December 2014 - Temple Beth Shalom

.
.
.
Temple Beth Shalom
December 014/5775
Volume 5, Issue 1
Inside this Issue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
From the Bima: Dennis
Jones, Student Rabbi
President’s Message
TBS Sunday School
Announcements and
Schedule
Sisterhood Corner and
Brotherhood
Life Cycle Events
Temple Beth Shalom
Event Calendar
Harriet Sederholm
Scholarship Foundation
Special Events and
Announcements
Temple Board of Directors
Temple Member Business
Directory
Temple Beth Shalom
P.O Box 9142
Hickory, North Carolina 28603
www.hickoryjewishcenter.com
From the Bima:
Our Rabbi’s
Message
Is Hanukah the “Jewish
Christmas”?
Here it is again, that time of
year when many of my wellmeaning Christian friends will
ask, “Hanukah; isn’t that like
the Jewish Christmas?” Now, I
know these friends are only
expressing an interest in my
faith and a concern about
things that are important to
me, but how can I politely tell
them that there is almost no
similarity between Hanukah
and Christmas other than
occurring at about the same
time of year. In reality, the
one major similarity the
holidays do share would not
be considered a good thing by
many people. Christmas is the
birthday of the central figure of
the Christian faith and object
of their worship. One might
say that without Christmas
there would be no Christianity.
Judaism has no such central
figure. Hanukah, by
comparison, is a relatively
minor religious celebration
commemorating the cleansing
or rededication of a holy
place. It was, for centuries
celebrated very simply by just
the lighting of candles and
saying of prayers. In fact,
most people are not aware
that Hanukah is not even
mentioned in the Hebrew
Bible. It does not rank among
the major observances like
the Sabbath, Passover,
Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah,
Yom Kippur and Sukkot, each
of which is commanded
several times in the Torah
itself. Hanukah’s first mention
in Jewish sources is in the
books of First and Second
Maccabees. These two books
were not included in the
Hebrew canon of scripture,
but are assigned to a
collection of writings known as
the Apocrypha or
Pseudepigrapha.
To understand the meaning of
Hanukah, we need to
understand and appreciate
the importance of God’s
promise that a particular
parcel of real estate would
become the permanent
possession of Abraham and
Sarah and their descendants.
Through time that particular
piece of land, located in the
Middle East, became more
and more integrated into the
faith and beliefs of Abraham’s
descendants. Once Israelite
control of Jerusalem was
consolidated under kings
David and Solomon, a
particular mountain in the city
became the focal point of
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jewish prayer and worship.
Solomon built the first Temple
there. That Temple was later
destroyed by the Babylonians.
Under Ezra and Nehemiah,
several thousand Jews return
from Babylonian exile to build
a second Temple which once
again became the focus of
Jewish worship. In about 333
before the Common Era
(B.C.E.), Alexander the Great,
a Greek, was able to conquer
large portions of the Middle
East and beyond. The city of
Jerusalem was among his
conquests. Now, in general,
Alexander proved to be a
benevolent ruler. He allowed
the Jews to carry on with their
religion and customs with a
relative degree of freedom.
When Alexander died in 323
B.C.E., he had no heir, so his
empire was divided among
four of his top generals. The
Seleucids controlled the
northern part of the Middle
East, often known as Syria,
while the Ptolemies controlled
Egypt and the Southern
Levant. The two powers
warred back and forth often
for possession of that area of
the Levant which has become
known at the Holy Land to
Jews and Christians. The
Seleucids consolidated their
control over the area in
around 200 B.C.E., but like
Alexander before them, they
too allowed the Jews to live in
relative freedom to practice
their customs and their
religion. It was not until the
Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV,
came to power in the early
160’s B.C.E that things
changed.
Antiochus played into a civil
strife that had already arisen
among the Jewish people.
Jews had divided into two
hostile factions. One group,
called the Hellenizers, was in
favor of modernization, and by
modernization they meant
conforming to their GreekSyrian overlords by adopting
Greek customs, Greek
names, and Greek dress. The
other group, the
Traditionalists, favored
maintaining the ancient
Jewish ways—the observance
of Sabbath, keeping of the
food laws, keeping the Torah,
and worshiping at the Temple
in Jerusalem. Antiochus took
advantage of this contention
between the Hellenizers and
the Traditionalists by
exploiting their rivalry to
advance his personal
ambitions in the Land of
Israel. Antiochus used his
political authority and military
power to promote Hellenism
and suppress Judaism.
Under his leadership,
Seleucid soldiers sacked the
city of Jerusalem in about 168
B.C.E. They erected a statue
of Zeus in the Holy Temple;
they sacrificed swine, an
unclean animal, on the altar,
and they killed many of the
Traditionalist priests who
resisted this defilement.
Antiochus became so
oppressive that he ultimately
outlawed any expression of
Jewish faith. The study of
Torah, the keeping of the
Sabbath, the keeping of the
dietary laws, and circumcision
were all prohibited, often
under pain of death.
During Antiochus’ campaign,
he or his soldiers would go
from city to city forcing Jews
to bow and offer sacrifices to
a statue of Zeus. The ruler
became so consumed with his
own power and role in history
that he appropriated the
name, Antiochus Theos
Epiphanes, translated,
“Antiochus God Manifest.” It
was in the small Judean town
of Modi’in, just a few miles
northwest of Jerusalem,that a
brave priest named Mattathias
refused to bow before Zeus.
He not only killed the GrecoSyrian soldier enforcing the
regulation, but he and his
sons rallied together and killed
the entire contingent of
solders dispatched to Modi’in.
Knowing that Antiochus would
retaliate brutally, Mattathias
and his five sons, Judah,
Eleazar, Simon, John, and
Jonathan, fled into the hills of
the surrounding Judean
wilderness. There they
attracted an army of likeminded Jewish resistors, who
fashioned themselves into a
guerrilla fighting force. One
year into the fight, Mattathias
died and was succeeded by
his son, Judah, nicknamed
“Maccabeus—The Hammer.”
Though vastly outnumbered
and poorly equipped, these
Jewish guerrillas succeeded
in defeating the Syrian armies
in battle after battle, ultimately
taking back the city of
Jerusalem, including the Holy
Temple and the area
surrounding it. Once the
Temple was back in Jewish
hands, attention was turned to
the problem that the Temple
fallen into disrepair and had
been defiled. Repairs were
quickly made, and a new and
undefiled altar was
constructed. Then, according
to tradition, three years to the
day after Antiochus had
defiled it, on the 25th day of
the Hebrew month of Kislev, a
festival was inaugurated for
the cleansing and
rededication of the holy place.
According to the book of
Maccabees (Chapter 4), the
festival for the dedication of
the Temple lasted eight days.
That is not surprising to
scholars, because when
Solomon built the first Temple,
he chose to dedicate it during
the feast of Sukkoth, an eightday festival. Since the Jews
under Antiochus’ harsh rule
would not have been able to
celebrate the festival of
Sukkoth in the fall, it is only
natural that they would have
wanted to do so, even
belated, as a part of the
Temple’s rededication. It is
not until Talmudic times (300500 C.E.) that we find
reference to the “miracle of
the oil.” The Talmud (Shabbat
21b-23a) tells us that as a part
of the rededication, vessels of
undefiled oil were sought for
the lighting of the menorah.
According to the Torah
(Exodus 27:20-21), the
Temple menorah is to burn
day and night perpetually.
Unfortunately, only one vessel
of oil was found
uncontaminated, about
enough to burn for one day.
Miraculously, that one day’s
supply of oil burned for the
eight days of the dedication—
the time it took for a fresh
supply of kosher olive oil to be
prepared. Josephus, who
also writes in the Roman
period, referred to Hanukah
for the first time as the
“Festival of Lights” (The
Antiquities of the Jews, Book
13, Chapter 7).
Being a post-biblical holiday,
for centuries Hanukah was
celebrated by Jews very
simply with the lighting of a
Hanukiah, a nine candled
menorah used specifically for
Hanukah evenings. Scholars
believe the exchange of gifts
did not begin until relatively
recently when Jews in areas
where Christmas was
celebrated with gift giving
decided that in order to keep
their own children from
becoming jealous they too
would begin to give gifts.
Even so, Hanukah gifts were
quite modest, usually a small
sum of money or Hanukah
“gelt.” It was not until the late
19th and early 20th centuries,
and mostly in America, that
began to change. Dianne
Ashton, professor of Religious
Studies at Rowan University,
in her book, Hanukah in
America (NYU Press, 2013),
has shown how in America
the evolution of Hanukah and
Christmas have gone hand in
hand in many ways. The
growth and development of
both holidays has been fueled
by rapid industrialization and
the resulting blossoming of a
consumer-based economy.
The marketing around both
Christmas and Hanukah,
designed to promote the
consumption of goods, has
led to the popularization of
both holidays that is far
beyond any celebrations that
occurred in previous
centuries. Now, nobody
enjoys the benefits our free
enterprise economic system
more than I; however, I think
most people would agree with
me that the extreme
commercialization of these
holidays has detracted
somewhat from their intended
deeper spiritual meaning.
The name Hanukah is based
on the Hebrew word, chanak
(chet-nun-kaf), which means
“to dedicate.” Remembering
that our ancestors in centuries
past struggled to maintain
their religious freedom and to
rededicate that place
considered most holy to them,
we should rededicate
ourselves to the things that
matter most—faith, love,
justice. There is no doubt
that the observance, prayers,
acts of contrition, and seeking
of forgiveness that occur for
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Jews from Rosh Hashanah to
Yom Kippur are of greater
import biblically and
historically. But, we do have,
during these cold winter
months, an opportunity to
recommit ourselves to the
promises so recently made at
Yom Kippur to uphold the high
moral and ethical standards of
our Jewish faith. It is, in fact,
the pursuit of those values
which, according to the
Hebrew Prophets as echoed
in our Aleinu prayer, will
hasten the knowledge and
sovereignty of the Creator
encompassing the whole
earth. This year, as you
observe your Festival of
Lights, pledge yourself anew
to those values the Prophet
Isaiah (4:6) says will one day
make the Jewish people a
“light to the nations.” Isaiah
records God’s message to us:
“I will make you a light to the
nations, so that my salvation
may reach to the end of the
earth.” Almost incredible to
imagine; isn’t it?!
President’s
Corner
lighting a candle for peace on
earth good will to all.
Barbara Laufer, TBS President
TBS Sunday
school Program
We are fast approaching the
winter solstice and the
“holiday” season.
Marsue Davidson, Sunday school Chair
Hanukah celebrates a
reaffirmation of freedom and a
recommitment to our spiritual
lives. According to the
prophet Zachariah “not by
might, nor by power, but by
my spirit, says the Eternal
One….” So should our focus
be on the miracle of the oil
rather than the military victory
of the Maccabees? With
history as a guide the
Maccabees were equally
zealous against “Hellenistic”
Jews who had assimilated into
Greek culture.
According to the Talmud you
have a choice as to how you
light the candles of the
chanukkiah: 1) according to
Hillel you light the first candle
on the first night and so on; or
2) according to Shammai you
light all candles on the first
night and one less on
subsequent nights to reflect
the diminished supply of oil.
Consistent with Reform
Judaism “take your pick”.
Though I prefer “happy
holidays” as a member of a
minority culture, a growth
issue for me has been to hear
the positive sincerity behind
“merry Christmas”. Let’s all
commit to celebrating the
longest night of the year by
3
TBS Sunday
School
The Sunday school children
and parents are so excited
about the celebration of
Hanukah this month. As a
tradition of the TBS Sunday
school we are sponsoring the
Latka party and invite
everyone and their families to
join us for dinner, bingo,
Hanukah Menorah lighting
and more. Guests with last
initials from A-L please bring a
favorite holiday side dish and
M-Z please bring your favorite
holiday dessert. We will have
a fun filled night of
celebration.
So please join us on
December 20th at 5:00pm.
The children have been
learning about Hanukkah and
the meaning and traditions
during Sunday school. Please
bring your Hanukah
Menorah’s for the
congregational wide lighting.
We look forward to everyone
joining us and sharing this
time
together with the
children of TBS.
Temple Beth Shalom
Event Calendar
2014/2015
December 2014 hosted by
Sandy and Linda Guttler
th
19 at 7:00pm TOT
SHABBAT
TH
19 7:30pm Evening
Services
th
20 at 10:00am Morning
Services
st
20 at 5:00pm Hanukah
Party sponsored by
Sunday School
January 2015 hosted by
Ron and Marion DuBow
th
9 at 7:00pm TOT SHABBAT
th
9 at 7:30pm Friday night
services
th
10 10:00am Morning
Services
th
11 at 10:30am Sunday
School study about Jewish
Prayer
th
25 Sunday School studying
about Tu-Be Shevat/New
Year for Trees
February 2015 hosted by
Barbara and Larry Laufer
th
6 at 7:00pm TOT SHABBAT
th
6 at 7:30pm Friday night
evening service
th
7 at 10:00am Morning
Service
th
8 at 10:30am Sunday
School studying about Tu-Be
Shevat/New Year for Trees
nd
22 at 10:30am Sunday
School studying about Purim
History and Meaning
March 2015 hosted by
MaryLee and Aaron Tosky
th
6 at 7:00pm TOT SHABBAT
th
6 at 7:30pm Friday night
service
th
7 at 10:00am Morning
Services
th
nd
8 and 22 at 10:30am
Sunday School studying
about Passover
A Caring
Community:
If something is happening in
your life, or the life of one of
our members, that would
benefit from support from
Temple Beth Shalom, please
contact Lin Gentry, President
of our Sisterhood (828-3255838). Our community is here
to offer prayer, nourishment,
transportation,
companionship, and to fulfill
other needs in time of illness,
mourning, or any other
moments where a helping
hand and open heart can
make a difference.
You are invited to visit the
Temple website
Hickoryjewishcenter.com.
Future rabbi weekends and
Temple bulletin deadlines are
listed on the last page.
Special Events…
Save the Date! For the TBS
Hanukah Party sponsored by
the TBS Sunday School. As a
tradition at TBS, the students
and parents of TBS celebrate
Hanukkah together and invite
all the temple members and
guests to join them on
Saturday, December 20th at
5:00pm. Homemade latkes,
Lox and lots of traditional
Hanukkah dishes will be
served. Music, games and
Bingo will be the evening’s
entertainment. Please save
the date and join us all in this
annual tradition at Temple
Beth Shalom.
Temple Beth
Shalom Life
Cycle Events
Birthdays
Herman Garrick 12/12
Pam Axler 12/12
Hannah Davidson 12/13
Barry Sobotkin 12/16
Ginny Sobotkin 12/18
Andrew Weatherly 12/29
Donnie Powell 12/30
Sarah Peltzer 12/31
Aaron Kane-Eames
12/31
David Jones 1/1
Marsue Davidson ½
Werner Locke Cohn 1/4
Stephen Davidson 1/5
Liz Correll 1/7
Alice Guy 1/12
Sarah Shugar 1/16
Jaimi Jones 1/20
Deane Yelton 1/21
Rachel Igdal 1/25
Madeleine Guy 1/25
Anniversaries
Richards 12/17
Laufer 12/28
Faruque 1/6
Sobotkin 1/31
Yahrzeits
Herman Davis 12/12
Helene Tiber 12/16
Arnold Simons 12/30
Mazal Dayan 1/1
Moses Gitlin 1/10
Gwen Datnoff 1/17
Ida Lippe 1/19
Charles Laufer 1/23
Joe Guttler 1/27
Special Thanks….
Welcome to new member
Walt Alley and thank you for
your donation to Temple Beth
Shalom in honor of your
"Granpa" Roy Bowen.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
Thank you to Margie and
Roland Fox of Mills River
North Carolina, parents of
Robyn Diamond. We greatly
appreciate your very generous
donation to TBS. We enjoyed
sharing this time with you and
your family.
Looking for Something
to Do…
Butterfly Project on Sunday
January 25, 2015. A program
that is age appropriate for 5th12th graders. From 10am-Noon
on January 25.
The Butterfly Project in
Charlotte provides a wonderful
opportunity that we believe will
enhance your Jewish
Education. The Butterfly
Project, located at the Levine
Jewish Community Center,
uses the story of the Holocaust
as a vehicle to teach what can
happen when prejudice,
stereotyping and discrimination
are allowed to flourish. The 2
½ hour workshop includes a
Holocaust survivor’s story, an
artistic, educational, hands-on
project that remembers some of
the 1.5 million Jewish children
who perished in the Holocaust,
and a visit to the Margaret and
Lou Schwartz Butterfly
Garden. Engage in group
discussion that is inspiring
participants to build bridges of
communication, understanding
and respect for all people.
been simplified and only
requires setting up the Kiddush
on Friday nights and tables and
chairs on Saturday.
7:00pm at Davinci's. Please
come join us, we would like to
set a date for a family game
night at temple.
All board members have
volunteered for numerous
weekends but we need your
help and support with the open
weekends. Please contact me
and show your support in our
religious community and
sharing in the responsibilities of
our spiritual weekends,
[email protected]
Also, save the date for the
temple community Seder on
Saturday, April 4 2015.
TBS Sisterhood
Lin Gentry, Sisterhood President
Temple Beth Shalom
Sisterhood is an auxiliary
organization of
multigenerational women
dedicated to family, synagogue,
and community. From the very
beginning, the women of
Temple Beth Shalom
recognized the need for an
organization where women of
all ages, lifestyles and interests
could gather. The dues are
presently $36 per year (SeptJune).
Tiffany Hull, Vice President
We'd like to thank all those
who helped set up for the
Hanukkah fair and all those
who came and
shopped. We're hoping this
will help a little more toward
refurbishing the kitchen.
We still need volunteers to host
TBS spiritual weekends. It has
Our next meeting will be
Wednesday, January 14th at
Hosting at TBS
TBS Brotherhood
Larry Laufer and Ron DuBow
Join the men of TBS at
Colonial Bowling in Hickory on
Wednesday, January 14th at
7:00pm. Bring your bowling
ball, wear your bowling shirts
and enjoy this time of bowling
and comradery.
Harriett Sederholm
Scholarship Fund
Announcement
The Sederholm Scholarship
was established by a longstanding Temple member,
Bert Sederholm to honor his
wife, Harriet, who died shortly
after her retirement from work
in Hickory. Mr. Sederholm
provided the initial funding
that has been added to over
the years. The scholarship is
available to students. Temple
members are looked upon
favorably but one does not
need to be a temple member
or Jewish to apply. The
scholarship fund is fully
invested and the dividends
are used to provide
scholarship awards.
Interested students should
submit an essay explaining
their interests and desire for
scholarship support by June
15, 2015. The essay can be
sent to any of the committee
members:
 Lin Gentry at
 Julie Owens
 Sanford Guttler
Naturally, the committee
encourages anyone to make
a tax-deductible donation to
the Scholarship Fund at any
time and a check can be sent
to Temple Beth Shalom and
earmarked for the Sederholm
Fund.
Temple Board
Barbara Laufer, President
Tiffany Hull, Vice President
Sam Shames, Secretary
Mark Faruque, Treasurer
Members at Large:
 Aaron Tosky
 Liz Correll
 Marsue Davidson
 Robyn Diamond
 Debra Engelmann
 Lin Gentry
 Sandy Guttler
 Pam Jones
 Susan Rieder
 Marion DuBow
Our next board meeting is
scheduled for December 17,
2014 at 7pm. All board
meetings are open to all.
temple members. Please join
us and find out the new and
exciting direction for TBS.
TBS Member
Business
Directory
Dr. Ron Dubow
Internist, Geriatric Specialist
(elderly care), Pediatrician
2651 Morganton Blvd SW
Lenoir, NC 28645
828-757-8950
Dr. Laura Faruque of
Womens View PA
915 Tate Blvd SE
Suite170
Hickory, NC 28602
828-345-0800
Dr. Mark Faruque of
Bethlehem Family Practice
174 Bolick Lane Suite 202
Taylorsville NC 28681
828-495-8226
Marsue Davidson, RN DCS
Unifour Nursing
th
805 W. 25 Street
Newton, NC 28681
828-464-0244
www.unifournursing.net
Robyn Diamond, Certified
Health and Wellness Coach,
Specializing in Digestive
Health and Stress
Management
Michelle Oxenberg Jordon
Managing Director of Design
3166 Main Ave. S.E.
Hickory, North Carolina 28602
828.322.3480 Ext. 271
[email protected]
www.robertabbey.com
Scott and Julie Owens of
Taste Full Bean
nd
29 2 Street NW
Hickory, NC 28601
828-325-0108
www.tastefullbeans.com
Additional Temple
Beth Shalom Service
dates for 2015





April 4th Pesach
sponsored by the
Sisterhood
April 24-25th sponsored
by the Davidson Family
May 15-16th sponsored
by the Laufer family
May 25th Shavuot
sponsor needed
June 19-20th sponsor
needed
843-991-6338
[email protected]
www. HealthHappyYou.com
Professor Gitlin Hebrew
Lessons
th
109 6 Ave NE
Hickory, NC 28601
828-328-9443
Alice Guy of
The Hickory Wine Shoppe
238 Union Square NW
Hickory, NC 28601
828-334-4441
[email protected]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7

Download Report