WRJ is having a Sukkot party!
Beth-El’s Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) welcomes new and returning members to attend a kick-off party celebrating Sukkot!
Come “raise the roof” with WRJ and enjoy a wonderful afternoon sitting in the sukkah, seeing old friends and welcoming new ones. Members for 2009–2010 are cordially invited to Rebecca Cristol’s home at 3701 Echo Trail in Fort Worth on Sunday, Oct. 4 from 4 to 6 p.m. There will be holiday snacks and beverages served plus a craft project to have fun with.
Don’t wander any longer! If you have not joined Beth-El’s WRJ, membership forms will be available at the event. Plan to attend this delightful afternoon by RSVPing to Mileyna Razack at 817-423-2464.
Corrine Jacobson pencils in her efforts for Beth-El
Without a doubt, Corrine Jacobson is the most organized person I’ve ever had the good fortune to know. I can remember long years ago, 50 or more, I marveled at her competence. Each week, on a Sunday, she would make sandwiches for her boys, Ed and Steve, freeze them and they’d be ready to take to school in the morning. Unfortunately, this never happened in the Wisch household. For us, it was always a frantic rush!
Corrine hasn’t really changed, except to age gracefully. She’s a human dynamo with several projects always in the works. She’s an active member of Daughters of Abraham, and a dedicated member of Temple Beth-El and its Women of Reform Judaism. Some time back, Corrine started collecting yellow pencils as a project for Beth-El, who in turn donated the ones they had collected to Kristin Brown, who teaches at Harwood Junior High School in Bedford.
Corrine sent the following news brief to Reform Judaism magazine:
“Pencil Project: Beth-El Congregation in Fort Worth is seeking packets of new unused yellow pencils to support Harwood Junior High School’s goal of collecting 6,000,000 pencils to build a memorial in the shape of the yellow Star of David. The number commemorates the six million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust; the pencils symbolize the writings of Anne Frank and the ‘erasing’ of so many Jewish people. Send donations to Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Road, Fort Worth, Texas 76109.”
In return, Beth-El has received donations from all over the country. Among the contributors was Jack Bulvarsky, restaurant/travel columnist at the Las Vegas Israelite.
The Richard Steinbergs wrote, “Read about your pencil project in Reform Judaism magazine. Hope you are as successful as the paper clips project.”
Steve Bickel wrote, ‘Dear Beth-El Congregant: As the son of a Holocaust survivor, my admiration and support for this worthwhile project. Never forget!”
Paula Archer and Tanya Receives from the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center said, “Todah rabah on this outstanding project. I am aware of the ‘paper clip’ project, and feel any way we can continue to remind, reflect and keep the memory alive is our mitzvah to do….”
Linda and Tom Sauter, Hendersonville, N.C. wrote, “It is an honor to help support your effort to build a Holocaust memorial by sending the enclosed pencils. We were privileged to visit the Children’s Holocaust Memorial that the students at Whitewell Junior High in Tennessee built with millions of paper clips and were deeply moved by it We know that yours will be equally special.
“It is important to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive. Some people deny that it happened, but most of my great aunts and uncles perished in the concentration camps. Some schools don’t even study it, but it remains an example of man’s inhumanity to man, which continues in the present day. We must never forget what has happened in the past, we must try to stop what is happening in the present, and we must strive to live together in peace.”
Cara Goldfader of Laguna Woods, Calif., wrote, “By participating in this project, Congregation Beth-El is sharing in the mitzvah of remembrance. God bless you and the school doing this project. In grateful appreciation to your rabbi, from Cara Goldfeder.”
Beth-El and Corrine still have the pencil project high on their agenda. You too can help!
‘And you shall see your children’s children’
What does every first-time grandmother and first-time great-grandmother aspire to?
I know and I can tell you, it’s seeing that baby for the first time and holding it in their arms. I can tell you, because I’ve experienced both of those special occasions. You shed a tear or two and thank God for the privilege of sharing this sacred moment.
Both Donna Beckman and Roz Rosenthal had this unforgettable experience. It’s a first grandchild for Donna; she flew to Boston to welcome Ethan Carter Levi, who arrived on Aug. 26. A husky Ethan weighed in at 7 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 19 inches. Needless to say, his parents, Jennifer and Josh Levi, and Grandma Donna are still on cloud nine. For Roz, she couldn’t get to California quickly enough to welcome her first great-grandchild, Eli, named after her late husband, E.M. “Manny” Rosenthal. Sharing parental honors are Ethan’s mom and dad, Erin and Chris Daniels, and grandparents, Marsha and John Mike ­Cohen of Chicago.
News and notes
Former Fort Worth community leader Sandra Freed was recently re-elected a trustee of the board of the Jewish Community Association of Austin. Good news from Houston: Both Jerry Berkowitz and Don Cohen are recuperating from recent open-heart surgery; and Cathy Herzfeld, who was seriously injured in an auto accident in Mexico, was flown home and is now in a local hospital. Fortunately her husband, Lenny, was in another vehicle. Down in Houston for Rosh Hashanah were Barbara Rubin, who guested with her daughter and family, Janice Rubin and Charles Wiese and their son, Jacob; Dr. Alex Hoffman, who visited with his son and family, the Dr. Alan Hoffmans; and Ethel and Arnold Schectman who attended services with their daughter and family, Laura and Joe Rice and youngsters.
SWUSY conclave for teens
Fort Worth USY teens will host the SWUSY conclave in Fort Worth Oct. 23–25 for the Fall Kallah Convention weekend at Camp Carter.
The cost of the convention is $154; scholarships are available. Completed forms are due to Mara Minsberg by Friday, Oct. 9. Fill yours out today! The online application and scholarship forms are available on Shearith Israel’s Web site, www.shearith.org.
You may e-mail the forms to Mara Minsberg at mminsberg@shearith.org, fax them to 214-939-7390 or mail them to the synagogue at 9401 Douglas Ave., Dallas, TX 75225.
‘Daytimers’ to visit film show at the Kimbell Art Museum
Next event for the “Daytimers” will be a trip to the Kimbell Art Museum to view the exhibit “Butchers, Dragons, Gods and Skeletons: Film Installations by Philip Haas, from Works in the Collection.” The Kimbell requires reservations for lunch and/or for the tour Wednesday, Oct. 14. Guests planning to have lunch will meet at the buffet at 11:30 a.m. There will be reserved tables for “Daytimers.” There is no charge to Daytimers; guests will purchase their own lunches at the buffet. The tour group will meet at the Members’ Desk on the second floor at 12:15 p.m.
The museum’s newest exhibition, “Butchers, Dragons, Gods and Skeletons” is a collection of five short films by Philip Haas that reinterpret works in the Kimbell’s collection. Because of limited viewing areas, those attending will split into groups to tour the five films. There are no show times. Films run continuously.
This exhibit is momentous for what it shows and how. Haas’ film subjects are not the Kimbell’s greatest hits. They are small, often overlooked pieces that were chosen for their narrative richness — a Greek cup by Douris, a Chinese scroll painting by an unknown artist, a 16th-century genre painting of a butcher shop by Annabelle Carracci, a Giovanni Battista Tiepolo sketch and a quirky James Ensor painting.
Take the Kimbell’s Greek cup, for instance. The stylized figures that encircle the exterior tell a story that is unfamiliar to a contemporary audience. Haas doesn’t just retell the mythological tale; he shows the potter shaping the wet clay and pulling it into the wide wine-cup shape while envisioning the scenes that will illustrate the story. The film action is played out in silhouettes much like the ones that appear on the vase, and they were edited into a swirling circular pattern and projected on a large, round screen so that looking at the screen is like looking down into the cup.
For reservations, call Barbara Rubin, 817-927-2736, or Sylvia Wexler, 817-294-1129, or e-mail barbara@rubin.net. The staff at the Kimbell has asked that an attendance number for tour guides be given a week in advance.
The Sylvia Wolens “Daytimers” is a program of Beth-El Congregation with financial support from the Jewish Federation.