In This Issue:
- SUPERBOWL SQUARES DEADLINE – FEB 4
- FEBRUARY MOTAS MEETING – SU FEB 8
- MRJ WEBINAR: RABBI RICK JACOBS – WE FEB 18
- MOTAS SEDER – HOLD THE DATE – SU MAR 8
- DINING OUT – LEMON ZEST – TU MAR 10
- RSVP TO THE MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER BY MAR 12
- MOTAS POKER TOURNAMENT – SU MAR 22
- DONATE TO THE MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL
- 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. During the summer, when there are not a lot of events, the weekly will appear … less than weekly. If you know of someone who should be getting the weekly, of if you had this forwarded this to you and you want to get on our sublist, please drop a note to cybermaven@tasnorthridge-motas.org and we’ll add you.
1. SUPERBOWL SQUARES DEADLINE – FEB 4
The Monday Night Football season is now over, and now is the time to buy a Superbowl Square. The cost is only $36 per square, and you can help Temple Ahavat Shalom while potentially rewarding yourself. On-line registrations now have a small handling fee from TicketLeap that we used to absorb — this allows reduces the cost to MoTAS and allows us to do more for TAS. Payouts are $330 for each quarter, and $650 for the final score. A full board of 91 squares pays out $1640 to players, and $1636 to MoTAS. You can find the rules of the game, register and pay online, or find a form that you can print and mail in, at https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/activities/sports-squares/. Squares must be purchased by the Wednesday, February 4, 2026 before the Super Bowl.
2. FEBRUARY MOTAS MEETING – SU FEB 8
Our February Membership meeting will be Sunday, 2/8, at 8:45am. A full breakfast, including bagels, lox, and eggs, will be available starting at 8:45am. Our speaker at this meeting is Mr. T. B. Determined, speaking on a topic that he has promised us is in the mail. As Roger is unavailable, the Breakfast Crew can use some additional support. If you can help shop and prepare breakfast, please coordinate with Howard Schnee <Haschnee106@gmail.com> and Chuck Mondras <cmondrus@gmail.com>
🆕 For those that wanted a copy of January’s presentation on recommended maintenance items, you can find it in our Google Drive Share.
3. MRJ WEBINAR: RABBI RICK JACOBS – WE FEB 18
On Wednesday, February 18, 2026 at 5pm PACIFIC, MRJ will be hosting a webinar with the President of URJ, Rabbi Rick Jacobs. The subject is described as “Who are we, where are we, where are we going? A candid conversation with Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism.”
A longtime and devoted creative change agent, Rabbi Jacobs spent 20 years as a visionary spiritual leader at Westchester Reform Temple (WRT) in Scarsdale, New York. Before that, during his tenure as the rabbi of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, he created the first homeless shelter in a New York City synagogue. He’s a tireless advocate for an Israel that is secure, Jewish, democratic, and pluralistic, with a vibrant Reform Jewish community. Rabbi Jacobs has studied for two decades at Jerusalem’s Shalom Hartman Institute, where he is a senior rabbinic fellow.
To register for the webinar, click here.
4. MOTAS SEDER – HOLD THE DATE – SU MAR 8
The Joint Brotherhood Seder will be held Sunday, March 8, 2026 at Temple Beth Hillel. We are awaiting the details from the Temple Beth Hillel, but for now, please SAVE THE DATE on your calendar.
5. DINING OUT – LEMON ZEST – TU MAR 10
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 March Dining Does Good” will be Tuesday, March 10 at Lemon Zest Northridge, 9610 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, CA 91324, (818) 818-6164.
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 Google Drive . From there, just click on the printer icon to print, or the three dots to download.
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.
6. RSVP TO THE MAN OF THE YEAR DINNER BY MAR 12
Larry Hoffman was honored at the January MoTAS Shabbat as our 2026 Man of the Year. 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 21, 2026 at Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village. The cost of the dinner is $50 if you are paying by cash, check, Zelle, or Venmo; $50 plus TicketLeap fees if you are paying by credit card. You can RSVP or pay online at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/tasnorthridge-motas/26-03-man-of-the-year-dinner. RSVPS are due by March 12, 2026 at 6:00PM.
7. MOTAS POKER TOURNAMENT – SU MAR 22
The MoTAS Annual Poker Tournament is coming on Sunday, March 22. The Poker Website is now updated, and you can go there to learn about the event, register online, or print off the form and register offline via Zelle, Venmo, or check. Visit https://wp.tasnorthridge-motas.org/activities/poker/ for more information.
8. DONATE TO THE MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL
The MoTAS Shabbat marks the start of the Annual Appeal, which continues until the end of May. We have the official letter from our President; but we still have to print, stuff, and send the appeal mailing. But you can, so to speak, “jump the gun”. MoTAS depends on contributions from our membership to do what we do, and to help Temple Ahavat Shalom. 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 Google Drive account with the downloadable PDF form is here.
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 