Fall 2021 Bulletin

Fall 2021

Temple Sholom

Monroe & North Streets

P.O. Box 501 Galesburg, IL 60402-0501

President’s Message: Things that I’ve learned during Covid, by Faye Schulz.

I’ve learned quite a bit this year of Covid. I’ll make a little list and them comment on a couple of these.

• Friends and family are important. It is challenging to interact in new and satisfying ways.
• Prayer and meditation are important. They help to calm my spirit and sometimes have helped me to feel less “out of control.”
• Community is important. The Temple Sholom community has been a source of strength. I value our community and hope to bring good communication and a feeling of inclusivity to all.
• Looking into the past and touching others who remember you from long ago.
• Planning your day is good for your brain. I’ve been working on strength, endurance,puzzles, Duolingo and keeping my desk clean. I’ve been successful at some of these.
• Taking care of your body with healthy foods is good for you.
• Challenging yourself to learn and grow is important at any age.

I do plan to keep up with my exercise and healthy eating ideas. Chuck and I quit eating red meat and have expanded our vegetarian options. I do not miss the meat and I’ve learned about many new recipes.

As part of my challenge to myself, I’ve been reading the weekly Torah portion in English every week. I’ve been successful in doing this every Shabbat. So, I am pleased to say that I’ve almost made it through the whole year. Next year, I plan to continue with the book of Joshua, perhaps reading three chapters each week.

As president, I hope that we are all able to work together to make Temple Sholom a place of prayer, comfort and learning for all. I hope that everyone feels that they can talk to me about their concerns about our community. I hope that I am able to be the president that our congregation needs.

Faye Schulz

Rabbi’s message: Reflections as the High Holy Days Approach, by Rabbi Henry Jay Karp.

Since I will not be seeing you before October, let me take this opportunity to wish each and every member of Temple Sholom a Shanah Tovah U’Metukah (A Happy & Sweet New Year) and G’mar Chatimah Tovah (May Yom Kippur See You Sealed for Blessings in the Book of Life)! God knows, after the past year and a half, we all need and deserve as much sweetness, joy, and blessings as our lives can absorb! I hope you all join me in the prayer that 5782 will be a great year for us all.

As every living rabbi and generations of rabbis who have departed this life, have said on multiple occasions, the power and purpose of the High Holy Days is to offer the Jewish people the opportunity to enter a serious period of self-examination, a time for us to take an inventory of our lives; all that we have done and said, and all that we have left undone and unsaid. Having taken that inventory, we can begin to grapple with the challenge of how, in the year ahead, we can do better and how we can be better as Jews, as family members, as neighbors, as citizens, as human beings; how can we move closer to being our best authentic selves. If we take that calling seriously, we will recognize that it is not an easy task to accomplish, but if we are successful, it will be a glorious achievement, enabling us to bring far more joy to the lives of others and to ourselves. We can make of ourselves finer human beings, and in so doing, make our world a finer, more humane place in which to live.

There is a real urgency to accomplish the task before us. We cannot afford to wait a day, a week, a month, or a year. We must start as soon as humanly possible and not be lax in our efforts. As PIRKE AVOT teaches, Rabbi Eliezer said to his students, “Repent one day before your death.” When his students asked: “Does a person know the day of his death?” Rebbe Eliezer replied: “All the more so should we repent today, lest we die tomorrow” (Chapter 2, Mishnah 15).

Shanah Tovah to you all! May the coming year be one filled with blessing we receive and blessings we bestow!

Rabbi Henry Jay Karp

Rabbinical Intern’s message, Jennie Bunde.

I am writing this message at the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul. Elul is a time of reflection and contemplation. It can even be thought of as a “warm-up” month as we head into the High Holiday season.

Traditionally, the shofar is blown every day during the month of Elul, to wake us up and remind us that we need to prepare for Yom Kippur – we can’t do all of our teshuva, all of our repentance, in just one day.

So I have taken to trying to blow my shofar every day. Key word: trying. I’m TERRIBLE at blowing the shofar. I sound like an anemic moose on my best days. But I keep working at it. I watch how-to videos on Youtube (yes, there are Youtube videos for everything). But this is what Elul is all about. Starting now to find things to try to improve upon.

It’s nearly impossible to expect that, in one day, your soul can take a profound and meaningful journey of repentance, and that you will be able to commit to improving your day to day behaviors. That’s not really how most humans work. Instead, Jews have a month of repentance spring training (or fall training, as the case may be). There is a teaching that says the name “Elul” is actually an acronym from the verse in Song of Songs: Ani l’dodi v’dodi li (“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”). We take this month to recommit ourselves to the Divine in the way that we understand it.

As we move into the High Holiday season, take a moment to ask yourself, “what do I want to get out of Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur – what do I want them to mean to me?” And when you find those answers, please reach out to me so that we can work together to help you achieve those goals.

Ketivah vachatimah tovah, may you be inscribed and sealed for a good year, and I look forward to continuing this journey with you.

Jennie Bunde

Covid Guidelines

Responding to recent developments, the Temple Board recently approved new guidelines for in- person attendance at services inside the Temple building. Note that only vaccinated people may attend services in person, and that we ask people to provide documentation of vaccination in advance or before entry to the building (further details under “Implementation,” below).

COVID GUIDELINES FOR TEMPLE SHOLOM

Approved by the Temple Sholom Board, August 29, 2021

THE HIGH HOLIDAYS

1. All High Holiday services can be attended remotely via the Temple’s Zoom site.
2. Only vaccinated people may attend services in-person at the Temple.
3. Choral singing by the congregation (masked) is permitted.
4. The shofar will be blown, but will have a bell cover.
5. All events involving unvaccinated children will be separate and preferably outdoors.
6. In lieu of a sit-down oneg on Erev Rosh Hashanah and a full break-fast at the end of Yom Kippur, we will offer kiddush and motzi outside on tables.SHABBAT

1. All Shabbat services can be attended remotely via the Temple’s Zoom site.
2. Only vaccinated people may attend services in-person at the Temple.
3. Masks will be worn in accordance with state of Illinois mandates.
4. Oneg/kiddush may be served.

Implementation: Because we are limiting in-person attendance to people who are vaccinated, we ask that you provide proof of vaccination. You can send a photo ofyour vaccination to Faye Schulz, fdschulz@comcast.net, or you can bring your vaccination card (or a photo of it) with you to services. We trust the small inconvenience of showing your card will be outweighed by the reassurance of knowing that all who are attending in person are vaccinated. Thank you for your help as we navigate this new terrain

Welcome to our new Temple members

We are delighted to welcome as new members Dean Alexander and Julieta Mihai, and their son Liam, who will begin religious school this fall. Dean teaches in the Law Enforcement and Justice Administration department at Western Illinois University, and Julieta teaches violin in the WIU School of Music.

Mazel tov

To Ben Winick, son of Chris and Norm Winick, and Lari Dierk, who will be married on September 5, 2021.

To Stephen Lee and Bryce Kidman, who will be married on October 15, 2021. (See “New to the Area” for more about Stephen and Bryce.

To Maurice Cohn, for winning the Aspen Conductor Prize, which carries with it the invitation to return to the Aspen Music Festival as Assistant in the summer of 2022.

HIGH HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 5782/2021

Rabbi Reni Dickman ● Rabbinic Intern: Jennie Bunde Keyboard: David Amor ● Vocal Soloist: Lucas Wood

All services and study sessions will be hybrid offerings, both in person and on the Temple’s Zoom site. Please contact TempleSholomGalesburg@gmail.com for the Zoom information.

Free flipbook version of the High Holiday prayerbooks available here: https://www.ccarnet.org/publications/hhd/

We are happy to deliver the High Holiday mahzor, Mishkan HaNefesh, to people living in the area.

Please contact Jonah Rubin or Faye Schulz if you would like copies delivered to you: jsrubin@knox.edu, fdschulz@comcast.net

NOTES FOR ROSH HASHANA AND YOM KIPPUR AFTERNOONS:
Reverse tashlich –Join environmentally conscious Jewish communities around the world in reversing the tradition of Tashlich. Remove human ‘sins’ (marine debris) from the water in a collaborative waterfront cleanup.

Break, Walk, or Study Session #1 — Three choices are being offered concurrently. Choose to take a break, take a walk with one of our service leaders, or stay for a study session led by one of our service leaders.

Break, Children’s Service, or Walk & Study Session #2 — Three choices are being offered concurrently. Choose to take a break, stay for the children’s service led by one of our service leaders, or take a combination study session walk with one of our service leaders.

GUESTS ARE WELCOME AT OUR HIGH HOLIDAY SERVICES—NO TICKETS NEEDED!

****************

SHABBAT & HOLIDAY SERVICES, FALL 2021

Services are hybrid, with some people present at the Temple and others attending on Zoom

See detailed High Holiday schedule for more details on elements of our High Holiday activities.

Oneg Shabbat

Need to switch? If you cannot lead services on the date listed, please find someone to switch with. Also let David Bunde know about the switch, as he sends out the weekly reminders: dbunde@knox.edu or 309-335-7130.

Rabbi hospitality

We will be scheduling rabbi hospitality visit by visit this fall.

Welcome to several people new to the area or newly interested in Temple Sholom

Mary & Murrell Howell and Larry Winsberg (Mary’s cousin) moved to Macomb in 2020. Born in Galesburg, Mary has lived in many places across the country. Now retired, she has been a college professor (economics, accounting, mathematics) and has also worked as an accountant (including for the Orange County Jewish Federation), as has her cousin Larry. Murrell is a nuclear radiation hardening research scientist.

Stephen Lee and Bryce Kidman, who moved to Carthage, Illinois last April. Stephen’s grandfather was a Rabbi. Stephen and Bryce look forward to coming to the Temple once Covid has died down—may that be soon!

Lea Greenberg, who has recently joined the Knox faculty, teaching German in the Modern Languages Department. Lea has teaching and research interests in Jewish Studies.

Kiefer Ray, who would like to let everyone know that he is very appreciative to be included in the congregation. He hopes to learn Torah and Judaism and be a part of things as much as he can into the future.

Leanne Sims Trapedo, who has recently joined the Knox faculty as the Daniel J. Logan Assistant Professor of Peace and Justice. Her book on Reckoning with Restorative Justice: Hawai’i Women’s Prison Writing will be published by Duke University Press in 2022.

Todah rabah

To Chuck and Faye Schulz, Judy Thorn, Sam Satisky, Maury Lyon, David Amor, and Penny Gold for trimming the bushes.

To Maury Lyon for mowing the lawn.

To Jonah Rubin for constructing the new website, and to Penny Gold for help on editing and proofing the text on the site.

To the members of the Capital Campaign Committee, for their dedicated and very productive work in preparing for the launch of our campaign: Co-Chairs Bob Bondi and Penny Gold, and David Amor, Maury Lyon, Kevin Satisky, and Terry Schubach.

Shabbat Oneg will be held at each Shabbat service. Since there will be a small number attending

in person, the refrigerator will have an ongoing cookie supply.

Religious School

After a Covid year and a half of doing Hebrew classes only, we will resume our regular schedule this fall. Following the example of school District 205, we will be using the CDC guidelines for schools to guide our practice. We will be masked and distanced, but I know we will find ways to make our Jewish learning fun and rewarding.

Our new Temple Sholom website

We are pleased to introduce our new Temple Sholom website: https://templesholomgalesburg.org. The new site was built in conjunction with a “web builder” platform available to us through the Union of Reform Judaism, which gives us some new functionality. Many thanks to Bob Bondi, who put up and maintained our previous (and first) website for many years, and many thanks to Jonah Rubin, who put up the new site and will also be maintaining it. Do check out the new site, and if you find any errors or have suggestions for improvements, Jonah would very much like your input: jsrubin@knox.edu.

Photos needed!

We’d love to have more photos on the website, and as current photos get out of date, we’d like to replace them with more recent ones. As we get together for one gathering or another, we encourage you to take some photos, and to send any good ones to Jonah. Or if you have any older photos on hand that you think would be a good addition to the site, he’d love to have those also. Thanks much!

The Temple is partnering with Brookside Cemetery in the launch of a Capital Campaign starting this fall. Information about the campaign will be coming to you soon!

Temple Officers and Board Members, voted in at the Annual Meeting, July 11, 2021 Faye Schulz, President
Kevin Satisky, Vice President
Jonah Rubin, Secretary

Maury Lyon, Treasurer Bob Bondi
Steve Cohn
Penny Gold

Carol Grodjesk
Jim Jacobs
Jeremy Karlin
Gabrielle Raley
Jan West, Honorary Board Member

Jennie Bunde (Rabbinic Intern), non-voting observer in 2021/22

Interested in Joining the Temple as a Member?

Temple Sholom welcomes all to attend services (including the High Holidays) and other events without formal membership. But of course, we would also be delighted to have you as a member. As an inclusive Temple, our membership ranks are open to all, we do not have any minimum membership dues, and no member will be turned away due to lack of ability to pay. For those who are able, we ask members to contribute 1% – 1.5% of their household’s gross annual income. Rather than making inquiries about members’ income, we prefer that you make the judgment yourself. As a congregation we are committed to welcoming all who wish to join our community, regardless of financial means, so if a contribution in this range would be a hardship to you, just contribute what you can. To submit an annual contribution, one sends a check (made out to Temple Sholom and marked “annual contribution”) to our treasurer

at: Temple Sholom, P.O. Box 501, Galesburg, IL 61402-0501. Some members pay in full early in the fall; others prefer to pay in monthly or quarterly installments.

Donations (June 7, 2021 – August 31, 2021 ) In support of Temple Sholom

Shirley Rudman Trust

In memory of Ken Grodjesk

Carol Grodjesk

In memory of Daniel Rudman and Roy Meyers

Marjorie Rudman and Steven Cooper

In memory of Jeremy Gold Amor

Penny Gold and David Amor

In memory of Joe Grodjesk

Carol Grodjesk

For the purchase of a Chromebook for the Temple

Jan West

For the speedy recovery of Joshua Clifford Gold and of Adele Gold Messina

Penny Gold and David Amor

Don’t see your name? If you have made a donation but do not see your name on this list and/or have not received an acknowledgement by mail, please let Nancy Eberhardt know. Sorry in advance for any slip ups!

Making a donation to Temple Sholom? If you would like to make a donation to Temple Sholom, please send your check to: Maury Lyon, Treasurer, Temple Sholom, Box 501, Galesburg, IL 61402-050, identifying the nature of the gift (e.g., in memory of, in honor of, or for the speed recovery of a particular person). Maury will notify Nancy Eberhardt, who takes care of correspondence concerning such gifts (e.g., notifying the family of the deceased that a gift has been made in memory of that person). You can also now donate online, paying with PayPal or a credit card. Go to https://templesholomgalesburg.org/ and click on the Donate menu tab.

Happy Tree of Life Donations

Donations may be made in recognition of a variety of events, for example: in honor of a happy occasion (anniversary, birth, bar/bat mitzvah, birthday, etc.), or in honor of an individual or family. Donations may be made by an individual or a group, and may be made at three levels: a leaf ($200), an acorn ($500), and a stone ($1,000). A leaf can be engraved with four lines of text with 20 characters in each line, plus a brief fifth line (often a date). Acorns and stones are larger than leaves and can accommodate more text. Sample wordings can be found by looking on the Happy Tree of Life. If you want to make a donation, you can send your gift, along with specification of wording, to Maury Lyon, Treasurer, Temple Sholom, Box 501, Galesburg, IL 61402-0501

Memorial Plaques: If you would like to purchase a memorial plaque ($250), send your donation and desired wording to Maury Lyon, Treasurer, Temple Sholom, Box 501, Galesburg, IL 61402-0501. You will find samples of what to include on the plaque by looking at ones already on the memorial board.

Gift Shop

Gift shop offerings have been pared back to candles (Shabbat, memorial, Hanukkah) and mezuzot. The easiest times to access the case are Friday evenings before or after services. For access at another time, contact Faye Schulz, 335-7182.

Corrections and Additions: If you have corrections or additions for the new edition of Temple contact list, please send them to Penny Gold, pgold@knox.edu, or call 342-0232.

Access to Brookside Cemetery: For security reasons, car access to Brookside Cemetery is controlled by having a locked gate atthe entrance, but you can always walk in through the smaller gate to the side. Make a note of the lock combination so that you have it when you go to visit the cemetery. Please make sure the gate is closed after you exit, with the padlock re-locked. If you have any questions, please contact one of the cemetery trustees: Bob Bondi, David Amor, Jeremy Karlin.