In This Issue:

1. ANNUAL APPEAL – WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT
2. MOTAS MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER – SU 4/27
3. MAY MOTAS MEMBERSHIP MEETING – SU 5/4
4. APRIL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
5. 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. ANNUAL APPEAL – WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

We’re halfway through the appeal period, but we’re running behind in the amounts we’ve collected. MoTAS depends on contributions from our membership to do what we do, and to help Temple Ahavat Shalom. You’ve received your appeal letter. We now need you to act. 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.

2. MOTAS MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER – SU 4/27

Were you unable to make the drive to Fullerton for the MRJ Man of the Year dinner? Do you want a smaller crowd to honor just the MoTAS Men of the Year? We’ve got just the solution for you. MoTAS is honoring our 2025 Men of The Year — Howard Miller, and special regional MRJ awardee Daniel Faigin — with a celebration dinner at the Northridge Olive Garden, Sunday April 27th at 5:30pm. Tickets are available through TicketLeap at tasmotas.ticketleap.com/2025-men-of-the-year-dinner. Please join us in honoring the men who so deserve this award. The cost is $40 per person, including dinner. You pay at the door, or ahead of time via Zelle/Venmo. Reservations are required by April 25 at the link above, and we ask that you select your entree in advance. You can see the menu at the Olive Garden site.

3. MAY MOTAS MEMBERSHIP MEETING – SU 5/4

Our May Membership meeting will be Sunday, 5/4, at 8:45am. A full breakfast, including bagels, lox, and eggs, will be available starting at 8:45am. The main focus of this meeting is the election of officers. The nominated slate is: Scott Gore, President; Howard Schnee and Scott Yollis, Vice Presidents; Roger Lowe, Treasurer; Hal Bass, Secretary; and Larry Hoffman, Immediate Past President. There will also be some special activity: an open mic at the meeting for members to tell jokes, recite poems or share short stories.

4. APRIL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

Date: Sunday, April 6, 2025, at TAS

Presiding: President Larry Hoffman

Members Present: Larry Hoffman (President), Hal Bass (Secretary), Les Birken, Jeremy Bonner, Daniel Faigin, Scott Gore (VP), Brian Hatkoff, Bob Levine, Roger Lowe (Treasurer), Howard Miller, Chuck Mondrus, Jerome Myerson, Jeff Neiman, Larry Pfefer (Immediate Past President), Howard Schnee, Bernie Singer, Bill Shapiro, Mike Thornhill, Marshall Waldman, Scott Yollis (VP)

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

Question of the Day: What do you wish to be remembered for?

President’s Report:

• Howard Miller announced that the Poker Tournament on March 9 attracted 54 players and MoTAS netted $7804.
• The Purim Oneg on March 14 was an enjoyable family experience.
• Scott Gore said that 22 people attended L’Dough V’Dough on March 16 with staff members from the Holocaust Museum. One of the speakers was a childhood Holocaust survivor.
• Daniel Faigin said that 18 men from both congregations attended this year’s Men’s Seder with Temple Beth Hillel of Valley Village on March 30. The dinner was catered by the Ali Baba Persian restaurant of Granada Hills and also included several culinary items brought in by MoTAS members, such as gefilte fish prepared by Daniel’s wife, Karen Davis. Next Year’s Men’s Seder will be held at Temple Beth Hillel.
• Dining Does Good: On Monday, April 7, Chi’s Chinese Restaurant in Northridge will be on the menu for Dining Does Good. Present your server or cashier the flyer distributed at today’s meeting, which is also available on the MoTAS website. If you know of other restaurants that would be good venues for this program, let our Dining Does Good coordinator, Barry Mann, know.
• Friday evening, April 18, TAS will hold its second annual community Seder for which reservations are required. A Shabbat service will take place at 6 pm, followed by the Seder at 6:30.
• For our May 4 membership meeting, there will be a formal election of MoTAS officers for 2025-26. Larry H. said there would be an open mic at the meeting for members to tell jokes, recite poems or share short stories.
• The MoTAS Annual Appeal is still under way. Donations can be made through the MoTAS website.
• A dinner to honor our MoTAS Man of the Year, Howard Miller, and special regional MRJ awardee Daniel Faigin, will take place at the Olive Garden in Northridge Sunday evening, April 27.
• MoTAS volunteers are needed for the May 9 Sisterhood Shabbat.

Roger Lowe’s Treasurer’s Report as of 04/04/2025:

• See Emailed Version

New Business:

• Marshall Waldman and Howard Schnee announced that ice cream sundaes will be provided on April 26 to the children of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, which fell victim to the Eaton Fire in early January. MoTAS has contributed $250 for the sundaes.
• Jeremy Bonner, who is on the TAS Board of Trustees, reminded MoTAS members and others in their household who are 18 or older to vote in the World Zionist Congress elections and to select the Reform slate. Go to https://azm.org/elections to register and vote.
• The main activities at today’s membership meeting were presentation of officers for 2025-26 and preparation of Yom HaShoah candles for mailing to the congregation. Yom HaShoah, which coincides with the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, begins at sundown Wednesday, April 23 and ends at sundown 24 hours later.
• Nominating Committee chair Howard Miller said 2025-26 nominees are Scott Gore, President; Howard Schnee and Scott Yollis, Vice Presidents; Roger Lowe, Treasurer; Hal Bass, Secretary; and Larry Hoffman, Immediate Past President. The formal election will take place at our May 4 membership meeting. New one-year terms begin July 1.
• The theme of this year’s Gala on Saturday evening, May 31, is Making a World of Difference. The honorees are Karen Jaye and Sandy Robinson and Phyllis & Hal Bass. Larry Pfefer is designing the MoTAS ad for the Gala. Contact Laraine Miller if you have items to donate for the silent auction.
• The annual MoTAS Shabbabaque will take place Friday evening, June 13. Jerome Myerson suggested that the $10 per person charge be waived for children. No formal vote was taken, but from the discussion that followed the consensus was to adopt this policy for the June 13th Shabbabaque and not charge children for their meal.
• There will be no camperships awarded this year.

The next General Membership Meeting will take place Sunday, May 4, 2025, at 8:45 am. The main order of business will be the formal election of 2025-26 MoTAS officers.

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!