Shul News & Notes

We invite everyone to make a special effort to attend this Friday evening’s Shabbat service. Tenth-grade students from Greenport High School will join us on Zoom to talk about their history class unit on the Holocaust, and also the field trip they are taking this Wednesday to the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove. Surely the museum trip will provide a revealing conclusion
​​​​​​​to the lessons learned.

Many of you will recall last year’s visit by then-10th graders, and how insightfully they spoke to what they had learned about antisemitism and the destructiveness of hate. The back-and-forth between the students and our congregants was a moving experience for all.

Please join us this Friday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m., in the sanctuary or on Zoom, for our regular Shabbat service, and to welcome GHS sophomores willing to share their perspectives on this dark period in history.

I remind you that on Sunday, May 5, our shul will join with several other synagogues on the twin forks to observe Yom Ha Shoah with our Yellow Candles. Your contributions to the Yellow Candle Project will be donated to Greenport High School to help underwrite the cost of transportation to the museum. I feel certain that come Friday night, and our visit with the students, you will agree that contributions to the Yellow Candle Project yield many positive dividends.

   In a unanimous decision by the 2024 Journal Committee, past president and shul innovator Judith K. Weiner was named this year’s journal honoree. “At this moment in our shul’s history, no one is more deserving than our own Judy, who led this shul with strength and commitment to the vitality of our Jewish community here at Congregation Tifereth Israel,” said Madelyn Rothman, chair of the journal committee.

The annual journal recognizes the growth and accomplishments that have distinguished our shul in the past year, and honors those behind the achievements in the spiritual, educational and social programs that propel us forward. The journal also invites shul and community members to join the ever-expanding list of supporters who value the efforts of those volunteers who work creatively to maintain our Jewish presence on the North Fork.

A highly respected and popular president, Judith K. Weiner embodies that essence — a spirit of commitment to Judaism, to Israel, to our shul, and to what she once called “the Jewish dream of community.” An artist by profession, and a strong leader, she served our shul as president for three terms, from June 2020 through June 2023, a tenure that exceeded all presidents who came before her. During her time in office, membership grew significantly, volunteers stepped forward to be part of her mission, attendance at services and events virtually doubled. While other institutions struggled during the Covid epidemic, ours thrived. She embraced technology and the advances that allowed members to participate via Zoom, keeping us together and involved. Where other shuls faltered for lack of funds, contributions to our shul increased. As chair of the shul’s fundraising, Judith’s effort has provided the finances that support strong programming and the smooth operation of our institution.

Prior to accepting the presidency, the honoree served two terms as vice president, four years as an active member of the Board of Directors, and was co-founder with Saul Rosenstreich of the shul’s Judaism and Art group.

In those moments when her obligations to the shul and the pleasure she takes in her large and loving family allow her cherished alone-time, she paints. Noteworthy among acknowledgments of her work is recognition by Long Island’s Heckscher Museum of Art that named her one of 20 artists in an international competition to participate in the museum’s Instagram Takeover Series. Decades of her work making ceramic sculpture and paintings, including new digital images, are on view at Ilon Art Gallery in New York City and in her home and studio gallery in Mattituck.

The Opening Of Solicitations, And A Celebration Garden Party.

All Are Invited

The Journal Committee will invite family, friends and shul and community members to place tributes to the honoree in the 2024 journal. Watch your email accounts for messages announcing the April 1 opening of journal solicitations.

To celebrate the honoree and the launch of the 2024 journal, the shul will host a

catered Garden Party in Andrew Levin Park on Sunday, July 14, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Tikkun Olam Group Heads Candle Packaging and Distribution

Our shul will join with members of the North Fork Reform Synagogue in a joint program to honor the six million lost in the Holocaust. We will participate together in the Yellow Candle Project on Sunday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m., on Zoom. Rabbi Gadi Capela and one of the NFRS rabbis will lead participants in commentary and prayers to honor those who were lost amid the horrific acts of aggression that vanquished Jewish populations in major cities and peaceful villages across Europe.

Veronica Kaliski, one of the leaders of the shul’s Tikkun Olam group, gathered volunteers to package the yellow candles and mail or hand deliver one to each family in our shul. Susan Bloom of the NFRS will see that candles are distributed to her synagogue families.

This is the third year that our shul has participated in this worldwide candlelighting event that takes place annually on Yom HaShoah. It is a moving experience and a powerful communal event. In addition, the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs that originally developed and introduced the project to the global Jewish community, recommends that families discuss with their children and grandchildren the events that led to the Holocaust, and the evil effects of hatred. The federation points out that young people may think it is not possible that such events occurred, yet we know they did.

And when the last of those who survived the Holocaust are gone, who will speak of it? Who will honor those who died? Who will say their names? We must, the Yellow Candle Project says, and our children and grandchildren, too, must keep alive the memory of the events that occurred more than a half-century ago. Our lighted candles are powerful symbols that can open the door to discussion, education and interaction — the paths that fight the antisemitism that continues to build in the world.

Join us on this night of remembrance: Sunday, May 5, at 7:30 p.m., on Zoom.

[Pictured, from left, Cookie Slade, Tom Byrne, Vika Bloom, Veronica Kaliski and Elaine Goldman.]                                                                                                                                         Andrea Blaga photo