In This Issue:
- TU B’SHEVAT SEDER/FEBRUARY MEETING – SUN FEB 9
- HONOR LES BIRKEN (MAN OF THE YEAR) AT THE MRJ MOY DINNER
- PAINTING THE GATES – SUN FEB 23
- MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL IS STARTING
- FEB DINING OUT – TUE FEB 25 AT CHI CHIS PIZZA
- IN CLOSING
1. TU B’SHEVAT SEDER/FEBRUARY MEETING – SUN FEB 9
As many of you know, the Count Me In brunch has been scheduled for the same morning as our February 9 monthly meeting. We are proud to say that a great portion of our MoTAS members also support the Count Me In campaign and deserve to attend that Thank You brunch. Therefore, we have revised our meeting and Tu B’Shevat Seder plans as follows:
- Coffee and delicious highly sugary high fat donuts provided by Howard Miller will be served at 8:45.
- A very short working business meeting will be held while we set up the tables for the religious school seder. We will expect 80 participants including students, MoTAS members and some parents.
- Members attending the Count Me In event will leave before 9:30 and the rest will finish setting up.
- By 11:10, hopefully a good contingent of our members will reconvene in the Activity Center and participate in the seder with our students. Daniel and the Cantor will lead the Seder.
- The seder will be over by noon.
Hope to see you there.
2. HONOR LES BIRKEN (MAN OF THE YEAR) AT THE MRJ MOY DINNER
2020 MoTAS Man of the Year: Les Birken
Les Birken was honored at the January MoTAS Shabbat as our 2020 Man of the Year. A very deserving member, Les has been a part of TAS and MoTAS for over 30 years. As Howard Miller stated, Les is “always the first to offer to support MoTAS programs and among the last to leave”. He has never turned down a request to help. Many of his contributions can be found in our Social Hall kitchen and the temple archive room. Also, you will often find Les on the Bimah during Shabbat services providing musical accompaniment on the banjo or guitar. He leads by example and is one of our most dependable members. Above, you can see Les receiving his presentation from Howard; below, Les is with Brian Hatkoff, who is also president of the MRJ Western Region.
The MRJ Man of the Year Dinner, where our honoree will be feted, together with the honorees from other MRJ congregations from the MRJ Pacific Southwest region, is Saturday, March 14, 2020 at Temple Beth Shalom in Santa Ana. The cost of the dinner is $40 if you are paying by cash or check; $42 plus TicketLeap fees if you are paying by credit card. You can RSVP or pay online at https://tasmotas.ticketleap.com/20-03-moy-dinner/. RSVPS are due by Friday, February 28.
3. PAINTING THE GATES – SUN MAR 1
TAS PRIDE – Help us repaint the parking lot gates: Sunday March 1. Note that this is a date change from what was in the appeal letter.
Each year MoTAS promotes and supports our TAS Pride temple beautification efforts. This year we will be cleaning and repainting the wrought iron security fencing for the main parking lot gates and surrounding area. If you would like to help, join us at 1pm on Sunday March 1. No provisions needed except clothing you won’t mind turning black; although, work gloves would be smart. If you would like to help, contact Howard Miller at (818) 903-9656. If you would like to help prepare the fencing for painting a few days before, please let Howard know.
4. MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL IS STARTING
Watch your mail! In the next week, our annual appeal letters will be going out. MoTAS does not collect membership dues — we depend on contributions from our membership to do what we do, and to help Temple Ahavat Shalom. Want to get a jump on the appeal? Just visit support.tasnorthridge-motas.org.
5. FEB DINING OUT – TUE FEB 25 AT CHI CHIS PIZZA
Would you like an easy way to help MoTAS financially? How about taking your family to dinner. The MoTAS “Dining Does Good” allows you to go out to dinner, and have the restaurant donate a portion of your check support the Men of TAS. Our February Dining Does Good” will be Tuesday, February 25 at Chi Chi’s Pizza at 9080 Tampa Ave, Northridge, CA 91324, (818) 993-9911. You can find a flyer for the event at https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/activities/dining/.
We really encourage you to come and support these events: we raise a little extra funds for our work, but more importantly, we come together and break bread as a Temple family on a regular basis. It is a real joy to walk into a neighborhood restaurant and see your Temple friends, to sit down and share a table and talk. This is the heart and goal of MoTAS: Building Relationships.
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 