In This Issue:
- MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER HONORING FRANK SORONOW SAT MAR 2 / RSVPS DUE BY FEB 19
- IT’S NCAA (BASKETBALL) SQUARES TIME
- MOTAS/TBH BROTHERHOOD SEDER – SUN APR 7
- PURIM CARNIVAL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – SUN MAR 24
- ANNUAL APPEAL TIME
- MARCH MEMBERSHIP MEETING – YELLOW CANDLE PACKING – SUN MAR 10
- FEBRUARY MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
- IN CLOSING
1. MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER HONORING FRANK SORONOW SAT MAR 2 / RSVPS DUE BY FEB 19
At the MoTAS Shabbat on January 11th, Frank Soronow was announced as the MoTAS Man of the Year. The MRJ Man of the Year Dinner, where our honoree will be feted, together with the honorees from other MRJcongregations from the MRJ Pacific Southwest region, is Saturday, March 2, 2019 at Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village. The cost of the dinner is $40, and you can RSVP now by clicking here. RSVPS are due by Tuesday, February 19. NOTE: An RSVP is not payment; please make a check payable to Men of TAS, and get it to Roger before the event. When you RSVP, please indicate your meal choice (if you are registering online, this should be your middle initial).:
- (C) Stuffed Chicken Breasts with dried fruit and panko served with cranberry orange sauce
- (S) Salmon Filet and Wild Mushrooms in Brik Pastry
- (V) Vegetarian Plate
2. IT’S NCAA (BASKETBALL) SQUARES TIME
Now that football season is officially over, it’s time for basketball and the craziness known as the Final Four, in early April. Once again, MoTAS is happy to offer you the opportunity to help raise some needed funds for special TAS projects, and maybe you’ll earn some $$ along the way. You are receiving this email because you so generously supported our Sports Squares program sometime in the last year, and we want you to have first opportunity to play now. To get all the information (and in some cases, more than you could ever want), go to http://squares.tasnorthridge-motas.org/ where you’ll find the instructions, a sign-up form you can print, and a link if you wish to order your spaces online. NOTE: If you are registering and paying online, please specify your tiebreaker as your middle initial. What’s a tiebreaker? Read on…
To summarize: each name on the board can have up to 3 spaces. The squares are priced at $36 each. The game is for both the men’s and women’s tournament (semifinal two games each, and final games), so there are 12 opportunities to be a winner, since there is a winner at the half and final score. If the board is fully subscribed at all 100 spaces, the payout is $150 per win. Once again, we’ll use our “tie-breaker” method to determine a winner if a winning square is unsold (If there are unsold squares, the payouts will be adjusted.) The tie-breaker is your prediction of the total number of points both teams will score in any game, for example, if you think the final score will be 82-61, your number = 143. Here’s a hint for those who are unfamiliar (or don’t really care….): the average score for the men’s tournament for the last two years was 147, and the average score for the women’s tournament was 134. You get only one tie-breaker per person, so choose wisely.
3. MOTAS/TBH BROTHERHOOD SEDER – SUN APR 7
Our annual Men’s Seder, which will be joint with Temple Beth Hillel and held at Temple Ahavat Shalom, will be Sunday, April 7 at 5pm. Information on the Seder, including how to register, may be found at http://seder.tasnorthridge-motas.org. This special service and dinner, modeled after the traditional Passover Seder, provides a comfortable and ‘safe’ space to explore and celebrate what it means to be a contemporary Jewish man. Our liturgy also explores Passover traditions, new and old, from around the world, that you might bring back to your home seder. The event will take place at Temple Ahavat Shalom. The menu will consist of traditional Passover foods as well as MoTAS’s traditional Seder foods of Bar-B-Que from Stonefire Grill, with Ice Cream and Fruit for dessert. The cost of the meal is $25.
We are looking for volunteers to help prepare the traditional Seder foods: Charoset, Hard Boiled Eggs, etc., as well as volunteers to help shop, set up and clean up If you would be interesting in help with this event, please contact Daniel at faigin@cahighways.org. For the meal itself, we’re planning on bringing food in from Stonefire Grill — introducing the men of Temple Beth Hillel to our Men’s Seder tradition of BBQ and Ice Cream.
4. PURIM CARNIVAL VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – SUN MAR 24
This year’s Purim Carnival is being held at TAS in combination with Temple Ramat Zion on Sunday, March 24. MoTAS has been a strong supporter of the Purim Carnival for more than 30 years, preparing and serving food to carnival attendees. This year we will be sharing that effort with the Men’s Club of TRZ. MoTAS will need 3-4 guys to help shop for some of the food on the Thursday or Friday before the event and 12 or more guys to help prepare and serve the food on Sunday. Please call Howard Miller (818) 993-0796 or email president@tasnorthridge-motas.org if you can help. Let’s make this a solid effort from MoTAS.
5. ANNUAL APPEAL TIME
In 2012, the Men of TAS eliminated the dues requirement for membership. We moved to an inclusive model where every man in TAS is part of the Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom. Since we don’t have dues, we don’t have steady revenue. So, every year Men of TAS asks you to support our work financially.
Last week, our Annual Appeal hits the post office. You can also find the message on our support page at http://support.tasnorthridge-motas.org/. On that page, you can find a printable donation form that you can mail in, as well as a link to contribute online. It is through your contributions that MoTAS is able to do that work that we do for the congregation. Please think about how much MoTAS means to the congregation, and how much the relationships you have with MoTAS mean to you. Then add 20%, and make a donation :-). Seriously, the MoTAS leadership works hard to make MoTAS valuable to you and the congregation. This is your chance to let us know what we mean to you.
See your friends and fellow congregants that have really stepped up to support us on our website’s Wall of Honor at http://wallofhonor.tasnorthridge-motas.org/. Join the Wall of Honor yourself by donating $100 or more. Your generous gift will provide fun events for all Temple members, kids to adults, teachers and staff. Continue to repair and improve our facilities. Most importantly, it will help us continue teaching and living the Jewish values that guide and enrich all our lives.
6. MARCH MEMBERSHIP MEETING – YELLOW CANDLE PACKING – SUN MAR 10
Our regular monthly meeting on Sunday, March 10 will be our Annual Yellow Candle Packing meeting. Join MoTAS at 8:45 AM for our usual meeting breakfast with eggs, bagels, lox, cream cheese, and other goodies. After some brief announcements, we’ll be packing the boxes for our Yom Hashoah Yellow Candle activity. This is always a fun meeting where we get a chance to just socialize while doing good.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have children looking to earn campership volunteer hour credit, this is likely their last chance before the deadline.
7. FEBRUARY MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
Date: Sunday, February 10, 2019
Present: Howard Miller (President), Hal Bass (Secretary), Bill Bigelson, Phyllis Bigelson, Les Birken, Joe Blachman, Daniel Faigin, Brian Hatkoff, Larry Hoffman, Mel Janis, Bob Levine, Roger Lowe (Treasurer), Fabian Malinovitz, Barry Mann, Larry Pfefer (VP), Russ Rapoport (VP), Mike Rayfield, Bill Shapiro, Alan Stepakoff, Sandy Stern, Mike Thornhill, Scott Yollis.
President’s Report: Howard thanked Roger Lowe, Mike Thornhill, Mike Rayfield and Scott Yollis for setting up the food and drink for today’s meeting.
Howard is looking into MoTAS sponsorship of a beer and pizza night for TAS families to be held at an outside restaurant in March or April. He has been in discussion with Rabbi Samansky about awarding a “student of the year” in each class with a gift certificate from MoTAS. He has appointed a task force to identify unmet temple needs, on which Brian Hatkoff and Scott Yollis have volunteered to serve. He thanked Hal Bass, Les Birken, Daniel Faigin, Roger Lowe and Larry Pfefer for preparing the MoTAS Annual Appeal mailer, which went out to congregants on February 1. Finally, Howard requested $50-$100 to purchase touch-up paint for the wrought-iron fence along Rinaldi Pl.
Treasurer’s Report as of 2/9/19:
- January 2019 Dining for Dollars at Weiler’s Northridge: $125
- 2019 MoTAS Appeal: $424 to date less <$158> for postage & CC fees=$266 net; goal is $4,500
- Yom HaShoah Candles & Mailers: <$651>
- 2018-19 MRJ Dues: <$500>
- Donation to MRJ for the Reform-On-Campus program: <$350>
- Payment to Sisterhood for MoTAS Share of Bar/Bat Mitzvah Gifts: <$128>
- Cantor’s Concert Support: <$180>
- Refreshments for Jan 24-27 Israeli Art Show: <$150>
- ECEC Luncheon: <$125>
- School Staff Appreciation Luncheon: <$100>
Prior Years Sports Squares Funds $5,022
- Current Year Football Squares $4,975, Winners Paid Out <$1,900>, Remaining Funds $3,075 2019
- Super Bowl Income $2,225, Winner Payout <$805>, Remaining Funds $1,425
Total Sports Squares Funds Available for Distribution: $9,517
March Madness Basketball Squares: Bob Levine and Kathy Pullman are in the process of setting up this fundraiser in time for the NCAA tournament.
MRJ National Meeting: Brian Hatkoff attended the MRJ meeting in Newark the last weekend of January. About 20 congregational men’s clubs were represented. The group heard from URJ President, Rabbi Rick Jacobs; a New Jersey-based representative from the Department of Homeland Security; and a female rabbi from New York City, who addressed the issue of rabbinic gender pay inequity. Best practices were also discussed. The next movement-wide MRJ meeting will be held in June 2019 at a date and location to be determined.
Men of the Year Dinner: The 2019 ceremony will take place at Temple Beth Hillel of Valley Village on Saturday evening, March 2. Everyone is encouraged to attend in support of our MoTAS Man of the Year, Frank Soronow. A sign-up sheet was circulated.
Purim Carnival, Sunday, March 24: This year’s Purim Carnival will be held at Temple Ramat Zion. A sign-up sheet for MoTAS volunteers was circulated.
Men’s Seder, Sunday, April 7, at 5 pm: The Seder for members of MoTAS and Temple Beth Hillel’s Men’ Club will take place at TAS. Daniel Faigin is in charge of preparations. Volunteers are needed, for which a sign-up sheet was provided.
Getting Acquainted with Rabbi Kalfus’s Wife, Phyllis Meyers: Phyllis is an academic support specialist at Milken HS. She grew up in Massachusetts, where her father was a civilian employee of the Army Department. During adolescence, her dad was transferred to Japan. Phyllis and her family lived there for 6 years, where she developed a deep appreciation for different cultures.
She later moved to Israel and studied Jewish education at Hebrew University. On returning to Massachusetts, Phyllis became a public-school teacher with certification in special education. She attended a Conservative synagogue and taught Hebrew at a Reform temple. She then met Rabbi Kalfus while studying at the Jewish Theological Seminary New York on a Wexner Fellowship.
Phyllis was inspired to become a storyteller after reading an article in the New York Times about the Dali Lama’s interest in Jewish survival. The Tibetan spiritual leader had asked several rabbis about this. He was most impressed by the answer he received from a Reform rabbi, who explained that we are a people who have learned to adapt even under the most challenging of circumstances.
Phyllis shared three stories about Jewish adaptation in difficult situations. She is an accomplished, entertaining storyteller, and held everyone’s rapt attention.
Adjournment and Next MoTAS Meeting: The next MoTAS meeting will take place Sunday, March 10, 2019, at 8:45 am.
Respectfully submitted,
Hal Bass, Secretary
Please send any additions or corrections to hbass@csun.edu.
IN CLOSING
As always, remember that the Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom is *your* organization. Keep up to date on our activities at http://www.tasnorthridge-motas.org/ and participate. Sign up for our action alert list at http://tinyurl.com/motas-action-alert. We want to serve all the men of Temple Ahavat Shalom and welcome new participants from the TAS membership. Join our Facebook group and “follow” our website. Come be part of the Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom!
Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom 