Comprehensive Weekly Newsletter
Wednesday, October 20, 2021 / 14 Cheshvan 5782

Challenges and Possibilities for Faith Communities in American Public Life with Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett
TODAY, October 20 at 6:00 pm
A Webinar conversation with Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett on the significance of faith communities in American public life in a time of uncertainty and upheaval. In their recent co-authored book, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again (2020), Putnam and Garrett remind us that as uncertain and unsettling as these times may be, they are not unprecedented — we have encountered them before and we prevailed. While the jury is still out on how we will make it through these troubling times, their analysis is cause for encouragement. The conversation will be moderated by our own Rabbi Andrea London and Reverend David J. Wood, Senior Minister at Glencoe Union Church.
Zoom Link *Please Note, this link has been updated*

This program is sponsored by the Jewish Education: Lifelong Learning Opportunities (JELLO) Fund of the Beth Emet Foundation.
Nominating Committee Seeking Board of Trustee Candidates
Deadline for application is TODAY, October 20
We are seeking a diverse group of members to lead Beth Emet! Our Board of Trustees is composed of 24 trustees, who are elected annually for a term of 1 year. These terms are staggered, and this year there are nine trustee positions to be filled for the term from March 2022 to March 2025. In addition, our five elected officer positions each have three-year, staggered terms. In the upcoming cycle, the President, two Vice Presidents, and Treasurer are slated to be filled. 

The Nominating Committee consists of 11 members including 6 members of the Board of Trustees and 5 members of the Congregation at large. The Nominating Committee nominates 1 candidate for each office and as many candidates for the Board of Trustees as needed in a given year, based on the number of Trustees completing their term. The full slate of nominees will be presented to the Board of Trustees for their review prior to the February 2022 Board meeting for presentation at the March 2022 Annual Meeting.  

Each year, the Nominating Committee is charged with identifying and selecting trustees and officers. Here you can find a list of the expectations for the Trustees and open officer positions. Additional details about the process and roles can be found in our bylaws.
We are looking for congregants with the following attributes (in addition to others): regularly engaged in worship, familiar with and interested in lifelong learning, with marketing and social media experience, knowledgeable of safety and security issues, and/or involved in or understands fundraising/stewardship.  

If you are interested in being a Trustee or an Officer - or another leadership position - please complete this application and submit it no later than October 20. Congregants are also welcome to nominate someone else that they feel would be a good addition to our Board. You will be contacted by a member of the Nominating Committee to discuss next steps.
If you have further questions, please contact Caryn Etkin, Chair - Nominating Committee. 
Reparations: Views from Congress and Evanston
Recording from Last Thursday's Program and Link to News Article
Last Thursday, US Congress Representatives Sheila Jackson Lee and Jan Schakowsky, along wth Pastor Michael Nabors, and Robin Rue Simmons discussed reparations on the national and local levels, moderated by Rabbi Andrea London. Check out this was very important and informative discussion by watching the recording here. Additionally, you can also read about this event in the Daily Northwestern.
Congregational Opportunities
Hinei Mah Tov: How Israeli and American Jews Have Viewed Each Other... and how liberal Jewish movements in Israel have made progress, faced opposition, and cooperated. with Rabbi Naamah Kelman and Elan Ezrachi
Tuesday, October 26 at 9:30 am or Wednesday, October 27 at 7:30 pm
Elan and Naamah will reflect on their shared life journey from the viewpoints of an Israeli and an American who met 45 years ago. They will talk about what Israel and American Jewry were like when they met and how each saw the other in this context. They will discuss changes over the decades that they have been together and their respective roles and activities. They will describe the progress made by Conservative and Reform Judaism in Israel, and the collaboration between these two movements on issues of mutual concern, including with unconventional Orthodox leaders and institutions.

Two breakout sessions follow. Naamah will discuss the renaissance and challenges of Jewish life in Israel through her work as a rabbi and the dean of Hebrew Union College. Elan will focus on issues of Jewish peoplehood, Israel-Diaspora relations, and his work teaching Israelis about American Jewry.

This program is sponsored by the Jewish Education: Lifelong Learning Opportunities (JELLO) Fund of the Beth Emet Foundation.
Beth Emet “Fusion” Services
Kabbalat Shabbat and Kahal Shabbat Morning Services are meeting in-person weekly.
We are now providing both in-person and at home worship options for Kabbalat Shabbat services every Friday, as well as Kahal Shabbat Morning services. To register to attend in-person, please click here. If you have questions please direct them to Geoff Prass. Now that we are meeting in-person for Kabbalat Shabbat services every Friday night, we are looking for volunteer ushers. Please contact Shlomit Hoch if you are available and would like to learn more.
KAHAL IS BACK! | In-Person Shabbat Morning Worship at Beth Emet Saturdays from 9:30 - 11:30 am
Kahal, Beth Emet's Shabbat morning service, has resumed in-person worship in the Weiner Room. Everyone is vaccinated, masked, and maintains appropriate distance. Join us for prayer, singing, and study in a relaxed and participatory service! Please register in advance here if you plan to worship in person. As always, you are also welcome to worship with us via Zoom at this link.
In the BE Family
Send Us Your News!
Beth Emet has so many amazing members, everyone offering unique talents to the greater community, to the professional world, and so much more. Share your news with all of us so we can both celebrate and get to know one another a bit better…. Especially during these (mostly) virtual times. Send blurbs to Bekki Kaplan, and if possible, please include a photo!
Featuring: Sara Hartman-Seeskin
(member since 2005 & Board of Trustee Member)

Last week was the Chicago Marathon, and Sara Hartman-Seeskin is still celebrating!  Sara ran 26.2 miles in 4:34:05, coming in 390th for her age category, 4,291st among women and 12,232nd overall (with more than 30,000 runners this year)!  What an amazing achievement! Mazal Tov!
Lifecycle Notices
Please Note: We have moved this section to our Friday Shabbat Newsletter.
If you would like to be added to this list or to confirm that you are receiving these emails,
please email Shlomit.
Social Justice
Fall Tzedakah Box Drop-Off/Exchange
The Beth Emet Tzedakah Committee is pleased to announce our fall tzedakah box drop-off/exchange for the week of November 15 (Monday-Friday) from 9:00am-5:00pm (Mon.-Thurs.) and 9:00am-3:30pm on Friday. The drop-off location will be at Beth Emet just inside the west-side entrance of the building off the parking lot. You may bring your tzedakah box to Shlomit Hoch in the office or take a new box that should be available in the west entrance area. Please note that the Lucite tzedakah boxes are being redeployed to the west entrance area and the Temple Menorah Lobby. You may also use the slot at the sanctuary entrance to deposit donations.
 
For those of you who have not yet returned to the building, you also have the option of contributing to the Tzedakah Fund by credit card. Just visit the Beth Emet Tzedakah page and click on "Donate directly to the Tzedakah Fund here." Or, you may submit a request to Debbie Gilbert, Beth Emet's finance manager, to transfer a portion of your account balance to the Fund. If you prefer to donate by check, make your check payable to Beth Emet and enter "Tzedakah Fund" on the memo line.
 
As always, the contributions received are used exclusively to fund our grant program for the benefit of local and Israeli not-for-profits whose missions align with Beth Emet's social justice core values of righteousness/justice, love of one's neighbors and for the stranger, compassion, kindness, and hospitality. For more information about the Tzedakah Grant program, please view our Tzedakah page or contact committee chair, Barry Isaacson by email or by phone at 847-624-6434. For those unable to drop off their contributions during the week of November 15, please contact Shlomit to schedule your drop-off. 
Lifelong Learning
Adult Education
All the listings for Adult Education Courses are now up on our website with more details. Please do register in advance.
Conversations to Nourish our Souls with Marci Dickman
Thursday, October 21 at 7:15 pm
Explore your spirituality or connection to the mystery or the divine in the world. We will use the prayerbook, poetry, and ourselves as our texts, aiming to deepen our connections and discern meaningful paths in our daily lives. Our tools will include mindfulness practices, journaling, questioning, and conversation. Doubting God’s existence? Come explore.
Zoom Link - Ph: 312-626-6799 - Meeting ID: 876 7518 6098 | Passcode: 1224
A Close Look at Torah with Rabbi Andrea London
Friday, October 22 at 9:30 am
There are many ways to interpret Torah and its nuances of meaning that are often overlooked. We will continue our learning from last year, reading and interpreting the text of the Book of Deuteronomy line by line. New learners are always welcome. Texts will be provided.
No fee for members, non-member fee $100
Zoom Link - Ph: 312-626-6799 - Meeting ID: 880 3271 0378 | Passcode: 785827
Social and Cultural Contacts Between Jews and Arabs with Maayan Hilel
Fridays, October 22 and 29 at 11:00 am
This two-part class will explore the historical relations between Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel during the formative years of the British Mandate (1918-1948). We will examine the diverse interactions that went beyond the political rivalry between the two communities, with a focus on cultural and social perspectives, daily encounters, collaborations in the education system, the business and labor market, political organizations, and leisure spaces.
Member fee $25, or included in Friday morning package; non-member fee $35
Zoom Link - Ph: 312-626-6799 -Meeting ID: 811 0340 0479 | Passcode: 1224

Maayan Hilel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Crown Center for Jewish and Israel studies at Northwestern University. She is a historian of the modern Middle East specializing in the cultural and social history of Mandatory Eretz Israel/Palestine, where her research focuses on aspects of everyday life, leisure, and culture; children and childhood; daily relations between Jews and Arabs; Arab-Jews, and more.
Tropical Zion: Jewish Settlements in the Spanish-Speaking Caribbean with Dara E. Goldman
Mondays, November 1 and 8 at 7:00 pm
Learn about the Jewish populations of the Spanish speaking Caribbean. In the first session we will discuss the origins and development of Jewish communities in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and how they compare to other Caribbean Jewish populations. The second session will focus on the Jewish settlement in Sosúa, Dominican Republic, drawing upon some of the fictional and archival materials from the original settlers, their descendants, and historians who have studied the settlement.
No fee for members; $10 each session for non-members

Dara E. Goldman is Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, specializing in contemporary Caribbean and Latin American literatures and cultures, gender and sexualities studies and cultural studies. She is the author of Out of Bounds: Islands and the Demarcation of Identity in the Hispanic Caribbean (2008) and is completing a project on recent Cuban cultural production. She has also published articles on Caribbean and Jewish cultural production. Professor Goldman currently chairs the Program in Jewish Culture and Society.
Rabbinc Inferno: Hell in Classical Judaism with Dov Weiss
Fridays, November 5 and 12 at 11:00 am
The leading rabbis of American Reform Judaism declared in the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform that “we reject as ideas not rooted in Judaism, the belief … [in] Gehenna (Hell).” Arguing that this claim misrepresents the history of Judaism, this two-part class will examine ancient Jewish discourse about Gehenna to unearth the distinctive values, aesthetics, fantasies, and hopes found within classical Jewish culture. Without such an analysis, one’s understanding of Judaism remains incomplete.
Member fee $25, or included in Friday morning package; non-member fee $35

Dov Weiss is an Associate Professor and Conrad Humanities Scholar (21-26) of Jewish Studies in the Departments of Religion, Classics and Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He completed his PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School as a Martin Meyer Fellow in 2011 and was the Alan M. Stock Fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Jewish Studies in 2012. Dov’s first book, Pious Irreverence: Confronting God in Rabbinic Judaism (University of Pennsylvania Press), won the 2017 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Scholarship.
Young Family Programs
Gan Yom Rishon
Sunday October 24 at 9:45 am
Gan Yom Rishon is an interactive class for children ages 3-5, with a parent/caregiver, that meets on Sunday mornings in-person at Beth Emet this Fall.
Each week we’ll experience Judaism through music, art, cooking, and yoga. Gan Yom Rishon is also open to non-members. Fees are $48 for 6 weeks.

Resources for Well-BEing
Programs and materials to support us during this challenging time
Every week, this section will highlight a few resources—programs/services/guidance—to enhance our well-being. We have also created a webpage on the Beth Emet website that has a more comprehensive list of resources.
Website: Click here.
The Illinois Department of Human Services's Hotline and website are available to any residents seeking support. They are particularly suited for food, medical, shelter, and recovery needs. They are also available for those who are seeking help at home or are looking to talk to someone. 
Contact: 1-833-2-FIND-HELP (1-833-234-6343)
Address: 1114 Church St, Evanston, IL 6020
The YJC prepares job seekers ages 14 through 25 for success in the workplace. We provide job readiness, placement and employment support in partnership with employers. We have a number of exciting programs! Our "Odd Jobs" program connects job seekers with local employers and a number of nontraditional jobs including babysitting, lawn care, computer assistance and much more.
Contact: Diana Balitaan at 847-424-7873 or  847-864-5627
Community Programs
Reserve Your Seat On The Couch
Streaming, November 5-21
JCC Chicago kicks-off the 2021 Fall Festival with 8 films streaming over 3 weekends. From documentaries to dramas and accompanying Q&A's with subject matter experts, you won't want to miss these carefully curated films. Special festival passes on-sale now for a limited time.