News

Join us on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 7:30 pm at the Synagogue as we say thank you to our outgoing Board Members and welcome in our new Board Members.

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

BIG NEWS!
Support Temple Beth El with your Amazon.com and Magazine purchases.

Shop Online....and earn $ for Temple Beth El at the same time!!  The links to Amazon.com and to QSP (books, magazines, music) can now be found on our new Fundraising Page.  Just click here and help support Temple Beth El.

Also available on this page is information about SCRIP, a great way to fundraise for Temple Beth El while you're shopping at local merchants.

P.S. If you have any questions please call Lori @ 610.398.8669 or send an email: inkred@aol.com.

Upcoming Events:

• Closing Board Dinner - Tuesday, June 2

More info and Miriam's Memos/Jill's Jottings can be found on the Sisterhood main page!

There are 2 major fundraisers that Sisterhood does during the year in order to raise funds to underwrite our projects and programs. The Sisterhood Calendar/Directory project is one of these fundraisers. Sisterhood puts out a calendar each year for our members and also for the congregation. The entire congregation has the opportunity to participate and or receive a calendar if they so choose. All congregants have the opportunity to become Calendar Patrons. This additional donation helps defray our costs, enabling us to achieve our fundraising goal.

The following information lists ways that you can participate in this project.

New Year Greeting: The greeting will appear in the High Holiday Bulletin. The cost for this greeting is $5.00

Calendar Section:

Patron Listing: Patrons are recognized on our Patron’s page for a $10 minimum donation.
Anniversary Listing: The names and dates appear in a grouping on the appropriate month.
Birthday Listing: The name and date appears in a grouping on the appropriate month.
The cost for the Anniversary and Birthday listings are $1.00 each.
Calendar: Your 2010 Calendar/Directory will be mailed to your home. The cost to purchase the calendar is $18.
Advertising: Place a business ad in our calendar to advertise your business. Prices depend on size of ad placed.

We are thankful to have had over 400 participants supporting our Sisterhood Calendar/Directory project last year. In order to save on paper and postage an entire congregational mailing will not be going out. If you would like to participate in this project and have not received a form in the mail, please contact Jill Steigerwald steiger1@msn.com or Bonnie Hammel 610-391-0191.

USY/Kadima Update and Year End Report…

Our Kadima and USY joined together for a well-attended visit to “The Pig Pen,” in March, where the members enjoyed bowling and the arcade! We’ve also been miniature golfing together at “Putt-U” with great attendance from each group (about 17 people) in April. Many thanks to the parents who chaperoned for Kadima!

Kadima had their second very successful Shul-In with 25 people staying over the first weekend in May! A great variety of programs took place throughout the night – from baking to sports – and judging by the smiles (and yawns) Sunday morning, it was a fabulous evening! Eight members of our USY attended a FANTASTIC Spring Convention in Lancaster, PA during the weekend of May 15-17! We are proud to announce that Noah Diamondstein was elected to the EPA (Eastern Pennsylvania) USY board as Vice-President Israel Affairs! Mazel Tov to Noah and his family – we’re sure he’ll do a great job! We also won an award for the largest Kadima group in the region.

As previously announced, Ethan Simon, our Kadima advisor, is leaving after our last event at Hershey Park on May 31st. We want to thank him for his help these last few years for bringing enthusiasm and creativity to the group! We wish him the best as he continues his education and travels the world! Having said that, we haven’t “missed a beat” in that we are very pleased to announce that Robin Finberg, a member of our congregation, will be assuming the responsibilities for the Kadima program next year! Robin comes with an impressive record of youth involvement in a variety of settings. She worked with youth at the JCC in Scranton, Wilkes Barre, Camp JCC in Allentown and has also been active, with her husband, in the B’nai Brith Youth Organization (BBYO). If you have occasion to see or meet Robin – please welcome her and offer her your support. She has a great number of ideas and we’re confident that she will be a strong addition to our program!

New Bike Rack

We are very excited to inform our membership that the Men’s Club has purchased and installed a bicycle rack in the rear of the building near the kitchen’s parking lot. The bike rack is chained and locked to the lamp post. Bikes or scooters are not permitted to be left in the front of the building or in the vestibules. If anyone uses a scooter (Razors), they should be collapsed and stored in the coat room.

Riding bicycles and scooters to Temple Beth El, and/or “parking” them in our building or on our property, is at the users risk.

The school is not permitting bicycles to be ridden to the synagogue during school time. If this policy changes, Cantor Wartell will inform you.

Thank you to our Men’s Club for this gift!

Features

 The Social Action Committee of Temple Beth El heartily thanks everyone who participated in its varied programs throughout the 2008-2009 year. From food, clothing, book and blood drives to fundraisers for lifesaving anti-malaria nets and services for survivors of terror in Israel to a bike and walking trail cleanup, there was much from which to choose. In these difficult times, it truly was heartwarming to see so many people participate this past year, giving generously of their time, effort and money.

Our Temple Beth El rests on three pillars -- prayer, Torah study and good deeds. Prayer and study would be hollow without putting into action what we have learned. We encourage you to continue to care for others and to commit acts of lovingkindness, gemilut hasidim. We can all be proud of our active participation toward making our world a better place, Tikkun Olam.

These programs would not be possible without volunteers. Please join our committee in May (date to be announced) for a planning meeting for next year’s activities. We welcome and need your participation to continue these successful programs.

Read more about the Social Action Committee.

Dr. Phil Stein
socialaction@templebethelallentown.org
610-653-5231

Monday - Thursday:  9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
         Friday :            9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

The Temple office closes at 3:00 p.m. for Shabbat now that Daylight Standard Time is in effect.

The mosaic Tree of Life has found a beautiful new home in the hallway adjacent to the Social Hall. Leaves on the Tree commemorate happy occasions in the lives of our congregants and memorialize loved ones. The rates for leaves on the tree are $600 for those leaves in the center on the trunk of the tree, and $500 for those on the branches.

A limited number of pew seats are still available. If you made a pledge of $10,000 or more ($5000 for single members) to the capital campaign, you may become a pew seat holder by committing to an additional $125 per seat per year over annual dues. Please contact the synagogue office for more details.

Please Let us Know! 

We Need Your Help

The synagogue is not always notified when congregants are admitted to the hospital. HIPAA laws prevent hospitals from releasing the names of patients.  If you know of a friend or relative in the hospital, please E-mail or phone the Temple so that the Rabbi and Cantor will know.

Another way of notifying the Rabbi or Cantor is to give the hospital our code which is 017. A member of the Temple staff phones the local hospitals every day to check if any of our members are in.

Our Rabbi and Cantor also make many visits to members who are in hospitals, rehabilitation centers or nursing homes.  Please notify the temple office when you or someone you love is in one of these facilities (or is ill and homebound.)

If you have lost a relative, please notify the Temple office so you will receive Yahrzeit notification.

The Photo Gallery has been updated with new pictures from Purim, The Craig Taubman Concert, and the dedication of the Wax Family Auditorium.  Follow the link above to view these photos from our Temple.

Sunday, June 14, 2009 - TBE at the Iron Pigs

August 9, 2009 - TBE Men's Club "Alta Kockers" vs. KI softball game

Visit the Men's Club Page for more information.

If you haven't already, make sure to return the Membership form that you received in the mail.  If you've misplaced it, you can download it here.

Click here for more information so you can share in this Extraordinary Event!!

The Gift shop is now on our summer hours schedule and is open:

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10-12.

If needed, please call to make a personal appointment.
Thanks,

Andy & Jill

Are you looking for a special way to celebrate a baby naming or auf ruf? Do you want a special way to honor a relative or friend’s birthday or anniversary? Would you like to remember a loved one’s Yahrzeit? Please support our Congregation by sponsoring a Friday night Oneg Shabbat or Saturday morning Kiddush luncheon. The following dates are currently available for your sponsorship: June 5, 6, 26 & 27 and July 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 & 31. We also welcome contributions to the Kiddush Fund. Please contact Melanie May, Life Cycle Event Coordinator for more information at (610) 435-3521 or melanie@bethelallentown.org

We will hold a healing service on Thursday June 11th, 7-8pm, in the Temple Beth El Chapel. We will be creating a safe space to bring our pain and our questions and our yearning. This one-hour service will include music, silent meditation, traditional prayers and Torah study. For more information, please contact Rabbi Re’em (610-435-3521) or Rabbi Klein (610-435-3775). This program is co-sponsored by Temple Beth El and Congregation Am Haskalah.

Come and feel the spirit of Shira Chadasha (music Shabbat), on Friday, June 26th, 7:30 p.m. Sing along with the beautiful music (and the Rabbi's guitar) and give Shabbat a real welcome.

A complete list of the JFE activities can be found here.

For more information, please contact Cantor Wartell at: 610-435-3521 or cantor@bethelallentown.org.

Now is your chance! Classes can be held as a group or individually. This is a SUMMER 2009 educational opportunity.

For more information, please contact Cantor Wartell at: 610-435-3521 or cantor@bethelallentown.org

We need 10 people each day to make the minyan. If you can commit to coming one day a week, more or less often, you will be performing an important mitzvah.

Minyan meets on weekdays and holidays at 7:45 a.m. and on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. Come daven with the Rabbi. He’ll be very happy to see you there.

IT’S A SIMCHA MAZEL TOV

Jerry Ginsburg on his “special” birthday.
Rabbi Moshe Re’em competing in the Boston Marathon (26 miles) and finishing in 4 hours 13 minutes.
Jerry Melamut on his “special” birthday.
Gloria & Jerry Ginsburg on the engagement of their granddaughter.
Norma & Jerry Neff on the marriage of their granddaughter, Dana Citarella, and on the engagement of their granddaughter, Emily Citarella.
Judy Plavner on the college graduation of her granddaughter, Amy Plavner, from Tulane University.
Sandy & Jack Schonberger on the Bat Mitzvah of their granddaughter.
Rita & Mike Bloom on the engagement of their daughter, Caren.

Administration

We are organizing a "Provide-a-Ride" service to help congregants who wish to attend services on Friday evenings but cannot drive at night. Many of our older congregants who wish to observe a yahrzeit, or to just enjoy sharing Shabbat services with their Beth El family, can no longer drive at night. We are in the process of compiling a roster of congregants who attend Friday evening services, even if only occasionally, and would be willing to make it possible for a fellow congregant to attend with them. Please call the Temple office at 610-435-3521 to register as a driver if you can provide this valuable service.

Honor or memorialize our loved ones by endowing a tree for $1000 at Beth El Memorial Park.  A permanent marker will be erected by the tree chosen.

Contact Ivan Schonfeld at 610-395-8770.  Other items also available to endow.

Back by popular demand…printed renderings of our sanctuary at 17th Street are available again. The price is $136 each whether matte or gloss finish.

Contact Amy Holtz or the synagogue office to purchase your keepsake picture.

As an egalitarian conservative synagogue, Temple Beth El warmly welcomes interfaith families.  Click here for more information about our current policies.

Keruv means “Bringing Closer.” Another word from the same Hebrew root (krv) is kerovim, family.

The Temple Beth El Keruv Committee was formed in the fall of 2005 with Henry Luftman as Chair in order to better address the needs of our interfaith families.  Click here for more detailed information about this very important Temple effort.

The Keruv Committee warmly welcomes new members, programming suggestions and feedback on its efforts. We invite you to contact Henry or Pat Luftman (610-966-0167) or luftman@ptd.net to become involved in this program.