Current - Temple Emanu-El

Kama’s Corner
“People often avoid making decisions out of
fear of making a mistake. Actually, the
fail ure to make decisions is one of life’s
biggest mistakes.” – Rabbi Noah Weinberg
I read this quote recently and was tickled to find it came from
the mouth of a famous Rabbi. I was tickled because I have
been overwhelmed by the number of decisions I find myself
making as Temple Emanu-El’s Executive Director. And I
experience fear around many of them. Reading the second
sentence of this quote brought me some comfort. It’s not that
I shouldn’t have feelings of fear…It’s just that I need to make
the decisions anyway. And THAT is what I’ve been doing!
These decisions mean change… Change for me, change for
the A-Team, change for you – our congregants. And change is
good. But it is often uncomfortable or unsettling. In the end, I
tend to find that change is inevitable and that we adapt
quickly and (we hope) gracefully.
Some changes I’d like to acknowledge & share:
1) MaryAnn Orlowski, who served Temple Emanu-El for
many years as its bookkeeper, has completed her
temporary assignment with us on the Administrative
Team. I am deeply grateful to MaryAnn for her willingness
to return to Temple Emanu-El in this capacity and
assist me in transitioning our back-end accounting
function to a solution that is based in accounting best
practices. Her efforts were heartfelt as is her love for our
congregation.
And moving forward as we embrace this change, please
join me in welcoming our newest A-Team member,
Andrew Scher, our part-time bookkeeper. Andrew is an
accounting major at San Jose State and will be in the
Temple office three days a week. He is a wonderful
addition to our Team. If you have any questions
regarding your account at the Temple, please feel free to
email Andrew at Andrew@templesanjose.org.
2) You may have noticed slight differences in your Temple
account statements. We are now fully functional in our
new database – ShulSuite! We are generating monthly
& quarterly account statements for all our congregants
from this new tool. Your statements may not look
exactly the same but we ask you to join us in celebrating
these infrastructure updates with the understanding
that this improvement ultimately brings new efficiencies
and greater accuracy to Temple Emanu-El’s back office.
3) And finally, I want to share a change which is personal
to me. I share this about me because I am quite clear
that when I experience great personal change, it is
obvious to those with whom I work and serve at
Temple Emanu-El. Such is the nature of a closely
connected work environment. My son, Calvin - my
first- born - graduated from high school in June and will
be departing this month for the University of Southern
California. As I’m sure many of you can imagine (or have
already experienced with your own children), I am so
proud of him. And I am also so sad to see him go. I want
to thank each person at Temple Emanu-El who has
assisted me these past few months around this exciting
and sometimes heartbreaking transition. A special
thanks to the Sr. Staff and the Administrative Team who
have opened their hearts to me and have “covered” for
me when it was necessary. I am blessed with their
friendship and understanding.
Always feel free to email me if you have questions about
changes or decisions we make on behalf of the Temple. I am
happy to hear your concerns and help clarify any issues you
may have. And “empty nesters” advice is now greatly
appreciated!
Thank you for your patience as I navigate these uncharted
waters – both professionally and personally!
-Kama Fletcher
4
Ritual Committee
An Adult’s Bat Mitzvah Experience 1.5 years in the making
-by Lori Rush
I’ve been Jewish all my life, but never realized what it really
felt like to be Jewish. I went to Hebrew school for four years
and learned to read and recite a couple of the standard prayers
like the the Sh’ma, Kiddush, and motzi. But we were social
Jews, the High Holy Days Jews, and I remember how painful
it was to sit through a conservative service in Brooklyn.
Fast forward several decades later, after spending a couple of
years at Temple Emanu-El, I became very interested in really
wanting to take my rite of passage as a Jew… thus the adult
Bat Mitzvah.
I was encouraged to B’nai Mitzvah, but I did not want to wait
until 2014 or later. Generously, Rabbi and Cantor supported
me as a Bat Mitzvah.
I did a lot of learning on my own with weekly supplements
attending Minyan – religiously (no pun) and Shabbat at least 2
times a month. I would be at the gym from 6 AM–8 AM every
Saturday, and then race to Minyan. On Sundays I would be
at the gym from 8–10:00 AM then race to Cantor’s classes in
the BFR. The services and Cantor’s classes taught me what
the Bat Mitzvah ritual is about. Receiving and learning my
parsha was soul-searching for me. I went to the depths of my
life experiences, and intertwined it with what I thought the
Torah was saying. The net result was my commitment to my
Jewishness.
Standing on the Bimah was momentous. The spiritual energy
from Rabbi, Cantor and the Torahs, was radiant. The Sh’ma
was profound!
The following week after my Bat Mitzvah I was at Shabbat and
Minyan; this was of my own free will, imagine that!
I’ve asked several relatives and friends, who were B’nai
Mitzvahed as young adults, what they remember about their
B’nai Mitzvah. Most of them said they do not remember and
this is very sad to me. To have forgotten how great this
experience is is a shame. Maybe they were too young to
realize what it really means.
Becoming an Adult Bat Mitzvah was an amazing learning
experience, and exceeded absolutely everything I thought it
would be. It’s like falling in love, that beautiful warm secure
feeling.
ISRAEL TRIP 2014
If you have ever wanted to travel to Israel, now is
the time. Rabbi Magat will be leading a trip to
Israel from June 17- July 2, 2014. Join us for an
informational orientation on August 21 at 6:00
PM. Please RSVP to admin@templesanjose.org.
Food will be provided.