Thursday, January 31, 2019

President's Message February 2019


Shalom Everyone,

WARNING!! WHAT YOU SEE IN THIS NEWSLETTER COULD AFFECT YOU AND VALLEY BETH ISRAEL.

Sounds a bit harsh but it’s only to alert you of the many flyers you will find in this February edition. Please, please, please at least look at them and then I hope you decide to join your fellow congregants at the events scheduled in the next few months. 

We had a nice response to the Lox Boxes for the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 3rd. We packed a lot of goodies into the box (actually a bag) and consequently cut our profit margin to a very small amount. Even so we will still make three to four hundred dollars for the synagogue.
SPECIAL NOTICE: On Sunday, February 24th we have a Casino Bus Trip planned to the Chumash casino near Solvang. Please join us for a fun-filled day. We will have activities on the bus to keep you occupied (if you wish to participate) and we are hoping your gambling experience will be a successful one. For those that don’t gamble the casino has a shuttle bus into Solvang so that you can entertain yourself in Solvang. Should be a wonderful day—hope you decide to join us. And bring along a friend or two.

Purim is on a Wednesday night/Thursday morning which doesn’t bode well for attendance. So this year we’re shaking things up. We plan to have a non-traditional Spiel performed on Sunday, March 17th. It is being written by our resident playwright, Roger Cowan, of “The Chanukah Story” fame and is sort of a trailer to what he is writing for next year’s Purim Spiel. Should be funny. There is no charge to see the Spiel; but if you want make it easy on yourself and not have to worry about lunch we are having a luncheon just before the Spiel. There is a charge for the luncheon and you must make a reservation no later than March 10th. Don’t miss the mischief. There will be no service on the actual night of Purim but there will be a full megillah reading on Purim morning. Make it a point to join the minyan that morning.

If Purim is upon us you know Passover is only a month after. We will be having another seder (we call it a second seder although it’s on the third night). So after your seders at home join us at Valley Beth Israel for our community seder. Seating is limited so as soon as you see the flyer be sure to make your reservations. 

So as you can see we have a tremendous schedule of events coming up. We have other celebrations and dinners scheduled before the end of June so stay in touch and try to be with us in all our endeavors. We would love to see you at Valley Beth Israel more often. 

We’re recruiting new students for our Hebrew School so if you know of anyone interested please have them contact the Rabbi. Have a great month.  Ron            

Schticky Corner February 2019

by Ringo Cowan (and friends)
Submit your Schticky contributions to Roger@ValleyBethIsrael.org
This fun column is filled with Jewish humor, some off-color humor, and stories to enjoy.
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Why don't teachers fart in public?
Because they are private tutors.
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A Jewish man took his Passover lunch to eat outside in the park. He sat down on a bench and began eating. 

A little while later, a blind man came by and sat down next to him. 

Feeling neighborly, the Jewish man passed a sheet of matzo to the blind man. 

The blind man ran his fingers over the matzo for a few minutes, looked puzzled, and finally exclaimed, "Who wrote this crap?"
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Marilyn Monroe, on being served matzo ball soup:
"Isn't there any other part of the matzo you can eat?"
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On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

And God saw it was good.


On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span." 
  
The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

And God, again saw it was good. 

 
On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years.  How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And God agreed it was good.

On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, be merry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But the human said, "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information. I'm doing it as a public service. If you are looking for me I will be on the front porch.
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For several years, a man was having an affair with a Jewish woman.
One night, she confided to him that she was pregnant.

Not wanting to ruin his reputation or his marriage, he said he would pay her a large sum of money if she would go to Israel to secretly have the child.

If she stayed in Israel to raise the child, he would also provide child support until the child turned 18.

She agreed, but asked how he would know when the baby was born.

To keep it discreet, he told her to simply mail him a post card, and write 'Lokshen' on the back. He would then arrange for the child support to begin.

One day, about 9 months later, he came home to his confused wife.

'Honey, she said, 'you received a very strange post card today.'

'Oh, just give it to me and I'll explain it later,' he said. The wife obeyed and watched as her husband read the card, turned white, and fainted.

On the card was written:  Lokshen, Lokshen, Lokshen, 
One with kneidlach, two without.
Send extra soup.
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A couple, both age 78, went to a sex therapist's office. The doctor asked, "What can I do for you?"
The man said, "Will you watch us have sex?"
The doctor looked puzzled, but agreed.
When the couple finished, the doctor said, "There's nothing wrong with the way you have sex," and charged them $50.
This happened several weeks in a row. The couple would make an appointment, have sex with no problems, pay the doctor, then leave.
Finally, the doctor asked, "Just exactly what are you trying to find out?"
"We're not trying to find out anything," the husband replied.
"She's married and we can't go to her house. I'm married and we can't go to my house. The Holiday Inn charges $90. The Hilton charges $108. We do it here for $50...and I get $43 back from Medicare

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A Jewish fairy tale
Once upon a time there was a Jewish man and a Jewish woman
One day the Jewish man asked the Jewish lady “will you marry me?”
The Jewish woman said "no"
And the Jewish man lived happily ever
The end
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The census taker comes to the Goldman house.
“Does Louis Goldman live here?” he asks.
“No,” replies Goldman.
“Well, then, what is your name?”
“Louis Goldman.”
“Wait a minute–didn’t you just tell me that Goldman doesn’t live here?”
“Aha,” says Goldman. “You call this living?”

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The IRS and the Rabbi

The auditor is doing all the checks, and then turns to the Rabbi and says, "I noticed that you buy a lot of candles." "Yes," answered the Rabbi. "Well, Rabbi, what do you do with the candle drippings?" he asked. "A good question," noted the Rabbi. "We actually save them up. When we have enough, we send them back to the candle maker and every now and then, they send us a free box of candles." "Oh," replied the auditor somewhat disappointed that his question actually had a practical answer.

So he thought he'd try another question, in his obnoxious way... "Rabbi, what about all these matzo purchases? What do you do with the crumbs from the matzo? "Ah, yes," replied the Rabbi calmly, "we actually collect up the crumbs, we send them in a box back to the manufacturer and every now and then, they send a free box of matzo balls."

"Oh," replied the auditor, thinking hard how to fluster the Rabbi. "Well, Rabbi," he went on, "what do you do with all the foreskins from the circumcisions?" "Yes, here too, we do not waste," answered the Rabbi. "What we do is save up all the foreskins, and when we have enough we actually send them to the IRS ."

"To the IRS ?" questioned the auditor in disbelief. "Ah, yes," replied the Rabbi, "directly to The IRS ...And about once a year, they send us a little prick like you."
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RAIN
Two men of Chelm went out for a walk, when suddenly it began to rain.
“Quick,” said one. “Open your umbrella.”
“It won’t help,” said his friend. “My umbrella is full of holes.”
“Then why did you bring it?”
“I didn’t think it would rain!”

A RIDDLE
A man in Chelm once thought up a riddle that nobody could answer: “What’s purple, hangs on the wall and whistles?”
When everybody gave up, he announced the answer: a white fish.
“A white fish?” people said. “A white fish isn’t purple.”
“Nu,” replied the jokester, “this white fish was painted purple.”
“But hanging on a wall? Who ever heard of a white fish that hung on a wall?”
“Aha! But this white fish was hung on the wall.”
“But a white fish doesn’t whistle,” somebody shouted.
“Nu, so it doesn’t whistle.”

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IF ONLY THEY HAD A JEWISH MOTHER...funny!
MONA LISA'S JEWISH MOTHER: 
"After all the money your father and I spent on braces, this you call a smile?"

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS' JEWISH MOTHER:
“I don't care what you've discovered, you didn't call, you didn't write."

MICHELANGELO'S JEWISH MOTHER:
"A ceiling you paint? Not good enough for you the walls, like the other children? Do you know how hard it is to get that schmutz (dirt) off the ceiling?"

NAPOLEON'S JEWISH MOTHER:
"You're not hiding your report card? Show me! Take your hand out of your jacket and show me!"

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S JEWISH MOTHER:
"Again with that hat! Why can't you wear a baseball cap like the other kids?"

THOMAS EDISON'S JEWISH MOTHER:
"Okay, so I'm proud that you invented the electric light bulb. Now turn it off already and go to sleep!"

PAUL REVERE'S JEWISH MOTHER:
"I don't care where you think you have to go, young man, midnight is long past your bedtime!"

ALBERT EINSTEIN'S JEWISH MOTHER:
"Your senior photograph and you couldn't have done something with your hair?"

MOSES' JEWISH MOTHER:
"Desert, schmesert! Where have you really been for the last forty years?"

BILL GATES' JEWISH MOTHER:
"It would have killed you to become a doctor?"

BILL CLINTON'S JEWISH MOTHER: 
"Well, at least she was a nice Jewish girl, that... Monica."
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Q: Did you hear about the new facility Kraft Foods is building in Israel? 
A: It's called "Cheeses of Nazareth.

Q: What is the proper blessing to recite before logging on to the Internet? 
A: "Modem anachnu loch... 
____________________________
An elderly couple were having dinner one evening when the husband reached across the table, took his wife's hand in his and said,
"Martha, soon we will be married 50 years, and there's something I have to know. In all of these 50 years, have you ever been unfaithful to me?"

Martha replied, "Well Henry, I have to be honest with you. Yes, I've been unfaithful to you on three occasions during these 50 years, but always for a good reason.

Henry was obviously hurt by his wife's confession, but said, "I never suspected. Can you tell me what you mean by 'good reasons?' "

Martha said, "The first time was shortly after we were married, and we were about to lose our little house because we couldn't pay the mortgage. Do you remember that evening I went to see the banker and the next day he notified you that the loan would be extended?”

Henry recalled the visit to the banker and said, "I can forgive you for that. You saved our home, but what about the second time?"

Martha asked, "Do you remember when you were so sick, but we didn't have the money to pay for the heart surgery you needed? Well, I went to see your doctor one night and, if you recall, he did the surgery at no charge."

"I recall that," said Henry. "And you did it to save my life, so of course I can forgive you for that. Now tell me about the third time."
  
"All right," Martha said. "So do you remember when you ran for president of your golf club, and you needed 53 more votes?”
________________________________________________
Feinstein returned home from a business trip to discover that his wife had cheated on him
“Who was it?” he roared. “That bastard Wolf?”
“No,” replied his wife. “It wasn’t Wolf.”
“Was it Green, that creep?”
“No, it wasn’t him.”
“I know — it must have been that idiot Sherman.”
“No, it wasn’t Sherman, either.”
Feinstein was furious. “Whatsa matter?” he cried. “None of my friends is good enough for you?”
___________________________________________________________
Schwartz is sitting in his room, wearing only a top hat, when Steinberg strolls in.
“Why are you sitting here naked?”
“It’s all right,” says Schwartz. “Nobody comes to visit.”
“So why the hat?”
“Maybe somebody will come.”

_______________________________________________________

Moishe Goldberg was heading out of the Synagogue one day, and as always Rabbi Mendel was standing at the door, shaking hands as the Congregation departed. The rabbi grabbed Moishe by the hand, pulled him aside and whispered these words at him: "You need to join the Army of God!"

Moishe replied: "I'm already in the Army of God, Rabbi."

The rabbi questioned: "Then how come I don't see you except for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?"

Moishe whispered back: "I'm in the secret service."
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A man was standing by a grave as another man was crying out, "Why did you die? Why did you die?"

The man walked up and approached him, asking him if it was a close relative buried there.

He replied it wasn't. 

"It must have been a close friend".

"No, I never knew him."  He looks back at the grave,  "Why did you die?"

"Then who is buried here?"

"My wife's first husband.  Why did you die?  Why did you die?"
____________________________________________________________________________

A man and his wife walked into a dentist's office. The man said to the dentist, "Doc, I'm in one heck of a hurry. I have two buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to go play golf, so forget about the anaesthetic, I don't have time for the gums to get numb. I just want you to pull the tooth, and be done with it! We have a 10:00am tee time at the best golf course in town and it's 9:30already...I don't have time to wait for the anesthetic to work!”

 

The dentist thought to himself, "Well, well, at last a golfer with real balls!!"

 

So the dentist asks him, "Which tooth is it sir?"

 

The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth, honey, and show the dentist.”

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Q.  Why do Jewish women make great parole officers?
A.  Because they never let anyone finish a sentence 
Q.  If Tarzan and Jane were Jewish what would Cheetah be?
A.  A fur coat

Jokes from past editions:

Q.  What do you call a Jewish male tea bag?

A.  A He-brew


Q.  According to Jewish doctrine, when does a fetus become a human?

A.  When it graduates from Med School

VBI Sisterhood/Volunteer Opportunities February 2019

VBI Sisterhood is small - but we do great things!  Read on to find out how you can help those in our Community through the Sisterhood
 
Show You Care - Send a Card
Are you aware that you can send tribute cards to congregants (and others) through VBI Sisterhood?   
Our very own Pauline Reich has been sending these cards for over 25 years - and she'd like to do so on your behalf as well.  The cost is only $3.00, though many congregants give more as a donation to the synagogue*.  
These cards are the perfect way to congratulate, send well wishes, or offer condolences.  A personalized message is always added, and if you aren't sure what to say, Pauline is happy to add a kind note on your behalf.   Contact Pauline at  paulinereich@earthlink.net to make your request!    
*Contributions made from the sale of these cards is used to pay for Kiddush Luncheons, post Shabbat services, challah, and other various needs for preparing meals and events. 

Our volunteers help plan and organize our events, build toward the future as members of our Board, and hold many other roles in between.  YOUR help is most definitely wanted, and needed.

Pauline Reich wanted to remind us that she collects items for servicemen and women, soldiers overseas, and needy veterans here at home. She's been doing this for many years, and needs our help!!

There is a box in the Temple entry on the left side on top of the glass display counter. Here is a list of the useful items Pauline will happily collect:


Birthday, Holiday cards, etc.- that you get in the mail


Pads you get in the mail
Candy - nothing twist ties - must be sealed on all 4 sides
Pens
Snacks, cookies, chips,- individual packages
Toothbrushes
Hot Chocolate Mixes
Foot Powder
Ramen Noodles
Travel Games
Magazines (within the year)
Decks of cards
Soft Cover Books

If you would be kind enough to bring your items to the Temple Lobby, Pauline picks up donations weekly.

Should there be anything the soldiers cannot use, it is given to the veterans at the VA.
Pauline also collects your empty ink cartridges from your printers. They are sold to a company and the money made is used to send all these items overseas.
THESE MEN AND WOMEN ARE  'OUT THERE FOR US'.  IT IS THE LEAST WE CAN CAN DO FOR THEM!!!

Thank you In advance for your help.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Pauline at: 818-764-8466, or via email at 
 paulinereich@earthlink.net
.
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If you want to be involved, but cannot fully commit to a task, please let us know as we would be thrilled to have a list of volunteers we can contact as needs arise.

  • Board Members
  • Event Planning - including creating flyers and marketing our events
  • Event Preparation - shopping / cooking / serving / set up / clean up
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If you have anything you wish to have added to the newsletter, please email Michelle at redheadsrule20000@hotmail.com. Please email your submissions by the 25th of the month, to allow ample time to include your contribution to the following month's newsletter.