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Rabbi’s Corner,
Reflections2
Cantor’s Notes
3Lifelong Jewish Learning 4-5
What’s Happening
6-7March Calendar 8 April Calendar 9Sinai Committees 10-11My Sinai 12-13Supporting Sinai 14-16Staying Connected 16In the Community 18In the Sinai Family 19-20 Those We Remember 21Contributions 22-23
SINAI NEWS
Rabbi David B. Cohen • Cantor Rebecca Robins • Rabbi Emeritus Jay R. Brickman
Director of Lifelong Jewish Learning Sherry H. Blumberg, Ph.D., R.J.E.
Director of Administration Karen Lancina • Program Coordinator Jen Friedman • Sinai News Nicole Sether
Congregation Sinai • 8223 N. Port Washington Road• Fox Point, WI 53217
414.352.2970• 414.352.0944 (fax)• www.congregationsinai.org
Shabbat Ki Tisa
March 5 Minyan Katan 5:30 pm4th/5th Grade & CongregationalDinner 6 pmFamily Shabbat Service 7 pmMarch 6 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 am
Shabbat Vayakel
March 12 Rockin Shabbat Service 6:15 pmMarch 13 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 am
Eli & Jacob Cohen B’nei Mitzvah 10 am
Shabbat Vayikra
March 19 Shabbat Limud Service 6:15 pmMarch 20 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 am
Shabbat Tzav
March 26 MCRC Shabbat Service at Emanu-el
B’ne Jeshurun 7:30 pm
March 27 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 amNoah Lookatch Bar Mitzvah 10 amMarch 30 1st Day of Passover Service 10 am2nd Seder @ Congregation Shalom 6pm
Shabbat Pesach
April 2 Shabbat Service 6:15 pm
March-
April 2010 • Adar
-Iyyar 5770
In this issue
April 3 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 am April 5 Yizkor Service & Lunch 10 am
Shabbat Shmini
April 9 Minyan Katan 5:30 pmShabbat Service 6:15 pm April 10 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 am
Shabbat Tazria
April 16 Shabbat Limud Service
—
speaker
Yisrael Ne’eman 6:15 pm
April 17 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 amJoey Flegel-Mishlove Bar Mitzvah 10 am
Shabbat Achrei Mot
April 23 Shabbat Tikkun HaNefesh &Builders & Founders Oneg 6:15 pm April 24 Torah Study 8 amMorning Minyan 9:30 amJake Lappin Bar Mitzvah 10 am
Shabbat Emor
April 30 Shabbat Service 6:15 pm
Congregation Sinai Welcomes Peri Smilow
Noted Singer Songwriter Peri Smilowwill present a concert on Sunday, March 7, at11:00 am. Peri has just released her latest al-bum, "Blessings", which she performed at therecent Union for Reform Judaism Biennial con-vention, receiving enthusiastic responses.We've been fortunate to have Peri per-form at Sinai several times in the past. Whileour religious school families are especially in-vited to attend, Peri's music is far from juvenile;she deals with serious topics and evocativeJewish texts through a blend of folk, folk-rock,and world music. Be sure to make plans to joinus!
Shabbat & Holiday Schedule
Some years ago, I tuned into our local Public Radiostation to hear a standup comic doing a Lenny Bruce routine.The voice was familiar and, with a start, I realized it was Rabbi
Jay Brickman, Sinai‘s rabbi emeritus. I was surprised, but not
by much. I already knew that Rabbi Brickman was a man of many talents, who exemplifies the message
found in the Psalms: ―Teach us to number ourdays that we may acquire a heart of wisdom.‖
Jay Brickman came to Sinai as its firstrabbi when services were still being held in achurch. Five years later, he led our congregation through the construction and dedication of ourbeautiful building. He initiated a weekly familyservice to begin the Sunday morning religiousschool program. Indeed, Jay worked to insure thateducation was a primary focus at Sinai, both forchildren and adults.Personally, I consider Jay to be a role model for ahealthy retirement. In contrast with many retiring rabbinic col-leagues, who discover that their lives are quite empty without
the day to day demands of the work, Jay‘s outside interests
have always been many and varied, and have continued tokeep him active and vital in his eighty sixth year. Jay continues
Rabbi’s Corner
Page 2 March/April 2010
to teach at Sinai, the JCC, UWM, and, during the summer, upin Door County. His continuing interest in Jungian Psychol-ogy and dream interpretation draw many to his courses. Hecontinues to practice Tai Chi and work out. We should all beso healthy! In addition, Jay and Rita attend many activities atSinai and Jay is always just a phone call awaywhen I need his advice or counsel.Over the years, Jay has written threebooks. They consist of individual essays on a widerange of topics. His latest has just been pub-
lished. It‘s called ―Poetry Doodles‖ and it containsan added twist: in addition to Jay‘s essays, local
artist JoAnna Peohlmann did the design and lay-out, adorning the cover and pages with whimsicalline drawings. It is a delightful read.
To celebrate the publication of Jay‘s lat-est book, we are hosting an ―author visit andbook signing‖ at Sinai on Sunday morning, March 14th.There will be music and food. We hope you‘ll be able to joinus for what I know will be a terrific morning. And if we‘relucky we‘ll get Rabbi Brickman to do his Lenny Bruce rou-
tine!I was surprised to learn, during a discussion at ourSaturday morning services, how many of those present haddifficulty with the Christmas season. I have always enjoyed this time of year. I was raised in a non-Orthodox all-Jewish neighborhood in New York City. We all appre-ciated Christmas. Although no one had a Christmas tree in their apartment, there was a beautifullydecorated tree in the building lobby. We happilyparticipated in the singing of Christmas carols inschool, while avoiding enunciating words like
―Christ‖. I still enjoy the Christmas music. Young
and old delighted in watching the moving displaysin Department Store windows. When I was little, Iwas always treated to at least one trip downtown to
sit on Santa‘s lap. My favorite story, growing up, was Dickens‘―Christmas Carol‖. At my daughter‘s suggestion I recentlywatched ―A Christmas Story‖ on T.V., and almost squealed
with delight.The birth of Reform Judaism was an indirect conse-
Reflections
Sinai's Resident Theological Doodler...Santa
quence of the French Revolution, which promised liberty,freedom, equality, to all citizens. The response of someJews to emancipation was to abandon Judaism and com-pletely assimilate. Others reacted by becoming more Orthodox and withdrawing from gentile con- tacts to avoid the loss of Jewish identity. ReformJudaism asserted, then as now, that one could beboth a loyal Jew and a participant in the life of thelarger community.I am concerned about church and stateissues, and object to religious symbols like thecross and crèche being displayed on publicgrounds. But much of the Christmas apparatus,as Orthodox Christians never fail to remind us, likeSanta, decorations, and Rudolph, are quite secular. You
wouldn‘t want your non
-Jewish neighbor to be lighting Cha-
nukah candles, but you can‘t object to their playing with
dreydels or eating potato latkes.Rabbi Jay Brickman
Congregation Sinai is on Facebook!
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In 1986, my mom helped me get dressed for school
one morning in a ‗stunning‘ get
-up of ruffled white sweatshirtmaterial decorated with sparkly pink hearts. The skirt and top combo paired nicely with ballet-pink tights, patent leatherMary Janes, and some kind of side ponytail. (It was the 80s,
after all!) Into Miss A‘s first grade classroom I went, knowing
that my mom was coming to get my brother and me early. Itwas erev Passover, and we were heading to mygrandpa and grandma in Brooklyn for our se-der.I remember so many things about the
eight Passovers I spent at my grandfather‘s
house in Brooklyn. The way the whole apart-ment building smelled like matzah ball soup; the mumbling of my grandfather as he ferventlyread every single word in the Haggadah; thePunky Brewster doll that I got as a gift for find-ing the afikomen (which my grandpa always hidunder the tablecloth beneath his leftarm!)...Like so many families, Pesach was fullof traditions for us, and we maintained all of them after my grandfather died when I was eight and the se-der moved to our house on Long Island.Every year, in a feverish attempt to get our houseready for Passover - the chametz cleaned out, the dishes outof storage, the table set - every year my favorite part of Pesach was (and still is!) filling the seder plate with the sym-bolic foods of the story. My mother would quiz me on whateach one meant, as we filled the plate together. When itcame to putting matzot in our matzah cover, my mother put the three required matzot into our beautiful white matzahcover, and one more on the table underneath it. My grandfa- ther did the same thing. Year after year, first my grandfather and then mymother, drew our attention to the fourth matzah. After weread the Arameic text reminding us that this is the bread thatshould remind us of our Exodus, they would both explain that
even now, not all Jews are free. ―This fourth matzah,‖ theywould say, ―is for the Jews in the Soviet Union. Someday,may they be free to have seders like we do.‖ While I assure
you that as a little girl in Plainview, NY, this was just astory...we added that fourth matzah every single year. Nei- ther my grandfather nor my mother ever forgot to put it on
Page 3March/April 2010
the table. Even as we added Miriam‘s cup and oranges to
our seder, the fourth matzah remained.The first year of cantorial school, I had an incredibleopportunity to visit Belarus during Pesach. Together with arabbinic classmate, we traveled all over the country with the
Chief Reform Rabbi of Belarus, leading children‘s program-
ming, discussions, and seders. The budding-Jewish profes-sional in me crashed into that little girl in thatwhite dress with the pink hearts. Overwhelmedby a story and a memory, Marshall, my class-mate, and I decided to add the fourth matzah toour seder table.So, we started the seder. We sang theorder. The children, who had been practicing formonths, chanted the four questions. We bangedon the tables as we sang
ha lachma anya.
As Ipulled back the cover on the matzah to explainwhat we had in front of us, I felt anxious. Idoubted our decision to add the fourth matzah.And then, committed to what Marshall and I had
decided, I explained ―and this fourth matzah is foryou.‖ I told them the story of my grandfather‘s adding the
fourth matzah. All of our eyes filled with tears - each tear adifferent story of what had come before. I cried because itwas amazing to see, with my own eyes, that these Jews, forwhom I had remembered every Pesach of my childhood, werenow celebrating Passover. And I was privileged enough tocelebrate too.The next few years, I left the fourth matzah off ourseder table. It seemed to be holding on to tradition, more than a call to action and remembrance. But recently, I put itback on the table. Why? This story is, sadly, never-ending.There are Jews who are not wholly free to practice around theworld; because of their geography, because of their familiesand the decisions they have made...Perhaps we can all add that fourth matzah to our seder tables this year, if only as areminder that we share our story, and our table, with Jews allover the world, through the generations.May you and your families have a wonderful Pesach,full of memories in the making, and joy in celebrating ourcollective story as a people.
Chag Kasher v’Sameach!
Cantor Rebecca Robins
Cantor’s Notes
The Fourth Matzah
Special Israeli Speaker: Yisrael Ne’eman
Friday night, April 16 and Saturday evening April 17, Congregation Sinai will have the privilege of learning from Yisrael Ne’
eman.During the Learning Shabbat service he will share his research and experience about the formation of Jew-ish communities in Israel. He will compare this process with what happens in the United States. On Satur-day, a more serious topic about the enemies of Israel (Hamas, Hesbolah, etc.) will be the topic. Yisrael
Ne’eman has done extensive research into the compacts of these groups and their approach to Israel.
More information will follow with specific details for Saturday, but both of these programs are certain to befilled with learning and challenges to our intellect. Articles that have been published will be available fromDr. Blumberg or the congregational office for those who are interested.
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