In This Issue:
- NEXT MOTAS MEETING: SUN MAY 21*
- WELCOME TO OUR 2023-2024 LEADERSHIP TEAM
- MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL TIME
- NEXT DINING OUT: CHIS CHINESE ON WED JUN 7
- BYLAWS CHANGE NOTICE
- SHABBABAQUE IS COMING – FRI JUN 30*
- MRJ CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION – JUN 23-25
- BREAKFAST WITH THE BEATLES – JUL 16*
- IN CLOSING
(* indicates updated items)
From the Editor: The goal of the Weekly is to get MoTAS members the information they need on upcoming activities, and then get out of the way. If you have any information on MoTAS activities you need to get out to the membership, please contact the Weekly Editor at cybermaven@tasnorthridge-motas.org.
1. NEXT MOTAS MEETING: SUN MAY 21
As is our tradition, we are shifting our May MoTAS meeting to avoid Mother’s Day. Accordingly, our May Membership meeting will be Sunday, 5/21, at 9:00am. A full breakfast, including bagels, lox, and eggs, will be available starting at 8:45am. We’re looking for a member to take on the role of Programming [finding and securing speakers and topical discussions for the monthly meetings] and another to take on the role of membership. We may also go over the budgeting for the 2023-2024 year. There are also multiple potential motions to discuss and hopefully pass. Join us and learn what is happening with the temple.
2. WELCOME TO OUR 2023-2024 LEADERSHIP TEAM
At our April Membership meeting, elections were held, and I’m pleased to present to you our 2023-2024 leadership team, who take office July 1, 2023:
- President: Larry Hoffman
- Vice President: Scott Yollis
- Treasurer: Roger Lowe
- Secretary: Hal Bass
- Immediate Past President: Larry Pfefer
Continuing as advisors or activity chairs will be:
- Past President’s Council: Larry Pfefer, Howard Miller, Daniel Faigin, Bob Levine
- Weekly Editor/Cybermaven: Daniel Faigin
- Poker Tournament Chair: Howard Miller
- Dining Does Good Coordinator: Barry Mann
- Sports Squares: Bob Levine and Kathy Pullman
One Vice President slot is still open. To volunteer, please contact Larry Hoffman at larrynhoffman18@gmail.com.
3. MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL TIME
The MoTAS Annual Appeal runs until the end of May, and due to our late start, donations have been slow. Please help MoTAS do what we do by making your annual appeal contribution. Donating to MoTAS (MoTAS does not collect membership dues) enables us to underwrite our activities, support Temple Ahavat Shalom for unbudgeted activities and emergencies, and participate in the life of the temple by donating to the gala, the Cantors Concert, and “Counting Us In” at the annual meeting. To contribute online or to print a donation form, just visit support.tasnorthridge-motas.org.
4. NEXT DINING OUT: CHIS CHINESE ON WED JUN 7
“Dining Does Good” has returned. Things have gotten more complicated since the pandemic with all the delivery apps and such, so this is DINE IN or PICK UP only. Let’s support MoTAS, and all show our smiling faces at Chi’s Chinese in Northridge on Wednesday, June 7.
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 June Dining Does Good” will be Wednesday, June 7 at Chi’s Chinese, 9635 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, CA 91324, (818) 886-6928. You can find a flyer for the event at https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/activities/dining/ or download it directly from our Box account .
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.
5. BYLAWS CHANGE NOTICE
Pursuant to our bylaws, notice is hereby given that we will be voting on a Bylaws change at our May Membership meeting, the Sunday after Mother’s Day. The proposal is to change the terms for Vice President from a maximum of two consecutive one-year terms to FOUR consecutive one-year terms. The proposal will be voted on at the May 21 membership meeting.
6. SHABBABAQUE IS COMING – FRI JUN 30
It’s back. MoTAS’s Famous Shabbabaque (or, as Larry the Elder spells it, Sha-Bar-BBQ) on Friday, June 30, 2023. Whatever the spelling, Shabbabque, Shabbaque, or Sha-Bar-BBQ (think of it like Chanukah, or is that Hanukkah), it is a MoTAS tradition to usher in summer. Before we go into the details of the event, WE WILL NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THE MAGIC HAPPEN. We need you to go to https://volunteersignup.org/MBXCD and sign up to help. You can sign up with multiple duties. We need people to shop, prep, cook, setup, serve, take tickets, and cleanup.We can’t do it without you. So again: Volunteer to help at https://volunteersignup.org/MBXCD .
Shabbabaque starts with a service in the sanctuary at 6:30pm, followed at 7:45pm by a delicious barbeque dinner. Last year’s menu included turkey burgers, beef burgers, and hot dogs. Vegetarian items included vegetarian patties, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, watermelon, and dessert. To sign up, visit https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/activities/shabbabaque/, or you can go to the Ticketleap directly at https://tasmotas.ticketleap.com/23-06-shabbabaque/ . The cost is $10; free for religious school families. Reservations are required (and pre-payment is encouraged) by the Tuesday before the event, June 27, at 6:00 PM.
7. MRJ CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION – JUN 23-25
MRJ is celebrating its 100th birthday at a special convention and conclave the weekend of June 23-25, 2023 at Temple Beth El in Providence RI and at the Graduate Providence. Some highlights of the event:
- Our guest of honor and keynote speaker Shabbat evening, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism.
- Special morning session – Indigenous People/Native Lands. The lands where Temple Beth-El sits as once the lands of the Masswascut—The Land between the two rivers, and the territory of the Meschanticut, which are the ancestral homelands of the Narragansettt, Pokanoket and Nipmuc peoples.
- There will be a special program on Implicit bias, which refers to attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner without awareness, intention, or control.
- MRJ Award Ceremony. Awards range from “service to the Temple community” to “intergenerational” and “adult Jewish Education. To apply, click here.
To register for the event, click here. To register for the hotel, click here.
8. BREAKFAST WITH THE BEATLES – JUL 16
If you are a Beatles fan, Larry P. is looking at coordinating a group to go to the Hard Rock Café in Hollywood on July 16th to sit in on a broadcast of the Sunday Morning Show, Breakfast with the Beatles. Tickets are $50 and include an ‘English Brunch’. Let Larry know at Larry Pfefer <lpfefer@tasnorthridge.org>
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. Join the MoTAS Google Group at https://groups.google.com/g/tas-motas (you may need to be logged into your Google account, if you have one). Come be part of the Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom!
Men of Temple Ahavat Shalom 