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March 2017 Owings Mills, Maryland Adar/Nisan 5777
From The President’s Desk…
All points Bulletin. It seems the President’s article has been hijacked from the Bulletin! If you happen to find it, approach carefully, but do not read it without permission from the
President. It seems that a lot of things have gone missing lately, for example, lost memory, forgotten dates on the calendar, and Shabbat observance. Here is what can be done to help
with this pressing situation:
Remember that Shabbat occurs every week, no need to figure out which Saturday
services will be held. They will be every Saturday!
Mark your calendar or post the Bulletin calendar on your refrigerator or in a prominent
place. The refrigerator is a good spot since everyone goes in there for a nosh every now
and again, am I right?
Provide the President with a little support, some extra hands to help get things done
around the synagogue. Start by bringing your talents to the Purim celebration on
Saturday evening, March 11th. I hear that the President and Ritual Chair want you to
share your talents by coming dressed in costume and performing for the group. Let’s make this happen!
With Purim close at hand, that means Passover is not far behind. Some good ole fashion
cleaning and sorting for the holiday will be needed. Volunteer your time and like Mary
Poppins sang: In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap, the
job's a game. And every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake. Of course for Passover the recipe
is a little different, but you get the idea!
So, to recap: lost article, lots going on, read the Bulletin, share your talents, volunteer your
time and hopefully the President’s article will appear in its usaul place next month.
The Bulletin Adat Chaim’s News Source
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Remember that the synagogue is supported through the Amazon Smiles program. Log on
to www.adatchaim.com and choose the link: Shop Adat Chaim. It is a great way to shop and support Adat Chaim at the same time.
Need Information?
Adult Education Wendy Raith 410. 876.7602
B’nei Mitzvah Program Synagogue Office 410.833.7485
Billing Questions George Korba 410.833.0570
Bulletin Linda Boteach 410.833.5723
Catering and Kiddush Sponsorship Tina Asher 410.526.6484
Facebook Page Wendy Raith 410.876.7602
Gift Shop Tina Asher 410.526.6484
Life Cycle Events Synagogue Office 410.833.7485
Membership
David Teichman 410.581.1855
Mitzvah Cards Janet Korba 410.833.0570
Ritual Committee Jerry Newman 410.581.7884
Sisterhood Adrienne Frager 410.526.0681
Webmaster Lynn Ruddie 410.833.7987
No phone calls or e-mails on Shabbat please.
Please contact Rabbi Seidler for
all of your Life Cycle Events so that he may provide guidance and support to you and your family members.
The synagogue can also help
with a variety of services for you. This might include: phone squad or e-mail announcements to the congregation, coverage for services, meals, visits, rides to the doctor or any other
assistance that you might need.
So be sure to contact the synagogue office at: 410.833.7485 and let us know how we can help.
If you need to stop in, volunteers are in the office on Monday and Thursday from 10 – 2. Call ahead to ensure they are there.
Adat Chaim
Pleasant Hill Center
10989 Red Run Boulevard, Suite 109
Owings Mills, MD 21117
410.833.SHUL (7485)
Rabbi Jerry Seidler
410.701.0632
Officers
Cathy Litofsky
President
410.356.7288
David Teichman
1st Vice President
410.581.1855
Jerry Newman
2nd Vice President
410.581.7884
Allan Weksberg
Secretary
410.356.2094
George Korba
Treasurer
410.833.0570
Editor
Linda Boteach
The Bulletin accepts all material
relevant to the Jewish community in
the northwest corridor. To maintain
accuracy all information will be
accepted by e-mail only.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
18th of each month for the next
month’s publication.
www.adatchaim.com
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Divrei Chodesh D’Rabbi Jerry Seidler
With March this year comes the month of Adar, and that means Purim. But, before we get out the groggers and Megillah, or don costumes and make merry, let us take a
moment to reflect on a profound message underlying and infusing the Book of Esther.
The Megillah is a diaspora tale polemic, but importantly, it is first and foremost a no-
holds-barred work of tragically comic, political satire. Its chapters take aim at the people who occupied the core of ancient Persian leadership to unmask them as utterly
immoral despite the greatness of their civilization measured by hegemonic success militarily, politically, economically, and, in matters of the arts and sciences. They are
portrayed as vapid, whimsical, cruel, narcissistic and lustful. Their culture is mocked as one focused on material consumption for the privileged classes while life for
everyone else teetered on the edge of this abyss or that cliff. Blissful ignorance, ingrained thoughtlessness and/or purposeful malevolence led to the abuse of women generally and minority, alien groups ad hoc.
Haman is the character Judaism traditionally assigns as the villain of the text in contrast to Mordechai (and Esther) as hero (and heroine). He is the easy target of the story. He is just plain evil. And, well, he is.
Yet, I have long believed that Achashverosh is more worthy of our disdain, and that it is he whom the Book of Esther most despised, notwithstanding the literary attention paid to Haman and his family. Achashverosh was the king, not prime minister (or queen-wife). The buck (actually, the daric) stopped with him. He is the villain, in contrast to … God, and the people who embody godliness, i.e., Mordechai and Esther together. Some
midrash also sees Achashverosh this way.
Achashverosh personifies the satire. Here is a king of a huge empire who dallies endlessly at partying with lavish banquets and public spectacles; enjoys being fawned on; surrounds himself with sycophant advisors
who ply him with simplistic, foolish guidance (which he routinely accepts); is thin-skinned and easily swayed; unabashedly embarrasses his wife the queen for not wanting to demean herself and her office before ogling
men; divorces and exiles her when she no longer pleases his fancy; creates a huge harem of young virgins so he can be with a different girl every night for years; finally gets married again to a foreign woman about whom he
knows little (other than she is really young and very beautiful); enables a power-hungry madman to be his number one; orders genocide of a people (the Jews) without a second’s thought or regard for the truth; is such a vindictive husband that his new wife, Esther, approaches him on fear of death unless called for first; makes or changes governmental decisions solely on how they affect him and his family; callously executes not only
his prime minister, but the prime minister’s family, for a trumped-up treason charge; and places his wife’s close relation in high office as prime minister (though humorously, we do celebrate that bit of nepotism as the
crème of the ironic victory achieved at the end of the story).
Jews have long relished in a good laugh. We like comedy. So please remember, that although the Megillah is a
polemic, it is but comical, political satire in the way of Dr. Strangelove and Bananas, Idiocracy and The Interview, among so many other movies, created by and starring American Jews.
After all, Achashverosh could never really happen to us in this advanced day and age. Ah freilichen Purim to one and all.
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Sisterhood
Adrienne Frager, President [email protected] 410-526-0681
Thirty people came to Adat Chaim on Sunday, February 12 to paint bowls for the
EmptyBowlsBaltimore event to benefit St. Vincent De Paul Baltimore. Sarah's Hope at Hannah
More is under St. Vincent De Paul Baltimore's umbrella. Thank you to our members, friends and women from area Sisterhoods and Churches that made this an enjoyable and successful event with 30 bowls being painted and donated! Picture of our bowls can be viewed at: http://www.kathyfickdesigns.com/empty-bowls-photos-2 and on the next page of the Bulletin.
We are planning a bus trip on Sunday, April 30th, to the National Museum of Health and Medicine and The Ratner Museum. Cost will be $36 and include a bagged lunch. See flyer in bulletin for RSVP information. We need a minimum of 40 people to hold this event. The bus is filling up quickly!
Federation of Jewish Women's Organizations of Maryland meetings:
o March 30th - A Day in Annapolis o May 11th - 101st Convention, 9:00am - 2:30pm at Temple Oheb Shalom.
Congratulations to Marcy Wesalo who is our nominee for the "Embracer of Change" award.
Following is the Book Club schedule which is open to members and non-members. Contact Linda Boteach at [email protected] to join this group.
Monday, March 13th - Invisible City by Julia Dahl. Contact Linda Boteach for time
and location: [email protected]. Please join them at Al Pacino’s Restaurant, Pikesville.
Joint Sisterhood is being held on April 3rd, 6 PM at Beth El. See flyer in bulletin for RSVP information.
Save the Date of Sunday, June 11 for our End-of-Year event and Installation of officers. Sandy Newman will be contacting members to fill positions on the Sisterhood board.
Women's League for Conservative Judaism Convention July 23-26 at Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, Virginia. Information can be found at http://www.wlcjregion.org/seaboard/convention- details/. We would love to have a group from our Sisterhood attend this year’s convention.
Shalom until next month, Adrienne
P’ri Yadehah – Give her “the fruit of her hands,” and she will be praised at the gates by her own very deeds (Proverbs 31:31).
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Adat Chaim Sisterhood Continues its Food Drive
Bring boxed and canned food whenever you come to the synagogue and place the items in the box in the
lobby. The items will be divided between the Crisis Center and Hannah More to help support those in need right in our community. Help us fill the shelves at the Reisterstown Community Crisis Center and Sarah’s Hope at Hannah More this year. A list of suggested and preferred items is on the Sisterhood page of the web site (www.adatchaim.com).
Food Donations Delivered each month.
Thank you to all of our members who continue to make this possible! Let’s keep those donations coming.
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Please join us for a fun-filled evening at our Annual
Joint Sisterhood Dinner
Monday, April 3, 2017 Registration – 6:00pm
Cost – $38.00
Hosted by:
Beth El Congregation 8101 Park Heights Avenue,
Baltimore, MD 21208
Be prepared to be amazed by
Dan Schoener Mentalist Extraordinaire
Entertainment for the Mind ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Cut here and return with check)
I would love to attend the Joint Sisterhood Dinner – DEADLINE for Reservations – March 24, 2017
Name Phone E-mail
Enclosed is my check ($38/person) payable to “Adat Chaim Sisterhood” in the amount $38
If possible, I would like to sit with (limited to 3 people) – (to make You happier and our job easier, please be
sure that you have each other written down!)
Name Phone
Name Phone
Name Phone
My dietary special requests are: (Please check, if applicable):
Vegetarian: Allergies: (please specify – gluten-free, peanuts, etc)
**Please NOTE** Checks will NOT be accepted at the door. To ensure your seat, please return this form and your check by Friday, March 24, 2017 to:
Cathy Litofsky 1103 Kingsbury Road
Owings Mills, MD 21117
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Museum Hopping Bus Trip
Adat Chaim Sisterhood
Presents a Bus Trip to
The National Museum of Health & Medicine and The Ratner Museum in Maryland on
Sunday April 30th
Bus leaves from
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Parking Lot (7401 Park Heights Avenue Pikesville, MD 21208)
At 10a.m. Sharp and Returns around 4p.m.
Tickets are $36.00 which includes a Kosher Box Lunch
Any questions please call the synagogue office at: 410-833-7485
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cut off and return with your check information requested below
Name E-
mail:
Phone
# of people coming _
Names of additional people coming:
Please provide # of Tuna Fish ( ) or Egg Salad ( ) for lunch for each person RSVP by Friday, March 17th by sending a check for $36.00 per person made out to Adat Chaim
Sisterhood and mail to our Treasurer:
Cathy Litofsky, 1103 Kingsbury Road, Owings Mills, MD 21117
Thank you for your interest in our Museum Hopping event.
E-mail confirmation will be sent out once your check and reservation are received.
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Ritual Committee
Jerry Newman, Chair [email protected] 410.581.7884
On Friday 3/3/17 we will be having Friday night service starting at 6:30 p.m. This service is also our birthday and anniversary Shabbat. If your birthday or anniversary falls in March, come join us this Friday.
On the following Saturdays, we will gather together for our regular Saturday morning Shabbat service, starting at 9:30AM: March 4th, March 11th, March 18th and March 25th.
Saturday evening, March 11th we will celebrate Purim with the reading of the Megillah. Services will begin at 7PM. If you are interested in showing off your talents or participating in a short skit, please contact Jerry Newman immediately so that we can coordinate the program. We are also encouraging everyone to wear a costume that evening so that we are in the spirit of the holiday.
We are looking for a few good “not-so-ready for
primetime players” to participate in Purim services on
Saturday evening, March 11th at 7PM. Bring your
reading talent, dress for the occasion and entertain us
with a skit, song, parody, comedic act, etc. No act is too
small or too short. We will chant, sing, enjoy a little
schnapps and, of course, eat some hamentaschen!
Contact Jerry Newman if you are interested!
If you need a minyan for any reason during the week or on Shabbat, please contact
Jerry Newman at [email protected] so that he can arrange it for you. Please give
at least two weeks’ notice for a yahrzeit minyan, allowing time for the Ritual Committee and our congregants to be notified.
We continue to need all of your support for weekly minyan for Friday night and Saturday services. Let’s gather to celebrate Shabbat together. It is more meaningful when we can share the experience.
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(Candles should be lit at sundown the night before)
Yahrzeits
The families listed below will be observing Yahrzeit for family members and need to say Kaddish during the
month. To schedule a minyan service on a date other than Shabbat, contact Jerry Newman at 410.581.7884 or [email protected] .
Date: Yahrzeit of: Observed by:
Sunday, March 5th Celie Schneider Janet Korba
Thursday, March 9th Evelyn Teichman David Teichman
Saturday, March 11th Seymour Caplan Larry Caplan
Monday, March 13th Solomon Friedheim Tina Asher
Tuesday, March 14th Richard Friedman The Friedman Family
Friday, March 17th Shirley Goldberg Marcy Wesalo
Shirley Posner Gary Posner
Ruth Nachemson Stanley Nachemson
Saturday, March 18th Jack Wallach Debbie Gibson
Thursday, March 23rd Leon Kobrin The Kobrin Family
Friday, March 24th Anna Bernstein The Bernstein Family
Sunday, March 26th Max Israel Marsha Kessler
Monday, March 27th Murray Metzger Harry Deitchman
Neil Posner Gary Posner
Thursday, March 30th Robert Gordon Cathy Litofsky
Anna Seidel The Seidel Family
Friday, March 31st Lillian Hirsh Fran Rosenblatt
If you have a Yahrzeit and don’t see it in the bulletin or wish to be included on the list for a
relative’s Yahrzeit, please call the office and we will be happy to update our database.
TZEDAKAH
Since the last edition of the Bulletin, the following donations have been made to
Adat Chaim’s General Synagogue Fund by:
Beverley & Stanley Fishman Cathy & Irv Litofsky – For the yahrzeit of Robert Gordon
Sara A. Zisowmcclean - In Honor of Rabbi Jerry Seidler Maxine G. Rosenthal – For the Yahrzeits of Lena and Sol Gold, Maxine’s Parents and Herman Rosenthal, Maxine’s Father-in-Law Janet & George Korba – for the Yahrzeit of Celie Schneider, Janet’s Aunt
To the Adat Chaim Sisterhood Cathy & Irv Litofsky - In Honor of Marcy Wesalo’s “Embracer of Change” Award
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES GO OUT TO:
Ha
pp
y
Bir
thd
ay
March 2nd
March 8th
March 27th
March 31st
Wendy Raith
Ryan Asher
Adrienne Frager
Lenny Mzhen
Ha
pp
y
Bir
thd
ay
If your birthday does not appear or you have a correction to what we have,
please call the office at 410.833.7458.
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March 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
Sisterhood Board
Meeting 7:00PM
2 3
Shabbat Services
6:30PM
Candle lighting: 5:43PM
4 Terumah
Shabbat Services
9:30AM Rabbi Seidler
5 6 7 8 Int'l. Women's Day 9 10
Candle lighting: 5:51PM
11 Tetzaveh
Shabbat Zachor
Shabbat Services
9:30AM Rabbi Seidler
Erev Purim
Services 7PM
12 Daylight Saving
Begins
Purim
13 Book Club
Invisible City by Julia Dahl.
RSVP linda.boteach@
gmail.com
14 15 16
Synagogue Board
Meeting 7:00PM
17
Candle lighting: 6:58PM
18 Ki Tissa
Shabbat Parah
Shabbat Services
9:30AM Rabbi Seidler
19 20 21 22 23 24
Candle lighting: 7:05PM
25 Vayakhl/Pekudei
Shabbat Services
9:30AM
26 27 28 29 30 31 Candle lighting: 7:12PM
Notes:
Remember that the synagogue is supported through the Amazon Smiles program. Log
on to www.adatchaim.com and choose the link: Shop Adat Chaim. It is a great way to shop and support Adat Chaim at the same time.
If you have some time, check out this website that details Jewish historical items of interest for each month. This is the link to February: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/febhistory.html
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Jewish Genealogy
Society of Maryland
“Behind the Brick Wall: Solving Research Problems with DNA Testing”
Please join us on Sunday, March 26, 2017, at 1:30 p.m., at the Pikesville Library’s meeting room, 1301 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, for our next program: “Behind the Brick Wall: Solving Research Problems with DNA Testing,” presented by Rachel Unkefer.
Many genealogists are disappointed in the outcome when they spend money with testing companies without a concrete goal or question in mind. Successful testing begins with posing questions and
then selecting the correct tests and testers to answer those questions. Rachel Unkefer will help you
learn how to set testing goals and how to navigate the testing and analysis processes.
Rachel Unkefer, based in Charlottesville, VA, has been a genealogist for more than 30 years and a
genetic genealogist for nearly 10 years, specializing in German-Jewish immigrants to the United
States before 1880. She is the founder of JewishGen’s Early American SIG and administers several DNA surname and geographical projects at Family Tree DNA, most notably the Bacharach DNA
Project. She has published several articles in "Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish
Genealogy" and has spoken on genetic genealogy at international genealogical conferences. When
not doing genealogy research, she writes fiction and runs a nonprofit community writing center in
Charlottesville.
The program is free for paid members and $5 for non-members (applied to membership fee when a visitor
joins JGSMD) after their first meeting. Refreshments will be available. Please check our web site at
www.jgsmd.org for late updates and for the time, location, and program of future meetings.
Asking the right questions to get to the right answers.
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Attention Amazon Shoppers
Remember that the synagogue is supported through the following secured Amazon link: www.smile.amazon.com or if you are on our WebSite , www.adatchaim.com, and choose the link: Shop Adat Chaim on our HOME page, at the bottom of the page, you can log on. Either way, it is a win-win for you and Adat Chaim
The first time you sign in on Smile Amazon you will need to pick from their list of charitable organizations, Adat Chaim.
After that every time you shop on Amazon through Smile your Synagogue will receive a percentage of your purchase.
Use this form to mail in your contributions to Adat Chaim
I am enclosing _______ Chai ($18) Double Chai ($36) Triple Chai ($54) 10 X Chai ($180)
Other __________
Contributions can be made: In Memory of For a Speedy Recovery In Honor of In Appreciation of
Yahrzeit of
Other:____________________ (Please specify)
Contributions can be made to:
General Synagogue Fund Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund
Rabbi Seymour Essrog Lecture Fund
Tree of Life ($180) Yahrzeit Plaque ($250)
I would like to donate to the following fund:
_________________________
(Please specify name of fund)
Donation for (name/occasion)
Send card to
Address
City, State, Zip
Your name(s) as you wish them to appear in Bulletin
Card to be signed
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Office Use Card sent_________
