T E M P L E B E T H A B R A H A M

the
Volume 32,
87
Volume
31,Number
Number
March
2012
April 2013
B E T H
A B R A H A M
Pu
iR
T E M P L E
Adar
/ Nisan
5772
Nisan/Iyyar
5773
M
directory
Temple Beth Abraham
Services Schedule
is proud to support the Conservative Movement by
affiliating with The United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism.
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by Congregation Beth Abraham, 336 Euclid Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610.
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Omer, c/o Temple Beth
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© 2013. Temple Beth Abraham.
The Omer is published by Temple Beth Abraham, a non-profit, located at
336 Euclid Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610; telephone 510-832-0936. It is
published monthly except for the months of July and August for a total of
ten issues per annum. It is sent as a requester publication and there is no
paid distribution.
Location
Monday & Thursday
Morning Minyan
Chapel 8:00 a.m.
Friday Evening (Kabbalat Shabbat) Chapel 6:15 p.m.
Shabbat Morning
Sanctuary 9:30 a.m.
Candle Lighting (Friday)
April 5
April 12
April 19
April 26
7:18 p.m.
7:24 p.m.
7:31 p.m.
7:37 p.m.
Torah Portions (Saturday)
April 6
April 13
April 20
April 27
Shemini
Tazriah-Metzorah
Acharei-Kedoshim
Emor
To view The Omer in color, visit www.tbaoakland.org.
General INFORMATION
All phone numbers use (510) prefix unless otherwise noted.
Mailing Address 336 Euclid Ave.
Oakland, CA 94610
Hours M-Th: 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Fr: 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Office Phone 832-0936
Office Fax 832-4930
E-Mail [email protected]
Gan Avraham 763-7528
Bet Sefer 663-1683
STAFF
Rabbi (x 213)
Cantor (x 218)
Gabai
Executive Director (x 214)
Office Coordinator (x 210)
Bet Sefer Director (x 217)
Gan Avraham Director (x 219)
Bookkeeper (x 215)
Custodian (x 211)
Kindergym/Toddler Program
Volunteers (x 229)
Mark Bloom
Richard Kaplan
Jay Goldman
Rayna Arnold
Virginia Tiger
Susan Simon
Barbara Kanter
Kevin Blattel
Joe Lewis
Dawn Margolin 547-7726
Herman & Agnes Pencovic
OFFICERS
President
Vice President
Vice President
Vice President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
i
Bryan Schwartz 814-1936
Mark Fickes 652-8545
Rachel Teichman 858-922-0145
Steve Grossman 834-3937
Laura Wildmann 601-9571
Flo Raskin 653-7947
Susan Shub 852-2500
Committees & organizations
If you would like to contact the committee chairs,
please contact the synagogue office for phone numbers
and e-mail addresses.
Adult Education Steve Glaser & Aaron Paul
Chesed Warren Gould
Development Steve Grossman & Flo Raskin
Dues Evaluation Susan Shub
Endowment Fund Herman Pencovic
Finance Susan Shub
Gan Avraham Parents Laura Kaplan &
Rachel Teichman
Gan Avraham School Committee Rebecca Posamentier
House Stephen Shub
Israel Affairs J.B. Leibovitch
Membership Mark Fickes
Men’s Club Jeff Ilfeld
Omer Lori Rosenthal
Personnel Laura Wildmann
Public Relations Lisa Fernandez
Ritual Eric Friedman
Schools Rachel Teichman
Social Action Marc Bruner
Torah Fund Anne Levine
Web Site Liz Willner
Women of TBA Jeanne Korn
Youth Phil Hankin
what’s happening
Mid East Briefing
by AIPAC Leadership Management Director
Joshua Rubin
TBA Chapel
April 30 • 7:00 p.m.
The focus of this briefing will be current events in
Israel, US-Israel relationship, and Israel’s neighbors
Questions and RSVP to
JB Leibovitch at [email protected]
Leo & Helen Wasserman
Educational/Cultural Fund
Shabbat Series continues….
April 20 – Shabbat Morning
Professor Steven Weitzman,
professor of Jewish Culture and Religion
at Stanford University, will speak about
King Solomon and his influence in
shaping western Culture and religion.
RTO Rebuilding Together in Oakland
20th Year Anniversary
Sukkot in April 2013 – April 14, 21 and 28
Repair the world one home at a time!
Come join us in Tikkun Olam, repairing an Oakland home
through the organization, Rebuilding Together Oakland
(RTO)! We are happy to participate during this milestone
year, RTO’s 20th anniversary. Temple Beth Abraham will
again join forces with Kehilla and Temple Sinai to work
together on a house project, helping a low-income family
in Oakland. We will be working on THREE Sundays this
year, April 14, April 21 and 28. We really need your help!
Work on the home involves painting, both interior and
exterior, a total bathroom remodel, a new kitchen floor,
new furnace, and extensive removal of blackberry vines in
the back yard. We need workers at all skill levels--unskilled
workers are welcome. Participants must be 14 years old.
Please consider volunteering to work one or two days. If
you can’t work at the site, you might consider assisting in
other ways such as food pickup/drop-off.
Thank you to all who came out last year to make this
project such a success. We really appreciate all your
help. We couldn’t do it without you! We want to thank
the Board of Trustees and the Mollie Hertz Interfaith
Outreach Fund for making this year’s project possible.
We hope to see many of you joining us for this rewarding
community project! Gabriella Gordon and Rachel Goldstone
Volunteer Coordinators
Time Management & Productivity
with Jo Ilfeld in the Chapel
Monday, April 8, 7:30 p.m.
Do you have a great product or service idea ready to
go? Come find out how to officially turn it into a business, create your website and begin promoting it! In just
one hour, you can learn how to start a business in just
one day! From logos and web design to an online store
and press releases, this is the place to be! With a great
entrepreneurial checklist you will be well on your way
after this workshop. Bring your ideas, and laptops too,
for a good head start! It’s all in a day’s work.
May 6: Understanding Employment Law for
Employers and Workers (Bryan Schwartz)
June 3: Helping Children Play Well Together
(Tosha Schore)
*Contact Tosha Schore directly with any questions
at [email protected]. Childcare Provided.
Sha’a b’Matana (An Hour’s Gift) is a new series of
monthly speakers, members of our TBA community,
who have volunteered to share their professional expertise with you in an intimate, informal setting.
1
from the rabbi
Retreat Memories—Tears and Fires
I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the Temple Beth Abraham retreat in October of 2002 at
Camp Newman. It was just before Shabbat. It had been a wonderful weekend so far—soulful services, spirited sing-alongs, meaningful Torah discussions, a deep discussion on the Holocaust with
the 6th and 7th graders, a pleasant hike to the Jewish star on the hillside, getting to know members
that I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting yet.
One of the teenagers happened to have his radio on. Normally, on Shabbat, I might have asked
him to turn it off, but the Giants were in the World Series. Selfishly, I needed to hear it. Shawon
Dunston and Barry Bonds hit home runs. As Shabbat came to a close and the three stars that
marked Shabbat’s end began to appear, the Giants had staked out a 5 to 0 lead heading into the 7th
inning against the Angels. We began the brief Havdalah service. Normally, we like the Shabbat
feeling to linger just a little bit longer, but on this Shabbat, most of us wanted it to end as quickly
as possible so we could turn on the television and watch the San Francisco Giants take the first
World Series title in their history.
But as the Shabbat angels descended, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim ascended. Somehow,
during the Havdalah service, the Angels had scored 3 runs, and it was now 5 to 3. Victory was not
looking certain anymore, and we could sense the momentum shifting. We entered the room with
the one television at Camp Newman, and the Angels continued to score, eventually winning the
game 7 to 5. The feeling of impending victory and, more importantly, the beauty of Shabbat that
we were enjoying just minutes ago, suddenly seemed like they were days ago.
The little ones were waiting by the campfire, but I couldn’t get there just yet. I needed a moment
to curse Scott Spiezio under my breath and to tell myself “it’s only a game.” Ten minutes later I
was up by the campfire with my guitar, and we spent the next two hours singing James Taylor and
Peter, Paul, and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, Don McLean, and the Beatles. The music, and, more
importantly, the people singing the music, transported me to yet another time and place. Now the
World Series loss seemed like it was days ago.
Ten and a half years and two World Series titles later, we will once again find ourselves at Camp
Newman. There will be no World Series losses, but there will be spirited services, hikes to the star
on the hill, Israeli dancing, meaningful Torah discussions, and a campfire late into the night. Please
consider joining us, whether or not you are bringing children. There is something about being at
camp that makes you feel emotionally connected to Judaism and will make your soul soar up to
Heaven with the flames of the campfire. I hope to see many of you at Machanei Avraham—Camp
Beth Abraham.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Mark Bloom
Machaneh Avraham Shabbat 2013 TBA Goes to Camp
After years in hibernation, one of TBA’s most popular programs returns this Spring. Please join the TBA community for a taste of summer camp as we celebrate Shabbat and the joy of Jewish living together. Enjoy arts,
hiking, music, sports and more in a warm, enriching environment. Adult programming features Rabbi Bloom.
Children’s programs and daycare included.
When: April 12-14, 2013 Where: URJ Camp Newman-Swig, 4088 Porter Creek Road, Santa Rosa
Cost: Adults (ages 18+) $245; Seniors (ages 65+) $200; Teens (ages 13 to 17 $135;
Children (ages 3 to 12) $85; Children under age 3 are free
Housing: All housing units are single family with inside bathroom. Dual housing is also available.
Premier Housing Option: Premium housing in spacious 2 bedroom/1 bath apartments for an additional $100
fee per family. Availability is on a first come, first serve basis. Only 13 units are available.
Transportation:Families are responsible for their own transportation to and from camp.
Register online now: http://tba.schoolauction.net/retreat2012
Questions? Contact Rayna Arnold at [email protected] or (510) 832-0936 x214
Sign-Ups accepted through the first week in April
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purim
3
editor’s message
The Origin of This Month’s Omer Theme
By Lori Rosenthal
At a Shabbat Kiddush lunch not long ago Misia Nudler told me she had just written a book about
her life. The book, titled My Life by Misia Olszak Nudler chronicles her family tree and her early
life in Poland, including how she and her sister Jeanette spent the war years hiding in the Polish
countryside kept alive by help they received from many righteous gentiles. The book continues
into the post-War years, her arrival in Oakland, and is full of photos of her family and the community she built here. Temple Beth Abraham friends and the TBA sanctuary figure prominently
in her photos.
Last year, it was David Galant who announced that he had published his memoirs. His book,
titled Lest We Forget, written by his daughter Risa, chronicles his early life in France, how he was
captured by the German s, the time he spent in Auschwitz, and his traumatic post war experiences
marked by anger, loss of faith, and his ultimate rediscovery of Judaism. Temple Beth Abraham
benefitted greatly the day that David re-entered synagogue life. He lovingly referred to TBA as
his second home. (You can buy David’s book online at CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.
com/3787932.)
Thus an Omer theme was born. To coincide with the month in which we commemorate Yom
HaShoa, why not focus on two of our congregants who chose to publicly tell their Holocaustrelated stories? As it turned out, Misia was already scheduled to speak to the 7th graders at Bet
Sefer about her Holocaust experiences, and Rachel Dornhelm volunteered to capture the essence
of that talk on paper for us.
David Galant unfortunately passed away on March 3. His own words will not be included in this
Omer issue, but the unsolicited outpouring of love from many of our congregants will be (along
with a past interview done by Jon Golding). David Galant will be sorely missed and his memory
will live on among us in the impact he had here at Temple Beth Abraham as a mentor, a minyanaire, a teacher, a Gabbai, and a welcoming presence and friend to all.
Our community gathering in honor of Yom HaShoa will be at Temple Sinai in Oakland on April
9 at 7:45 p.m. this year. Our own Misia Nudler will be one of the featured speakers. I hope to
see you there.
Yom Ha’ShoaH V’Hagevurah
Community-wide Commemoration
Temple Sinai, Oakland • April 9, 2013 • 7:45 p.m.
See ad on back page.
May Omer Theme: Teaching Our Children
Cover artist: Lauren Manasse Smith (bio on page 19).
the
Omer
We cheerfully accept member submissions. Deadline for articles and letters is the seventh of the month preceding publication.
Editor in Chief
Managing Editor
Layout & Design
Calendars
B’nai Mitzvah Editor
Cover
Lori Rosenthal
Lisa Fernandez
Jessica Sterling
Jon Golding
Susan Simon
Lauren Manasse
Smith
Help From People like you!
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Copy Editors Jessica Dell’Era, Nadine Joseph, Richard Kauffman, Jan Silverman, Debbie
Spangler
Proofreaders June Brott, Jessica Dell’Era, Charles Feltman, Jeanne Korn, Anne Levine,
Stephen Shub, Susan Simon, Debbie Spangler, Rachel Dornhelm
Distribution Fifi Goodfellow, Hennie Hecht, Herman and Agnes Pencovic, Gertrude Veiss
Mailing Address 336 Euclid Ave. Oakland, CA 94610
E-Mail [email protected]
wtba, our sisterhood
Vashti’s Banquet
By Jeanne Korn, WTBA President
Imagine over 40 TBA women, lounging in a big cushiony
tent, relaxed from massage, beautified by henna tattoos,
munching on fruit and nuts, sipping martinis, getting in
touch with their Vashti side, and generally escaping to Persia
for a couple of hours. That’s what happened on March 3,
at WTBA’s 3rd annual Vashti’s Banquet. We gained insight
into our futures with tarot readings. We learned a hip-hop
dance sequence to work off those martinis.
Thanks to Outi Gould and Bella Gordon, our killer
“ambience” team, for creating an AMAZING, exotic
tent (see photos!). Thanks also to Mary Odenheimer for
our scrumptious goodies, and Ellen Kaufman and Lori
Rosenthal for leading us in exploring Vashti and other
Badass Babes of the Bible. Special thanks to Ellen, Lori, and
Judith Klinger for organizing the event, and to all the wonderful WTBA members who helped set up, clean up and
keep it all moving.
A good time was had by all. Look for the 4th annual
Vashti’s Banquet next year.
Women of TBA – Looking For a Few Good Women
Would you like to see more cool events like March’s
Vashti’s Banquet and the Miriam’s Cup evening?
WTBA is heading in new directions. We welcome your
ideas, and your involvement, in creating events to bring
TBA women of all ages together.
Would you like to be a part of it? The WTBA board
is looking for a few good women to join us next year.
Please contact Jeanne Korn at [email protected]
or (510) 339-3795 to talk more about it.
Women of TBA (WTBA) & Oakland Ruach
Hadassah Invites you to attend our all East Bay
Women’s Rosh Chodesh group.
April 8: 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
We are studying the book, Lifecycles: Jewish
Women on Life Passages and Personal Milestones
(Volume 1) edited by Rabbi Debra Orenstein.
This month’s topic - Chapter 9: Divorce. Join us for
a lively discussion on the ritual of Jewish Divorce
and ways to ease the transition.
Next meeting May 6 (Evening) - mark your calendar.
Contact Debbie Spangler at [email protected]
or (510) 531-1105 to get on the distribution list for
the upcoming meeting locations.
The schedule for the upcoming year is as follows:
May 6, Sivan; June 10, Tammuz
Questions? Contact Debbie Spangler at
[email protected] or (510) 531-1105
to get on the distribution list for the upcoming
meeting locations.
Women on the Move
Sunday, April 14
WTBA hikes happen the second Sunday of every
month. We meet at 9:45 and depart promptly at
10:00. Hikes end by 11:30.
We will meet at the Skyline Gate on Skyline just
south of Snake and hike in Redwood Regional
Park. For details, contact Deena Aerenson at (510)
225-5107 or [email protected].
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wtba, our sisterhood
men’s club
Come Out and Play at
WTBA’s Girls’ Night Out
Thursday, April 4, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
This month: BUNCO NIGHT!
Miriam’s Cup Girls’ Night Out
By Jeanne Korn, WTBA President
There will be beautiful new original works of art on fifteen
TBA seder tables this year! For the first time, Girls’ Night
Out went off-campus, to Color Me Mine Pottery Studio in
Alameda. Fifteen of us played “birthday party with wine”
as we created these lovely Miriam’s cups. Special thanks to
Jo Ilfeld and Julie Katz for coordinating the event.
Weaving Our Stories Together
By Rob DeBare
When approached to write a column on Telling Our
Stories, I initially declined, citing my lack of an interesting
story. Certainly compared to many of the Jewish stories
mine would be lacking drama. But, I am reminded while
some parsahot have more drama than others, all have a
place in the Torah.
I can bore you with a genealogy list, as I proudly call myself
a 3rd generation New Yorker, or I can describe my inadequate formal Jewish education that consisted of preschool
at the 92nd Street Y. Like my mother who grew up in
Manhattan in an assimilated German Jewish family, I grew
up with a Christmas tree, and to this day I still enjoy trimming friends’ Christmas trees. Growing up I developed a
dislike of organized religion and only went to synagogue
when friends had B’nai Mitzvah. In hindsight, I’d call
myself unaffiliated in many respects, often searching for
meaning. When 30 I moved to Oakland for a job, and
a year later I met the love of my life at a Bay Area Jewish
Singles Hiking Club hike. It wasn’t until much later when
we were looking for a preschool for our son that we joined
TBA and it wasn’t until many years later that it started to
feel like home to me.
Jews in Bad Shoes Bowling
May 2 at 7:30 p.m.
At Alameda Bowl, with pizza and beer
Contact Howard Zangwill with questions.
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The Baum Youth Center, 341 MacArthur
Bunco is a social dice game involving 100% luck
and no skill--no decisions to be made! Come play
with your TBA friends of all ages. We’ll have
our usual wine and cheese, laughter and camaraderie as we learn to play this fun party game.
Girls’ Night is a casual monthly event open to all
TBA women. A social time where TBA women
can get to know each other better.
Come for all or part, and no need to bring a thing!
Meet old friends, and make new friends.
RSVP by April 2 to Jeanne [email protected]
so we have enough Bunco tables.
At first we would come for Tot Shabbat and Share-aShabbat, and that led to Rock-n-Roll Shabbat. I was asked
to join the softball team (580 Minyan) and made some
good friends. My wife’s adult B’nai Mitzvah class and two
boys in Bet Sefer meant a lot more time at TBA. Now, it
is like a second home. There is nothing I look forward to
more than Men’s Club poker fundraisers.
While I hope you would join me at those Thursday evening
bimonthly events, this story is meant to be more than just
a sales pitch. Research on happiness and business success
conclude that connectivity plays a very important role in
achieving happiness and success. On the other hand, isolation correlates to greater job burnout, poor performance
and less happiness. Our stories turn out best when we join
together – the sum is usually greater than its parts. It is
no surprise that the Men’s Club spends most of its energy
bringing people together, be it bowling, eating, cheering, or
praying. I know both my life in general and my life at TBA
dramatically improved when I started weaving more people
into my story. If there is one thing worth remembering
from my story it would be to reach out, to say “yes” when
someone asks you (if you, like me, are one who usually
declines), and to weave your story into the stories of others.
Jewish Baseball Hall of Fame
Poker Game
May 19
Contact Barry Barnes for information.
Thank you to all who made our 2013
Purim Basket Fundraiser such a success!!!
You made over $38,000 for the TBA Schools with a
portion going to Mazon, A Jewish Response to Hunger!
Thanks to all members who donated to Mishloach Manot
and to those volunteers who worked to make it happen!!!
“IT DOES TAKE A VILLAGE”
Hamentashen Assembler: Jing Piser
Driving Route Preparation: Amy Tessler, Jeanne Korn,
Rachel Teichman and Stacy Margolin
Basket Schlepping to Cars: Ethan Grossman, Jill Rosenthal,
Sara Korn and Scott Tessler
Basket Assemblers: Ailsa Steckel, Amy Kaminer, Amy
Tessler, Avi Paul, Barbara Berman, Carol Behr, Charles
Feltman, Debby Barach, Debra Weinstein, Eli Kleinmann,
Ethan Grossman, Flo Raskin, Gabriella Gordon, Jeanne
Korn, Jessica Sterling, Jing Piser, Jill Rosenthal, Joanne
Goldstein, Joe Lewis, Joel Piser, Jonah Bloom, Joy Jacobs,
Karen Bloom, Karen Schoonmaker, Lara Gilman, Liat
Porat, Lisa Fernandez, Lori Rosenthal, Milah Gammon,
Rachel Teichman, Rayna Arnold, Rick Heeger, Roberta
Masliyah, Sara Korn, Scott Tessler, Stacy Margolin, Steven
Grossman and Steve Tessler
Route Drivers & Helpers: Alicia Cernitz-Schwartz, Amy
Tessler, Andy Campbell, Armin Brott, Art Gould, Barbara
Gross, Barbara Rothblatt, Colin Schlesinger, David Avidor,
David Goldstein, David Lenik, David Mendelsohn, Debbie
Spangler, Debbie Weinstein, Doreen Alper, Dvora McLean,
Elisabeth Schleuning, Ellen Kaufman, Flo Raskin, Gabriella
Gordon, Hildie Spritzer, Howard Zangwill, Jeff Lipsett,
Jenny Berg, Jerry Levine, Jesse Teichman Jessica Dell’Era,
Joan Korin, Joanne Goldstein, Jody London, Joy Jacobs,
Jueli Garfinkle, Julie Cohen , Julie and Eddan Katz, June
Brott, Karen Bloom, Lara Gilman, Larry Reback, Leon
Bloomfield, Liat Porat, Lisa Fernandez, Lisa Tabak, Lori
Jaffe, Lori Morris, Lori Rosenthal, Lori-Jill Seltzer, Marcia
Benjamin, Martin Kharrazi, Melissa Werthan, Miriam
Green, Patricia Eliahu, Rachel Dornhelm, Rachel Teichman,
Rebecca Sparks, Richard Applebaum, Richard Kauffman,
Rick Heeger, Ronn Berrol, Sharon Shoshani, Stu Korn, Ulli
Rotzscher, Ward Spangler and Wendy Siver
mishloach manot
Office Assistance: Agnes and Pinky Pencovic
College Basket Coordinators: Amy Kaminer, Debby
Barach, Ethan Grossman, Flo Raskin, Jill Rosenthal, Liat
Porat, Lori Rosenthal & Stacy Margolin
Route & Map Creation Coordinator: Jeanne Korn
Volunteer Coordinator: Amy Tessler
Database Management: Deborah Sosebee, Rick Heeger, and
Steven Grossman
Administrative Heavy Lifting & Support: Rachel Teichman,
Rick Heeger, & Virginia Tiger
All Kinds of Heavy Lifting & Support: Joe Lewis
Food Sourcing: Jing Piser & Steve Grossman
Food Donors: Ailsa Steckel, Arlene Zuckerberg, Debbie
Spangler Diane Apt, Gabriella Gordon, & Jessica Sterling
(Tangerines), Amba (Free Salad Coupon) American
Licorice Company (Red Vines - Amy & Steve Tessler),
Barbara’s Bakery (Snackimals Animal Cookies), Clif Bar &
Company (Clif Builders, Luna Protein & Organic Twisted
Fruit– Steve Grossman), Divine Chocolate, Edie & Dick
Mills (Hamentashen), Eve & Henry Ramek (Grand Bakery
Hamentashen), Guayaki (Tea Drink), Hennie Hecht Kosher
Katering (Hershey Kisses), Kashi (Assorted Bars), Kind
(Assorted Bars), Liat Bostick (Grand Bakery Hamentashen),
Manitoba Harvest (Hemp Hearts), Norman Hersch,
(Costless Israeli Foldable Vase), Numi Tea, Pop Chips, Peet’s
Coffee (Free Coupon), Plum Organics (Mashups), Pop
Chips, Semifreddi’s (Biscotti – Michael Rose), Somersault
Snacks, Starbucks (Via), Trader Joe’s Lakeshore (Trader Joes
Kettle Corn), Traditional Medicinals (Tea), Wild Planet
Tuna
And of course, the incredible co-chairs: Amy Tessler, Debby
Barach, Deborah Sosebee, Jeanne Korn, Jing Piser, Rachel
Teichman, Rick Heeger & Steve Grossman
We thank you for making it look so easy and for your heartfelt dedication and hard work. You did such a great job!
TODAH RABBAH!
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telling our stories
Misia Nudler – Recalling the Righteous
Gentiles
By Rachel Dornhelm
Misia Nudler is a longtime TBA member. She joined the
congregation in the early 1950’s, after moving to Oakland in
1949. But she was born in Poland and her story of how she
survived the war and came to Oakland is a remarkable one.
Following are some of those experiences as she told them to Bet
Sefer students and their families at the end of February.
Misia started by explaining for most of the first two years of the
war her town was in a part of Poland controlled by the Russians:
And then it was August 21, 1941. The Germans attacked
Russia and of course our town. A bomb fell on our steps
and it exploded all over the house. My married sister lived
with us and she was injured in nine places. My brotherin-law, her husband–you used to have tiled oven for heating–so the tiles fell on his legs. And after two days he passed
away.
My mother said, “He’s such a lucky man because we don’t
know what will happen to us.” Which was true.
After a few months the Germans said to go to Cyzew, a
town not far from us, 30 miles away. They said they are
going to have a ghetto for us.
We had a mayor, a Polish man, and he came over to my
father and said “Good man, don’t go there, because they
will kill you.”
So my father said “Where should I go?”
The mayor said “Get out of here. Anywhere.”
So my father got a Pole with a horse and buggy, because my
father was a furrier so he knew that guy. We started to go
down to Ciehanowiec. Why Ciehanowiec? Because we had
cousins there and my mother said you know what maybe
there it will be quiet.
We couldn’t go 40 miles with horse and buggy so on the
way we stopped at a farmer that knew my father. He let
us stay in the barn. In the middle of the night, he came to
my father and said, “You know, they killed all the Jews that
went to Cyzew.”
Misia (right) with sister Jeanette (left) outside
the TBA kitchen many years ago.
8
Sometimes I think it wasn’t me that lived through the war.
Because it was such a hard thing and people say, how did
you live through the war, and I say, I don’t know I don’t
know. I don’t know how I lived through the war.
In the morning we started going to Ciehanowiec … [and
we settled in the ghetto there].
Then my father got a note from a farmer and the note said
“I need you to make some pelts.” Because no Jews were left
to make the coats. My father said, “I’m not leaving my
family.” So he insisted that my sister Jeanette and I go there.
So we went to that farmer and we stayed for seven days and
we worked in the field. And after seven days the farmer
came to us and said “You can’t stay here because my workers
will kill you.”
At night we went to another farmer. He let us stay in his
attic, for seven or eight days. He came in the morning and
said “You have to leave because they just killed two Jews.”
This farmer had a big farm far away from the house so my
sister and I, we said “We’ll go to the big farm.” So we went
to the barn and we were hiding, we always were covering
ourselves with straw.
One day, after a few months, the door opens up. We heard
the Polish guy to the German “No more of this straw.” And
we were hiding in the straw, there wasn’t much. And with
their bayonets they poked all over us.
The thing is, my sister and I thought about it, if they’ll kill
us, they’ll kill the farmer too. He worked outside near the
barn, and he didn’t know about us. We didn’t care about us.
We cared about the farmer. So when they left, at night we
ran away to hide in the weeds.
Not far from the farm was a little stream. At night we went
out there and washed up and we drank the water. And one
night we went out and found a little tablecloth. So at night
we went to the little village and we knocked at a door and
a lady came out. She saw that we were Jewish because we
were skinny and dirty.
She said “What would you like dear?”
And I said “We’ll give you the little tablecloth. We would
like to have a piece of bread.”
So she called us in to the house. And she gave us a piece of
bread and milk. And then she said “Come in eight days and
I will give you something to eat.” So eight days went by and
she gave us boiled potatoes. Boiled potatoes were such a big
thing with a piece of bread. This went on for two months.
The farmers, when they take down the straw they put it in
something like teepees to dry it. So we were hiding in the
straw teepees. One day we heard shooting not far from us.
We didn’t know what it was.
We could hear it closer, closer, closer. We hope it’s not the
Germans. After an hour or so we saw a Russian soldier, and
he came to us and said “Yivrei?” (“Jews?”) . We said “Yes.”
He said, “Don’t worry Hitler is gone.”
continued on page 10
cooking corner
Misia Nudler’s Kreplach
and raise their families is as rewarding as the happily ever
after of any fairy tale.
The book has a plain black cover with gold lettering on it
that states: “My Life by Misia Olszak Nudler.” Inside, told
in a straight-forward style without embellishment, is the
story of Misia’s pre-World War II life in Poland, her wartime
survival and her life after the war. There are also family
photographs and, since she is an outstanding cook, a selection of recipes.
But this isn’t a fairy tale, it’s a story of a real life, of someone
with the luck, courage and skills to survive the Holocaust
and to begin again and the spirit to celebrate the joys in
life and contribute to others despite the tragedies that have
befallen her.
By Faith Kramer
Misia may tell her story simply, but that does not make it
a simple story. Her hardships, experiences and joys don’t
need gussying up. Her tales of her home life and the generosity and kindness of her parents make the scene come
alive and help us understand how she became the woman
she grew up to be. Her unadorned accounting of how she
and her sister, Jeanette Jeger, of blessed memory, escaped the
Germans by hiding in the countryside for the long years of
the war and avoided the Polish post-war pogroms is chilling.
The hope and happiness as the sisters migrate to America
Meat Filling:
7 lbs. turkey breast
3 turkey necks
4 lbs. beef
8 lbs. chicken - 2 chickens
1 bunch of celery
4 large carrots
Misia wrote down her life story in long hand and her
daughter Judy Nudler Borah transcribed it and created
the privately published book. Misia gave copies to family
members so they would know her story and never forget.
She has extra copies available for loan if TBA congregants
would like to read the book. Please contact her at (510)
531-4604.
One of the many dishes Misia is famed for around TBA
is her kreplach. Having had it myself, I can testify to the
wonder of these tender, tasty dumplings. Here, with her
permission, is the recipe.
Misia’s Kreplach
3 large parsnips
1/2 bunch parsley
3 large onions
Chicken fat or canola oil as needed
6 eggs
Salt, to taste
Simmer turkey, turkey necks and beef for 2 1/2 hours on stove top in a large pot with water covering the meat. Add chicken and cook for another 1 1/2 hour or until chicken meat comes off easily from the bones. Add celery carrots, parsnips
and parsley and cook for another 1/2 hour. Let cool. Take off meat from the bones. Put broth from the meat in containers
when cool and save for soup or other use. Discard vegetables or save for another use.
Chop and fry onions with chicken fat or canola oil and cool.
Grind meat in a food processor. Stop occasionally to taste and add salt as needed. Add the fried onions and eggs. Mix well.
Dough:
10 eggs
3 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tbs. salt
5 lbs. of flour, plus extra
Add the eggs to 3 1/2 cup of water - mix. Put salt in a large bowl. Add the egg mixture to the salt. Then add the flour.
Knead with hands until well combined. Put a handful of flour on a cutting board.
Put a handful of dough on the floured cutting board and knead dough until very elastic.
Put a tablecloth down and spread a handful of flour on it.
Roll out the dough very thin. Cut into squares, add meat mixture, and pinch all corners to form a triangle. Trim any extra
dough off corners. Drop kreplach into a large pot of boiling water, approximately 12 at a time, until they float to the top.
Add another 24. Cover and bring to boil. Stir once gently. Boil uncovered for 10 more minutes. Place kreplach on a pan
lined with a double layer of paper towels.
To freeze, place on a pan lined in parchment paper in freezer when cooled. Once they are frozen package into containers
or freezer bags and keep frozen. Defrost before using.
To serve, fry in oil and serve as an appetizer or alongside chicken or other soup. Misia says you can also add the fried
kreplach to individual bowls of soup just before eating.
Faith Kramer blogs her food at www.clickblogappetit.com. Her cooking column appears twice a month in the j. weekly. You can
contact her directly at [email protected].
9
telling our stories
continued from page 8
Misia and her sister went back to the ghetto where they last
lived and found two of their sisters had also survived by hiding
out. But they were four of only a handful of Jews from their
hometown who survived. It still took years to get out of Russia
controlled Poland, walking through Czechoslovakia and into
a displaced person camp in Germany before leaving for the
United States became a reality.
Misia recently wrote up her experiences and her daughter published them as a hardcover book. Misia said this in her talk:
“You can’t live just for today for yourself. You’ve got to do something to help out other people.” She also said it is so important
to remember the Righteous Gentiles who saved so many Jews
during the war. There is a garden commemorating their efforts
in Yad Vashem.
Not Quite Ready for Death
by Sid Shaffer
Because I have multiple health problems, too many to list,
and there are so many things I can’t do any more, I sometimes feel that the Good Lord is waiting for me.
Then I say to myself “Stop It!” I’m not quite ready. “So you
can’t play tennis anymore … so, big deal.” At 88, you’re still
able to walk with a walker. I can’t dance anymore, but I can
watch others dancing and enjoy the music. I can’t visit so
many of my old friends – the Good Lord has taken them
away from me – but there’s a few left and I can phone them
and schmooze about the “good old days” and hopefully
cheer them up a bit. I can’t get upon the Bimah and lead
the congregation in davening, but I never could. But I can
go on Shabbas and listen to of our talented young people
do the davening, marvel at the voice of Cantor Kaplan and
the variety of subjects discussed by Rabbi Bloom.
When I start feeling sorry for yours truly, I keep reminding
myself that I am fortunate to have a good wife of over 60
years, three super children, six grandchildren and so many
remarkable friends.
I jokingly tell friends that my artwork and assisting Morrie
Turner’s comic strip “Wee Pals” keeps me out of the
Saloons. There’s so much to be grateful for that I haven’t
touched upon for the lack of space. I don’t know how much
longer I can keep death waiting, but it’s good to be alive
and reap the rewards of family, friends and blessings.
Central European Echoes and Ghosts
By Marc Barach
Even though it’s been nearly 25 years since the fall of
Communism and 78 years since the end of WWII and the
Holocaust, I still think of Central and Eastern Europe as
foreboding, bordering on sinister. My maternal and paternal families left Poland and the Ukraine prior to WWI and
so our extended family was touched less directly by the ravages of the Holocaust than so many others. Yet, perhaps
through ancestral memory, if not exposure to a vast trove
of literature, films and personal accounts, I felt as if I had
10
been to these places before and experienced them in all their
gloom, desperation and fear.
In recent months I’ve had occasion to travel to Vienna a
number of times and taken side trips to Berlin, Linz, Brno,
Prague, and most recently Budapest. Aside from satisfying my perpetual wanderlust, I wanted to walk the streets,
touch the monuments, look into the eyes of the locals and
imagine what it was like to have lived there in 1941 or
1963 being persecuted by one corrupt and murderous government or another. I also wanted to see how two decades
of prosperity, relative peace and free flow of information
have changed these societies. But most of all, I wanted to
see how Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary have confronted their past and the role they took in the extinction
of our people. After all, “Never Again” has two meanings:
surely we won’t let it happen again, but of even greater
importance ,“they” won’t let it happen again. To that end,
the role of monuments, museums, and other ways to educate the present about the past is paramount.
In Berlin, the Holocaust monument near the Brandenburg
Gate is nothing short of staggering. It spreads across an
entire city block and is open on all sides to enter and exit.
It is so huge and overpowering that it is very difficult for
this amateur photographer to capture even a fraction of its
power. Imagine several thousand dark granite blocks of
varying heights laid out in an undulating cobblestone grid
that visitors meander through, passing from light to darkness to light. No words are used , no words are necessary. One feels as though walking through countless graves,
through shtetle lanes, through the homogenous anonymity
of the victims, through the uniqueness and personhood
of every victim, through the vastness of the calamity and
its subsequent containment within a defined space. Just
nearby is another venue which touches sharp and deep. It is
the monumental avenue now known as Strasse des Juni 17
which one immediately recognizes from WWII news reels as
the gargantuan boulevard on which goose stepping soldiers
marched in rigorous formation saluting the Nazi leadership
as they went by. I could almost hear the boots. I felt a
wave of satisfaction, though, when I saw Yitzchak RabinStrasse intersecting this street.
Prague is a city of beautiful architecture, vibrant tourism
and a hedonistic disposition. Though it is hardly balanced
journalism on my part to point a camera at a few incongruous scenes that caught my eye, I present them nonetheless.
The Jewish ghetto of Prague dates back to the middle ages
and is the best preserved in all of Europe. The Nazi’s didn’t
destroy it as their plan was to turn it into a museum for a
dead race. Today it houses a museum, cemetery and four
non-functioning synagogues, the oldest of which, the
Old New Synagogue dates to the 13th century making it
the oldest synagogue in Europe. I was pleased to see so
many visitors to this area who were evidently not Jewish
and hailing from a range of European countries.
In Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic and
a couple hours south of Prague, I found myself walking
though the quaint old town and commercial district. A
telling our stories
Prague
Vienna Holocaust Monument
Jewish Cemetery in
Prague Ghetto
Holocaust Memorial, Berlin
modern and well lit bookstore window caught my attention
and when I looked closer, nestled among the best sellers
were several books that appeared to my eye to be old school
anti-Semitic tracts. It didn’t look like a subversive bookshop, nor like one selling historical artifacts and collectables.
I’m still not sure what this is all about and hope there’s a
benign, if strange, explanation. But it is difficult to understand why in the notorious prison housed in the dungeons
of Spilberk Castle where dissidents and
some Jews were held, there is a calendar belonging to the
Nazi commandant that is bound in human skin. A plaque
outside this display area attests to the suffering of the Jewish
prisoners at this locale so certainly the curator’s sentiments
were in the right place.
Vienna is a well-preserved Grande Dame with opulent
boulevards, rococo architecture, cafes and museums teeming
with art and culture. The Holocaust Monument is small
and dense; like a black hole sucking in light and matter.
Tomb-like in its general impression, it also evokes shelves
of books and to my eye, an electric power substation that
is channeling energy from the ancient Jewish neighborhood
streets that it sits on top of. Today’s Judenplatz is build
upon hundreds of years of rubble and prior civilization
which is beautifully excavated in the basement of the nearby
Jewish Museum.
Budapest has been home to Jews for nearly a thousand years.
The mid- 19th century saw the emergence of a new type
of Hungarian Jew; Jews who saw themselves primarily as
Hungarian nationalists, and secondarily as Jews. They respected their roots but proudly spoke Hungarian as their first
language and participated in all walks of society and public
life. As we know, this offered no protection when the Nazis
and Arrow Cross perpetrated their heinous crimes. On the
banks of the Danube, is a quiet and moving monument: a
Rubber masks for sale in Prague
Shoe monument in
Budapest
Brno’s Spilberk Prison:
book bound in
human skin
Bookstore in Brno, Czech
Republic
collection of men’s, women’s and children’s 1940’s era shoes
rendered in bronze, silent and empty. It is as if the owners
were suddenly vaporized leaving only their shoes or perhaps
the hastily abandoned them en route to a far better place.
On Shabbat in Hungary, I attended services at the Great
Synagogue also known as the Doheny Synagogue. It’s
purported to be one of the largest synagogues in the world
and is testament to the thriving community that once was.
Today, the main synagogue operates as a museum and tourist site and the minyan meets in a smaller attached synagogue that has about 200 seats and a big dome - not exactly
a side chapel by our standards. On that particular Shabbat
there were about 40 locals present. The shul is the only
Neolog community in existence today.
Neolog is a modernist movement that originated in the 19th
century to provide an alternative to the emerging Hungarian
nationalist Jews. It is essentially an Orthodox service with the
addition of an organ that is played during the Shema and several other points in the service. Seating is separate between
men and women but there is no mechitzah. As is the norm
in Orthodox services there is a lot of mumbling and the pace
is brisk. The chumashim in use were printed in 1922 and I
could only imagine the measures that were taken in that era
and in the Communist era that followed to preserve them.
After navigating the security procedures to gain entrance,
I made myself comfortable and was soon invited up for an
aliyah. I couldn’t believe how fast the mid-60’s year old baal
koreh was reading; he was inhaling two or three sentences at
a time and exhaling them with almost no discernable words
or trope. Shaking hands after the aliyah I couldn’t help but
whisper to him “wow, that was fast”. A few moments later,
the baal koreh responded to me in English with a wry smile
on his face “Not fast; just hungry.” Somehow, I found that
very reassuring.
11
remembering david galant
Galant, who runs the morning minyan at TBA as well as
assisting the community nearly every Shabbat and Holy
Day service. David has been Gabai for over 20 years, and
during that time he has often served concurrently on the
Ritual Committee and the TBA Board.
His life and education before WW2 left him with a treasury of Jewish knowledge and ritual practice, but he doesn’t
feel it was something he went out of his way to achieve.
“Although he could have, my father didn’t want to be a
Rabbi, but he lived like one and so you learn. For me it’s
not a matter of being taught, it’s the way we live. I went to
Cheder (Jewish elementary school) just like everyone else. I
don’t actually remember when I learned how to do all these
things; it was just part and parcel of the way I grew up.”
A Tribute to David Galant
By Sid Shaffer
I’d start the day with a little humor: “Good Morning, this is
Dr. Shaffer calling. How’s my patient doing?” I’d get a serious response with a mixed reply. David was very aware of
what the future had in store for him, but was determined to
tough it out.
If I said to David that I’m angry at God for allowing you
to die without your family by your side, he’d defend God.
David would have told me, “God can’t attend everyone’s
dying moments.”
Some people are considered special and others considered
very special. David Galant was one of the very special. He
always sat next to me at the Kiddush and if I said anything
that was in the nature of a complaint, he would always
correct me gently, but forcefully. David’s presence was
comforting. Here is a man who survived Auschwitz by the
strength of his belief in Judaism. He was as Jack Coulter
often said, “The strongest character I have ever known.”
He never got angry or upset. He had a remarkable quiet
strength. The man who wrote the following must have had
David in mind:
When a man departs this world, neither silver, nor gold, nor
precious stones accompany him. He is remembered only for his
love of Torah and his good deeds.
There are no words strong enough to describe how much I
and all of Temple Beth Abraham will miss you David. Yes,
you are truly very special.
A Man for all Mitzvahs
By Jon Golding
Originally published in honor of David’s second Bar Mitzvah
at age 83.
While there are many members who give of their time
at TBA, there are few as ubiquitous as our Gabai David
12
As most TBA members are aware, David spent two years in
Auschwitz, where he was the only survivor of his immediate
family, and like many French Jews who were liberated in
1945, he’d had his fill of both France and Judaism. “I came
to the United States in 1946. First to New York, where I
stayed with an Uncle for a week or 10 days, and then to
Boston where I spent another week to 10 days. As it turned
out, my Uncle and Aunt in Boston were getting ready to
move to Oakland to join the rest of the Family, so we all
went to Oakland by car. The car was all loaded down and
we went across the country, the idea being to get there in
time for my cousin’s engagement party, which we did.”
“For a period of five years, I didn’t even go to shul. I had
forced myself to forget all that I knew. I forgot my Hebrew,
everything, I didn’t want to have anything to do with
Temple or shul or whatever you wanted to call it. The only
reason I started going back to shul was that my cousin got
married here at TBA, in the old upstairs, and she insisted
that I be part of the wedding party. So I had to be here, and
when I came to shul I suddenly thought, ‘who I am kidding?’ I am who I am and I can’t be anybody else.”
He met his wife Jean (of blessed memory) through friends
at Cal (Berkeley), where Jean was doing post-graduate work.
“I knew her sister before I knew her. Those were the days
when I still played poker, and her sister was a terrific poker
player actually. So we met through those friends and the rest
is history.”
Working 40-45 hours at Oakland’s Kosher butcher shop, and
carrying nine semester units at Cal as he studied accounting
left little time to be engaged in the community at first, but
soon he was ser ving on the TBA board, eventually serving several terms as Treasurer, and finally Gabbi. “When I
became the Gabbi at first, I insisted that I serve no more than
two years. So I served my two years and then someone else
took over, but for some reason a few years later it came back
to me and it has been with me ever since. I’ve also been on
the executive board as a treasurer, and I was the first one to
put the bookkeeping for the Temple on the computer. Of
course I’ve been on the ritual committee forever.”
remembering david galant
I asked David what was the secret of his success as a volunteer? With a wry smile he confesses, “I don’t know
how to say ‘no’ very often. The thing is it keeps me busy,
it keeps me with all of the people who are my friends. If
they need me, I’m here, and if they don’t that’s fine and
dandy too.”
One might think serving as Gabbi and on two committees was enough, but David never misses the Jewish Forum
(previously known as MID), and often can be found at the
opera, or the symphony with friends, “The one thing I’ve
always been afraid of is losing my ability to think. This
keeps me going, and my mind working.”
I finally asked David, what advice he would give to people
who are considering volunteer opportunities at TBA, and
he said, “Just be available. If something comes up and you
know how to do it, just do it. Don’t make a big deal about
it, do it. It’s a very simple thing – it’s a mitzvah, period. A
mitzvah really is a commandment, and what you are doing
in its performance is to be part of the community. It’s very
important – for your own well-being – to be part of the
community so that is what counts. If you are part of the
community then the community is part of you. In that one
hand washes the other, they work together.”
Quiet Strength and Deep Principles
By Ellen Kaufman
Walking into shul and being welcomed by David Galant
was like being bathed in warm syrup. Arms extended, a
welcoming smile, bright eyes tinged with a bit of reproach if
he hadn’t seen me in a while. When he would approach me
and hand me an aliyah card, I felt as though I was getting a
gift. When he would high five me or tell me I “hit it out of
the park” after a drash that he particularly liked, I felt like a
star. David’s opinion mattered. He was our compass.
When I was TBA president, David was a fixture at our
board meetings. I guess he wanted to be sure that we
(younger folks) didn’t screw up what he and his generation
had built. For the most part, he was an observer who added
commentary when moved to do so. However, there were a
couple of occasions when he vigorously took exception to
the direction of a debate. The first was about opening the
balcony to provide separate seating for Orthodox relatives of
a Bat Mitzvah because he so firmly embraced our egalitarian
principles and what it took to bring us here. The second
was our challenging communal discussion around joining
United Synagogue, with which TBA had had a negative
experience in the past. He was clear about where he stood,
“no,” but he was not rigid or rejectionist. So… in the spirit
of welcoming the stranger for the former and shalom bayit
for the latter, he agreed. “I don’t like it. But if that’s the
will, I will accept it.”
I cannot imagine what it is to have endured the Shoah. I
cannot imagine the enormity of the task of reclaiming
one’s life. Of course, every survivor has a story to tell. But
David shared something beyond the words of his story. The
way that he carried himself telegraphed the quiet strength
and deep principles that were forged by those experiences.
Forces of evil were transmuted into a force of righteousness
and loving-kindness. He was a light onto each of us who
were privileged to know him and he is leaving a legacy for
all those who will follow.
I didn’t see David regularly on Shabbat for the past number
of years, but since joining Ken Cohen’s Sunday morning
class, we were on a weekly schedule once again. Each session,
I observed him growing a bit more frail. His complexion
graying. His cheek a bit colder under my kiss. The ventilator becoming more of a burden, even as it sustained his life.
“I’m here” is all he would say when asked how he was. He
spent his last hours at the place that he loved, surrounded by
people who he loved and who loved him back, doing what
he loved – studying, questioning, debating. When class was
over, he left the parking lot with a smile and a wave from
Outi Gould and made his way to Farmer Joe’s.
continued on page 14
13
remembering david galant
continued from page 13
The Seventh Candle
By Eliza Kauffman
“The day we forget the Shoah is the day the next Holocaust
is upon us.” The words rang in my ears as I listened to
him. Shoah, in Hebrew, means catastrophe. Catastrophic,
debilitating destruction. I sat with the hard wood pew digging into my back as I watched his hunched body tremble
with passion. His name is David Galant. He is a Holocaust
survivor. He is brave. He is strong. He is just one of the
members of my Jewish community who survived the Shoah.
David was asked to light the seventh candle during this
annual service of remembrance. He wheeled his oxygen
machine behind him as he walked up towards the row of
candles. He shakily picked up the match to ignite the wick.
After a couple of moments the tip of the candle burned
blue and faded into yellow as he pulled the match away. He
reached out a spotted hand towards the microphone a few
feet away. There was confusion as coordinators stumbled
to get it to him. He held it tightly and turned towards the
packed synagogue. David began in his beautifully accented,
breathy growl to explain the meaning of the seventh candle.
It is for hope, it is for remembrance. It is the hope that
remembrance will not die with the Holocaust survivors.
He used the word die. It jarred me. I glanced around as the
full effect of that word hit me. These people had died, were
dead. Everyone tries to make it seem softer, everyone tries
to hide the pain by using easier words like passing away. But
nothing about the Holocaust was soft, nothing about it was
easy. These people died. They died for no reason, only from
the purest evils that exist. Their deaths served no purpose
except grief and pain.
He repeated the phrase l’ dor va dor. L’dor va dor- from generation to generation. He said over and over to remember, he
said to never forget, he said never again. His voice shook as
he reprimanded the world for discrimination, for pain.
He survived concentration camps, he survived the death of
his family members, he survived the death of hope. How
did he survive? Was it determination? Was it instinct?
He survived. He repaired and rebuilt. He has children and
grandchildren. He lived l’ dor va dor. He has generations
who remember. I remember. The Holocaust is not just a
piece of history, it is not just a piece of my history. It is a
huge, unanswerable question of evil. There is no neat and
tidy answer for how the Holocaust could have happened,
but all of those millions of lives lost are a part of me. I am a
part of the rebuilding, I am part of the repair, I am a part of
l’dor va dor because I will never forget.
Editor’s Note: Eliza Kauffman, an 11th grader, wrote this for
an English essay about a life moment that informed our sense
of self. It refers to David Galant’s role lighting the seventh
candle at the annual community wide commemoration of Yom
14
HaShoah. She finished the piece after David had passed away,
but before she knew about his death.
For my Friend David Galant
By Sam Simon
When David Galant passed away, he did so having spent
every possible amount of energy that any one human being
could hope to expend. Over his unimaginably complicated
life, David was dragged to the brink of what is typically
thought to be humanly possible and then shoved clear
across to the other side, only to stand up and walk back to
normalcy and exceed what would be reasonably expected
of him en route to achieving something special. Too often
greatness is associated with athletic, intellectual, or artistic
success and not enough with decency and the ability to be
the best person you can be. David was great.
When David was liberated from Auschwitz in 1945 he
weighed roughly 81 pounds (36 kg). I know this because I
had the honor of interviewing him for a high school project in my Holocaust class. He recanted vivid memories of
hauntingly detailed descriptions of his time in Auschwitz,
from coming face to face with Dr. Mengele to the everyday
life that he lived, never truly knowing if he’d survive long
enough to be freed.
When I went to visit Auschwitz with my brother in
November of 2011 I did so with David on my mind.
Religion is not very important to me - but community and
family mean everything. I don’t have a relationship with
God and I don’t follow Judaism as strongly as I did when
I was younger. That doesn’t mean I don’t identify strongly
as a Jew and as I said, it means that I value the community
of which I am a part of back home, and of which David
was a cornerstone. Growing up in that community, David
represented everything that was right in the world. He was
the most kind, generous, loving, and pleasant person that I
could ever hope to meet. And for myself personally, he was
an incredibly supportive and good friend to my mother. So
when I had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz, I felt that
I owed it to David to pay respects to the memory of what
took place, even if he would want to forget.
It is not just David’s early life I want to celebrate. It’s not
his “achievement” that I want to be remembered because
although resiliency in the face of surmounting odds is
commendable, luck may be the more appropriate term to
describe why he was able to continue living when so many
others weren’t. What I will remember, and ultimately what
I hope others will look back fondly upon David’s life for, is
the life he crafted afterwards because that is what made him
so special. How he was able to go and live a full life while
never losing sight of the extraordinary circumstances that he
didn’t allow to control or defeat him.
When I finished my interview with David, I asked him if
there was any message he wanted to end on. He paused
remembering david galant
briefly, and said something to the effect of, “No matter who
you are, if you see injustice in the world, it’s your responsibility to take action – no matter the consequences.” It was
lessons like that, which make his death such a tremendous
loss but it gives us an opportunity to reflect on the positive
impact he made on everyone’s life who knew him.
My favorite quote, and one that I try to do my best to live
by was delivered in the middle of one of the most recognizable speeches in sports history. When Jim Valvano was giving a speech at the ESPY’s at the end of his battle with cancer, he said “To me, there are three things we all should do
every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number
one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is
think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears,
could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh,
you think, and you cry, that›s a full day. That’s a heck of
a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have
something special.”
The Power of David’s Words
By Steve Fankuchen
Last autumn I decided to resign my 25-year membership
in Temple Beth Abraham. At minyan the following week,
I told David of my decision, not wanting him to find out
indirectly. David looked me in the eye and said with his
simple firmness, “Fanny, I forbid it!”
And that was that. That was David. He was a man of such
credibility, such dignified gravitas, such inherent mentschlichkeit, that to argue with him over such matters would
have been profoundly wrong. David was the heart of the
minyan. In typical fashion, his final gift was allowing most
of us to learn of his death while we were at minyan, where
we could share our grief, where we could rise as one to say
kaddish for the man who had always been there to lead kaddish for others. Thank you, David my friend.
So David: these memories and this scotch are for me, and
this post and these tears are for you.
Editor’s Note: Sam Simon, the 22-year old son of Susan Simon,
wrote this blog post in David Galant’s memory.
15
gan avraham
Gan Avraham News
By Barbara Kanter
We return to school after Pesach to end the year with more
holiday celebrations. The last months of the school year are
always busy at Gan Avraham. First the children and teachers prepare for and celebrate Israel’s birthday in mid-April.
We will make and eat Israeli foods for the birthday celebration. Of course we will have birthday cake and sing happy
birthday to Israel in Hebrew and English as we wave our
blue and white flags. Soon after that celebration, we will
begin to prepare for the holiday of Shavuot with yet another
compelling story, some very concrete symbols and commandments and yummy cheese blintzes.
We have also been busy with enrollment for the coming
school year. It is a great joy and pleasure to introduce families to Gan Avraham and Temple Beth Abraham. Many
of the new to Gan Avraham families have already become
members of the congregation. We welcome them and hope
they find the community that I know so many families
have found. It is heartwarming to see so many current very
active families now as leaders of the congregation who were
just new members my first time at the Gan in the 1980’s
and 1990’s.
We still have a few spaces for new children
especially in Kitah Gimmel (4-5 year olds).
If you know anyone with preschool age
children, please ask them to contact me by
phone (510) 763-7528 or email (Barbara@
tbaoakland.org).
Please Join Us for
TBA’s Youth Services
Shabbat Mishpacha
for preschool-aged children
and their families.
Kitah Gimmel classroom.
April 6, 10:15 a.m.
T’fillat Y’ladim
for children in Kindergarten,
1st & 2nd grade
and their families.
In the Chapel.
April 20, 10:15 a.m.
Junior Congregation
for children in
3rd through 6th grade.
In the Chapel.
April 6, 10:15 a.m.
16
Kindergym
Sunday PlayDay:
4/7 10:30 a.m.- noon
KINDERGYM SUNDAY PLAYDAY
with Dawn for UNDER 3s
(per family: $9 members; $10 other);
Come join us with your baby and toddler as we climb,
slide, jump on our trampoline, rock on old fashioned
horses, enjoy music, singing, play dough, water and rice
play, painting, parachute, bubbles and so much more!
Weekday classes too!
I look forward to playing with your family!!
Contact Dawn at:
www.tbaoakland.org/kindergym
or by phone at (510) 547-7726.
bet sefer
Holocaust Education at Bet Sefer
By Susan Simon
Teaching about the Holocaust is tricky business. Each family has its own view about how and when their children
should learn about the Holocaust and juggling those needs
and wishes can be a bit dicey. At Bet Sefer we juggle those
needs in our 3rd, 5th and 7th grade classes.
In 3rd grade, the Holocaust is just touched upon when the
students are read the book One Candle, by Eve Bunting, a
story that revolves around Hanukkah and the bubbe that
remembers what celebrating it was like in Buchenwald.
The focus in 3rd grade is on Hanukkah, and yet it gives the
children a bit of exposure to the events that took place not
so long ago.
In 5th grade the children read the book Hana’s Suitcase, the
true story of Hana Brady who lived in Czechoslovakia and
who died in Auschwitz. Her suitcase ends up in Tokyo,
Japan where a group of students pieces together the story
The Schools Auction is Almost Here
We hope that you’ve already bought your tickets and
marked your calendar for the schools auction on May 5,
which is appropriately themed to the date for Cinco de
Mayo.
It is not too late to donate and you can do so online
(http://tinyurl.com/donatetbaauction). What the auction
really needs in terms of donations include: Restaurant gift
certificates, gift cards and retail cards. You can also donate
to the wine raffle by dropping off a bottle of wine at the
TBA office.
Here’s a small list of what’s already been donated: Mexico
and Tahoe vacation homes, Whole Foods and Trader Joe
gift cards, massage gift certificates and much, much more.
Don’t forget, the money raised goes to help our preschool
and Bet Sefer.
You can also buuy tickets online (http://tinyurl.com/
tbaauction) or call the office at (510) 832-0936.
of her life and death. Reading the story with the children,
with everyone knowing that Hana does not survive, is a
moving experience for students and their teacher. The story
goes into just enough detail without overloading the 10 year
olds. The focus of the story in Japan provides a wonderful insight into how the lessons of the Holocaust transcend
country and culture.
In 7th grade we try to impress upon our students the differences between a bystander, someone who sees a problem
and chooses not to act, and an upstander, someone who
gets involved when they see injustice being perpetrated.
Interspersed are historical facts and events. But the most
valuable part of the module is when the students get to
hear the first hand stories of survivors in our community.
This year our 7th graders heard from Leonard Fixler, Henry
Ramek, Adele Mendelsohn-Keinon and Misia Nudler, all
from our community, as well as the grandfather of one of
our students. Each speaker brought his/her own experiences as well as the story of how each one coped with the
events that destroyed the very fabric of their lives at ages not
far off from the age of our students. These stories are hard
to hear in many cases, yet we know from from past Bet
Sefer students that hearing them leaves a lasting impression
on the psyches of our students.
The Teen Scene
April 7
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Baum Center
The Teen Scene program, a place for teens with special needs to come and hang out with typical teens
and do fun activities together. Events begin with a light
supper from Oakland Kosher.
Spring Session dates:April 21, May 12 and June 2.
Please contact Devorah Romano with any questions
or to sign up: [email protected] or (510) 396-4285.
Keflanu: Shabbat Fun & Games for 3rd-6th Graders
We would like to invite 3rd – 6th graders to join their friends in the Baum Youth Center
following Shabbat services on the 1st & 3rd Shabbat of the month.
Upcoming dates: April 6 & 20
After the service join together for lunch in the social hall. About 20 minutes after motzi,
the Rabbi will announce the chaperone is ready for check-in at the Baum Youth Center!
Have fun with Shabbat appropriate games and activities…• basketball • board games
• jump rope • foosball • ping pong • or even just shmooze
Parents: We ask that an adult accompany the child/children to the Baum Youth Center –
the chaperone will sign your child in and an adult pick-up at the Baum Youth Center –
For the safety of the youth, we ask that they not leave the site on their own.
17
jewish day schools
What Makes a Memory?
by Amy Wittenberg, Admissions Director,
Contra Costa Jewish Day School
March provided so many rich experiences for Contra Costa
Jewish Day School middle school students as they travelled
to Israel, Yosemite and Ashland - some of the adventures
they had will become lasting memories from their middle
school years!
at Temple Isaiah. Call CCJDS for reservations and further
information (925) 284-8288.
Learning About the Holocaust at OHDS
By Melanie Marcus, Admissions Director
Seventh graders took a road trip to Ashland to experience
the theater scene, they saw three plays; Two Trains Running,
Taming of the Shrew and My Fair Lady, a highlight was
going backstage to learn about what goes on behind the
scenes and the set designs. Sharing close quarters with their
classmates on this trip was a bonding experience - one they
will never forget!
Every year in 8th grade, OHDS students interview
Holocaust survivors for what we have started to call the
East Bay Youth Holocaust Archives. In small groups of
3 or 4, students meet with a Holocaust survivor, learning about their life, their experience pre, during and post
World War II - one student is the interviewer, one the
recorder, and one the cameraman/woman. So far this year,
we have interviewed Rita Kuhn, who lived in Berlin during
the World War II, and Herta Weinstein, who was in the
Kindertransport. Next week, we will be interviewing Bertel
Borowsky, who was in several concentration camps. Unlike
previous years, this year students have been able to visit and
interview the survivors in their own homes, which allowed
them a more intimate encounter. OHDS Grandparent,
Barbara Barer, has been instrumental in preparing the students for the interviews. She brings her experience with the
Spielberg Project to the class, instructing the students on
how to approach the interview, what questions to ask, how
to listen, how to empathize and how to allow for silence
during the interview.
“As a teacher escorting our 8th graders throughout Israel
we shared so many exceptional moments, I really wonder
which ones will be the ones that will become these children’s lifelong memories. Maybe something as simple as a
scavenger hunt through an Israeli grocery store, or their first
moment at the kotel or the disco dance with our partner
schools on a boat in the Kinneret? On our first day in the
country, we read a poem named Leaving by Amoz Oz, an
Israeli writer, this excerpt from the poem really resonates
with me as a teacher:
These “intimate encounters” started in October, when
the 8th grade students hosted Café Europa, a luncheon
with Holocaust survivors that usually takes place at Jewish
Children and Family Services, in Berkeley. Thanks to Rita
Clancy and Barbi Jo Stim, from JCFS, we were able to host
this event at OHDS and students had the opportunity to sit
with their guests, interacting with them in a more intimate
way. They had the opportunity to hear the survivors’ story,
and share their own, discuss politics and art, and entertain
them with their own musical talents.
I know: it is impossible to “educate to love” you cannot “educate someone to love the Land”,
nor can you “educate someone to love the scenery”.
With love you can “infect” someone else.
OHDS faculty approach the Holocaust/Shoah studies from
two sides. One is the encounter with the Shoah survivors.
At the same time, students research a topic of their choice,
from the Jewish life in pre-war Europe to Kindertransport,
Kristalnacht, Resistance, the war in North Africa, Death
Marches and Righteous Gentiles, to mention a few, and
prepare a 5-7 minutes oral presentation. They have started
the oral presentations of their research this past week, with
Colman Adams and Jordan Marcus introducing their topics
– Death Marches and The North African front, respectively.
In these presentations students articulate their findings to
their classmates and together, they enhance each other’s
learning of this difficult topic.
Ari Bornstein, a 6th grader, recalls with great excitement
“Our bus broke down just as we got close to our hostel in
Yosemite. We needed to walk back to the main road where
we were going to catch a shuttle, it was starting to get dark,
nobody was too happy. We knew it would be Shabbat
soon, so my class got together and we did Kabbalat Shabbat
- we sang as loud as we wanted - and it felt amazing to be
in the middle of the forest welcoming Shabbat - suddenly
were all really happy!”
I hope to “infect” my students with my love of Israel!”
CCJDS Judiac Studies teacher Hadas Rave recalled.
CCJDS is still accepting applications for Fall 2013! As a
CAIS and WASC accredited school we offer outstanding
academics and amazing experiences -- like the ones you
just read about! To set up a visit and learn if CCJDS is the
right fit for your children call Amy Wittenberg, Admissions
Director (925) 284-8288 [email protected]. www.ccjds.
org. CCJDS is located in beautiful Lafayette, only 18 minutes from TBA. The TBA community is invited to the CCJDS Annual
Gala & Auction, come celebrate with us a “Night of 1001
Cranes” on Sunday, April 21, 5-9 p.m. in the Social Hall
18
As part of this year-long portfolio, students read two books
of their choice about this time period, and in collaboration
with Mrs. Gluck, they write a book review for one of them.
Additionally, they read The Diary of Anne Frank, and
Night, by Elie Wiesel in collaboration with Chris Ashley,
jewish day schools
in their English class. In April, on their way to Israel, 8th
grade students hope to be able to visit Anne Frank’s home
in Amsterdam. Additionally, they will create a photo essay
to be developed in Israel, accompanied by a poem also in a
partnership with Mr. Ashley. Literature is an intrinsic part
of Holocaust studies at the school. In 3rd and 4th grades,
students are introduced to Shoah themes through selected
picture books, such as One Yellow Daffodil, by David Adler.
In 5th grade they read Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry;
in 6th grade, students read Shadow on the Mountain, by
Margi Preus, and in 7th grade, they read The Wave, by
Todd Strasser.
The students have grown to understand their responsibility
in keeping the memories of the survivors alive, as articulated by Jordan Marcus: “I spoke to Hennie, Misia, Nellie
and Val [at Cafe Europa]. I felt very honored to talk to the
survivors. I felt like this experience should be remembered
and passed down from generation to generation. This is
because when these astonishing lives come to an end, some
might say that the Holocaust never existed, and talking to
these people, we know and must remember their experience
and that it indeed happened.”
If you would like to know more about our East Bay Youth
Holocaust Archive project, please contact Bat Sheva Miller
at [email protected].
“I Am From…”
By Deb Fink, Director of Admissions at Tehiyah Day
School
This month’s Omer theme “Telling Our Stories” resonates
deeply at Tehiyah. At every grade level and in a myriad of
ways, our teachers encourage students to find their own
voices as they tell their personal stories and share their
unique perspectives. This year, a group of 4th and 5th
graders worked with Tehiyah’s Theatre Educator, Nati Porat,
to create an original play. The students wrote narrative
poems that reflected experiences they hold dear and form
the core of who they are. Through a collaborative process,
they distilled their ideas into a devised theatre piece using
movement, drama games and exercises. The final performance showcased the writing, staging and acting of the
entire ensemble. Examples students shared are below.
“I Am From…”
I am from dreams of being an author.
I am from laughing and sometimes crying.
I am from eating breakfast with my grandpa.
I am from asking questions like Who? What? Where? Why?
I am from last week›s amazing dream.
I am from lemon trees and rotten plums that squish under
my toes.
I am from loving to dance.
I am from ocean waves that rock me to sleep.
I am from saying goodbye.
I am from writing songs about nothing that’s ever happened
to me before.
I am from a very quiet hill.
I am from respect and advice.
I am from traveling to many countries including Australia,
Iceland and Sweden.
I am from a little brown house that I love.
I am from growing plants (good ones) and eating them for
dinner.
I am from bike riding in a cozy jacket on foggy days.
I am from jumping over waves at the beach with my dad.
I am from making my friends laugh and loving school.
I am from dreams of being an actress or singer.
I am from curling up in a cozy chair with a good book on
rainy days.
I am from running, jumping, and climbing with my
friends.
I am from making salads with my mom and eating avocados.
I am from creating things no one could ever imagine.
I am from sunny days to pouring rain.
I am from my grandparents’ pool in Israel.
I am from bouncy mattresses to cozy beds.
I am from being
very, very, very, very nervous about sleep-away camp.
I am from singing in my car every morning.
I am from hurting myself falling down.
I am from growing
up.
I am from Tehiyah.
This Month’s Cover Artist Lauren Manasse Smith is the artist for the cover of this month’s Omer. Lauren’s excite-
ment in art and design lead her to pursue an Associate’s degree in Communications and Media Arts, and a BFA in Interior
Design from FIT in New York City. She has a strong background in graphic design, and has worked for a variety of architectural firms including both residential and corporate projects.
Three years ago after a trip to Israel, Lauren and her husband, Matt Smith, moved to Oakland together. They became
members at Temple Beth Abraham upon finding Rabbi Bloom to lead their wedding ceremony last October. They are
expecting their first baby this summer, in July!
19
Bar Mitzvah
life cycles
la’atid
Walter Teitelbaum, April 27
I was born in 2000 in Norwalk, CT. I spent most of my young years in Ann Arbor,
Michigan and have been living in Piedmont for the past 5 years. I love making music.
I play guitar, electric and upright bass, drums, a little piano, and I sing. Some of my
favorite genres of music are classic rock and dubstep. My favorite subject in school,
besides music, is math. I like math because it is useful for most jobs and it is a way
to break things down and problem solve. I like puzzles. One of my hobbies is running. I run on the Cross Country and Track Team at my school, Piedmont Middle
School. My favorite movie is Wayne’s World because I love Mike Myers. My Hebrew
name “Yitzchak” means “laughter” and I love to laugh.
The TBA community makes me feel at home and it strengthens my Jewish identity.
My parshat is Emor. I will be discussing punishment and the phrase “eye for an eye”. I
hope to see you there.
Welcome New Members
David & Toni Mason. Their children Stein & Rowan
Louisa & Oren Mizrahi. Their sons Gabriel & Mikhail
Gary & Carolyn Pomerantz
Melissa and Zachary Flushman. Their children Berke
and Tobiah
Ilan & Victoria Remler. Their children Ava, Lior and
Avraham
A Fun La’atid Sleepover and a Lesson on
Tzedakah
By Milah Gammon
Twenty kids slept over at the Baum Youth Center on March
2, as part of the La’atid Youth Group. At first, we hung
out and played ping pong or foosball. Then, we learned
about the steps of tzedakah. (One of the things is to give
anonymously without them knowing who you are.) After
that we had a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread.
We had a dessert of one cookie and maximum three strawberries. We also saw the movie, the Blind Side, which was
about a family who takes someone in because he was in
need. (During the movie, we had popcorn.) Even though
it was time to go to bed, we chit chatted until almost 11
o’clock. (Some people stayed up even later to 1 a.m.) In the
morning, we had a yummy breakfast of cereal, muffins, and
bagels. We played basketball until our parents picked us up
at 9:30 a.m. It was fun!
20
A note to
new members:
We would like to introduce you to the TBA
community in an upcoming newsletter. Please
send a short introduction of you and your
family, with a digital photo, to omer@tbaoakland.
org. Thanks!
La’atid:
A Youth Group
for 4th-7th Graders!
Save these dates! Get on the mailing list for
up to date program information today!
April 21
May 19
To RSVP or if you have questions,
contact your trusty advisors,
Dina & Phil Hankin at [email protected].
life cycles
April Birthdays
1
Kevin Horodas
Trevor Kaplan
2
Tirzah Brott
Stella Goodwin
Allison Kent Weiss
Danielle Raskin
Max Wike
3
Dan Kaiser
Tamara Miller
Eva Sasson
Naomi Weiss
4
Aaron Sloan Freid
Jerry Lorber
Jeffery Michael Hamilton
Steven Jacobs
Fred Knauer
Jenny Michaelson
11
Benjamin Estow
Isaac Estow
David Goodwin
Naomi Levy
12
Gary Bernstein
Renuka Bornstein
Fifi Goodfellow
Noah Hagey
Robert Klein
Aviva Maidenberg
Sara Aviva Teitelbaum
13
5
Beverly Turchin
Cheri Feiner
Cindy Mirkin
Maya Young
14
6
Daniela Acevedo-Schiesel
Deena Aerenson
David Lorber
Kevin Schwartz
Ian von Kugelgen
7
Roberta Masliyah
Avrah Ross
David Schleuning
Sara Zimmerman
8
Mary Kelly
Shira Kharrazi
9
Steven Grossman
Jonathan Jacobs
Rachel Swetnam
Melissa Werthan
10
Michelle Cossette
Fernando Garcia
Sophia Blachman-Biatch
Isabel Goldman
Rosalind Heeger
Judith Stein
15
Zoe Brott
Zachary Adam Flushman
Willa Heeger
16
Benjamin Jacobs
Ellen Kaufman
18
Mathew Frierman
Ruth Kleinman
Maayan Rubin
19
Ray Plumhoff
Liat Porat
Rey Steinberg
20
21
Desten Broach
Noah Stein
22
Audrey Hyman
Lila Miller
David Oseroff
Bruce Sawle
23
Lisa White
24
Bayne Albin
Yaeir Heber
Ariel Trost
Gideon Ur
David White
25
Heike Friedman
Liam Gordon
Shoshana Yael Kay
26
Yehudit Chang
Laurence James
Joseph Karwat
Benjamin Marinoff
27
Gregory Estow
Talia Mc Lean
Welch Warren
28
Maya Rath
30
Steven Harris
Bayla Jaffe
Sarah Levine
Shira Levine
Alexander Lowell
Simone Rotman
Elana Sasson
Walter Teitelbaum
Lindasue Kay
Steven Kay
Joseph Young
Is your birthday information wrong or missing from this list? Please contact the TBA office to make corrections.
21
life cycles
April Yahrzeits
NisSan 21-25
April 1-5
Sam Schectman
Pavel Blyumenkrantz
Annie Silver
Claire Braaf
Judith Diamont
Shelly Lipton
Aaron Nudler
Aaron Nudler
Jack Sharnak
Rose Applebaum
Shlomo Fixler
Abraham Grossman
Nancy Quittman
Rosalie Rogers
Connie Schwartz
Leon Benjamin
May God comfort you among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
Sidney Bernstein
Helen Schleifer
Anna B. Gurman
Ida Jaffe
Florence Gerstler
Gittel Rothblatt
Mary Simon
Walter Green
Iyar 10-16
Burton Polse
April 20-26
Nissan 26-Iyar 2
Pearl Weinstein
April 6-12
Faye Young
Hyman Berkowitz
Samuel Lenik
Joseph Banks
Pearl Myers
Stephen Wittenberg
Herman Weisman
Iyar 3-9
Irene Balint
Herman Zatkin
April 13-19
Seidel Rothenberg
Alvin Alper
Charles Silberstein
Harry David
Steven Beilock
Stephen Kaplan
Maurice Glasser
Dorothy Dronsick
Arnold Rosenthal
Anna Leah Goldman
Morris Gerstler
Moses Rynski
Maisie Steckel
Iyar 17-20
Raizel Rynski
Alice Steiner
April 27-30
Faygel Scheinerman
Morris Dmitrovsky
Seth Coltoff
Mordechai Scheinerman
Jane Saunders
James Craft
Jessica Manasse
Ida Gevertz
Isadore Schechtman
Benjamin Paul
Recent Deaths in Our Community
Congregant Leonard Wolf
Sylvia Salomon, grandmother of Sarah (Matt)
Wagner
Ernie Friedman, father of Eric (Heike) Friedman
Congregant David Galant
MEMORIAL PLAQUE Anyone wishing to purchase a memorial plaque,
please contact Pinky at the synagogue office at extension 229.
In Memory of David Galant
In loving memory of our father, David Hirsch Galant, born
March 18, 1927 in Paris, France, at peace March 3, 2013
in Oakland, California. Beloved husband to Jean of blessed
memory. Your children Jed, Risa, and Daniel miss you terribly. Your legacy lives on in your grandchildren Gillian,
Mark, Miki, Misha, Clara, and Jenna, and great-grandchildren Arden and Flynn, who miss their Zeide. The hub of
our universe is gone, but we will create new constellations.
David lost his immediate family in the Holocaust and came
to America an angry, bitter non-believer. But with the love
and support of his American family he began a long healing
journey. David gradually returned to worship and found a
home at Temple Beth Abraham. With Jean, he rebuilt family and faith, took great joy in study and prayer, and drew
solace and contentment from the Temple community. The
22
man who swore that he would never again enter a synagogue became a fixture in the Temple community, whether
serving on the Temple Board, as Gabbai, mentoring and
teaching, or as a steadfast member of the morning Minyan.
His dedication to the memory of the Holocaust and his
optimism for the future led him to work to establish
Oakland’s Yom HaShoah commemorations, and to light the
seventh candle: the candle of Hope. The man full of anger
who arrived in the States over 60 years ago would not have
recognized the tzaddik he became.
We are grateful for David’s life, his legacy, his healing. We
are grateful to the community for bestowing many blessings
upon him and upon us. We know that you mourn with us:
we have all lost a great treasure. May our father’s name be
for a blessing.
donations
Charity is equal in importance to all the other commandments combined.
Centennial Project
Cynthia Berrol
Stephen & Susan Shub
Centennial Match
Mark Fickes & William Gentry
Philip & Dina Hankin
Jeri & Marvin Schechtman, in loving
memory of Sam Schechtman, Isadore
Schectman and Pearl Myers
Howard Zangwill & Stacy Margolin, in
honor of Bayla Jaffe’s Bat Mitzvah
Howard Zangwill & Stacy Margolin, in
honor of Elliot Lenik’s Bar Mitzvah
Davis Courtyard Match
Sally & Victor Aelion, in memory of
Nadine Brusch
Sally & Victor Aelion, in memory of
Rachel Aelion
Lucille Kolin & Megan Brooks, in honor
of Micah’s Bar Mitzvah
Larry Franz, in memory of Murray Davis
Richard & Naomi Applebaum, in honor
of Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Richard & Naomi Applebaum, in honor
of Rebbetzen Karen Bloom’s Birthday
Jonathan Bornstein & Amy Wittenberg
Gene & June Brott
Ronald & Lynn Gerber
Rabbi Arthur Gould & Carol Robinson
Steven Grossman & Jill Rosenthal, in
memory of Murray Davis
Barbara Kanter, in memory of Murray
Davis
Ellie & Carl Kinczel, in memory of
Murray Davis
Marshall & Lynn Langfeld, in memory my
brother David Rosenfeld
David & June Marinoff, in honor of
Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
David & June Marinoff, in memory of
Murray Davis
Dick & Mary Odenheimer, in honor of
Elliot Lenik’s Bar Mitzvah
Dick & Mary Odenheimer, in honor of
Jay Goldman’s birthday
Dick & Mary Odenheimer, in honor of
Micah Bloom’s BarMitzvah
Dick & Mary Odenheimer, in memory of
Murray Davis
Dick & Mary Odenheimer, in memory of
mother (Mary) Edythe Schultz
Barbara Oseroff, in honor of Micah
Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Gary & Carolyn Pomerantz
Ronni F. Rosenberg, in memory of Murray
Davis
Sheldon & Barbara Rothblatt, in honor of
Susan Sasson birthday
David & Elisabeth Schleuning, in honor
of Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Charles R. & Helen Schwab, in memory
of Murray Davis
Bryan Schwartz & Alicia CernitzSchwartz
Stephen & Susan Shub, in honor of
Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Stephen & Susan Shub, in memory of
Arleen Shub Robinowitz
Wendy & Marvin Siver
Wendy & Marvin Siver, in honor of
Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Jeanette Jeger Kitchen Fund
Norman & Jo Budman, in memory of
Ruth Roth
Jack Coulter, in memory of Cora Coulter,
Arthur and Gert Yarman
Steven & Penny Harris, in memory of
Goldie Brody
Alison Heyman, in memory of my mother
Eleanor Heyman
HH Day Appeal-General Fund
Lola Kahane
Marshall & Lynn Langfeld
HH Days Appeal-Endowment
Fund
David Avidor & Tosha Schore
Marshall & Lynn Langfeld
Larry Miller & Mary Kelly, in memory of
Bill Miller
Ilya & Regina Okh, In memory of Maria
Beilin
General Fund
Nichole & Ryan Gilbert, in honor of
Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Barry Barnes & Samantha Spielman
David & Shany Barukh, in memory of
father
Sophie Casson, in memory of Harvey
Casson
Mark Fickes & William Gentry
Alan Gellman & Arlene Zuckerberg
Fifi Goodfellow, in honor of Micah
Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Rabbi Arthur Gould & Carol Robinson, in
honor of Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Ward Hagar & Caroline Hastings
Jonathan & Joy Jacobs
Leonard Katz, in memory of Freda Katz
Judith Klinger
Joel Piser & Jing Weng Hsieh
Annie J. Schwartz Strom, in memory of
Samuel Jaffe
Maurice & Barbara Weill, in memory of
Lawrence “Sunny” Singerman
Madeline Weinstein
Kiddush Fund
Irwin Keinon & Adele MendelsohnKeinon, in memory of my late husband,
Al Mendelsohn
Henry Ramek & Eve Gordon-Ramek, in
memory of Miriam Goldberg
Minyan Fund
Anonymous
Daniel & Anne Bookin, in memory of
Sheba Bookin
Alan Gellman & Arlene Zuckerberg
Jon Golding & Carla Itzkowich, in honor
of Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Fifi Goodfellow, in memory of Latifa
Naggar and Charles Marcus
Martin & Evelyn Hertz
Stuart & Jeanne Korn, in memory of
Murray Davis
Sidney & Ethel Shaffer, in memory of
Alvin Shane
Sidney & Ethel Shaffer, in memory of
Joseph Perl
Sidney & Ethel Shaffer, in memory of
Leonard Wolf
Sidney & Ethel Shaffer, in memory of
Murray Davis
Sidney & Ethel Shaffer, in memory of
Harry Simon
Joan & Hershel Solomon, in memory of
Blanche Roth Neuman
David Weiner & Ellen Kaufman, in
memory of Milton Weiner
Camper/scholarship Fund
Elinor DeKoven, in honor of Rita Frankel
and David Galant recovery
Jessica Sacher, in memory of Etty
Bernstein
Rabbi Discretionary Fund
Mark & Catherine Glazier, in memory of
Murray Davis
Sally Ann Berk & James Wakeman, in
memory of Murray Davis
Martin & Evelyn Hertz
Stuart & Jeanne Korn, in honor of Micah
Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Norbert & Alice Nemon, in memory of
Tillie Eisenberg
Misia Nudler, in honor of Micah Bloom’s
Bar Mitzvah
Daniel B. & Marieka Schotland, in honor
of Oren Schotland’s Upsherin
Kevin Schwartz & Hilary Altman, in
honor of Micah Bloom’s Bar Mitzvah
Hertz Interfaith Fund
Gerald & Ruby Hertz, in memory of Ester
Morotsky
Kirk & Dvora McLean, in memory of
Saddia David
23
24
7
14
21
28
8
9
communitY Yom ha’shoa PRoGRam
29
Nisan
22
29
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
'' 7:07p
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
13
Iyyar
23
30
Classes with & at Outi Gould’s
10a Understanding the Siddur
11:15a Prayerbook vocab. & grammar
4-6p Bet Sefer
7p AIPAC presentation
4-6p Bet Sefer
Classes with & at Outi Gould’s
10a Understanding the Siddur
11:15a Prayerbook vocab. & grammar
14
Iyyar
Yom haatZma’ut
Classes with & at Outi Gould’s
10a Understanding the Siddur
11:15a Prayerbook vocab. & grammar
4p-6p Bet Sefer
16
Yom haZikaRon
15
7
Iyyar
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
6
Iyyar
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
(Temple Sinai)
9:30a Rosh Chodesh Celebration
Classes with & at Outi Gould’s
(contact Amy Tessler for location)
10a Understanding the Siddur
7:30-8:30p Professional Presentation- 11:15a Prayerbook vocab. & grammar
Executive Coaching with Jo Ilfeld
4p-6p Bet Sefer
28
Nisan
3
10
17
Pesach sheni
24
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
6:15-7:15p Confirmation Class
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
15
Iyyar
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
6:15-7:15p Confirmation Class
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
8
Iyyar
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
6:15-7:15p Confirmation Class
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
Rosh chodesh
1
Iyyar
Gan Resumes / No Confirmation Class
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
23
Nisan
4
Rosh chodesh
11
18
25
4p-6p Bet Sefer
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
16
Iyyar
4p-6p Bet Sefer
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
9
Iyyar
4p-6p Bet Sefer
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
2
Iyyar
No Bet Sefer
7:30p Girls Night Out
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
24
Nisan
5
'' 7:24p
12
'' 7:30p
19
'' 7:36p
26
6:15p-7:15p Kabbalat Shabbat
9:30-10:30a & 10:45-11:45a
Kindergym
17
Iyyar
9:30-10:30a & 10:45-11:45a
Kindergym
6:15p-7:15p Kitah Hay
Kabbalat Shabbat
7p East Bay Minyan (Baum YC)
10
Iyyar
6:15p-7:15p Kabbalat Shabbat
9:30-10:30a & 10:45-11:45a
Kindergym
tba RetReat at camP newman
3
Iyyar
6:15p-7:15p Shabbat UpluggedKabbalat Shabbat Service
9:30-10:30a & 10:45-11:45a
Kindergym
25 '' 7:17p
Nisan
Always check the Congregational E-mail or the Weekly Shabbat Bulletin for more up-to-date information. Please note any corrections care of Rayna Arnold at the TBA office.
Sh’mini
6
20
Emor
27
8:37p Havdalah (42 min)
9:30a-12p Shabbat Services
Bar Mitzvah of Walter Teitelbaum
shabbat haGadol
18
Iyyar
8:31p Havdalah (42 min)
9:30a-12p Shabbat Services
11a T’fillat Y’ladim (Chapel)
Wasserman Fund Speaker-Professor
Steven Weitzman on King Solomon
Iyyar
11 Acharei Mot / K’doshim
8:24p Havdalah (42 min)
9:30a-12p Shabbat Service
13
tba RetReat at camP newman
8:18p Havdalah (42 min)
4 Tazri.a / M’tzora
Iyyar
9:30a-12p Shabbat Services
10:15a Shabbat Mishpacha
10:15a Junior Congregation
12p Keflanu-Get together grades 3-6
26
Nisan
April 2013
Calendars in The Omer are produced 30-60 days in advance using the best data available from the TBA Administration Staff. This calendar is also available at our website www.tbaoakland.org
10a-12:00p Adult Education
Class by Susan Simon
3p-6p PJ Library Event at TBA with
Octopretzel Band and BBQ Dinner
5p CityTeam in Oakland—
feeding the hungry
19
Iyyar laG b’omeR
10a-12:00p Adult Education
Class by Susan Simon
6-7:30p Teen Scene
12
Iyyar
9:45-11:30a
Women on the Move hike
tba RetReat at camP newman
5
Iyyar
6p Friendship Circle-Teen Scene
10:30a-12p Sunday Kindergym
Yom hashoah
27
Nisan
Pesach 8 (YiZkoR)
2
9a-12p 8th Day Pesach Service
(Sanctuary) Lunch to follow
No Bet Sefer
8:14p Havdalah (42 min)
22
Nisan
Pesach 7
1
8a-10a 7th Day Pesach Service
(Chapel)
21
Nisan
Nisan 5773 / Iyyar 5773
25
12
5
19
26
6
27
Iyyar
7
13
20
27
Gan/Office closed
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
MeMoriAl dAY
18 '' 7:07p
Sivan
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
11
Sivan
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
4
Sivan
19
Sivan
4-6p Bet Sefer
28
Classes with & at Outi Gould’s
10a Understanding the Siddur
11:15a Prayerbook vocab. & grammar
21
29
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
20
Sivan
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
22
13
Sivan
ShAVuot i
15
12
Sivan
6
Sivan
Office/Gan closed/No Kindergym
9a-12p Shavuot First Day service
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
14
8
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
6:15-7:15p Confirmation Class
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
YoM YeruShAlAYiM
28
Iyyar
Classes with & at Outi Gould’s
10a Understanding the Siddur
11:15a Prayerbook vocab. & grammar
NO Bet Sefer
ereV ShAVuot
5
'' 7:53p
Sivan
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
9:30a Rosh Chodesh Celebration
Classes with & at Outi Gould’s
(contact Amy Tessler for location)
10a Understanding the Siddur
7-8:30p Professional Presentation-- 11:15a Prayerbook vocab. & grammar
Understanding Employment Law for
Employers and Workers with
4p-6p Bet Sefer
Bryan Schwartz
26
Iyyar
1
9a Weekly Text Study
(Woodminster Cafe)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
6:15-7:15p Confirmation Class
7p BBYO-AZA and BBG
21
Iyyar
2
9
16
23
30
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
21
Sivan
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
14
Sivan
8:54p Havdalah (42 min)
9a-12p Shavuot Second Day service
No Kindergym or Bet Sefer
ShAVuot ii (Yizkor)
7
Sivan
4p-6p Bet Sefer
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
29
Iyyar
8a-9a Minyan (Chapel)
10-11a & 11:15a-12p Kindergym
7p Men’s ClubJews in Bad Shoes Go Bowling!
7:30p Girls Night Out
Bet Sefer
22
Iyyar
3
10
17
24
31
6:15p-7:15p Kabbalat Shabbat
22 '' 8:06p
Sivan
6:15p-7:15p Kabbalat Shabbat
9:30-10:30a & 10:45-11:45a
Kindergym
15 '' 8:01p
Sivan
7p East Bay Minyan (Baum YC)
No Kindergym
6:15p-7:15p Kabbalat Shabbat,
Confirmation and Graduation night!
8
'' 7:55p
Sivan
6:15p-7:15p Kabbalat Shabbat
9:30-10:30a & 10:45-11:45a
Kindergym
roSh chodeSh
1
'' 7:49p
Sivan
6:15p-7:15p Kabbalat Shabbat
9:30-10:30a & 10:45-11:45a
Kindergym
23 '' 7:43p
Iyyar
Always check the Congregational E-mail or the Weekly Shabbat Bulletin for more up-to-date information. Please note any corrections care of Rayna Arnold at the TBA office.
4
11
Naso
18
25
9:02p Havdalah (42 min)
9:30a-12p Shabbat Services
Bat Mitzvah of Julia Mendelsohn
16 B’Ha-alot’kha
Sivan
8:56p Havdalah (42 min)
9:30a-12p Shabbat Services
11a T’fillat Y’ladim
9
Sivan
9:30a-12p Shabbat Service
B’nai Mitzvah of Maayan and
Hannah Rubin
10:15a Junior Congregation
12p Keflanu-Get together grades 3-6
8:50p Havdalah (42 min)
B’Midbar
2
Sivan
8:44p Havdalah (42 min)
9:30a-12p Shabbat Services
10:15a Shabbat Mishpacha
kitAh VAV ShAbbAt
24 B’Har / B’Hukkotai
Iyyar
May 2013
Calendars in The Omer are produced 30-60 days in advance using the best data available from the TBA Administration Staff. This calendar is also available at our website www.tbaoakland.org
5p CityTeam in Oakland—
feeding the hungry
17
Sivan
2:30-4p PJ Library presentation
10:15a Berkeley Midrasha Graduation
9:30a AnnuAl Meeting And
Volunteer AppreciAtion
10
Sivan
6p Friendship Circle - Teen Scene
9:45-11:30a
Women on the Move hike
3
Sivan
tbA SchoolS Auction
25
Iyyar
Iyyar 5773 / Sivan 5773
what’s inside
TBA Directory.......................................i
Cooking Corner....................................9
What’s Happening................................1
Remembering David Galant...............12
From the Rabbi.....................................2
Gan Avraham News...........................16
Purim Photos........................................3
Bet Sefer News...................................17
Editor’s Message...................................4
Jewish Day Schools............................18
Women of TBA.....................................5
La’atid................................................20
Men’s Club...........................................6
Life Cycles..........................................20
Mishloach Manot Thank You.................7
Donations...........................................23
Telling Our Stories................................8
Calendar.............................................24