TEMPLE SHOLOM NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER 2024
AV / ELUL 5784
SPRINGFIELD, OH

WE EXTEND A WARM WELCOME TO THE FOLLOWING NEW MEMBER WHO HAS JOINED THE TEMPLE SHOLOM FAMILY...
Mrs. Ann M. Chitkara

~ SOCIAL COMMITTEE NEWS ~
The Social Committee is ready for another year. On behalf of Jerome Shapiro, our current chair, and myself, Kelley Beloff, we are very excited about the offerings we have planned for the upcoming Holidays and beyond. New this year is a Congregational Lunch following Tashlich on Thursday, October 3, Rosh Hashanah. We will meet back at the Temple for a festive holiday (dairy) lunch. We will also be hosting Break-the-Fast after Yom Kippur. Mark Sunday, October 13 at 1:00 p.m., to decorate the Sukkah. We will be enjoying Dinner under the Sukkah on Friday, October 18, with a selection of Craft Beers from Mother Stewarts. Finally, on November 3 at 1:00 p.m., we will be hosting the second annual Blessing of the Animals. Look for flyers and more information to come.

~ CONGREGATIONAL MEETING ~
Twenty-one members met on August 18 to discuss members' ideas concerning future plans for Temple Sholom. Ed Leventhal reported on his meeting with Midland Properties about our building and the 4 acres of land we own. A report of the current value of the Trust Endowment Fund was given.
Jackie Jacobs, former executive director of the Columbus Jewish Federation, was introduced and talked about his work with several different congregations facing some of the same challenges as we are. Jackie also discussed his work with the Legacy Project and felt this is a group we might want to meet with for planning purposes.
Several committees were set up to work on specific areas: additional uses of our facility, use of the funds in Trust Fund, inventory of items in all of the classrooms, long-range plans through the Legacy Project. Another meeting will be set up after the holidays to update our members on the work of each committee. Thank you to everyone who participated in the August 18 meeting and to those who have agreed to work on different aspects of our long-range planning.

~ RABBI'S CORNER ~
''GET BACK TO WHERE YOU ONCE BELONGED...''

With the start of the month of Elul (September 3 and 4), Jews begin to prepare for the 5785 High Holiday season. Elul is a month of preparation in several tangible ways:
-Rabbis are preparing holiday messages to their congregations.
-Cantors and choirs are rehearsing the seasonal liturgical music.
-Those with culinary responsibilities are planning RH meals and post-YK ''break-the-fasts.''
-Synagogue staffs are sending out annual dues' renewal reminders, gathering names for Yizkor memorial booklets.
-Maintenance staff is gearing up for the annual uptick in worship attendance.
-Given current events, everyone is focusing on ensuring that synagogues have proper security.

But Elul is first and foremost a month of spiritual preparation. During this month, the shofar is sounded every morning at the conclusion of the weekday morning service. This custom calls''us to do a cheshbon nefesh/soul accounting - a ''spiritual inventory'' as it were - so that we may improve our lives and make 5785 better than 5784.
In Jewish tradition, this seasonal call to self-improvement is known as ''doing teshuvah.'' Although teshuvah is sometimes translated as ''repentance,'' the word should be understood more comprehensively as ''returning.'' Coming from the verb lashuv/to return, it beckons us to return from the paths and places where we have strayed and find our way back to our best selves. The word teshuvah also means ''an answer to a (sometimes pressing) question.'' Doing teshuvah'' can also be understood as crafting an answer to G-d's original question to Adam that continues to address each of us: ''Ayekah...where are you?''
For those who take the themes of the season seriously, the High Holiday season is a time that may evoke uncertainty and anxiety - perhaps even fear. After all, this is the season of judgment, and as the quintessential prayer of the season, the Untane Tokef, reminds us: at this season, even the angels are judged. We greet - and are greeted - with the words ''a happy and healthy new year.'' But these are a wish and not a guarantee. We can only speculate and wonder what the new year will bring. Thinking about events of the past year - some that were unthinkable this time last year - we remember how fragile life really is.
And yet...
This season is not ONLY about judgment, uncertainty, and the fragility of life. It is also a season of compassion, reconciliation and love. Yes, the seasonal prayers portray G-d as Judge; but our Sages also teach that at this season G-d should also be thought of as a lover/spouse from Whom we are estranged, and Who wants us to return (!) and be reconciled to Him. This notion is amplified in interpreting the name of the month - Elul - as an acronym: Ani L'dodi, V'Dodi Li (NB: not exact in transliteration) - ''I am My beloved's, and My beloved is Mine.'' Therefore, ''return to Me, and I will return to you.''
We are beckoned to ''Return to Me...'': return to where you should be - where I've always wanted you to be. Or, in the words of a beloved Beatles' song:

Get back, get back,
Get back to where you once belonged.
Get back, get back,
Get back to where you once belonged.

For Jews at this season, these shouldn't be just catchy lyrics. Instead they should be an invitation (even a plea!) to us as individuals and as a community to change our directions, to return, and ultimately to ''get back to where WE once belonged.''
And...where we still belong.
Sheryl and I wish each of you a new year of health, fulfillment, and purpose. May the New Year see the hostages returning home, the war ending with victory, and more peace and stability in the world.
_Rabbi Cary Kozberg

joining us again via Zoom on Sunday evening, September 22 at 7:30 PM to discuss themes of the holidays and share his poetry appropriate for the season. A link will go out a week or so before the date, so please mark your calendars. P.S. To help us ''get back to where we once belonged,'' poet and playwright Rich Orloff will be


~ 5785 HIGH HOLY DAYS ~ Sunday, Sept 29, 11:00 AM
Cemetery Memorial Service

Wednesday, Oct 2, 7:30 PM
Erev Rosh Hashanah Service

Thursday, Oct 3, 10:00 AM
Rosh Hashanah Morning Service
followed by Tashlikh Service and Lunch at Temple

Friday, Oct 11, 7:00 PM
Kol Nidre Service

Saturday, Oct 12, Yom Kippur
10:00 AM - Morning Service
1:00 PM - Afternoon Program/Discussion
3:30 PM - Afternoon Service
5:00 PM - Yizkor Memorial Service
5:30 PM - Ne'ilah/Havdalah

HIGH HOLY DAYS HONORS
It has always been the custom at Temple Sholom to honor members of the congregation by asking for your participation during the HHD services. We will be sending invitations by email this year and hope you will accept the honor that is offered. We hope you will choose to observe the coming High Holy Days at Temple Sholom with family and friends.

CEMETERY MEMORIAL SERVICE
It is a meaningful Jewish tradition to visit the graves of dear ones during the High Holy Days. You are invited to attend this brief Memorial Service beginning at 11:00 AM on September 29 in the Reform Jewish cemetery section of Ferncliff Cemetery.

HAVE A BLAST ON THE SHOFAR
The sounds of the shofar play a deep and memorable role in the High Holy Days services, beginning with the morning of Rosh Hashanah and concluding at the final service of Yom Kippur. No prior experience is needed. Contact the office if you would like to volunteer.

ROSH HASHANAH EVE ONEG
The traditional apples and honey, as well as cookies and coffee, will be served during the kiddush after the service on October 2. We hope you will join us for this service BEGINNING AT 7:30 PM and celebrate the sweetness of the new year.

TASHLIKH ''THROW'' AND LUNCH
Please join us for the ancient Rosh Hashanah ritual of Tashlikh after the Rosh Hashanah Morning Service that begins at 10:00 a.m. on October 3. Gather at Reid Park (across from the entrance to the Dam) and bring your bread. Rabbi Kozberg will lead in symbolically ridding ourselves of our shortcomings by throwing breadcrumbs in the water. We will then meet back at the Temple for a festive holiday (dairy) lunch.

~ CONTRIBUTIONS ~
SPECIAL
-In honor of the yahrzeits for Aaron Isaac Gordon, Evelyn Ennis, Theresa Ennis, and Shereen Willens from Barbara Willens
-Thank you from Alan and Wanda Goldstein, who now live in Illinois but miss Temple Sholom

GOLD
-In honor of the yahrzeit for Ruth Kepnes, mother of Ellen Levine, from Jeff and Ellen Levine

SHARON LEE BROOCK FLOWER FUND
-Happy Birthday to Laurie Leventhal from Peggy Noonan

~ YAHRZEIT LIST ~

SEPT 6: Louis Feinstein, Aaron Isaac Gordon, Alfred Stein, Paul Lewis Stein, Henry G. Stern, Moshe Zohar (brother of Itzca Zohar)

SEPT 13: Maurice K. Baach, Sol Dagan, Rabbi C. Melvyn Helfgott, Dora Klein, Annabel Lapinsky, Mrs. Lena Reich, Lina Goland Schiff, Julius Singer, Pearl Weinbach, Dan Rich, Morton J. Weiss (father of Brian Weiss)

SEPT 20: Grace Paris Bruser, Estella Greenland (mother of Jay Greenland), Moses M. Kaufman, Max Roy Lapinsky, Louis Leventhal, Sylvia K. Margolis, Dora Salzer, Dr. Robert M. Tannenbaum, Alma L. Weixelbaum, Caleb Alan Armbrecht, Howard Heller, Sheldon Leventhal (brother of Ed Leventhal)

SEPT 27: Rebecca Gerson, Walter B. Kleeman, Sr, Fannie Neyer Leventhal, Louis Dollin, Ari Leviatan

OCT 4: Ida Reva Block, Jane L. Ensten, Hyman E. Levy, Alan Feinstein (husband of Nancy Feinstein), James Goldman, Ruth Miller, Seymour Miller, Lester Stein (father of Leslie Buerki)