In This Issue:

1. MAY 19 + JUN 02 MEMBERSHIP MEETING INFORMATION*
2. SHABBABAQUE IS COMING – FRI MAY 31*
3. DINING OUT AT CARUSOS – WE 5/29*
4. MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL TIME – APPEAL CLOSES 5/31*
5. APRIL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES*
6. 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.

Reminder: Yom Hashoah this year begins at sundown on Sunday, May 5, and ends at sundown 24 hours later

1. MAY 19 + JUN 02 MEMBERSHIP MEETING INFORMATION

Our May membership meeting will be Sunday, May 19, 2024 @ 8:45am at Temple Ahavat Shalom in the Social Hall, unless you hear otherwise. The speaker will be Alyce Botwinick on transitioning to retirement and dealing with chronic illness in oneself or family members. We will be holding elections at this meeting.

Our June membership meetingwill be Sunday, June 2, 2024 @ 8:45am. As the temple is nominally closed that day, in-person attendance will be by pre-registration ONLY. Register here (for free), and we’ll send you a temporary gate code. Everyone else, including our speaker, will be attending via Zoom: Click here to join (Meeting ID: 823 6876 3653; Passcode: 490006) or to dial in:  +1 669 444 9171 .   The speaker will be Erin Faigin on Valley Girls, or to be more precise, “Postwar Jewish Suburbanization through the Lens of the Jewish American Princess and Valley Girl.” This is an update to a presentation given to the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati in March 2023. The talk will begin at 915a, after our usual introductions. Any business meeting will be after the talk.

For our on-site meetings, a full breakfast, including bagels, lox, and eggs, will be available. For ZOOM, we’ll have virtual bagels, lox and eggs, which are much lower in calories.

2. SHABBABAQUE IS COMING – FRI MAY 31

It’s back. MoTAS’s Famous Shabbabaque (or, as Larry the Elder spells it, Sha-Bar-BBQ) on Friday, May 31, 2024. 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/BF9XM 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/BF9XM .

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/2405-shabbabaque/. The cost is $10; free for religious school families. Reservations are required (and pre-payment is encouraged) by the Tuesday before the event, May 28, at 6:00 PM.

Our grid mavens have informed us that this will be your first official chance to purchase Football Squares for the 2024 Monday Night Football season. We are still in the process of setting up the pages for next year, so don’t try to jump the gun just yet.

3. DINING OUT AT CARUSOS – WE 5/29

“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 Caruso’s in Granada Hills on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.

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 May Dining Does Good” will be Wednesday, May 29 at Caruso’s Italian Restaurant, 10152 Balboa Blvd, Granada Hills, CA 91344, (818) 671-1140, https://www.carusositaliankitchenbargrill.com/. Just present the flyer or mention the fundraiser when you order or pick up your take out order in person.

How do you get a flyer? You can find a flyer for the event at https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/activities/dining/ (click on the image of the flyer) or download PDF from our Box account . Once you are at the Box version of the flyer:

• If you are on a PC or Mac using a browser: (1) click on the white DOWNLOAD button; (2) there will be a pop-up about logging in to do more — ignore that – just close the popup box; (3) You will be prompted on where to save the download, or it will go into the downloads directory; (4) when the download is complete, open the PDF and print it. DO NOT right click and attempt to print from the Box page.
• If you using a browser on an Android phone: This takes you directly to the PDF. You can download or print from there.
• If you are using some other method, please send it to me and I’ll include it on this list.
• If you can’t figure this out at all: Drop me an email at cybermaven@tasnorthridge-motas.org , and I’ll send you the PDF as an attachment.

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.

4. MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL TIME – APPEAL CLOSES 5/31

The MoTAS Annual Appeal Window is closing. We normally run our appeal from the MoTAS Shabbat through the end of May, meaning you only have until May 31 to get your contributions in to be counted as part of this year’s appeal. Tick, tick, tick. The clock is ticking.

If you have not donated yet, there is still time. To contribute online or to print a donation form, just visit support.tasnorthridge-motas.org or go directly to https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/about/support-motas/. The online direct donation page is here; the link to our Box account with the downloadable PDF form is here.

5. APRIL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

Date: Sunday, April 14, 2024, TAS Social Hall

Presiding: President Larry Hoffman

Members Present: Larry Hoffman (President), Hal Bass (Secretary), Les Birken, Daniel Faigin, Bob Levine, Roger Lowe (Treasurer), Joel Lowell, Barry Mann, Howard Miller, Chuck Mondrus, Jeff Neiman, Larry Pfefer (Immediate Past President), Russ Rapoport, Bill Shapiro, Bernie Singer, Mike Thornhill, Scott Yollis (VP)

Coffee & Breakfast: Bob Levine, Roger Lowe, Mike Thornhill, Scott Yollis

Question of the Day: Share something people don’t know about you.

President’s Report:

• Howard Miller has been seeking new bids for landscaping in front of the temple offices, but the project is on hold until a water leak in the system can be repaired and trees are trimmed.
• 2024-25 calendaring is in progress. The annual Pancake Breakfast will take place on Oct 20, the Veterans Shabbat on November 8, and the MoTAS Shabbat, at which our 2025 Man of the Year will be introduced, is January 10, 2025.
• Chuck Mondrus read a letter from a grateful Camp Alonim attendee who benefitted from MoTAS generosity.
• Howard Miller is chairing the Annual Gala, which will be held at TAS Saturday evening, May 18. This year’s honorees are the Breuer, Pfefer and Solomon families.
• Additional upcoming events: Sisterhood Bingorita on Saturday, May 4, for which a volunteer sign-up sheet was circulated; and the MoTAS Shabbabeque on Friday evening, May 31.

Roger Lowe’s Treasurer’s Report as of 04/12/2024:

• [See emailed version]

New Business:

• If you know of restaurants that might be good venues for our Dining Does Good program, let the coordinator, Barry Mann, know.
• The Men’s Seder will take place this evening at Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village. Eight MoTAS members have made reservations.
• Daniel Faigin, Howard Miller and Larry Pfefer were appointed by President Larry Hoffman to the nominating committee for 2024-25 MoTAS officers. The new slate of officers is Larry Hoffman, President; Scott Gore and Scott Yollis, Vice Presidents; Roger Lowe, Treasurer; Hal Bass, Secretary; and Larry Pfefer, Immediate Past President. Additional nominations will be entertained until Sunday, April 21. The election will take place at our May 19 membership meeting.
• The main order of business was the preparation of yellow Yom Hashoah candles for mailing to the congregation. Yom Hashoah this year begins at sundown on Sunday, May 5, and ends at sundown 24 hours later.

Adjournment and Next MoTAS Meeting: The next MoTAS membership meeting will take place at TAS, Sunday, May 19, 2024, at 8:45 am. Our speaker will be a psychiatric social worker, Alyce Botwinick. Topics Ms. Botwinick will address are transitioning to retirement and dealing with chronic illness in oneself or family members.

At our membership meeting on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at 8:45 am, Historian Erin Faigin will do a presentation via Zoom on Valley Girls, or to be more precise, “Postwar Jewish Suburbanization Through the Lens of the Jewish American Princess and Valley Girl.” This is an update to a presentation Erin gave to the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati in March 2023.

Respectfully submitted, Hal Bass/Secretary

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!