BEHIND THE HEADLINES - May 2017

  By Selma Alpert

 

ISRAEL  PRAISED.  On Women’s Day, the World Economic Forum published their Global Gender Gap Survey.  Israel was named the best country in the world for women.  What an achievement!

 

TRUMP  VISIT.  U.S. President Donald J. Trump will visit Israel before his trip to Belgium.  He will meet with Israeli P. M. Benjamin Netanyahu before the 50^th anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification.  This is especially important because of the UN resolution rejecting recognition of any Jewish historical tie to Jerusalem and the Western Wall.  President Trump is trying to get the UN to reject that incredible resolution denying true history.

 

CAIR AWARD.  CAIR, a Muslim Brotherhood organization that supports terrorist groups (see Holyland Trial) gave an award to its fellow supporter group, “Jewish Voices for Peace.”  Will the duped supporters of this deceptive “Jewish” group finally wake up?

 

CHINESE  WELCOME.  P.M. Netanyahu was warmly welcomed in Beijing where he strengthened a 25 year relationship.   Israel has attracted Chinese corporate investment, cooperate research and more. 

 

SEASICK  CURE.  Good news for summer cruisers.  WJC reports a device you wear around your neck could provide relief from your seasickness within minutes.  “Sidis Labs of Israel developed MotionCure, a neck collar that uses tingling pulses to relieve dizziness, nausea and vomiting that occur with motion sickness…”   You can buy it on Sidislabs.com and Amazon.

 

FRENCH  ELECTION.  France has the largest Jewish community in Europe and the third largest in the world.  The surprising result in the recent election has put Marine Le Pen in a runoff.  Le Pen wants to ban public displays of religious symbols in all public areas, including Jewish symbols.  She claims her target is Islamic radicals and thinks Jews “will understand the sacrifice.”    

Watch this election.

 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect the views of VBI

 

News of Our Congregants - May 2017

Norma Neiman - Get well soon!

Norma fell and broke her hip.  She is currently at Jewish Home for Caring for rehab.



VBI Congregants
If you know of a congregant who is in need of our prayers due to a health issue or the loss of a loved one, please let us know.


 

THANK YOU to my family at VBI,

 I want to thank all of you for your many kindnesses directed to me at the time of my son’s death last February.

I have been informed that certain people were involved in sending food the day of the funeral. Many thanks to-

Gloria & Mel Sheftel,

JoAnne Allen,

Dan & Elaine Rubinstein,

Ruth Glass, Jean Brown, and

Judy Knigin.

 

Many thank you’s to Kim McGarry for “holding down the fort” during the Funeral.

 God bless you all. Thank you to anyone I missed.

 

Maureen Gradvohl and family

Torah Fund - May 2017

As Jewish women, we are at the very heart of the struggle for Jewish continuity. Part of the success of every synagogue is related to the strength of its Sisterhood. When Sisterhoods are strong and growing, our synagogues thrive and sustain communities for future generations. Most of the core principles that guide us as Conservative Jews directly connect to the Torah and study for ensuring the future of Jewish life. 

We are devoted to nurturing Jewish life by strengthening the great institutions of the Conservative Movement, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, and the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, plus others. Before Shavuot there will be many new rabbis and cantors graduating from all our Jewish Institutions united in their desire to serve the Conservative movement. They will become directors of campus Hillels, clergy in facilities for older congregants, researchers and educators as well as pulpit rabbis and cantors.

We need your support more than ever in our Torah Fund campaign. For those who have not contributed, please write your check to VBI Sisterhood, Torah Fund . 

Again, thank you for your continued support of Torah Fund.

Bobbie Cohen 764-7952

Torah Fund V.P.

VBI President's Message - May 2017

Shalom everyone,

Last month I reported on Purim. Now let me tell you about Passover. In April, we had a Seder at the synagogue for the first time in years. It was called a second Seder because it was held on the second night of the holiday.
We started out thinking that if we could attract 15 to 20 participants it would be fine, we would go through with it. The reservations were slow coming and we wondered whether maybe it was a mistake to try this. Lo and behold as we continued to announce it more and more people signed up.
Mona must have changed the seating layout a dozen times to accommodate the increased interest. That wasn’t even the toughest problem with the additional reservations. As we added more people we needed extra food.  Because the majority of the food for the Seder was ordered from a caterer, we drove them crazy trying to increase the amounts all the way up to the day before!  Unfortunately, they had closed their kitchen a couple of days before. So to sum it all up we had 45 people in attendance!  And better still, all who made reservations were actually there. Truly amazing!!
Rabbi Mark conducted the Seder, the food was delicious (and in sufficient quantity), and a wonderful evening was had by all. We were elated to welcome some guests, new and longtime members who all wanted to be there.
Thinking ahead (and G-d willing) we will try to do this again next year. Based on the learning curve from this experience, the number of reservations will be limited to the first 50 people who have paid.  We will also have a cutoff date that we will strictly adhere to.
Due to the amount of work being done behind the scenes to get everything prepared and served I want to put out a blanket thank you to all who helped so much. You know who you are and I hope you are not upset that I am not listing all your names. The wonderful thing is that many of you weren’t asked, you just pitched in .  That’s the way things get done. There wasn't any arguing, just a lot of hard work—from ordering and picking up food, to setting up the room, to conducting the service and participating in it, to cooking and bringing the food to the tables, to cleaning up after the meal and finally to putting away all the Passover utensils and things that can be used next year. I think I’ve covered most everything that went into such a beautiful night. I appreciate everyone’s hard work and of course the fact that you were there. But I must acknowledge, the most thanks goes to the one person that made it all happen, my wonderful wife, Mona. You can’t even imagine how much time and sweat (correct that, perspiration) that she put into the preparation for this night. Kudos to her for a job more than well done.

 I don't want to forget to mention that last month the Landmark Opera and Rabbi Mark brought the production of “Don Giovanni” to VBI.  It was wonderfully done and we hope to see them return to our venue sometime later in the year. The fact that part of it is sung in English makes it much easier to follow.

There are a lot of upcoming events, many with accompanying dinners, in the planning stages over the next few months, so stay aware of what is going on here at your synagogue!   In May, we celebrate Lag B’Omer and at the end of the month as we finish counting the omer (that began on Passover) we have the holiday of Shavuot. I can guess that somewhere in that timeframe we will have another dinner.   In early June there is a joint celebration of Mother’s and Father’s Days with the “Mammas and Pappas”.  Also in the planning stages are a return of the “Big Bands” and a bus trip to San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. So the beat goes on here at VBI as we have a lot of additional fund raisers hosted at local eateries as they work in our behalf.

Join us for our daily and Shabbat services as well as holiday celebrations. See you at VBI.  
.

Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Celebrations - May 2017

MAZEL TOV

To the Corletto Family:  Anjali Corletto will become a Bat Mitzvah on May 6th.  We hope to see many Congregants attend this beautiful Bat Mitzvah!

To the Wynn Family:  Doug and Tamara wish their daughter Morgan a big congratulations on getting her bachelors degree in Health Science from Cal State Channel Islands.  Congrats from all of us too Morgan!

 

To Ron and Mona Trachtenberg, whose daughter Amy Ayala is graduating from Cal State Dominguez Hills with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science.  Congratulations Amy!

 

And we have more to celebrate!!!

Congratulations Sandy and Merrill Bonar!

Sandy and Merrill became first time great-grandparents to Emanuella, daughter of Michael and Shirley Friedman, and granddaughter of Steve and Janis Friedman, who both went to Hebrew School at VBI and Mel and Frances Friedman, of blessed memory, who were also VBI members.



We Love to Honor Birthdays and Anniversaries!!

To honor birthdays and other celebrations, please join our congregation in our monthly Choral Shabbat.  Our next program will be this Friday, May 5th, 2017.
Services begin at 7:30pm

Please let Judy Knigin know if you will be celebrating a birthday or anniversary in the coming month.  Likewise, we invite you to sponsor an Oneg Shabbat or Kiddush Luncheon. Judy can be reached in the Temple office at (818) 782-2281