In This Issue:
- SU FEB 21: MOTAS MEMBERSHIP MEETING – AL LAPIDES on ADVERTISING
- HELP US DO WHAT WE DO: SUPPORT THE MOTAS APPEAL
- SHARE YOUR SIMCHAS FOR MARCH
- CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MAN OF THE YEAR – HAL BASS
- IN CLOSING
1. SU FEB 21: MOTAS MEMBERSHIP MEETING – AL LAPIDES on ADVERTISING
Our February 21 MoTAS Meeting will feature our own Al Lapides speaking on The History of Advertising and its Effect on Society. The presentation will cover the early roots and history of advertising to the 21st century. Much of advertising can be applied to discussions on the ideas and ideals we believe in. The key is to identify your target, and engage and motivate the people or groups you desire to help your cause or buy your product. The debate includes whether advertising should entertain and/or irritate (yes that too) your audience, as well as inform them. Al will also cover the 5 different types of advertising:
- Product or service direct to consumer
- Institutional / corporate
- Targeted business or trade advertising
- Political advertising
- Lobbying advertising focused on or to consumers
Zoom details will be in next week’s Weekly.
2. HELP US DO WHAT WE DO: SUPPORT THE MOTAS APPEAL
By now, you have received your MoTAS Appeal Letter. You’ve read about all MoTAS has done to support TAS over the past year, and how the COVID environment has limited our fund raising options. You know that our appeal is even more important this year for us to do what we do. Luckily, it is easy to support MoTAS. Just visit our support webpage: http://support.tasnorthridge-motas.org/. There you can read the appeal letter, make your donation online, or download a form to mail with your check to Roger. Without all of our usual activities, MoTAS needs your support even more to be able to support the temple and its needs during these extraordinary times. MoTAS does not charge dues to its members; we depend on your donations to be able to do what we do.
Just visit http://support.tasnorthridge-motas.org/ to donate.
3. SHARE YOUR SIMCHAS FOR MARCH
If you have a Simcha you want to share, click here for the link to submit your Simcha. Submissions will be due no later than the last day of the month prior to the month of publication. We are now taking February submissions to be listed on in March 2021. For more details or questions contact Bob Levine. If you are interested in making a donation to TAS in honor of your Simcha, click here. A donation is not required to submit your Simcha.
4. CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MAN OF THE YEAR – HAL BASS
At the January MoTAS Shabbat, our Man of the Year for 2021 was announced: Hal Bass. For those who don’t know Hal, or who missed the Shabbat, here is the introduction to the announcement from our 2020 Man of the Year, Les Birken:
Anyone who meets our honoree soon learns of his deep convictions and passionate observations of the world’s current and past events. He likes to read and share his ideas not only with family and friends but also readers of the Los Angeles and New York Times where he has had more than 200 letters published. I know he is an avid reader of the L.A. Times because he acknowledged me when I had a letter published. He keeps current in his field even after retiring and I have no doubt he could step in today without missing a beat and run circles around colleagues half his age.
Our honoree was born and brought up in a well-known Midwestern city where he learned a strong work ethic from his parents, who owned a “mom and pop” store. He joined his brother in working in the store on weekends and peak seasons and absorbed his parents’ political and ethical standards that guide him to this day. His first vote was for JFK in 1960 and has not missed an election since.
He met his bride at a young adult mixer in Chicago’s Blackstone Hotel in August, 1960. Within three weeks they were engaged and married ten months later. She worked as a high school French and English teacher while he completed medical school and residency. He graduated from The University of Chicago with his MD degree and a Masters in pharmacology. He found time to study genetics and used that skill as a clinical professor at UCLA and later at a well-known HMO where he was a pediatrician.
Thanks to the U.S. Air Force, the couple found themselves at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, CA. The base needed his medical specialty so desperately that he missed out on basic training. He never learned to shoot or properly salute but he took his military duty seriously and you can often see him proudly wearing his Air Force Veteran’s baseball cap. That is, when we were seeing anybody!
Our honoree and his wife have enjoyed travelling throughout the U.S. and abroad. He had a burning desire to visit all 50 states. He often took a Greyhound Bus to and from national genetics meetings. Between these and other trips he and his wife took, by the late 1990’s he was missing only one state. His wife booked a cruise to Alaska to help him complete his dream to visit all 50 states. I am impressed!
Our honoree and his wife have been members of TAS since 1974. Both have served the Temple in various capacities including serving on the Temple Board, working to build our sanctuary-social hall building, and other committees. In addition, both our honoree and his wife have taken leadership positions within MoTAS and Sisterhood and fervently believe that the synagogue is the foundation for Jewish survival. They have passed this belief to their two daughters and four grandchildren.
Since retiring, our honoree has devoted even more time to MoTAS. He is currently serving his fifth term as secretary, providing us with highly detailed and accurate records of our meetings. As part of our monthly meeting programs, we have learned from him through presentations on a variety of subjects including genetic birth conditions, the 1956 Sinai War between Israel and Egypt, and the Armenian Genocide and its connection to the Holocaust. He also developed and helped organize our November Veterans Day salute where we identified and honored all of our TAS veterans. If all of this were not enough, we can always count on him to help both in front and behind the scenes for many other events such as our Shabbabaque, mailers, poker tournament and wherever else he sees a need.
I am not sure how effective I have been in trying to hide his identity but nonetheless, it is my honor and privilege to present you with The Men of TAS 2021 Man of the Year: Dr. Hal Bass.
Congratulations, Hal.
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 