EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLYDATE : Tuesday, March 28, 2000 |
These are the words of the parasha: "And everyone who excelled in ability and everyone whose spirit moved him came, bringing to the Lord his offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all its service. Men and women, all whose hearts moved them, all who would make an offering of gold to the Lord, came bringing brooches, earrings, rings, and pendants gold objects of all kinds." (Ex. 35 :21-22)
I relate the phrase "all whose hearts moved them" with the actual process that we are undergoing in B'nei Israel Congregation, now that we are reaching our thirteenth year of existence and that we are building our new Temple. Initiative and motivation are at the core of this phrase. The workers that built the Mishkan must have had motivation in their hearts because they didn't have any previous experience, and there was nobody to teach them how to go about their work. They accomplished their task because they had the internal courage to do what was needed. They didn't think about their limitations, they projected their dreams. I think we are like that.
Thirteen years of initiative and motivation have produced a stable congregation that can now reach out beyond our national boundaries. Last month we met in El Salvador for the Third Annual Conference of Liberal Jewish Congregations of Latin America and the Caribbean. Initiative and motivation were in the hearts of the delegates from nine countries and in the host Congregation, Comunidad Israelita, whose Rabbi Kraselnik expressed that, in spite of our different languages, ways of praying, national societies in which we live, and ways of understanding Jewish traditions, we had danced together, eaten together, and prayed together. We were motivated by the idea that our Liberal Congregations are small in each individual area but that we can learn from each other, join in projects, and form a true Union, and if we pursue this initiative we can indeed expect to see the growth of Jewish pluralism in this part of the world. We are grateful to El Salvador for providing the opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones, in what turned out to be a most enjoyable and satisfying experience.
In our own B'nei Israel we need hearts to be moved. Our old Synagogue is gone. We are building a new Temple. Marvin Sossin has offered us a room to hold services where we feel very much at home. We have a Building Committee that is working hard, so that we can celebrate Rosh Hashanah 5761 in our new facilities. But we need donations to finish our work. Like Moses, we need to ask the people to come forth and help. Our Fund Raising Committee has plans to get the needed amount, but without the cooperation of members and friends the projects will not be successful. As Bonnie Fischer says: "If you do not bring cachivaches, we have nothing to sell."
What a fantastic feeling it must have been for Moses to have to say, "Stop, do not bring anymore". I doubt we will reach this point, but let me encourage all of you to let your hearts be moved and say "YES" when you are called upon. Without help, we will not build the Temple our children deserve.
Our Hebrew School also needs help. We are renting a space now that we are no longer in our Synagogue. The love and care of the School's Director and teachers have produced minimum stress in the move, but the truth is that we are now faced with monthly payments that were not in our budget. The Sisterhood and the School are planning a Purim Festival to cover this deficit. We all have to give our support, and if for some reason you cannot go, call Jody or Bonnie and give your donation. We have to continue giving our children the best possible Jewish education.
We need more than money. Your time and work is also essential. Our Cemetery Committee is being reorganized and we need to form a chevra kadisha. We have to increase our membership ; we all have to become ambassadors bringing the many unaffiliated Jews in Costa Rica to our Congregation. We need to form an active Youth Group to attract our teenagers. We need to publish materials in Spanish. We need to organize more adult educational activities. We need so many things.
I am very grateful to all those who are doing something to help our Congregation push ahead. In February, Alvin Moss opened his home to us to celebrate Tu B'Shevat, and in March, the Lev Family will do the same for Purim.
We have also had help from other sources. Last December we welcomed a new Israeli Ambassador to Costa Rica. We look forward to working together with Mr. Daniel Gaal and his wife Jacqueline, so as to create closer bonds with our spiritual homeland. In February, we were blessed with the presence of Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben and his wife Didi. They helped Eduardo Lev become Bar Mitzvah and their moving Shabbat service won our hearts.
So it is with this balance of things accomplished and things to be done that I call on you to, like our ancestors, give your best to our Temple. At the end we will have the kind of sanctuary and the kind of congregation that we worked for. Let's all unite in the effort to produce something which will make us all proud. Let's not fall short on our mission. Let today's motivation and initiative be the stone upon which we will build a proper Temple and a strong spiritual community for years to come.
Hilda ten Brink
This is the text we are sending individually
to the Austrian Parliament and to the Austrian president. Be sure
to send it individually and to include your country of origin.
Parlamento de Austria : pk@parlament.gv.at
<mailto:pk@parlament.gv.at>
Presidencia de Austria : thomas.klestil@hofburg.at
<mailto:thomas.klestil@hofburg.at>
To whom it may concern:
We, the citizens of different countries of the world, want to express our outrage for the current political situation in Austria, regarding the coalition between the right-wing extremist Joerg Haider and the conservative Wolfgang Schuessel. We want to express our deepest indignation and concern for the threat that this represents.
We know the atrocities of nazism; the lies and manipulations that were used to reach the power in the past and take advantage of that power to sow the seeds of death and destruction.
Obviously, the same populist, xenophobic, and racist techniques that, along with false promises of peace and social welfare, led Hitler to victory are now seen with a new life and a new face.
There is no reason for believing that history will not repeat itself in Austria.
That is why, before this act that clearly goes against the good will of the nations of the world, we strongly oppose the current political direction that Austria is taking.
There are two ways to raise flowers: the first is that which most often comes to mind: plant seeds, water them, nurture the fledgling plants, then harvest flowers. But there is also a second way-- you can recognize wildflowers and cherish them together with the cultivated ones. Congregation BÕnei Israel was never a planted seed. Unlike in the Former Soviet Union or Eastern or Middle Europe, no mission came to Costa Rica to establish a progressive congregation. B'nei Israel is a wild flower. We just sprouted.
Thirteen years ago, we were recognized and nurtured by Geri Voit and Rabbi Cliff Kulwin. We were a small group of primarily foreign residents in Costa Rica from around the globe and under Geri and Cliff's guidance, the step was taken to affiliate with World Union.
The path ahead of us was fraught with many challenges -- we had no professional leadership, a lack of materials for study and prayer in the Spanish language; we had neither a sefer Torah nor a synagogue, no place to hold classes and no cemetery.
I am happy and proud to tell you that now, after 13 years, we have our own cemetery, and on January 6th, we begin construction of our own synagogue and school building, a small humble building that is being constructed with more love than economic funds . We have two sefer torot , our first brought to us by Jerry Tannenbaum, the second a holocaust Torah on permanent loan. We have published our own tri-lingual siddur and machzor, in Spanish, Hebrew, and English, with transliteration, literally done on our own computers, without the help of typesetters: a real labor of love. We have one para-rabbinic who studied in Cincinnati and who leads a group of eight lay service leaders, an active outreach committee led by two certified outreach fellows, an after-school program where our young people between the ages of three and thirteen learn the beauty and responsibilities of our religion. We have a vibrant sisterhood affiliated with WRJ (Women of Reform Judaism), and we have an active education and cultural program.
There are wonderful materials available from the UAHC Department of Publications -- we don't need to reinvent them -- but they are not in Spanish. So we translate them. Often we don't have the facilities to disseminate this information to other progressive congregations in Latin America.
Mainstream Judaism in Costa Rica, as is the case throughout Latin America, is primarily Orthodox Judaism, and to a lesser degree, Conservative. Our struggle is not within the non-Jewish community -- we have gained public recognition as an organization involved in social action programs to benefit the overall Costa Rican society. We have the blessing of freedom of worship in Costa Rica and the recognition of Judaism as a respected world religion. We have been allowed to flourish and survive. Our struggle is rather within the Orthodox mainstream, where we seek acceptance as Jews and recognition as religious equals.
A few weeks ago, a member of the Orthodox community came to us with a request. If we would change from "progressive" or "liberal" Judaism to "conservative", approximately seventy-five families would move over to join us. Now mind you, B'nei Israel has only seventy families! The Orthodox congregation has about five hundred families. Obviously we are not going to change our congregation. Rather, we need the tools to explain, to disseminate information on Progressive Judaism. But there is no information available for us in Spanish.
There are many younger people who are feeling stymied in the Orthodox congregations in which they have been raised. The problems of disaffection, of assimilation, of intermarriage in mainstream Orthodox communities can and should be addressed by Progressive Judaism. This morning we heard how only through the growth of Progressive Judaism can we secure the survival of Judaism. We need the tools in our language to do so. We have translated the Taste Of Judaism materials and the Jewish Home series. We need the facilities to publish them on a larger scale.
Finally, we have formed the Union of Liberal Jewish Congregations in Central America and the Caribbean, and we are working on extending our organization throughout Latin America. Our third annual convention will be held this coming February (3 - 6) in El Salvador and we are happy that Austin Beutel will be our keynote speaker. We now need to be recognized as an official region of World Union for Progressive Judaism.
We are a small community -- but we are a vibrant, growing one. We are a wildflower -- and we seek your recognition.
As an entity that groups Jews from the Reform, Liberal, Conservative, Progressive, and Reconstruccionist movements, the U.J.C.L. represents communities from nine countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Not only are we concerned by the welfare of the Jewish community, but also are aimed by the tenacious resistance against every form of intolerance, regardless of who the victims are. We are restless sponsors of social justice, equality in opportunities, and human dignity for all.
We have a deep respect for the democracy institutions and processes in Austria. We urge the majority of Austrians, who reject racism and anti-Semitism, to use the instruments of Austrian democracy so as to rectify this situation and promote the return of Austria to the full participation in the family of the nations.
(translated by Gonzalo Vega)
Now that we are into March many things are happening in the Sisterhood.
We are having one of our semi-annual Garage Sales, our goal for this sale is $750.00. We need your help...please clean out your house and send us your unused things. Without your stuff we have nothing to sell. Please drop off your things to Alice Familier or bring them to the Synagogue by Fri.March 3, 2000.
Also in March please join us for our Family Purim Party at the home of the Lev's. Lots of FUN, FOOD, and GAMES. Money raised will go to help the School pay it's rent...So help us help our children.
DIRECTIONS: Hwy to Santa Ana...1 1/2 Km. past the new Forum Buildings. Make right at the Villas Punta Caño SIGN and GUARD HOUSE. Go one block past the stop sign (400 ms. from entrance) make left. Go 4 blocks (400 ms.) to where road curves. House is on the left with an orange wall with black gate. Tel. 282-8233.DATE: Sun. March 19, 2000
TIME: 3:00 PM
CHARGE: ¢1000 per adult, ¢500 per child.
Food and Beverages for Sale...
Purim is celebrated on the 14th of Adar, and in Hasmonean times, it was known as the "Day of Mordecai". Purim is a minor holiday, in that work is permitted, but it has been joyously celebrated in Jewish communities as a reminder of God's protection of his people.
The main feature is the reading of the Book of Esther, the megillah. Originally the megillah was read only during the day, but the rule was adapted to read it both at night and daytime.
The Book of Esther speaks of "sending portions" (mishlo'ah manot - abbreviated to shelakhmones) to friends on Purim and of giving gifts to the poor. The rule is to send at least two portions of eatables, confectionery, to a friend and to give a present of money to at least two poor men.
A special festive meal is eaten on Purim late afternoon. Among the special foods are boiled beans and peas, said to be a reminder of the cereals Daniel ate in the king's palace in order to avoid any infringement of the dietary laws, and three-cornered pies known as hamantashen.
Taken from :
Jewish Bride...& More!
http://www.jewishbride.com
Jose Marti, hero for many Latin Americans, once said, "Honor others, honor yourself." Many times in life we want to do something to honor the birthday, the wedding, the birth, or any meaningful event in the life of those we care about, or those who we think deserve a special 'something' from us. Perhaps something more meaningful than a gift.
With this in mind, we urge our members to consider making a donation in their name to the Building Fund, to our Hebrew School, or to the Book of Life of our Sisterhood. The amount of a Chai ($18) or its multiples is appropriate. Our treasurer Erik Zango, or the sisterhood's treasurer Alicia Familier, are always ready to receive donations, which will be later on published in this bulletin.
This is a very nice way to honor a loved one and, at the same time, help our Congregation.
Over the past few months two separate issues, of utmost importance to the continuing growth of our congregation, have been brought to my attention: the first, why don't we change our name to include Conservative Judaism, and the second, just what is Reform or Liberal Judaism anyway?
The first issue has been brought up in the context that if we change from Reform to Conservative Judaism we can attract many more potential members. While this may be true, although I tend to have my doubts that it is what we call ourselves that is of importance in acquiring new members, changing our name is really not so simple. There are many practical and philosophical points that separate us from a Conservative point of view. The primary one, in practical terms, is that a Reform or Progressive congregation such as ours and others in the World Union of Progressive Judaism, accept as part of a definition of "Who is a Jew", the concept of patrilineal descent. That is to say that a child brought up as a Jew, and only as a Jew, is accepted as a Jew if one of his or her parents is a Jew, regardless which one it is.
A child born into an interfaith family, regardless if the mother or the father is the Jewish member, who is raised and educated as a Jew, is considered in Congregation B'nei Israel as a full-fledged member of the Jewish faith. In a Conservative congregation, only the child of a Jewish mother is considered Jewish.
This raises considerable consideration for us. In the last thirteen years we have consolidated ourselves into an active congregation: we have educated and have had the simchas of seeing many of our young people become B'nei Mitzvah. We have considered all of our children as Jews, on an equal basis. I do not feel we can now say to a young adult, "Oh please forgive us, we are changing our name and therefore, you are no longer a Jew. Why don't you have a conversion. And by the way, our conversions are no longer valid."
Because that leads to our second practical consideration. Our conversions are valid in Progressive congregations throughout the world. A person who chooses to be Jewish within Congregation BÕnei Israel could opt for Aliyah to Israel, as the conversion was held outside of Israel. However, many conservative congregations, especially in Latin America, would probably not accept our conversions, although they were granted through a strict program of education, prayer and community participation, and with the participation of at least one, and in many cases with the participation of several Rabbis, as most Conservative, and all Orthodox congregations accept only conversions by Orthodox rabbis.
The last practical aspect which I will mention here is that of the participation of women in all aspects of religion. In Progressive congregations women are given equal rights and equal responsibilities as men. In some parts of the world, as in the United States, this is the same in Conservative congregations. In most Latin American congregations however, women are not equal in Conservative synagogues: they sit separately, cannot be called for an aliya, cannot lead services.
I have purposefully omitted in this description the philosophical aspects that lead to the practical appreciations of our understanding of Judaism. It is important to understand the deeply significant philosophy that leads to the practical manifestations of our religion. With this in mind, we have decided to hold a workshop on Liberal Judaism. The workshop, for this time it will be more than a "talk" about Progressive or Liberal Judaism, rather it will be an interactive workshop where all will participate in many ways, including the chance to discuss, question, and grow together, will be held on Wednesday night, the 29th of March in the installations of Torneca on Avenida 10, in the same space we use for our weekly services.
I hope that a large number of us can participate in this workshop which will be lead by Pilar Elkin, Gonzalo Vega, and myself. From gatherings such as these, we can work together and hopefully come to grow as a congregation: grow in understanding, in appreciation and in spirituality.
A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule "braying", or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened and enlisted them to help haul the dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
Initially the old mule was hysterical!! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he should shake it off and step up! This he did, blow after blow! "Shake it off and step up! Shake it off and step up! Shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows or distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!
You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him actually blessed him, all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.
That's LIFE!! If we face our problems and respond
to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity,
the adversities that come along to bury us usually have within them the
potential to benefit and bless us!! Remember that forgiveness, faith, prayer,
praise and hope are all excellent ways to shake it off and step up out
of the wells in which we sometimes find ourselves.
A Frenchman, a German and a Jew are lost in the desert, wandering for days.
The Frenchman says, "I'm tired and I'm thirsty. I must have wine."
The German says, "I'm tired and I'm thirsty. I must have beer."
The Jew says, "I'm tired and I'm thirsty. I must have diabetes."
NASA had sent many shuttles to orbit the earth and made an attempt to include passengers of all races, color and creed ... they recently realized they had excluded the clergy ... so, they invited, a priest, a minister and a rabbi to orbit the earth in a shuttle.
Upon their return, crowds of people formed to hear their impressions. First the priest emerged, beaming and happy, his statement was full of joy. He said, "It was totally amazing, I saw the sun rise and set, I saw the beautiful oceans."
Then the minister emerged, also happy and at peace. He said, "I saw the magnificent earth, our home, I saw the majestic sun. I'm truly in awe."
Then the rabbi came out. He was completely disheveled, his beard was tangled and in every direction, his keepah was frayed, his tallit was wrinkled, like you can't imagine.
They asked him, "Rabbi, did you enjoy the flight?"
He threw his hands in the air crazily and replied, "ENJOY??? What was to enjoy??? Oyoyoy! Every 5 minutes the sun was rising and setting! On with the tfillin, off with the tfillin, mincha, maariv, mincha, maariv!...Gevalt!!!!!!"
EDITOR'S NEW PHONE NUMBER :
Inés Baum tel. 215-1182 fax : 257-3308 e-mail : baumgut@sol.racsa.co.cr
EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Date : Tuesday, March 28
Time : 7 :00 p.m. - 7 :30 p.m.
Place : Torneca
Workshop : LIBERAL JUDAISM
Date : Wednesday, March 29
Place : Torneca
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