Shul News & Notes
Ma Nishtanah? This Year, More Than Ever Before. Zoom Seders
Ma nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot? As Rabbi Gadi pointed out at the shul’s first of two Seders this year, this night — April 8, 2020 — is indeed different from all others, and from all, in fact, in the 3,500 years since the story of the Passover unfolded. This night, thanks to the technological wizardry of an application called Zoom, we sat at a communal table in front of our computer screens or our tablets or mobile phones. On the screen, at the head of the “table,” sat Rabbi Gadi, pointing to the foods on his Seder plate that symbolize the flight to freedom of the Jewish people, who had been enslaved in Egypt for 500 years. Each of us who chose to join the rabbi, was pictured on our screens, as though seated with each other around a communal table.
The unusualness of this particular Seder night was precipitated by a lethal virus encircling the globe, keeping families and friends physically separated, and yet, this night, spiritually united. The chain of Seder observance — “a commemoration of history and a celebration of hope and new beginning,” the rabbi said — remained unbroken.
Participants numbered about 50 for the Seders. Shul members, family members and guests recounted the story, tasted the foods that reminded us of the tears of tyranny, the hasty escape, and a rebirth of the Jewish people freed from bondage. Our Seders connected us to generations past, and marked the way to future continuity. At the end of each virtual Seder, we sang joyously as we began another year together as a free nation. Baruch HaShem.
Shul Members Respond To Coronavirus Outbreak Here
Shul members have been stepping up in various ways to help friends, neighbors and fellow shul members cope with the escalation of coronavirus in our area. As we remain in stay-put mode, following the guidelines outlined by health experts and our local and state officials to contain “community spread” of the disease, some outreach has eased the burdens of loneliness and quarantine that deny us the pleasure of human contact.
Shul members are phoning each other, offering welcome hello messages, emailing and texting. Some members have offered to grocery shop, make a post office run, or pick up necessities in drug stores and hardware stores — even make a Costco run for several shul members at a time. All demonstrate expressions of love and caring at a time fraught with danger for many of our elderly members, who are particularly susceptible to the ravages of the disease.
Masks for our community
And then there’s Roberta Garris. Many of us know that Roberta is an enthusiastic quilter, a member of the Eastern Long Island Quilt Guild and the local North Fork Quilters group. And many of us have seen the elegant patterns and artistic quality of her workmanship. Although for now, Roberta and her fellow sewers have put their usual patterns aside, and are turning their attention and needlework talent to community service — making masks.
The sewers are producing masks for children, for doctors and hospital workers, for employees at essential services businesses, such as supermarkets, post offices and pharmacies, and have already donated 250 masks to Peconic Landing for the aides and residents there.
Working from a pattern, the sewers have produced more than a thousand masks — more than 60 from Roberta herself (as of early April). She says she can produce five or six in a day, each one taking up to an hour to produce. Her masks are made of cotton and flannel with some of the supplies coming from her personal storehouse of fabric, other needed items purchased. She acknowledged the generosity of many purveyors, who have donated materials and shipping to aid her and her fellow sewers in their charitable work.
Charity for our shul
Most of the masks are donated. As a result, Roberta was being swamped with requests for masks from friends and neighbors of the recipients. “How much do they cost?” people wanted to know. As long as people were so willing to pay, Roberta decided to fill the requests and help our shul at the same time. In exchange for each noncharitable mask, she asks recipients to make a donation to our shul. Clearly, mask-making is a labor of love for Roberta and her fellow sewers, and a big win for recipients of the masks, for our vulnerable population here on the North Fork, and an unexpected, most generous, and much appreciated win for our shul.
“Every sewer I know is involved in this project,” Roberta said. “We’re all in Maskville.”
Roberta Garris photos
Nominating Committee Announces Slate Of Officers And Directors
The Nominating Committee has announced the slate of officers and directors for the 2020-21 term, as follows:
President: Judith Weiner
Vice President: Sara Bloom
Treasurer: Alan Garmise
Financial Secretary: Susan Rosenstreich
Corresponding Secretary: Elaine Goldman
Recording Secretary: Joanna Paulsen
Members at Large: Hedvah Campeas Cohen; Miriam Gabriel; Madelyn Rothman
Also serving on the board
Sisterhood Representative: Adrianne Greenberg
Men’s Club Representative: Z. Micah Kaplan, MD
The slate will be presented to the Congregation at the May 17 meeting, at which time additional nominations can be made. The election will be held at the annual meeting on June 21. If any positions on the proposed slate are contested, voting for those positions will take place electronically at the June meeting, except for members without Internet access, who will receive paper ballots in time to be returned prior to the meeting. A simple majority will determine the winners of contested positions. If no positions are contested, the Recording Secretary will cast a single vote at the June meeting in support of the slate.
All congregants are invited to attend both the May and June Congregation meetings to show support for the new officers and directors. The meetings may be held electronically via Zoom. Directions to access Zoom are on the shul’s Website (www.tiferethisraelgreenport.org).
The members of the Nominating Committee are Phil Goldman, chair; Sara Bloom, Tom Byrne; Roberta Garris; Susan Rosenstreich.
Lunch and Learn – Memoir Writing and Judaism
Learn About Memoir Writing; Bring Lunch
Here’s news about the second week of our new Lunch and Learn program. We hope you were able to Zoom at noon on Monday to hear Ron Rothman talk about his grandfather’s friendship with the eminent Albert Einstein. While the story is familiar to many of us, Ron brought new insights to the companionship the two men shared. Rabbi Gadi led an absorbing discussion on Thursday, with perspectives on triage from the Jewish point of view.
Coming up next week, Sara Bloom will lead off on Monday, April 27, with a talk about the craft of memoir writing — how to get started on the journey to discover how you got to be who you are. Rabbi Gadi will lead again on Thursday, April 30, with another interesting facet of Jewish life.
To join us for Lunch and Learn, sign into Zoom at 12 o’clock every Monday and Thursday, have lunch with shul friends, learn a little, followed by a Q&A and some lively discussion. Click on “Go to services” on the shul’s website. Follow the prompts, and type in the password that we use for the services. And you’re in.
What’s ahead? Gardening with Marian Friedmann and Adrianne Greenberg on Monday, May 4, and another session with Rabbi Gadi on Thursday, May 7. Other topics in the works include music, travel, books, art, poetry, politics, health, photography, maybe some Yiddish, and who knows what else…
Why lunch alone? Come eat, come listen, come talk. Don’t forget: Zoom at noon for Lunch and Learn. See you Monday.
Want To Pay Shul Fees Online With A Credit Card? Now You Can
For years — yes, years — members and friends of the shul have been asking, “Do you take credit cards?” Well, no — not until now. Thanks to the efforts of Financial Secretary Judith Weiner, who initiated the new system with the support of the shul’s Board of Directors and the help of our office assistant, Andrea Blaga, those interested now have the option to pay online with a credit card. This means that membership dues, tickets to shul events, and charitable and memorial donations, for instance, are more easily dispatched. Payments by check are still welcome, of course.
Here’s how to do it. Two new tabs on the shul’s website (tiferethisraelgreenport.org) can facilitate secure credit card payments. Prospective members can click on the “Become a Member” tab at the top of the home page, fill out the form, type in a credit card number, and click “submit.” To make a contribution, visit the website, and click on the “Donate” tab, fill out the form that details the reason for your donation, type in your credit card number, and click “submit.” Online payments are easy, efficient, and a savings of 55 cents for first-class postage.
The shul’s popular website welcomes many visitors each month, including members, friends, friends of friends, and vacationers seeking to observe Shabbat and ritual holidays. We hope all will find the new “Donate” and “Become a Member” tabs timely conveniences.
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