Press Releases


JANUARY 19, 2008 ~ JOIN US FOR A SYNAPLEXTM SHABBAT MORNING
FOCUSED ON THE BOOK OUTWITTING HISTORY BY AARON LANSKY

9:00 am - 9:30 am ~ Two observance alternatives
  • P’SUKEI D’ZIMRA AND SHAHARIT ~ Main Sanctuary
    Congregational service led by our clergy.
  • TORAH YOGA ~ Bornstein Auditorium
    A spiritual experience through Yoga led by congregant Julie Coopersmith.
9:30 am - 11:00 am ~ Torah Service & Musaf ~ Main Sanctuary
  • The full congregation comes together for an uplifting Torah service and Musaf.

11:00 am - 11:15 am ~ Babka Break ~ Presidents Lounge
  • A delightful, delicious break for schmoozing and snacking.

11:20 am - 12:05 pm ~ Session Options for Adults & Teens
  • BOOK DISCUSSION: OUTWITTING HISTORY ~ Bornstein Auditorium
    Rabbi David Glanzberg-Krainin leads a discussion of the book that provides the theme for this Synaplex Shabbat ... Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books by Aaron Lansky. We address the questions: ~ What have we lost with the near-abandonment of Yiddish culture? ~ What lessons can we take from the rescue of the Yiddish culture that can inform Jewish life in the 21st century?
  • ACCIDENTAL ACTIVISM ~ Price Chapel
    In this text study with Rabbi Andrea Merow, consider the nature of activism, at a time when we read Exodus in which Moses become a reluctant activist ... remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he is honored this coming Monday... and consider that Aaron Lansky never planned to save Yiddish books.
  • YIDDISH KUMSITZ ~ Sisterhood Sanctuary
    Enjoy this community sing-along of Jewish folk music from the Yiddish tradition, led by Hazzan David F. Tilman.
  • NU, SO YOU WANT TO SPEAK YIDDISH? ~ Robin Lounge
    In this interactive program with congregant and Yiddish teacher Victor Goldberg, you can kvell over history, song, and even a joke or two.
  • GUEST LECTURE ~ TRANSLATING YIDDISH LETTERS ~ Fischman Foyer
    Guest lecturer Rita Ratson, Yiddish Language and Culture Program Coordinator at Gratz College, discusses her involvement with the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA, and her work translating Yiddish letters. Ms. Ratson will read aloud several Yiddish poems and translate them for us.
Session Options for Children

10:45 am - 12:00 pm
  • TOT SHABBAT ~ Room 201
    The ever-loved Tot Shabbat, with the much-adored Beth Sholom teacher Beth Porter.
11:20 am - 12:05 pm
  • YIDDISH FOR THE YOUNG! ~ Room 210
    Amaze your parents by learning to count, name animals, play games ... and more ... all in Yiddish. Learn from Beth Sholom teacher Julie Glass and her son Max.

BABYSITTING AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT ~ Room 206


For All:
12:05 pm ~ Extended Kiddush with a Yiddish Twist ~ Fischman Auditorium

  • Shabbat Kiddush and delicious luncheon featuring Eastern European treats in honor of our Yiddish theme.


MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR OUR NEXT
SYNAPLEXTM SHABBAT:
 IF EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT IS GOOD ... WHY IS IT SO HARD TO DO?
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2008 ~ 9:00 AM
Guest speaker Ira F. Stone will discuss the topic of why it’s so hard to do what we know is good. Since 1988, Rabbi Stone has served as Rabbi of Temple Beth Zion - Beth Israel in Center City Philadelphia. He previously was with Congregation Beth Shalom in Seattle, Washington, as its spiritual leader for 9 years. Respected as an expert on Mussar, a movement founded in the 19th century by Rabbi Israel Salanter to teach techniques for spiritual and character growth, Rabbi Stone’s latest book is A Responsible Life: Mussar as a Spiritual Path. It was published by Aviv Press in the fall of 2006.

Rabbi Stone is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary and an adjunct and visiting lecturer in Modern Jewish Thought at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. It will be our privilege to learn from him!

Synaplex Committee: Susan Handis & Jeri Barford, co-chairs; Dorothy Ancona, Dina Baker, Mindy Cohen, Sarah Coslov, Norma Finkelstein, Patti First, Harvey Friedrich, Rabbi David Glanzberg-Krainin, Ata & Gary Goldberg, Tamar Granor, Anna Green, Ronne Hellmann, Shelley Hittinger, Ernie Kahn, Arthur Lashin, Miriam Lefkowitz, Sherri Leibowitz, Helene Mansheim, Rick & Susanna Manstein, Rabbi Andrea Merow, Phil Nordlinger, Hazzan David F. Tilman, Gayle Vogel, Amy Warmflash, Eileen Weingram, Suzanne Williams, Karen Winneg, Barry Yaches, Shalom Zachmy, Helaine Zlotnick

Synaplex greeters, led by Dorothy Ancona: Lorna Adelman, Nancy Bett, Lillian Devins, Helene Geiss, Selma Hoffman, Loretta Myerov, Sophia Nemeyer, Doris Pohl, Florence Schwartz, Gloria Shenker, Lillian Singer, Evelyn Toll and Bea Uram
We gratefully acknowledge contributions in support of Synaplex from:
  • The Beth Sholom Men’s Club
  • Anonymous donor, in memory of Mary Lakernick
  • Dr. Mark (Rick) & Susanna Manstein, for their generous sponsorship of the Seudah Shlishit, November 17