In This Issue:

1. MOTAS POKER TOURNAMENT – SU MAR 22 **THIS SUNDAY**
2. NCAA SQUARES SALES NOW OPEN
3. MOTAS APRIL MEETING – SU APR 12
4. DINING OUT – CHIS CHINESE – WE MAY 6
5. DONATE TO THE MOTAS ANNUAL APPEAL
6. MARCH MEETING MINUTES
7. IN CLOSING

(* indicates updated items)

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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. MOTAS POKER TOURNAMENT – SU MAR 22

The MoTAS Annual Poker Tournament is THIS Sunday, March 22. Go to the Poker Website 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.

Note: To avoid Ticketleap and Credit Card fees, print out and mail/email the registration form on the page, and send your payment via Venmo or Zelle.

2. NCAA SQUARES SALES NOW OPEN

Now that football season is officially over, it’s time for basketball and the craziness known as the Final Four, in early April. Once again, MoTAS is happy to offer you the opportunity to help raise some needed funds for special TAS projects, and maybe you’ll earn some $$ along the way. In other words: NCAA Squares are now on sale. To get all the information (and in some cases, more than you could ever want), go to http://squares.tasnorthridge-motas.org/ where you’ll find the instructions, a sign-up form you can download and then print, and a link if you wish to order your spaces online (note: there are two options here: pay online via credit card (adds processing fees), or register online and pay offline via check, zelle, or venmo. Registration closes Tuesday, March 31, 2026 at 6pm, unless otherwise announced.

To summarize: each name on the board can have up to 3 spaces. The squares are priced at $36 each. The game is for both the men’s and women’s tournament (semifinal two games each, and final games), so there are 12 opportunities to be a winner, since there is a winner at the half and final score. If the board is fully subscribed at all 100 spaces, the payout is $150 per win. Once again, we’ll use our “tie-breaker” method to determine a winner if a winning square is unsold (If there are unsold squares, the payouts will be adjusted.) The tie-breaker is your prediction of the total number of points both teams will score in any game, for example, if you think the final score will be 82-61, your number = 143. Here’s a hint for those who are unfamiliar (or don’t really care….): the average score for the men’s tournament for the last two years was 147, and the average score for the women’s tournament was 134. You get only one tie-breaker per person, so choose wisely.

3. MOTAS APRIL MEETING – SU APR 12

Our April Membership meeting will be Sunday, 4/12, at 8:45am. A full breakfast, including bagels, lox, and eggs, will be available starting at 8:45am. The topic has not yet been announced. We thank the Breakfast Crew for their hard work, and note that we’re recruiting new members. If you can help shop and prepare breakfast, please coordinate with Howard Schnee <Haschnee106@gmail.com> and Chuck Mondras <cmondrus@gmail.com>

4. DINING OUT – CHIS CHINESE – WE MAY 6

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 6  at Chi’s Chinese, 9635 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, CA 91324, (818) 886-6928.

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.

5. 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.

6. MARCH MEETING MINUTES

Date: Sunday, March 15, 2026, at TAS

Presiding: President Howard Schnee

Members Present: Howard Schnee (President), Hal Bass (Secretary), Les Birken, Joe Blachman, Daniel Faigin, Larry Hoffman (Immediate Past President), Bob Levine, Howard Miller, Chuck Mondrus, Larry Pfefer (Treasurer), Russ Rapoport, Jim Schwartz, Bill Shapiro (VP), Bernie Singer, Ben Tenn, Mike Thornhill, Mark Tilles

Guests: Rabbi Becky Hoffman, TAS President Janet Rice

Coffee & Breakfast: Mike Thornhill, Chuck Mondrus, Bob Levine

President’s Report:

• Dining Does Good took place Tuesday, Mar 10, at Lemon Zest in Northridge. Chi’s Chinese Restaurant in Northridge will be our next featured restaurant on Wednesday, May 6. Don’t forget to print out and present the flyer on the MoTAS website to your server or cashier.
• If you know of other establishments that would be good venues for this program, let Dining Does Good coordinator Barry Mann know.
• Registration is now open for the Poker Tournament, organized by Howard Miller with Larry Pfefer’s assistance, Sunday evening, March 22. A flyer advertising the tournament has been distributed to congregational families and previous players. MoTAS volunteers plus Kathy Pullman will assist with registration, food purchase and preparation, serving, and clean-up.

Sports Squares:

• Approved but Not Yet Disbursed: Campus Lighting $1,500, Server Room A/C $2,000

New Business:

• MoTAS Logo Shirts: Attractive, stylish T-shirts, polo shirts and dress shirts with the MoTAS logo are still available for $20, $35 and $40, respectively. To obtain logowear, contact Larry Pfefer <lpfefer@tasnorthridge.org>. We have a few extra from the pre-order; if there is sufficient demand for additional items, we’ll do a second order. If you pre-ordered a shirt, contact Larry to pick up your shirt (and pay, if necessary).
• Per Daniel Faigin, the MoTAS Annual Appeal is now under way and will continue through May 2026. A letter of solicitation was sent to the congregation.
• Yom HaShoah Candles: Yom HaShoah will begin at sundown Monday, April 13, and end 24 hours later. Yellow candles and a cover letter were prepared for mailing to the congregation as the main order of business at today’s membership meeting.
• Daniel Faigin said that this year’s joint TAS-Temple Beth Hillel Men’s Seder took place at TBH in Valley Village Sunday, March 8, and was well attended.
• TBH is also hosting the 2026 MRJ Men of the Year Dinner, Saturday evening, March 21, where Larry Hoffman will be honored as our MoTAS Man of the Year.
• Bob Levine encouraged folks to purchase March Madness NCAA Basketball Squares for $36 each before they’re sold out.
• “Mensch with a Wrench” Mark Tilles’ “10 Most Important Maintenance Items Around the House,” which he presented at the January meeting, is now available by popular request on the MoTAS Google Share Drive.
• Nominating Committee. Howard Miller and Daniel Faigin are members of the Nominating Committee for selection of 2026-27 MoTAS officers. A third non-office holder will be appointed to the committee.

Special Presentation by TAS President Janet Rice, with additional comments by Rabbi Becky Hoffman. Janet reviewed the recent installation of new carpeting, HVAC upgrades, sound system, and sanctuary monitors.

Additional projects for consideration include a pedestrian entrance from Rinaldi Place, perimeter landscaping to impede access through temple windows, new air conditioning for the server room (MoTAS has allocated $1,500 for this but has not yet distributed the funds), single-use restrooms, family Shabbat dinners for religious school students and their parents, and a security booth at the entry to the parking lot.

Next Meeting: The next General Membership Meeting will take place Sunday, April 12, 2026, at 8:45 am.

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!