The Bulletin of Temple Beth Sholom, May 2004

TEMPLE BETH SHOLOM May 2004 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Rabbi's Message 2 President's Message 3 Executive Director's Message 4 Ambassador Dennis Ross/ Annual Meeting 5 Las Vegas Zimriyah 6 Men's Club 7 Religious School 8 Cemetery Cont'd 10 L'Dor V'Dor 11 Torat Hayim 12 Donations B'nai Mitzvahs 14 Under the Dome 16 Family Shabbat Dinner 17 School Fundraiser 18 Calendar of Events 23 Schedule of Services 24 Temple Beth Sholom is a Conservative Congregation affiliated with The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Temple Beth Sholom THE BULLETIN lyar-Sivan 5764 Vol. 4, No. 5 TBS IN NEW CEMETERY ARRANGEMENT At the last Board meeting the Board approved a plan to reinvigorate the cemetery and funeral opportunities for Temple Beth Sholom members. For many years TBS has owned plots in the Woodlawn Cemetery. The character of the neighborhood has improved strikingly over the past five years, to the point where it is again become an attractive and safe area. The operation of the cemetery has been recently taken over by Bunkers, and for the past year a committee comprised of President Jeff Zucker, Rabbi Goodman, Ruth Goldfarb, Mel Wolzinger and Executive Director Robert Mirisch have had numerous meeting with Bunkers and other ceme-tery operators in Las Vegas to determine how TBS can best serve the congregation in this important area. The committee examined various possibilities, including the purchase of existing facilities, the creation of an entirely new facility and the upgrading of the plots already owned by TBS. After fully considering the costs, time line, operational issues, halachic issues and practicalities, the committee recommended to the Board that we put to best use the over 1000 plots (Cont'd on page 10) TBS ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULED Temple Beth Sholom will have its Annual Congregational Meeting at 7 PM on May 10. All members are encouraged to attend. This is your chance to become informed about the management of the synagogue over the past year and the plans being considered for the year to come. A slate of Direc-tors will be proposed and voted on, filling the openings and vacancies which will occur by reason of term expiration and unfilled seats being filled. Present Board members who are standing for reelection are: Bob Fischer, Barbara Kenig and Morris "Moe" Menasche. Being proposed as new Board members are: David Steinberg and Josh Pianko. (See Page 5 for bios.) Treasurer Teri Thienhaus will present a financial report and answer ques-tions from the floor. Participate in the process, come to the Annual Meeting. (Cont'd on page 5) 2?Rabbi's Message Sanctifying The New and Renewing The Sacred Rabbi Felipe Goodman In The Torah Portion of Emor we find a law observed in connection with Pesach which commands: "until that very day. . . . you shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears (the new crop)... (Lev. 23:14)." This law refers to the prohibition of eating new grain, called hadash until the "waving of the Omer" on the 2nd day of Passover. The reason seems to be that new things are forbid-den until they have received God's blessing. This is important for us to study specially during this time of the year. Shavuot is coming, the time of the giving of The Torah by God to The Children of Israel and when it comes to understand-ing the Torah sometimes it is necessary to read it in our own terms and not like our ancestors did over two thousand years ago. This law reflects the innate reluctance of people to accept innovation. History tells us that the new must fight a long hard battle until it is sanctified by usage. Looking back over history we see numerous instances where the new was at first opposed, then belittled, and ultimately accepted, but only after a long struggle. When Ben Franklin discovered that lightning was a form of elec-tricity, he sent a paper to be read fro him by a friend before the Royal Society in London. This friend reported that it was "laughed at by the connoisseurs." In 1837, Rowland Hill pro-posed a postage stamp for Great Britain instead of cash pay-ments made on delivery made by the recipient; the postmaster general, Lord Richfield, declared the idea "entirely repugnant to reason." Rachel Carson, who warned against the disastrous effects of DDT and other insecticides, was laughed at as a prophet of doom. And innovative artists, musicians, and writers must often struggle against the accepted criteria of taste before they win recognition, and their innovations become accepted. If in other fields, progress meets strong opposition, in the field of religion it is doubly difficult to introduce innovations. There is a widespread feeling that the "old time religion" is the only true religion; anything new is suspect. Some Jews regard Judaism as genuine only when it is identical with the religion lived and prac-ticed by generations past. One 19th century rabbi coined the phrase hadash asur min ha-Torah, anything new is forbidden by the Torah. This view is found not only among punctiliously ob-servant Jews, but among some Jewish intellectuals (and others who are not so intellectual) who consider only the Judaism of the past to be authentic. Since they themselves cannot accept un-critically the beliefs, laws and customs of Judaism of the past, they reject all of Judaism. But they are wrong! The yashan, the old, and the hadash, the new; tradition and change are compati-ble. For as in all other areas of human life, change does take place within religion-even though it may be much more slowly. Most people aren't aware that many things that we consider to be yashan are in truth, hadash. We picture our ancestors danc-ing with Torahs on Simhat Torah, but there is no reference to Simhat Torah in the Bible or the Talmud (the Siddur still calls the holiday Shemini Atzeret). It was not until the Middle Ages that Simhat Torah began to develop as a day with customs and prac-tices of its own. Kaddish, Yizkor, and Yahrzeit all developed during the Middle Ages. The beautiful Kabbalat Shabbat was introduced in the 16th century in Safed. And the late Friday eve-ning service itself came into being in the 19th century. When the Bat Mitzvah ceremony was instituted, it was considered revolu-tionary. But the Bar Mitzvah ceremony, itself, was introduced only a few centuries ago. Do you realize the magan David, the six-pointed star, was not considered Jewish symbol until 1897, when the Zionist Con-gress adopted it for its blue and white flag? The magan David was hallowed by the blood of Jewish martyrs, forced by Hitler to wear the yellow star identifying them as Jews. New Jewish holi-days have been introduced in the past few decades. Yom Ha- Shoah commemorating the Holocaust, was introduced only a few short decades ago, and we celebrate another new holiday, Yom Ha-atzma'ut, Israeli Independence Day. Several years ago a young counselor at Ramah, excitedly preparing for a year in Israel asked my wife, "Did you also go to Israel to study when you were a student?" To which she replied, "when I was a stu-dent, there was no Israel!" How many of us give a second thought to the fact that within the lifetime of so many of us sitting in this congregation there was no State of Israel, much less a holiday celebrating its independence. There has been much hadash-innovative growth in Jewish life. And much that is yashan, has lost importance, and even van-ished. Animal sacrifice, once a large part of our ritual, is no longer a part of Judaism; nor is the Temple itself. The Siddur and the Mahzor have contained many prayers that have been dropped or shortened because the service was getting too long. A study of the history of Judaism would clearly demonstrate that God is the God of both the yashan and the hadash. The Torah does not oppose the hadash simply because it is new. "There are two kinds of fools," a wit once remarked, "one says "this is old; therefore it is good." The other says, "this is new; therefore it is bad." However, Jewish history does teach us to be careful about re-placing values and rituals built so laboriously by the generations that preceded us. It also teaches us the need, when changing, to maintain a sense of continuity with the past. Here in our syna-gogue we do not change merely for the sake of changing. Each change is examined o determine whether it will truly enhance our services or the Jewish life of our congregants. If it serves to make our Judaism more attractive, more inspiring, and more creative-then we consider it worthy of receiving God's blessing and we work to make it an integral part of Jewish life. Our efforts are in the spirit indicated by the late Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Kook, who said: "Sanctify the new, and renew the sacred." And "renewing the sacred" represents as great a challenge as does "sanctifying the new". For Judaism has accumulated nu-merous practices and beliefs, which may have contributed, in their day, to making Jewish life meaningful, but may now (Cont'd on page 6) President's Message?3 L'Dor V'Dor By Jeff Zucker We at TBS have been fortunate in the past few months to have substantially increased our endowed funds. These gifts have come both from new and long-time members, from young and old, from life-time gifts and from bequests. They have ranged from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of dol-lars. So why should I be so excited? At current interest rates even a $100,000 endowment will not even earn $5,000. Wouldn't it be better just to use all of that money for current expenses? In the short run, the answer is obviously "yes." However, we at TBS can't think about only the short run. Our Tem-ple has been around for almost 60 years and hopefully will be here for a lot more than another 60. However, if we are to do so and continue to contribute to the Las Vegas Jewish community we cannot rely only on annual fundraising. First of all, annual fundraising is subject to many factors beyond our control. As an example, a few years ago contributions substantially dropped as a result of the economic fallout of 9-11. At the same time the need of our members for scholarships and reduced dues increased. In addition to pro-viding support in bad economic times, however, endowments will also allow us to do much more than we otherwise could. Even in the best of times there is only so much that we can expect from current giving. We do a lot at TBS. In just the last month, in addition to all the regular activities we had the Trial of Abraham, the Cantors' concert and the Chaplin lecture with Dennis Ross, not to mention sev-eral Seders and other Passover activities. Unfortunately, we are up against the limit. Our funds and the staff they support can only do so much. It will be hard to add new programs or expand existing programs no matter how much demand or need there is. While increased membership will bring addi-tional revenue, it also brings increased needs. Only a strong endowment will allow us to be all that we can and must be. Indeed, if you look at some of the most famous non-profit organizations in the United States, what allows them to be at the top is the fact that they have a base of support which goes be-yond current giving. This does not mean that we can ignore current giving. Even at the Harvards and Yales of the world, current giving is essential. But it is not enough. L'Dor V'Dor is not a slogan. It is the essence of Judaism. Our religion, our culture, our beliefs have been passed on and developed through millen-nia. We cannot all be scholars and find new meaning in the Torah or artists who write new prayers for our services. We can, however, make sure that all of our teachings and culture are passed on to and developed by generations we have yet to imagine. I thank all of those who have started us on this path and look forward to their being joined by many others. May 2004 4?Executive Director's Message MEMORY MEANS A LOT By Robert Mirisch There are two movies out now that, in part, have to do with memory, "Fifty First Dates" (with Adam Sandler, which I've seen) and a Jim Carrey movie with a long title (which I haven't seen). From the leads in these films one would think that memory is a laughing matter - but it isn't. The value of mem-ory is incalculable. Stop for a moment and think what your life would be like if you lost all or part of your memory (God forbid). Well, we have just learned that TBS will be losing an important part of its corporate memory. After more than seven years on the job Helene Rosen is leaving TBS and Las Vegas. For her it is wonder-ful. After having lost her husband, Moe, three years ago, Helene has found a wonderful man to share the rest of her life with. Efraim Volkovitch is whisking Helene away on the wings of Southwest Airlines to Phoenix and a life of comfort, travel, love and SHOPPING. It is everything that Helene deserves (and I am sure hoped for). Here is a movie worth seeing, a romance that bloomed in the desert about two refuges from the cold of Toronto. Here is a happy new beginning for a woman who has served this Temple very well for a very long time. She has been a rock, for whom working at TBS was much more than a job. TBS became her family after Moe's death. Her life revolved around the friends she made here and her endless attention to the financial details of this synagogue. She knew and knows the nuances of people's involvement with TBS, not merely the cold numbers relating to them. She is able to use her relationship with our mem-bers in the most positive way for both the member and the shul, thus increasing the efficiency of the financial operations of the shul and making things easier for our members. Her memory is staggering; from years ago she recalls the details of situations which predate many of the staff of TBS and which make huge differences in how to deal with a situation. That memory will be gone. It is irreplaceable. It is as though seven years of details were deleted from your personal computer. So we face the future without Helene in a schizoid way. We celebrate her new found happiness and, of course, we wish her a life time of joy and love. For ourselves, we will have the memory of a woman dedicated to the Temple's mission of providing a spiritual home for the Jews of Las Vegas based on a sound fiscal footing, and the hope that we find someone else who will care as much about the job as Helene has. Mazel Tov, Helene, we love you. Ambassador Dennis Ross/Annual Meeting - 5 ROSS FILLS THE HOUSE On April 21, Ambassador Dennis Ross filled the TBS Sanctuary to overflowing. About 500 people, anxious to hear the Untied States' foremost expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, came to hear Ross' views on the stalled peace negotiations and on the Iraqi situation. He did not disappoint. Speaking without prepared text, Ambassador Ross gave his analysis of why he expects U.S. involvement in Iraq to last 5 to 10 years. While he was uncertain of our entry into the war, he said that there is no alternative to seeing it through. He worries that we may see increased violence immediately following the turnover of control to the Iraqi governing entity on June 30. With respect to the situation in Israel, he laid the blame for the current collapse of the peace effort and "the state of war" that now exists firmly at the feet of Yasser Arafat. He indicated that as long as Arafat sees the unrest as protecting his control, the unrest will continue, notwithstanding the fact that there are moderate Palestinians with whom progress toward peace could be made. "If you really want to be there for Israel," Ross said, "you need to go there and with your presence show them that you are with them." Ambassador Ross was introduced by TBS member and popular LV talk show host Alan Stock. Ross' lecture was sponsored by the Shirley and Sidney Chaplin Lecture Series. (Cont'd, from Page 1) Candidate Bios: Bob Fischer?is currently serving as Second Vice-President of the TBS Board of directors. He was first elected to the Board in 2001. He is the owner of Ethan Allen Home Interiors Las Vegas. Bob and his wife Suriva are the parents of twin 5-year old daughters, Sloan and Skylar. David Steinberg?is a founder, along with his father Dr. Leon Steinberg of Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging. David has been involved with Temple Beth Sholom since childhood. He has con-tinually been an active member of our congregation. He and his wife, Betsi, have two children, Ari, 12 , who will become a Bar Mitzvah in November and Elie, 10, who attends TBS Religious School. Josh Pianko?is a Financial Advisor and partner of Mike Novick at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. For the past three years he has been active in the Gala Committee and instrumental in the Silent Auction. Josh is married to Jessica Mallin and has a one year old daughter, Sayde. Morris "Moe" Menasche?is semi-retired. He previously was an executive with Super Pawn; cur-rently he serves as a Board Member of Super Pawn and as a consultant. Moe has been a member of TBS for the past twelve years. He has been active in Men's Club and worked on the High Holiday Committee. He has served as a volunteer in Israel with SAR-EL. Moe has been serving on the TBS Board for the last few months as an appointed member. Barbara Kenig?was first appointed to the Board in May 2003. She is currently Chairman of the Pub-licity and Public Relations Committee. She is the co-founder of the public relations firm, In The Public Eye Barbara has been active in L'Dor V'Dor. She is married to Howard and has a 17 year old son, Jay. May 2004 6?Las Vegas Zimriyah Youth Chorale gramming!" Temple Beth Sholom Features Service Composed by Kids. Las Vegas Zimriyah Youth Chorale performs a Shabbat Service May 7th. For the first time, music composed entirely by children will be sung to the Friday night lit-urgy, when the Las Vegas Zimriyah Youth Chorale sings the music of The Eliana Project Children's Service on Friday evening, May 7th at Temple Beth Sholom's 7:30P.M. Shabbat service. "This is the only service in the world where the music is completely composed by children," explained Susan Vex, musical director of the choir. "We will eventually record a CD, putting Temple Beth Sholom at the forefront of creative music pro- The Children's Service, or as it has been named affection-ately, The Eliana Project, (after Eliana Stromberg who in-spiried the program) is the first program of its kind in Las Vegas, and around the country. Congregants attending Temple Beth Sholom have sung (prayed) Eliana's version of the Mi Chamocah for the past year. The songs, names and ages of the composers are as fol-lows: Nigun Shabbat Shalom: Hannah Novick, age 6; L'chu N'ranena and Yismichu Ha-Shamayim: Justine Levy, age 12; Yismichu Ha-Shamayim: Sydney Heller, age 9; Yis-michu Ha-Shamayim and Hashkevenu: Jackie Honig, age 13; Rommemu and Mi Chamocah: Eliana Stromberg, age 14; Havu L'adonai: Justin Thuna, age 12; L'cha Dodi: Han-nah Rodis, age 12; Barchu and Oseh Shalom: Harrison Rodis, age 8; Ahavat Olam and Shabbat Ha-malkah: Elyse Davis, age 10; Y'Shamru: Zachary Mirman, age 8; and Adon Olam: Maddie Lapping, age 10. Also working on compositions for The Eliana Project are Ashley and Chelsea Levin, age 12, and Joshua Mirman, age 6. The Las Vegas Zimriyah Youth Chorale is an all city choir for Jewish youth between the ages of 6 and 16. Sponsored by Temple Beth Sholom. The choir is open to all Jewish children, regardless of synagogue affiliation. For further information on the Las Vegas Zimriyah Youth Chorale, or the Eliana Project Children's Service, contact Carol in the Temple office at 804-1333. (Cont'd from page 2) obscure the basic elements of Judaism for the modern Jew. As Conservative Jews, we feel ourselves custodians of a sacred tradi-tion, but we must employ the same cautious yet daring approach used by the curators of the London national Gallery who several years ago advocated that painting by the Old Masters be cleaned by a newly discovered process. To this suggestion there were shocked cries of "sacrilege." Many seemed to consider the very grime that had accumulated through the ages to be an essential part of the pictures. Nevertheless, the pictures were cleaned, the grime removed, and new beauty-formerly obscured-was re-vealed. This is what we try to keep in mind as we approach the renewal of Jewish life. We try to distinguish between the dust of the ages and the living Jewish faith. But, as traditional Jews, in at-tempting to remove this dust, we are ever on our guard not to wreak irreparable damage on the picture of Judaism by removing its paint with a too vigorous cleaning. We pray that we will, in the years ahead, continue to labor at "Sanctifying the new" while at the same time "renewing the sacred" in our lives and in those of our children. April was a busy month with everyone participating in Passover Seders and munching Matzot. Likewise, the TBS Men's Club had a number of activities in April to keep us busy. On Saturday, April 3 we celebrated Men's Club Shabbat. Many members took part in the service and red yarmulkes were in evidence through-out the sanctuary. On April 14, we had our monthly meeting where we began to make administrative plans for upcoming year. Yom Hashoah was Monday, April 19 and remembered by lighting Sunday evening the yellow memorial candles mailed to the entire congregation by the Men's Club . Finally, please note the two AED (Automatic External Defibrillators) located in boxes beside the small chapel entrance and in the large social hall. These were sponsored by the Men's Club and are as mentioned in the media, are quickly becoming the standard in all airplanes, sport facilities and virtually all areas where people gather. May will begin to gradually wind down our year (July 1 through June 30) but we still have some exciting offerings for the Men's Club as well as the entire congregation. Sunday, May 16 - 9:30 AM - Men's Club Meeting - Following minyan, we will have a complimentary breakfast for Men's Club Members and Minyanaires (PLEASE CALL THE OFFICE TO RSVP FOR THE BREAKFAST!!) fol-lowed by our monthly TBS Men's Club meeting. This is an extremely important meeting, as we will be vot-ing on By-Law changes and an officer slate for the upcoming year. Also, Jerry Katz will be presenting a short film entitled "One Family." We should finish in plenty of time to head to the next event (see below). Sunday, May 16 - Noon - Men's Club sponsored "ALL TEMPLE MEM-BERS" "51 's" Baseball Outing. This will be an afternoon game at Cash-man Field. The tickets will run $12 and will be GREAT!! - behind home plate and under the awning!! Rabbi Goodman will roll the first pitch to-wards home plate. Please contact the Temple office as soon as possible to order your tickets. Any other questions, contact Don Kirschenblatt. June thru October - Weekly Softball Games - Jeff "Coach" Michelman is finalizing the roster for the TBS Men's Club sponsored softball team. Personalized caps and shirts are being ordered and the season should start in June. We'll list the game times and locations (all local) in the May bulletin. Everyone is invited to bring their kids, grandkids, etc to cheer on our tremen-dously talented team. Looking forward to seeing many of you at these activities. Men's Club now numbers almost 100 strong. Any Temple member who would like to become involved please contact the Temple Office and one of the Men's Club officers will be in touch with you. May 2004 8?Religious School/ Midrasha Our Students Find Post-Bnai Mitzvah Studies Exciting at Temple Beth Sholom's Midrasha Program W11D T ? Midrash root = darash = to seek out, to inquire nuiim T T Midrasha = a place to seek out to inquire In Judaism, the word midrash is from the root darash. It is the term used for the interpretive study of To-rah. For our post b'nai mitzvah students, it is about the profound and meaningful interpretive study and story of the journey of their lives! Yes! Jewish learning is lifelong. And we are so proud of our post b'nai mitzvah students who have dis-covered that Bar and Bat Mitzvah is not the door out of Jewish learning, but the door in to wonderful be-ginnings. Stretching, wrestling, challenging, and growing! Temple Beth Sholom's efforts as a United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (USCJ) "Framework for Excellence School" includes an exciting and dynamic post bnai mitzvah program called Midrasha. Stu-dents seek out and explore a variety of Jewish topics and values through experiential and hands-on learning. Highlights include: ? Exploring Jewish identity and history; ? Learning about our four connections to Israel: the physical land, the emotional ideal, our intellectual ancestral history, and our spiritual center through current events and personal journeys; ? Examining the Shoah in the context of choices made by individuals victims, perpetrators, bystanders, and rescuers; ? We are history. Applying Jewish values to our choices to participate in the lives of others. Plans for the program's expansion are underway with the hopes that it will eventually grow to support area students through 12th grade. Registration for next year is currently being accepted. Recently, Midrasha students explored the Shoah and completed a torn-paper collage Yom HaShoah Memorial. Tearing symbolizes a link to our mourning traditions as well as the acknowledgment and sym-bol of pain caused by man's inhumanity to man. Students were not permitted to speak during the time they were creating their project. And now a word from our 7th through 9th grade Midrasha students themselves: Religious School/Midrasha ?9 From Evan Savar Midrasha, what do you think of when I say Midrash? Midrash is the process of making a story. Which is exactly what my classmates and I are doing. We are creating our life story by participating in our Jewish community. Most people think that when they are finished with their Bar or Bat Mitzvah, their Hebrew school education is done. Well it should be the complete opposite. Your B'nai Mitzvah should be the beginning of your new education as an adult, not the end. Not to mention this isn't your average Hebrew school class. I mean what type of class do you go to Starbucks for a lesson? Yasher ko'ach... Again keep learning. Make the Jewish chain stronger -Evan Savar From Carlie Sanders Come join our Midrasha class! We do lots of cool things like: crafts, discussing our opinions, torah study, and lots more! We also get snack and drinks. We can expand on these ideas as the class gets bigger. So tell all of your Jewish friends to join the Midrasha class at Temple Beth Sholom. TODAY!!! -Carlie Sanders From Gil Hayon Would you or your kid like to be involved in Midrasha? We are looking for some new classmates to join us in our fun activities involving the Torah, life, current events, projects, holidays, and other fun things. So bring all of your Jewish friends to the Midrasha. We have a lot of fun doing activities, talking about life, opinions on everything, Torah discussion and study, and community service projects. This is the most fun Hebrew School class EVER!!!! Jewish Pride!!!!!! -Gil Hayon From Aaron Merkin I go to Midrasha class because it is fun. We do projects on the week's Torah parashah (portion), we talk about Jewish related news, and do projects on upcoming holidays. Like today we made pictures out of torn-paper and aluminum foil. These pictures were in honor of Yom HaShoah. We tore the paper in the pictures to symbolize the tearing of clothing after a loved one dies. If you are an after bar or bat mitzvah than you want to come to this class. You get to be with your friends while continuing your Jewish education in a fun and creative way. The teacher, Mrs. Cindy Fox, is really cool. She always has a fun way to learn something that I thought was really boring before. In conclusion, you should come to Midrasha class to continue your Jewish education in not such a boring way. -Aaron Merkin If you would like to have more information about our exciting Midrasha program please don't hesitate to contact me or Cindy Fox. B'vracha Ayelet Blit May 2004 - 10?Cemetery/Preschool (Cont'd from page 1) we already own at Woodlawn. Having made that determination, the committee negotiated with Bunkers and we are now in a position where the cost of the cemetery plot and the mortuary services for TBS mem-bers will be approximately one-third less then such services are currently being offered by other cemeteries and mortuaries in Las Vegas. Rabbi Goodman enthusiastically supports the new arrangement. "With the plans we have and the coop-eration of Bunkers we are assured that all arrangements at Woodlawn will be halachically acceptable. Since TBS owns the plots itself, Woodlawn is the only operational cemetery where a family can rest as-sured that it will always be Jewishly maintained and never have the character of the hallowed ground changed from Jewish control." Bunkers will be scheduling advisory seminars here at TBS periodically. Your pre-need concerns will be addressed, and Bunkers will provide counseling sessions on our premises as events require. TBS will be doing all it can to make these difficult times less stressful for it members both emotionally and financially. When the Bunker seminars are announced, please come and find out about all the advantages you will re-alize by utilizing these new arrangements. Plots at Woodlawn in the TBS owned area will be available to non-member Jews, however they will not be entitled to the savings afforded to TBS members. The Preschool has had a very busy month. On April 2, 2004, the Preschool celebrated a Passover Se-der catered by Gustav. It was attended by over 240 people. A special thank you to all the volunteers and teachers for their help in making this a very joyous occasion. We also have our "Tallit Fundraiser" this month and our Family Shabbat Dinner on June 4. See our flyers in this edition. "1 L'Dor V'Dor?11 L'DOR V'DOR'S PASSOVER PANTRY CONTINUES TRADITION OF GOODWILL Forty-seven families were able to observe and enjoy Passover this year, thanks to the efforts of L'Dor V'Dor, The Men's Club, The Women's League and members of Temple Beth Sholom. More than 35 volunteers packed Kosher for Passover food baskets that included matzo, gefilte fish, chicken, vegetables, potato pancakes, chicken soup mixes, and other traditional items associated with the Jewish holiday. Volunteers who took time out of their hectic sched-ules to assemble and deliver baskets included: Gloria Bransky, Doug Dixon, Wendy Feldman, Adam Frye, Joey Frye, Jacquie Frye, Marc Frye, liana Goldman, Roz Goldman, Hazel Handelman, Jacqueline Honig, Sheryl Honig, Carol Jeffries, Barbara Kenig, Rosalie Lazer, Debbie Lederer, Ashley Levin, Chelsea Levin, Louis Levin, Wendy Malnek, Blanche Meisel, Audrey Merkin, Eunice Merkin, Aaron Merkin, Ellen Merkin, Sarah Memar, Kim Memar, Alex Memar, Tami Miller, Susan Sanders, liana Shapiro, Marci Seltzer, Ed Selt-zer, Stern and Bernadine Zaben. Baskets were delivered on Sunday April 4th, just in time to cook Passover dinner. Generous donations by: Bob & Lovee Arum, Stan & Audrey Abramow, June Colodny, Sidney & Shirley Chaplin, Cindy Fox, Jacquie & Marc Frye, Carolyn & Morris Gertz, Edie & Irwin Gold berg, Ruth Goldfarb, Rabbi Felipe Goodman, Joel Goot, Dr. Jack & Pat Kane, Ron & Barbara Kirsch, Henry & Lil Kronberg, Yvette & Ellis Landau, Ron & Judy Mack, Phil & Blanche Meisel, Moe & Kathy Menasche, Audrey Merkin, Hal & Dee Ober, Renee Premack, Ed & Marci Seltzer, David & Lara Stone, the Men's Club of TBS, the Women's League of TBS, Brett Morgan & Doreen Lewis, and Hazel Handelman made it possible to bring Passover dinner to Jewish families throughout the Las Vegas Valley. "With all the activity at the Temple, and the increased need, it was more of a challenge this year," explained Passover Pantry project chairman Audrey Merkin. "We received names of needy families from Jewish Family Services, who nearly doubled their request from last year, and we em-bellished this year's baskets by adding more items." Among the recipients of Passover food baskets were homebound seniors, and underprivileged families, including two homeless families staying with friends. Contributions are bein