September 2018 Elul 5778/Tishrei 5779

JCC FOCUS Jewish Community Center

of Corpus Christi

President - Iris Lehrman

Vice President - Renee Solomon

2nd Vice President - Gary Blum

Secretary - Kari Oshman Rhodes

Treasurer - Matt Adler

Parliamentarian - Carla De Pena

Pres. Appointee - Lois Blum

Pres. Appointee - Linda Snider

Pres. Appointee -Jaron Sela

Board Member - Marcus Lozano

Board Member - Heather Loeb

Board Member - Vincent Muscarello

Board Member - Brittany Sandbach

Board Member - Kristen Erdmann

JCC Director - Norma Levens

JCC Rabbi - Rabbi Roseman

JCC Preschool - Manuela Sela

CBI Rabbi - Rabbi Emanuel

CBI - Leslie Levy

Sisterhood - Jackie Franklin

CJA - Nedra Lockhart

2017-2018 Board of Directors

Board Meeting TBA

Congregation Beth Israel Rabbi Ilan Emanuel

4402 Saratoga Blvd. (361) 857-8181

bethisraelcc.com

President: Jim Gold

Jewish Organizations in Corpus Christi

Combined Jewish Appeal (361) 855-6239

President: Nedra Lockhart

Assistant: Norma Levens

Chabad Coastal Bend Rabbi Naftoli Schmukler

4855 S. Alameda St., Suite 108

(361) 500-2173

chabadcorpus.org

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Jewish Community Council of Corpus Christi

JCC Director’s Corner

Dear JCC Family,

The time has come to begin thinking of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Every September, the ancient voice of the ram’s horn, the sacred words of the Torah and the gathering of friends and family make this a special time of the year.

For me personally, I am embracing a New Year as an empty nester. However, after many discussions with my Neil, I was very proud of the fact that “He” alone mentioned the High Holy Holidays, and said “Don’t’ worry mom, I will find a Temple and attend services.”

That remark, made me realize, all year long we are exploring and seeking new experiences. However, when the time comes, we turn ourselves “Homeward” like birds returning at springtime. This is our time of returning to community, tradition and G-d.

May you all have a wonderful and Happy New Year.

Shalom, Norma

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Patrons Chris & Robert Adler

Vincent & Shirley Muscarello

Susser Family Foundation

Members Marcia Marks

Susan & Bill Martin

Mary K. Mauel

Amanda & Howard Mintz

Amy & Sean Mintz

Theresa & Abraham Moss

Louis Needleman (MD)

Deborah & Scot Oshman

Kari (Oshman) & Scott Rhodes

Phyllis & Rabbi Kenneth Roseman

Ruthie Samocha

Hilda & Charles Schechter

Rebecca & Maurice Schmidt

Barb & Chip Schwamb

Manuela & Jaron Sela

Nina Shannon

Linda & Dean Snider

Renee Solomon

Carol Solovey

Marlene & Jack Super

Elizabeth & Jerry Susser

Pat & Sam J. Susser

Phillis Weissman

Helen Wilk

Sue Williams

Mille Zalim

Sustainers Jaki & Richard Hausman

Annette & Melvyn Klein

Laurie & Michael Mintz (MD)

Toby Shor

Angels Annette & Jim Cottingham (MD)

Ginger & Richard Harris

Beatrice Hinojosa

Carol & Sammy Kins

Rona & L. A. Train

Members Randall Berry

Lois & Gary Blum DDS

Jeanne & Mac Brenz

Carla De Pena

Elizabeth Falk

Carol & Don Feferman

Roz & Ron Ferrell (DDS)

Jacqueline Franklin

Susan & Myron Grossman

Patricia & Robert Harris

Marian (Sussman (MD)) & Michael Hiatt

Barbara (Samuels) & Sam Horner

Ruth Josephs

Karen & Harold Kane

Ruth Kane

Fifi Kieschnick

Jeri Kolpack

Amy & David Krams

Chris & Carl Kuehn

Iris & Andy Lehrman

Bobbie & Len Leshin

Norma Levens

Leslie & Carl Levy

Nedra Lockhart

Gail Gleimer Loeb

Kenneth Maltz

2018 Jewish Community Center Members

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Last month, I shared some ideas about why a Jew needs to be something of a historian. Many of our holydays are based on events that happened to our people in earlier days. The values we espouse are, we believe, very modern, but they come from an experience of 2500-plus years that began with the adoption of the Torah. How much of a claim the past has on us depends on the way we practice Judaism. Orthodox Jews hew most closely to the historic practices, while Liberal Jews tend to be more flexible.

Now, I want to embark on a multi-part series about how we present historical information and how we use it. Let me assure you that the experience of Jews in Corpus Christi was greatly influenced by what we shall discover. We need to go back to about the year 1700. Even that recently, most Jews (and their non-Jewish neighbors) had very little concept of historical change. If you go to the Spanish colonial rooms at the Art Museum of South Texas, you will see a painting of a saint clad is medieval armor. Today, we know that men who lived when he did never dressed in metal armor, but the people who lived when this painting was made (including the painter) thought that, because their own contemporaries looked like this, men had always donned this kind of tin can. There was no consciousness that anything had ever been otherwise. One of the greatest fruits of the Italian Renaissance, which began around 1400, was a very gradual awareness that the way the ancient Greeks and Romans lived was very different from how people in fifteenth-century Venice and Milan and Padua saw the world. They started to realize that, if they looked at human society over a span of centuries, there were considerable variations – things did, in fact, change, and life in 1400 was not the same as life in 1600. This was a revolution in human consciousness. By 1700, the understanding had crossed the Alps and penetrated into all of western Europe (The Russian east was still in the Dark Ages!) Just at the same time, Jews were beginning to participate in intellectual and cultural trends, especially in some principalities of Germany. And just at this point, something else quite remarkable happened. Christians had been fighting about religion since shortly after Martin Luther sparked the Protestant Reformation in 1517. To defend their point of view Catholics used the Bible to defend the idea that their perspective was authentic. Protestants did the same this. This process led them to the conclusion that individual human authors had had a role in writing the text; it was obviously not all revealed at Sinai, as traditionalists believed. This insight, coupled with a new approach we call experiment- and evidence-based science and skeptical approaches to the search for knowledge led to a modern emphasis on the individual. For example, we can date the idea of “citizen,” a single person participating in society not as a member of a group, as emerging during the eighteenth century. Search for Baruch/ Benedict Spinoza on your computer, and you will learn about the first Jew who had the temerity to consider the implications of these evolving developments. This Dutch optometrist taught that human involvement in the sacred texts undercut the authority of the rabbinic establishment. Maybe he was the first person to try to “drain the swamp.” If so, he failed and was expelled from the Jewish community of Amsterdam. But all the rabbinic fulminations notwithstanding, no one could put a finger to stem the flood of individualism and innovation that began to inundate the western European Jewish world.

Rabbi Roseman’s Corner

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Rabbi Roseman’s Corner Cont’d

Especially in Germany, a number of prominent Jews undertook a project of purging traditional Judaism of ideas and practices they found inconsistent with the mores of the modern world. In 1811, this trend culminated in the opening of the first liberal synagogue, followed shortly by a number of others. But liberal Judaism in Germany more resembled what we might think of today as Conservative Judaism. It remained for this trend to find its fullest expression on our side of the Atlantic. America was a hotbed of experimentation; new religions, such as the Church of the Latter-Day Saints and Methodist camp meetings across the Appalachians, made their appearance. Immigrants had to jettison old ways in favor of compromises that made it possible to earn a living. (Think working on Shabbat.) And so a new form of genuinely American Judaism arose as an adaptation to these new realities. In the next essay, we’ll talk about the emergence of so-called Classical Reform Judaism, and that will bring us directly to Craig Street in 1932 and Rabbi Sidney Wolfe.

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By: Rabbi Benjamin Blech Reference: www.aish.com

More Time or More Value: Yom Kippur and My MTA Quandary What’s more important: longer days or more meaningful hours? No, I never really noticed it before. The week before Yom Kippur I suddenly read the words I must’ve looked at hundreds of times before in a totally new light. The simple question posed by the Metropolitan Transit Authority machines found in every New York subway station took on a profound personal meaning. In New York, Metro cards are used to pass through a turnstile. The card has to be refilled on a regular basis by way of credit card payment. The machine that carries out this transaction offers you a choice: “Do you want more time or more value?” Everyone has their own transportation preference. In the rush to catch the next train, I’ve never seen anyone stop and ponder their decision. But I guess because it was the ten days of repentance and I’ve been thinking about my life from the perspective of standing in judgment before G-d with my fate for the coming year in the balance, I stopped short to think about the deeper implications of this MTA challenge – almost causing a frantic pileup of commuters behind me. Refilling my Metro card posed a personal theological quandary. Here I had been praying throughout Rosh Hashanah for life. I always tremble when I read the stirring words of the Unetaneh Tokef prayer: Who shall live and who shall die, who shall perish by water and who by fire, who by famine and who by thirst, who by earthquake and who by plague… In a year of hurricanes and earthquakes, of fires and floods, of unimaginable and terrifying possibilities for the end of our days, the descriptions listed in the prayer no longer seem far-fetched. The Angel of death found opportunities to turn all the horrific illustrations into reality. Of course I want life. So I pray to G-d to grant me more time. But what if I have to choose between two desirable ideals? More time or more value? The easiest thing to do is to request both; O Lord, give me more time and grant me more value. But what if life, like the Metro card machine, is willing to offer us only one option. What if we have to decide between time and value, between existence and purpose, between longer days or more meaningful hours? Perhaps the simplest way to answer the question is to acknowledge the standard by which we end up evaluating the lives of those who preceded us. When we calculate the impact people had on the world, on their communities, on their families and on their friends, do we just measure how long they lived – or do we emphasize how well they lived? Is age the ultimate determinant of achievement, of heroism, or of saintliness? Eternal legacies are not created primarily by numbers of years lived; they are fashioned by days, no matter how few, which exemplify divine qualities of character and epitomize righteous behavior. Created in the image of G-d, our lives, first and foremost, must demonstrate our divine origin. Every one of us was created with a mission. To be given the gift of life was G-d’s way of saying He needs us to become a partner with Him in the holy task of perfecting the world. Our mission in life is our justification for being. Our days on earth are limited by our mortality. But our lasting achievements on earth outlive us by virtue of our values. I will always remember the calling card an elderly rabbi once gave me. On one side was his name, address and phone number. On the other there was this simple question: “What on earth are you doing – for heaven’s sake?” As we approach Yom Kippur it is good to recall that the hope for “more time” is not really in our hands. The length of our journey of life is fixed from above. Its quality, however, can only be determined by our own free will. It is we who can choose more value above more time. It is we who have the option to select the holy over the profane, the sacred over the superficial, the meaningful over the insignificant. There is something far more important than counting our days. It is to make our days count. That is the commitment to G-d I’m going to make on this coming Yom Kippur. And hopefully, because I will choose the option of “more value”, the Almighty will be kind enough to grant me “more time” as well.

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Call For More Information & Monthly Specials!

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Happy Birthday To Our Friends!

10th Shelley Bernheim 21st Jeannetta Caplan

11th Cyndee Malowitz 21st Debbie Canales

13th Tzachi Samocha 21st Jason Green

15th Norma Levens 27th Howard Mintz

20th Chris Kuehn 30th Mac Brenz

21st Carol Solovey

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By: Rachel Fraade Reference: www.myjewishlearning.com

Jewish Perspectives on Labor Day

There is some irony in the observance of “Labor Day” in our country: It is a holiday acknowledging the achievements of labor activists, and is intended to provide all workers in the United States with a day off, and yet it is often observed by white-collar workers only.

At my alma mater, Duke University, we received no time off. If anything, this was not an injustice to students, but rather to the professors and adjuncts who had to come into work. Even in North Carolina, which ranks 48th in public school teacher pay, non-tenure track professors were paid less annually than public school teachers.

This year my new employer, the ISJL, will provide me with a well-earned rest on Labor Day. I’m looking forward to a day of relaxation after the whirlwind of conference planning, session-leading, and extensive summer travel for work. But every federal holiday comes with a story, and even as I enjoy my day off I want to be cognizant of this holiday’s truths. Just as I cannot celebrate Columbus Day — or Indigenous People’s Day, as I prefer to call it — without recognizing the massive cost to indigenous lives and land, we must acknowledge the work that went into establishing Labor Day, and the large communities of workers who still do not benefit from it.

As Jews, we have a particular responsibility to uphold the rights of all workers. From Leviticus 13:19, we learn that “Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor, nor rob him: the wages of a hired servant shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.” In Deuteronomy 5:14, we learn that just as the Israelites were commanded to rest on the Sabbath, they were also told to provide a chance for their servants to rest. The Mishnahteaches us:

One who hires workers and tells them to start early or stay late – in a place where the custom is not to start early or stay late, the employer may not coerce them. In a place where the custom is to feed the workers – the employer must feed them, to provide sweets – the employer must provide sweets. Everything goes according to the custom of the land. (Bava Metzia 7:1)

Not only is this precedent of worker’s rights in our scriptures, but also it is visible in the history of Jews in the United States. Upon their arrival in the United States, many Jews became a part of the garment industry. This industry had long hours and unsafe conditions; many Jews, such as Clara Lemlich, therefore became leaders in leading picket lines and unions. Thanks to their tireless work, many Americans now have protections such as child labor laws, the 8-hour work day, and paid sick leave.

However, it is always critical to remember that these protections are not universal. Our tradition teaches us that we must care for the oppressed, and put that care into action. Just like our ancestors, we must work towards a world in which all individuals are given appropriate protections and compensation for their work.

For a more detailed account of Jews in the labor movement, click here. Our colleagues at the Jewish Women’s Archive also has an article that traces the strong presence of Jewish women in the labor movement. If you’re interested in sharing resources about the American labor movement and Jews, Jewish Women’s Archive has a set of eight lessons that bring together Jewish teachings with the history of worker’s activism. I encourage you, while enjoying your day off on Monday (if you’re lucky enough to have one!) to also spend some time engaging with the history of the holiday, and the ongoing march toward better working conditions for all workers.

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Wishing You Well &

A Speedy Recovery!

Melvin Klein

From Your Friends

at the JCC.

Wishing You A Speedy Recovery and Sending You Well Wishes!

Melvin Klein

From Iris and Andy Lehrman

A generous donation was made to the General Fund.

Mazel Tov!

Wishing You A Very Happy 50th Anniversary!

Wishing You A Very Happy 56th Wedding Anniversary Pat & Sam Susser!

Lillian and Donald Katz

A generous donation was made to the Susser Playground Fund

Lots of Love and Good Wishes

to Pat & Sam Susser

on your 56th Wedding Anniversary!

Best Wishes for man more years to come!

Linda Weil

A generous donation was made to the Susser Playground Fund

Congratulations Pat & Sam Susser on your 56th Wedding Anniversary!

With Love, Gail Gleimer Loeb

A generous donation was made to the Susser Playground Fund

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

13 Tishrei

28 Elul

21 Elul

CBI Services @9 a.m.

Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

22 Elul 24 Elul 25 Elul 26 Elul 27 Elul

29 Elul 1 Tishrei 2 Tishrei 3 Tishrei 4 Tishrei 5 Tishrei

7 Tishrei 8 Tishrei 9 Tishrei 10 Tishrei 11 Tishrei 12 Tishrei

23 Elul

CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

14 Tishrei 15 Tishrei

Shabbat ends

8:26 p.m.

Shabbat begins

7:25 p.m.

Shabbat begins

7:17 p.m.

Shabbat ends

8:09 p.m. 6 Tishrei

Shabbat begins

7:09 p.m.

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CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

Shabbat ends

8:01 p.m.

Shabbat ends

8:17 p.m.

JCC Community Calendar September 2018 Elul 5778/Tishrei 5779

16 Tishrei

CBI Shabbat Services @ 6:30 p.m.

Shabbat begins

7:01 p.m. 17 Tishrei 18 Tishrei 19 Tishrei

CBI Services @ 9 a.m. Torah Study @ 11 a.m.

Shabbat begins

7:52 p.m. 20 Tishrei

21 Tishrei

Rosh Hashanah JCC Office/

Preschool Closed

Rosh Hashanah JCC Office/

Preschool Closed

Labor Day JCC Office/

Preschool Closed

Yom Kippur JCC Office/

Preschool Closed

Sukkot JCC Office/

Preschool Closed

Sukkot JCC Office/

Preschool Closed

Sukkot Sukkot

Sukkot Sukkot

Sukkot

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What a great time we had at yesterday’s High Holiday Fair! Thank you all for joining and adding in the fun! Special shout out to Norma Levens and Jaron Manuela

Sela for all your help and all you do at the JCC, and to Justin our awesome Bee Keeper who gave such a great and informative presentation!

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For more information on the JCC Preschool or The JCC Summer Program Please contact: Manuela Sela, JCC Director at (361) 855-6239 or

Email: jewishcommunitypreschool@yahoo.com

Dear parents, Our new school year has begun, and the students and teachers are adjusting well. These two upcoming months are very special for Jews because we have our High Holidays. Rosh Hashana is our first Holiday and we are celebrating our Jewish new year. You will see your children doing all kinds of activities that have something to do with the High Holidays. This also means that we have our first Holiday Care day available for the students who are signed up for this. No school for students that are not signed up for Holiday Care. If you would like to sign up your child, then this is the time. For more information stop by in our school office or call. Our school is closed on September 3rd (Labor Day) and we are closed on September 19th (Yom Kippur). L’Shanah Tovah! (Happy new year!), Manuela Sela, JCC Preschool Director

AGES 15 MONTHS TO KINDERGARTEN

A Note From...

JCC The Place To Be!

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Shabbat and Mitzvahs

Happy Birthday!

Sept. 7th Gabiella Garcia

(Jr. K 1 Assistant Teacher) Sept. 15th

Norma Levens (JCC Director)

Sept. 19th Bernadette Garcia (PM Care Teacher)

Sept. 30th Cassandra Gonzales (PM Care Teacher)

Important Dates to Remember!

Monday, Sept. 3rd. Labor Day (JCC School/JCC Office Closed)

Tuesday, Sept. 7th Birthday Party for the World

Mon., Sept. 10th & Tues. Sept. 11th Rosh Hashana (JCC School/JCC Office Closed/Holiday Care Open)

Thurs. Sept. 13th - Fri. Sept. 21st JCC PTO Book Fair (times to be announced)

Friday, Sept. 14th Grandparent’s Shabbat hosted by PTO Wednesday, Sept. 19th Yom Kippur (JCC School/ JCC Office Closed)

Mon., Sept. 24th & Tues., Sept. 25th - Sukkot (JCC School/JCC Office closed/Holiday Care Open)

Thursday, Sept. 27th PTO Meeting at 9:00am in boardroom

On Monday, Sept. 3rd - JCC Preschool & JCC Office will be closed.

On Mon. Sept. 10th & 11th - Rosh Hashana JCC School & JCC Office will be closed/

Holiday care will be open. On Wednesday, September 19th - JCC Preschool & JCC Office will be closed.

On Mon., Sept. 24th & Tues., Sept. 25th - JCC School & JCC Office will be closed/

Holiday care will be open.

Sept. 7th ……….. ….Shabbat 9:00am/ Mrs. Householder “Birthday Party for the World” Sept. 14th ……….. …Shabbat 9:00am/ Mitzvah Ms. Kim “Taking care of our Pets” Sept. 21st ……….. ….Shabbat 9:00am/ Mitzvah Ms. Gabiella “Forgiveness/ Saying I’m Sorry” Sept. 28th …………...Shabbat 9:00am/ Mitzvah Mrs. Householder “Sukkot Celebration”

750 Everhart Rd.

Corpus Christi, TX 78411

(361) 855-6239

jcccorpuschristi.org

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2018 Membership January 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018