hIghlIghts - Congregation Beth El

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MUSIC ROOMby Rabbi Reuben ZellmanHere in the Music Room you can keep up with the flourishingmusical life of our congregation. At Beth El, music is anopportunity for connection to community; a wonderful vehicle forengaging in Jewish language, history, ideas, culture and art; andone of many paths to G-d and spiritual experience.I hope you’ll join us for some of the musical happenings below.If you have questions or want to join in, contact me any time:RabbiRZ@bethelberkeley.org, or 848-3988 ext 228.Yismechu Chanting Service3rd Friday of every month, 6:15 pmUpcoming Chanting Services: February 15, March 15, April 19Join us for meditative song and chant to welcome in Shabbat.Bring your harmonies and your spirit to share. There’s hardlyany talking in this service, just music: sacred words andwordless melodies from many corners of the Jewish world,with spontaneous harmony and gentle drumming. You areenthusiastically welcome whether or not you think you can sing.The service lasts one hour and will include the Sh’ma, Mourner’sKaddish and quiet time for the Amidah or reflection. Begin yourShabbat with music for your soul!Purim Musicians Needed!If you’re interested in playing, singing, acting, or chantingMegillah, we want YOU to be part of this year’s Purimentertainment on Saturday night, February 23rd. To join in thefun, contact Rabbi Zellman. See all the details about Beth El’sPurim celebration on page 15.Join the Band!Bring your talents and creativity to Beth El! The bandsencompass many genres, from jazz and swing to classical, folkmusic and traditional Jewish genres like klezmer. The bandswelcome all instruments—folk, orchestral and traditional bandinstruments, both acoustic and electric. Whether you’re anamateur or a pro, bring your instrument and join in.The adult band rehearses monthly on Thursday evenings, andat 7:00 pm before each Band Shabbat. For more information,contact Rabbi Zellman. The teen band is open to musicians in8th grade and above. Rehearsals are on the fourth Thursday ofevery month with a few exceptions, from 6:00-8:00 pm. Referto: www.bethelberkeley.org/learning/teen-band. A full bandschedule is available on the website. For more information,contact Rebecca DePalma at rebecca@bethelberkeley.org.Sing with the Chorus:All Community Members Welcome!Beth El’s Chorus brings glorious harmonies to Shabbat servicesand High Holy Days, as well as community performances. Thechorus is always open to new singers, and musical backgroundis not necessary. All Beth El members who love to sing areencouraged to come check it out! Upcoming chorus activitiesin 2013 include preparing for the hilarious Purim musicalentertainment, representing Beth El at Berkeley’s multi-faithThanksgiving celebration, and singing in a unique concert seriesfeaturing Jewish music of the Renaissance period (see below.)Rehearsals are weekly on Wednesdays. Contact Rabbi Zellmanwith questions, or to join in.Jewish Choral Music of the Renaissance andBaroque: Concert Series Begins this FallBeginning in the fall of 2013, Beth El is fortunate to host anextremely unusual and exceptionally beautiful concert series,focused entirely on Jewish choral and vocal music of theRenaissance and Baroque periods: The Beth El Chorus andother area musicians will collaborate with the professional SanFrancisco Renaissance Voices and Baroque chamber orchestra.We encourage you to sing with the chorus for this uniqueopportunity! The first set of rehearsals for this concert series willbe weekly on Wednesday evenings, April 3 to June 5.Interested in leading services or chanting Torah orHaftarah? Beth El needs you!These fun, important and much-appreciated musical mitzvot areavailable all year round. Slots are available almost every singleweek. If you know how to chant Torah or lead prayers—orwould like to learn—please contact Rabbi Zellman and he willbe very happy to sign you up!How to Chant TorahAdult Education Class begins in May6 sessions: Thursdays, May 16 to June 20, 7:00-9:00 pmHave you ever wondered how Torah chanters know whatmelodies to use, and where to start and stop? Have you beenintrigued by the Torah’s more fabulous dots and squiggles?These symbols are called “trope,” and they give us the Torah’smelodies, as well as punctuation and pronunciation. The systemof chanting Torah is ancient, beautiful, fun and totally learnable.No musical background or previous familiarity is required; peopleof all backgrounds are welcome. Join Rabbi Reuben Zellman andfellow community members to learn how to do this mitzvah. Formore information, contact Rabbi Zellman (see above).Band Shabbats coming up!Mark your calendars for these upcoming Shabbat evenings tosing along and hear our bands play. All are Friday nights at7:30 p.m. February 8, March 8 and May 10.12The Builder: February & March 2013
The congregation is cordially invited toattend the service and kiddush followingto honor these B’nei Mitzvah candidates:B’NEI MITZVAHMia Talkovsky will be called to the Torahas a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, February9 at 10:15 am. She is the daughter ofMichael Talkovsky.Yoav Vigoda will be called to the Torahas a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, February 23at 10:15 am. He is the son of Zimra andDavid Vigoda, and the grandson of RabbiEmeritus Ference Raj and Paula Raj.Gideon Ze’ev Dale will be called to theTorah as a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, March2 at 10:15 am. He is the son of Andy Dale.Adam Zheleznyak will be called tothe Torah as a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday,February 16 at 10:15 am. He is the son ofAlexander and Izabella Zheleznyak.Ruben Bergtraun will be called to theTorah as a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, March23 at 10:15 am. He is the son of Alex andMichelle Bergtraun.New Books in the Libraryby Scott Spear, Library ChairPLEASE CHECK TO SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY LIBRARY BOOKSTHAT SHOULD BE RETURNED.Donations to the Aaron Plishner and Rabbi GeorgeVida Funds make it possible to buy new children’s andadult’s books. Here are some new adult books:Crisis and Creativity in the Sephardic World, 1391-1648, ed. by Benjamin Gampel, is a collection of studiesby outstanding scholars, such as Raymond Scheindlin, YosefYerushalmi, and Moshe Idel, about the Sephardic Diaspora:communal, intellectual, cultural, and political, and on poetry,philosophy and Kabbalah.The Fortune Teller’s Kiss is the memoir byBrenda Serotte of growing up, stricken withpolio, in a Sephardic family in the Bronx, 50years ago. The poet’s story is “passionate andengaging,” says Ilan Stavans. “Enthralling,bittersweet, funny, wryly intelligent,” saysPhillip Lopate.In 1946, David Boder, psychologist, wire-recorded interviewswith 130 Holocaust survivors, in nine languages, in DisplacedPersons camps, likely the earliest such interviews, before itwas called “Holocaust” or “Shoah,” before it was thematizedor defined. In The Wonder of Their Voices, Alan Rosen,teacher at Yad Vashem, chronicles and examines this project.Elie Wiesel praises this book.Nowolipie Street is the memoir by Jozef Henof growing up in Warsaw between the WorldWars, in a Jewish world forever lost. This is thefirst book translated into English by Hen, thoughhe is well-known in Poland. Timothy Snyder callsit “generously detailed and beautifully crafted.”The Vegetarian Shabbat Cookbook, byKalechofsky and Schiff, is vegan, so it has, interalia, eggless challah and macaroni and cheese without cheese.The unusually inventive recipes make this book, says TheJewish Advocate, “a must-have for all Jewish kitchens.”In The Book of Genesis: A Biography, Ronald Hendel,Dabby Professor of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies at UCBerkeley, relates the history of what Genesis has meant, how ithas been interpreted, over the millennia since its composition– its plain meaning, its apocalyptic interpretation, Platonic,figural, early modern and fundamentalist views, up throughKafka, Auerbach, and Mahfouz.In Jews and Words, Amos Oz and his daughter, Fania Oz-Salzberger, explore why words are so important to Jews, fromAbraham to modern Jewry, in such topics as continuity, women,timelessness, individualism, from Song of Songs, Talmud,Maimonides, Albert Einstein and Itzik Manger to Philip Rothand Groucho Marx.www.bethelberkeley.org 13
Page 4: FROM THE PRESIDENTScience Finally I
Page 11: y Todd PerlmanFostering Jewish Iden
Page 15 and 16: EVENTSFriday, February 8 & March 8A
Page 17 and 18: ChanukahBazaar Wrap Upby Robinn Mag
Page 19 and 20: TZEDAKAHMarc Davis & Nancy Turak in
Page 21 and 22: Midrasha Reprises ItsOfferingsby Di
Page 23 and 24: calendarMarch 2013 / Adar - Nissan

hIghlIghts - Congregation Beth El

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