By Sharon Wisch-Ray

We hope that you stayed warm and safe last weekend as we were hit with the first (and hopefully last) ice storm of the season. We prepared in advance in TJPland, with everyone able to connect to office servers and get their work done so we could put this week’s paper to bed. One luxury for me, was the ability to bake some homemade challah for Shabbat, since I was home to “mind the dough.” A couple of years ago, I attempted to bake my first challah on erev Rosh Hashanah morning. I just needed to run in the office for a “few minutes,” and felt sure I’d be home in time to punch the dough back down. Needless to say a few minutes turned into a couple of hours, and I arrived home to a giant mess in my oven of Lucy and Ethel proportions. I realized then why my mom, of blessed memory, didn’t bake her own challah…. She never had time to mind the dough since she was always working so hard at the office. We did have some delicious challah from Heinrich’s and Carshon’s.

CBS holds annual meeting

The staff of Congregation Beth Shalom (CBS) was kind enough to share a summary of its recent annual meeting held Dec. 2.
The meeting was preceded by a wonderful Thanksgivukkah meal.
Cantor Sheri Allen, in collaboration with children in attendance, lit the candles, and led the Congregation in reciting the Chanukah blessings. Allen also gave her recommendations for potential congregational activities in the coming year.
Lynda Friedensohn, acting president, congratulated the house committee chair/members and associated subcommittee personnel for their outstanding efforts this past year planning and upgrading the existing temple facility.
Friedensohn provided her vision for the congregation as she takes on the role of the president beginning in January 2014. Her vision includes goals for marketing, membership, social action and fundraising.
The membership goal is recruiting one new family unit membership per month using best practice marketing, outreach and programming strategies. The congregation will conduct more social action activities, such as volunteering in retirement homes and conducting charity events for children. She also stated that the proceeds from fundraising activities will provide supplemental income for future phases of the temple upgrade.
Stephanie Posner, CBS education director, reported on religious school activities. Religious school children and their families raised more than $100 for a tzedekah project to help the family of the young man who was struck by lightning at a URJ’s Camp Goldman Union last summer. The donation will defray some of his family’s medical costs. Fundraising will begin again in January and send a second check at the end of the year. Congratulations to the children and their families for their generosity.
Barry Goldfarb provided the ritual committee report for Stuart Snow. Policy changes recommended by the committee and approved by the board were shared. New ritual committee programming activities already introduced include Havdallah in the Home, less structured and more Reform Friday night/Saturday morning Shabbat services scheduled during particular weekends and Trope/Gabbaim classes.
Youth Director Richard Posner summarized the Arlington Federation of Temple Youth activities. ARFTY made sandwiches for the Arlington Life Shelter, as well as all the planning/volunteer work associated with Camp Impact, the one-week camp for underprivileged children in the mid-Cities area.
Ken Licker, CBS controller, recapped the synagogue budget, MUM dues and potential member donations to assist with the bimah upgrade. He also congratulated Allen for all that she has done for the congregation and the community.
Pam Sudbury, CBS house committee chair, followed with an update on the temple facility upgrade. The first b’nai mitzvah in the upgraded facility occurred Dec. 7.
Secretary Angela Markson announced the slate for the CBS officers and board of trustees. A motion was made to approve the slate and it was approved. After the meeting adjourned, Phil Kabakoff, CBS historian, took a picture of the CBS officers/board.

News from the Korenmans

Etta Korenman and her crew were in Fort Worth for the holiday. Etta sent me the following update.
“So glad that I managed to make it stateside for Thanksgiving, leaving Israel only 10 days after an emergency appendectomy.
“As so many, we had the house packed with family for the holidays. Joey, Amy, Layla and Emeline came in from Sarasota, Fla. Sarah and Jay were already here in Fort Worth, and Adam came in from L.A.  What added to this historic Thanksgivukkah celebration, was that Adam had just published his first book!  Adam, a commander in the Army National Guard, has been working on this book for 10 years, and we are thrilled to finally see, “When The Stars Fade — The Gray Wars Volume I” in print!  Adam was a student at the Fort Worth Hebrew Day School, Akiba Academy, Paschal H.S., and graduated from Boston University.”
For those interested, his book is available in hard copy and Kindle at amazon.com.
Thanks Etta! We always love hearing your news.