The Bulletin of Congregation Ner Tamid, December 2002

The Reform Jewish Congregation of Las Vegas ...A Special Place to Belong December 2002 - Vol. XVI No. 9 Sanford D. Akselrad Rabbi Jennifer C. Weiner Assistant Rabbi Bella Feldman Cantorial Soloist Stewart Blumenfeld President 26 Kislev - 26 Tevet 5763 Irv Duchowny Jacqueline Fleekop Lois Bergman Andrea Brunner Executive Director Education Director Preschool Director Bulletin Editor Please Join Us For CNT's Chanukah Family Dinner New "Singles Shabbat" to be held the Third Friday of Every Month at Congregation Ner Tamid Friday December 6th, 2002 6:15 PM Please feel free to bring your family menorah to light at your table. Adults $16 each Children 4-10 $8 each Children under 4 no charge Please call 733-6292 for more information. Please RSVP CNT will host a monthly "Singles Shabbat" in the Beit Tefillah. The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with an opportunity to "meet and greet" other singles, followed by a short Shabbat service conducted by Rabbi Sanford Akselrad starting at 6:00 p.m. There is no charge for this event and it is open to the entire community, regardless of age or affiliation. The "Singles Shabbat" is currently scheduled to take place the third Friday of every month through May. Please tell all of your single friends! In This Issue. 0 0 Worship Services 2 Rabbi's Message 2 Message from our President 3 Executive Director Message 4 Religious School/Preschool 5-6 Auxiliaries 7-9 November B'Nai Mitzvah 13 Anniversaries 18 Birthdays 18 Tributes 19-20 In Memoriam 15 Yahrzeits 21 (the Bulletin is published monthly) A Speciaf ?Place <1o ?BebngWorship Services Conducted by Rabbi Sanford Akselrad, Rabbi Jennifer Weiner, & Cantorial Soloist Bella Feldman Friday, December 6 Shabbat Services 7:30 p.m. Chanukah Family Dinner 6:15 p m. Consecration Oneg sponsored by Nancy and Howard Layfer in honor of Sarah Layfer?s 90lb birthday Saturday, December 7 Matthew Co none Bar Mitzvah 10:00 a.m. Kiddush sponsored by the Corzine Family Bible Study 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Minyan and Torah Study 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 13 Family Service with the Shabba Tones 7:30 p.m. Oneg sponsored by Yvonne Weiss In honor of her daughter Rebecca becoming a Bat Mitzvah, Saturday, December 14 Saturday, December 14 Bat Mitzvah Rebecca Weiss 10:00 a.m. Kiddush sponsored by the Weiss and Binn Famliy Bible study 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Minyan and Torah Study 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 20 Singles Service 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Services 7:30 p.m. Oneg sponsored by Sheri Cohen in honor of her son Corey?s Bar Mitzvah, Saturday, December 21 & Sisterhood Saturday, December 21 Bar Mitzvah of Corey Cohen 10:00 a.m. Kiddush sponsored by the Cohen family Bible Study 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Minyan and Torah Study 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 27 Shabbat Services 7:30 p..m. Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood Saturday, December 28 Bible Study 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Minyan and Torah Study 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Rabbi's Message Chanukah Ironies Like most Jews trying to ?interpret and explain? our traditions to our non Jewish friends, I often found myself answering questions about Chanukah. Inevitably people would think of Chanukah as the ?Jewish Christmas?. After all they both came in December and presents were exchanged. So, voila-they were considered by the loosely informed as the ?same holiday!? There are several ironies about this type of comparison that we really need to ponder. First of all, neither Chanukah nor Christmas emphasized gift giving to the extent that occurs today. Traditionally, Christians would exchange simple, home made gifts. And Jews would give a few coins- ?Chanukah gelt?. After World War II with the rise of the baby boomer generation and television, every holiday became commercialized. December became a time not of joyful religious celebration, but of joyful religious sale-ebration! Secondly, while most children are taught that the ?true meaning of Chanukah? has to do with the small cruise of oil that lasted 8 days, most never learn the historical story of Chanukah. This story is found in the Catholic (yes Catholic) Apocrypha in Maccabees I and II and explains how the origins of the Maccabees fight for religious freedom started as an internal battle of Jew against Jew! There were quite a number of Jews who were content to assimilate and adapt the Hellenistic way of life. The Maccabees led the revolt against those who would abandon their heritage. Yet, today, because of ?Chanukah guilt? we tend to turn Chanukah into a holiday with assimilationist tendencies. In losing the true meaning of Chanukah, we have allowed our holiday to become more and more like a ?Jewish Christmas.? But the two holidays have vastly different origins and meanings. For Christians, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of their Lord. It is intended to be a very sacred holyday. For Jews, Chanukah has always been -until recently- a minor holiday that received very little recognition. Just simple customs and a few special foods and some coins. Yet, the message cJj fighting for our faith and the continuit? of our tradition is an important one and should be reflected in our yearly observance. Teach the story to your children. Give not only presents to your children, but give tzedakah to those who are less fortunate. And make this time of family gathering one that emphasizes Jewish heritage and tradition through songs, foods, home decorations, and the sharing of family stories. The final irony is that of time. Most people view Chanukah as the ?Jewish Christmas? because of the close proximity of the two holidays on the secular calendar. So I ask you, what about this year? After all, Chanukah comes the day after Thanksgiving! Gobble. Gobble.:) Wishing you and yours a wonderful Chanukah, fiaBSi Sanford SUqefrad Congregation N e r Tamid December 200? )r. Stewart Blumenfeld President Scott Stolberg VP Administration Cookie Lea Olshein, esq VP Membership Ira Spector Hillary Torchin Mindy Wadkins Gina Polovina Ira Miller Doug Unger Lynn Sasso Maxine Molinsky Yvonne Gordon Beth Bromberg Aimee Knox Cecilia Schafler Stacey Yahraus Marla Letizia Leon Marco JoRDIE PRIMACK Ruth Urban Howard Layfer Samantha Willey Herman Steiner Drew Levy Bob Unger Esq. Jerry Gordon Esq. Cal Lewis Eileen Kollins Kenneth Schnitzer Dr. David Wasserman Dr. Steve Kolijns kHoN. Michael Cherry Dr. Bernard Farrow Eugene Kirshbaum* David Goldwater* Rabbi Sanford Akselrad Rabbi Jennifer Weiner VP Religious Activities VP Education & Youth VP Member Activities VP Social Action VP Ways & Means Treasurer Secretary Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Trustee Sisterhood Men's Club NTTY Golden died PastPresident Past President Past President Past President Past President Past President Past President Past President Past President Past President Past President Past President Ex OJficio Ex OJficio ^Deceased Check out ADULT EDUCATION OFFERINGS ATCNT on page 10 \wL ESSAGE FROM OUR TEMPLE PRESIDENT CHANUKAH AND CNT: THERE'S A CONNECTION Did you know that CNT has a special connection to Chanukah? No? Good! That gives you a reason to keep read?ing. Although Chankukah is not one of our major religious observances, it is nev?ertheless quite an old holiday with an historical basis. The story begins in 333 BCE when Alexander the Great captured Judea and Samaria. Dur?ing his reign, as was his wont in all the countries his Greek armies con?quered, his Israelite subjects were allowed to practice their own reli?gion with little interference. After Alexander's death, however, his em?pire was divided between two fami?lies, the Ptolemies who ruled from Egypt and the Seleucids who ruled from Damascus. Judea was caught in the middle, but ultimately the Seleucids gained control of the ter?ritory. Eventually there came a Seleucid king, Antiochus IV, who de?cided that all Greek subjects should share a similar form of worship?his. While some Jews were already cul?turally Hellenistic in their leanings, many others were adamantly opposed to the what Antiochus was demand?ing, for example, banning observance of Shabbat as a uniquely Jewish cus?tom, forbidding the practice of cir?cumcision, and removing some objects from the temple and setting up an altar to be used for sacrifices to the Greek pantheon of gods. Up to that time, though subjugated to the Syri- an/Greeks, the Jews did not feel that their culture was about to be oblit?erated. Now that changed. The sto?ry of the subsequent revolt against their conquerors is set down in vari?ous biblical and Talmudic writings, with some elaboration long after the fact by the Jewish/Roman historian Josephus. The Jewish revolt began in 167BCE in the village of Modi'in, about 15 miles northwest of Jerusalem. There, when a Greek military unit attempted to set up an altar for the sacrifice of swine, a father and his five sons forcibly prevented this abomination and then fled to the mountains. Little by little, they were joined by others from nearby villag?es until they had an army that was ready to take on the Syrian occupi?ers. The army was led by one of the sons, Judah Maccabee. They marched to Jerusalem, defeated the Syrian army in 164 BCE, and cleansed and rededicated the tem?ple. Over a period of years, they were able to free most of the coun?try from Syrian rule and establish, for the first time in more than 400 years, an independent Jewish state. (However, within 60 or 70 years, civil war broke out between Jewish factions and one side invited the Ro?mans to help out. The Roman camel thus got its nose into the Jewish tent, liked what it smelled (or saw), and wound up, in 67 BCE, taking con?trol of the whole country. End of an independent state for the next 2015 years.) According to tradition, the celebra?tion of a holiday to mark the reded?ication of the temple began almost immediately after the event. There is some historical evidence that in those days the dedication of a new building lasted seven days, but that continued onm page 12 A S pecial December 2002 Place To Belong "It's BudqET TiiviE" - TIhe GhaIIenCiE ?I?ve discovered one of the biggest chal?lenges that face every Temple - and that is, coming up with a balanced budget. I?ve been involved in this wondrous project for several months, with very strong help from several, non-mentioned members (thank you, oh, anonymous ones!). In order for a non-profit organization such as ours to have a balanced budget, there must be compromises made by the vari?ous committees and the board as well. We all want the best programs for our congregants (adult, musical and other?wise), the best Friday night/Saturday morning services, the best Religious School education that we can provide too, and for, our children, the best and most informative Bulletin, the cleanest building, and the most professional and caring staff, the best security (when need?ed), and the best and most meaningful spiritual and religious experiences. We also want to provide the comfort of mem?bership to all our congregants. We know that not all congregants can afford full dues. Our Menorah Level Donors help greatly to subsidize the shortfall of in?come in this area, In addition, donations, fund-raisers and various other efforts all help us to come up with a balanced bud?get. Dues here at Congregation Ner Tamid cover approximately half of our total expense budget. Dues are an important part of every temple?s life - not only to support our daily need for cash flow, but also, but to also give each congregant a feeling of ?owner?ship and commitment?. The budget committee and theTemple Board, are all involved in establishing our dues on an annual basis. The incredible balance between philosophical and financial responsibility is one of the most impor?tant yearly discussions that we hold, and it is not an easy task to walk away with the proper balance, and dues structure. In order to increase our membership and attract new, young members, we?ve instituted a new Young Members Dues Structure, to make it very affordable for younger families to join our temple. We?ve learned that one of the main reasons that young people don?t join is due to the dues structure, not only here, but at many other temples as well. Without getting into details, we feel confident that this is one major step that will help us enlarge our temple family. Something else new that we?re instituting this coming year is that for those families who are request?ing dues relief, we are sending out cover letters and simple forms to fill out, so that we can better determine how to accomplish this sensitive task for ev?eryone?s benefit, including achieving ?fi?nancial fairness for the temple and it?sj congregants, alike?. We hope that you?ll understand that, as we announce our dues structure for the coming year, you realize that we do not take this task lightly, and have the best interest of the entire congrega?tion in mind. Thank you for being such an important part of CNT. Certainly ?A Special Place To Belong?. to be continued lrv Join the World at WUPJ Convention in Israel Feb. 26?March 2, 2003 Join your friends from all over the world at the World Union for Progressive Judaism Convention in Israel Feb. 26-March 2, 2003, marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the organization?s Jerusalem headquarters. Opening ceremo?nies will take place in Haifa at the Leo Baeck School. The next day, participants will visit the new Synagogue Center in Ra?anana and attend the ground-breaking of the new Reform center in Tel-Aviv before moving to Jerusalem?s Mercaz Shimshon for the next part of the convention. Highlights include a presentation by Member of Knesset Rab?bi Michael Melchior, Deputy Foreign Minister; visits to Modi?in, Ashdod, Kfar Saba, and Beit Daniel; the ordination ceremony at HUC-JIR; a concert of contemporary Israeli and Jewish folk music; and the plenary session with Alice Shalvi, religious feminist writer/activist. For more details and regis?tration, visit the website at http/Avww.wupj.org; or contact Ruth Green at 212-650-4280 or by email at rgreen@uahc.org. This is the time to show solidarity with Israel and its people!! For more information, please contact your synagogue?s chap?ter chair, your rabbi, or ARZA/WORLD UNION, North Amer?ica?s regional office at (818) 702-9615. ? Congregation N e r Tamid December 2002 Religious School News Religious School Calendar December 2002 Sunday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 1 No R/S 3 4 5 6 10 11 12 14 17 16 19 22 No R/S 24 No R/S 25 No R/S 26 No R/S 29 No R/S 31 No R/S 1st Thanksgiving Wkd/Chanukah, 6th Consecration K-lst grades, 22nd-31st Winter Break Oy Vay, It's December I remember when my children were young and Chanukah came early in December. ?Oy Vay?, the complaints I heard. Mom!! When our friends get their Christmas gifts our things will be ^ld!! My children didn?t want Christmas, but they wanted an ?ctra gift, I said NO!! How selfish can you get I told them, you get eight gifts plus gifts from PopPop and Bubby, Grandma and Grandpop. I realized my children were not any different than anyone else?s children. The holiday to them was all about gifts, food and fun. What could I do as a parent to teach them values? Well, first I said if you want eight new gifts, go through your toys, books and clothes and give me eight nearly new items. These items will be given to children who will not be receiving even one gift. The experiment worked. We all piled into the van and the items were delivered. Sandee, Ron, Joel and Eric felt happy, and I felt proud. This still didn?t solve the entire dilemma. They wanted something new at Christmas. I kept wishing that Chanukah came after Christmas so I could take advantage of the sales. I thought hard and came up with a solution. On each night of Chanukah they received a useful and practical gift?like socks or a comb and brush. Inside the package was a gift certifi?cate for a cash value. The certificate was redeemable from Mom?my, the day after Christmas. We made a family day of shopping and trying to get the best value for their money. We often find difficult times living in a society where we are a minority. We must remember that Chanukah is about our culture and not assimilation; about freedom and Jewish identity; and about re?maining Jewish in and out of our homes. I hope you enjoy your family during winter break. HAPPY NEW YEAR, be safe and try to teach your children to be proud of their heritage. Shalom, Jac/Qz Congratulations to our nezu students upon tfieir Consecration. Torah 2 U We live in an age of convenience. We e-mail and we use the Internet for almost everything. It sometimes makes us feel as if the personal touch is missing. Torah 2 U is a program for adults that comes to you. Several friends get together to Study Torah in someone?s house. The portion is discussed in an informal manner. Then the evening seems to take off on a magical journey of its own with everyone sharing their opinions and learning with each other. We conclude with some desserts and beverages. If you are interested in being part of this program contact.. .Jackie Fleekop at the Temple office 733-6292. 51 A Special Place To Belong Nr December 2002 CM1 NEKHMl 4N? KIN?ERCARTCN November was an exciting month for our Preschool and Kindergarten students. We learned about our Veterans and why we are so proud to live in America. Our older students enjoyed a field trip to The Natural History Museum on the 13th and our Parents program, Chanukah at home on the 26th We had a delightful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. What delectable Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, and Cranberry Sauce. We are sure great cooks. The youngsters dressed in traditional Pilgrim and Native American Garb. Our classes sailed across on the Mayflower, just as our ancestors did many so years ago. It is a pleasure to see our students learning and playing together. The children have developed friendships and watching them work, play and interact with their teachers is a rewarding experience. Our students have learned a great deal both socially and scholastically in the last few months, and they look forward to learning even more throughout the school year. December will bring our long anticipated Chanukah program to the stage. We have practiced and rehearsed with Miss Jodi, to make our program a special gift to our parents. This spectacular event will take place on Friday December 6th at 11:00 A.M followed by our traditional latke lunch and L-R: Jordan, Branden, Hannah, Romi sing Shabbat songs Chanukah party. Of course the preschoolers and kindergarten^ students will be learning all about Chanukah. We will bi^ making traditional Chanukah crafts and be singing all the traditional Chanukah melodies: as well as some new ones. Our boys and girls will be singing Chanukah songs on the 2nd of December at the Government office building, please come hear us. The Rabbi will be reading us a Holiday story and the pre-k and kindergarten classes will be going to the Mandalay Bay Shark reef on the 16lh This special time of the year is always a favorite and we look forward to seeing this holiday through our children?s eyes. Happy holiday from the staff and students of CNT Preschool & Kindergarten. Lois Bergman What to do with the kids during track break? Congregation Ner Tamid is starting a track break program. When your child ( grades K-4) is out of school for a few weeks we are offering Arts &Crafts, Field trips, games and a fun time. We will be offering a week of Arts & crafts camp the week of December 23rd (excluding the 25th) as well. Please call Lois at the Temple office for prices and more information. Zachary, Abba, Romi, Amma, Sydney looks on L-R: Josh, Zachary, Branden, Jordan having their finger prints taken for their ID kits by Men's Club Congregation N e r Tamid L-R: Cara, Ryan, Emma, Alex holding hands for a song December 2002 Shalom and Happy Chanukah Our Annual Chanukah Bazaar was even bigger and better this year. Arlene Kagan and Darlene Vaturi, our Co-Vice Presidents of Ways and Means did an outstanding job, along with Marilyn Polovina-Bulavsky, who Chairs our FUN-D 4 Youth Raffle, to make this an extraordinary event. And that food! Thank you Frances Klamian and Susie Plotkin and all the volunteers who helped The Party Shop, especially Mary Zone, for her mouth-watering brisket. Thank you also to all those who entered the Ms. Noodle Kugel contest and our lucky winner Stacey Yarhraus. Our Sisterhood board and members who volunteered their time to make this a great event, I thank you also for all your TLC. One of the big hits at the Chanukah Bazaar was our Nosh Well! Cookbook. You won?t want to miss buying one of these, they are only $10.00 and are full of wonderful recipes from our congregants and artwork from our religious school children. It is truly a treasure. Lynette Solomon did an unbelievable job with this book and spent hours and hours typesetting the recipes and doing the tabletop publishing along with her husband Stu. Thank you also Jo Sherri Speaker and the other volunteers that helped make the ^okbook possible. Our immediate Past President, Sandy Stolberg was just elected to the Board of Directors for the Woman of Reform Judiasm?s Region 24, also known as the Western Federation of Temple Sisterhoods (WFTS). At their bi-annual conventions, our delegation, made up of yours truly, Fern Percheski, Administrative Vice-President, and Laura Bailey, our Publicity Chair, had the honor of watching Sandy being sworn in. We also had the honor of writing the Havdalah service for the weekend convention. Rabbi Weiner, who wrote the beautiful service with our Ritual Chair, Jennifer Cohen, came to Orange County to conduct the service with Fern Percheski, who had edited and published the service. Rabbi Weiner and Fern did us proud. While at the WFTS Convention, our Sisterhood received five Kavod Achievement Awards for our Sisterhood Membership Brochure, the Sisterhood Prayer that was developed at our first Board Orientation and Retreat, our one-time fundraising event, the southwest jewelry show, and for ongoing fundraising for the Sisterhood Party Shop and Brochure. We also won an award for our first annual Board Orientation and Retreat. We are thrilled with these honors and the recognition that we are one of the most vibrant Sisterhoods in our very large region. As you light your menorah with your children and grandchildren, please think of Sisterhood?s FUN-D 4 Youth drive which is going on now and raises money to help send our temples? children to summer camp and helps them have a Jewish experience that will last a lifetime. The FUN-D 4 youth also helps support other youth activities, like assisting our teens have the enriching experience of attending a youth conclave or national event, another experience that will help shape them into wonderful adults and our future leaders. Another youth program funded by Sisterhood is Tot Shabbat. The photos that accompany this article speak for themselves. You can help Sisterhood help ?our future? by contributing to the FUN-D4 youth, which stands for Funding Unique Needs for Youth. Your generous donation is greatly appreciated. Did you ever wonder how someone is selected to present the Sisterhood gift at the B?nai Mitzvah events? We have board member Fran Sanoff to thank for making all those arrangements. This is a wonderful opportunity for any of our Sisterhood members to make this special presentation, especially if you know the Bat or Bar Mitzvah student well and would like this opportunity to make this event extra special for the family by having this honor. Please call Fran at 457-0876. Be sure to visit us on the web at www.cntsisterhood.com to get the latest program schedule and see what fun we are having. Remember, if you aren?t a member, we would love to have you join us. Please call me at 768-8529 if you have any questions or comments. Shalom, H^utf Urban Sisterhood PresidentSisterhood Congregation 9\[er ?Tamicf CALENDAR OF EVENTS Dec 5 Rosh Chodesh 7:00pm Dec 18 TBA 7:00pm Jan 4 Rosh Chodesh 7:00pm Jan 15 Rabbi Weiner - Women in the Torah 7:00pm Jan 19 Jewish Film Festival TBA Feb 2 Sisterhood & Brotherhood Event Rosh Chodesh 7:00pm Feb 12 Candy Making Demonstration TBA Mar 1 Celebrity City Chorus 7:00pm Mar 3 Sisterhood & Brotherhood Event Rosh Chodesh 7:00pm Mar 13 Rabbi Akselrad Book Review Lunch 11:00am Apr 2 Rosh Chodesh 7:00pm Apr 22 All Women?s Seder 6:00pm May 1 Rosh Chodesh 7:00pm May 21 Sisterhood Elections & Potluck Recipe Exchange TBA Please check your bulletin, sisterhood website, and mail for information on each event. More events may be added. If you have any program ideas please contact Sandy Stolberg at 228-6863. w W Congregation Ner Tamid v1 December 2002 Auxiliaries Continued Men s Club National Recognition Hey guys, people are starting to take notice. At the end of October Doug Barden, Director of the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods, visited Las Vegas. He was here to exchange ideas with our leadership and to scout the city for a possible national meeting sight. the Debbie Freeman concert happen and I feel you will enjoy making the effort to help the Jewish Film Festival. Two years ago I never heard of Debbie Freeman and attended out of a feeling of responsibility. She was great and I had a terrific time. I have a feeling that the film festival will be the same kind of event.. .one you will unexpectedly enjoy! Doug was impressed with our growth, our caring reputation and our overall success. I want to thank Mike Milano who worked hard to arrange Doug?s visit. Mike, Michael Rodin and I spent the day visiting hotels and trying to dispel the idea that ?sin city? is not the appropriate meeting place for a Jewish get together. In the evening we were joined by Allan and Toni Popowcer, Irv Duchowny, Susan Rodin and my wife, Nancy. We went late into the night discussing the role of Men?s Club and our responsibilities as Jewish men. Programming was one of the areas discussed. Doug made the point that the purpose of a men?s club event is to build camaraderie. We have tried hard to make everyone feel welcome when we meet. If you haven?t felt at home let me know. Our membership consists of men with a wide variety of interests and ages. I?ll do my best to try and introduce you to men whose company you will enjoy. ark vour Calendars Speaking of programming, we?re planning some extraordinary events. This month we will have our monthly breakfast, Sunday, December 15lh at 9:30 am. Don Marcus, our program chairman is talking with several guests. Check out web site: CNTmensclub.org. for the latest info. In January we begin really cooking. After the debauchery of the holidays, you should make a resolution to get healthy. Sunday, January 12th at 9:30 am we will toast ?To Life? with our annual Health Fair. Dr. Fred Toffel and Dave Nathan have been working since late September to line up exhibitors and speakers. Admission will be free and you can enjoy health screenings, giveaways, and much, much more. This year?s event has been greatly expanded and should be a wonderful resource. All of us enjoy travel but it keeps getting more and more of a hassle. Sharna Blumenfeld will address our Sunday, February 16th meeting at 9:30 am with info on ?How to be a Smarter Traveler?. Of course, breakfast will be served. Holocaust Survivor The homors and hope of the Holocaust will be vividly brought to life, Sunday, February 23'\ 9:30 am. You and your family will be mesmerized by Regena Hirsch?s tale. She is a holocaust survivor whose story should be heard by everyone at temple. It is the story of an average Upper Middle Class polish girl who is torn from a normal life to experience the homors of Hitler?s madness and the incredible opportunity of America. I met Ray recently at a breakfast in Los Angles. She is a family friend of Stu Solomon who works closely with the Museum of Tolerance to make sure no one will forget the Holocaust. She is a small, rather frail looking woman. When she started talking I was hooked. Our breakfast lasted almost two hours and all I can say is that she is an exceptional woman who you will remember for a lifetime. Spring Golf The annual Men?s Club Golf Tournament is scheduled Sunday morning, April 6,h. This is traditionally our biggest event. Save the date and plan to play. If you would like to become more active in Men?s Club, or just have time to get to know us better, I would recommend you attend our Board Meeting. It is open to all members. We meet the third Tuesday of the month at 7 PM. at the temple. Kudos If you are a health professional or in a health related business and would like to participate there is still time. Contact Dave Nathan for information. He can be reached at 260-0553 or E-mailed at nathan0553@aol.com. Everyone involved with the temple is excited that we will participate in the Las Vegas Jewish Film Festival. The Las Vegas premiere of ?Solomon and Gaenor? will be sponsored by Men?s Club, Sisterhood and CNT at 4:00 PM Sunday January 19lh. The film is a Jewish version of Romeo and Juliet set in Wales in 1911. A Jewish boy falls in love with a Christian girl amid great family opposition. It is a controversial film sure to spark lots of discussion. |\s the Jewish population of our area grows it becomes important to support Jewish cultural events. Men?s Club was happy to help make December 2002 We?ve have been working very closely with Sisterhood on several projects. I want to thank Ruth Urban and the Sisterhood Board. Together we have been able to make a greater difference. I also want to thank Michael Geeser and Dr. Joel Charon. They spoke at Men?s Club meetings and were great. Your efforts are appreciated. Recent mitzvahs include providing the funds for a deposit on new prayer books. We also made a sizable contribution to NTTY . Details next month. ^Howard Layfer Men?s Club President A Special Place To Belong ?ADULT EDUCATION OFFERINGS AT CNT? Judaism in Bites and Sips In response to everyone who has wanted daytime classes, here?s your chance! We are offering three lunch-and-learn sessions three Thursdays in a row. The topics are broad and far reaching. Each one-hour session will have its own focus. Come to one or all! No RS VP required. December 5, 2002 12noon-lp.m. ?Jewish Art- Is There Really Such a Thing?? Dr. Bruno Borenstein will teach about Judaism and art and how Judaism is infused into art. For all those art lovers out there this will be a wonderful means of exploring the topic. Come hear the chair of our Adult Education Com?mittee speak about one of his many passions. It promises to be an hour you will not forget! December 12, 2002 12noon-l p.m. ?Leave it to Bubbe? Jackie Fleekop, our Director of Education, will teach this class. The class will focus on sharing how we learned from one of the best sources of Jewish Life: our Grand?mothers. Bubbe was not always the old lady with her hair in a bun and an apron tied around her waist. She often was the hard working volunteer at temple or a member of Haddash or ORT or Sisterhood. She kept a clean house and cooked delicious and comforting food. She taught us about our history and our heritage. During this hour come explore the many facets of what it meant to be a Bubbe and how we honor our Bubbes today. Friends Needed to Befriend Out-Of-Town and International UNLV Students The Home Away From Home Program, affiliated with the UNLV Division of Student Services, needs families and individuals to befriend out-of-town and international students for the fall semester. Participants see their students a few hours every month and answer questions the students might have about Las Vegas and our culture. There is no financial obligation. If you would like to ?adopt a student? please call Program Coordinator, Sharlene Flushman at 794-2888. December 19, 2002 " 12noon-l p.m. ?The Early Roots of Zionism? Come explore the early roots of Zionism and what the word Zionism meant in its conception and now. Rabbi Weiner will take you on a journey that will trace the steps of our ancestors and modern founders of Israel. Wear your blue and white and come ready to sift through the years of the layers of the sands of Israel. KEVA Comes to CNT KEVA is a national program designed to encourage adult Jewish learning by setting Jewish educational goals. The achievement of the goals comes with recognition from the UAHC Adult Jewish Growth Committee and The Commis?sion of Jewish Education. The KEVA Certificate of Recog?ni