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November / December 2009 cheshvan / kislev 5770 
 Join us for a Moving Experience!
Ground-Breaking Ceremony for our new congregational home.
Be there as we make history and celebrate with a festive reception!TY East Greenwich Groundbreaking Ceremony Sunday, November 15
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at 11:45 amFree Parking and Shuttle Service for all Attendees: 1351 South County Trail, East Greenwich
Building Torat Yisrael’s Future
Thank You to the East Greenwich Planning Board!
On Wednesday, October 22nd, Andrew Sholes,chair of our Building Committee, Rabbi Levin, andthe principal of our engineering firm appearedbefore the East Greenwich Township PlanningBoard to address that body's last remainingquestions about the master plan we hadsubmitted for their approval. Changes in ourplans for the grade of our driveway, our outdoorlighting plan and a guard rail along our drivewaywere all answered to the satisfaction of membersof the Planning Board and they votedunanimously to grant final approval to our masterplan.This vote is the culmination of a process thatbegan about a year and a half ago with our firstappearances before the East Greenwich Zoningand Planning Boards in 2008. So many peoplecontributed to this effort with good will, expertiseand persistence: Andy Sholes himself, of course,who drove the entire process; our first consultingarchitect, Jay Litman; our current architects,Michael Landau and Gary Graham; the principalof our engineering firm, David D'Amico; RabbiLevin, who testified before both boards;Reverend Don Anderson, Father Craig Burlington,Reverend Barbara Fast, Reverend Linda Forsberg,Reverend Bill Trench, all members of the EastGreenwich clergy association who wrote letters,appeared at numerous meetings and testified onour behalf; members of Torat Yisrael whoappeared at and spoke at the meetings. It takesa village to secure final master plan approval!The building committee and the interior designcommittee have been engaged in other aspectsof our building project at the same time.Recently Ann Wilson, our interior designer,presented the joint committee with a series of proposals for carpeting, wall color, wall tiles,upholstery fabrics, and other design elements.Keeping our commitment to the principle of green building in mind, Ms. Wilson focussed oncarpeting made from recycled materials,environmentally friendly paints, etc., whilemaking sure that all surfaces are durable andeasy to maintain. The committee members haveapproved color schemes that, in the sanctuary,works well with the beautiful view of the woodsthat constitutes the sanctuary's eastern wall; inthe social hall will provide a pleasant and flexiblebackdrop for a variety of decorating themes forholiday celebrations and life-cycle simchas, in theadministrative areas will provide a pleasant andlight work environment and in the education wingwill provide a cheerful and durable backdrop forour school programs.With all of this work accomplished, it's time tocelebrate! Every Torat Yisrael member hasreceived an invitation to our November 15thgroundbreaking. Drop everything! Clean out thebasement a different Sunday! Come celebratewith your Torat Yisrael family!
 
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Greetings from Susan Smoller
Shalom Fellow Congregants,Torat Yisrael’s Board of Trustees and officers wereinstalled in a beautifulceremony on October 2. Thismeaningful installation ensuresthat our volunteer leaders are acknowledged bythe congregation and assume the mantle of leadership in our synagogue. Mazal tov to all andthanks to Rabbi Levin. A list of the Boardmembers is in this bulletin.November 15
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is the date of our officialgroundbreaking! What good fortune we have toexperience this opportunity and to be leaders inJewish life within Rhode Island. I sincerely hopeto see you at the groundbreaking and to have achance to imagine together the beautiful newstructure and the impact on our congregation andon the Jewish community. As mentioned, therewill be NO parking on the temple site. There willbe a shuttle service between the parking areaand the temple. There will be rides availablefrom the temple in Cranston. Please contact theoffice at 401-785-1800 if you would like a ridefrom Cranston. For additional informationrelated to the event please contact me or the TYoffice.As the weather changes, I hope that you remainwarm and check out all the various opportunitiesfor fun, education and social events at thetemple. We have programs for all tastes andhope to see you soon.Please contact me at any time with anycomments or questions.B’ShalomSusan
Kesher Corner: Nicole Jellinek
Settling Into the “New Normal”Nicole Jellinek LICSW
With the new year upon us, wetake stock: the recession remains,unemployment is high, and anyhopes we had of quick recovery are gone. Weare settling in, and although the markets arerebounding, it’s clear we are living in a differentage. It’s unclear how long this “new normal” willlast. While the crisis seems to have passed forsome, many others are still living it, and stillothers fear it to be close: unemployment loomslarge for many who still have jobs, as they seetheir companies struggle and wonder if morelayoffs are ahead. Those in the “golden years” may not today have the cushion they expected.In short, across the spectrum of young or old,employed or not, many are making changes inday-to-day living—shopping for sale items,clipping coupons, not buying new clothes untilthe kids have truly outgrown the old, forgoing airconditioning until it’s really hot, avoid eating out,downgrade cell phone or cable services.Unemployment and financial insecurity oftentrigger powerful feelings of shame and guilt forpeople—and in turn, individuals may be lesslikely to ask for help because of these feelings.In fact this is
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the time we want people toask for help. “We” here could be many membersof the congregation, but I specifically refer toRabbi Levin and me. For our members strugglingthrough this economic downturn: use thiscongregation as a support, ask for assistance andguidance, for connection to resources and acommunity to provide containment andconnection.I’m not yet certain how to be most helpful withthis transition, and I invite you to help me shapemy role in this. What do you feel you need fromthe
Kesher 
social worker at this time? Do youneed to talk with me individually? Do you haveideas for a program we could put together?Please contact me with thoughts andsuggestions.Finally, as I was thinking about this idea, that of a “new normal,” I turned, as I often do, toGoogle. I found a posting on a site for cancersurvivors, using the terms “new normal” todescribe life after diagnosis and treatment. Ihave taken the liberty of substituting for theword “cancer” in the following paragraph, as Ithink it’s relevant—but have left my substitutionin quotation marks. “Life is not the same after ‘unemployment/therecession’ for the survivor or for those who love
 
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him or her. When someone you care about has ‘lost their job,’ it requires you to be flexible andto develop a new normal. For survivorship, thismeans incorporating the realities of ‘financialinsecurity’ into your future dreams. It does NOTmean giving up your dreams (retiring to anisland, traveling, fishing for hours…), justadjusting your dreams to fit currentcircumstances. As circumstances change (andthey will, of course, because that’s the way lifeworks), your new normal may also change. Aroller-coaster of feelings will become part of yournew normal. Over time, individuals learn torecognize the pattern of ups and downs, andhopefully both you and your loved one will beable to prepare for, and manage, the pattern.” Please contact me if I can be of assistance.
The Cohen School News
As we ushered in the Hebrewmonth of Cheshvan, the onlyHebrew month with no holidays,we ushered in a period of time inthe Jewish education world thatallows us the time to focus onsome of the occasions that occur more regularlyin the Jewish calendar. Shabbat, a weeklycelebration has such an important place in ourJewish calendar, that we celebrate each week.Jews all over the world have celebrated in thepast weeks. The solemn, thoughtful time of RoshHashanah and Yom Kippur, followed by the joyous celebration of Sukkot and Simchat Torahafforded our community to worship, socialize andcelebrate together. While the rituals of manyholidays are centered in our homes, there aresome which are celebrated as part of a warm,caring community. While we chant Kiddush andlight candles to honor Shabbat and holidays inour homes, greeting friends and family afterservices on Rosh Hashanah and catching up onthe latest family news are an important part of holiday ritual for many. Standing in a sanctuaryfilled with Torah scrolls dressed in their whitecoverings and listening to the Chazzan chant theKol Nidre is not an experience that can beduplicated in our homes. Enjoying the celebrationof the Torah on Simchat Torah, including theunrolling of a Torah in its complete length andglory, is not an experience that can be sharedexcept in the synagogue. As we continue to learnand celebrate together, I look forward to greetingour entire school community on November 7
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atour first Shabbat Yachad which will take place atour synagogue in Cranston.November CalendarNovember 1, 3 Regular ClassesNovember 7 Shabbat YachadNovember 8 No classesNovember 10 Regular ClassesNovember 15 Regular Classes until 11:30followed by GroundbreakingNovember 17 Regular ClassesNovember 22 Regular Classes, Torat TotsNovember 24 Regular ClassesNovember 29 No ClassesDecember CalendarDecember 1 Regular ClassesDecember 5 Shabbat YachadDecember 6 No ClassesDecember 8 Regular ClassesDecember 13 Family ProgramDecember 15 Regular ClassesDecember 20 Regular Classes, Torat TotsDecember 22 Regular ClassesDecember 27, 29 No Classes
Librarian’s Corner
by Laura Steele, Torat Yisrael Librarian
Anita Diamant has written a new book called
Day After Night.
In her compulsively readable latest, shesketches the intertwined fates of several young women refugees at Atlit, a British-run internment campset up in Palestine after WWII. There's Tedi, a Dutch girl who hid in a barn for years before being turnedin and narrowly escaping Bergen-Belsen; Leonie, a beautiful French girl whose wartime years in Paris arecloaked with shame; Shayndel, a heroine of the Polish partisan movement whose cheerful facade hides atortured soul; and Zorah, a concentration camp survivor who is filled with an understandable nihilism. Thedynamic of suffering and renewed hope through friendship is the book's primary draw, but an eventualescape attempt adds a dash of suspense to the astutely imagined story of life at the camp: the waryrelationship between the Palestinian Jews and the survivors, the intense flirtation between the youngpeople that marks a return to life. Diamant opens a window into a time of sadness, confusion andoptimism that has resonance for so much that's both triumphant and troubling in modern Jewish history.It is a memorable book which I encourage you to look at.
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