Temple Israel Doorpost December 2017

December 2017

Kislev / Tevet 5778

From the Rabbi’s Study. . .

Rebbetzin Elissa called the Temple office this morning to say that Rabbi David is resting comfortably in hospice care at Hyder House, surrounded by his family.

She expressed her deep and continued appreciation for the community’s love and support.

December 1, 2017

Scenes from the Member Brunch, November 19, 2017

Student-led Kabbalat Shabbat 6:45pm Friday, December 1, 2017, Sanctuary Cantor Shira Nafshi leads Shabbat Services 9:30am Saturday, December 2, 2017, Sanctuary Ritual Committee Meeting 6:15pm Tuesday, December 5, 2017, Shmoozatorium Book Talk: Among the Reeds 9:30am Sunday, December 10, 2017, Social Hall Executive Committee Meeting 7:30pm Thursday, December 14, 2017, Virtual Meeting Rabbi Ira Korinow leads Shabbat Services 9:30am Saturday, December 16, 2017, Sanctuary Red Cross Blood Drive 9am—2pm Tuesday, December 19, 2017, Social Hall Community Chanukah Party 11am Sunday, December 17, 2017, Social Hall Chanukah Candle Lighting & Prayer for Peace 6pm Tuesday, December 19, 2017, State St Courtyard Board Meeting 7:00pm Tuesday, December 19, 2017, Board Room Cantor Shira Nafshi leads Shabbat Services 9:30am Saturday, December 23, 2017, Sanctuary Music Sharing Circle of Healing 4:30pm Tuesday, December 26, 2017, Shmoozatorium

Photos continue on page 3

First Night Portsmouth Celebration 8:15pm Sunday, December 31, 2017, Social Hall

Dear Fellow Congregants, This has been a very difficult several months at Temple Israel. But amid our sadness and concern, as we have witnessed our Rabbi’s declining health, we have banded together to support him and his family as well as one another. Volunteers have stepped forward to lead services, help our Hebrew School students, and plan holidays and other Temple events. However, we cannot rely on volunteers indefinitely, and this month, upon the advice of Rabbi Senter, we will introduce some new voices on the bimah.

Over the coming weeks and months, the congregation will receive regular notices about the upcoming Shabbat services, including who will be on the bimah and the parsha. Please join members of the board and our guest clergy at these services, taking the opportunity to come together as a congregation in a spirit of community and prayer.

David Bachrach

Over the past several months, Rabbi Senter has encouraged and assisted the board in finding outside clergy to help the congregation by leading services and life cycle events, and providing support for our bar and bat mitzvah students. In the weeks ahead Ira Korinow, rabbi emeritus of Temple Emanu-El of Haverhill, and Shira Nafshi, cantor of temple Beth Jacob in Concord, will be joining us to lead services and to meet with our sixth and seventh grade Hebrew School students.

Rabbi Korinow has almost four decades of experience on the pulpit, and has served in leadership positions in a wide variety of organizations promoting human rights and peace. Rabbi Korinow also has close connections with our region, having been elected to the board of the Portsmouth- based Friends Forever, an organization that brings Jewish and Arab teens from Israel to the United States to build trust and respect for each other. Cantor Nafshi became a cantor in 2005, and has been in Concord since 2011. In addition to having a beautiful singing voice and performing in concerts throughout the Northeast and Florida, Cantor Nafshi is also a poet and songwriter.

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Temple Israel Blood Drive!

Tuesday, December 19th, 2017 9am - 2pm December is a critical month for the Red Cross. Consider joining us and performing this mitzvah.

Coordinator Sandy Roberts needs volunteers to help with sign-in and snacks (1-2 hours). Please call him at 603-361-4768 or connect via email at sabakarob@gmail.com. Thank you!

Membership Committee Report: The Importance of Showing Up The Membership Committee was thrilled with the wonderful attendance at our brunch on November 19th. With the exception of High Holiday services, this brunch is traditionally one of the best-attended programs at Temple Israel. I believe this reflects our desire to connect with other members of the congregation.

Please remember, there are other opportunities to connect every week throughout the year. Shabbat services and Tuesday minyans are just the beginning. Coming up in just the next few weeks are: •

An author talk on Dec. 10

•

Hanukkah party on Dec. 17

•

Blood Drive; Community candle lighting on Dec. 19.

Showing up is not just enriching for you, but is a mitzvah because it helps build our community. Particularly at this difficult time in the life of our congregation, please show up as often as possible. It's a cliché, but true: We are stronger together.

Margie Wachtel, Membership Committee chair

A special Thank You to our December 2 and December 9 Kiddush Sponsors in honor of Rabbi David Rafael Senter Sharen and Randy Spratt

Adult Biblical Hebrew Reading & Grammar Advanced-Intermediate Level Meets Tuesday evenings 6 PM – 7:30 PM, in Nancy Mae Shaines Memorial Library right after Minyan.

For more information, contact instructor Kathryn Mulhearn, isogloss@outllook.com or the Temple office.

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Ritual Committee The month of Kislev is here which means it’s time to get ready for Chanukah and the beginning of winter. On Tuesday, December 19th, the last night of Chanukah at 6 PM there will be a Community Chanukah Candle Lighting and a Prayer for Peace outside in the State Street courtyard. Members of the Portsmouth Ministerium and their congregations have been invited to join us for the event. Come light up the night with an offering of peace! Light refreshments will be served.

Regular Friday night and Shabbat morning services continue to take place even while the Rabbi is receiving treatment. Monthly from January to June there will be a special musical Friday night service. What a relaxing way to get into the spirit of Shabbat listening to various guest musicians and singers perform.

Shabbat morning service will be led by our visiting clergy, Cantor Shira Nafshi and Rabbi Ira Korinow.

Please stop in to meet them and help us make a minyan. Everyone is welcome.

David Olken

Rabbi Ira Korinow

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Cantor Shira Nafshi

Rabbi Korinow served as spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El in Haverhill, Massachusetts from 1981 until his retirement from the pulpit in June 2017. A native of Newton, Massachusetts, he received his B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Religion from Boston University and continued his studies at the Rabbinic School of Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion in New York where he received his M.A. in Hebrew Literature and was ordained a rabbi.

Cantor Shira Nafshi grew up in Miami, FL and was highly involved in both her temple's youth group and religious school as a song leader. She was mentored by her Cantor, Cantor Stuart Pittle (z"l).

Cantor Shira graduated from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion’s School of Sacred Music in 2005, and served as the full-time Cantor for Temple B'nai Or in Morristown, NJ for five years. Shira began serving as the part-time Cantor of Temple Beth Jacob in 2011. Since 2010, Cantor Shira has also served part-time as Cantor of Temple Adath Yeshurun in Manchester.

In 2003, Rabbi Korinow was awarded the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by his rabbinical school in New York. Prior to his coming to Haverhill, Rabbi Ira served congregations in Glencoe, Illinois and Laconia, New Hampshire.

When not on a bimah, Cantor Shira can usually be found with a horse – trimming hooves, teaching riding, or playing with her own horses. She also teaches voice and guitar students of all experience levels and musical interests out of her home in Concord, NH. Cantor Shira is thrilled to be working with her life partner, Rabbi Robin. Together, they are the parents of Liba, born in early 2014.

December

1st

3:51 PM

December

8th

3:50 PM

December

15th

3:51 PM

December

22nd

3:54 PM

December

29th

3:58 PM

It gives us great pleasure to announce the recent engagement of our daughter Rebecca Ruben to Chaim Miller of Teaneck, New Jersey.

Mazel Tov to parents Joel and Rivka Miller, siblings Meira Ruben, Moshe, Avi and Lelah Miller, and grandparents Alvin and Anita Caplin.

May they share together a lifetime of joy, health, peace of mind, and blessings from Hashem.

Tuesday Afternoon 5:30pm Friday Night 6:15pm Saturday Morning 9:30am Followed by Kiddush Luncheon

Anne Emily and Robert Ruben

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Shalom Everyone!

All was quiet for Youth Group in November. The unforeseen closing of a favorite venue, an event in the Social Hall, and finally, Thanksgiving break, all thwarted my efforts to put plan B or C into play!

But, as promised, we all did get to gush over the really cool Chanukkiot that the Youth Group members made in the October event, when I picked up the finished products and displayed them in the sanctuary before school services.

Before and after!

Our December event will be the Youth Group Chanukkah Party, on Saturday, Dec. 16th (6pm – 8pm) We will have a short Havdallah service, a Cans for Crossroads food drive, a Yankee Gift Swap, a Dreidel Tournament with Prizes, party food and ice cream sundaes, and of course, we will light the chanukkiot that the children made themselves!

A late January Skating event is in the works, and February 11th will be “Hands only CPR” followed by Jay’s Heart Pizza at Flatbread Co. More details will follow!

As always, please feel free to call me at 603-969-2984 or email me at egt9@aol.com with any questions or suggestions.

L’Shalom, Elian Tackeff, your friendly youth group person

Library Update Thank you to everyone who has graciously donated books to the library. We are now trying to organize our collection and find a place for all our donated books. To that end, we would appreciate you holding off on bringing any new donations to the library for the time being. When we are ready to accept new donations, we will post a message welcoming new donations.

Also, a gentle reminder that if you have any library books at home that you have finished reading, please return them. We would like to have as many books back in the library as we can, so we can get an accurate accounting of our collection. Thanks for all your help!

Rachel Dennis & Marge Gruzen

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Our downtown preschool location affords us the opportunity to become part of the greater Portsmouth community and enables us to engage in the mitzvah of Kavod, respecting and honoring the people with whom we interact. This past month we enjoyed our second visit with our “Grand Pals” at Wentworth Senior Living, a residential community located a short walk away on Pleasant Street. Our intergenerational partnership with our senior neighbors is now in its second year, and both the children and their Grand Pals continue to enjoy their Laura Sher time together engaging in conversations, listening to stories, Director, ELC and doing art projects as they connect and build friendships.

Partnering older adults with young children is gaining popularity in the United States and elsewhere. Current research suggests that for older adults, positive interactions and social engagement with young children can decrease loneliness, delay mental decline, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of disease. The benefits for children are even more far reaching: increased self-esteem, enhancement of social and personal development, and an understanding and appreciation of their elders and of people with impairments and disabilities of all kinds. As we all know, young children bring smiles and happiness wherever they go…

Our preschoolers would also love to partner with our Temple Israel seniors! Please let me know if any of you are interested in spending a half hour or so reading to and engaging with our preschoolers. We would love to welcome you into our community!

We also spent this past month investigating pumpkins and corn, two crops native to North America that seem to dominate our thoughts at Thanksgiving time. We cut open a giant pumpkin, roasted the seeds, cooked the pulp, and made the most delicious chocolate chip pumpkin cake ever!

We explored the history of popcorn while reading Tomie dePaola’s classic story, “The Popcorn Book.” We gave our senses a treat as we listened to, smelled and then ate the popping corn kernels!

We know how to have fun!

Wishing you a wonderful month ahead, L’Shalom, Laura

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Hebrew School News Shalom Everyone!

November was a relatively quiet month for the Hebrew School. No wonder, since it coincides with the Jewish month of Cheshvan, also known as “MarCheshvan”, which, as Rabbi David told the children a few weeks ago, means “bitter Cheshvan” as it has no holidays or any joyous occasions.

We have, however, been very busy practicing for our December 1st Hebrew School Kabbalat Shabbat Dinner and Service. Thanks for the amazing volunteers and a report on the special intergenerational event will be in the January Doorpost!

We also had Art for the 3rd and 6th graders, a Rosh Chodesh presentation by Deborah Hirsch Mayer when our last Sunday service happened to be the 1st day of Kislev (Nov/Dec), and last but not least, our first visit by our Israeli Shlicha, Noam, who introduced the children to the Negev region of Israel.

Noam, who is a musician, taught the children some Israeli songs and dances, did a fun art project with the younger children and held a wonderful “everything you want to know about Israel” question and answer session with the older children. We can’t wait for her to come back on December 17th, when she will introduce us to another region of Israel and perhaps lead us in Israeli Chanukkah songs!

Here are a few dates to put on your calendar: Friday, Dec. 1st: Hebrew School Kabbalat Shabbat Dinner and Service (5:45pm dinner/6:45 pm Services) Wednesday, Dec. 13th: Hebrew School is lighting the 2nd candle in the courtyard at 5:20pm Saturday. Dec. 16th: Youth Group Chanukkah Party in the Schmooze 6-8pm Sunday, Dec. 17th: Community Hannukah Celebration (11-12 in Social Hall: Bring your own Chanukkiot, latkes by the Brotherhood, dreidels and gelt and Chanukkah songs) Please feel free to call or email me at 603-969-2984 or egt9@aol.com with any questions or suggestions.

L’Shalom, Elian Tackeff, Head of School

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INSTITUTIONAL OPERATING ENDOWMENT FUND Jewel Davis in memory of her father Bernie Davis.

Nancy & Melvin Alexander in memory of David Kravetz. Mathew & Leslie Allen in honor of Rabbi Senter. Cindy & Robert Chaikin in memory of Robert’s father Oscar Chaikin. Stuart and Paula Boxer in memory of Stuart’s mother Frieda Boxer.

CULTURAL ENDOWMENT FUND Shirley and Elliott Fishbein in honor of Bernard & Jeannette Goodman’s anniversary, and in honor of Shel & Elaine Krasker’s anniversary.

RABBI’S DISCRETIONARY FUND Rita Benjamin in memory of Sarah Emmer. Karen & Werner Gundersheimer; Mikhail Klarov. Mike Steinberg in memory of his mother Rosilyn P. Steinberg. Marie & Ronald Berman in memory of Susan Goldin.

DUES ABATEMENT FUND Rabbi Haskell M. Bernat in memory of his father Solomon H. Bernat.

PRESCHOOL FUND Veta Stone in memory of her mother Alice Berit.

Cynthia Freedman & Marcia Blacker in memory of mother Rebecca Freedman. Naomi Fishbein in memory of her brother Melvin Partoll. Selma Freedman in memory of her husband Robby Freedman.

DINNERMAN/ROTTENBERG EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT FUND Meryl S. Wein in memory of her mother Florence T. Seidner.

PRAYER BOOK FUND Maggie & Ian Rubin, Jodi & Michael Rubin, in honor of their brother Howard Rubin receiving the Shem Tov award from the Jewish Federation of NH.

TZEDAKAH FUND Pauline Elkin in memory of her husband Martin Elkin. Frances Lampert in memory of her father Abraham Baisuck. Betty Effron in memory of her mother Jeanne Slass. Ellen Fineberg in memory of her father Benjamin Fineberg. Amy Feitelson in memory of her mother Dorothy Feitelson. Goldie Fink in memory of her father Harry Bratter.

KIDDUSH FUND Randy and Sharen Spratt in honor of Rabbi Senter.

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November Yahrzeits

13 Kislev / 13 Tevet

1

Melvin Partoll, Samuel Levy, Jeanne Slass

16

Eli Borwick, Lillian Lorde, Florence Slater, Bernard Levitz

2

Arno Fleisher, Jennie Shoer

17

Bernice Gordan, Rabbi Morris Shoulson

3

Rachel Kushious, Cyril Ball, A. Harold Seidner

19

Vernon Byus, Jr., Lee Fruman

4

Faye Gerstein

20

Daniel Cline, Etta Winick

5

Harry Cantor

21

Henry Willar, Charles Trott

6

Jacob Heller, Mary McCrensky

22

Zelig Applebaum

7

George Gelman, Joseph Partoll, Harold Berit

23

Solomon Gerstein, Gertrude Kaplan, Bessie Cohn, George Brown, Jay Wein, Louis Rome

8

John Alexander

24

Janice Glaser, Rose Coles, Carl Schwartz, Herb Heller

9

Ethel Cutler, Harry Gross, Gerald Sher, Herman Spaien, Jacob Mason

25

H Berzow, Maurice Ruben, Hyman Sherman

10

Frank Weiner, Morris Zack, Allen Koiles, Rabbi Louis Finkelstein

27

Marcia Alexander, Leah Kolikof, Benjamin Slome, Edith Prostkoff

11

Pauline Lisagor, Jacob Goldstein

28

Alan Schenk, Ethel Fleisher, Mildred Thrope

12

Joseph Sack, Nedra Loeb, Charlotte Olken

29

Lena Mines, Eve Cetlin, Yury Klarov, Mary Saklad, Jacob Stone

13

Bess Rammer, Samuel Lederman, Richard Grace

30

Annie Freaman, Lena Fishbein, Saul Sussman

14

Ada Blankenberg, Bella Linden, Abraham Mittleman

31

Rebecca LePoff, Ethel Halprin, Philip Singer

15

Anna Glaser, Sam Goldstein, Rose Glick

When you are observing a family member’s Yahrzeit, you are welcome to say Kaddish not only at the Friday night or Saturday morning service, but also at the 5:30pm Tuesday minyan and Wednesday or Sunday when school is in session.

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Temple Israel… in gingerbread!

Brooke’s Pre-Hanukkah Hurricane Relief Party

Artist and Temple member Aimée Margolis has created a special entry for an annual gingerbread house contest, crafting a replica of the Sanctuary in Rabbi Senter’s honor.

Get in the mood for Hanukkah and do a mitzvah!

Sunday, December 10th at 12pm Directly after Hebrew School Temple Israel Social Hall

It will be on exhibit in the first floor gallery at the Discover Portsmouth Center, 10 Middle Street, Portsmouth, from December 1-23, 2017.

Snacks, Dreidels, Sumo Wrestling Suit Game and more The Temple Israel gift shop will be open too!

My mitzvah project involves raising awareness about the ongoing needs of hurricane victims. For this party, I am adopting three families in St. Croix through Adopt a Family USVI. Please bring one or more items to get into the party… and help send care packages to hurricane victims!

What’s needed: basic hygiene essentials such as deodorant, toothpaste; Tylenol/ Advil; socks; hand sanitizers; Neosporin; C or D batteries; “Life Straw” water filtration stick or tablets; bug repellent (non-aerosol) to avoid dengue fever.

Temple Israel Sisterhood What does Sisterhood look like in September 2020?

Come join us and catch up with friends, enjoy a bit to eat and let’s discuss what Temple Israel Sisterhood should look like in the future.

When? Sunday, January 21, 2018, 10 – 11:30 am

Temple Israel Social Hall

For More Information: Contact Amy Borne at TISisterhoodNH@yahoo.com

Temple Israel Portsmouth Board of Directors David Bachrach, President Fran Berman, Immediate Past President David Olken, VP Ritual Joanne Samuels, VP House Sam Berg, VP Education Beth Salzman, Recording Secretary Jennifer Sebeny, Financial Secretary Amy Borne, Treasurer Robert Bradbard, Director Amy Hyett, Director Steve Sacks, Director Ira Schwartz, Director Margie Wachtel, Director Mel Prostkoff, Director

Proud member of USCJ Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday, Friday

8:00am—2pm 8:00am—2pm 11:00am—5pm 8:00am—2pm

OFFICE HOURS 200 State Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 603-436-5301

Temple Israel