• FEBRUARY'S THEME: INCLUSION
Defining Inclusion: Inclusion refers to "the act or practice of including and accommodating people who have historically been excluded (because of their race, gender, sexuality, or ability)...Krystal Jagoo
"Good intentions alone not accompanied by action are without value, as it is the action which makes the intentions so profound." - Chasidic Master Yehudi HaKadosh
Rabbi Randy Sheinberg
TOGETHER, WE CAN FULFILL THE COMMANDMENT OF TZEDEK, TZEDEK TIRDO, JUSTICE, JUSTICE YOU SHALL PURSUE (DEUTERONOMY 16:20)
Inclusivity Is A Jewish Imperative
- Monday afternoon, January 22nd: I write this from the Amtrak train headed back to New York from Washington DC. I have just had the privilege of accompanying four of Temple Tikvah’s teens - Paola Cohen, Rebecca McCorey, Khloe Taylor, and Sanáa Taylor - to the URJ Religious Action Center’s L’Taken Conference for high school students. We just finished the culminating event of the weekend, where our teens, along with 300 others from across the country, each spoke to a legislative aide in the office of one of their representatives about an issue important to them. As a delegation, we lobbied over 90 different congressional offices representing all parts of this country on issues as diverse as gun violence prevention, mental health, antisemitism, climate justice, reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, supporting Israel - and more. Our teens spoke persuasively and passionately. I could not be prouder of them! And I am hoping that this weekend will be just one step in a lifetime of civic engagement, and that their example will inspire all of us to become and stay involved in our democratic process - especially during this critical election year.
- Our Temple Tikvah teens chose to lobby about reproductive rights, mental health support, and Israel. If you are interested in hearing more, please join us for Shabbat Services on Friday night February 16th at 7:30pm, where they will share their experiences with us.
- There is another issue that was addressed by some other teens which is also relevant to us this month. February is Jewish Disabilities Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), a time we use to learn about disabilities in our community and strengthen our commitment to inclusion.
- Disability rights are fundamental to our country and our faith. According to the Center for Disease Control, 61 million Americans or nearly one in every four of us, have had some form of mental or physical disability. And if you factor in friends, families, and community members the number of Americans affected by disability rights issues multiplies.
- Our faith teaches that every human being is created in God’s image, and that each of us is infinitely valuable. Judaism also teaches the importance of the tzibur (the public) and encourages each of us to be part of a community. Despite these two values, there are many barriers that prevent Jews with disabilities from being recognized for their worth, and from being fully included in Jewish spaces. Sometimes those barriers are physical - the lack of easy access to multiple floors in a building, or accessibility to large print prayer books, or the lack of adequate nearby parking space. Other times those barriers are intangible - the lack of quality educational resources and experiences for those with disabilities, the lack of prayer experiences that value different ways of being or social activities and experiences that fail to welcome those with disabilities.
- Temple Tikvah has done much over the years to create a more inclusive community. However, we can and ought to strive to do more. We need to continue to raise awareness about inclusion and hold ourselves to high standards to achieve it.
- To commemorate JDAIM this year, we are delighted to welcome Rabbi Lauren Tuchman to Temple Tikvah on Sunday February 11th. Rabbi Tuchman will share her experience as a blind person and teach us about inclusivity as a Jewish imperative. She will meet with our Religious School community in the morning, and then will be our guest speaker and teacher at a special Lunch and Learn at noon. Please come meet her and learn with her - she is an extraordinary thinker and teacher.
May we continue to build the world that we dream of, a world of justice and dignity for all.
TORAH PROJECT GROUP
Have you ever wanted to learn to chant from the Torah? Here is your chance! You can still join our Torah Class. Even though the class has begun, we can always make room for you. This month classes will be held on Thursday, February 1st, 15th, 22nd, and 29th at 10:00am in the Beber Auditorium and via ZOOM (Meeting ID: 823 7679 3869 / Passcode: 705568). Our learning sessions will be celebrated at a special Shabbat Morning Service on Saturday, May 11th 2024, when we will each have a chance to chant a verse – or more – of Torah!
Temple President:
- LISA LUPO -
Our Synagogue is a Place of Harmony, Where All are Embraced with Arms Opened Wide
- I confess to being a bit of a Luddite (a person opposed to new technology) when it comes to artificial intelligence. I recently had dinner with my nephew who was extolling the virtues of AI, particularly ChatGPTs (free-to-use AI system). He insisted I try it and asked if there was anything I needed to write. So, of course, I said my February Tikvah Times article.
- What do you want to talk about in the article, he asked. In February we generally celebrate diversity and inclusion, and invite a speaker to our religious school and an adult lunch & learn session. He immediately barked some instructions into his phone, and out popped a beautiful, well-written article on diversity and inclusion in Judaism. It started out like this:
- It is lovely, I said. Yet it does not sound like me. Well, he said, it can write it many ways and the more it gets to know you, the more it adjusts to your style. He immediately provided ChatGPT with new instructions to write the article in Seussian style. Here is an abbreviated version:
- I could not have said it better myself!
- On Sunday, February 11th our guest speaker will be Rabbi Lauren Tuchman. The first blind woman ordained as a rabbi, Rabbi Tuchman is a champion of inclusive Torah and disability justice. Please mark your calendar for what should be a very informative and worthwhile session.
As far as Chat GPTs are concerned, I am both amazed and frightened by its potential. Yet after seeing how well it writes, I just might try it again.
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
No One Should Be Marginalized
Rabbi Lauren Tuchman Will Be Speaking To Our Students On February 11th 2024
Education Director
Welcome to 2024!
- We ended 2023 with a wonderful Hanukkah Program, where the students learned how to press olive oil and everyone got to make an olive oil wood menorah. Brotherhood made the day extra special by frying up latkes for everyone! Thank you to Brotherhood for their support.
- In January we celebrated Tu B’Shevat by planting parsley, which we hope to use for our Passover model seder in April.
- In February the students will learn about Hakarat Tov: finding the good in the world, in each other, and being grateful. We will also be teaching our students how to develop a sense of appreciation by noticing the good in the world, from the gift of life to physical things and being grateful for what we have in life, and that it is a learned behavior. We will begin by learning how to develop this practice through direct instruction, storytelling, and modeled behavior.
- February is also Jewish Disability, Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month. We have invited a speaker to raise awareness and foster acceptance and inclusion of those with physical disabilities, mental health conditions, and those who are simply “different”.
- This year, we are delighted to host Rabbi Lauren Tuchman, the first blind woman to enter the rabbinate. She will meet with our students in class on Sunday, February 11th. You can learn more about Rabbi Tuchman and her teachings by visiting her website by clicking on the LINK below.
- On Friday, February 9th please join us for a Shabbat Family Dinner (All congregants are welcome!) at 6:00pm and a Family Service led by our 5th Grade Class at 7:00 pm. The following students will lead us in prayer, song, and drama: Emmy Adrian, Matthew Golbig, Harrison Gries, Jacob Jones, Leo Levitan, Leyna Maletzky, Adaya Marsh, Ava Schnosky, and Zachary Strobel.
IMPORTANT DATES: Sunday, January 28th through Friday, February 2nd - Virtual Parent Teacher Conferences and Sunday, February 18th through Sunday, February 25th - We are Closed for Mid-Winter Recess
Have You Ever Felt Left Out?
TIKVAH TOTS
The Beauty of Inclusion...Everyone Belongs Here and Has Value
- How often have you felt out of place? Have there been times when you looked around a room and thought you simply didn’t belong? Can you conjure up that feeling of "otherness" that has weighed on you?
- As Jews in a world where we are always the minority, we know those feelings well. Add another layer of perhaps being a part of another race, having a learning disability, having a physical impairment, contemplating gender or sexual identity, trying to cope with mental health issues or perhaps that burden of feeling like an outsider weighs even more heavily on you.
- Hopefully, when you step into a Jewish space, you feel the comfort of inclusion. As Jews, we try our best to welcome everyone warmly into houses of worship and educational spaces. As parents with little ones we try our hardest to protect our children from ever feeling like an outsider. We tell our tots to say “hello” to anyone they meet at the playground. We coax them to ask a child sitting alone to come play with them. When we do these small things, we are teaching our children the beauty of inclusion. We are saying to our child, “Everyone belongs here. Everyone has value.” We are also hoping that our child will be welcomed along their journey to adulthood.
We want to welcome you to come to future Tots Events and know that you are always accepted here.
Temple-at-Large
No One Should Have To Bear The Burden Of Ableism
...for no matter how noble our efforts might be to make this world more inclusive, equitable, and accessible, if we give little say to those we are trying to assist, our endeavors of inclusion can quickly result in exclusion. (Russell Lehmann)
REMEMBER TO MARK YOUR CALENDARS: * The Temple Book Club will next meet on Monday, February 12th at 7:30pm to review The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride...Published in 2023, James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is an adult historical fiction/mystery novel. In 1972, a skeleton found in an old well unravels the hidden secrets of Chicken Hill, a Pennsylvania neighborhood where Jewish and Black communities coexist amidst racial tensions. Chona Ludlow is the Jewish owner of the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which shapes the destinies of various characters over the decades. James McBride is a National Book Award winner, and the novel explores themes of community, survival, and justice. (supersummary.com)
*PLEASE NOTE: The Afternoon & Evening Book Clubs have merged to one meeting per month. The meetings will be the second Monday of each month. The ZOOM LINK will be in the Weekly Update and will be the same LINK for the entire year.
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The next Temple Writing Group meeting is on Tuesday, February 13th at 7:30pm.
The Challah Prince Will be Visiting Us Next Month!
• FOR SECURITY PURPOSES, REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS MANDATORY •
Lifelong Learning
“The Transformative Power of Inclusive Torah”
- It could not be any plainer. God and Moses are instructing the Israelites about Judaism’s commandments as they wander through the wilderness on their way from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. In the Torah (Leviticus, Chapter 19, Verse 14) the people are told not to insult the deaf nor place a stumbling block before the blind. Why? Because “you hold your God in awe.” In other words, we are all made in God’s image – not just the fully able – and that is a remarkable, inspiring, and even revolutionary idea.
- In that spirit, come join the Lunch and Learn crowd on Sunday, February 11th to discuss “The Transformative Power of Inclusive Torah”. Our guest will be Rabbi Lauren Tuchman, the first blind woman to be ordained as a rabbi. Rabbi Tuchman will teach about inclusivity in the Jewish community through the study of Jewish texts. The session will be participatory and conversational. You can find out more about Rabbi Tuchman’s accomplishments and teachings by clicking on the below LINK and about this event on the flyer below.
- Lunch will be served at noon, with the program to begin at 12:30pm. While you can join via ZOOM (details to follow), we would be thrilled to have you join us at the noon luncheon, served in the Beber Auditorium. If you can make the luncheon, please let us know by Thursday, February 8th using LINK below or Google Form in the Weekly Update. There is a suggested donation of $10 to cover the cost of lunch.
- Torah Study: Torah Study continues as always on Saturday mornings at 9:00am with Rabbi Sheinberg on ZOOM. The LINKS are in the Weekly Updates. We hope to see you there!
Please join us and engage in our programs to learn and develop your spiritual growth.
Social Action
In Our Community We Elevate the Voices of ALL People
- February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), a time when Jewish organizations worldwide seek to raise awareness and foster acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities and mental health conditions. This election year is a good time to think about what this means in terms of voting rights.
- The other day I was making calls on behalf of a candidate. I got to speak with a 93 year old woman who told me she would not be voting because she is legally blind, has mobility issues, and lives alone. We talked for a while about the accommodations she is entitled to and how to access them, but in this case she only thanked me and said she was too tired to try. Whether or not she ultimately decides to vote, she needed to know that as a citizen, her right to whatever assistance she needs to enable her to vote is enshrined in law. For example, accessible registration forms and ballots for people with visual disabilities are available in New York along with instructions on how to use them.
- Do you know someone with a disability or mental health condition that could make voting or even registering to vote more challenging? The following is a statement of rights as expressed on the website of the U.S. Vote Foundation (usvotefoundation.org/disabled-voter-guide/new-york) which you can visit by clicking on the LINK below:
“In New York, you have the right to the following items as protected by federal law and election staff must be trained to understand these rights: Accessible voter registration, • Accessible polling places, • Policies and procedures that do not discriminate against you based on your disability, • Accessible, available, and operational voting systems, • Your service animal to accompany you inside the polling place, • The right to vote privately and independently or with assistance, if needed, • Assistance from a person of your choice, who can be a friend, family member, or poll worker (but not your boss, union agent, or a candidate unless this person is your family member), • Election Staff trained to understand the rights above.”
- Here are local resources for people who need specific information about voting accessibility. Please share them and let’s help ALL of our fellow New Yorkers exercise their right to vote in the upcoming elections.
Nassau County: Ph: 516-571-VOTE (8683) OR 2411
Queens County: Ph: 1-866-VOTE (8683)
IMPORTANT REMINDER: For NY Congressional District 3:. Special Election to replace George Santos on February 13th 2024. You can vote early from February 3rd - 11th 2024
Sisterhood
Inclusion
- Twenty five years ago I attended a Bar Mitzvah at an Orthodox shul in Riverdale. I was surprised by the swinging gate of the mechitzah (partition) that allowed children to easily move from the men’s to the women’s sides without having to go out of the sanctuary. However, I was even more surprised to see that there were ramps from each side of the mechitzah up to the bimah. It was the first time that I had seen the bimah accessible to those unable to climb the steps. And it was a very big statement from the congregation that they wanted to include everyone in the community, including many who in the past were not granted the same accessible opportunities.
- Sisterhood strives to be inclusive of all. Yet today I am going to focus on a different type of inclusion than those with physical, emotional, cognitive or other challenges. For years one of the concerns of Sisterhood has been how to get new members and younger members involved in Sisterhood. We see the same people year after year, the same people on the Board and the same people planning events and activities. However, recently it came to the Board’s attention that not only were we seen as a group of older women only, but that newer Temple members did not really know much about Sisterhood and what we do and therefore, are not really interested in joining. You see, while we who have been members for so long are familiar with all that Sisterhood does, we never really shared this with newer Temple members. We more or less assumed that everyone just knows what Sisterhood does. So, in an effort to be more transparent and hopefully to become more inclusive of all the women in our Temple community, we want to use this opportunity to tell you what Sisterhood does.
- The mission of Sisterhood is to support our Temple and community...Activities such as: • sending Simcha Greetings • spearheading a Rosh Hashanah Honey Sale • sending Purim Cards • hosting an annual Women’s Seder. We also host social activities such as: • an annual brunch and • the end of year dinner, as well as programs like • Karaoke and • Bingotini. Everything is always announced in flyers in our Weekly Updates and in the monthly Tikvah Times.
- However, there is more to Sisterhood’s support of our Temple and community: • Sisterhood provides our Oneg Shabbat, including arranging special event cakes for Oneg sponsors and B’nai Mitzvah, and has members to greet and help serve every Friday night. • The flowers on the bimah are the responsibility of Sisterhood. We see that they are present each Shabbat, on High Holy Days, and for B’nai Mitzvah. • The Beber Auditorium’s kitchen supplies are stocked by Sisterhood. • Sisterhood provides prayer books to the fourth graders, as well as gifts to B’nai Mitzvah, and Confirmation and High School graduating students. • Friday night Security is paid for by Sisterhood and we jointly share the cost of Security for Religious School on Sundays with our Brotherhood. • We make annual donations to the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer and the Multiple Sclerosis Society. • Sisterhood provides an annual gift to the Temple. • Sisterhood will also try to meet the request of any arm of our Temple when something, within reason and our ability, is requested. For example, if we were to receive a request for hamentashen for Purim for Religious School, Sisterhood would make it happen. All of this is accomplished through membership dues, fundraisers, and the hard work and commitment of the Sisterhood Board and members.
We welcome new members to participate as we work together towards fulfilling our mission.
• SAVE THE DATE •
Brotherhood
HAKARAT HATOV - הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב
KOL NIDRE DONATIONS:
- ANGEL: Cheryle & Steve Levine • Barbara Silberman • Susan & Martin Siroka • Ken & Neela Weber
- CHESED: Arnold & Sylvia Bloch • Marty Cohen & Rabbi Randy Sheinberg
- TZEDEKAH: Elaine Farber • Roger Jassie & Cari Pepkin Jassie • Gloria & Lawrence Konstan • Joyce & Joel Mensoff • Sandra & David Peskin
- BENEFACTOR: Robin & Robert Jacobson • Lisa Selkin Lupo • Madeleine Wolf
- PATRON: Robert Bader • Betsy Jacobs Biviano • Brotherhood of Temple Tikvah • Ronni & Charlie Hollander • Marilyn Markowitz • Barbara & Joe Massey • Janet & Barry Spool • Stuart Weinstock • Irene & Stanley Zorn
- SPONSOR: Lynn & Jay Beber • Terry & Michael Cutler • Ronald Degen • Beth Feldman • Martin & Susan Fox • Bruce, Maria, Lauren & Marc Gross • Joe & Judy Kirschner • Traci & Victor Levy • Phyllis Richards • Ruth Vincent-Sechechtman • Ed & Helaine Schachter • Justin Wax Jacobs in honor of Leonard, Helen, Samuel, Eva, Russell & Sheryl Jacobs and Joseph & Goldie Schwartz
- DONOR: Anonymous • Muriel Adler • Lorraine Bertan • Cindy & Joe Bettelheim • Florence Baravarian • Sharon Bibergal • Bernice Bloch • Sheila & Martin Bosker • The Chirel Family • The Comerchero Family • Dr. & Mrs. Norman Feder • Sonia Fink • Vivian Floch • Alan Fogelman • Fran Fredrick • The Golbig Family • Marc & Michele Gold • Stephen & Barbara Goldberg • Susan & Marty Goldschmidt • Lori & Mark Gordon • James & Lauren Gries • David Herz & Janet Stahl • Charles Hyman • Leslie Kizner • Terry & Ira Lepzelter • Susan & Andre Louis • The Magidson Family • Lynn Moser • Margery & Edward Orenstein • Robert Peskin • Ben Piltch/Heron Family • Rich & Phyllis Ravens & Family • Barbara & Milton Rosenberg and Family • Susan Schall • Arlene Sheff • Joan Schuster • June & Jack Schwarz • Roslyn & Burton Tropp • Carol Weiner • Joan Wiener • Elaine & Howard Weiss • Sandra Witt • L. Wolfson
- PARTICIPANT: Deborah Abramowitz • Sharon Adler • George & Jeanie Berger • Sharyn Chanin • Nancy Eschemuller • Steven & Doreen Geller • Muriel Gorochow • Ramona Fastow Jones • Esther Krichevsky • Steven B. Levine • Andrew & Marilyn Mandell • Mark & Robin Mandell • Lee Newman • Karla Osuna • Jayne Rudick • Alene & Helene Schonhaut • Jack & Linda Zaffos • Howard & Gale Zeidman
DONATIONS:
- RABBI’S DISCRETIONARY FUND: Lois, Seth & Ian Howard in honor of Richard’s memory • Claire Shapiro in appreciation of Irving & Doris Silberman
- SISTERHOOD: Victoria Au in memory of Doris Silberman • Sue Plastrik in memory of Doris & Irv Silberman • Elaine Reidich in memory of Doris Silberman
- SPECIAL EDUCATION FUND: Sisterhood in honor of the 55th Anniversary of Toby & Steven Israel on January 12th 2024
- TEMPLE TIKVAH MEMORIAL FUND: Bernice Bloch in memory of Stanley H. Bloch • Farhad Bolandak in memory of Naz & Ali Ebrahilml • Brotherhood in memory of Doris Silberman • Barbara & Stephen Goldberg in memory of Rose Goldberg and Anne Muchnik • Joseph & Phyllis Horne in memory of Ruth Berns • Steven & Toby Israel in memory of Milton Israel and Ruth Beers • Dori Kam and Jay Pilnick & Family in memory of Ruth Kane Simeone • Esther Krichevsky in memory of Irving & Doris Silberman • Sol & Judy Lefkowitz in memory of Abraham Lefkowitz • Cheryle & Steve Levine in memory of Irving & Doris Silberman • Sandra & David Peskin in memory of Esther & Ben Peskin • Alene & Helene Schonhaut in loving memory of Irving & Doris Silberman • Adrian & Jerry Schwartz in memory of Doris Silberman • Janet & Barry Spool in memory of Doris Silberman • Irene Heimrath & Stanley Zorn in memory of Oscar Riegelhaupt, Leonard Zorn, and Doris Silberman
* FEBRUARY 2023 CALENDAR
- THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1st - FIRST DAY OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH - Torah Project at 10:00am & On the Marc Sports Talk with Marc Gold at 4:00pm
- FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd - Tikvah Tots Shabbat at 6:30pm and Shabbat Service at 7:30pm (Shabbat Candles Lit at 4:56pm)
- SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd - *Torah Study at 9:00am ON ZOOM ONLY (LINK in the Weekly Update)
- SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4th - Kol Simkha Choir Rehearsal at 9:00am & Religious School at 9:30am
- MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5th - Cardio, Core and More! with Lori on ZOOM from 5:00pm to 6:00pm
- TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6th - Sisterhood Board Meeting at 7:30pm ON ZOOM
- WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7th - Choir Rehearsal at 7:00pm
- THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8th - Wise Aging ON ZOOM at 11:00am & On the Marc Sports Talk with Marc Gold at 4:00pm
- FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9th - Family Dinner / All are Welcome! at 6:00pm and Family Shabbat Service with the 5th Grade at 7:30pm (Shabbat Candles Lit at 5:04pm)
- SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10th - *Torah Study at 9:00am ON ZOOM ONLY (LINK in the Weekly Update)
- SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11th - Kol Simkha Choir Rehearsal at 9:00am; Religious School with JDAIM Speaker at 9:30am; Brotherhood Defensive Driving Class at 10:00am; and Lunch & Learn at 12:00pm
- MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12th - Cardio, Core and More! with Lori on ZOOM from 5:00pm to 6:00pm; Brotherhood Meeting at 7:00pm; and Book Club Meeting at 7:30pm
- TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13th - Writing Group Meeting at 7:30pm
- WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14th - VALENTINE'S DAY / Choir Rehearsal at 7:00pm
- THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15th - Torah Project at 10:00am & On the Marc Sports Talk with Marc Gold at 4:00pm
- FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16th - Shabbat Service at 7:30pm (Shabbat Candles Lit at 5:13pm)
- SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17th - *Torah Study at 9:00am ON ZOOM ONLY (LINK in the Weekly Update)
- SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18th - NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
- MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19th - PRESIDENTS DAY / OFFICE CLOSED / Cardio, Core and More! with Lori on ZOOM from 5:00pm to 6:00pm
- THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22nd - Torah Project at 10:00am & On the Marc Sports Talk at 4:00pm with Marc Gold
- FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd - Shabbat Service at 7:30pm (Shabbat Candles Lit at 5:21pm)
- SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24th - *Torah Study at 9:00am with Cantor Friedlander ON ZOOM ONLY (LINK in the Weekly Update)
- SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25th - NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
- MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26th - Cardio, Core and More! with Lori on ZOOM from 5:00pm to 6:00pm
- WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28th - Choir Rehearsal at 7:00pm
- THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29th - Torah Project at 10:00am & On the Marc Sports Talk at 4:00pm with Marc Gold
* PLEASE REFER TO THE WEEKLY UPDATES & THE LINK BELOW (CLICK ON NEW EVENTS, THEN CALENDAR) FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION *