February 2012 - Beth El Synagogue

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10 i Each Mishloah Manot box contains delicious Hamentashen and a variety of treats sure to please all ages for only $10.00 per box. Simply fill out the order form on the next page and mail with a check. Please choose either to have the box sent to the recipient for an additional $6.00 each or you can pick up you boxes at Beth El on Sunday, March 4th during the Purim Carnival. You can also order online through the Beth El website at www.bethelsynagogue.org/mishloah-manot Paid orders are due by Friday, February 24 th to ensure timely delivery. Marriage Amendment Act Continued from previous page Where do we as a synagogue stand? At Beth El, we strive to affirm resolutions of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly calling on us to welcome gays and lesbians into our congregation. We provide, for example, our gay couples the same synagogue family membership as we offer heterosexual couples. But there is more we can do to be inclusive and more to discuss. Therefore, I have asked our board to take up this topic and I invite you to share your thoughts with board members. In March, I will be taking a much anticipated four month sabbatical and leaving for Israel. I will not, therefore, have the opportunity to follow up with you on this topic as I would like. But with the political campaign in full swing, I did not want to leave this issue unaddressed until I return this summer. Between now and the beginning of March, I hope to hear your thoughts on the matter. Feel free to email or call me. If you are interested in getting involved in this and other social justice issues, contact Beth El congrgeants, Bruce Hope, Jodi Wolk, Lynn Hvidsten or me directly at 952-873-7300. I know that there is not unanimity among Beth El congregants on this topic. Indeed, I expect some are uncomfortable that I am addressing it at all. But as with Beth El’s decision allowing women to fully participate in synagogue life (i.e, to read from the Torah, lead services, etc.), I believe that now is the time to affirm the dignity of all people based not only on gender but on sexual orientation. There is much more that can and should be said. But I will end with this final thought. In December, Rabbi Greenberg, an openly gay, Orthodox rabbi and former Stillman scholarin-resident, performed a Jewish commitment ceremony for two men. In reflecting on the groundbreaking ceremony, Greenberg wrote, “An externally imposed lifelong exclusion from love and intimacy for tens of thousands of people (in the Jewish community alone) borders on religious irresponsibility, if not cruelty. God is not cruel and does not demand the impossible from anyone… If it is “not good for the human to be alone,” then some form of life trajectory that includes love, intimacy and companionship and even family building must be possible for all of us.
ONLINE ordering available at www.bethelsynagogue.org/mishloah-manot All paid orders must be received by Friday, February 24th to ensure timely delivery. Please be sure to check whether you would like each box shipped for an additional $6.00 per box or if you will be picking your order up at Beth El on Sunday, March 4th at the Purim Carnival. Please mail this order form and check payable to Beth El Synagogue by February 24th to: Mishloah Manot c/o Beth El at 5224 W 26th St, St. Louis Park, MN 55416. Questions? Contact Carol Weingart at 952-873-7313. `i11
Page 1 and 2: BETH EL SYNAGOGUE S H O F A R FEBRU
Page 3 and 4: synagogue news Purim Purim Purim! P
Page 5 and 6: `iypdna message from our president
Page 7 and 8: miigd xefgn life cycles Anniversar
Page 9: committees & affiliates Women’s L
Page 13 and 14: zenexz tributes Yahrzeit Contributi
Page 15: Rabbi Alexander Davis Assistant Rab

February 2012 - Beth El Synagogue

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