PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dear Community,
Finally, the snow has melted, spring is upon us, and with it comes the breezes of renewal and rebirth. So, it is clearly time for some celebrating.
Our Purim Festival at the shul on Wednesday, March 20th was a HUGE success. The turnout was fantastic! According to Rabbi Jay, in his experience, this was the biggest gathering EVER with over 45 people of all ages partaking in the fun, food, learning, and theatrics. Many thanks to Rabbi Jay and Rebetzen Judy for leading the festivities, Isabelle Eyman for preparing the wonderful meal, and to all our volunteers who made the event so memorable. A special shout out is due the cast of the Purim play who delivered an unforgettable performance of a Dr. Seuss version of the Purim story provided by Alice Huskey.
On Saturday, April 13th at 10:00 AM, Soli Lachman will be becoming Bar Mitzvah. Soli has studied diligently under the guidance of Rabbi Jay and Rebetzen Judy in order to prepare not only for this important moment, but for his ongoing participation with our congregation and the larger Jewish community. Please come join in the service, celebrate and do the mitzvah of welcoming Soli as a full member of the Jewish people.
Then on Saturday, April 20th, we invite you, your family and friends to our Passover Community Seder and Dinner sponsored by our shul and led by Rabbi Jay. Doors open at 5:00 PM, the Seder starts at 5:30, PM sharp with dinner being served at 7:00 PM. The meal will include all the traditional Passover specialties. You may bring your own Kosher for Passover wine if you prefer (no corkage fee!). There is limited seating so please make your reservations early by sending an e-mail to Ellyce Whalen at ellyce2009@hotmail.com, or texting her at 541-815-2590 with the number of adults and children planning to attend. The reservation and payment deadline is April 15th. The cost of the catered Kosher for Pesach meal is $28 for adults (13 and older) and $12 for children (age 5-12 years). There is no charge for children under 5 years. So please come spend your second Seder with your community; it promises to be a wonderful event.
Speaking of Passover, I wanted to let you know that Market of Choice in Bend is offering a selection of Passover food items this year (Trader Joes does have matzah). I would ask our membership to join with other congregations and the larger central Oregon Jewish community to support the store by buying Passover items from them. If collectively we demonstrate to them that stocking Passover merchandise is good for business, then next year Market of Choice may let us help select and broaden what they will offer. On the other hand, if they don’t see an enthusiastic response, they may decide not to bring in anything next year. So please consider buying at least some of your Passover needs (or wants) to show your appreciation.
Finally, please save the dates of the weekend of May 3 – 5th when we are hosting a very impressive candidate for our new Rabbi position. Rabbi Yossi Feintuch, PhD will be coming to meet our community and participate in a variety of activities to introduce himself to us. He interviewed with our search committee via Skype, making a very favorable impression, which has only gotten better as we have gotten to know him. His extensive achievements and background are summarized in the accompanying article from the search committee along with details of his visit. But beyond all those scholarly attributes, Rabbi Yossi has impressed everyone on the committee with his warmth, wisdom, maturity, kindness, and heartfelt desire to impart the richness of Judaism and its traditions to those around him. I strongly encourage you to meet Rabbi Yossi and his wife Judy during their time with us. I am certain you will be glad you did.
Happy Passover!
Ron
RABBI’S MESSAGE
Happy Spring! The piles of snow that I thought would never melt have melted, and my front yard is again just my front yard. The real reason we know its Spring is we just celebrated Purim, and what a Purim it was! We had a wonderful turn out and a Play (thanks to Alice) as a way of telling the story. We also enjoyed a scrumptious catered Middle Eastern Feast (with gluten and dairy free options!) thanks to the generosity and hard work of our very own Isabelle Eyman known professionally as “Busy Izzy” – caterer extraordinaire. Judy and Frayda, Eden, Aliza and Devorah helped make hamentashen to satisfy the hungry masses.
If Purim is behind us, then Passover should be just around the corner. This year for the first time in 19 years we are having the second Seder as our Community Seder. We plan to start later (5:30 sharp) but still do a short sweet Seder as we have always done. Kosher for Passover meal will be catered by Tate and Tate so of course there will be a fee, but it is as reasonable as we could make it. Ellyce is working hard at coordinating the Seder, so get your reservations to her as soon as possible so she can know how much to order. All are welcome, so please invite friends or neighbors that might like to attend as a way to meet our Community.
As you know, big changes are afoot at Shalom Bayit. Our affiliation has been approved and finalized and the Rabbi Search Committee is quite active. Please be on the lookout for any announcements about visits by potential Rabbis and do your best to attend any events they may lead. This will allow us to make a Community decision with input from everyone.
Please contact me if you would like to “sell your chametz”, I will be glad to provide the proper forms to effectuate a sale according to our ancient traditions.
Our custom is “All who are hungry should come and eat”. This is true during the entire year, but especially true at Passover time. If you are hosting a Seder, be generous in inviting people to attend. The holiday is central to our identity as a People and is to be enjoyed with Family and Friends, the more the merrier. If you need a place for Seder, please let me know and I will do my best to find you a warm welcome around the table. Blessings for a joyful and meaningful Passover, blue skies, and warmer temperatures.
R’ Jay
AFFILIATION AND RABBI SEARCH
“A rabbi is a daily learner of the Jewish library who is so joyous with her or his learning that s/he can’t wait to share it with his own people and beyond, even as Torah is acquired in small, yet frequent bites…” Rabbi Yossi Feintuch
Please join us at Shalom Bayit for Erev Shabbat Service on Friday, May 3rd at 7:00 pm to meet Rabbi Yossi Feintuch, and his wife, Judy. The topic of his comments on Erev Shabbat will be, “What does it mean to be holy?“
Rabbi Yossi will also lead Shabbat Torah Service at Shalom Bayit on Saturday, May 4th at 10:00 am followed by a potluck vegetarian luncheon. We will also gather for Havdallah at Shalom Bayit on May 4th at 7:30 pm to enjoy food from Kebaba and usher in the new week together.
Rabbi Yossi was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1994. Since ordination, he has served the Sephardic-Portuguese Jewish community on the island of Curacao, the oldest congregation in the Western Hemisphere. Rabbi Yossi also served at the only synagogue in Columbia, MO, Congregation Beth Shalom.
Rabbi Yossi received academic degrees from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (B.A. in International Relations and History), New York University (M.A. in History), and Emory University (Ph.D. in U.S. History); his doctoral dissertation was published by Greenwood Press under the title U.S. Policy on Jerusalem. Rabbi Yossi was just awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa by the HUC-JIR.
Additionally, Rabbi Yossi has taught in several academic institutions, including Ben-Gurion University (Beersheba, Israel), and the University of Missouri (Columbia, MO).
He has published numerous articles in various publications, including The CCAR Journal, the Reform Jewish Quarterly, and The Jewish Bible Quarterly.
Rabbi Yossi has been married for nearly 36 years to Judy; they have 3 grown children and 2 grandsons. He is a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces. An avid hiker and explorer, Rabbi Yossi hiked the Israel Trail over a 3-month period and recently backpacked solo in Nicaragua for five weeks.
We invite all our members and friends to make a point of coming out for as many events that weekend as possible so that we can get to know Rabbi Yossi and Judy, make them feel welcome and so that we can all have a voice in the next steps for our community.
EDITOR’S MESSAGE
Shalom, Friends!
We welcome you to share your news with the Jewish community. You may email me at newsletter@jccobend.com. Any submissions are encouraged; some topics may be submitted to the Board for approval.
B’Shalom,
Inez Shapiro
UPCOMING CAJE CONFERENCE FOR JEWISH EDUCATORS
Portland’s Reed College is hosting the 2019 CAJE Conference this summer, from 7/28 to 7/31. CAJE is a national organization that trains Jewish educators and advocates for Jewish education. We hope a large contingent from Central Oregon will attend. Pat Givens will attend on behalf of the Association of Jewish Libraries and Shalom Bayit and will give a talk on the importance of libraries. For more information: http://www.newcaje.org/home/newcaje10/faq/
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
We currently have an opening on the JCCO Board for Treasurer. Steven Foster-Wexler has graciously served us for almost 4 years but now needs to direct his energy towards his family and work obligations; thank you, Steven. We need a volunteer to take over this key position. If you have a background in finance, business or accounting or at least a basic understanding of the fundamentals of those disciplines please give strong consideration to filling this important role. Questions can be directed to Ron Schutz at president@jccobend.com.
JCCO BOARD
President: Ron Schutz president@jccobend.com
Vice President: Vacant
Treasurer: vacant finance@jccobend.com
Secretary: Delia Kirsch delkirs@gmail.com
Membership: Alice Huskey membership@jccobend.com
Past President: Ben Linder americanrancher@gmail.com
Members at Large:
Lester Friedman lfriedman@coldwellbanker.com
Doria Raitz. rbraetz@gmail.com
Ellyce Whalen ellyce2009@hotmail.com
Education Committee Chair: vacant
SHALOM BAYIT
JCCO BEND Jewish Community of Central Oregon
Shalom Bayit, 21555 Modoc Lane, Bend, Oregon
Rabbi Jay Schupak (rabbi@jccobend.com)
www.jccobend.com
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