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OF THE SHABBAT REMINDER

The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, January 7, 2025

A PRAYER FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CALIFORNIA

by Rabbi Nicole Guzik

Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, California

Ribono shel Olam, Master of the Universe, protect those that are impacted by the devastating Southern California fires. Guide them towards shelter and safety. As family, friends, neighbors and fellow Angelenos experience physical and emotional loss, may we turn towards each other with open homes and open hearts.

God, spread a blanket of security over the firefighters and first responders that serve our community. Grant them strength and courage and may each one come home safely to those they love.

Let us be reminded of how to help one another. Holy One of Blessing, give us increased compassion and an abundance of kindness that we may extend our hands and hearts to those in need. As the prophet Elijah experienced, “There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by God’s power, but God was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but God was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake—fire; but God was not in the fire. And after the fire—a small, still voice.”

God’s small, still voice runs through each one of us. May God’s voice compel us to reach out to each other and find pathways that lead to hope and ultimately, peace for all in need. Amen.

Thursday, January 16 @ 8:30 PM

Ilai Saltzman, Director of the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies, University of Maryland

“Changes in Israeli Politics and Society”

This talk will delve into the dynamic and evolving nature of Israeli politics and society, comprehensively analyzing the forces driving change in this complex landscape. It will examine the growing influence of diverse demographic groups, such as the ultra-Orthodox, Arab-Israelis, and immigrants, and how their increasing political and social activism is reshaping traditional power structures. The discussion will also explore Israel's shifting political landscape and how the friction between different ideological approaches is generating new dynamics between the three branches of government that, in turn, form new societal cleavages and reinforce some preexisting ones. 

Dr. Ilai Saltzman is an Associate Research Professor of Israel Studies and the Director of the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. His scholarship and teaching focus on international security, Israeli foreign and security policy, US foreign policy, and political psychology. Dr. Saltzman is the author of Securitizing Balance of Power Theory: A Polymorphic Reconceptualization (2012). He has also written numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, and commentaries in the Los Angeles Times, Ha’aretz, The Jerusalem Post, and other prominent outlets. He is also a board member at Mitvim – the Israel Institute of Foreign Regional Policy and a Non-Resident Researcher at TRENDS Research & Advisory.

Dr. Saltzman earned his Ph.D. in International Relations in 2010 from the University of Haifa and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the International Security Program (ISP), Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (2009-2010).

Before he arrived in College Park, Dr. Saltzman was the Israel Institute’s Associate Director for Academic Programs. In the past, he served as a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College where he taught classes in International Relations, Israeli foreign and security policy as well as US foreign policy. He also taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s International Relations Department, the Rothberg International School (RIS), and Tel-Aviv University’s Political Science Department.

JCC WOMEN’S AUXILIARY: BOOK GROUP DISCUSSION

 WEDNESDAYS AT 4:00 PM

NEXT BOOK REVIEW MEETING

NEXT BOOK REVIEW MEETING

Wednesday, January 22^nd at 4:00 pm

Discussion Leader: TBA

Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant



Yona Stern has traveled from New York to Israel to make amends with her estranged sister, a stoic ideologue and mother of five who has dedicated herself to the radical West Bank settlement cause. Yona’s personal life resembles nothing of her sister’s, but it isn’t politics that drove the two apart.

Now a respected Jerusalem Talmud teacher, Mark Greenglass was once a drug dealer saved by an eleventh-hour turn to Orthodox Judaism. But for reasons he can’t understand, he’s lost his once fervent religious passion. Is he through with God? Is God through with him?

Enter Aaron Blinder, a year-abroad dropout with a history of failure whose famous father endlessly―some say obsessively―mines the Holocaust for his best-selling, melodramatic novels. Desperate for approval, Aaron finds a home on the violent fringe of Israeli society, with unforeseen and devastating consequences.

In a sweeping, beautifully written story, Joan Leegant, winner of the PEN New England Book Award and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award, and a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, weaves together three lives caught in the grip of a volatile and demanding faith. Emotionally wrenching and unmistakably timely, Wherever You Go shines a light on one of the most disturbing elements in Israeli society: Jewish extremist groups and their threat to the modern, democratic state. This is a stunningly prescient novel.



The JCC section at Crescent Memorial Park is available for sales. Please contact Bonni Rubin-Sugarman at 609-417-7148.

We are very excited to add to the WAX Gift Shop items from local merchants and artisans. Stop in to look and buy one (or more) of these beautiful pieces for your home, as a gift or just for yourself. Here is a sample of some of our new products. The gift shop is open during office hours M-F 10 - 2.

New item in the Gift Shop COASTAL COLORS COLLECTION OF MEZZUZAHS. Great Chanukah gift for someone moving into a new home.

Eileen Jacobs, Potter

Seacrest Designs

Lavina Haven Soy Candles and

Essential Oil Soaps

Mezzuzahs

Resin Bowls and Candlesticks by Seacrest Designs

CONGREGATION NEWS

CARING COMMITTEE

  This committee acts as a support system for congregation members facing illness and other personal situations that need to be addressed.

Please contact Chairperson,

Debby Schweighardt

if you are in need of assistance or if you know of a JCC member that needs our help.

973-634-5349 

YOU CAN NOW FILL OUT A GIVING FORM AND PAY ON LINE IN ONE SIMPLE PROCESS.

Go to jccoflbi.org - Giving/Pay

GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

PAVERS

Inscribe a paver at the front entrance to the building

8" X 4", 8" X 8" and 12" X 12"

SEE UPDATED ORDER FORM:

PAVER FORM

Become a permanent part of the JCC landscape.

Purchase a personalized paving stone

in honor of your family or in memory of a loved one.

Please contact Diane Hoffman

with your order or with any questions:

dihoff1@aol.com

PRAYER BOOKS

There are still High Holiday Prayer Books and Chumashim available to be purchased in memory or honor of someone or something. The cost of a Prayer Book is $72 each and $120 for an Eitz Hayim Chumash. The donation includes an affirmation sticker in the book and an acknowledgement letter or letters.

See Order form here: Prayer Book

TRIBUTES

SEND ONE OF OUR TRIBUTES IN HONOR OR IN MEMORY OF

See order form here: TRIBUTES

TREE OF LIFE

Add a leaf (leaves) to our beautiful Tree of Life located in the Social Hall. See the order form here: TREE OF LIFE

Bronze Leaf $90

Silver Leaf $126

Gold :Leaf $180

ENDOWMENT FUND

Herb and Selma z”l Shapiro established the first individual Endowment Fund in memory of his father, as part of the JCC’s Endowment Fund portfolio.

Since then, three additional individual Endowment Funds have been established. Other members are encouraged to also provide for the future of our JCC by establishing similar funds. Please consider adding to this number.

A donation of at least $50,000 to the endowment fund will allow the donor to name one of the funds as the donor wishes. All such named funds will be joined together to be part of the Endowment Fund portfolio.

Endowment funds are necessary to ensure the continuation and well being of our congregation. All members are encouraged to help this important effort by contributing to this portfolio, whether as a specific named individual fund, or as a general donation. The donation can be spread over one, two, or three years, and can be paid via check, donation of appreciated stock, wills, or from the RMD of your IRA or 401K account. Your gift to the fund can be sent to the JCC Office. Please mark your check accordingly. 

YAHRZEIT PLAQUES

Space is available for memorial plaques on the yahrzeit boards in the Sanctuary. 

Here is the order form: 

YAHRZEIT

KOL HAKAVOD

Please consider being a part of this campaign to supplement the clergy needs of our congregation. This is a separate, voluntary commitment and is additional to our low annual dues obligation. HERE IS THE LINK TO BRING UP THE DONATION FORM KOL HAKAVOD

2025 MEMBERSHIP FORMS

Your support is so important to the continued success of the JCC.

Here is form for renewal:

RENEW NOW

And if you have been reading our Shabbat Reminder and other communications and have not yet joined our congregation, here is the new member form:

JOIN NOW

BE A PART OF THE WOMEN'S AUXILLARY

2025 DUES FORM HERE