Winter 2024 Temple Bulletin

Temple Sholom Bulletin Logo

Winter/Spring 2024
Temple Sholom
Monroe & North Streets
P.O. Box 501
Galesburg, IL 60402-0501

 

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE:

Thinking about forgiveness

Although it is not time for the High Holidays and the season of making amends, it is never inappropriate to take time for introspection.

At Temple Sholom we are a small community and a family.  Like many families, we have our interpersonal conflicts, varying priorities and communication issues.  We support each other.  And, we annoy each other.  We say nice things and we say things that we wish that we hadn’t.

For myself, I know that I’ve had some regrets about comments I’ve made, decisions I’ve made and times when I should have said something or times when I “should have kept my mouth shut”.

There have been times that I have apologized…but perhaps that’s not enough.  When a 5 year old child says, “I’m sorry” we often take the opportunity to talk about a more appropriate behavior.

So, when I, as an adult apologize, perhaps I should extend that apology and ask to talk to the person who I have hurt (or might have offended).  Then I would learn more about that person and expand our relationship.

Sometimes we don’t know that we have hurt someone’s feelings.  In our congregation/family, we may have hurt someone by not valuing their opinion or not noticing their feelings about an issue.  Sometimes the hurt has been so great that the person has left the congregation.

I hope to do better in monitoring myself, communicating and helping everyone to feel like they are valued in our community.  I encourage all of you to be careful with your words and to take time to enjoy the diversity of our congregation.

And when you sense that your feelings have been hurt or your priorities dismissed as unimportant, take the opportunity to try to have a conversation with your “brother” or “sister”.

Over the years, I have been part of several healing conversations and have learned quite a bit.

Our Temple Sholom community is important to all of us in different ways.  Let’s continue to nurture it and to enjoy our varied contributions to our caring and careful congregation.

 

RABBI’S MESSAGE:

I am writing this as I am flying home from the Union for Reform Judaism’s 150th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, D.C. It was a celebration of the Reform Movement, highlighting its history and the changes it has experienced over the last century and a half.  But of course, the situation in Israel cast a long and dark shadow over the event.  The events going on half a world away were very close to everyone’s minds and hearts.

The theme of the conference was Reconnect, Rejoice, and Recommit, and what I noticed is that everyone was going out of their way to be welcoming and kind.  While Israel and the war in Gaza were near constant themes of every talk, service, and presentation, there was a lot that wasn’t said too.  While the war was on everyone’s mind, the way it would come up in small group discussions or in casual conversations was very open ended. “What has the response been at your college?”  “How has your synagogue responded?”   It was as if the 700+ people at the event knew that holding us all together as a k’hal, as a community, would take nuance.  We would need to hold many ideas and opinions.  I felt as though the goal of the organizers was that they wanted everyone to feel like they belonged.  And I think it worked. Complete strangers were generous dinner companions, everyone was greeted with a smile, and one person even switched her seat so I would have someone close by.  I felt part of something bigger than myself, just like I do at Temple Sholom.

Just like at the URJ 150, we, as Temple Sholom, hold the full spectrum of views with regard to Israel.  But we are still a community.  A congregation who loves one another and cares for one another.  We each hold a piece of the puzzle that makes Temple Sholom whole.  And just as at the URJ 150 celebration, the topic of Israel is bound to come up in conversations at the synagogue.   I’d like to leave you with some advice I learned from a talk at the conference on how to have hard conversations.  The session leaders leaned heavily on The One America Movement, which is an organization who partners with faith communities to confront what they call “toxic polarization.”  The session leaders explained that the point of dialogue is not to change someone’s mind, but to learn.  And they noted that you don’t have to engage in hard conversations if you’re not ready. They recommended asking yourself if you are ready to hear other perspectives with an open curiosity.  If the answer is no, it’s okay to postpone.

I don’t think the international spotlight on Israel and Gaza is going away any time soon.  The topic of Israel is bound to come up.  But we are a community held together by values central to the URJ. Learning.  Justice. Belonging.  Shared Humanity.  (see more here: https://urj.org/what-we-believe/urj-values-vision-mission).  May the Temple always be a place where you know that you belong, and may we always see the shared humanity in each other.

With love,

Rabbi Jennie

 

SERVICE SCHEDULE

 Services are hybrid, with Zoom access here. For the link and password, please email TempleSholomGalesburg@gmail.com 

Date Leader Oneg Tech Shamash Holiday/Notes
1/5/24 Rabbi Bunde Rubin D. Bunde Lyon
1/12 Schulz Bunde J. Bunde
1/19 Jacobs Lyon Amor Tu Bishvat (1/25)
1/26 Karlin/Raley-Karlin Cohn/Eberhardt Lyon
2/2 Gold Karlin/Raley-Karlin J. Bunde
2/9 Rabbi Bunde Schulz D. Bunde Schulz
2/16 West West Lyon
2/23 Lyon Rubin J. Bunde
3/2 Rabbi Bunde Gold J. Bunde Lyon Saturday morning
3/8 D. Bunde Jacobs D. Bunde
3/15 Karlin/Raley-Karlin Gurevich Lyon
3/22 Rubin H. Lyon D. Bunde 6:30 start; Purim (3/24)
3/29 Gold Bunde J. Bunde
4/5 Satisky-Schulz Satisky Lyon
4/12 Rabbi Bunde Lyon D. Bunde Gold
4/19 West Cohn/Eberhardt J. Bunde
4/26 Jacobs Schulz Lyon Passover (1st night is 4/22)
5/3 D. Bunde Rubin J. Bunde Yom Hashoah (5/6)
5/11 Rabbi Bunde Gold D. Bunde Schulz Saturday morning
5/17 Amor West Lyon
5/24 Schulz Jacobs Amor Lag B’Omer (5/26)
5/31 Lyon Karlin/Raley-Karlin J. Bunde
6/7 Rubin Lyon D. Bunde

 

Oneg responsibilities include: providing the food for the oneg, setting it out in the social hall, and cleaning up afterwards.  (Beverages are kept in stock at the temple.)  If you cannot attend services the evening you are assigned for the oneg, please switch with someone for another night, rather than just dropping off the food ahead of time.  Thanks!

Need to switch?

If you cannot lead the service or provide the oneg, please find someone to switch with.  Inform David Bunde  of the switch.

 

TEMPLE NEWS

Changes in Ritual roles (from Penny Gold, outgoing Ritual Chair):

In December 2022, I agreed to take on the role of Ritual Chair for one final year. One of my goals for the year was to find ways to lessen the responsibilities of the Ritual Chair position, looking to make the duties lighter for the next person. In the summer, we instituted a new system of having a point-person for each holiday, and that has worked very well. The following people have taken on this responsibility:

  • Guy West (Leil Selichot)
  • Jeremy Karlin (Kever Avot)
  • Maury Lyon (Rosh Hashanah)
  • Penny Gold (Yom Kippur)
  • David Bunde (Sukkot and Shabbat)
  • Rabbi Bunde (Simchat Torah)
  • Shawn Greathouse (Hanukkah)
  • Susan Lyon (Tu B’Shevat)
  • Jonah Rubin & Michal Ran-Rubin (Purim)
  • Faye Schulz (Passover)

Many, many thanks to all who have taken on this role! They are not only relieving the Ritual Chair of many duties, but are also bringing new ideas to our observances–a great benefit to the congregation.

Later this fall, the Ritual Committee (in consultation with the Board), found a way to further share the responsibilities of the Chair. Here are the two further changes:

  • The Ritual Chair will still be the person with oversight of ritual matters, consulting with the Ritual Committee and the Rabbi, reporting to the Board, seeking feedback from the congregation when needed. But a new position of Assistant to the Chair of the Ritual Committee will take over the small administrative tasks, mostly reminders of one sort or another.
  • The role of coordinating b’nai mitzvah, which was previously done by the Ritual Chair, will now be done be a separate person, the B’nai Mitzvah Coordinator.

The Ritual Chair, the Assistant to the Chair, the Rabbi, the Point-Persons, the B’nai Mitzvah Coordinator, and the Ritual Committee will now make up a kind of “ritual team” for the congregation.

Do get in touch with the new Ritual Chair if you have any suggestions about the new arrangements.

And thank you for all your help and support over the many years I have served as Ritual Chair!

 

Ritual Committee Appointments (From Faye Schulz, Temple President)

Many thanks to Penny for breaking down all the duties and making sure that the new positions would not be overwhelming. Thanks as well to those who have taken on new responsibilities.  The following people have been appointed to the Ritual Committee:

  • Susan Lyon, Ritual Chair
  • Jonah Rubin, Assistant to the Ritual Chair
  • Faye Schulz, B’nai Mitzvah Coordinator

Members of the Ritual Committee are now: Susan Lyon (Chair), David Amor, Rabbi Jennie Bunde, Penny Gold, Gabe Raley-Karlin, Jonah Rubin, and Faye Schulz.

 

Chicken Noodle Soup for Blessings in a Backpack

Blessings in a Backpack, which provides weekend meals for local elementary school students facing food insecurity, is collecting easy-open cans of chicken noodle soup.  Their goal is to collect a total of 8,000 cans through the Temple and other local faith organizations.  If you can contribute, please bring cans of soup to the Temple (on the stage) or the Kleine Center for Community Service on the Knox College campus (in Alumni Hall at 52 West South Street, Room 201) by January 15th.

 

MAZEL TOV

MAZEL TOV! to Jan West, who will be celebrating her 80th birthday on March 13th, 2024.  She was born in Rice Lake, WI and now lives at Lake Rice in Galesburg.  She moved to Galesburg in 1967 and has been a member of the Temple Sholom family ever since.  She served as the treasurer for National Council of Jewish Women for many years and was active in selling and distributing our calendar to many local businesses.  She was also very active in the annual Temple rummage sale.  Two of her children had their B’nai Mitzvahs at the Temple.  She still remembers being the “new kid” at the Temple, even though now she is one of the “old guard.”

 

FAREWELL

Stephen Sotavento is switching to a different temple that is closer to his new home. He passes on the message “I thank Temple Shalom and the community that you are”.

 

NAMES FOR THE MI SHEBEIRACH LIST

If you have a name you would like to add to the Mi Shebeirach list for healing, send a note to Gabe, chair of the Hesed Committee. We will keep saying the name each week, until we know there’s no longer a special need for this person. We will still ask for names at each service; this is just an additional way to add a name to the list.

 

SAVE THE DATE!

 The Temple Passover Seder will be on Monday, April 22nd.  More details to come!

 

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Here is a picture of the Purim play in 2017.  Can you tell who everyone is?  (Their character or the people themselves…)

NEWS AND LINKS OF INTEREST

Religious School mitzvah project: This fall the religious school children did the first in what we hope will be a series of mitzvah projects, initiated and led by Rabbi Bunde as part of her role in the religious school. Our students study about Jewish values throughout the year, but this is a way in which we can help them put those values into practice in the community. Our project this fall was to help out in the community orchard founded by Annette and Walt McAllister on the south side of Galesburg. The fruit in the orchard will be available for free to all. Early in November, we were able to assist them by picking up all the sticks that had fallen from some large trees on the property, something they have to do before each time they mow. We also helped mulch some of the young trees. Annette and Walt were delighted to have our help, and we all had a good time working together!  Many thanks to Hannah Lyon, who made the connection for us with Walt and Annette. If you know of something else that might be a good mitzvah opportunity for the children (who range from grades 1 to 9), please let me or Rabbi Bunde know.  Penny Gold, Religious School Coordinator.

ACCESS TO BROOKSIDE CEMETERY

For security reasons, car access to Brookside Cemetery is controlled by having a locked gate at the entrance, but you can always walk in through the smaller gate to the side. Make a note of the lock combination (0311) 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, and Jeremy Karlin.

Scholarship funding available for Jewish camps:  a $200 scholarship per child per year to families sending children to Jewish camps. A maximum of $1,000 will be budgeted yearly. Apply to the Temple Treasurer by January 15. 

The Hesed Committee

Once a year we put a reminder in the bulletin about the Temple’s Hesed Committee. If you know of someone who might need assistance, or if you could use some help yourself, contact Penny Gold (pgold@knox.edu), who will follow up from there. Examples of the kinds of help we can provide:

  • Dinner meals for a period of time when someone is ill, or for a family where a new baby has been born.
  • Rides to services for those who can’t drive.
  • Visits to someone who is ill or in a nursing home.
  • Participation in daily services during shiva, and providing food at the home.
  • Welcoming newcomers to the community.

2024/578_ Festival Schedule

(Note: festivals begin the previous sunset)

Tu B’Shvat                   Jan 25

Purim                           Mar 24

Pesach                          Apr 23-30

Yom Hashoah               May 6

Shavuot                        June 12

 

DONATION RECORD

In support of Temple Sholom

Janis Zilinskas (two gifts)

Arlene and Steve West

 

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).

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, 335-7192.