Shul News & Notes
Zoom Into The 2022 Virtual Silent Auction: It’s Your Ticket To Fun
Opening Party: Sunday, May 22, at 5 p.m.
Remember last year’s Silent Auction? Great choices and bargains galore — yours for the bidding. And we’re planning an even bigger and better auction this year, thanks to the quality items shul members, visitors, vendors and guests are contributing. What an assortment. It’s a Wow!
How about you? Maybe you’re asking yourself, “What can I donate?” Here are a few ideas: How about offering a lesson in your field of expertise? Can you paint, draw, play a musical instrument? Like to entertain? How about dinner at your place? Maybe a gift certificate to your favorite restaurant or store. Works of art and bottles of wine are always big hits, and don’t forget those time shares, hotel points or airline miles that you don’t plan to use. Other favorites are tickets to sporting events, concerts, or a show. Bet you already have ideas of your own.
Here’s how to donate:
- Take photos and write brief descriptions of the items, lessons or services you can donate.
- Email the photos, descriptions, the value of each item, and your contact information to the auction chairs: Madelyn Rothman (madelyn765@aol.com) or Tom Byrne (drtombyrne@me.com). The quicker the better. May 22 is coming right up.
- That’s all there is to it.
- Got questions? Contact Madelyn at 631-559-2816 or email madelyn765@aol.com/.
- Oh yes, one more thing: Join in the fun and help our beloved synagogue. See you at the opening Zoom party on Sunday, May 22, at 5 p.m.
Oculus: Eye On The Arts
This month’s Oculus column features a painting by Judith Kaufman Weiner, a founding member of the shul’s Judaism and the Arts group. The work, titled “Pandemic Windows,” opens multiple windows into private worlds explored from the vantage point of the pandemic.
Each window functions within a defined framework to identify a separate search, exploration and ultimate discovery. The artist asks, “Is this life imitating art, or art imitating life?”
“Pandemic Windows,” a 36” x 36” acrylic and oil stick on canvas, is one of several paintings by the artist to be mounted in a June show at ilon Art Gallery, 204 West 123rd Street in Harlem. This piece will be available in real time and also as an NFT (non-fungible token).
An NFT is a unique crypto-asset on a blockchain (digital ledger) that can be offered, acquired and collected. The blockchain is an immutable record of the piece, from its creation as an NFT and all subsequent transactions. Photo by the artist.
Visit the NFT shop and gallery at https://www.ilonart-gallery.com/.
‘Beyond Dispute’ Course Continues Sundays, May 1, 8 and 15, On Zoom
The spring semester of the JTS “Beyond Dispute” course will continue Sundays, May 1 and 8, and will conclude on Sunday, May 15. All sessions begin at 11:30 a.m., on Zoom. Congregants and friends not previously registered are invited to audit any session.
For more information about joining the remaining sessions, please email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Ann Hurwitz.
Part IV: Disputing the Jewish Future
May 1: Can Commitment and Critique Coexist? Teaching Israel in the 21st Century. Israel Internal Relations/Part 1 (Four days before Yom Hazikaron and five days before Yom Ha’atzmaut)
May 8: Can Commitment and Critique Coexist? Teaching Israel in the 21st Century. Israel External Relations/Part 2 (Four days after Yom Ha’atzmaut)
May 15: What Do We Mean by Jewish Continuity? The Legacy of ‘Be Fruitful and Multiply.’ (Five days before Lag Ba’omer, which commemorates the end of a plague and the return to life.)
The Tikkun Olam Group Makes A Happy Easter For CAST Families
Shul member Veronica Kaliski, who spearheaded the Tikkun Olam Initiative group at our shul, shared with The Shofar a thank-you letter she received from CAST, the recipient of the group’s charitable work. In the letter, Karina Hayes, CAST’s food relief program manager, thanked the TOI and the synagogue for 35 chickens and also the Easter bags that were distributed to CAST families.
Popular with CAST families are the tomato plants that the TOI cultivates for distribution. The plants provide fresh tomatoes that can be harvested by CAST clients throughout the summer. Shul member Cookie Slade is nurturing about 30 plants for distribution plus more for the common ground garden. Shul members wanting to participate in nurturing plants for distribution can email ctigreenport@gmail.com with a message for Veronica Kaliski or Cookie Slade. Other members are Ann Hurwitz, Madelyn Rothman and Susan Rosenstreich.
Shul’s Security Committee Gathers Documents For Grant Money
The shul’s Security Committee, headed by Stephen Meshover and including Sara Bloom, Rabbi Capela, Elaine Goldman, Gordon Henry, and shul president Judith K. Weiner, is reaching out to law enforcement and other civic agencies for guidance in exploring various approaches to secure the shul and the parsonage. The committee is also gathering the required documents to apply for federal grant money to fund new security initiatives.
As part of the new security procedures, members planning to attend Shabbat services in the sanctuary must knock at the ramp door and identify themselves before the door will be unlocked. Covid vaccination and booster are required; masks are optional but recommended.
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