Teruah
A strong, vibrant community with a spiritual heart embracing Jewish life and its diversity.
(ISSN 1177-2352)
A strong, vibrant community with a spiritual heart embracing Jewish life and its diversity.
(ISSN 1177-2352)
Opinions expressed in Teruah do not necessarily represent the views of Beth Shalom Board of Management.
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We have actually, finally upgraded our AV system. Although we encountered some issues with it during the HHD services, which was disappointing, this was not for lack of effort on the behalf of some extremely dedicated volunteers. Overall, this has been a successful, if challenging, project. Our Ritual Committee have been asking for better microphones for years. Anyone who attended previous services this year likely noticed the shammashim and service leaders juggling microphone batteries – the absolute last thing you need when you’ve got a service to run. The deteriorating batteries and our increasing use of Zoom made upgrading our AV system a pressing issue this year.
The Board (and in particular our President, Michelle Wise, and Treasurer, David Singer) have been working to make this upgrade happen since at least January. Thanks to her persistence, we now have microphone charging stations, microphones that hold their charge through a service, new cameras in the sanctuary, and a better integrated system that is designed to work with Zoom (including a new computer dedicated to Zoom).
The work required for this upgrade went beyond the installation of new features and I want to acknowledge the people who worked really hard to get our new AV system ready for the High Holy Days. Naomi Johnson, Philip Ivanier, and Ethan Nemeroff put in a lot of hours on this project, and Trudi Sawyer and her team of shammashim brilliantly faced the challenges of learning and using a new system at the busiest time of the year. And as always, we had the support of Christine in the office and Rabbi Dean. Many hours were spent checking and adjusting the camera and microphone settings to find the right balance to work both in the sanctuary and on Zoom. And the AV system is just one piece of the HHD puzzle!
Preparing for the High Holy Days is rewarding, but also busy and sometimes stressful. As I think about this year’s High Holy Days, I think about how they were representative of community, collaboration, and the spirit of Beth Shalom. Yes, the services literally bring people to celebrate, study, reflect, and pray together. But the preparation of the services also brings people together – and brings people’s work together. The very foundation of the service is crafted by so many hands working with diligence and care on their own contribution – large or small.
It’s easy to recognise that Jewish community and connection is happening at an event or service. Equally, community and connection is being built while we do the work to create and event or service. Nothing quite bonds people like working under stressful conditions. And even without stress, sharing a goal, and pursuing that goal together with equal intensity can be quite an intimate and exciting experience.
Beth Shalom has a lot of intensity and passion in its leadership and wider community and the moments when I get caught up in that are some of my favourite. Rachel Zussman
Shalom, my name is Meg Dickson
A few of you may already know me, as I have been attending Beth Shalom with my family almost my entire life, having the opportunity to become Bat Mitzvah in 2015. I've continued to be present at services and various events since then and hold Beth Shalom very dear to my heart.
I've just taken on the role of Engagement & Communications specialist, a new position that has been introduced this year, and I aim to give it my best, creating a strong foundation for current and future communities.
I'm currently working on sourcing new pieces for our Teruah, including sections about new members, newly born babies, and I've also had the privilege to plan a few events for the Rabbi and general community. Anything that encapsulates a fresh, new and exciting era for Beth Shalom is important to me.
I look forward to meeting new people in our community and helping support our hard-working members of staff that have dedicated many hours and years of their time to making our shul run smoothly and successfully.
Beth Shalom is a community, and needs to be felt and appreciated by its members in ways they can relate to, and I hope to help this happen.
Contact me Mondays to Fridays, between the hours of 10am and 6pm. Email: communicationsbethshalom@gmail.com
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We are hoping this will be a multi-generational social event and we look forward to seeing our babes, pre-schoolers (and yes, we have toys and lots of room to run around) as well as any other members, young or old, who are free on that day.
We feel this is a wonderful opportunity for people in our community to get to know each other better, hear and tell our different stories, make new friends and just enjoy each other’s company over a cup of tea or coffee and some delicious food.
If you are interested – come and give it a try! We are hoping to make this a regular monthly meeting and we would also appreciate input from the community – would you like music? Perhaps a speaker and what topics – remember children, hopefully, will also be present; or maybe just spend the time getting to know each other? Perhaps a bit of everything …
Please contact Chris Shiller email shiller@orcon.net.nz or 0211774934 or Barbara Sandler, email staraime2012@gmail.com if you are interested as we will need numbers for catering purposes.
This is a Community Care initiative with support from the Board of Management – we look forward to seeing you on November 25th!
A group of Beth Shalom members has commenced, to think of and pray for individuals in our community, who are in need of healing.
The idea is that this group is not an organised group or minyan. Simply, caring people who, when made aware of the need, help healing with the power of prayer.
And that families in distress might receive comfort from the knowledge that this is taking place.
Caring for the unwell is part of being a community.
For those interested, I can supply articles: “The Jewish Way in Healing”, and some scientific research on the positive power of prayer in healing.
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From the back: Barbara Sandler, Bill Merrill, Sandra Brickman, Lorna Orbell, Sue Kranz, Rachel Zussman, Chris Shiller and Lita Summerfield.
Hi everyone, we are so pleased to note that we have had very few of the community unwell since I last wrote, and with the nicer weather we hope that will continue. That doesn’t mean that we should stop being careful with ourselves and mindful of others. Please remember we are still here to help you if GFB you are unwell.
We hope you all enjoyed the HHD’s and have found them a good start to the New Year. It has been lovely for the Community to have the Rabbinic presence for them and especially for the Bnei Mitzvahs we have had and are having this month. Great to have exciting things like them happening in our congregation.
Last month I mentioned a couple of new projects we were planning to embark on, and we are very thrilled to be starting the Pre-Shabbat lunches (see announcement on another page in this edition). Due to reasons that I won’t bore you with, we are postponing the Market Day on December 4thuntil next year, so ‘watch this space’. However, if you had wanted to be involved or have any queries, don’t hesitate to contact me. (Lita)
Community Care is looking for volunteers to join our telephone tree. If you have a couple of hours a month you could spare, we would like to hear from you. We would really appreciate some more members who could help us stay connected with some of the members of our community who for various reasons might appreciate a call. Please contact Chris Shiller (details below).
In previous communications we have mentioned that we have a very generous and anonymous donor who gives us a weekly stipend that is essentially used to provide a Shabbat meal to anyone in our community who is in need. This has been going for some time now and has been very successful. We are looking for more people who may be inclined to provide further assistance in this form of Tzedakah. Please be in touch with us and we can explain in more detail how this works, or feel free to provide a lump sum donation towards this very worthy cause. Thank you.
As usual, we are here to help and support you. Please feel comfortable to ask us
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We know some of these suggestions may not be possible at the moment, but we can still help you put things into place, for when they are. As always though, we need to know if you want help of some kind before we can give it. Do you know of someone who is unwell, that would benefit from:
INDEPENDENCE IS WONDERFUL
Consider how a helping hand can support you in achieving this.
Especially when it is offered willingly by members of our team.
LET US SHARE YOUR GOOD THINGS AND TELL US IF THERE IS A SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY, OR A NEW BABY OR ANY OTHER HAPPY EVENT ON THE HORIZON.
Please, continue to take care and stay safe.
Contact:
Chris Shiller 021 177 4934 shiller@orcon.net.nz
Lita Summerfield 021 297 9462 (TEXT ONLY) or email: serendipitylns40@gmail.com
Lorna Orbell 022 026 2897chaim@slingshot.co.nz
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Last month we mentioned how the B&B is leading some strategic thinking and planning to support future decision-making for our membership on options related to funerals and burial.
We are aware that the community has a number of legacy-related decisions ahead and in this respect we won't be adding to a programme of presentations or meetings in November or December this year.
What we have determined is to explore the key questions and discussion points through the medium of a podcast, allowing members to engage with the content in a time that will suit you best and to become informed on the issues and questions most often asked of our committee.
We are still keen to hear from you if you have anything particular that you want to know or learn about. This will help us to provide the best-informed content to present. Please email secretary@ajbbs.org.nz
As always, the committee is open to applications or approaches of support.
Sue Berman ph: +64 220513589
The Beatles sang “8 Days a Week”, Shakespeare wrote “forever and a day” and today we say “24/7” – the UPJ Biennial titled “Progressing Judaism: 8 Days a Week”, to be held on 17-20 November, will explore how we can expand our Jewish values beyond our one-day observance of Shabbat, incorporating our Jewish identity into myriad interactions with the world around us.
Jews from around Australia, New Zealand, Asia and worldwide are expected attend the Biennial, which will be held in person at the Novotel Brighton Beach in Sydney.
Rabbi Bergman, our featured guest speaker, served as Argentina’s Minister for the Environment and Sustainability from 2015-19, and in 2017 headed the Argentine delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Summit, overseeing the G20 Sustainability Working Group tasked with building climate change policies for developing nations.
Enquiries: upj@upj.org.au
To register go to: https://upj.org.au/2022-biennial
For FAQ's about the Biennial go to: https://www.upj.org.au/2022-biennial/1692-faqs
