Congregation Ner Tamid newsletter, August 2000

CONGREGATION NER TAMID THE REFORM JEWISH SYNAGOGUE OF LAS VEGAS ...A SPECIAL PLACE TO BELONG AUGUST 2000 - VOL. XIV NO. 10 SANFORD D . AKSELRAD Rabbi BELLA FELDMAN Cantorial Soloist DREW LEVY President 29 TAMUZ - 30 AV 5760 MONTY E. WILLEY Executive Director JACQUELINE FLEEKOP Education Director Lois BERGMAN Preschool Director ABBIE BURK & MELANIE GORMAN Program Directors WELCOME BACK TO QCHOOL! The fall is such a great time of year. Students are actually look-ing forward to seeing friends at school. Parents are looking for-ward to the cycle of school life beginning again. We have been working all sum-mer to prepare for an exciting year for our students. Let's be honest, there is no shortage of Congregations or Religious Schools here in Las Vegas. What do we offer that is unique? Well, for one, a Congregation that has the leadership of a community wide respected Rabbi. Rabbi Akselrad has been with the con-gregation more than thirteen years and our religious school Worship Services 2 Rabbi's Message 2 Message from our President 3 Notes from Our Cantorial Soloist 4 School News / CNT Preschool 4-5 August B'nai Mitzvah 6 Executive Director's Spotlight 7 Auxiliaries/Committees 8 Intcrfaith Hospitality Network 10 New Member Welcome 12 Birthdays & Anniversaries 13 Tributes 14 Yahrzeits & In Memorium 17 (the Bulletin is published monthly) director is starting her eighth year working in partnership with the Rabbi. This means stability but not inflexibility. Our school has been successful in maintain-ing students beyond Bat and Bar Mitzvah. The reason for this suc-cess is not just the methodology we use to teach our students, it also has to do with the intense sense of identity and community we offer our students here at CNT. We have reevaluated our curriculum and our staff. We have shifted and shuffled pro-grams to better utilize our pro-fessionals and to intensify the interest of our students. This is going to be a GREAT YEAR! We will continue to educate our stu-dents in Hebrew and Judaica, which includes culture, history, literature, community, holidays and identity. We will o f f e r programs from Kindergarten through our New High School curriculum. Our Youth Groups, Drama Club, Junior Choir and Art programs will inspire your child, our stu-dents. Our goal is to help your Jewish youth to be an active par-ticipant, not just at religious school, but also as part of our contemporary Jewish society. IT ALL BEGINS AT930AM ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 27 IN THE SOCIAL HALL...SEE YOU THERE! CIITV Shcibbcil Service/ lire Sift9inQ <i flew Tune! Every /econd fridoy off (he month, beginning in September! September 8 / October 13 / november 10 / December 8 family Shobbot Service/ Uke you hare never heard before.., (Dark your calendar/ now and Keep watching the bulletin for more information! A Speciaf (PCace To WeCong W c r s h i n Services Conducted by Rabbi SanfordD. Akselrad & Cantorial Soloist Bella Feldman AUGUST 4 KAYLEIGH LINDMUTH BAT MITZV AH 7:30PM ONEG SPONSORED BY THE ALTERWITZ FAMILY AUGUST 5 EVANWLASH BAR MITZV AH 10:00AM KIDDUSH SPONSORED BY THE WALSH FAMILY TORAH STUDY 10AM AUGUST 11 PROSPECTIVE NEW MEMBER SHABBAT 7:30PM ONEG SPONSORED BY THE SISTERHOOD AUGUST 18 SHABBAT SERVICES 7:30PM ONEG SPONSORED BY THE SISTERHOOD AUGUST 19 TORAH STUDY 10:00AM AUGUST 25 SHABBAT SERVICES 7:30PM ONEG SPONSORED BY THE SISTERHOOD SEPTEMBER 2 BRANDON FLEISHER BAR MITZV AH 10:00AM KIDDUSH SPONSORED BY THE FLEISHER FAMILY R a b b i ' s M e s s a g e "There's Never Time Enough" There are some years when I find myself already writing about the High Holydays in the middle of summer. Those are the years in which the High Holydays "come early." But not this year, the High Holydays are late. Not however, the latest that theu could be. Take a look ahead to tne year 2005- 2006. In 2005, Chanukah falls so late that it meanders over into 2006, creating the interesting phe-nomena of "two Chanukahs" in one ear! Yes, that should make the ISid s "extra" happy! But early or late, it seems the Ho-lydays are never on time. Per-haps it is because our sense of time is based upon our secular lives rather than our Jewish lives. Our calendars revolve around our vacation schedules, when school starts in the fall, our birthdays and anniversaries. But Jewish time is something else indeed. For example, the philoso-pher and theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel once called the Shabbat "a palace in time." He reasoned that because the Shab-bat represents a "taste of the world to come" that 1/7th of our lives in the here and now is spent in a heavenly pursuit. In fact, there are no names for the days of the week in Hebrew. Only numbers leading up to Shabbat. Only Shab-bat has its own name. Another example would be that of Rosh Hashana, which is the "birth-day of the world." Annually we recall when first the world was born. And are reminded that we are partners with God in the on-going process of creation. Time is something that we too of-ten take for granted. In the tech-nological world in which we live, we find that we can live longer, much longer in fact than our grand parents. But our time is often much more intruded upon. We can be " e - m a i l e d , " "faxed," "paged," "beeped," and called almost anywhere and at any time. There was a time when people sought to get away from the office and from work, and now it seems the ideal is to take work with you everywhere and every time. Perhaps the Jewish ideal of time as something sacred is one that needs to be revisited. Perhaps it is time for us to think about the week and our need for Shabbat; our need to appreciate that which we have and make better use of the extra time that technology has given us to better purposes. This day, as we reflect upon the New Year that lies ahead, is an ideal time to start. After all, the High Holydays are late this year, and that means we have been given the gift of a little more time...let's use it wisely to pre-pare for a year of enrichment and blessing. %aSSi Sanford JTL/QeCrad Congregation Her T*m1t> August 2000 TEMPLE BOARD MEMBERS DREW LEVY President STEWART BLUMENFELD VP Administration SCOTT STOLBERG VP Ways & Means HOWARD LAYFER VP Membership IRA SPECTOR VP Religious Activities JUDY CORNETT VP Education & Youth LYNNSASSO VP Member Activities RUTH URBAN VP Social Action DAVID STAHL Treasurer MINDY UNGER-WADKINS Secretary MEL HALLERMAN Trustee JACKY ROSEN Trustee-Membership LEON MARCO Trustee MARC GARBER Trustee DICK GRANICH Trustee BETH BROMBERG Trustee CECILIA SCHAFLER Trustee ESTHER SALTZMAN Trustee-Youth SHARNA BLUMENFELD Trustee-Library SANDY STOLBERG Sisterhood MICHAEL MILANO Brotherhood BRENNA YAHRAUS NTTY T B D TNT SANDY PITTLE Golden Chai BOB UNGER Past President JERRY GORDON Past President CAL LEWIS Past President EILEEN KOLLINS Past President KENNETH SCHNITZER Past President DR. DAVID WASSERMAN Past President DR. STEVE KOLLINS Past President MICHAEL CHERRY Past President DR. BERNARD FARROW Past President EUGENE KIRSHBAUM* Past President RABBI SANFORD AKSELRAD EX Officio ?Deceased MEET THE CANDIDATES September 10/7pm CNT Social Hall Community-wide meeting Senatorial Candidates Ed Bernstein John Ensten Congressional Candidates Jon Porter Shelley Berkley Please attend and help make a strong showing for the Las Ue&s Jewish community ESSAGE FROM OUR TEMPLE PRESIDENT As president of your congregation, I must start by telling you what an interesting and challenging uear my first year has been. It nas been a year of learning and grow-ing for me. Learning more about what it takes to operate a syna-gogue on a daily basis and learn-ing more about committee work and teamwork. We have a very strong vibrant con-gregation with wonderful caring members, willing to give of their time for the temple. Not only are we the largest temple, member-ship wise, in Las Vegas, but also we are the largest reform congre-gation in the state of Nevada... something to be very proud of. Our professional staff is as dedi-cated and committed to their Jobs as any on the west coast. rrom Rabbi Akselrad to our religious school and early development teachers to our janitorial staff, we have the best "team" a temple could ask for. They have gone way beyond the call of duty, to be there for the membership and help keep us moving in the right direc-tion. I'm so proud of tnem and want to thank each and every one of our staff for a job well done. We could not do it all without you. The same goes for all the volun-teers, who are always ready, will-ing and able to help out. Whether it is in the temple office, the gift shop, the kitchen, ushering at ser-vices or stuffing envelopes, our members never say no. Since this temple belongs to each and every one of us, anything you do for the temple you are doing for your-self as well. You know who you are and you have a special place in my heart. I thank each and every one of our volunteers for a job well done. Last but not least, I want to thank Sylvia Beller, Frances Klamian and Jere' Davis for being a part of the board of trustees this past year. These members, along with all the members of the board, have been a very focused group, also work-ing hard for your temple. At the beginning of last year's board term, we made some minor chang-es to the structure of the board. Adding a couple of new vice presi-dent positions. This was done to give some trustees new areas of responsibility and to help oversee areas of temple activity. At times we have been a little slow getting an understanding of all our roles, but once we finally got a handle on things we moved forward and had a great year. Thank you to every board member for giving it their all, respecting their fellow board members views and being there for the temple. Welcome to our newest members of the board. Your commitment to the temple is very much appreci-ated. Our work as trustees never ends and your time is truly appre-ciated. The same goes for those members staying on to finish a term and those elected to another term, your help is needed now more than ever. I pledge to con-tinue working hard for this con-gregation. My family's congregation ana mine. As I really believe we are "A Special Place to Belong." (Drew August 2000 A Special Place To Belong ^ n /A For the past few months, Rabbi and I have been working on a completely new format for our Family Services. We both have felt the need to enhance our worship with our families somehow, t o engage both the young and the old in prayer. How do we accomplish such a task? Together, we have come up with some very progressive ideas t h a t I would like t o share with you. Rabbi has been working on an entirely new creative service which will include transliterations of all of the prayers and songs. Our goal is t o enable everyone to participate throughout the service, even if you can't read Hebrew. The themes of the English prayers have been specially chosen for those of all ages. Another integral part of this service is the music. Making musical changes t o services is always a delicate matter. Music is a universal language and is intended t o help elevate the spirit or allow us t o enter into a different state of mind, open t o praying t o God. But we all have such diversified backgrounds from different temples, camps and even different movements. I am very aware that some of you are dedicated t o certain melodies and have difficulty changing; and yet I also know t h a t there are some of you t h a t are seeking t o explore and learn new ways t o be touched by t he music. How can we encourage everyone t o be comfortable? By experimenting...which is what we are about t o do. Over the summer, I have been working on forming a Shabbat Band t o play a t each Family Service. Yes, a band. This is a very bold experiment, but Rabbi and I really want to shake things up a bit and what better way t o do t h a t than t o add instruments. The group is made up of several congregants who are volunteering their talent to our goal. The instruments are bass, drums, guitars, piano and clarinet. After listening t o literally dozens of CD's and tapes, I have compiled some of my favorites into a repertoire for our new Family Services. Don't worry, we will still include some familiar melodies as well. The band is already rehearsing and everyone is in store for a great time! During the month of July, I began teaching some of the new melodies a t services and will continue t o do so in August. The music is catchy and uplifting. Please, come with your families (and an open mind) so t h a t you can get acquainted with some of our new tunes and feel comfortable joining in prayer. B'shalom, (Bella Social Action Committee sponsoring SUITCASES FOR KIDS Can you imagine every t i m e you moved you had to put everything you owned into a garbage bag? Can you imagine every t i m e you f e l t a t home someplace and believed t h a t you would be there for a long time, your are t o l d t h a t you nave t o move? Your few personal belongings were then put into a garbage bag f o r you t o take t o your new home. This is what happens t o children in Foster Care. In 1995 a 10-year old girl in North Carolina found out about t h e plight of classmates in Foster Care and decided t o do something about t h e situation. She founded "Suitcases f o r Kids" in an e f f o r t t o provide all 3 0 0 Catawba County f o s t e r children with suitcases. Aubyn then introduced her program statewide and i t is now a national project. The Social Action Committee of Congregation Ner Tamid is sponsoring t h i s campaign to get suitcases for t h e children in t h e f o s t e r care system in Clark County. Hard or s o f t luggage is okay. Large backpacks are acceptable if you do not have any suitcases t o donate. The children will get t o keep t h e suitcases. We would love t o have a suitcase for each child in t h e system. You can bring your donations t o the Temple where they will be delivered t o t h e county Social Service system t o be d i s t r i b u t e d t o t h e children. Please help a child who is less f o r t u n a t e t h a n you. J l : J l : J t i t : Congregation Her T&tn1i> August 2000 C & C & C l l i P ^ E ^ C H O O L <%<& The lilting sounds of little voices will once again fill the halls of CNT. The third uear of our Preschool is about to begin. August 28t h will be the first day of class. We are looking forward to another year of excitement and fun with our stu-dents ages 2 1\2- 5. The children will be studying Hebrew, Judaica, Prayers, Holidays, as well as sec-ular subjects: numbers, letters, col-ors, shapes, science, social studies, and pre-reading and math skills. Our students study computer, in our own computer lab, and music all as part of our innovative curric-ulum. We have a dynamic well trained staff of educators with many years of teaching experience. We nave three classes and each class will have a teacher and teach-ing assistant. We have beautifully decorated classrooms and a well rounded curriculum, low student\teacher ratio and an ex-cellent staff of professionals. We are looking forward to a ban-ner year here at the preschool. If you nave any questions about the school or would like more infor-mation call me here at the preschool office (733-6292). Space is very limited and one of our classes is already full. We want to save a space for your child or grandcnild. The summer will be over, and it will be time to make plans for your child's educational needs for the school year. This is the time in their lives when they can absorb a great deal of material and their personalities are formed, Let them learn and play in our safe warm, loving environment Kindergarten With pride and joy CNT an-nounces the opening of our full day Kindergarten program, which was recently granted a license by the State of Nevada to operate a Private School. A rigorous and detailed process is involved in obtaining this license. Jacky Rosen our chairperson .worked diligently for seven months to fine tune our application con-sisting of over 100 paces. We are indeed grateful for a l f o f her ef-forts and we will be rewarded with an outstanding Kindergarten Pro-gram. Our teacher is Joan Albstein, a won-derful teacher, with over eight years of Kindergarten teaching experi-ence. Our Program will run from 9 - 4 and we will have before and after care available. Our curriculum will include: Spanish, Computers, Hebrew, Judaica, Music, Art, Li-brary, PE and Health as well as core curriculum subjects such as Math, Science, Social Studies, Lan-guage Arts and Reading. Space is very limited in this inno-vative program, and we are filling these spots quickly. If you are interested in knowing more about our program, please call the Tem-le office at 733-6292 and ask or Lois, our Early Education Director. ^ 'Bergman p; Top: Gital is the Aba as his proud grandfather watches Middle: Enjoying a pizza picnic Bottom: Waiting for a turn to play Special ThanJ^s to the producers of 9{ptre (Dame (De (Paris. 'Wayne rBaruch, Joseph (Rgscoff, and Line Renaua, for mating our sprirw fundraiser possible. They generously donated the 200 tic/(ets that u)e sold to raise money. The fundraiser was immenseCy successful and everyone zuho attended had a zuonderfid time! K / J August 2000 A Special Place To Belong ^ n /A Mazel Tov to Kayleigfaj Evan, and Brandon - Our August B'nai M i t z v a l y l Tell & Kvell Mazel Tov to Scott & Melanie Gorman who had their baby, Noah on Friday, July 7. Noah weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 inches long! The office staff can't wait to see the new son of our own Program-ming Director! Mr. & Mrs. David Cohen wish to announce the birth of their 21" Grandchild! Zev Aaron Co-hen. His parents are Albert and Maria Cohen of Denver, Colorado. They also are an-nouncing the birth of their 2nd Great Grandchild Maxwell Tay-lor Benson, whose parents are Jessica and Pete Benson of Renssler, N.Y. Mazel Tov to Joe and Ronae Fink on the birth of their new great grandson, Jaxon Green, born July 1 2000. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces and was 21 inches long! T he proud parents are Susan and Michael. And one more Mazel Tov to Rabbinic intern Neal Schuster and his wife Tamara who had a baby girl, Ellana Lawson Schuster, born July 10th. Best wishes can be sent to: 1 5 U South Bedford Street #1 fr Los Angeles, CA 90035 A.nn J? August 2000 Hi, My name is Kayleigh Linde-muth and I'm going into the eighth trade at the Hebrew Academy. I'll e turning thirteen on August 18,h and my Bat Mitzvah is on August 4th. Some of my hobbies are talking on the phone, listening to music and hanging out with my friends, and playing almost any sport. I hope to see all my friends and family at my Bat Mitzvah. Please come and join us. My name is Evan Walsh. I will be in the eighth grade at Molasky Jun-ior High School. I enjoy hanging out with my friends, going to the movies, and playing golf. My fam-ily and I invite you to join us when I will be called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah on August 5, 2000. Hi, my name is Brandon Leigh Fleisher. I'm in the seventh grade at Thurman White Middle School, like baseball and basketball. I play basket-ball in Hender-son National Junior Basketball League and I also play baseball in tne Green Valley Little League. I played on the AAA Astros and we went to the cham-pionship game, but came in second place. My Bar Mitzvah is September 2nd and I turn thirteen on October 7th. I'm looking for-ward to seeing my family and friends on that special day. I Congregation Wer Tamto Trigciitive Director's This past year saw a number of new faces in key leader-ship positions on the Board of Trustees. These new fac-es brought with them new enthusiasm and vision. New ways to create income for synagogue operations with-out going directly to the membership; planned giving, family giving. The other major points of leadership are the Long Range Planning Committee. Long Range Planning is necessary in all organizations. It was appar-ent that Congregation Ner Tamid needed to look forward for ourselves to determine several key points. Constantly changing demo-graphics, needs of our membership in various areas has brought us to the point of looking forward. We still have many months before we complete this journey, but at least it has begun. We always see the Rabbi, Bella, Jackie and Melanie leading services or programs, but these others behind the scenes are equally instrumen-tal to the success of Con-gregation Ner Tamid. The office staff and custodial staff spend many, many hours en-suring that the time you here is of value. Granted, things could be perfect or a little smoother, but these ladies and gentlemen spend their time nere working hard to spen< get things as close to perfect as they can. If uou get a moment, tnank tnem please. They are here for you. Financial. Many a night I have spent working to ensure the conflict of oper-ations and religion are bal-anced. But the operations of a religious organization are a tough one. The fees you have accepted in way of Dues, Religious Gchool, Tu-ition, and Sanctuary Assess-ments are necessary to ensure that the religious side of your stay is not distract-ed. If you are having diffi-c u l t y please call so adjustments can be made. We still have a number of families that are behind in their obligations. High Holi-day tickets will be going out the end of August. If you do not receive yours, please call me. Upon completing my seventh year at Congregation Ner Tamid, I quickly look back and am pleased to see where we are. Our congregation is wonderful; our leadership, both professional and lay, is truly dedicated to ensur-ing that we are not just the "Best Reform Synagogue in Town," but that our contri-b u t i o n s carry over to commu-nity leadership as well. We are doing a great job. tMonty ARZA/ WORLD UNION ARZAAYORLD UNION, North America, is an organization whose mission is to further the development of Progressive Judaism in Israel and throughout the world. They strive to strengthen Jewish communities by encouraging Jewish solidarity, promoting religious p l u r a l i sm and furthering Zionism. AZRA/WORLD UNION, North America, is working to strengthen the relation-ship of North American Reform Jews with Progressive Jewish communities in Israel and throughout the world and to educate and inform our con-stituency on relevant matters of Jew-ish importance. ARZA/WORLD UNION, North America is the representative of the World Union for Progressive Juda-ism and an affiliate of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. If you are interested in joining ARZA7 WORLD UNION, call (323) 871-1180 for a membership application. A one year membership is only $36. FELLOW CONGREGANTS NEED YOUR HELP CNT is looking for caring congregants who have time t o do a much needed mitzvah. Every week, congregants call for rides t o Friday Night Services. Unfortunately, very often, we have more people who need rides, than we do drivers. If you are able t o help drive congregants t o Temple, please call Abbie a t t h e Temple office, 733-6292. This is not a commitment t o drive every week. Your name will go on a list and then you will be called when rides are needed. Please call today! August 2000 A Special Place To Belong ^ n /A A U X I L I A R I E S 8c iiiiiiiiiii Sisterhood tyzvs iiiiiiiiiii I would like to start of by introduc-ing the new sisterhood board for the year 2000-2001. President Sandy Stolberg, VP Administration Fran Sanoff, VP Membership Debbie Haller-man & Ruth Urban, VP Programming Marsha Goldberg & Donna Willey, VP Ways & Means Yvonne Weiss & Fern Percheski, Recording Secretaries Fay Schoenfeld & Jackie McRitchie, Cor-responding Secretary Maxine Molin-sky, Treasurer's Debbie Levy & Marlene Sherman, Parliamentarian Rita Malkin. Welcome to all of you and I look forward to another great sisterhood year. As I write this article we are busy planning the upcoming year. Debbie and Ruth are working on the paid up luncheon t h a t will be on Sunday Sep-tember 24th. As always the luncheon is free - the only requirement is to have your sisterhood dues paid. A regular membership is $30.00, $50.00 for a mitzvah membership, Shalom. It is with great pride and humility that I accept the position of President of The Men's Club. I want to thank all of the mem-bers for their votes of confidence and their friendship over these past few years. I especially want to thank Steve Joseph for helping set me in the right airection and leav-ing me with the best Men's Club ever. Steve, I look forward to hav-ing you as my advisor for the next two years. At this time there are several other congratulations and thank you's I must refer to. To Gary Gilman, Social Chairman and close friend. Congratulations on being selected the Leo Wilner Man of tne Year. Your tireless efforts for programming helped us achieve our best year ever. The Golf Tour-nament was a huge success and we have your leadership to thank for it. I look forward to seeing and $50.00 for a non-temple membership. Donna and Marsha are planning our programming for this year and as always, if you have something you think might make for an interesting program please give us a call. The Temple bulletin is a great place to keep up on what's going on in the Temple and Sisterhood, however this year, Sisterhood is also going to try something new. Maxine Gratz has graciously volunteered to work on a Sisterhood newsletter. This will con-tain all the exciting happenings in sisterhood and keep you updated t o the minute. I want to wish a Mazel Tov to Yvonne Weiss who was this years Great Lady Recipient. In 1990, Leo Wilner es-tablished this award in memory of his late wife Mildred (Mickey) Wilner. Leo wanted this award to honor the i l l c n ' s CAitU you back next year. To my new board members, Scott Gorman, Dick Granich, Don Marcus and Stu Solomon, welcome aboard and I look forward to all of your new ideas. To mu returning members, Howard Laufer and Dave Nathan this year will be bigger and better. Hunker down the merry-go-round gets faster. To Ms. Linosey Maren Bernay - thank you, thank uou, thank you. The Men's Club helped sponsor two students for the March of the Living. Lindsey was one of them and sent us the most beautiful thank you card with a picture of her. It made us kvell, as she put it, "I wanted you to know that the March of the Living was the most amazing experience of my life." Thank you Lindsey we are glad we could help. Finally I want to thank, Roz Green and Anne Sandell for expressing their great ladies of our sisterhood because Mickey was a great lady t o him. The great lady is the lady who has done the most for sisterhood during the past year. Well this year Yvonne really jumped in, she took her position on the board as ways & means very seriously, helped Frances in the kitchen when needed, did mail-ings, helped to get prizes for the Hanukah raffle, and sometimes even told me how to do my job. Not only is Yvonne busy in Sisterhood, she is the TNT Advisor, a religious school teacher, and gives rides to people for Shabbat services. Yvonne was resented her award at the annual emple barbecue. Dr Martin Wilner and his wife Linda were on hand to present Yvonne with this award. I hope you have enjoyed your summer and look forward to seeing all of you soon. Shalom, Sandy gratitude for their Bat Mitzvah pens. These expressions of grati-tude are what make the Men's Club's work worthwhile. So, as you can see, we did have a very busy and productive year ana this upcoming year, with all of your support should bring many mile-stones. We will be kicking off the new year with our Annual Break-fast in September. There will be more information to follow. I look forward to personally meeting and greeting all of our past and future members. Remember, we are not the Brotherhood of our father's, but the Men's Club of today. Come join us and experience the magic. Shalom to you all. fMicftae( Mitano Congregation Her Tamfo August 2000 Invite a Friend Ice Cream Qhabbat What do treadmills, a mixed marriage and an Invite a Friend Shabbat have in common? To solve this riddle, I have to tell you how I came to be a member of Congregation Ner Tamid. One day at the health club, my wife Nancy started talking to this very friendly women while they were both running on treadmills. At the end of a half-hour, the other woman, Debra Cohen, asked Nancy if she was Jewish. You have to understand that in 30 minutes they already established that we had lived in Nevada a few months, came from Chicago, how many kids each had, what kind of work I had done, what kind of work her husband does, what kind of work she does and that Nancy had just begun selling Real Estate. I know that you women will think this very natural, but it would take us guys several years to learn this much personal information. Anyway, when Nancy answered yes, we are Jewish, Debra started talking about how wonderful her temple was and that Nancy and I should come to Shabbat services. "Since you're new in the area, it's a wonderful way to meet people," said Debra. That's when Nancy explained that we had a "mixed marriage" - I was reformed and she was conservative. "We'll never agree on a temple," Nancy said. If uou know Debra, you know she can be very persuasive. That nignt, Nancy came home and suggested that we meet this terrific young couple, and go to services with them. At services, Rabbi Akselrad was at the top of his game. At the Oneg, Debra and Mitch introduced us to several people who were very nice. Of course, the Chocolate Sundae I made myself was the clincher. When we came home we were surprised that we both enjoyed the evening and felt we had found a home. By now you have probably figured out that we're having another "Invite a Friend Shabbat" August llth. The Rabbi, Board Members and Temple Staff will be present at 6:45pm to meet prospective members. We're not all as outgoing as Debra is. Some of us feel it is uncomfortable asking friends to services. Let me tell you, I'm glad Debra asked us. If Debra hadn't invited us two years ago we probably would never have tried Ner Tamid. I know most friends will feel wonderful that you extended an invitation (besides, you'll get a chance to make your own Sundae). One last note. Our new ad campaign has blasted off. "I Joined Congregation Ner Tamid because" is the theme and tells the story of why many of our members love our synagogue. We hope the ads will attract many new faces. Please make the effort to say hi and make someone you don't know feel at home. See you at the Sundae bar, Vice President, Membership vOi m > / > Golfceti Cliai We are going strong through the hot weatner. We still offer the finest entertainment, friendships and fun. The first and third Thurs-day of every month are our days to shine. Come join us at 11:00am. The Pare transit bus comes to the door. Wait until you see the magnificent afghan we will raffle off, made by Annette Orisman. In August we will feature the lead-ing singer in Las Vegas - Renee Lee - and the sensational Dean Sheldon will follow her. We look forward to seeing you. The Bagel Brunch is still only $2.00. Shalom and Love, Sandy Tittle p t s f l t *Do you Rave a family memBer or friend zoRo is RospitaCized? ) Rabbi Akselrad would like to help you and your family by visiting Temple members and friends of our congregation who have been hospitalized. Since there is no notification from the hospitals, please contact Karen at the Temple office at 733-6292 when a family member or friend is hospitalized. 4 J I k m{ W i ? t | I I "V/* ?iV/ f A f fipr / H f. I A' 1 August 2000 A Special Place To Belon"g ^ nA/ A * i i CNT Honors Abr^ms, A Special S tut>cr\t ?T O