MoTAS Weekly 08/05/2026: Welcome to the MoTAS Weekly | Aug and Sep Events

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In This Issue:

  1. WELCOME TO THE MOTAS WEEKLY FOR 2026-2027
  2. MOTAS CALENDAR FOR 2026-2027
  3. MOTAS MONTHLY MEETING – AUG/SEP
  4. FOOTBALL SQUARES ON SALE
  5. DINING OUT – OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE – TU SEP 15
  6. SUKKAH BUILDING – TH SEP 24
  7. PANCAKE BREAKFAST – SU SEP 27
  8. 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, or 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. WELCOME TO THE MOTAS WEEKLY FOR 2026-2027

Welcome to the MoTAS Weekly. The Weekly is normally sent on Wednesdays to all email addresses on the Temple’s MALE TEMPLE MEMBERS mailing list (except during the summer, when we have less news). Once a year we send the list to the entire Temple to inform folks of our upcoming activities for the year. If this is your first time seeing the MoTAS Weekly, and you want to make sure you get it whenever it is sent, please drop an email to cahwyguy@gmail.com or faigin@cahighways.org to ensure you are on the list we use.

2. MOTAS CALENDAR FOR 2026-2027

The MoTAS Programming Year runs from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. The following are our currently planned events for the year. We look forward to seeing you at a MoTAS event. Note that some of the links will reflect last year’s information until we start the specific planning for this year’s event.

In addition, the following activities are on going:

  • Monthly: Dining Does Good. These are typically the second or third week of the month. See the Dining Out page for the specific dates.
  • During football and NCAA basketball season: Sports squares. There are three cycles: Football Squares, Superbowl Squares, and NCAA March Madness Squares

July 2026

August 2026

September 2026

  • Until the Friday before the 1st Monday Night Football Game: Football Square Sales
  • Fr, Sep 11: Erev Rosh Hashanah
  • Sa, Sep 12: Rosh Hashanah
  • Tu, Sep 15: Dining Out at Outback Steakhouse
  • Su, Sep 20: Erev Yom Kippur
  • Mo, Sep 21: Yom Kippur
  • Th, Sep 24 @ 830a: Sukkah Building
  • Fr, Sep 25: Erev Sukkot
  • Su, Sep 27 @ 845a: MoTAS Pancake Breakfast (Setup Starts)

October 2026

  • Fr, Oct 2: Erev Simchat Torah
  • Su, Oct 11: October Monthly Meeting
  • Su, Oct 25: Sisterhood Holiday Boutique

November 2026

  • Su, Nov 8: November Monthly Meeting
  • Fr, Nov 13: Veterans Shabbat

December 2026

  • Fr, Dec 4: First Night of Chanukkah
  • Su, Dec 13 @ 8:45am: December Monthly Meeting
  • Fr, Dec 25 @ 5:00pm: ChanukahMas Dinner

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

  • Su, May 2 @ 8:45am: May Monthly Meeting
  • Mo, May 3: Erev Yom Hashoah
  • Ongoing: MoTAS Annual Appeal

June 2027

  • Fr, Jun 4: Shabbabaque (Early this year due to Shavuot on Jun 11 and Pride Shabbat on Jun 18)
  • Fr Jun 4: Football Square Sales Open
  • Su, Jun 6 @ 9:00am: Congregational Meeting
  • Su, Jun xx @ 8:45am: June Monthly Meeting (Zoom) (TBD)

3. MOTAS MONTHLY MEETING – AUG/SEP

Due to the fact that religious school hasn’t started in late August / early September, the September monthly meeting will be held Wednesday, August 26 at 7pm, in the backyard at Howard Schnee’s house. If you are interested in attending, please contact Howard at Haschnee106@gmail.com or +1 818-259-7583 to RSVP and for more specifics.

4. FOOTBALL SQUARES ON SALE

Please join MoTAS in our very popular fun-raiser, now in its 15th year.  It is a very important program, which raises funds for temple projects that are not able to be done because of budget limitations. You don’t need to know anything about football, or even like football.  It’s all about helping TAS. For one entry, you participate in the entire season!

The rules are the same as last year. The entry fee is the same as last year: $60 per square. For more information and to sign up, go to squares.tasnorthridge-motas.org or email Bob Levine, tasboblevine@gmail.com. If you wish to pay by check, please mail it directly to:

Men of TAS
c/o Temple Ahavat Shalom
18200 Rinaldi Place
Northridge CA 91326
(Mark “Football Squares” on the envelope.)

Please also send an email to Bob with your name(s) and # of squares you wish, so he can place you on the grid board (limit 2 per individual or 4 for couple).

5. DINING OUT – OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE – TU SEP 15

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 January Dining Does Good” will be Tuesday, September 15 at Outback Steakhouse Northridge, 18711 Devonshire St., Northridge, CA 91324, (818) 366-2341. 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 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. SUKKAH BUILDING – TH SEP 24

When you’re tired, what sounds appealing? Perhaps a little shack out the field, with some fruits, where perhaps you can see the twinkling stars in the sky? In other words, it’s Sukkah Time!

Of course, we have to build the Sukkah first. JEWISH MEN WITH TOOLS (MoTAS) are scheduled to build our temple Sukkah on Thursday, September 24. The current plan is to start early: some social time around 815a, and the construction will commence afterwards. All able bodied men [and women] are invited to come help build our community Sukkah and join in the fun and camaraderie. Bring your gloves, Allen wrenches, your mask. your appetite and your smiles. There will be free bagels, cream cheese and coffee for all. This easy job can be completed in about an hour.

Please let Chuck Mondras <cmondrus@gmail.com> know if YOU can shop for chicken wire and wire ties. We also have a volunteer sign-up page for those volunteering to shop, build, and unload fronds: https://volunteersignup.org/PJX7E

Note: Delivery of the palm fronds is TBD, but will be sometime between Erev Yom Kippur and EARLY Thursday, Sept. 24. We will need folks to help Jose and his crew unload the truck. If you can help, please let Daniel know at faigin@cahighways.org. Additionally, if you have an additional source for palm fronds, corn stalks, or other similar flat-ish vegetation that would be good for the roof or the sides, please let us know.

7. PANCAKE BREAKFAST – SU SEP 27

Batter up, not for baseball but for our annual Pancake Breakfast on Sunday, September 27! Our Master Flippers, Scott and Bill, will be up at the plate, I mean grill, with their hot bats, I mean spatulas. We need the rest of the team that morning ready to play their positions: mixer, table set-up, serving and clean-up. The Rabbi wants to serve the pancakes between 11:00am and 11:30am in the Sukkah, so we’ll start setting up around 9:00am (this may change as we learn more of the logistics for the day). We should be done by 1pm. as there will be no extra innings. A sign up sheet was circulated at the September meeting; we also have an online volunteer sign up page set up at https://volunteersignup.org/WEWXW.

If you’re curious, the menu will include: Pancakes, fresh fruit, Syrup, Powdered Sugar, Butter, plus loads of great other toppings. It will be free to students and parents, although donations will always be welcome.

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!

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