a simple, yet important, Jewish value.

We all wish Susan Oclassen a speedy and complete recovery.

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Temple Sinai

OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY

2ND

NIGHT SEDER

THURSDAY APRIL 9, 2020 5:30 PM. Temple Sinai Social Hall

Seder to be conducted by Rabbi Jeff

Complete Seder Meal

Catering by: Cozy Caterers

ADULTS : $36.00

CHILDREN (ages 6 to 12) $15.00

CHILDREN (ages 5 and under): $5.00

Reservations & checks MUST be received by March 31, 2020

TEMPLE SINAI PASSOVER SEDER RESERVATION FORM:

Name(s):

_________________________________________________________________________

# Adults_____$36.00 # Children (6-12)_____$15.00 #Children (5 & under)_____$5.00

Please seat us with:

_________________________________________________________________

I wish to make a contribution to the seder. $________

Those who donated will be acknowledged that evening.

AMOUNT ENCLOSED: $__________

Please send reservations and payment, no later than MARCH 31, 2020 to Temple Sinai,

30 Hagen Ave., Cranston, RI, 02920. For more information, contact the temple office at 942-8350

or dottie@templesinairi.org

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Rabbi's Discretionary Fund Lori Dorsey, In memory of Myron Silverstein, yahrzeit, father

Arleen & Marvin Jacobson, In memory of Jeanette Perler H. Jack Feibelman, In memory of Sadie Davis

H. Jack Feibelman, In memory of Carolyn Zimmerman Brooks Family, In memory of Bobbie Brooks Freda, Stephen, Stacey & Andrew Lehrer,

In memory of Ruth Stone Deborah & David Greenstein, In memory of

Eleanor Greenstein Deborah & David Greenstein, In memory of Howard Greenstein

Jill & Lindsay Goodman, In memory of Morton Pomerantz Honey Pomerantz, In memory of Morton Pomerantz Susanna Roberts, In memory of John W. Roberts

H. Jack Feibelman, In memory of Ruby Kotler Jan & Al Budnick, In memory of Dr. Jacob Novick

Capital Improvement Fund Steve Pollack, In memory of Sylvia Pollack,

mother of Steven Pollack Howard & Amy Blustein, In memory of Ruth Blustein

Howard & Amy Blustein, In memory of Madeline Cohen The Fertiks, In memory of Natalie Knasin

Dottie & Peter Swajian, In memory of Natalie Knasin Sukey & Malcolm Denniss, Mazal Tov to Deb & Joel Gerstenblatt on

the birth of Violet Jemma Audrey & Steve Hirsch, In honor of the birth of Violet Mandy,

granddaughter of Deb & Joel Gerstenblatt Dennis Byrnes & Frank Cerilli, In loving memory of Glenn Oclassen

Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Natalie Knasin Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Glenn Oclassen

Irene & Curt Abbott, In honor of the birth of Joel & Deborah Gerstenblatt’s new granddaughter

Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Jean Siegel Svetlana Harris, In memory of Leonid Kulik

Fredda & Stuart Yarlas, In memory of Norma Broadman Sondler

Peter & Beverly Rosedale, In memory of Otto J. Rosedale Judy & George Cohen, In memory of David Raduziner

Horovitz/Wexler Minyan Breakfast Fund Susan & Irwin Vederman, In memory of beloved mother of

Paul Knasin, Natalie Knasin Sukey & Malcolm Denniss, In memory of Donald Wexler

David & Nancy Mills, In memory of Raylah Weinstein David & Nancy Mills, In memory of Rena Mills

Stanley Horovitz & Family, In memory of Natalie Knasin Leona Spilka, In memory of Stanley Roberts

Irene & Curt Abbott, In memory of Donald Wexler Phyllis & Alan Bolotin, In memory of Donald Wexler

The Kiviat Family, In memory of Donald Wexler Melissa & Steven Gergel, In memory of Donald Wexler

Helen Abrams, In memory of Hank Abrams Ellie & Marvin Wasser, In memory of Hank Abrams

Cantor Remmie J. Brown Fund Ann Winograd, In memory of Esther Soifer

Arline Kalin & Family, In memory of Tillie Kalin Joseph & Sandra Joel, In memory of Leah Joel

Rabbi George J. Astrachan Fund Lisa & David Malin, In memory of Ida Malin,

Grandmother of David Malin, yahrzeit

Music Fund Ann & Louis Messier, In memory of Samuel Aron, Zaidie

Jeff, Elaine, Joelye, Blake & Eli Land, In memory of Sheldon Land Helene Klein, In memory of beloved mother, Sadie Deluty

Judy & George Cohen, In memory of Rita Goodman Audrey & Steve Hirsch, In memory of Paul Feldman,

brother-in-law of Richard Saltzman Helene Klein, In memory of Sheila Halperin

Phyllis B. Solod, In honor of the birth of Lily, great granddaughter of Florence Katz

Phyllis B. Solod, In memory of my mother IreneThomashow’s yahrzeit

Judy & George Cohen, In loving memory of Robert Shelz Judy & George Cohen, In loving memory of Sadie Sonnenstein

Pauline & Barry Cohen, In memory of Sheila Halperin Mazel Tov to Louie Messier on his Ordination as a Deacon of his

church

Shapiro/Goldstein Beautification Fund Richard Saltzman, In memory of Andrea Saltzman Richard Saltzman, In memory of Joseph Saltzman

Sam, Ellen & Seth Shapiro, In memory of Emil Shapiro Marcia Dronzek, Ellen & Jeff, In loving memory of Marvin Dronzek

President’s Fund Audrey & Steve Hirsch, In memory of Natalie Knasin

Joel & Deborah Gerstenblatt, In memory of Natalie Knasin Sherry Kriss & Richard Saltzman, In memory of Natalie Knasin

Sherry Kriss, In memory of Paul Feldman Phyllis B. Solod, In memory of Natalie Knasin

Phyllis B. Solod, In honor of the birth of Violet, granddaughter of Joel & Debbie Gerstenblatt

Ellie & Marvin Wasser, In honor of Joel & Debbie Gerstenblatt’s new granddaughter - enjoy!!

Abigail McLean, In memory of Helen Latner, beloved mother, yahrzeit

Sherry Kriss, In memory of Betty Kriss

General Fund Laurie & David Sholes, In memory of Natalie Knasin

Aileen & Michael Lederman, In loving memory of Jean Siegel Robin & Ben Sciarcon, In memory of Irma & Gene Silverman,

yahrzeits The Knasin Family, In honor of Rabbi Goldwasser & Cantor Deborah

Johnson, for everything they did for our family Joan & David Wollin, In memory of Natalie Knasin

Joan & David Wollin, In honor of the birth of new granddaughter, Violet, to Joel & Deborah Gerstenblatt

Henriette Roy, In memory of Anna Flaxman Mr. & Mrs. Sanford Fink, In memory of Roland Remillard

Rabbi Jeff and Jonquil Wolfson in honor of the organizers of the Valentines Concert

Scott & Mitzvah Williams, Blessings to you Dr. Marvin!

Religious School Fund Phyllis B. Solod, to Robert & Lily Wolfgang on the Bat Mitzvah of

your daughter Isa

Howard J. Krasnow Handicapped Accessibility Fund Gerald & Esta Cohen, In memory of David Cohen, yahrzeit

Gerald & Esta Cohen, In memory of Madeline Cohen, yahrzeit

Ira L. Schreiber Music Fund Joyce Schreiber Tesler, In memory of my dear mother,

Ethel J. Cohen

Endowment Fund Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Antonio Gama Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Natalie Knasin

Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Francis Amalfetano Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Inez Elise Burrows Cindi & Richard Portno, In memory of Natalie Knasin,

mother of Paul Knasin Cindi & Richard Portno, In honor of the birth of

Deb & Joel Gerstenblatt’s granddaughter, Violet Mandy Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Ronald Chase Helene & Joel Chase, In memory of Marie D’Orsi

Cindi & Richard Portno, In memory of Sol J. Rosenbaum, father of Cindi Portno

Cindi & Richard Portno, In memory of Philip Henry Portno, brother of Richard Portno

DONATIONS

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Read an article about Managing the Winter Blues in this

month’s latest Kesher newsletter on the temple’s website at

https://www.templesinairi.org/heres-to-your-health. Also, come

to Kosher Café at Temple Sinai on Friday, February 28 to hear

Shana speak about managing the winter blues and Seasonal

Affective Disorder.

What is Kesher? Kesher is the congregational social work

outreach program of Jewish Collaborative Services, which

offers services to congregants at Temple Sinai. Kesher is

generously funded by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode

Island, as well as private donors, and offers a variety of ser-

vices tailored to the unique needs of its member congrega-

tions. All Kesher services are confidential and provided at no

cost to congregants.

What can Kesher offer you? Shana Prohofsky, our Temple's

Kesher worker, is available to meet with congregants,

families, and individuals for consultation, resource guidance,

referrals for counseling, and just to talk.

Are you looking for something? Housing needs? Homecare?

Eldercare? Food programs? Shana can help you find the

information you need.

Shana has access to all the services offered at Jewish

Collaborative Services (long-term counseling, case manage -

ment, Lifeline emergency medical alert system installations

and monitoring, adoption, homecare, kosher nutrition, Meals

on Wheels, and senior housing), as well as those provided

through social service agencies throughout Southeastern

Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Contact Shana at 401-428-4084 or at shana@jfsri.org.

From our Social Worker Shana Prohofsky

Save the Date

Sunday, May 3, 2020

We will be honoring our Temple Administrator

Dottie Swajian

for her 20 years of dedicated service

with a luncheon at the Crowne Plaza.

Details to follow!

Luke Carter will become a Bar Mitzvah on March 28, 2020. He is the son of Susannah and Gregory Carter.

Luke is in the 7th grade at Scituate Middle School. He is a Boy Scout and enjoys playing his trombone and fishing.

NEXT MOVIE:

Sunday, March 29 1 pm

“Walk on Water”

An action thriller in which an Israeli intelligence

agent, following the suicide of his wife, is

assigned to befriend the grandchildren of a

Nazi war criminal.

Snacks will be provided.

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YAHRZEITS

Yahrzeit Services are

held during Sabbath

services on Friday

evening and Saturday

morning at 11:00 am.

* indicates Hebrew date

For both Hebrew and

English dates, Yahrzeit

begins the preceding

evening with lighting of

the candles at sundown.

March *Morris Kortick 1 *Frances Priest *Marshall Winograd *Benjamin Berman 2 *Haskell Broadman *Richard Ehrens *Saul Lehrer *Dianne Pitchon *Tessie Gesualdi 3 *Karla Faith Hergenrogher *Gary Lappin *Dorothy Waldman Donald Charles 4 *Hyman Feldman *Ida Feldman *Sherry Kerbel *Louis Port *Harry Shuster Sylvia Glantz 5 *Ruth Bloom 6 *Meta Hirsch *Rebecca Kaplan 8 Leo Phillips *George Brown 9 *Michael S. Roberts 10 *Bessie Aron 11

*William Lewis *Gilbert Cohen 12 *Edna Gertsacov *Milton Forman 14 *Charles Kilberg Alvin Levy *Louis Goodman 15 *Daniel C. Gross Marie Mazzacane *Joseph Priest Carl Stoeckel Jacob Davis 16 Teresa Goldstein *Sophie Horovitz *Seymour Kriss 17 *William Meyerson *Isidor Shapiro *Martin Goldberg 18 *Frances Sadler *Irene Belsky 20 *Laura Buckler Eileen Gilbert *John N. Segal *Alfred Baum 21 Etta Jacobson Albert Davis 22 *Eleanor Goldblatt

*Joseph Hanflik *Harold Roberts *Clara Schuster *Mary Worhtman Howard Brooks 23 *Rose Wilk *Abraham Broadman 24 *Marc Friedlander *Gloria F. Warren *Donald Cohen 25 Sidney Gittleman *Andrew Shapiro *Julius Weinberg *Joseph Futernick 26 *Phyllis Kapstein 27 *William Goldstein 28 *Howard J. Pass Barbara D’Ambra 29 Siegfried Feibelman *Frances Friedman *Harry Israel *David Latner *Phillip Pitchon Jane St. Angelo *Pauline Weill 30 *Lena Berman 31

Losses to our Temple Sinai Family

Natalie Knasin – Mother of Paul Knasin, grandmother of Alison & Lauren

Paul Feldman - Brother-in-law of Richard Saltzman

Get Well Wishes to:

Susan Oclassen

Ruth Siperstein

Susan B. Edmiston

We will be honoring our Temple Administrator

Social Action Committee Susan Sklar & Michael Schlesinger

The Temple Sinai Social Action Committee held its second meeting of the year on February 11th. We have developed an overall agenda for 2020 and will start establishing some dates which we'll publicize soon. Our activities will be divided into two different kinds: advocacy and service. With our advocacy work we will work for systemic change through supporting pro-posed legislation, engaging in letter writing campaigns, or participating in demonstrations on issues like women's repro-ductive rights, environmental protection, or gun safety laws, etc. For our service activities we will ask congregants to bring items to the temple to be recycled, to do some house painting for a work afternoon for Habitat for Humanity, to

engage in a beach clean-up, or to participate in an organized walk to combat cancer. The activities dates and times will be posted in the temple's weekly email “See What’s Happening." We'll try to hold a social action activity every month. If you're interested in being notified a week or two before these take place, please sign up with your email address and phone number on the Rabbi's “Prayer is Not Enough” site. We'll also be arrang-ing for rides to these various activites. The next meeting of Temple Sinai SAC is scheduled for March 5th at 7:00 pm at the Synagogue and all members are invited to attend. Mike Schlesinger and Susan Sklar SAC Co-chairs.

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MINYAN BREAKFAST

AND TORAH STUDY EVERY

SATURDAY MORNING

AT 9:30 AM

Adar - Nisan 5780

March 2020 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

9 am

Religious School

9:30 am

Confirmation Class

11:00 am

Pre-Confirmation

2 3

10 am Adult Ed

Women in the

Bible

4

3:30 pm

Confirmation Class to

State House

7:00 pm

Temple Board

Meeting

5

7:00

Social Action

Committee Meeting

6

11 am

Senior Kosher Café

6:00 pm

Shabbat Service

“Ask the Rabbi”

7

9:30 am Breakfast

10 am Torah Study

11 am

Shabbat Service

8

Daylight Saving Time begins

9 am Religious

School

9:30 am Education Committee

Meeting

9

6:00 pm

Purim Punch

Party & Megillah

Reading

10

Purim

10 am Adult Ed

Women in the

Bible

11

12

13

11 am Senior Kosher Café

Family Shabbat

6:00 pm Pizza Dinner

6:45 pm Shabbat Service

14

9:30 am Breakfast

10 am Torah Study

11 am

Shabbat Service

15

9 am

Religious School

9:30 am

Confirmation Class

16

17

10 am Adult Ed

Women in the

Bible

18

19

20

11 am Senior Kosher Café

7:30 pm

Shabbat Service Women Composers Service with Shireinu

21

9:30 am Breakfast

10 am Torah Study

11:00 a m

Shabbat Service

22

9:00 am

Religious School

10:00 am

Pre-Confirmation Class

4:00 pm Kol Isha Cantor Concert

23

24

25

7:00 pm

Adult B’nei Mitzvah Class

26 27

11 am Senior Kosher Café

7:00 pm

Joint Reform Service

at Temple Beth El

28

9:30 am Breakfast

10 am Torah Study

10:30 a m

Shabbat Service

Luke Carter

Bar Mitzvah

29

9 am Religious School

10 am Pre-Confirmation

Class 10 am Sandwiches at

Sinai 1:00 pm

“Walk on Water” Movie

30 31

6:00 pm

Confirmation Class

Trip to Garden Grille

April 1

April 2

April 3

11 am Senior Kosher

Café

7:30 pm

Shabbat Service

Dr. Alma Gottlieb,

speaker

April 4

9:30 am Breakfast

10 am Torah Study

11 a m

Shabbat Service

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30 Hagen Avenue

Cranston, RI 02920

(401) 942-8350

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

Permit No. 00861

Providence RI

DATED MATERIAL