The Beth Israel star

K I S L E V - T E V E T 5 7 7 8 R O A N O K E , V A D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Dear Friends,

November was a busy month for Beth Israel, and we are now looking forward to December activities. Be sure

to plan on being a part of them.

The month began with the Sisterhood’s annual Rummage and Bake Sale. This is a huge effort and one that the

Roanoke community looks forward to every year. THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to its success!

Rabbi Rachel Brown visited Beth Israel the weekend of November 10. Friday evening she and Beth Israel

members attended the “A Holocaust Survivor’s Story” presentation at Temple Emanuel. On Saturday morning,

Rabbi Brown conducted a Torah study of the weekly portion and, after lunch, an “Ask the Rabbi” session. On

Sunday, Beth Israel participated in the Global Day of Jewish Learning. This year’s theme, Beauty and Ugliness,

was the subject of the religious school’s classes, as well as an adult class. Rabbi Brown will be with us again

the weekend of December 8-10 (see schedule on page 2). Join us for services and activities that weekend!

Be sure to RSVP now for our annual Hanukkah dinner on Sunday, December 17 (details on page 3). And to

highlight your celebration of Hanukkah, plan to attend the special viewing of The MeshugaNutcracker! at Regal

Cinema Valley View on December 19 (see page 3). If you are interested in attending with other Beth Israel

members as a group, please call or email the office before December 13.

Mark your calendars for the special Kabbalat Shabbat on January 12, 2018 (details on page 5) and be sure to let

Debbie Kaplan know if you plan to attend.

It’s hard to believe that this calendar year will soon be drawing to a close. We are already busy planning 2018

events. Be a part of them by making a new year resolution to become more active at the synagogue.

Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Sarina Trompeter

President, Beth Israel

On behalf of the Beth Israel Sisterhood…

Thanks to all who graciously donated items, baked, organized, volunteered, and helped make this year’s Rummage & Bake Sale such a success.

This sale not only pulls together our congregational community in special ways, but also provides a unique and appreciated outreach to the Roanoke community at large.

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 2

Rabbi Rachel Brown will return to Beth Israel as our

Rabbi in Residence Friday-Sunday, December 8-10

Schedule of Activities

Friday, December 8 12:30 p.m. - Lunch with Sisterhood at Montano’s (Please contact the office if you plan to attend!) Afternoon: Rabbi Brown is available for individual meetings and visits Friday afternoon. Please contact her to set up an appointment: 310-903-7852 or rebrachelbrown@gmail.com.

Evening Service at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 9 9:00 a.m. - Torah study of the weekly portion: Torah for our Times 10:00 a.m. - Service 12:00 noon - Lunch

Sunday, December 10 9:30-11:00 a.m. - Adult Class with Rabbi Brown: What Judaism Says about Euthanasia (Using Jewish texts as our guide, we will have a discussion about what our Jewish tradition says about end-of-life issues)

Early to mid-afternoon - Individual Meetings / Visits to hospitalized and home-bound members

IT’S A SUNDAY MATINEE AT BETH ISRAEL!

December 3 at 4:30 p.m.

Featuring…

AVE MARIA

Five nuns living in the West Bank find their routine disrupted when the car of a family of Israeli settlers breaks down outside the convent. Unable to use the telephone due to Sabbath restrictions, the family needs help from the nuns, but the sisters' vow of silence requires them to work with their visitors to find an unorthodox solution.

JOE’S VIOLIN

In this Academy Award nominated short documentary film, a donated musical instrument forges an improbable friendship between 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Joe Feingold and 12-year-old Bronx school girl Brianna Perez, showing how the power of music can bring light in the darkest of times and how a small act can have a great impact.

Dinner to follow

ALTERNATIVE MOVIE AND DINNER FOR CHILDREN

SISTERHOOD LUNCH WITH RABBI BROWN Friday, December 8, at 12:30 p.m.

Montano’s

Call or email the office

if you plan to attend!

JOIN US FOR OUR HANUKKAH DINNER!

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL DINNER OF THE YEAR

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17

5:30 P.M.

BETH ISRAEL

$5 a person

Featuring

PLEASE RSVP TO THE OFFICE WITH PAYMENT BY DECEMBER 12.

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 3

DELICIOUS DINNER!

Homemade chicken nuggets

Latkes with trimmings

Noodles

Dessert

We plan to carry on the tradition of the Men’s Club cooking latkes for the Hanukkah dinner.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact Jonathan Brumberg at

540-793-4849 or jonbrumberg@gmail.com.

The MeshugaNutcracker! Tuesday, December 19, at 7:00 p.m.

Special Viewing at Regal Cinema Valley View

You've never seen a Nutcracker like The MeshugaNutcracker!, a full-length musical comedy that features the wonderfully silly sensibilities of the folklore of Chelm (the fictional town of fools) underscored by an invigorating, Klezmer-ized orchestration of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite," now with original lyrics that celebrate Chanukah. Don't miss the season's oy-ful musical event!

Plans are being made to attend as a group, and we will be buying a block of tickets on December 14. Please notify the synagogue office by the 13th if you are interested.

ENTERTAINMENT,

GAMES, AND FUN FOR

THE ENTIRE FAMILY!

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 4

Mark your calendars for…Mark your calendars for…

Dec. 3 - Sunday Matinee at Beth Israel Dec. 8-10 - Rabbi-in-Residence Weekend Dec. 5 - RJF Annual Meeting Dec. 17 - Beth Israel’s Hanukkah Dinner Dec. 19 - The MeshugaNutcracker!

Jan. 7 - Movie at Beth Israel Jan. 12 - Special Kabbalat Shabbat Jan. 17 - Sisterhood Dinner Jan. 20 - Murder Mystery Theatre Jan. 28 - Tu B’Shevat Seder

Feb. 4: * World Wide Wrap * JCRS Annual Soup Off

This Month’s Bulletin Sponsor:

Marci Brumberg

In honor of Regina and Wanda

For all their dedication and hard work

SAVE THE DATES FOR THE FOLLOWING UPCOMING EVENTS!

(Details to follow in January Bulletin)

Sunday, January 7 Movie at Beth Israel

Wednesday, January 17

Sisterhood Dinner

Saturday, January 20 Murder Mystery Theatre

Sunday, January 28 Tu B’Shevat Seder

We all enjoy the congregational

meals at Beth Israel. And often,

there is food left over at the end of

the meal.

In the spirit of community support, the Beth Israel Board of Directors has agreed that any

leftover food will be donated to local charities.

The Board asks that members be aware of this

policy and support its intent.

YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN!

So you say you would like to learn to…

Read Hebrew Chant Haftarah

Read from the Torah

We can start classes or have independent study. Contact the office if you are interested.

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 5

Start your 2018 with a spiritually uplifting and very special Kabbalat Shabbat as we proudly welcome to

Beth Israel Synagogue:

THE HONORABLE MICHAEL A. GILLETTE, Ph.D. President, Bioethical Services of Virginia, Inc.

First Jewish Mayor of Lynchburg – July, 2012-June, 2016

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2018 Services at 7:00 p.m.

Please join us to meet some lovely new "neighbors" as we have invited the Bedford/Lynchburg Havurah Michael leads rabbinically

and Michael will both creatively LEAD our services and deliver an engaging sermon

on the topic of:

HOW DID A NICE JEWISH BOY GET TO BE THE MAYOR OF LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA?

REFLECTIONS ON THE CHALLENGES OF MY TENURE, AND THE CIVILITY OF POLITICS IN TODAY'S POLITICAL CLIMATE.

Wine and Cheese following services!

* Please RSVP to Debbie Kaplan @ 540-293-2654 or MOMKAPL@aol.com by January 5 *

ANNUAL MEETING

ROANOKE JEWISH FEDERATION (RJF)

The Annual Meeting of the ROANOKE JEWISH FEDERATION (RJF) will be held on December 5, 2017,

7:00 p.m. at Beth Israel Synagogue. All members of the RJF are cordially invited to attend.

At that meeting the RJF will provide

1. Presentation of the annual reports of the officers and committees

2. Biannual election by Directors of officers and members of the Board

3. Fundraising review

4. Jewish Festival review

5. New Business

General Fund James Osborne

Rochelle & Steven Kosowitz

In memory of Rochelle’s father,

Herman Leibowitz

Bob & Patti Herskovitz

In memory of Patti’s mother,

Helen Yood

In memory of Bob’s mother,

Gertrude Herskovitz

Gloria & Steve Silverberg

In memory of Gloria’s mother,

Lillian Manko

Sally Lepchitz

In memory of her father-in-law,

Felix Lepchitz

Rosalee & Andy Kaplan

In memory of Rosalee’s mother,

Rhea Lehman

Fran & Bruce McMaster

For Yizkor

Frank Schram

In memory of his uncle,

Ben Tonik

Louise Lutins

In memory of her husband,

Harvey Lutins

Richard Kurshan

In memory of his grandmother,

Lillie Meyer Kurshan

In memory of his grandfather,

Louis Jonap

In memory of his grandmother,

Anna Friedman Jonap

Doris Tanger

In memory of her husband,

Stanley K. Tanger

Norman Veta

In memory of his mother,

Sadie Veta

Mitchell Horowitz & Millee Jorge

In memory of Mitchell’s mother,

Adele Horowitz

Sarajane Sacks and

Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel

For the yahrzeit of their mother,

Eugenie Moskowitz Sacks

In memory of our beloved Genie

Gloria Katz Schwartz

In memory of her mother,

Gertrude Katz

In memory of Rosana Rosdol

Fran & Bruce McMaster

Rhonda & DeWayne Dortch

Laura Brenner

Betty Oberlender

Cemetery Renovation Fund

Michele & Benny Witt

In memory of Michele’s

grandfather, Henry Rosenblum

Beth Israel Sisterhood David and Leslie Rosdol

With gratitude for kindness

after their mother’s passing

Sponsorship of Hillel Students

Marci & Dennis Brumberg

Laura Brenner

Contributions

Contributions received after the bulletin

deadline will be noted in the following

month’s issue. The deadline for the

January bulletin will be December 15.

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 6

Beth Israel is mourning the

passing of long-time member,

Rosana Rosdol. Our sincere

condolences to her children,

David and Leslie, and the entire

Rosdol family. May her memory

be for a blessing.

December Anniversaries

12/20 Deanna Cebulash & Philip Sheridan

12/29 Rachel & Uri Levine

12/15 Emily Tenzer

12/16 Richard Kurshan

12/17 Aaron Grunewald

12/17 Ron Shandler

12/18 Elyssa McMaster

12/19 David Baril

12/20 Sydney Brenner

12/20 Joshua Shreeman

12/22 Lissy Katz

12/18 Neal Hall (Jacob David ben Adam Samuel)

12/19 Mildred Taube (Mindel bat Moshe)

12/21 Joseph Fischl (Chaim Yosef Fischl)

12/21 Freda Jortner (Fredyl bat Y’Hoshua HaCohen)

12/21 Arthur Shreeman (Aurum ben Yitzhak)

12/22 Lucy Kahn (Jette)

12/22 Joe E. Oppenheimer

12/23 Sue Lyons

12/25 Helen Rosenberg (Hinda bat Shlomo Yitzhak)

12/25 Rhoda Schwartz

12/26 Murray K. Goldstein (Moshe ben Chaim Yitzhak)

12/26 Israel Lebo (Yisreal ben Moshe)

12/27 Walter I. Grossman (Yitzhak Velvel ben

Baruch Benyamin)

12/27 William Karesh

12/27 Joseph Kronish (Yosef ben Label)

12/28 Sam Kaplan (Shmuel ben Yosef HaCohen)

12/29 Joseph Brown

12/29 Lauretta Hutkin

12/29 Morris Lepchitz (Tevett ii)

12/1 Grace Fine

12/1 Daniel Weiss

12/2 Milton Blank (Melech ben Moshe)

12/2 Nathan Weisberg

12/4 Lena Cohen

12/6 Lilo Hess Bieber (Leah bat Eliezer HaLevy)

12/6 Joe Brumberg (Yosef ben Zachariah

HaLevey & Perl)

12/6 Alvin Herman Newman

12/7 Eugenie Sacks (Sheindel Chaya bat Yitzhak

Meir & Rachel)

12/9 Mara Krasilick (Miriam bat Shmuel v Devorah)

12/9 Theodore Morse

12/10 Baruch Mahgerefteh

12/10 Abraham Weiss (Avraham Abba ben Yoel Tzvi)

12/11 Max Yerman

12/12 Dorothy Singer

12/14 Phil Levine (Fyvish Gadalliah ben Lebah)

12/16 Charles Howard Riley (Yonatan ben Oz)

12/17 Bruce Brenner (Baruch ben Yehuda HaLevey)

Simchas!

December Birthdays

12/2 Sam Strauss

12/5 Louise Lutins

12/5 David Penn

12/6 David Frank

12/9 Tova Levine

12/9 Jordan Shear

12/13 Brooke Shoenfeld Pratt

12/14 Connie Browning

12/15 DeWayne Dortch

Upcoming Yahrzeits Honoring Our Beloved Relatives

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 7

12/24 Jamie Jacobsohn

12/25 Jacob Kaplan

12/27 Ellisha Caplan

12/27 Joe Penn

12/27 Anthony Wattie

12/29 Millee Jorge

12/30 Nicholas Bruslavski

12/30 Andy Kaplan

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY RELIGIOUS SCHOOL

THE YEAR OF JEWISH CULTURE

Marc Chagall

Our first unit in THE YEAR OF JEWISH CULTURE was dedicated to the artist Marc Chagall. Students were

introduced to events in his life and how these events affected the themes of his paintings. The hallways of the

school area were decorated with copies of his paintings. Each grade focused on four different paintings to be able

to identify and understand.

We also focused on Chagall’s stained glass windows. Students saw examples of his amazing work on the windows

of the Twelve Tribes, displayed at the Hadassah Hospital in Israel. They examined the windows in the sanctuary to

understand the complexities of creating stained glass windows. As a supplement to the unit, students created their

own stained glass windows. While maybe not on the caliber of Marc Chagall, they were truly beautiful.

The students also made stained glass cookies.

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 8

Continued on page 9

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 9

BETH ISRAEL HEBREW SCHOOL

A monthly event at our Hebrew School is the BFF program. BFF stands for Bethisrael Family Fun. Families

join on Sunday morning for a special program for students and families.

On November 19, everyone enjoyed the theme of the

morning…RUGGELACH. From the pictures, you can see

that it was a successful and delicious experience.

Many thanks to Lynn Sherman for supervising

the endeavor.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY RELIGIOUS SCHOOL (continued)

At the final program for this unit, students voted on their favorite Chagall

work. The winners were The Birthday and The Fidler.

ACADEMY UPDATE

Students in Junior Academy are studying Jewish History

from the time of entering the land of Canaan until present

day. Its latest topic was a discussion of the Holy Temple in

Jerusalem during the days of the Romans’ control. As a

project, they made a replica of the Temple out of…

graham crackers. What a result!!

WINTER BREAK

There will be no JCRS classes December 24 and 31. Classes resume January 7.

JEWISH COMMUNITY PRESCHOOL UPDATE

We hope that everyone had a most beautiful, bountiful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be grateful for! Our children learned about this holiday of sharing and gratitude.

To highlight the spirit of giving, we all visited our dear friends in the nursing home next door. Oh, to see the residents light up when our little ones parade through, stopping for smiles and hugs and conversations.

As the weather gets colder, we spend more time indoors working on fabulous activities: art, music, cooking and stories! Our children are looking forward to Chanukah, our Festival of Lights!

From all the staff, volunteers and sweet children, we wish you all a most healthy, happy Chanukah holiday. May the candles on your Menorah reflect the sparkles of joy in the eyes of everyone around you.

The Beth Israel Star D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7 PAGE 10

JEWISH COMMUNITY

RELIGIOUS SCHOOL’S

ANNUAL FUNDRAISER

SUPER SOUPER SUNDAY

FEBRUARY 4, 2018

11:00 A.M.

TEMPLE EMANUEL

Looking for new soup contestants!

If anyone is interested in making a soup for

the Soup Off or contributing to the Silent

Food Auction, please contact Marci

Brumberg at marcibrumberg@cox.net.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2018

8:30 A.M.

BETH ISRAEL

BREAKFAST WILL FOLLOW

S A V E T H E D A T E S . . .

In addition to the upcoming events noted on page 4, MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the annual World Wide Wrap and Super Souper Sunday, both taking place the first Sunday of February...

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Roanoke, VA

Permit No. 201

NEXT BULLETIN DEADLINE: Dec. 15

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

HAVE YOU RE-ENROLLED IN KROGER’S

COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM?

just by scanning your Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card when you

buy groceries, you are able to raise funds for the synagogue!

But remember… you must re-enroll in Kroger’s Community

Rewards Program annually, so please do so now if you have

not already enrolled for 2017/18. To do this, have your

Kroger Plus Shopper’s Card handy and go to

krogercommunityrewards.com. Sign up for a Kroger Rewards

Account or re-enroll NOW!

Beth Israel has raised almost $68,000 since

beginning to participate in Kroger’s Fund-Raising

Programs! We thank you for your involvement in the

past and appreciate your continued help in raising

funds that benefit the Synagogue.

Beth Israel Synagogue

9 2 0 F r a n k l in R o ad , S . W .

R o an o ke V A 2 4 0 1 6

O f f i c e P h o ne : 5 4 0 - 3 4 3 - 02 8 9 * F ax : 5 4 0 - 34 4 - 2 84 6

E m a i l : o f f ic e @ b e t hi s r a e l r o a n o ke . or g

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