HAPPY HANNUKAH :
Thank you, Temple Members, for your continued confidence, friendship, and kindness to me. I very much appreciate your holiday gift. Please know that you are always in my heart.
-Diane Smith
DONATIONS NEEDED :
The Haitian Community Help and Support Center is in need of financial donations to continue the work that they are doing with the Haitian people in Springfield and surrounding area. This Center was established in 2024 and helps provide the Haitians with essential services, such as language classes, driving lessons, and food and financial assistance. Your donations in any amount may be sent to the Center at 1530 S. Yellow Springs St, Springfield OH 45506.
CONDOLENCES TO :
The Leventhal family on the recent passing of Robert F. Leventhal. Bob was born and raised in Springfield and attended Temple Sholom during his youth. He was the son of long-time Temple members, Harry and Shirley Leventhal. Bob passed away on December 6 from injuries he sustained in a pedestrian/vehicle crash in Charleston, SC. He was 74 years of age and is survived by his 3 sons: Daniel, Micah, and Eli and wife Carolyn. For nearly 20 years, Bob worked in the family business, Vining Broom as head of sales and marketing. He then became very involved in several Jewish organizations throughout the country helping numerous temples and congregations with Jewish education curriculum, temple leadership, strategic planning, and building stronger congregant involvement in their temples.
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK :
Yellow Springs High School and Middle School are presenting The Diary of Anne Frank at the John Legend Theater, 700 S. Limestone Street, Springfield on January 15 and 16 beginning at 7:00 p.m. and on January 17 beginning at 6:30 p.m. For Tickets call 937-505-2945.
~ RABBI'S CORNER ~
OF ''PORCH PIRATES'' AND JEW HATERS
With the conclusion of the Yuletide season, the ubiquitous presence of ads for gift suggestions will again go into hibernation. But not to worry. They'll be returning in September.
The custom of gift-giving at Christmas is said to have begun as an imitation of the three wise men's honoring the baby whose birth is celebrated on December 25. But over the years, the focus on gift giving and receiving has eclipsed the original reason for the custom. In fact, this focus on ''the stuff'' has become so central to the season that some have no compunction about committing acts of shoplifting, robbery, burglary - to make sure they have their fair share of ''stuff'' What an ironic slap in the face to the baby who represents moral perfection to millions!
Among these thieves are ''porch pirates''. ''porch pirate'' is someone who steals packages that have been delivered to other people's doors and have been left unattended. During this Yuletide season, YouTube viewers may have seen videos of porch pirates popping up on their screens. Porch pirates are brazen and often amplify their brazenness with waves and/or kisses blown to doorbell cameras.
However, the videos almost always conclude with the thieves getting their ''come-uppance'': the stolen packages often explode, covering the villains with paint and/or glitter, sometimes feathers! No one is ever physically injured but all are humiliated. And the package goes off in or near the thief's vehicle, additional costs will be incurred.
Having recently discovered these videos, I will admit to enjoying them. Even after learning that they are not genuine but AI-generated, I can't help but giggle at watching karma/justice catching up. My giddiness comes from seeing what can and should happen to such miscreants, but in real life often doesn't.
And then there is the reaction of thieves' themselves. After coming onto property uninvited and taking what is not theirs without permission, THEY become incredulous and indignantly angry when the packages go off - often cursing, threatening to call the police and sue for damages. Their responses only add to the comedy.
But I also feel incredulous. Why? Because they remind me of real-life individuals who insist that they, and they alone, are the ''victims'' when their own misbehavior backfires on them. And these days, this phenomenon seems to be more acutely noticeable.
A ''micro'' example: A teen gang member charged with fatally shooting another teenager admitted to the shooting but protested that he didn't tell his victim he should die (sic)!
A ''macro'' example: Hamas and its supporters constantly lamenting the carnage and casualties sustained from Israel's responses to aggression - yet taking no responsibility for starting the aggression and the suffering it has caused.
Beginning with the story of Adam and Eve, taking responsibility for one's misbehavior has been at the core of Judeo-Christian morality. Indeed, some theologians opine that the true moral sin in the Garden was not the first couple's eating the forbidden fruit, but instead was their not ''owning up'' to their disobedience.
From a certain perspective, one might suggest that the Bible's perspective on good/evil and right/wrong begins even before Adam and Eve are introduced. The first verses of Genesis report that before G-d began to create the world, there was only chaos and darkness. Chaos is defined as a lack of order and order implies boundaries. Lesson: the degree to which the Bible's take on morality with its insistence on behavior boundaries is today so brazenly disregarded, moral chaos and moral darkness are increasing apace.
Certainly, this seems evident when the notion of personal responsibility itself is increasingly thought to be as irrelevant (and nonsensical?) as the Scriptural narratives that teach it. Certainly, this seems evident when morality is no longer determined by objective standards of ''right and wrong'' but instead is ''relative,'' often determined by mitigating factors such as skin color and/or socio-economic status. How often have we read of individuals shoplifting or looting a department store, yet a priori their crime was excused simply because they appeared to be economically disadvantaged and/or had dark skin?
Here one might ask: might there be a correlation on some level between the current uptick in moral brazenness and the uptick in brazen Jew hatred?
G-d's first act of creation was to limit chaos by creating light. At Sinai, G-d's mandate to us was to be a ''kingdom of priests and a holy people'' - later re-stated by the prophet Isaiah to be ''a light to the nations'': to bear witness to a G-d Who expects human beings to follow a Divinely given moral code, which included taking personal responsibility for moral misbehavior. Thus, perhaps it's not surprising that an increase in a brazen disregard for this code parallels an increase in brazen Jew hatred. Perhaps we are hated because we are known by this mandate to represent that moral ''light'' and its Source.
Indeed, our community is now facing tremendous challenges - both external and internal. Nevertheless, even amidst these challenges, we must not forget this mandate. We must not forget it, especially because the moral light we represent has never been more in need of being shared than it is now. And its Source has never been more in need of us.
If we abandon them both, is there any other reason why we should stick around?
-Rabbi Cary Kozberg
~ CONTRIBUTIONS ~
Dear Temple Sholom,
Enclosed is a contribution as a thank you for sending me the newsletter.
It is also in memory of my parents, Irene and Ed Klaben.
Best regards, Amy Klaben
-A very generous donation in memory of Sue Shapiro has been received from Ann Chitkara
-A very generous donation in support and thanksgiving of Temple has been received from Ann Chitkara
SPECIAL
-A donation has been received from Jese Shell
~ YAHRZEIT LIST ~
JAN 2: Natalie Cornez, Sarah Endelman, Morris M. Gold, Rose H. Holzberg, Toby Katz, Erie Maybruck, Clara Mendelson, Harry Sachs, Siegfried Sander, Sam Schechter, Emma Schoenthal, Manuel L. Soble, Mo Weixelbaum, Oscar Werber, Samuel Farber, Lillian Leventhal, Shirley Unger Leventhal, Mary Schoemer
JAN 9: Bernice Jean Gerson, Jacob Kleeman, Anne Reich Krauss, Rose Krauss, Maxine Leventhal, Sylvia Rubinoff, Abraham Schechter, Antonio Espinoza, Jr. (brother of Rose Weiss), Eric Friedland, Lester Lind (father of Bobbi Mugford), Lillian Nedelman
JAN 16: Lilly Balicer, Beryl Kaufman, Sophie Rubinoff, Sonia Schechter, Arjae Kurtzhant (father of Itzca Zohar), Wendy Michele Bard Mesmer (sister of Priscilla Dixon), MT Schwartz, Rachel Zohar, Rae Zoldan
JAN 23: Harry B. Hoffman, Dora Long, Ruth Maybruck, Bernard C. Zitsman, Samuel Draisen, Ethel Grodner (mother of Jack Grodner), Hyman Kohn, Nellie Marenberg (mother of Gerald Marenberg), Barrie Richardson (brother of Laurel Richardson)
JAN 30: Lois Bernstein, Louis Broock, Fannie B. Frand, Rosa Gardner, Max D. Gross, Tilly L. Levy, Nelson B. Paris, Ida Florence Zitsman, Gail Genieve Banks Buerki, Robert Arthur Buerki, Miriam Kurland, Harry Shapiro (father of Jerome Shapiro)
FEB 6: Joseph Gardner, Adolph D. Haas, Max Kleeman, Nathan Klein, Bonita S. Krauss (mother of Rick Krauss), Sophie K. LeBolt, Isaac Levine, Mary J. Rubin, Jack J. Schechter, Mattie Weixelbaum, Henry R. Ennis (father of Barbara Willens)