Sunday, July 21, 2019

President's Message July 2019



Shalom Everyone,
The 2019-2020 fiscal year has arrived and although we are struggling Valley Beth Israel is still here for you. We look forward to your continued membership and also your increased participation in the programs we present; i.e., services and special events. Valley Beth Israel is now an independent congregation (USCJ) in favor of being a synagogue that both welcomes and represents members from throughout the broad spectrum of Judaism. Like anything new, change is difficult; yet it is imperative that we do something different for the very survival of Valley Beth Israel. As we begin to identify ourselves as an independent congregation you will see some differences in our services that we hope you will come to enjoy and participate in.

We are working very diligently to have an accounting/bookkeeping service on board to organize the financial side of our synagogue. Billings will be sent on a monthly basis so that the synagogue’s cash flow will be steady. As this is the third or fourth version of this letter you may have already received your first invoice. I totally expect that there will be a lot of errors. This isn’t a fault of the accounting service it’s just a fact that many inputs into our accounting program were not correct. The new service can only work with what they have been given. Do not worry it will all work out; it just may take longer than we would like. That being said until the system is fully implemented I am asking that you remit to the synagogue the same amount that you paid last year. If you don’t remember please send as much as you can. As the months proceed and the new system is in place you will either be billed for any shortages or credited for any overpayments. Contributions over and above your expected dues/fees are always welcome and will really help the synagogue. Remember please that we are happy to work out payment plans. We also accept credit cards but that manner of payment will incur a 5% service charge.

Security is always on my mind at the synagogue. I used to think we were a small blip in the overall scheme and that no harm could come to VBI. Not true any longer. I am terrified at the prospect of terrible things happening here. Our budget just can’t support the hiring of full-time security and we can’t build a big enough wall around our property to keep those wanting to harm us out. So what do we do? Internally here is our plan: We will be locking the front door at 7:45 pm on Friday nights and approximately 9:45 pm on Saturday mornings. If you arrive after those times please knock on the door and someone will let you in. It is not perfect security but it will be better than leaving the door open at all times during services. Do not be deterred from attending services at the synagogue. We need you. We will continue to have services and special events as in the past so your support is very important.

Normally I would stop here because of space limitations; but since we did not publish a June newsletter I think it’s important to continue with my thoughts.

There is some good news to report. The Mah Jongg tournament that was held at our synagogue in mid-April was a resounding success. Thanks to the dedicated leadership of Debbie Fishel and her husband, Jack, plus the hard working crew of volunteers the event went spectacularly. For those of you who don’t play Mah Jongg tournaments it is a full day of play for the participants and an even more difficult time for the volunteers who provide the Continental breakfast and lunch. There is not much free time for those who are helping. Long story short the synagogue made approximately $2000 for the day. Job well done!! More important we had many compliments from attendees who said they would come back to play at VBI again. We already have another tournament scheduled for I believe May of 2020.

Ed Kasman was honcho for a yard sale in front of the synagogue in June and without much advertising he and his volunteers were able to bring in $600. It’s a lot of work and takes a tremendous effort to bring in merchandise, then price everything and set up the front lawn, and finally put whatever is left over away at the end of the sale. The success of these two events is most important and my thanks to those who participated.

Our Religious School is in need of your help in building it up again. A synagogue member is offering up to five (5) fully paid scholarships for the next school year. Call Mona at (818) 983-8176 for details. Help VBI continue to grow.

High Holidays are on the near horizon and our Ritual committee has already had a meeting to get everything in place for the services. Much goes on behind the scenes and we appreciate your cooperation. We expect to have volunteers in the office as we get closer to the holidays to help you with seat selection and all the other myriad of things that you may have questions about.

If you know of people interested in joining Valley Beth Israel have them call the synagogue office or me. We have membership packages beginning as low as $65/month.

I will try to keep you as informed as possible. If you have questions and I am sure there will be plenty please call me and let me try to answer them. You can get it from me first-hand not second or third-hand from someone who may not be involved. Passing on information that may not be correct is very detrimental to the synagogue.

With G-d’s blessing and your continued support we hope to see you at the synagogue often in the future.                                              

 Ron

News of our Congregants July 2019










Mazel Tov to Spencer Jacobs and Ozzie Berkowitz on becoming Bar Mitzvahs in May!

Also, congratulations to Lindsey Glass, granddaughter of Ruth Glass, on her graduation from high school!




Our condolences to the families of two long time members: Mary Cohen, who passed away in May, and Marcia Rosenheck who passed in July.

We also send condolences to Celia Hyams on the loss of her brother Sanford Aronin. 

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We know there are always a number of congregants who are battling illness or have suffered other health issues.  We send you wishes of a return to good health.

We also want to know of your happy news, be it an anniversary, wedding, birth of a child, or anything else you may wish to share with the congregation.

(Please let us know if you, or a fellow congregant is infirmed so that we may send prayers and wishes for a return to good health).

Yahrzeits July 2019


July 5, 2019

Lester Price                  Lillian Drucker                Lena Like               Phillip Schwartz
Herschel Bernstein       Anna Nagler                   Doris Bass             Abraham Kobey
Martin Sonne               Janine Fastow                Simcho Magat        Robert Cronrod
Arthur D'Ull                  Carl Gerichter                 Ruth Littman          Harry Levensbaum
Lena Penn                   Max Lipkin                      Mary Perchersky    Leo Harris
Crandle Dressler         Benjamin Abramowitz     Abe Tushner           Celia Leinwand
Mitchell Brenner          Isadore Brown                 Abe Weisbly           Blanche Jochnowitz
Selma Seidman           Phyllis Weiler Abmont     Jacob Kerner         Claire Schoenberg
Lillian Hibbard             Percy Yaffe                      Rabbi Jacob Rubenstein

July 12, 2019

Clare Payne                Harry Kirshner                  Barney Miller           Martha Rubin
Abe Hoffman               Nathan Osadchey            Edward Shrimski     Miriam Fisher
Elaine Weitzman         Pauline Goldman             Bella Oloman           Lee Leiber
Minnie Drucker           Rose Kaminsky                Lil Shapiro                Nathan Raskin
Marion Kaplan            Lillian Bernhart                 Anna Chesler           Emanuel Goda

July 19, 2019

Bessie Ginsberg         Rozlyn Cohen                  Cecyl Silverman      Sol Mesirov
Leah Wolf                   Bessie Goldin                   Regina Greenberg  Anne Ratner
Elsie Boolkin              Sarah Berman                  Norman Marcus      Elaine Degraff
Al Abrahamson          Irwin Taitz                         Benjamin Kasman   Sgt Irving Borden
David Serber              Mollie Chesler                  Marvin Kaplan         Gittel Kwasnick
Lena Koffman            Lillian Swerdloff                Lloyd Cohen            Jacob Paul
Sylvia Spiegel            Meyer Shragg

July 26, 2019

Matthew Wyman          Sidney Flam                     Sol Schoenberg       Lewis Pearlman
Isadore Silverstein       Paul Volchok                    Leon Oppenheim     Louis Dinsfriend
Minnie Hammerman    Ida Blank                          Joseph Gole            Marietta Gabbay
Abraham Sternbach    Celia Kopulsky                 Lillian Rosen            Clara Rosenkranz
Nathan Gerber            Harry Zuick                       Rose Esaacson       Mae Pearlman
Sophie Weichsel         Charles Nadel                   Idelle London          Jack Magnes
Celia Chudner             Harry Weiner                    James Wigodsky     Bessie Ostrow
Beatrice Felender       Moishe Boolkin                 Abraham Seidman   Paul Hyman
Mary Levensbaum      Hilda Cahan




Thursday, July 11, 2019

Schticky Corner July 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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A thief entered a house mid-afternoon. He tied up the woman and at knife-point asked the man to hand over the jewelry and money.  

The man started sobbing and said, “You can take anything you want. You can kill me. But please untie the rope and free her.”

Thief: “You must really love your wife!”
Man: “No, but she will be home shortly.” 

Why don't teachers fart in public?
Because they are private tutors.
_____________________________
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?"
________________________________________________
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

________________________________________
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
______________________________
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?”

_______________________________
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?”
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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?”
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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.”

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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?"
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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