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E-Bulletin
December 2020 | Kislev-Tevet 5781
Rabbi's Message
by Rabbi David Komerofsky


This is the time of year when the days get shorter and the nights get longer. Many cultures have rituals and holidays around the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, including the familiar customs of our Chanukah celebration. The Schools of the sages Hillel and Shammai debated the laws of lighting the Chanukah menorah, as we read in the Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 21b:

The Sages taught in a baraita (a text that did not make it into the 2nd century Mishnah): The basic mitzvah of Chanukah is each day to have a light kindled by a person… Beit Shammai says: On the first day one kindles eight lights and, from there on, gradually decreases the number of lights until, on the last day of Chanukah, they kindle one light. And Beit Hillel says: On the first day one kindles one light, and from there on, gradually increases the number of lights until, on the last day, they kindle eight lights… The reason for Beit Hillel’s opinion is that the number of lights is based on the principle: One elevates to a higher level in matters of sanctity and one does not downgrade. Therefore, if the objective is to have the number of lights correspond to the number of days, there is no alternative to increasing their number with the passing of each day.

We follow the interpretation of Hillel, adding a candle each night until, at last, we have a fully glowing menorah on the eighth night. This is the role that all our religious customs should fill in our lives and those with whom we come in contact. Judaism commands us to increase the light.

As this final month of 2020 begins, it is a good reminder that the particularistic message of Chanukah is to maintain our connection to our Jewish selves and our optimism especially when it is countercultural to do so. Our Chanukah miracle is that we continue to brighten whatever sliver of the world is ours.
President’s Reflections
by Shelley Schweitzer

In just a few days Chanukah will be upon us, and we will have then, pretty much, completed a year of Jewish holidays with the backdrop of a pandemic. In many communities, the cancellation of Purim celebrations March 9 and 10 was the first nod to the severity of the mystery illness we’d come to know as Covid 19.

In our house, we marked Passover with a meal delivery to Mom and her joining us via Duo with an iPad on the table. Then came Shavuot and a delayed confirmation class service. We rolled right through the federal holidays of Memorial Day, July Fourth, and Labor Day and most recently delivered yet another “meal-to-go” package for Thanksgiving. We worshipped from our homes for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and made only virtual visits to the sukkah of friends. We virtually danced with the Torah on Simchat Torah and here we are, days from the lighting of the menorah.

In Hebrew, Chanukah means dedication. It commemorates the “rededication” of the Second Temple and this year; it happens to fall at the end of the first “Covid holiday cycle.” Normally Chanukah is the middle of the eight-holiday sequence most of us know. Interesting that it times out to be the conclusion of the 2020/5780-5781 sequence.

For me the pandemic has been navigated in phases. First phase was the organize and purge phase. Many of us used the time to “take a breath,” to rest a bit if not to actually stop and smell the roses.

By phase two, we recognized that this disease wasn’t going anywhere soon and that we needed to accept it and find ways to remain connected and meet our own needs and those of others.

By phase three we were accepting the losses of being apart and celebrating milestones alone, and we began to look for silver linings. We became resigned to some things and found opportunities in others.

And here we are at Chanukah, a holiday that is about dedication and rededication. As we hear reports that the Covid timeline appears to have a light at the end of the tunnel – that isn’t a train – we find ourselves in another phase of the management cycle.

Chanukah is a time to rededicate ourselves to those things that are important to us; to “double down” if you will, on continuing to live our values both now and post-pandemic. We have an opportunity now to think about the lessons of these 9 months and of the lessons of each of the holidays in our Jewish 8-holiday sequence. Several Jewish holidays celebrate freedom. These months have given us a lot to think about as we define for ourselves those things that truly make us free. Some holidays are victories of good over evil; the harvest holidays mark the cycles of the earth, and still others are times to reflect, repent and start anew.

This Chanukah, I encourage you to give yourself the gift of rededicating yourself to those things that are most important to you. Identify what those things are and find ways to “double down” on them in the months to come. It will be the positive outcome that we each have the power to bring about as a result of this collective experience.
Temple Israel recently became a member of the Anti Defamation League’s (ADL) Signature Synagogue program. As described on their website:

The Signature Synagogue Program is an important way to engage our community and ignite a congregation-wide commitment to raising awareness about and speaking out against antisemitism and hate. This program creates a unifying initiative for community education and engagement. Participants in the Signature Synagogue Program will have special direct access to ADL’s programs, resources, and learning opportunities focused on local, regional, and national issues.
 
To learn more about the Signature Synagogue program, follow this link: https://cleveland.adl.org/signature-synagogue-program/

 The ADL’s first exclusive Signature Synagogue webinar series begins on December 2nd at 5:30pm with a webinar entitled “Antisemitic Tropes Across the Globe.” In it, you will hear from Shaya Lerner, ADL’s Associate Director for Middle Eastern Affairs, and David Weinberg, Washington Director for International Affairs. You will learn about antisemitic tropes across the globe and the ways they manifest from various governments. After the presentation there will be time for Q&A from the participants. Every person must register in advance to attend the webinar.
Yahrzeits
December 4th

Lena Adelman
Jacob Baer
Alan Blau
Harry Brown
Hazel Cohen
Roberta Cohen
James Michael Collum
Gerald Cooper
Howard Fetters, Jr.
Opal Gill
Harold Krupp
Carl J. Langkamp
Elinor Lavin
Leonard Libster
Dr. Sam Lieberman
Henry Mann
Jack Medvin
Edna Miller
Lauren Beth Mostov
Carmen Adams Newcomb
Dorothy Newman
Mandel Perlman
John Petroff
Dr. Samuel Rafael
Leo Rifkin
Celia G. Reinglass
Bessie Robbins
Ruth Routman
Sema Sarbin
Genoeffa Sinopoli
George A. Spitzer
Edward Stein
John Strauss, Sr.
Dr. James Tate
Marie Wilkof
Emily Willen
Ethel Winkler

December 11th

Irving Adelman
Leonard Askenazy
Frances Axelrod
Sherman Barnett
Lawrence Blystone
Dr. Irving Felder
Primrose Fenyves
Howard A. Fetters
Saul Garber
Al S. Jacobson
Ronald Jolovitz
William L. Lavin
Sadie Levenson
Harry Stern Mann, Jr.
Louis R. Myers
Fannye Newman
Ethel Ostrowsky
Charlotte Rosenblatt
Catherine Shifman Rosenbloom
Louis Salsbury
Selma Salsbury
L. Betty Savage
Julia Ziskin Schweitzer
Frances Shapiro
David H. Shulan
Elvena Sternberg
Lillian Taylor
Betty Wein
Elizabeth Zecher
December 18th

I. Walter Arkow
Frieda Wise Bellin
Lillian Bendau
Rosalie Carp Berley
Tillie Bleckman
Sadye Bobrof
Susan Borack
Norman Braff
Lillian Bryan
Vera Luntz Burstein
Marvin Cohan
Elsie Gelfand David
Ben Dreyer
Esther Fried
Louis J. Friedman
Celia Garber
Margaret Given
Lt. Col. Fred Green
George Grossman
Jacob Wolf Hartman
Wayne Arthur Krabill
Darwin S. Luntz
Florence B. Mintz
Minna H. Myers
Harry Nusbaum
Mary Perskey
Louis Pontell
Irvine Harold Routman
Linda Atleson Stein
Israel Wagman
Esenta Worshil
Morris Zecher

December 25th

Norman Alper
Solomon Barnett
Maurine Black
Thelma Borcover
Nathan Meyer Chapman
Morris Cohodas
Shirley Cohodas
Ruth Dreyer
William Francis
Murray Abraham Gold
Cecilia Gross
Freda Gross
Della Haberman
William Karelitz
Walter Kohlmann
Paul Levine
Gertrude Toronski Leyton
Jessie Malks
Herbert Marks
Nathan Mittelman
Ethel Mitzman
Dr. Otto L. Plaut
Gary Pontell
Jacob Michael Rapport
Salomon Rosenblatt
Samuel Rosenblatt
Dr. Jerome Rosengard
Louis Rosenkranz
I. Michael Rudolph
David Sabetay
Kaethe Schohl Wells
With Our Temple Family
The Temple's sympathy is extended to the families of:

Richard Rosen, who passed away on November 11, 2020. Richard was the husband of Susan; father of Gabe & Evan; brother-in-law of Jeff & Dale Sklar.

Sydelle Wax, who passed away on November 20, 2020. Sydelle was the mother of Amy (Jim) Humphrey.

Abigail Vanest, who passed away on November 21, 2020. Abby was the granddaughter of Beit Ha'am employee Darrell (Patty) Vanest.

Mazal Tov to:

David Robert Sinopoli & Matthew Keith Smith, who were married on September 6, 2020. David is the son of Debbie & Vito Sinopoli.

Meredith Smuckler & Dave Arnold, who were married on October 25, 2020. Meredith is the daughter of Randi & Bill Smuckler; granddaughter of Harlene Smuckler and Gloria & Bill Miller.
Contributions
Temple Israel Endowments

Carl & Audrey Lavin Endowment
In Memory of
  • Father of Debby Perlitan, by Audrey Lavin
Atleson-Laden Family Religious School Endowment
Recovery of
  • Bob & Diane Friedman, continued good health, by Mark & Cathy Atleson
  • Lee Karelitz, by Mark & Cathy Atleson
  • Vito Sinopoli, by Mark & Cathy Atleson
  • Rabbi Spitzer, by Mark & Cathy Atleson
Rabbi John H. Spitzer & Rabbi Jon Adland Restricted Fund for Social Justice & Action
In Honor of
  • Rabbi Jon & Sandy Adland, birth of grandson, Asher, by Denise & Steve Nielsen
  • Rabbis Spitzer, Adland, and Komerofsky, by David & Katherine Sharkis
In Appreciation of
  • Rabbi Spitzer, by Denise & Steve Nielsen
  • Rabbi Adland, by Denise & Steve Nielsen
  • Rabbis Spitzer, Adland, and Komerofsky, by Debbie & Vito Sinopoli, Robin Rubenstein & Howard Richmond, Laurie & Hector Medina, Louis and Jane Rubenstein
In Memory of
  • Hilda Falk Wilson, by Rabbi Jon & Sandy Adland
Robert & Shelley Schweitzer Temple Youth Group Endowment
In Memory of
  • Ruth Rubenstein, by Rob & Shelley Schweitzer
In Honor of
  • Rabbi Jon & Sandy Adland, birth of grandson, Asher, by Rob & Shelley Schweitzer


Temple Israel Restricted Funds

Mazon Fund - A Jewish Response to Hunger
In Memory of
  • Ruth Rubenstein, by Nicolae & Iuliana Stelea; Denise & Steve Nielsen
  • Richard Rosen, by Paul & Marilyn Feldman; Adele & Ron Gelb
  • Ann Olden, by Karen Olden
  • Gwen Balin, by Karen Olden
  • Irene Gelb, by Adele & Ron Gelb
Recovery of
  • Bob Friedman, by Joyce & Jerry Ortman; Marshall & Gail Bleckman
  • Vito Sinopoli, by Harlene Smuckler; Paul & Marilyn Feldman; Bob & Susan Narens
  • Rabbi Spitzer, by Paul & Marilyn Feldman
  • Bruce White, by Paul & Marilyn Feldman
In Honor of
  • Rabbi Jon & Sandy Adland, birth of grandson, Asher, by Diana Collum; Marshall & Gail Bleckman; Judie Cohodas
  • Desk Building Group, by Paul & Marilyn Feldman
Rabbi's Discretionary Fund
In Appreciation of
  • Rabbi Komerofsky by Chuck & Esperanza Deutsch
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