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JEWISH COMMUNITY
CENTER OF
LONG BEACH ISLAND
E-LETTER
September 19, 2025
26 Elul 5785
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A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBI
After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God looked for them in the Garden of Eden and said Ayyeka: “Where are you?”
Surely God knew where they were. Rather, God was asking a deeper question: Where are you in your world? How have you lived your life? How do you plan to live the rest of your life?
The month of Elul and The High Holy Days provide us with a mechanism to ask and answer these questions. At this time of year, we ask: Where are we? How did we get here? What purpose does our life serve? Where do we want to be? (Hopefully the answer to this last question is: “At the JCC of LBI”! J). The mechanism is prayer.
Prayer is an important part of our Jewish tradition and during the High Holy Days our prayers, and our praying, become more intense.
We pray for many reasons. Sometimes we pray to give thanks. Sometimes we pray to apologize or confess. Sometimes we pray to exclaim wonder. Sometimes we pray to ask for something.
The Hebrew word for prayer is “T’fillah”. The root for this word literally means “to assess”. In its reflexive form it means “to seek consideration, to pray, to plead, and to intercede. According to Stephen M. Brown, in his book “Higher and Higher: Making Jewish Prayer Part of Us”, ‘For the Jew, prayer is a way of relating to ourselves, our fellows, and to God. Through prayer we consider who we are, and what we should become. We turn to prayer for personal comfort, strength, fellowship, self-expression, self-assessment, and identity.”
The cycle of the Days of Awe is designed to get us to do an assessment of ourselves and our lives. Only after an intense accounting can we then determine what needs to be done. It is only at this point that we can even begin to know what to pray for.
I learned from my friend and teacher, Rabbi Richard Hammerman, that in preparation for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, every Jew should ask himself or herself the following two-part question: “What blessing do I really ‘want’, and what blessing do I really ‘need’, for the New Year”? This formulation will help us to focus in on what it important.
May each of us find 5786 to be a year of multiple blessings of health, peace, joy, and fulfillment.
Shabbat Shalom and
Shana Tovah U’Metukah
May the New Year be Good and Sweet
Rabbi Michael S. Jay
Bonus: As we head into Rosh Hashanah, I humbly request that you consider and answer the following question: “What is it that you will most fervently being praying for this year?”
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Candle Lighting Time
(Southern Ocean County)
Shabbat Eve
Friday, September 19, 2025
6:40 PM
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Friday
September 19, 2024
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JOIN US
FOR
SHABBAT
SERVICES
7:30 PM
IN PERSON AND
ON ZOOM
Here is
your invitation from
Rabbi Jay to join Services
on Zoom
FRIDAY NIGHT
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Saturday
September 20, 2025
9:00 AM
IN PERSON AND
ON ZOOM
Here is
your invitation from
Rabbi Jay to join
Zoom services
SATURDAY MORNING
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TORAH READING
Parashat Nitzavim
Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20
In Nitzavim (“Standing”), Moses addresses the Israelites, emphasizing the importance of following God’s covenant and of not worshiping other gods. He describes the process of repentance and returning to God, and stresses that God’s commandments are achievable and “not in the heavens.”
Here is the Torah Reading
HAFTORAH
Isaiah 61:10-63:9
Isaiah begins by reminding the people that salvation is near, and that all of the nations will see it. He invokes imagery of weddings to symbolize triumph, and seedlings to symbolize growth. The nasty names that Israel has been called in the past–“Forsaken,” “Desolate”–will be replaced by terms of affection
Here is the Haftorah
WEEKDAY SERVICES
Monday - Thursday
No regular service
9/23 & 9/24
Ma'ariv Service
7:30 PM
Here is your invitation from Rabbi Jay to
join Zoom services:
MA'ARIV
Monday - Friday
No regular service
9/23 & 9/24
Shacharit Service
8:15 AM
Sunday at 9:00 AM
Here is your invitation from Rabbi Jay to
join Zoom services:
SHACHARIT
| If you wish to order a lulav and esrog for Sukkot, please contact the Rabbi. | | | |
ROSH HASHANAH
Erev Rosh Hashanah
Monday, September 22
Candle lighting is at 6:35 pm
Tuesday, September 23
Candle lighting is at 8:04 pm
Taschlich
12:45 at the Spray Beach Yacht Club
ALL ARE WELCOME
We look forward to a special Yom Tov at the JCC of LBI including a traditional Break the Fast following the final shofar blowing.
Here is the link to the registration form if you want to print, fill out and return it by mail. HIGH HOLIDAY LETTER AND ORDER FORM
Here is the link to make your Holy Day reservations on our website.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND PAY ON LINE
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PREPARING THE SYNAGOGUE FOR THE HOLIDAYS
On Sunday, September 21st we will have in-person morning services beginning at 9 AM. When services conclude, we will be preparing the Synagogue for High Holy Day services by replacing the Siddurim and the Chumashim with the Machzorim. We will additionally be setting the chairs in the Social Hall.
We can use your help!
Don’t worry about heavy lifting because there will be other vital tasks to be done that do not require strenuous work. Please join us! We appreciate your helping out with this tremendous Mitzvah!
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JCC CLASSES CANCELLED
THIS WEEK
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MAH JONGG & CANASTA
WEDNESDAYS
12:30 PM TO 4:00 PM
NO GAMES THIS WEEK
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Thursday, September 25
8:30 PM
Druze Israeli Minority
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Sunday, October 5
John Kendrick's Broadway Series
Oklahoma
8:30 PM
Thursday, Octorber 9
The film "Torn"
7:30 PM
Friday, October 17
WAX Brunch
11:00 AM
Sunday, October 19
The Jewish Museum, NY – “Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art”
1:00 PM
Wednesday, October 22
Boscov's Friends Helping Friends
Sunday, October 26
John Kendrick's Broadway Series
South Pacific
8:30 PM
Monday, October 27
Adult Education: Davening 101
7:45 PM
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PICKLEBALL
Sundays and Thursdays
10 - 1
NO PICKLE BALL UNTIL AFTER THE HOLIDAYS
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Looking for members to join the New Years Eve Committee to help plan this year's party.
Contact Diane Buskirk is you can help. dianebuskirk@yahoo.com
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We have an exciting upcoming event on October 22, 2025, and I need your help and support.
Boscov’s Department Stores are sponsoring “Friends Helping Friends”, a 1 day only in store and on-line shopping event. For a $5 (or more, if you like) donation to Women’s Auxiliary, you will receive a 25% off Shopping Discount Pass! All proceeds from your donation go to the Women’s Auxiliary! This is a win-win for everyone! You get to do your shopping at a discounted price (Chanukah is right around the corner), and Women’s Auxiliary raises funds to help the JCC!
Boscov’s stores are located in Toms River, Egg Harbor Township, Monmouth, Moorestown, and Woodbridge in New Jersey, as well as Neshaminy and Plymouth Meeting in Pennsylvania.
I have a supply of the Shopping Passes, so please reach out and support our event!
Thank you,
Joanne Babbitt
215-962-3688 (cell; call or text)
609-312-7439 (home)
Jb_toot@att.net
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BEGINNING OCTOBER 6TH WE WILL BE SENDING OUT A SEPARATE WEEKLY EMAIL FOR ALL THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO OUR MEMBERS.
A LINK WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE ON THE SHABBAT REMINDER
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The Druze Israeli community is considered one of the loyalist minorities in Israel. The strong and unique relationship between the Jews and Druze started before the establishment of the State of Israel, relying on mutual values and goals, and today, it is considered a successful model of the integration of a minority in Israel. Join us to learn about this unique community, its contribution to the state of Israel, its identity, challenges, and future vision.
Gadeer Kamal Mreeh, Israeli Druze politician and journalist, will lead the seminar.
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Jewish Museum Series
This is the first of the Zoom programs brought to our members through our participation in PJP (Partners in Jewish Programming). Look for more information about future Museum programs including "American Jewish Soldiers and the Liberation of the Concentration Camps” and Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience – “Stories from the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience”
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Sunday, October 19 @ 1:00 PM
The Jewish Museum, NY – “Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art”
During World War II, untold numbers of artworks and pieces of cultural property were stolen by Nazi forces. After the war, an estimated one million artworks and 2.5 million books were recovered. Many more were destroyed. This exhibition chronicles the layered stories of the objects that survived, exploring the circumstances of their theft, their post-war rescue, and their afterlives in museums and private collections.
Afterlives includes objects looted from Jewish collections during the war, including works by such renowned artists as Pierre Bonnard, Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall, Gustave Courbet, Paul Klee, Franz Marc, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Camille Pissarro. The Jewish Museum has also commissioned four contemporary artists to create new works that address the resonance of the exhibition’s themes: Maria Eichhorn, Hadar Gad, Dor Guez, and Lisa Oppenheim. Treasured pieces of Judaica, including rare examples of Jewish ceremonial objects from destroyed synagogues, will also be on view, as well as rarely seen archival photographs and documents that connect the objects to history.
75 years after the Second World War, Afterlives explores how surviving artworks and other precious objects were changed by those events, and how they have moved through time, bearing witness to profound historical ruptures while also acting as enduring carriers of individual expression, knowledge, and creativity. The exhibition follows the paths taken by works of art across national borders, through military depots, and in and out of networks of collectors, looters, ideologues, and restitution organizations.
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Coming in January 2026, we will also be bringing to our members a PJP series entitled " Jewish Art with Evgenia Kempinski"
Evgenia Kempinski is a professional Jewish tour guide, born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. With over fifteen years of experience guiding Jewish heritage tours in her hometown, she has developed a deep passion for uncovering and sharing the stories of the Jewish Diaspora. With her family she spent six enriching years living in Israel and now resides in Barcelona, continuing her mission to connect people with Jewish history and culture around the world. She is the founder of the Online Jewish Travel Club, a vibrant community that brings together Jews from different countries through a shared love of travel, art, and Jewish heritage.
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The JCC section at Crescent Memorial Park is available for sales. Please contact Bonni Rubin-Sugarman at 609-417-7148.
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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.
The gift shop is open during office hours M-F 10 - 2.
| | Honey Pots for your Holiday table | | Mah jongg Key Chains and Bags | | |
CALL PAUL LEVINE WITH ANY QUESTIONS
484-802-0586
SEE ORDER FORM BELOW
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The following names will be read by the Rabbi on Friday evening:
Rose Epstein Danon*
Kyle Frand
Hilda Kelsen
Lucille Jerome
Esther Martin*
Rachel Mosios
Andrew Ross
Yetta Zimmer
Irwin Horowitz
Gussie Ungar
Barbara Goldstein
Elizabeth Greene
Dr. Irving Young
Alfonso Muscente
Abram Plon
Frieda Baker
Howard Brody
Melvin Leistner
Katie Shrensel*
Muriel Nelsen Stein
Estelle Steinberg*
Ann Taub
Annette Grossman
Herbert Klosk
Martin Reiff*
Morris Treiber*
We encourage you to join us on the day of your loved one’s yahrzeit. In the morning, the service is about ½ hour beginning at 8:15 and in the evening at 7:30 until about 7:45. Rabbi will be glad to say the traditional El Malei Rachamim prayer for you, which is recited during the funeral.
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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
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Mark Chazin
September 22
Cliff Farin
September 22
Suzanne Katz-Kinzler
September 22
Ruthellen Rubin
September 22
Howard Babbitt
September 23
Charles Hirsh
September 23
Sylvia Horowitz
September 24
Arlene Silverman
September 24
Arthur Steinberg
September 25
Paul Carniol
September 26
Marc Andrew Landis
September 26
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Robert & Fay Slotnick
September 20
38th Anniversary
Theodore & Yvonne Finkelthal
September 21
Peter & Dana Langerman
September 22
40th Anniversary
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SHARE YOUR NEWS
AND PICTURES
CONTACT:
rvalen1963@aol.com
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MARLENE MATZ
DIANE HOFFMAN
MARTY HOCHMAN
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OTHER NEWS...
Congregant, Rosalee Keech of Barnegat, is currently running for NJ State Assembly.
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YOU CAN NOW FILL OUT A GIVING FORM AND PAY ON LINE IN ONE SIMPLE PROCESS.
Go to jccoflbi.org - Giving/Pay
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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
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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
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JCC FUNDS
Your gift to the JCC supports our Clergy, our Congregation and the Community.
ENDOWMENT FUND
This fund was established to assure the continuity of our JCC, and our ability to continue providing a full-service congregation to serve the Jewish people of the area. While a donation of any amount is encouraged, a donation of at least $50,000 allows the donor to name a special or specific Endowment Fund in memory or honor of a specific person event, or family.
GENERAL FUND
Donations to this fund are not earmarked but placed in the general administrative account. Donations to this fund can be in honor or memory of a person, event, or family.
KOL HAKAVOD FUND
Donations to this campaign supplement the clergy needs of our congregation.
RABBI’S DISCRETIONARY FUND
This fund, managed by the rabbi, allows donors to enable the rabbi to do the work of tzedakah in response to the needs of individuals, organizations and the community.
ZENA & JERRY JAY KIDDISH FUND
The Zena and Jerry Jay Kiddush Fund was established in memory of Rabbi Jay's parents to help provide funds for our Saturday morning kiddushes.
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JCC LEADERSHIP
OFFICERS
President- Phil Rosenzweig
1ST Vice President-Sherry Fruchterman
2ND Vice President-Diane Hoffman
3RD Vice President- Jon Geier
Treasurer- Stu Cofsky
Secretary- Cliff Denker
Immediate Past President -Michael Babst
BOARD MEMBERS
Howard Babbitt
Diane Buskirk
Lorna Klein
Ken Podos
Sondi Pripstein
Terri Robinovitz
David Shatz
Bonni Rubin-Sugarman
Rose Valentine
Ken Yudman
WOMEN'S AUXILIARY
President - Diane Buskirk
Treasurer - Suzy Geier
Secretary - Joanne Babbitt
Lorna Klein
Joyce Levine
Representative to the Board - Sondi Pripstein
Immediate Past President - Irene Babst
Rabbi Michael S. Jay, Spiritual Leader
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