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February/March 2003
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The Shofar is a bi-monthly newsletter from Congregation
Beth Ahavah.
Previous editions of the newsletter are available in the
Shofar Archives.
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Articles from this issue of the newsletter:
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B.A. Board Elects New President
Early in February, the President of Congregation Beth Ahavah, Marcia Kesten, resigned from the Board, citing personal and medical reasons. Two days later the Board met and elected Shelly Komito, a long-time Board member, to fill that position. A letter went out to the membership about this, and other changes in Board leadership. The letter is reprinted here:
"There have been some recent changes in the leadership of BA of which you should be aware.
For personal reasons, Marcia Kesten has resigned as a member of the Board of Directors and as President of BA. This was a difficult decision for Marcia to make, and on behalf of the Board and the congregation, I thank Marcia for her years of service to the Board and for the valuable contributions she has made to the BA community.
Prior to her resignation, Marcia appointed longtime BA member, Diane Weinberg, to fill an existing vacancy on the Board. As Acting President, I (Abbe Forman) appointed Past President Rie Brosco to fill the vacancy created by Marcia's resignation.
The Board met on February 6th and voted to confirm Diane and Rie's appointments to the Board. Shelly Komito, longtime Board member as well as former Vice President of Programming and Secretary, was elected President, and Rie was elected Administrative Vice President. As a Board and as a congregation, we are indeed fortunate that these capable and committed women have chosen to offer their services to our community, and I hope that you will join me in welcoming them to their new positions and in supporting their efforts. I believe that we have an extremely strong and talented Board, and I anticipate that the months ahead will be very rewarding for our synagogue.
While the Board has some exciting projects in the works, the partnership between the congregation and the Board is critical to their success. We need your help, and I encourage you to ensure the continued vitality of BA by volunteering your time and energy to our synagogue. Any contribution you can make will be welcome, so call us, email us, and let us know how we can count on you to join us in partnership."
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President's Message
The only thing that is really constant is change.
That is one of the first things that entered my mind when I started thinking about writing my first column as President of Congregation Beth Ahavah. There are a lot of ways to look at change. Change allows us to learn and grow and continually challenge ourselves.
Our congregation has just experienced significant change. Not only have I become your new president, but we welcome back Rie Brosco as Administrative Vice President and a new board member, Diane Weinberg. With these changes, we hope to infuse our already experienced and committed Board with new energy and ideas.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
On February 6, when interim President/Program Vice President Abbe Forman turned the Board meeting over to me as President, that marked a significant moment for me. I presided over the remainder of the meeting with a gavel that graced a bookshelf of our home, a gavel that I used as temple youth group president almost (yikes!) 35 years ago! Call me nostalgic, call me sentimental, but it really meant a lot to me to be able to pull out that gavel from long ago and bring it to the table at BA. Even as a teenager, my involvement in the synagogue was extremely important to me. It is meaningful to me now to know that the synagogue and Judaism are still such a vital and integral part of my life. It was an honor and privilege for me to lead my youth group in 1968 and it is an honor and privilege to lead Beth Ahavah today. I hope I bring the enthusiasm of my youth and the experience of my years with me!
My year as President of the Youth Group was exciting, productive, and challenging. I led a community of dedicated, enthusiastic, and hardworking people. It was one of the most wonderful and rewarding years of my life. I have every reason to believe that the year ahead at Beth Ahavah can be even better. Join the leaders of BA as we create our own positive changes!
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Jewish Bioethics
On Sunday, February 2, 2003, about 15 people gathered for a Beth Ahavah discussion brunch titled "Jewish Bioethics and Allocation of Scarce Medical Resources" featuring Jewish bioethics specialist Rabbi Philip Cohen. Rabbi Cohen has served Old York Road - Temple Beth Am in Abington, Pennsylvania, since 2001. As the author of numerous articles, including "Toward a Methodology of Reform Jewish Bioethics," and armed with a Ph.D. in Near Eastern - Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, Rabbi Cohen provided insight into Jewish perspectives on the medical issues we face in today's world.
Much of Rabbi Cohen's talk centered on hypothetical situations where members of the audience were faced with a set of critically ill people, only one of whom would be able to receive the medical treatment needed to live. With a number of medical care professionals in the audience, the discussion was lively and thoughtful.
Should a person's age or potential contribution to society be a factor?
What about how many others are dependant on that individual for their survival?
Is it appropriate to look at the person's medical history?
After reviewing some of the choices, Rabbi Cohen focused the group's attention on Jewish legal approaches to scarce resources.
A primary Talmudic example paints a picture of two people who are stranded in the desert and have only enough water to ensure the survival of one; if they try to split the water between them, they will both die. Two rabbis then give their opinions. Rabbi Akiva's position, which has become the halakhic (Jewish law) stance, is that the owner of the water must save his own life first, even if the other person will die. Rabbi Ben Petura disagreed, arguing that it is better that they divide the water and both die, rather than have one watch the death of the other. In examining scenarios like this one, those present looked at bioethics issues that Jews have been dissecting for thousands of years.
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B.A. to Honor its "Pillars of Pride"
Over the last few years, Congregation Beth Ahavah has been privileged to receive bequests from members who had included the Congregation in their estate plans, and who subsequently passed away. To honor the memory and generosity of those members, and to honor living members who have acknowledged that they, too, have included BA in their estate plans, the Board of Directors has established the "Pillars of Pride Society." In late spring, members of the "Pillars of Pride Society" (known as "Pillars of Pride") will be honored at a special Friday night service.
How do you qualify to become a Pillar of Pride? By including BA in your estate plan- whether it be in your will, as beneficiary of a retirement plan or life insurance policy, or by arranging some other gift plan that will benefit BA at a future date-you qualify to become a Pillar of Pride of the Congregation.
The name of this new BA society, Pillars of Pride, borrows both from our gay pride vocabulary and from an old Jewish story. The story tells us about the Lamed-vav Tzadikim (the 36 righteous people) whose existence supports the entire world. Any one of us, or our neighbors, could turn out to be one of the 36. And as surely as their presence sustains the world, so too will the contributions from BA's Pillars of Pride sustain Beth Ahavah for years to come.
If you wish to "come out" as a Pillar of Pride, please call Shelly Komito, President of the Congregation, at 610-491-9662, or wait a few short weeks to receive a letter and form which you can complete to become a charter member of the Pillars of Pride Society. The Society will always welcome those who include BA in their estate plan.
The Congregation wants to thank the Bequest Society Committee members for their work in establishing the Pillars of Pride Society.
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Speaker Series - Year Two
On January 10th, 25 people braved less than ideal weather to kick off the second year of Beth Ahavah's renowned Friday Night Shabbat Speaker's Series. We welcomed Craig Blackman, lawyer, activist and President of the Philadelphia Region B'nai Brith Foundation. Craig spoke about being gay, Jewish and Zionist. With everything else we must deal with, he stressed that we can never forget about supporting Israel.
In February, the weather was again less-than-perfect, and our speaker, Lynn Zeitlin, agreed to reschedule.
Coming Up
On March 14, we will welcome Sue Hoffman, Associate Director of The Shefa Fund. Her topic will be: Beyond Tolerance and Inclusion: Advocating for Social Justice.
April 11, we are proud to welcome one of our own: Beth Ahavah member Lynn Zeitlin: lawyer, activist, lifetime trustee of Congregation Har Zion, pulling from a long list of her activities.
May 2, will be a special evening, as part of The Equality Forum (formerly PrideFest America) activities. We will have a short service beginning at 8:00. Following the service, Rabbi Rebecca Alpert and Beth Ahavah member Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell will speak to us about the book, Lesbian Rabbis. We are very excited to host this special evening.
June 13, we welcome another Beth Ahavah member, Scott Gansl who, besides being a member of BA's Board of Directors is President of The World Congress of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Jews: Keshet Ga'avah.
Do you have ideas for speakers? People you know or have just heard of and would like to bring to BA? Please let me know. Email me at naomirie@aol.com or drop a note to me at Beth Ahavah. The only requirement for this series is that the proposed speaker identifies as a member of both the Jewish community and the GLBTQ community. There is no budget to bring in out-of-area speakers. But, if you know of someone who is passing through our area who fits the description, please let me know just as soon as you find out about it.
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Some Center City Jewish History
B'nai Reuben of Anshe Sfard, 615 South 6th Street was the first congregation to build a synagogue in the Center City Jewish quarter. It housed a Hassidic congregation and maintained the area's first mikveh. It obtained its charter from City of Philadelphia that reads, in part, "to maintain a synagogue for the worship and ritual of the orthodox Jewish church."
Today, you can see the structure as the "Antique Furniture Store" -still with its Hebrew letters on the outside of the building.
The entrance has a huge two story arched entrance around which is a cartouche set on a bed of leaves which carries a menorah. Within the two stone wreaths are the words of the Hallel: This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter into it. Psalms 118:20.
On the first floor, there was a large assembly hall seating 300 people and upstairs in the main sanctuary, including the galleries, the seating capacity was 1600. Twelve murals of ancient Israel still adorn ceiling panels where the northern and southern galleries were hung. Public newspaper records indicate that thousands attended its dedication and Torah scrolls were paraded in the streets of Philadelphia from one synagogue to another.
Wouldn't it be great if we could buy the building?
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Supporting All Roads to Justice
In a historic lawsuit pending in New Jersey, seven same-sex couples have sued in order to secure the right to enter into civil marriages.
Attorneys for the couples are basing their claim on the denial of equal protection under the New Jersey Constitution, which provides:
All persons are by nature free and independent and have certain natural and inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.
Each of the couples-two gay, five lesbian-has been together for more than ten years, and some have children. Each couple applied for a marriage license, and each was told that same-sex couples cannot marry in New Jersey. The lawsuit was filed on their behalf shortly thereafter.
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, co-counsel for the couples, is sponsoring-along with ACLU-NJ, PFLAG, NOW-NJ, Human Rights Campaign and dozens of other organizations, including Congregation Beth Ahavah-ten town meetings throughout New Jersey in order to publicize and promote support for this historic endeavor. Separate from the lawsuit but equally important, domestic partnership legislation is being prepared which would encompass a range of nontraditional and intergenerational families, and support for this legislation is also the focus of the town meetings. Speaking at each of the meetings will be marriage equality and domestic partnership leaders, as well as couples participating in the marriage equality lawsuit.
A meeting is scheduled on Tuesday, April 8th in Haddonfield. BA, as a proud co-sponsor, is inviting all of our members, families and friends to attend in order to show our support. The meeting will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Haddonfield, Fellowship Hall, 20 Kings Highway East, at 7:00 PM. Haddonfield is easily accessible on the PATCO Hi-Speedline, and directions to the church will be provided by contacting Kara, BA's office manager, at 215-923-2003, or by contacting me at jblock@erols.com. You may also visit our web site, www.bethahavah.org for further information. We will designate a meeting place before the event, so that we can attend together and show our support as a community.
See you on April 8th.
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New Board Member, Diane Weinberg
In 1976, I was searching for a synagogue that would let me attend High Holy Day services without charging me $100 to get in the door. An acquaintance suggested Congregation Beth Ahavah. I attended my first service on that Yom Kippur day and, at the break-fast that followed, I wrote my check for membership. For the very first time, I felt completely at home and totally connected at synagogue services. I was never uncomfortable at my parents' synagogue, but neither did I feel so welcomed and so much a part as I felt that day at BA, and I have continued to feel ever since.
Throughout the ensuing 26-1/2 years (!!!), I have attended Friday night services on a semi-regular basis and always attend High Holy Day services. Very important to me, through classes at BA in the summer and fall of 1991, I first learned to read Hebrew -- which ultimately led to the fulfillment of a long-time goal: in October, 1998, I became a Bat Mitzvah. I have served on the Ritual and High Holy Day Committees and, for both last year and this year, I am the in-charge person for all non-ritual aspects of our High Holy Day services. And yes, I'm the one who will be contacting you regarding volunteering for this fall's services. On various occasions, I've been part of BA's "mailing parties." For the past two years, I helped to assemble the membership renewal packages for mailing. I have been an active volunteer in several social activities, including membership pool parties, miscellaneous parties at our synagogue, set-up and clean-up at off-site events (such as our B'nai Mitzvah celebration), prepared a mountain of tuna salad for a before-services event, served as a Queer Qash Qutie at our last Purim Gay-la and even taught country-western dancing at a members-only party. I've been BA's AIDS Walk captain for three years, and recently co-led services for the first time. Whew.
At my first Board meeting (as a Board member) in February, I was asked to fill the open position of Ritual Committee Chairperson. I am responsible for scheduling Friday night service leaders and also leaders for observances of holidays throughout the year. If you can help me with this vital aspect of our synagogue, please join the Ritual Committee! I will welcome your participation.
My vision for the future of Congregation Beth Ahavah is that it should continue to be the Jewish home for any and all -- as it has been for me since my very first service.
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