The Shofar newsletter of Temple Beth Am, August 2001

The House of the People The Shofar Monthly Newsletter of Temple Beth Ant 9001 Hillpointe Road Las Vegas, NV 89134 702-254-5110 Volume I I Number 8 August 2001 EVERY WEEK Shabbat Services Friday 7:30 pm Torah Study Saturday 9:30 am Followed by Traditional Shabbat service at 10:30 am Inside this Issue Torah Walk As many of you already know, our Czechoslovakian Torah was badly in need of repair. A seri-ous fund-raising effort, aided by a Torah Walk conducted by our Religious school students has made it possible for us to call in a Sofair to examine our pre-cious scroll. His decision is that it can be repaired and we have arranged for him to undertake the task. While our Torah may not be ready for the High Holy Days this September, it will soon be back with us. Our entire congregation needs to express it thanks to all those who contributed to the fund that has made this restora-tion possible, including all the regular members of our Satur-day morning Torah Study group who made weekly contribu-tions to this most worthy cause. These are the Religious School students who earned and contributed about $1,000 to the Torah Fund. We are grateful to these wonderful children and their contribution to our Temple. Renew Your Membership 2 Hell Resurrected Rabbinic Reflections 3 YiskorBook Reservations 6 Decision Time Is Now! 7 Onegs 8 2 THE SHOFAR August 2001 Rabbi Mel Hecht, MHL,DD Spiritual Leader Rebbetzen Micki D. Hecht Temple Beth Am Board of Directors EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Larry Steckler President Brian Grill 1st VP Dr. Steve Konowalow 2nd VP Carin Bachant Treasurer Julie Pearlman Recording Secretary Marjorie Present Corresp. Secretary TRUSTEES Gary Bordman Fran Fine Craig Friedberg Geri Lynn Grossan Hazel Gold Mark Rich Allison Berman Education Director Amy Stein Sisterhood Representative Stuart Stein Brotherhood President THE SHOFAR Larry and Lorraine Steckler, Editors Temple Beth Am 9001 Hillpointe Road Las Vegas, NV 89134 702-254-5110 Renew Your Membership?Today Your 2001-2001 dues notice is al-ready in your mailbox. You probably have it at the bottom of your bills to be paid list. Please, don't let it stay there. First off, you can take 10% off the bill if you pay it in full within 30 days. Secondly, unless at least half your total dues are paid, you will not receive tickets for the High Holy Days. Third, you owe it to yourself to help Temple Beth Am to complete the current construction project and get our new facilities into operation. Go get that statement today, place it on top of the pile and get it paid?now. As you have probably noticed, your new dues are higher than they were last year. The Board of Trustees ap-proved a new dues schedule that went into effect with our new fiscal year that began July 1. Here is a closer look at those fees. Single Membership $595 Single Parent Family Membership $695 Couple or Family Membership $795 Senior Single Membership $495 Senior Couple Membership $595 Building Fund Obligation $2,000 (For New Members ? must be paid within first two years) Religious School (per child) $200 (Preschool through B'Nai Mitzvah) Confirmation $225 Bar/Bat Mitzvah (Current Year) $300 Shabbat Services Tot Shabbat, Friday at 7:00pm Shabbat, Friday at 7:30pm Child Care Provided Saturday Services Torah Study ? 9:30am Services ? 10:30am "House of the People" TEMPLE BETH AM 3 "Hell Resurrected ? The Sacrifice of Children Rabbinic Reflections by Rabbi Mel Hecht, MHL, DD wife, Rebbetzen Micki and I were in Israel last summer, just prior to the latest Insurrection. An Israeli friend of ours came to visit while we were in Jerusalem. He took us to a local cafe not frequented by tourists. It was Shabbat in the late afternoon. The cafe was situated on the upper rim of a valley. The view was a very beautiful one. From the cafe's terrace, you could look down into the valley and to the hills beyond. A lush green carpet of grass covered the ground; trees dotted the landscape; walk-ing paths had as occasional couple or family enjoying a Shabbat stroll. I remarked to our friend, Ephriam, as to how beautiful this all looked. He responded that it was not always that way. He said, 'You see the valley's name is Hinom, or Gay'Henom (C'Hennah). This is where Mo-loch worship took place in Ancient times. You know the place where they once sac-rificed children to the god Moloch. Our people considered this place so evil, that it became our name for "hell." My memory of that brief exchange re-mained dormant until NBC News recently ran a news account about Palestinian chil-dren. It was one of the few instances where the media half-heartedly at-tempted to put into some perspective the reasons behind the violence in the Middle East. The account showed how pervasive the Mantra of Hate is among the Palestin-ian population. Children are literally taught to hate as a part of their school curriculum. Their activities and exercises are meant to turn them into 'Toy Soldiers of G-d" ready to kill their enemy, the Jew, on command. They are encouraged, if not ordered, to go out into the streets to avenge their people. Palestinian media broadcasts 24 hours a day - "Death to the Zionist Enemy" ? they recount the glory of fighting and dying for their people and their god. Surrounding Arab Media add to this Lit-any of Hate. The Lebanese Network quotes Syrian Defense Minister, Dr. Mustafah Tallas saying If every Arab kills a Jew, then there will be no more Jews." Egyptian Media in-cites still further ? constantly playing it's current number one hit "I Hate Israel" over the airwaves. It is no wonder that Palestinian Chil-dren are dying. Moloch worship has re-turned to the Middle East, and the valleys of death have become living hells once again. Isaiah proclaimed 'They shall beat their spears into plowshares, their swords into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against Nation, nor shall study war anymore." Now that dream has been desecrated and children have become the vehicles of that desecration. Their toys have become weapons and their course of study is now Hate, Murder, Annihilation and War. What civilized people teach their chil-dren to hate and to kill? Well, the Nazis did 4 THE SHOFAR August 2001 it. They established the Hitter Youth. The Palestinians are doing it. They are teaching it in their schools and their entire Culture is permeated with it. A little closer to home: right wing fundamentalist groups are doing it. They are teaching their children to hate the Jew, the Black, the Hispanic and any-one else believed to be "contaminating an otherwise pure race or way of life. There can never be peace in the Mid-dle East so long as the next generation is b taught to hate and to wage war. Ironically has been going on among the Palestinians since the creation of the State of Israel. It did not stop with the peace between Egypt and Israel or the accords with Jor-dan, or the agreement in Oslo. All PLO publications, maps and media outlets still call for the liberation of all of Palestine. To the world, they may be portraying, themselves as victims. To themselves, they are still calling for the extermination of Is-rael, and covertly, are creating the condi-tions, which fuel the unrest and violence. The Palestinian leadership is willing to sacri-fice the lives of their people to gain world sympathy. Every once in a while, we catch a glimpse of the depth of their hate and self generated despair. We witness the bodies of two Israeli soldiers being thrown from a second story window and see a youth in the window proudly displaying his bloodied hands to the cheers of the mob below. We are told of two four-teen- year-old boys being murdered near the biblical village of Tekoa, mutilated be-yond recognition and the surrounding stones smeared with their blood. In his eulogy for the two boys, Saul Goldstein, the regional Mayor reminded his listeners, "Before the rocks, bullets, knives, bombs - it is the words that kill!" But their words are not only killing Israelis; their words are killing their own children and what ever possibility there may be for this generation and future ones to live in peace. And so, World Media shows Israeli Sol-diers leveling homes from which snipers have taken aim to kill, but focus only on the families which now are homeless. They photograph Palestinian children and youth being shot at. They and the Diplomats have labeled the Israeli response as "excessive." Israel is blamed for much of the bloodshed. It is easy to make such judgments on the basis of what we see and read. It is not our homes, streets and offices that are under attack. It is not our marketplaces that are being bombed. Sniper fire and mortar at-tacks are not being launched against Us and our loved ones, using family homes and children as shields. We are not person-ally being threatened by mobs longing for the opportunity to tear our bodies limb from limb and then bathe in our blood It is difficult to understand that much of what we see and read about is the prod-uct of an all consuming hatred that calls for the destruction of Israel and her people. The PLO and Arafat may be talking in terms of their right to self-determination, ultimate coexistence an peace. But it is their words to their own people that are not being heard; or, at the least, are not being taken seriously - much in the same way, that Hit-ler's words were not taken seriously until it was too late. As Jews we have learned to take 0 words of those who call for our destruction seriously, for we have been victims of such war, throughout our history. We understand the power of the word, because we our-selves live by the Word of G-d that calls for Peace and Justice, and not for the sacri-fice of our children. Golda Meir once ob-served: "We will ultimately forgive the Arabs for killing our sons and daughters; we will never forgive them for making us kill theirs." Judaism and the Jewish People have always begun with reality as it is, and have tried to move it ever towards the ideal. The reality this time is that the PLO and Arafat are benefiting more from the death and suffering of their own people than they were from the negotiating tables. They have endorsed a virtual Jihad against the Israeli People. When another people calls for your destruction and their every deed confirms their intent, it would be foolish and deadly not to respond decisively and with-out hesitation, as Israel has done. Unfortunately peace is made more dif-ficult to obtain because the World has been unable to hold the PLO accountable to the same degree that they have held Is-rael accountable. The Diplomats, and Me-dia are unwittingly feeding the PLO ration-ale for continuing to fuel the fires of hatred and insurrection. So long as this continues to be the case, there cannot be a mean-ingful and just peace in the Middle East. Moloch worship indeed has returned to plague our humanity. The victims indeed are the Palestinian Children; but they are the victims, of their own people who are teaching them to hate and kill, and, who are sending them out into the direct line of fire. Gehinah has been resurrected and hell reigns supreme in the Middle East! B'Shalom, Rabbi Mel Hecht, MHL, DD "House of the People" TEMPLE BETH AM 5 Coming Events R l J C l # times at Temple Beth J f Am are not unusual. Here's a brief list of what's on the Temple calendar, for the coming months. For more details on any of these events, please call the Temple office. August 11 th House of Schmooze opening night. Heather Klein presents an evening of Broadway classics and more. 19th Religious School Registration 10 a m to noon. 26th Religious School Registration 10 am to noon. September 9th Religious School begins. 15th House of Schmooze presents Sammy Liguori ? Actor, Comedian, Master Impressionist 17th Eriv Rosh Hashanah 18th 1st Day Rosh Hashanah 19th 2nd Day Rosh Hashanah 26th Kol Nidre ? Yom Kippur Eve 27th Yom Kippur 6 THE SHOFAR August 2001 REMEMBER YOUR LOVED ONES AT YIZKOR SERVICES ON YOM KIPPUR Temple Beth Am is pleased to announce the continuing publication of your YIZKOR MEMORIAL & SERVUCE BOOK for the HIGH HOLY DAYS. Jewish Tradition encourages remembering in a way that affirms life. We invite you to consider making one of your donations for the Holy Day Season in the form of a tribute in memory of your loved ones. The following is a list of minimum donation amounts requited based on the size space you wish to use to honor your loved ones. FULL PAGE $100.00 HALF PAGE $ 55.00 (maximum 10 names) 1/4 PAGE $ 36.00 (maximum 8 names) 1/8 PAGE $ 18.00 (maximum 3 names) NAME LIST $ 5.00 (per name) Please fill out the memorial form information below and mail with payment POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN AU-GUST 27,2001. Mail to TEMPLE BETH AM, 9001 Hillpointe Road, Las Vegas, NV 89134, No inclusions will be made until full payment is received. An entry of "Mr. And Mrs. " will count as two names. Please direct any questions you may have to the Temple Beth Am office, 254-5110 or Lorraine Steckler, 240-1083. Don't delay! Send your completed form so that time can be devoted to the arrangement of your remembrance. YIZKOR MEMORIAL FORM YOUR NAME: YOUR ADDRESS: HOME PHONE: BUSINESS PHONE: SIZE OF TRIBUTE FULL HALF 1/4 1/8 NAME LIST AMOUNT OF DONATION ENCLOSED $ PLEASE WRITE OUT THE WORDING OF YOUR TRIBUTE AND THE NAMES OF THOSE HONORED AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR (for names listed in the Scroll or Remember, please just list the names.) Please attach an additional sheet of paper if needed. "House of the People" TEMPLE BETH AM 7 Decision Time is Now! by Larry Steckler ? President B ? ^ ^ ^ your remember those nos- W ^ ^ m tolgic old ads that showed ^ ^ your Uncle Sam, standing there with his red, white and blue top hat, pointing out of the page and directly at you and saying "Uncle Sam Wants You!"? Well I do, and now is the appropriate time for Temple Beth Am to point out at YOU our congregation and say to our members "Temple Beth Am needs you!" With construction of our new facilities rushing towards completion there are lots of volunteers needed to help gather up the loose ends and help us get going in a posi-tive direction. We need teachers for our Religious School, we need part-time clerical assis-tance in our Temple Office. We need someone to sell advertising in the Shofar and the High Lites. We need folks to come out and work on our Membership Commit-tee. We need a good typist with solid com-puter skills to help get this newsletter out on a regular basis. And if you don't have the computer skills but do have a car, you can deliver the Shofar to the Post Office one morning each month. There is a saying that goes something like "If we build it, they will come." Well, we have built it! Under the direction of Steve Aizenberg and his Royal Construction Com-pany, and with the guidance of the Tem-ple Beth Am Building Committee, Executive Committee, and the entire Board of Trus-tees, Rabbi Hecht's dream is rising out of the vacant lot that used to be desert sand next to our "temporary" facilities. Our new classrooms are scheduled to be completed by August 11. We are still aiming at holding High Holy Day sen/ices in our new building. We have hired a Director for our Hill-pointe Adult Day Care Center and are ac-tively interviewing candidates for Catering and Executive Director positions. If you haven't looked lately, do so. You'll discover that our old temporary buildings have been scraped and repainted. Our new classrooms are almost finished and the exterior of those buildings is being painted now. Just yesterday (this past Wednesday) curbs were poured for the driveways and blacktop will follow shortly. A host of events are being scheduled to introduce what we have created to our community. These in-clude ribbon-cutting grand opening cere-monies; guided tours of the premises; a photo exhibit of the works of congregant Simon Bergman; and that's just a begin-ning. Lots of other exciting events are sched-uled too. The first one is set for the evening of August 11. That's when "The House of Schmooze" will open with an evening of music and song. The song will be provided by our own Heather Klein, performing a va-riety of Broadway, Classical and Jewish mu-sic, accompanied by Piermarine. There's a $5 admission and coffee, cake, soda, and snacks will be available for purchase. Doors open at 7:30pm and the performance starts at 8:00pm. It's an event you don't want to miss. One month later on September 15th, Sammy Liguor'?actor, comedian, master impressionist and look-a-like personality will present a variety performance that will keep you in stitches. Mark these dates on your calendar and join us for an out-standing evening of joyous entertainment. In October and November? Well, who knows. But be ready for great perform-ances at the "House of Schmooze." TEMPLE BETH AM ONEGS: Contact Amy Stein at 233-6230 to sponsor an Oneg. DATE SPONSOR OCCASION Aug 3 Linda & Jim Nordgren In celebration of Linda's birthday Aug 10 Meera & Minao Kamegai In celebration of Meera's birthday Aug 17 Paul Edwards In celebration of Steven Edwards birthday Aug 24 Ann & Art Cohen In celebration of their 70th wedding anniversary The S h o f a r Temple Beth Am 9001 Hillpointe Road Las Vegas, NV 89134 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S.Postage PAID Las Vegas, NV Permit No. 395 702-254-5110