Chai @ BE July 2020

The Administrative staff has been reorganized and we want to share that new structure as we move forward with
High Holy Day preparations and Religious School planning. The Administrative Staff is now a strong group of four
part-time employees. You can continue to use the Admin@BethElTx.org email for any requests or questions and it
will be routed to the right person.
Erin Bersin, Finance Director, will continue to be in charge of handling the financial aspects of the shul in
partnership with the Board Treasurer, Richard Friedman. Erin also provides additional assistance to the
administrative group as needed.
Marilyn Gorel, long time Preschool Assistant and member of the shul, will be our new Office Manager.
The preschool has gone on hiatus and we did not want to lose the valuable and gifted staff person we have
in Marilyn. Anything involving the building, such as space reservations, maintenance schedules, or
anything else needed to have things run smoothly, will be under her purview.
Norma Gonzales, the previous Administrator, has stepped into a new role as the Digital Specialist for Beth
El. Any aspect of the shul that is virtual or online will be in her creative realm: E-blasts, website
management, and of course, creation of our online monthly magazine, Chai at Beth El.
Marilyn, Erin, and Norma will continue to meet regularly with VP of Administration, Barb Zack, to ensure
everything is runs smoothly and avenues of communication stay open, not only between staff and the
Board, but including the congregation as well. We hope this restructuring brings balance to the
administrative aspects of running the shul. If you have any thoughts or ideas, please feel free to share
them with Barb, and she will bring them to the Administrative staff.
Michele Croft has been hired as our Religious School Director and is no longer interim. She has joined the
part-time staff of the shul, and we are excited to have her on board. Michele and Joe Nickels, VP of
Education, are the driving force behind educating our young people about their Jewish identity.

by: michele croft, education director
Summer is a time for playing outside. There are many things
to do outside such as swimming, biking, walking and various
other sports. Below you will find directions to some games
that I played as a child and then played with my own
children. The great thing about most of these games is that
they can be played inside or outside. These are a few twists
on games to make them a little more educational. Numbers,
English alphabet letters, Hebrew alphabet letters and even
phrases from prayers can be used. These games are a fun
way to reinforce and create excitement for learning. If you
would like Hebrew letter cards or some of the Hebrew
prayers your children have been working on, please email
me and I will be glad to provide you with them. Have a
wonderful month of July. Please do not hesitate to call or
email with any questions.
summertime fun
Scavenger Hunt
Materials: Index cards, tape
Write Hebrew letters or prayer phrases
on index cards.
Place them around the house or in the
back yard.
Have your child(children) tell you the
name of the letter, sound or read the
phrase. This should be a fun activity. If
they forget or need a gentle reminder,
let them know. If you need help with
the sounds or how to write the letters,
there is an APP called EYAL. It is free
on Apple devices. For Android
devices, you can download Hebrew
Alphabet, Hebrew Letters Writing. With
both of these, you can click on the
letter and it will say the sound.
You can vary the scavenger hunt by
asking your child to find the phrase or
letter. Once they have found the letter
or phrase, they lift the card and
underneath it will be the next clue or
phrase for them to find. This variation
involves a little more prep work. Older
siblings can also do this for their
younger siblings. This is a great review!
Hopscotch
Materials: colored chalk and a
driveway or hard surface to draw on
Draw a hopscotch board.
Instead of putting numbers
inside the boxes put Hebrew
letters, words or phrases. If your
child only knows, a few letters
use those multiple times and
add one new one. Feel free to
repeat the letters in the boxes.
If you have an old sheet, you
could also draw on the sheet
and use inside the house.
As your child plays hopscotch
and hops/jumps on each
square, they need to read what
is inside of the square.
This is a good way to keep your
child active and moving as well
as review some Hebrew.
Concentration
Materials: Index cards two different colors
Write Hebrew letters or prayer phrases on
two sets of index cards. I usually use two
different colors. Start with a small number
of cards and slowly build up the number of
cards. The number of cards should
increase with the age of your children.
Turn the cards face down and then you
match the cards. The trick in this version
of concentration is that in order to keep the
pair, you must say the words or letters on
the cards.
The winner is the person who has the most
pairs.
Horse
Materials: Index cards, basketball and
basketball hoop
Write Hebrew letters or prayer phrases on
index cards.
Have your child choose a card and
read. If they read correctly, they shoot
the basketball. If they score a basket
they keep the point. It is then the other
players turn.
The winner is the person who scores the
most points.
Variation – the other person has to read a
card and then make the same shot. If not
they earn a letter. The first person to spell
the word horse loses.

Join us Saturday evening July 11 at 7pm for a Havdallah
service led by our friend, Joe Buchanan, followed by a special
concert. RSVP here to get the Zoom link for this fabulous
evening. If you were at his last CBE performance, you
understand our excitement! If Joe Buchanan and his music are
new to you, read more about Joe and his faith journey here.

Birthday!
J U L Y 2 0 2 0
Happy
1 July
Jerauld
Jennifer
2 July
Rabinovitz
Alison
3 July
Simoneaux
Megan
6 July
Raskin
Steven
9 July
Sadek
Leonard
10 July
Gartzman
Austin
11 July
Finberg
Barry
12 July
Finberg
Monica
14 July
Poscovsky
Saul
15 July
Okie
Jonathan
18 July
Morgan
Betsy
19 July
Michener
Jack
20 July
Teverovsky
Brody
21 July
Jerauld
Andrew
22 July
Perry Aidan
25 July
Wade
Rachel
26 July
Cohen
Marcia
27 July
Croft
Wayne
28 July
Friedman
Emma
29 July
Newlin Eli
Eric Steiner
Sydney Wormser
Sugar
Steven
Hernandez
Ian
Goodman
Lisa
Wormser
Wendy
Jesse Wade

Happy
J U L Y 2 0 2 0
Anniversary!
5 July
& Monica Finberg
Barry
14 July
& Michele Croft
Wayne
16 July
& Debra Pacht
Jory
21 July
& Laura Scheiner
Douglas
24 July
& Marilyn Gorel
Lance
29 July
& Dayna Coates
Steve
31 July
& Jennifer Jerauld
Robin
July 4
David O'Brien & Cantor Renee Waghalter

J U L Y 2 0 2 0
YAHRZEITS
Jorge Lacs
Jacobo
Sbar
Thelma
Miller
Benjamin
Ungar Rita
(Midge) Frank
Henrietta
Ostrowsky
Joseph
11 July
Baron
Sylvia
Beilin
Marcia
Geigerman
Benjamin
20 July
Rosenberg
Max
21 July
Deboer
Alida
Goldstein
Dorothy
Hochman
Pauline
Os Danziger
Marguerite
Schwartz Kline
Sarah
Gordon
Henry
Katz Anne
Ackerman
Louis
Sanders
Elsie
July2
July 12
July 22
Gladys Kornberg
Perle Pacht
July 6
July 14
July 24
Alice Markowitz
July 7
July15
July 26
T.J. Wheeler
Jorge Nicolayevsky
July 8
July 27
July 18
Irene Elitzky
David Mitrani
July 9
July 19
Maurice Notowich
July 29
Susan Ilene Schiffman
Shirley Mucasey
July 10
July 30
July 31
Ethel Perry
Samuel Hoffman

JULY 2020
3 - Shir Shabbat Service, 7p
4 - INDEPENDENCE DAY
Tot Shabbat, 10:30a
7 - Executive Committee Mtg, 7p
10 - Shabbat Service, 7p
11 - Tot Shabbat, 10:30a
Joe Buchanan concert, 7p
12 - Strong & Fit class, 10a
14 - Board Meeting, 7p
17 - Shabbat Service, 7p
18 - Tot Shabbat, 10:30a
24 - Shabbat/Bat Mitzvah Service, 7p
25 - Tot Shabbat, 9:30a
Shabbat/Bat Mitzvah Service, 10:30a
26 - Cooking with Nikki, 11a
31 - Shabbat Service, 7p
SUNDAY - JULY 12
10:00AM
CLICK HERE FOR ZOOM INFORMATION
WWW.BETHELTX.ORG/EVENT/STRONGFIT
The CBE campus remains closed until further notice and all CBE gatherings and events will
be held virtually via Zoom.
To obtain the Zoom links for all programming,
visit the CBE calendar at www.betheltx.org/calendar
J o i n C B E m e m b e r , N i k k i H a r d e s t y a s s h e l e a d s u s i n m a k i n g a s e n s a t i o n a l
C h i c k e n s a l a d a n d a R i v e t i n g R e d , W h i t e a n d B l u e b e r r y T r i f l e . T h e s e
p a t r i o t i c d i s h e s a r e f a b u l o u s f o r p i c n i c s , I n d e p e n d e n c e D a y , C o n s t i t u t i o n
D a y , L a b o r D a y o r a n y o t h e r t i m e o f y e a r . P l e a s e j o i n u s a s s h e d e m o n s t r a t e s
a n d w e w i l l b e a b l e t o c o o k a l o n g s i d e h e r .
A l i s t o f i n g r e d i e n t s w i l l b e s e n t o u t s o o n .
S u n d a y , J u l y 2 6 t h - 1 1 : 0 0 a m - c l i c k h e r e f o r Z o o m i n f o r m a t i o n

C H A I A T B E T H E L
T H E C E N T E R O F J E W I S H L I F E I N F O R T B E N D C O U N T Y