for members kol shalom - Mishkan Shalom · personal wholeness before God, tend to learn one thing...

Creation MythBy Carol Towarnicky and Ron Goldwyn

5748, Twenty-five years ago …

Before the Beginning,We were a disparate collection of seekersWho hungered for a meaningful Judaism.Some of us were still angry and hurtingOver the rift at our previous home,A profound and bitter divisionOver just what a synagogue should be and doWhether it could ever act as one in the world,Whether it should.

Others who joined us were moreIntrigued by the ideaThat a tent could be raisedTo shelter peopleWho felt unwelcomeOr invisibleIn Jewish places,

Because of their viewsOr their circumstancesOr whom they loved.

Many were determinedTo create a congregationUnplagued by material concernsOr class consciousness,Or even a traditional governing structure,Convinced that was possible.

All were inspiredBy an eloquent and boldSpiritual LeaderWho insistedThat Jews must hearAnd ActOn the teachings of the Prophets.

Over a hot summerOf committee and community meetings,ConstructingA Statement of PrinciplesTo Define Us,We discovered the nameThat perhaps had been thereAll along:Mishkan Shalom:Sanctuary of PeacePlace of Wholeness

We shared the hard,ExhaustingWork:Finding a place to worshipAnd learn,Making assignmentsFor creating a school,For potluck onegs,For setting up and taking down folding chairsFor sharing the cleaning,Composing newsletters with typewritersOn paper.

In the future would beA search for a building,In the future,We would grapple with differencesAbout Feminism,About Israel,About Iraq,About the wayWe governed ourselvesAnd treated each other.

But then there was onlyA race to be ready.

And in the last daysOf Elul,A package arrivedCarrying a sacred TorahSaved from the Shoah,Now ours to read fromAnd to remember alwaysOur obligationTo Speak Truth to PowerAnd to Pursue Justice.

Rosh Hashanah 5749:Twenty-Five Years AgoTodayIn Rented Space at a Friends Meeting HouseIn Swarthmore,New companionsTogether raised TallitotAbove their heads,Creating an actual tent.Together, out loud,They called Mishkan Shalom into Being.That part of Creation was complete.Then, as now,To Be Continued,In the beginning—again.

��This is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Mishkan Shalom!As editor, it is my pleasure to present to you a moving poem commemorating the creation of our congregation. - Eileen Levinson

October 2013-Tishri/Heshvan 5774

Inside this Issue

..........................Rabbi's Letter page 2

..................Jewish Mindfulness page 4

..........Congregational School page 5

....................President's Letter page 6

Tikkun Olam .............................. page 8

..............................Immigration page 9

B'nai Mitzvah .......................... page 10

.....................................Library page 12

..............................Cookbook page 13

.........................Development page 14

............................Community page 15

......................................Opera page 16

Yahrzeits................................... page 17

.......................Acts of Caring page 18

Avodah ..................................... page 19

T'filot ........................................ page 20

kol shalomfor membersand friendsof Mishkan Shalom

Submit articles before the fifteenth of the month to [email protected]

page 2 October 2013-Tishri/Heshvan 5774 ��

Kehillot Kedoshot: The Conscious Development of Sacred CommunityThoughts from the High Holy Days and beyond.

It was such a blessing to share the Days of Awe and Sukkot with all of you. I thank the Source of All Life for bringing us together at this time

and this place, in a sacred space for a holy task. Our journey together has only begun. To truly stay creative and alive on the spiritually activist path is to keep re-finding, redefining and refining our Mishkan, our home, on different insights, new and old relationships, and the Divine constancy of change. As Rabbi Art Green writes in Seek My Face- Speak My Name, (p.140-1)

“We Jews who are still in the process of reclaiming our Judaism and returning to tradition in one way or another often think we do so as a result of our own individual odysseys, life experiences, and struggles that seem to us entirely private and idiosyncratic. But as we identify again with Judaism, we begin to find ourselves living richly in the context of the Jewish people, past, present, and future…. Somewhere in the course of living in community, we come to see that the journey is not an isolated one anymore.”

So many people that I spoke with over the hagim expressed a shared longing for a communal model where the journey of the individual could join with others in prayer, mutual support and societal transformation. To take a page from Rabbis Staub and Alpert's, Exploring Judaism (Reconstructionist Press, NY, 2000):

When Kaplan defined Judaism as the religion of ethical nationhood, he sought to express our conviction that the Jewish civilization is a means to greater ends-the fulfillment of the individual, the responsibility of individuals to treat others as reflections of the Divine image, and the responsibility of each community to seek global justice and peace amongst all communities. We need to do more than emphasize Jewish survival; we must also make Jewish civilization function in the service of these transcendent ends.

The way forward for us as a sacred community is to strive for communitarian balance and clear leadership with collaboration, communication and engagement. If we can understand and work with the different needs of our individuals, household and constituent group members, while committing to and living into the larger collective principles we developed twenty-five years ago and that are evolving today, we will be unstoppable in our Jewish spiritual activist goals.

At the same time, change and conflict are natural processes in any living relationship. The way we approach challenging situations, and the value system we uphold in keeping compassionately in connection with each other will have a great impact on how and whether differences are resolved. As Rabbi Rami Shapiro states in his book Minyan (Bell Tower, NY, 1997, p.187):

If you are serious about your spiritual practice you will recognize community and synagogue to be a testing ground for your maturation. Can you maintain clarity of focus and gentleness of spirit in the face of political hassles and hostilities? It is a good measure of your spiritual development.

It has been and continues to be a year of challenges. We are in the midst of ongoing civil war and terrible loss of life in Syria, the uprooting of our Bedouin brothers and sisters in the Negev, the struggle for gender and religious equality in Israel, a slow economic recovery in the United States that is happening more along race and class-lines than for our nation as a whole, relentless gun violence and the planet's pushing back against our decades of insensitive and utilitarian relationship with our environment. The reflective time of the Yamim Noraim and even the celebration of Sukkot, Sh'mini Atzeret and Simḥat Torah can leave us overwhelmed in terms of where to pick up or start our individual and communal sacred work.

Yet, our teshuvah- our turning, does not happen all at once. It happens in increments, and I pray something has stirred for you during the Holy Days and the harvesting of Sukkot, that will spur you to action in the year ahead, getting involved in Mishkan Shalom in new ways (see http://mishkan.org/committee/avodah-bring-your-gifts-to-our-mishkan or http://mishkan.org/get-involved). Our sages wisely offer that teshuvah between us and the Divine, however we experience the sacred

rabbi's letter rabbi shawn zevit

mailto:[email protected]


http://mishkan.org/committee/avodah-bring-your-gifts-to-our-mishkan




http://mishkan.org/get-involved






or ultimate in our lives, is the explicit work of Yom Kippur, but for teshuvah between human beings, the gates of heaven on earth are open longer. As Rabbi Mordechai Finely writes:

Those of us who struggle on the path toward personal wholeness before God, tend to learn one thing soon: We never fully arrive. We are always on the road. Spirituality is not a destination. It is a journey that takes us to many places during our lives. However we get there, the inner posture of personal wholeness before God is an inner turning, not an arriving…teshuvah.

It is in the journey that we can find hope amidst the challenging world around us, and the struggles within our own hearts.

As I stated during Rosh Hashanah, combining the grand creation story we chanted during the Torah service and the deep Kabbalistic myth of creation- the larger universe and the internal world we exist in cannot function or grow in healthy ways if we are only in our own needs, committees and compartments. However powerful the silos of activity may be, it is with a strong relational-field and network that we can catalyze greater change and have impact in the areas of spiritual life and social justice.

We came together this past month to do the deep soul work, to listen to the call of our own and our community's voice, in relationship with the strength of the community of the Jewish people. During the holidays we yearn to return to the home of our soul (individual and collective), free of the shortcomings of personality, childhood bruises, and choices that are out of sync with our values.

Coming together once again as we did in the month of Tishrei, whether you are new, returning or long-time

Mishkan members, can be challenging when we discover the same fault-lines in our actions. As Rabbi Yael powerfully spoke on Yom Kippur, shame about our past behavior can be a hiding ground for the change and reparation we need to embrace. Yet, the place of our own shadows and brokenness is where we need to do teshuvah most, and may be the place of the fruitful beginning of turning around destructive patterns that have and will follow us wherever we go if unattended to. We can reach for the world outside our limiting narratives, a world that longs for us to accompany it in discovery, compassion and healing.

We can leap off the springboard of the hagim into the world of our own neighborhoods and communities, which need our hands and hearts to avoid declining into environmental, social and economic hardship. I have already experienced the beginning of this renewal in my interactions with many of you, the renewed energy among our staff and lay leaders, people re-engaging in committee work, participation in Shabbat and other spiritual practices, the good-will engendered by our uplifting High Holy Days and Sukkot celebrations, and in my attendance at the clergy meeting and general meeting of Philadelphia's POWER congregation-based community organizing initiative. Our individual and collective journeys through this past month invite and even compel us to explore what can be born anew as individuals and especially as a dwelling place of wholeness, engagement and justice, a true Mishkan Shalom. I look forward to walking this path with you and those you invite to join you in the New Year ahead. Please feel free to reach out to meet with me one on one so we can continue this dialogue in person, as well as in our communal gatherings, study and celebrations,

B'Vrachah V'shalom,

Rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit

rabbi's letter rabbi shawn zevit





a way in: jewish mindfulness rabbi yael levy

Dear Friends,

It was so wonderful to be together over the yamim nora'im and begin the year with such joy, celebration and spirit. There was so much I loved about the holy days and I look forward to all that will arise from this wonderful beginning.

As I spoke about on Rosh Hashanah, the mystics teach that each New Year brings a unique quality and intention to guide our thoughts and direct our actions. Every year turns us toward renewal through the cultivation of specific attributes and the devotion to particular practices. These qualities and practices can be discerned by paying attention to the Hebrew letters represented by the numerical value of the year. This year, 5774, brings forth the letters ayin and dalet. These letters indicate the word od. Our od is our gift, talent and ability. Our od is the light that has been placed within us to shine.

This year calls strongly and boldly— azamra b'odi… make music with your od.

Psalm 146:2:

Sing, make music with your life, with your gifts.Claim your strength, your talents, your blessings. And be courageous enough to shine your light.Shine your light— let your soul sing— Know that

this will make music for all the world.

The ayin and dalet of 5774 also spell the word ayd, which means witness. This year, 5774, also calls us into witness consciousness. This year asks us to explore— what does it mean to be a witness. And how does bearing witness guide us in bringing forth healing and transformation. Our tradition teaches that witnessing involves shema—listening. Listening deeply—paying attention, calling ourselves present. Witnessing also involves esa enay— lifting up our eyes. Lifting our eyes to see what is really there—lifting our eyes to not hide from difficult or uncomfortable truths. Lifting our eyes to discern possibilities and see the ways forward. And witnessing involves asah capai — lifting up our hands— Lifting our hands to make connections, lifting up our hands to bring forth love. Psalm 119:48

As we enter this New Year together, may we inspire each other to share our blessings, our abilities, talents and gifts. And may we value and honor each other's offerings.

And as 5774 unfolds, may we explore together what it means to bear witness and how this practice can guide us in caring well for our community and using our blessings, strengths and resources for the well being of our magnificent world.

I look forward to this journey together.Shalom, Rabbi Yael





congregational school rivka jarosh

Dear Mishkan Community,

The holidays are over for now. It was wonderful to see everyone for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Our school is in full swing. I am happy to say that we have now added Lisa Tuttle back to our faculty for Sunday mornings. Our school has grown some this year and it was important to me to keep

class sizes small. Lisa will be with the Dalet class (4th grade) from 9:30 a.m. -11:00 a.m. to work with them on holiday, social justice and theme learning. She will then work with Bet class (2nd grade) to introduce Hebrew reading and vocabulary to them. If you want to know more about the rest of the faculty, go to our updated webpage description of faculty members.

This year we are reclaiming some of our Mishkan identity through more Tikkun Olam work as part of our school program. Each class will have a theme that they work on each month. Using our Jewish sources, each class will learn about how to help in the world. Gan, Aleph, Bet classes will be talking about how we treat each other and how we treat the poor in our society. The Gimel class emphasizes those with special needs and having students understand and respect each other for their own special talents. Dalet/Hay will look at what the Jewish sources say about our environment. Vav class will study what our tradition says about schools and funding them. This is a timely topic for our city.

Our Tot Shabbat will begin again on our first Saturday this month on October 5. If you know of a family that has a child 5 or under, send them our way at 9:00 a.m. -

9:45 a.m. this first Saturday. We will be singing and dancing and doing art projects together and plainly having a good time celebrating Shabbat. After this month, Tot Shabbat will always be on the second Shabbat of the month. On November 17, we are bringing in a special performance of a group, Kinderock, that sings Jewish and other fun songs for our smallest participators in synagogue life. Watch for flyers and more information.

Our annual Work in the Wissahickon, which is our second fundraiser for the year, the Mishkanathon, will be on October 20. Everyone should be reminded that the school tries to be a self-funded part of Mishkan. We use the tuition and fundraising to pay for teachers, programs and supplies. We ask the students of Mishkan to raise money to support their work in the Wissahickon by weeding and planting. If you would like to support a child's work, please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated.

We have many themes as part of our learning this year. One of our main themes is the Reconstructionist model of Belonging, Behaving and Believing. To promote belonging, we are starting a Social/Tikkun Olam group that will meet once a month after school on Sunday. The idea of it is to have kids have fun together doing good work in the world and having fun days. Our first day will be on October 27. We will begin with a picnic at Bluebell Park with games and lunch. Hopefully we will come up with a name for our group. All students 8-12 are welcome.

Next month, I will talk more about our curriculum and new activities. Stay tuned.

B'Shalom,

Rivka Jarosh





president's letter david piver

Attending to the needs of the community is just like one who is engaged in Torah study

A Call To Nourishing Your Soul By Engaging More Deeply in the Life of Spiritual Community by David E. Piver, 5774 President's Rosh Hashanah Talk

Welcome to all. Welcome to our guests and extended

community. Welcome to the children. Welcome Mishkan Shalom members — current, past and future. Welcome to our new rabbi Shawn Israel Zevit and our other rabbinical and lay leadership on this holy of holy days. Welcome to the Board and former Board members and all who volunteer—current, past and future- all of us gathered together who make these days of Awe so Awesome. Welcome!

It is written in the Shulḥan Aruch, a 15th century compilation of Jewish wisdom, also known as the Code of Jewish Law, amongst the most authoritative legal codes of Judaism, so I am told, that

One who is engaged in attending to the needs of the community is just like one who is engaged in Torah study.

Many here today have been deeply engaged in attending to the needs of the community. It is sacred work, delightful work in creating sacred Reconstructionist spiritual community together, to gather, to engage in the unfolding and the comforts of the Mishkan.

Accordingly, I would like to speak today about this past year's transition and the coming year's transformation; of increasing our engagement as a community together in co-creating a Mishkan that deeply nourishes our souls, our families and our community. This has been a year of transition at Mishkan and the year ahead promises to be a year of exceptional transformation at Mishkan Shalom. Transition and transformation can make us feel both hopeful, inspired, as well as uncomfortable. Transition and transformation can call forth celebration and can bring about mourning—often in the same breath. Two contrary emotional states occupying the same body at the same moment in time.

As a community we have negotiated and traversed substantial transition this past year with integrity and exceptional volunteerism from so many in our community. We have transitioned to new rabbinic leadership, We have transitioned to a new and substantially less costly mortgage on our beautiful building. We have transitioned to a new staffing structure that promises additional growth and renewal of our Mishkan.

We now enter the new year embarking on a period of transformation out of the hard work, the sorrows and the celebrations of transition. As humans, it seems to me that we have innate wiring for resisting change, resisting transition— it seems to hurt our souls and disrupt our lives' comforts with the familiar, the known, even when the familiar and known require transformation. Times change. Transformation is called forth out of this and the journey demands we continue forward often with discomfort, reluctance in a myriad of ways, as well as hope, faith and delights as we journey to a new land literally or metaphorically.

What matters deeply now as a community is the expanding experiences of healing and collaboration in this shared and sacred transformation. Of raising our open palms to the sky, putting our hands on, and backs into, the tasks called forth in transformation of Mishkan into what we can fully be—and in turn transforming ourselves, growing as individuals, families and as a more love-filled community.

Our basic Reconstructionist mission statement is so eloquently contained in our statement of principals and beckons for a new iteration to be brought forth into the community, into our lives and our homes, our work and our aspirations. Our mission statement embodies vibrant and compelling principals and an invitation for personal as well as social transformation. These are:· Avodah (Prayer):

Through prayer we seek to infuse our lives with the Divine Presence and with K'dushah (holiness).

· Torah (Study):Through study we seek to enhance our understanding of our tradition and the ways in which its teachings and insights may inspire our ethical and spiritual growth.





· G'milut Ḥasadim (Acts of Caring) and Tikkun Olam, Repair of the World, and its reiteration of Tikkun Hanefesh V'Olam - (Repair of the Soul and of the World):Through acts of caring and repair we seek to transform our world and our souls to reflect and embody the divine values of justice and compassion for ourselves, our beloved, our community and our mother Earth.

Mishkan Shalom has the vision and the means to carry forth the vision of an evolving, inclusive, vibrant and soulful Judaism. Imagine! A Jewish community which is progressive and true to our deep roots, grounded in the sacred and the great mysteries; grounded in our ancient tradition and interwoven and infused with the wisdom, love and insights of Reconstructionism and other wisdom traditions richly and warmly welcomed.

Mishkan's resources and offerings are multi faceted and nourishing for the soul. We have developed excellent and expanded offerings of child and adult education. Our school ROCKS! We have expanded offerings and programming for special needs children for enriching Jewish education for them and their families and thus the community. A Way In is a resource in Mishkan that has both important value to Mishkan's mission of Tikkun Hanefesh V'Olam, as well as proving opportunities for Jewish Mindfulness study and practices and its spiritual and community building values that we are blessed with in so many ways as a community. As we see today and as I have seen over the past several months working with Rabbi Shawn and Rabbi Yael, they share a deep, loving, aligned and effective rabbinical leadership vision. They are inspired Reconstructionist spiritual and organizational visionaries, grounded in and expanding upon Reconstruction Jewish principals articulated in Mishkan Shalom's statement of principals.

We enter a year of transformation on the heels of a year of transition.

Many opportunities exist for all of us here for creative expression and renewal of connection at Mishkan through shared service, prayer, song, study and work for peace and justice in the year we are now embarking into. Each voice is needed. New voices and old voices have a welcomed and respected place at, or back at, the table as we soothe any wounds of transition, open our

hearts and ears to hear each other anew, and revitalize Mishkan into the highly functioning Reconstructionist sanctuary and spiritual community vision we carry intuitively in our hearts and hopes.

Mishkan Shalom has many opportunities for you to step into a more satisfying and soul-nourishing relationship with the organization. I have named some above, and there are many more of course. There are, however, three that I want to name specifically in my role as president in these, my closing remarks. These three are leadership development, project management and fund raising. Mishkan requires your particular expertise and engagement- volunteering- in these three areas. So here is the real offer, the pitch from my heart to yours. If you have the skills in these areas, or related skills from similar areas, using them in sacred community at Mishkan Shalom, rather than in the confines of your work world, offers you the opportunity to apply your skills working with others in spiritual community in a wholly different and potentially much more gratifying manner. Engaging your skills at Mishkan means that you can more fully bring your whole-person into these activities in which you have developed an expertise. There is something extremely growthful and liberating and deeply satisfying in such opportunity of shared sacred collaborative service- beyond which many find possible or welcome in the workplace outside of the temple, outside of the sacred space of spiritually inclusive community which Mishkan in fact and in practice is offering.

If you are interested in volunteering your expertise in this sacred collaborative environment, or if you are interested in financially further supporting the leadership development, project management or fund raising efforts at Mishkan, please contact me or contact Rabbi Shawn, or others in leadership now, to explore your opportunity for the satisfaction I can assure you will experience through such engagement. Please also consider additional financial support for Mishkan's profound mission as a progressive, inclusive and educational institution. There are innumerable opportunities for directed giving and general giving that I would be glad to discuss with you today or later in the month, after we have brought these days of awe to completion. Attending to the financial needs of Mishkan is one of the main responsibilities of congregation

president's letter david piver

continued on page 14





This MONTH'S EVENTS

Please check website and calendar for detailsMonday. October. 14,7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.Celebrate Columbus Day!

With a window into the lives of our indigenous neighbors of the Amazon as told through an award winning movie produced by the Sarayaku people about their struggle and victories to protect their culture and the last pristine rainforests of the Amazon. Followed by discussion, with Lynne Iser & Mordechai Liebling, about how we can partner to bring forth a more sustainable and just world.

Sunday, November 24, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., GJC

Where on Earth are we going? And, What can we do about it? – an Awakening the Dreamer symposium will address these critical questions and provide inspiration for your engagement and action.

Coming in early December. Screening: Broken On All Sides

A documentary & panel addressing racial inequity within our criminal justice system and its devastating effects. Produced by Mishkan member, Matt Pillisher.

JOIN our Tikkun Olam Committee

Add your voice and share your spirit at our ḥavurah style monthly gatherings to plan programs and become educated and effective activists engaged in Tikkun Olam.

View the Tikkun Olam webpage for more information about our ongoing activities and committees.http://mishkan.org/committee/tikkun-olam · Sustainable Mishkan· Philadelphia. PA Interfaith Power & Light for global

climate change· Power: Philadelphians Organized to Witness,

Empower & Rebuild · Heeding God's Call· Immigration Working Group· Interfaith Hospitality Network· Interfaith Peace Walk· Interfaith Community Building Group· 63rd Street Shelter

tikkun olam lynne iser

If you are interested in Tikkun Olam activities but are not sure where you fit in, or would like Mishkan to be active in something you don't see listed here, contact our Tikkun Olam representative, Lynne Iser at [email protected].

THANK YOU to all who brought their own reusable plates to our Yom Kippur potluck. May this be the beginning of a New Year of less consumption and more shared community.



http://mishkan.org/committee/tikkun-olam








Immigration UpdateBy Natalie Gorvine

Several Mishkan members* informally known as the Accompaniment Group sat in Immigration Court on the fifth floor at Ninth and Market Streets in late August to observe the full trial of Pedro Romero-Avila and to provide him with moral and spiritual support. Pedro, who has lived and worked in the United States for more than half his life - over15 years - was seeking to end his deportation and keep his family together in Philadelphia. [For more background on his case and Mishkan's involvement, please refer to the May, 2013 issue of Kol Shalom, page 8.] Earlier that morning, some of the Mishkaners, members of the New Sanctuary Movement from other faith traditions, and NSM staffers held a prayer vigil outside the courthouse.

Pedro's attorney was Mishkan's “own” Judith Bernstein-Baker. Judi is the Executive Director of HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) Pennsylvania, which provides free and low-cost immigration services to immigrants and refugees. She had prepared him thoroughly, and for nearly two hours, with remarkable composure, he answered questions posed in English and repeated to him in Spanish by the court interpreter. He answered in Spanish and the interpreter then repeated the responses in English. Many questions were factual; however, imagine being asked to describe what it would be like for you and your young children if you had to live in one country and they in another.

The good news was that at the end of the proceedings the government's attorney gave no indication of a plan

to appeal a decision favorable to Pedro. That left Judi Bernstein-Baker optimistic as to the outcome. Unfortunately, because of the harshness of our immigration laws, Pedro still does not have a final decision in his case.

Under the immigration laws, an Immigration Judge can grant only 4,000 green cards in any given year in Pedro's type of case, known as Cancellation of Removal. Immigration Judge Steve Morley will be issuing a decision either this month (October) if there are enough “visas” available or, the Judge may need to delay his decision until October 2014. On the positive side, the Immigration Judge could have denied the case outright, but he did not. His interim decision not to deny the case is a good sign there will eventually be a favorable outcome. Meanwhile, Pedro can work legally in the United States and his family remains together.

Pedro's father is seriously ill in Mexico, and Pedro has not been able to visit him. If he were to do so, he would not be allowed to return to his family here.

So, remaining in limbo as he awaits the court's decision, Pedro was smiling bravely through eyes glistening with tears when we gathered outside the courthouse after the trial. He and his family are still waiting and hoping. The Mishkan Accompaniment Group is, too.

Stay tuned for an opportunity this fall to celebrate the good work Mishkan has done with Pedro and his family and to welcome them once again to Mishkan. If you haven't yet met this family that has moved so many of us, this will be your chance!

* Mishkan attendees: Gene Bishop, Claudia Garcia-Leeds, Marisol Villamil and her daughters Lena and Anna Greenberg, Natalie Gorvine, Lance Laver, Margaret Lenzi, Bonnie Prest-Thal, and Rabbi Michael Ramberg

THIS IS WHAT 80 LOOKS LIKE

Shalom Center invites you to Gala CelebrationHonoring Gloria Steinem & Rabbi Arthur Waskow

November 3, Sunday, right here at MishkanDinner 5:00-7:00 p.m.; Program 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Interview, musical performances, special guests and more.

Buy Your Tickets Now: https://theshalomcenter.org/80

Shalom Center, 6711 Lincoln Drive, Phila, PA 19119



https://theshalomcenter.org/80

https://theshalomcenter.org/80



b'nai mitzvah anndee hochman

Jesse Fried-PetersenOctober 5

Jesse Fried-Petersen decided to focus on the lines less-traveled. His parasha, Noah (Gen. 6:9-11:32) includes the familiar story of the flood, the ark and the animal pairs Noah must save from extinction. But it also contains the intriguing Tower of Babel story.

“The descendants of Noah migrate, and they build a city with a big skyscraper. They all speak the same language, and God fears he'll lose his power, so he gives each person a different language, and they scatter all over the earth.” The tale made Jesse think about the downside of such diversity—bullying, for instance, and wars fought over differences between people—as well as the benefits.

This summer, I traveled all over Europe, to Germany, Austria, Prague and Italy. Every place was different. Life would be boring without diversity. So I'll talk about both the pros and the cons.

Jesse joined Mishkan's Hebrew School in 5th grade, where his status as “the new kid” wore off quickly. “The teachers were very welcoming. They took me in and acted like I'd been there forever.” He loved learning Hebrew, which he calls “a beautiful language” and discussing Jewish history and culture in class. Still, he was a little daunted by the work and study involved in preparing for his bar mitzvah.

The trop came pretty easily. Sometimes I got frustrated with the Hebrew. But overall, it was a pretty good experience.

For his tikkun olam project, Jesse hoped to work with homeless adults, either in a shelter or soup kitchen. But

his food allergies made that idea unworkable; instead, the Jewish Relief Agency connected him with an 85-year-old woman who has no family. Jesse visits her once a week with a home-cooked meal (recently it was meatloaf and mashed potatoes) and an endless appetite for her stories.

She tells me about important things in her life, and she gives me a lot of advice. I have so much more respect for my elders now. They've been through so much. I love her stories.

As one of the final b'nai mitzvah of his class, Jesse's made the rounds of others' ceremonies, both at Mishkan and elsewhere. “A lot of my camp and school friends go to Reform or Conservative synagogues. They seem more serious. And, huge. I like the fact that we're more laid-back.”

Jesse, who loves both English and wood-shop classes at Cedarbrook Middle School, got a summer bonus this year; his school opened two weeks late to remediate a mold problem. He used the time to ride his bike, read…and hone those 15 lines of Torah.

Sometimes Jesse wonders about having put in dozens of hours of preparation for a bar mitzvah service that will last only two hours. Then he thinks about the impact that will linger past that morning. “It's going to pay off if

I impress everyone and don't mess up. I love doing stuff in front of people. And it's a turning point in my life.”

Tali KamionkowskiOctober 19

If you want to know about Tali Kamionkowski, just “read” her tallis—the colorful fabric she

painted in a Hebrew School hoog (elective). There's a plump apple (because she's allergic to the fruit), several happy faces (“I'm usually in a good mood”), a world map (she likes social studies), a teddy bear, a superhero, a





math problem involving equilateral triangles, a raindrop and a time-machine-like device from Dr. Who, one of Tali's favorite shows.

But that's not the tallis she plans to wear when she's called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah. Instead, she hopes her baby sister, Alexandra, will be bundled in the bright cloth on that morning. Alex herself is just one symbol of change in Tali's life this year, a transformational autumn that includes a new school, new friends, a new baby in the family and the passage to Jewish adulthood.

Tali attended Perlman Jewish Day School through 3rd grade; she joined Mishkan's Hebrew School in 5th. “But I've been going to Mishkan since I was really, really young. I knew that I'd fit in.” Though her education at Perlman left her with a thorough knowledge of the service and prayers, Tali said her Hebrew was “on track” with that of her Mishkan classmates. “I can read Hebrew; I can understand it. But when someone talks to me in Hebrew, I usually answer with one sentence: ‘I love ice cream!’”

When she began to prepare for her bat mitzvah, Tali thought the study would be a snap: between her Perlman education and her experience in musical theater, including a turn this summer in Appel Farm's Little Shop of Horrors, she thought, “Oh, I'll just read the Torah and then I'll be done. But it's different to perform in another language. I pick up songs really fast; with Hebrew, I can learn the tune, but I have trouble memorizing the words.”

Tali's parasha, Vayera (Gen. 18:1-22:24) is a passage that includes both strife and hope: Sarah sends Hagar into the wilderness along with her young son, Ishmael. Hagar cries out in despair. “Then God speaks to her and says that someday Ishmael will also rule a nation. There's a light at the end of the path…I like the parasha. It's still really early in the Torah, so people are still figuring out how to do things in society.”

For her tikkun olam project, Tali hopes to volunteer in an animal shelter, playing with the dogs so they won't feel so alone and frightened. She also wants to learn about puppy mills, so that one day she can become a non-profit attorney who works to shut down such mills.

Meantime, she's focused on the challenge at hand. “I've definitely changed over the course of learning trop and my parasha. I've learned how to try new things. Bat

Mitzvah is a lot of work, but I think I'm also going to have a lot of fun. My grandmother recently had a bat mitzvah at 79. She wasn't allowed to have one when she was young. I think if I didn't have one, I'd regret it.”

Lailah IsraeliOctober 19 (Minḥa)

Lailah Israeli holds a tender place in her heart for creatures who are small, vulnerable or unsung. That would include the kittens she fed and tended as part of her tikkun olam project. It includes the younger kids she taught to swim as a counselor-in-training this summer.

And her keen eye for the dispossessed led her to focus on a nameless character in her Torah portion. The parasha is Haye Sarah (Gen. 23:1-25:18). While the title means “the life of Sarah,” the first event chronicled in the portion is Sarah's death.

Abraham negotiates a special burial site for Sarah. “Then he sends his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. His servant goes to the well. Whichever lady offers to draw water and offers to water his camel, too, will be the one. Rebecca does that, and [the servant] sort of feels a calling to her. He goes to her house, brings her back, and Isaac and Rebecca immediately fall in love.

What I thought was how the servant is like the main character, but they never mention his name. I thought about the Civil Rights movement: how Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks are mentioned everywhere, but there were kids who fought for their rights and their names aren't mentioned. I thought about all the important people we don't know the names of.

Thinking about the parasha and its implications—along with planning her bat mitzvah festivities—have been the most fun parts of preparing, Lailah said. “When I started learning my parasha, it seemed like a lot to memorize. I was never that great at Hebrew, so I was nervous that I

b'nai mitzvah anndee hochman

continued on page 13





library sharon rhode

One Book: One Movie: Paul Wegener's 1920 Silent Classic, The Golem

We launch our ninth annual One Book Mishkan series with a great favorite, Saturday Night at the Movies, October 12 (7:00 p.m. in the Chapel). We'll do some deep background work for Helene Wecker's magical debut novel, The Golem and the Jinni, with a screening of this rarely-seen black-and-white silent movie classic. Long-time Library Committee ‘Official Movie Buff ’ Dr. Adam Blistein (classics scholar by day) will bring us background on the Golem myth, lead our post-film discussion and keep the beer chilled!

Probably the silver screen's first monster movie, The Golem tells the story of the creature brought to life, from clay, to protect the inhabitants of a Jewish ghetto in 16th century Prague — and what happens when man's creation stops obeying the will of its creator. Notable is the positive portrayal of Jewish life in this German film (Der Golem) from 1920.

While many of us have seen stills from this film, most have not had the opportunity to see it in full. This new version offers striking cinematography with restorative tinting, vividly stylized details and a newly-composed soundtrack incorporating Jewish and folk dance melodies.

As always, we'll have popcorn, non-alcoholic potables, yummy treats and great company. Bring friends — all are welcome! Suggested donation: $5.00.

Plan to be with us for a great Saturday night at the movies!

One Book, One Jewish Community: The Wanting, by Michael Lavigne

We're excited to partner, once again, with the city-wide Jewish community's nationally-recognized One Book, One Jewish Community program, in which synagogues

and Jewish organizations region-wide invite each other to programs centered on the One Book's themes.

Be sure to mark your calendars for OBOJC's Author Event on Sunday, January 26, 2014. We're planning a wonderful program related to this novel this spring. One reviewer writes:

In this exquisite novel of longing and loss, Lavigne has woven multiple stories of intersecting lives and conflicting desires…. all pursuing that most essential but elusive want: a place to call home. A beautiful meditation on love, and on all the ways in which stories are remembered and told.

Library's New Look: Less is so much more

Have you seen our beautiful scaled-down conference table yet? Well, check it out… still a wide, sturdy surface to hold your books, nooks and more, we've whittled down its width to provide more space to move around the Library. Next, we're looking for a dozen sturdy, comfortable chairs to replace the bulky swivels, as well as additional folding or stacking chairs to supplement (when needed). If you know of an office which is redecorating and might like a tax break for a donation – or have other low-cost ideas for helping us obtain new chairs – please let us know.

So Many Books!

Mishkan is blessed with a carefully-curated, dynamic collection of books, CDs, cassettes and magazines on a wide range of Jewish topics. We encourage everyone to visit and check out materials. Enjoy them for a month, return them and start over!

Anyone interested in joining our lively Library Committee, as we plan another wonderful program year and maintain our excellent collection, is very welcome. Be in touch at [email protected] or call Lillian Sigal, Chair at (610) 642-2376. See you in the Library!







Mishkan Community Cookbook: Writings, Recipes & ImagesStill? Really? Yes!!

So much has been going on that our wonderful community project was forced to be placed on the back-burner, but we've received many delicious recipes, beautiful and touching memoirs, several very funny jokes and some particularly delightful images. You'll be hearing much more this year about tasty topics (that's all I'm at liberty to say right now!), and publishing our collection of writings, recipes and images will be among them.

We'd love you to think, in particular, about activities you've participated in through Mishkan Shalom that involved preparing and sharing food. Have you volunteered to serve dinner at the 63rd Street Shelter? Have you brought your kids to visit with and share a meal with our Interfaith Hospitality Network guests? Have you gathered for a meal after an Interfaith Peace Walk with old and new friends? Do you remember Friday night Soup at Faye's? How about a Shabbat Home Dinner or a Friday night meal at the Adobe Café?

If you can remember a time when something funny or lovely or wonderful or sad or touching or hopeful happened around a table – whether at Mishkan or among your own family or friends – we'd love to hear about it… and we'd love to have the recipe for the food you shared. If it's your story, it's right for our collection.

If you'd like to join our cookbook team, we'd love to have you join us! A planning gathering is in the works, so it's a great time to join our great team. Write [email protected] to get in on the fun or ask questions.

Delight Us With Your Delectable Submissions

Submit Recipes & Stories online at www.mishkan.org

Send Memoirs, Photos, Drawings and Questions to [email protected]

wouldn't do well. My dad said, ‘You'll just practice a lot.’ It wasn't until recently that I knew I'd be okay.”

At Welsh Valley Middle School, Lailah likes English, art and science—especially learning about cells during 7th grade. Outside of school, she loves to swim, draw and play piano. And over the past few months, she made regular visits to a Narberth pet store that fosters cats and dogs for adoption. “I fed and cleaned cages and played with the kittens. I really love animals,” Lailah said.

While some of her classmates, Jews and non-Jews alike, focus on the party that follows a bar or bat mitzvah, Lailah's developed a different, deeper take on the event. “I've learned that it's not just a party; it takes a lot of

hard work. I've definitely learned a lot about my parasha, and I've gotten way better at reading Hebrew.”

Lailah has been part of Mishkan, on and off, since she was a toddler. She still remembers some of the songs and stories from Tot Shabbat; after a several-year hiatus, she returned to Mishkan's Hebrew School in 4th grade.

I wanted a bat mitzvah because I felt like I'd be more connected to the Jewish community. It seemed like a big accomplishment that I wanted to achieve.

continued from page 11B'nai Mitzvah





http://www.mishkan.org/

http://www.mishkan.org/





Communications, Membership and Developmentby Gari J. Weilbacher

Hello Hevre,What a wonderful time of year to join this community! My personal celebration of new beginnings brings me to Mishkan Shalom as your Communications, Membership and Development Manager. In just a few weeks, each piece of my portfolio has introduced me to many sincere people responsible for creating important projects on behalf of the community.

My approach to the work ahead is holistic in nature. You will see that I am examining ways to make communication clear and reduce the “noise” in our email inboxes. I want to represent seasoned Mishkan members, those who have ReMembered and new members as well. Our fundraising will be tied to our goals and will reflect our values. Communication will be the thread that binds it all and I may need some time to figure out systems that work for all of us – for you the members and for those of us who work on your behalf.

I would like to offer special thanks to three people. Sharon Rhode has not only held communications at Mishkan for some time, but has graciously let me in on the action. She will be staying on as part of the communications team and I thank her in advance for her continued commitment. Maria Paranzino is the touchstone for members of this community and — like so many of you — I could not do my work without her. Lastly, I am thrilled to be working alongside Rabbi Shawn, a colleague from my work at JRF and RRC. His wisdom and good humor will serve us all well.

Please feel free to drop by my office, next to Rabbi Shawn's, drop me an email or give me a call. I am here part-time, mostly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

While you are reading this a bit after the holidays, Allow me to take a moment to wish you and your beloveds a happy, sweet and healthy new year.

Gari

[email protected](215) 508-0226, ext 6

leadership. Inviting you into the sacred act of financially supporting Mishkan brings me much delight. It is a bold and courageous act to step up and increase your involvement in leadership, projects, or financial generosity to Mishkan for the present and the future support of our organization as well as for the opportunity for personal growth and experience of the connectedness of spiritual Jewish community.

I have so looked forward to this year's Days of Awe with relaxed expectation of truly holy days of awe and nourishing of my soul and mind. As a community we return to a deeper trust and softer gaze, a conscious appreciation of our abundant exceptional community and our good-will grappling with the sacred tasks of creating spiritual community that deeply feeds

ourselves, feeds our souls, feeds our families and feeds our community in various acts of and opportunities for Tikkun Hanefesh V'Olam. From this stance of loving kindness, open heartedness and open mindedness, the best years, beyond our most beautiful and precious imaginings, are years ahead of us at Mishkan Shalom. Step inside the Mishkan a little deeper and be transformed in the process of transformation in the year ahead.

One who is engaged in attending to the needs of the community is just like one who is engaged in Torah study.

Shanah Tovah!! Love Always- David

continued from page 7President's Letter







Interfaith Community Building Group Works in Post-Sandy Parish in NY By Lance Laver

The Interfaith Community Building Group (ICBG), spent a week in Rockaway Park, NY in August working with the St. Camillus / St. Virgilius parish to help rebuild parts of the block-long campus damaged in Hurricane Sandy.

The ICBG group, composed primarily of members of Mishkan Shalom and St. Vincent de Paul Church in Germantown, joined hands with other participants from a Franciscan prayer group in Iowa, religious sisters from multiple orders and college students to help repair parts of the parish school, buildings and grounds, including repairs to walls, floors and a bathroom; painting multiple rooms; rebuilding a damaged roof; preparing the classrooms and library for the start of school; and landscaping work.

We also met with a local religious sister to view her slide show of the hurricane's damage; the parish school's children to discuss the hurricane's effects on their lives; a local organizer from PICO (the national group that spawned our Philadelphia POWER organization) and church minister to discuss the continuing impact of the hurricane on the community; and Mishkan member Eli Schewel on his comprehensive report of the environmental status of the local Jamaica Bay watershed.

The ICBG began in 1997 by helping rebuild a burned African-American Church in McComb, MS. Through its 17 years, 20 different work projects and over 180 different volunteers representing the Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Quaker and various other Christian traditions and secular views, the group has sought to enhance interfaith cooperation and dialogue within the group and with our various host communities nominally through construction projects.

The model is to build ongoing relationships through solidarity with the people of the served community, so that the saws and hammers are vehicles to “get the conversation going,” build trust and learn how we can help with other important needs of the community beyond just construction.

For example, Mishkan is a member locally of the Romero Interfaith Center (RIC) (with St. Vincent's and Tabernacle United Church). RIC supports the community of Las Anonas in the San Vicente region of El Salvador. Part of this support has been three ICBG projects in Las Anonas—two housing projects and a new church—and RIC supports local Sistering, Scholarships, and other community initiatives throughout the year. (A clay medallion by Mishkan and ICBG member Joe Brenman that is built into Mishkan's stone wall at the Second Floor lobby—along with two bricks—commemorates the “work of our hands” of Mishkan, St. Vincent's and Las Anonas together in the church project.)

The ICBG also has helped build three community centers and a latrine project in four other villages in the same San Vicente region, working through RIC, U.S-El Salvador Sister Cities and the grass roots CRIPDES organization—which always develops and oversees the project for the ICBG in the most needful regional area.

The ICBG also has worked with a Catholic church in New Orleans to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina (four different trips there and a visit by the St. Gabriel's priest and sister to Mishkan to receive a wood statue of St. Gabriel the Archangel restored from the waters of the flood under the direction of Mishkan member Peter Handler); and on local projects in Frankford, Germantown (2), Kensington (3) and at Mishkan (including the Sanctuary and Library shelving under the direction of Steve Perkiss).

Interfaith solidarity with local and remote communities requires significant organizing, and the ICBG is always looking for people to help in this organizing work, which has transformed many of our lives. For more information, please contact Lance Laver.

Working on the Rectory Floor at St. Camillus

Rebuilding a Roof at St. Virgilius

Eli Schewel discusses the Jamaica Bay Watershed

Part of the Rockaway Park, NY Work Group





Come See Jan Hamer's Opera in DC on November 9th, 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht

“Fifteen years is a long time to spend on one project!” sighs composer Jan Hamer. A Mishkan member and former conductor of our community choir Makhelat Micha'el, Jan has dedicated herself to composing an opera for that length of time, and is thrilled to announce its first complete performance, coming up on November 9th in Bethesda, Maryland, at the beautiful Music Center at Strathmore, a 2,000-seat concert hall. The National Philharmonic, a professional orchestra, will be joined by their chorus and twelve professional soloists, to offer a “simply staged” concert performance of the two-and-a-half-hour work.

Jan and her librettist cousin Mary Azrael joined forces to compose the opera, Lost Childhood, basing it on the Holocaust memoir The Lost Childhood, by Dr. Yehuda Nir, a New York psychiatrist who was a Polish Jewish child survivor. Jan met Nir in 1993 at a Holocaust conference; the keynote speaker was Gottfried Wagner, who has devoted himself to post-Holocaust dialogue, to German Jewish musical culture and to critically confronting the cult of his great-grandfather Richard Wagner. Friendship developed among the three, leading to Nir's and Wagner's presenting lectures world-wide about their respective “lost childhoods.” Jan and Mary decided to use not only Nir's memoir of his childhood, but also the relationship between the two men, as a point of departure for their opera.

When his father was arrested and murdered in 1941, Yehuda Nir (nicknamed Julek) was eleven years old. He, his mother and his teenage sister were forced into a brutal game of survival, moving from place to place disguised as Polish Catholics. Their story, played out against a background of terror and loss, is often darkly humorous and ultimately triumphant as they evade the monstrous power of the Third Reich.

In the opera, Julek's memory of his “lost childhood” emerges from a fictitious encounter

fifty years later with Manfred, a German born after World War II into a prominent family of Nazi sympathizers. Manfred and the adult Julek are psychiatrists, colleagues at a professional conference in Manhattan.

When Manfred urges Julek to confide in him about his experiences during the war, Julek is evasive. He has kept silent about this period of his life and is still reluctant to talk about it, especially to a German. Gradually, however, with Manfred's persistent questioning, the floodgates are opened and Julek's memories come rushing back, carrying him deeper and deeper into his past. Over a period of several days, the two men confront each other and wrestle in private with their own painful memories. A powerful bond develops between them as they face the past and their complex, unexpected feelings about each other.

Lost Childhood was commissioned by American Opera Projects, an opera development company in New York. It was developed through workshops with singers and piano; Jan has been orchestrating for five years. “Mishkan has actually been an inspiration for this opera,” says Jan. “When our attention turned to Israel and Palestine, many of the issues we dealt with—listening to the narrative of the “other” without demonizing; examining our own assumptions and feelings of identification, tribalism; considering matters of revenge and forgiveness—stayed with me as Mary and I undertook this project. Julek and Manfred (in a way both victims of the Holocaust) have to go through a process of self-examination along those same lines.”

Jan requests that we notify DC-Baltimore friends and relatives of the performance. “I would love to have members of my Mishkan community there too,” says Jan, “although it's a long trek, and not yet an opera house performance.”

If a group from Mishkan decides to order tickets, there's a 20% discount, and Jan has reserved a block of rooms at low cost in a hotel. If enough Mishkaners are interested, we could rent a bus or van. to take on organizing this. The following website contains information about tickets, and includes the libretto.

www.nationalphilharmonic.org



http://www.nationalphilharmonic.org

http://www.nationalphilharmonic.org



Rita McCullen-10/2-Tishrei 28 Mother of Mark McCullen

Adolph Wolfsohn-10/2-Tishrei 28Father of David Wolfsohn

Ferrer Levinson-10/3-Tishrei 29Father of Eileen Levinson

Gerri Levinson-10/3-Tishrei 29Mother of Eileen Levinson

Ben Shapiro-10/5-Heshvan 1Father of Stan Shapiro

Madelyn Shure-10/6-Heshvan 2Mother of Jane Shure

Irving Shapiro-10/7-Heshvan 3Father of Paula Wallach

Joseph Leidner-10/8-Heshvan 4Father of Robin Leidner

Harold Eskind-10/9-Heshvan 5Father of Robert Eskind

Esther Reisner-10/9-Heshvan 5Mother of Ilana Reisner

David Casher-10/10-Heshvan 6Father of Andrea Casher

Stanley Michaelson-10/10-Heshvan 6Father In Law of Joe Brenman

Jane Reitzes-10/15-Heshvan 11Sister of Judy Reitzes

Rose Rogul-10/17-Heshvan 13Mother of Jeff Gelles

Margaret Forrester-10/18-Heshvan 14Sister of Anna Forrester

Melvin Chirls-10/19-Heshvan 15Father of Andrew Chirls

Mary Morris Heiberger-10/19-Heshvan 15Wife of Richard M Heiberger

Corsel Strahs-10/19-Heshvan 15Father of Stephen J. Strahs

Leo Michael Elison-10/21-Heshvan 17Father of Zea Piver

Joan Scearce-10/22-Heshvan 18Mother of Marie Scearce

Morton Bober-10/25-Heshvan 21Father of Gail Bober

Jacob Goldberg-10/27-Heshvan 23Grandfather of Cindy Rosenthal

Sadie Goldberg-10/27-Heshvan 23Grandmother of Cindy Rosenthal

Samuel Breitman-10/29-Heshvan 25Father of Barbara Breitman

Bernice Goldschmidt-10/29-Heshvan 25Mother of Judy Goldschmidt

Morton Perkiss-10/29-Heshvan 25Father of Steve Perkiss

Beatrice Brown Berman-10/30-Heshvan 26Mother of Phyllis Berman

Pauline Fisher-10/30-Heshvan 26Mother of Lillian Sigal

Max Shapiro-10/30-Heshvan 26Father of Howard Shapiro

yahrzeitsWe lovingly remember those who have passed, Zichornam L'vracha





Mazel Tov!We extend a hearty mazel tov! to Jesse Peterson, Tali Kamionkowski, and Lailah Israeli and their parents as they celebrate becoming B'nai Mitzvah.

We share nachas with Great Grandmother Marilyn Acklelsberg and grandparents Irv Ackelsberg and Pat Urevick on the birth of Ari Robert Ackelsberg; and with grandparents Linsey Will and Bill Burdick on the birth of Tyler Burdick Golladay.

We also share nachas with Abbe Fletman and Jane Hinkle, whose civil marriage in Delaware reaffirmed a previous ring exchange and Jewish wedding; and with Wendy Galson and Susan Windle whose civil marriage in New York also reaffirmed a previous ring exchange and Jewish wedding.

Mazel tov to all!

CondolencesWe extend condolences to Bill Lang and his family as they mourn the death of his mother Marie Lang O'Brien. May Bill and his family be comforted among all the mourners of Zion, Jerusalem and all humanity and may Marie's memory be for a blessing in their lives.

Love and SupportThis month we send our ongoing love, support, and prayers for healing to Mishkan members Jonah Meadows Adels, Gabe Meadows Adels, Robin Berenholz, Bernice Bricklin, Mark Goodman, Jane Hinkle, Sue Jacobs, Jay Kravitz, Denise Kulp, Robin Leidner, Sue Stehman and Zea Piver.

We are keeping Jeannette Tumolo (sister of Sue Stehman), Pat Lynn (partner of Barrie Levin), Arnold Schein (father of Susan Schein), Laikee Zelitch (mother of Simone Zelitch), Debra Ellen Coran

(cousin of Beth Joy Rosenwald), Sarah Bradley (mother of David Bradley), Debra Singer (sister of Karen Singer), Patrick Windle (brother of Susan Windle), Sal Berenholz (father of Robin Berenholz), Jackie Berman-Gorvine (daughter-in-law of Natalie & Harold Gorvine), Lorna Michaelson (mother-in-law of Joe Brenman), Eva Galson (mother of Wendy Galson and mother-in-law of Susan Windle), and Julie Post (sister of Nancy Post), in our prayers as well. May they all experience a refuah sh'leimah (full healing).

HINENI—HERE I AMIf you have life circumstances that would be helped by short-term emotional support and/or help with concrete tasks please contact Lisa Mervis and Sharon Sigal at [email protected] or please phone Sharon at (610) 574-1705 or (610) 649-0274.

We will reach out to the community and coordinate help with needs such as transportation to doctor appointments, meals, errands, as well as visits.

To join Acts of Caring listserv:Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/actsofcaring and if you are a new user, click on "sign up" at the top. If you want to change the email address at which you receive Acts of Caring, you can do this by editing your profile.

Need help? Contact Gene Bishop or Ariel Weiss at [email protected]

Got Nachas? Sharing your good news is a marvelous way to connect our community! Please don't be shy - send all lifecycle events you would like to be posted to our email address: [email protected].. Please notify us if you want a name added to, or removed from, our “Ongoing love, support, and prayers of healing…” list.

acts of caring (g'milut ḥasadim) gene bishop & ariel weiss

Acts of Caring is a Yahoo listserv group that informs the Mishkan Shalom community about significant events in the lives of our members. In this way, we can reach out to one another in times of grief, illness, and joy. To reach us email: [email protected]





http://groups.yahoo.com/group/actsofcaring

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/actsofcaring









avodah sharon rhode

Only one month into our new year and thefruits of many efforts have provided us an abundant harvest:

So many thanks are due to so many in our community:

To the High Holiday Teamled by Seth Horwitz

for an inspiring season of High Holiday services

To the Adult Education Committeeled by Anndee Hochman

for a rich roster of fall class offerings

To the Library Committeeled by Lillian Sigal

for a great One Book Mishkan fall season

To the Aesthetics Committeeled by Lance Laver

for their special Yahrzeit Memorial Tile program

And to our dedicated Board Members & Staff for theiryeo(wo)men's efforts on our behalf!

Appreciation for a Bountiful Harvest of Good Work:

Anticipation for a Feast of Fine Offerings:Opportunities to Partake Await You… Learn More!

Take Tikkun Olam Action Sustainable Mishkan & Issues of Race and Class

Contact Lynne Iser: [email protected]

Help Build a Community CommitteeContact Karen Smith: [email protected]

Join the Fabulously Fun Fundraising Event PlanningContact Keely Newman: [email protected]

Bagels & Building…Weed & WineContact Steve Perkiss: [email protected]

Welcome Interfaith Hospitality Network Guests in our 12th Year!Contact Nancy Fuchs Kreimer: [email protected]

Mishkan Community Cookbook: Writings, Recipes & ImagesContact Sharon Rhode: [email protected]















On three things the word rests:On Study, Prayer, and Acts of Caring

Mishkan Shalom is an affiliate of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federationwww.jrf.org

t'filotJoin us for Torah Study every Shabbat morning at 9:00 a.m. in the Library.

Thursday, October 3, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – Rosh Hodesh Celebration in the Chapel Friday, October 4, 7:30 p.m. – Kabbalat Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Shawn in the Chapel Saturday, October 5, 9:00 a.m. – Tot Shabbat Service- led by Rivka Jarosh, with Rabbi Shawn; 10:00

a.m. – Shabbat Service – Noah - Jesse Fried-Peterson will be called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah. Led by Rabbi Linda Holtzman

Saturday, October 12, 10:00 a.m. – A Way In @ Mishkan Mindfulness Shabbat Service – Lech Lecha, led by Rabbi Yael Levy

Friday, October 18, 7:30 p.m. – Kabbalat Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Shawn in the Chapel Saturday, October 19, 10:00 a.m. – Shabbat Service – Vayera – Tali Kamionkowski will be called to

the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah. Led by Rabbi Linda Holtzman; 5:00 p.m. (Minḥa) Lailah Israeli will be called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah.

Saturday, October 26, 10:00 a.m. – A Way In @ Mishkan Mindfulness Shabbat Service -Haye

Sarah, led by Rabbi Yael Levy

4101 Freeland AvenuePhiladelphia, PA 19128Email: [email protected]: (215) 508-0226Fax: (215) 508-0932www.mishkan.org

��Kol Shalom is published monthly, September through June.Editor: Eileen LevinsonLayout: Adam WenocurDistribution: Maria ParanzinoContributors include:Gene BishopRon GoldwynNatalie GorvineJan HamerAnndee HochmanLynne IserRivka JaroshLance LaverEileen LevinsonYael LevyDavid PiverSharon RhodeCarol TowarnickyAriel WeissShawn Zevit

http://www.jrf.org

http://www.jrf.org



http://www.mishkan.org

http://www.mishkan.org

for members kol shalom - Mishkan Shalom · personal wholeness before God, tend to learn one thing...

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