1. religion and spirituality
2. judaism

The Brotherhood Synagogue
h’’bZ
28 Gramercy Park South
New York, NY 10003
Phone (212) 674-5750 Fax (212) 505-6707
www.brotherhoodsynagogue.org
Volume XXXIII Number IX
Sivan / Tammuz 5775 June 2015
Getting Into Services
by Rabbi Daniel Alder
I
recently received an invitation to the Bat
Mitzvah of the daughter of my childhood
friend, Rick. Ricky and I used to sit in synagogue
services on the High Holy Days and whisper to
each other about how we wanted to “take over
the service.” What we had in mind was hijacking
the proceedings largely for the purpose of
speeding up the tempo and relieving our
boredom.
But of course we would instead quietly
measure the number of pages before the
conclusion of the service—and hope that we
would not have to do the inevitable musaf
(additional) service. The Cantor’s dramatic
lengthening of the words made us writhe
but when the Rabbi’s page announcements
skipped over several pages our hearts were
uplifted. I would follow along in the Hebrew,
intermittently checking out in whose memory
the machzor I was using was dedicated.
Well, I guess I eventually did “take over the
service.” Little did I know at that time how
prophetic my words would turn out to be.
And so if anyone—whether child or adult—
feels the slightest tinge of recognition in these
remembrances, you should know that you are
not alone.
The worst thing religion can be is irrelevant.
If the synagogue’s educational programs, social
action projects, or prayer services were largely
irrelevant to the lives of the congregants, then
we might best be served by saving all of us a lot
of time, money and energy by shutting down
the whole enterprise. Clearly the profound
religious message that Judaism has to offer has
served our ancestors well over thousands of
turbulent years. It can serve us equally well in
our own turbulent times.
But what about the boredom? One would
be hard-pressed to find anything that a child
or teenager does not find a bit “boring” in a
synagogue service. But boredom in synagogue,
even for adults, is often a symptom of a more
underlying problem. It is largely due to an
ignorance of our Hebrew language and
traditions. Yet it is also the difficulty of both
rabbis and congregants to confront and deal
honestly with our dormant spiritual lives.
One of the most spiritual events I ever attended
was not in a synagogue, but at a conference
for recovering alcoholics. The spiritual retreat
for Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent
Persons and Significant Others (JACS) contained
a level of spiritual sharing and honest personal
appraisal so absent in our synagogues. Participants
eagerly cornered rabbis for discussions about God,
Hasidic men shared their life stories with secular
women, attendees recited the prayers with great
thought and feeling.
One cannot help wondering whether this
is not what most synagogues are lacking in the
area of spirituality. At those retreats they speak
with candor about where they went wrong
and how one day at a time they are trying
to do right. They tell where they find the
strength and hope to keep trying. Sometimes
one of them will take special responsibility for
another—to be available at any hour of day or
night if the need arises. No matter what far
place they may end up in, they know that there
will be an A.A. meeting nearby to attend and
that at that meeting they will find strangers
who are not strangers to help and to share.
The synagogue can attempt to foster
an inviting and spiritually challenging
Shabbat Services
FRIDAY, June 5, 7:30 pm
SATURDAY, June 6, 9:30 am
Bar Mitzvah of Benjamin Brown
FRIDAY, June 12, 7:30 pm
Musical Kabbalat Shabbat Service
SATURDAY, June 13, 9:30 am
Adult B’nai Mitzvah of Alma Chaudhary,
Danielle Howe & David Howe
FRIDAY, June 19, 7:30 pm
SATURDAY, June 20, 9:30 am
FRIDAY, June 26, 7:30 pm
SATURDAY, June 27, 9:30 am
environment at prayer services. We can alter
the times of the services, we can modify
the pacing of the prayers, we can offer new
melodies and more user-friendly prayer
books. But ultimately the success of the prayer
experience will be the extent to which one
prepares him or herself—educationally and
spiritually—and the extent that we approach
our tradition and prayers with honesty and
commitment. l
MAZAL TOV!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!
To the entire cast and
crew of
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Kol HaKavod!!!!!
Great Job!!!!!!
Community Notes: The Trope is the Thing
Thursday, June 18 at 7 pm
by Debbie Pearlstein
T
rope is one of my favorite kinds of Jewish
music. Trope is the Yiddish word for the
cantillation markings that tell a reader how to
chant a text from the Hebrew Bible. The trope
symbols appear above or below the Hebrew
words in book versions of the text. Until you
know what to look for, they can seem like
random squiggles on the page; once you know
the 20-25 symbols, everything falls into place.
From the trope symbol and how it is placed
relative to the Hebrew word, you know the
tune to use when you chant the word, what
syllable of the word to emphasize, and how the
text sentence is phrased. The trope symbols, like
the vowels and punctuation, do not appear on
the scroll version so must be learned by heart if
you are chanting from a scroll in the synagogue.
What makes trope really interesting is that
although all our texts use the same basic trope
symbols, how each trope is sung varies based
on what text is being chanted. For example,
the < sign under a word typically signifies the
mapakh trope, but mapakh is sung differently
depending on whether you are chanting Torah,
Haftorah, the Book of Esther (read on Purim),
the Book of Lamentations (read on Tisha
B’Av), or the Book of Ruth, Song of Songs,
or Ecclesiastes (read on Shavuot, Pesach,
and Sukkot, respectively—these three use the
same trope tune). Plus, how each trope sounds
depends on what tradition you follow. It’s not
just that Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews have
their own ways, but also Yemenite and Italian
Jews, and famous cantors and rabbis who
developed their signature trope sounds. The app
Trope Trainer, which generates electronically
whatever cantillation sounds the student needs
to learn, gives you a choice among 31 different
Torah trope tunes alone! And beyond that, by
tradition we have all sorts of twists on even
these tropes, as we chant certain Torah sections
with special tunes, like Moses’ Song by the Sea.
Or like in a number of places in the Book of
Esther when the tune diverts from the trope to
underscore a dramatic moment in the story.
Why do I like trope so much? For one thing,
it is a very different way of communicating
musical notation than what most of us are used
to, i.e., notes on a music clef. I enjoy the challenge
of decoding how to chant the text whenever I
have an opportunity to read at Brotherhood. It’s
good mental exercise having to master the text
and the trope. And it seems like each time I do
it, there’s a new twist—last year I was surprised
by a trope symbol I had never noticed before,
and it turns out it appears only one time in a
Haftorah. Another time last year, I discovered
that the Torah portion I had volunteered to read
contained the famous “curses” of Lev. 26 where
the Israelites are warned of all the horrible things
2
Brotherhood Book Club
that will happen to them if they do not follow
God’s commands—by tradition the person
chanting these verses says them really fast and in
almost a whisper so that the congregation does
not have to dwell on them. So there are always
new challenges.
Second, when we use the trope we are
participating in a ritual—the public telling of
our stories—that goes back a few thousand
years. And what we read is being read by our
counterparts all around the world on that day
in some variation on the same tune. So the
trope helps me feel connected, both with our
history and with our fellow Jews.
Finally, I like hearing the tune. The trope
often helps dramatize the meaning, with some
of the more “flashy” trope tunes assigned to the
more important parts of the text, as if to make
sure you pay attention. Sometimes the trope
sequences can be a bit repetitious, but more
often I find them beautiful; some portions
triumphant, other portions sad. Like the
tunes for our prayers, the trope adds emotional
resonance to our service. l
Call For Stories
In keeping with Brotherhood Synagogue’s
“Israel” theme for 5776 (September 2015July-August 2016) we hope to feature a
congregant’s personal story of Israel in
each monthly bulletin during the year.
We want to hear your stories, whether
brief anecdotes or lengthy, serious or
funny, from long ago or last week (photo
illustrations also welcome!).
Please send these to Roberta (rkahn@
brotherhoodsynagogue.org) for what will be
called our “Israel Notes” column. Stories
for the September 2015 bulletin must be
submitted no later than July 31, 2015.
So, start writing and send us your story
as soon as possible!
The Brotherhood Book Club will discuss
Nomi Eve’s Henna
House.
If you are interested
in joining the Book
Club, please contact
Margie Katz at
margie.katz@me.com.
All are welcome.
Life Goes On
Life Goes On is a group for those of us who
have lost a spouse or life partner and want to
experience the beauty, joy, and opportunity that
New York life offers surrounded by supportive
friends who understand and share in the loss.
Our May tour of The New York Historical
Society’s “To See Jerusalem Before I Die:
Abraham Lincoln and the Jews” had a great
turnout and was tremendously interesting!
Please stay tuned to the Brotherhood weekly
mail for Life Goes On events we will be holding
during the summer months.
Please also stay tuned for the reschedule date
for our May 21 bookclub which was cancelled.
We will discuss “All The Light We Cannot See”
by Anthony Doerr. NYU professor Margaret
Boe Birns will expertly guide our discussion as
usual, accompanied by wine and desserts. The
cost of participating is $20 per person; please
call or e-mail Agnes if you are planning to join.
If you or someone you know would like to
be a part of Life Goes On, please come to our
meetings—we would be happy to see you! If you
have any questions, please call Agnes Marton at
917.519.4427 or e-mail her at 1agnesmarton@
gmail.com or call Roberta in the Synagogue
office at 212.674.5750. l
Shabbat Club
Saturday, June 27, 1:00 pm
The Shabbat Club will meet on June 27
at 1 pm, in the second floor reception
room. There will be an open discussion
of the latest survey conducted by the
Pew Research Center, entitled, America’s
Changing Religious Landscape. Copies
of the May 15 Jewish Week article on
this survey will be available. Beverages
and snacks will be provided and all
are welcome. Please contact Deborah
Newman (newmanddale@aol.com) if you
have questions, comments, or suggestions
about this or any topic. l
The Brotherhood Synagogue
Sivan / Tammuz 5775
June 2015
Brotherhood Synagogue Annual Meeting • Tuesday, June 16, 2015 • 6:30 pm
We urge you to attend! The congregation will be voting on important matters including the
budget and the trustees and we need to make a quorum in order to hold the vote!
Please attend!
The Brotherhood Synagogue
Board of Trustees Slate 2015
Honorary Presidents:
Honorary Trustees:
Arthur Abbey, Inge Dobelis, Bernard Esrig,
Sam Brown, Jay Dankberg, Arthur Greenbaum,
Vertella Gadsden, David Lande
Arthur Plutzer, Ben Saltzman
Nominated for Officers
We list for your information the names of those
who will continue to serve as Trustees in their
respective classes:
President ..................................................... Judith Shapiro
Chairperson, Board of Trustees ................... Charles Rich
First Vice-President ........................................Bradley Miles
Second Vice-President .............................Howard Glatzer
Treasurer . ....................................................... Neal Epstein
Corresponding Secretary............................ Debra Aaron
Recording Secretary................................ Carol Ginsburg
Counsel................................................... Debra Pearlstein
Nominated for Class of 2017
Trustees Serving Until 2016
Debra Aaron
Trudi Bartow
Ted Mermel
Inge Dobelis
Marianna Vaidman Stone
Neal Epstein Laura Ward
Robert Lewis
Ellie Wertheim
David Monk
Robert Wolf
Hillary Perlman
Debra Pearlstein
Trustees Serving Until 2017
Nominated for Class of 2018
Michelle Abraham
Carol Ginsburg
Beth Barry
Naomi Blumenthal
Hollis Salzman
Richard Breier
Judith Shapiro
Pamela Chisling
Malcolm Davis
Donna Rothchild
Shelley Taylor
Tracie Basch
Alan Fell
Marge Ginsburg
Howard Glatzer
Susan Halper
Bradley Miles
Ruth Raskin
Charles Rich
Neal Rosenberg
Fifi Simon
Renee Ward
Lew Teperman
The nominating committee has presented its candidates above. Other candidates can be added by
written petition by not fewer than five (5) members of the congregation in good standing and filed with the
Secretary of the congregation at the office of the Synagogue not less than 5 days before the date of the
meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at 6:30 P.M.
Sivan / Tammuz 5775
June 2015
The Brotherhood Synagogue
3
President’s Posting
is Bustin’ Out All Over,” so goes the lyrics
“ June
from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel.
Indeed June is busting out and our allergies are
telling us so! No matter, the flowers and trees
and sunshine help us to forget the tough winter.
We cannot forget what a wonderful year
it has been at Brotherhood. Our calendar was
filled with events almost every day and evening.
In addition, we have had 25 b’nai mitzvot this
year with even more next year!
I would like to thank all of our committee
members and volunteers for all their hard work
in bringing outstanding programs to our shul.
Early in the year our Israel and Special
Events Committees brought us a talk by Avi
Melamed, an expert on the ever changing
situation in the Middle East. Over the rest
of the year, the Israel Committee brought us
comedian Joel Chasnoff, sponsored the fantastic
“Latke, Vodka and Israeli Big Band” Chanukah
party, and they also brought us a terrific night
of jazz featuring two of our incredibly talented
Hebrew School teachers, Maia Karo and Daniel
Meron, at our Israeli Jazz Café.
The Social Action Committee sponsored a
new charitable program each month. We began
the year with our Cemetery Visiting Program
and Mazon, a program to feed the hungry.
These were followed by the City Harvest Food
Drive; Dorot Thanksgiving Food deliveries; the
Children’s Clothing Drive; the Project Cicero
Book Collection; the Project Ezra Passover
Happenings in Our Kehilah
B’nai Mitzvah, Mazal Tov to:
Craig and Alysa Brown on the Bar Mitzvah
of their son, Benjamin Brown. Ben, a student
at Simon Baruch Middle School, will celebrate
his simcha with his younger brother, Mason.
Alma Chaudhary, Danielle Howe and David
Howe on their joint adult B’nai Mitzvah
celebration.
Weddings, Mazal Tov to:
Samantha Jeffreys on her marriage to John
Zelenka; and to Samantha’s father, Howard
Jeffreys.
Births, Mazal Tov to:
Joanna and Matt Weiss on the birth of their
daughter, Aviva Sydney Weiss; and to older
brothers, Ethan and Seth.
Ellen Cohen and Seth Platt on the birth of
their son, Silas Emerson Platt; and to older
sister, Aria.
Darya and Robert Goldstein on the birth of
their son, Drew Ethan Goldstein; and to older
sister, Emma.
Samantha and Joshua Hollander on the birth
of their son, Ozzie Max Hollander; and to
older sister, Davy.
Julie and Matthew Lilienfeld on the birth of
their son, Theo Davis Lilienfeld; and to older
sister, Gemma.
Kate and Ori Uziel on the birth of their
daughter, Cora Ann Uziel; and to older brother
and sister, Liam and Ventura.
Condolences to:
Perry Ascher on the passing of his mother,
Ruth Ascher Abel.
4
Agnes Marton on the passing of her mother,
Elizabeth Rosenblum.
Welcome New Members:
Joshua and Samantha Hollander reside in
Murray Hill. Joshua works at TD Securities
and Samantha is a geriatric care manager. Their
daughter, Davy, will be attending Brotherhood
Nursery School this September.
Benjamin and Melanie Robbins live in the
Flatiron area. Benjamin works in finance at
Stone Ridge Asset Management and Melanie
is a full-time mother. They have a son, Noah,
who is 6 months old.
David and Heather Groban live in NoMad.
David works at MatlinPatterson Global Advisers
LLC, and Heather works at Bloomberg L.P.
They have a son, Miles, who is 6 months old.
Joshua and Stephanie Maes reside in Flatiron.
Joshua works in real estate with Netrality
Properties and Stephanie is a buyer at
Bloomingdales. Their son, Hudson, attends
Brotherhood Synagogue’s Nursery School.
Andrey and Lola Tsetlin live in Flatiron.
Andrey is a quantitative analyst at Fortress
Investment Group and Lola works in capital
markets sales at CIBC. They have three
children: Zachary, 12, Max, 9, and Ellie, 2.
Ellie will be attending Brotherhood Synagogue
Nursery School starting September.
Jordan Rubinstein and Elisa Karp live in
Gramercy Park. Jordan is a trader with Virtu
Financial and Elisa is a freelance product
developer currently taking time off to be at
home with their daughter, Lila. Elisa and
Jordan look forward to becoming involved
with the Brotherhood Nursery School when
Lila starts attending in the Fall. l
Food Drive and this past May the Backpack/
School Adopt a Block Program. From January
thru March, the Social Action Committee
also sponsored the Brotherhood Homeless
Shelter. In November, they held the annual
Chuck Ginsburg Memorial Blood Drive and
organized a Veteran’s Day Shabbat to honor
Brotherhood’s veterans. Thank you to everyone
who helped support and contribute to these
important programs.
The Interfaith Committee sponsored an
“Iftaar in the Synagogue” again last July. Iftaar
marks the daily ending of the Ramadan fast.
In January the Interfaith and Social Action
Committees co-sponsored another Hunger Van
event with the Muslims against Hunger Project
to help feed the homeless. Father Patrick Ryan
of Fordham University was a special guest
speaker at services talking about Pope Francis
and his relations with the Jewish community
and just before Passover we had an Interfaith
Model Seder with attendees of many faiths. It
was a very warm and enjoyable evening.
Our Special Events Committee started the
year off with round challah baking taught by our
member Millie Fell and later in the year, baking
Jewish breads with our member Mark Goldey.
Ben Sidran entertained us with the American
Jewish Songbook. We had a special visit to
MoMA to view the wonderful Matisse Cutouts
exhibit and a trip to the Musuem of the City
of New York to see the Letters to Afar exhibit.
Each year the Special Events Committee brings
us a series of films dealing with varied Jewish
themes. This year’s films included Dancing in
Jaffa, a documentary by Pierre Dulaine who
brought his passion for ballroom dancing back
to his native Jaffa where he taught ballroom
dancing to both Palestinian and Israeli children
together!
Killing Kastner was next in the film series,
followed by The House I Live In. Brotherhood
member, Professor Art Simon, led a stimulating
discussion after the film.
The NextDor Committee, our new
committee for 20/30’s sponsored a Shabbat
Dinner and a seminar with Rabbi David
Goldfarb.
There were many special programs at
Brotherhood—Shofar Blowing with Cantor
Weis; the Rabbi Block Memorial Lecture with
Georgette Bennett; the film, The Secret Jews of
Calabria and The Voices of the Sacred musical
event.
We had three Shabbatonim presented by
the Shabbaton Committee. Gerard Edery
entertained us with the music from the Golden
Age of Spain. Gary Shteyngart read from his
new book, Little Failure, A Memoir, and lastly,
comedian Ted Alexandro made us laugh!
Continued on next page
The Brotherhood Synagogue
Sivan / Tammuz 5775
June 2015
Yahrzeits
PRESIDENT’S POSTING, continued from page 4
The Chesed Committee held a valuable
seminar in April titled Conversations about
Illness and Loss. This committee exemplifies so
much of what Brotherhood is about. They are
there for us whatever the need may be.
I would like to extend a warm thank you to
Merrill Feinstein, our Nursery School Director
and Barbara Simon, our Hebrew School
Principal and to Myra Hushansky, Director
of our Tikvah program. The children in the
Nursery School, the Hebrew School and Tikvah
program helped us to joyously celebrate all our
chagim (holidays) with the annual Chanukah
Party and candle lighting in Gramercy Park,
the Purim Carnival and this year’s Purim Spiel,
which was based on Grease. The kids were
superb. The adult spiel was so fun and was
written by Brotherhood’s Martin Sage and was
performed by Brotherhood member actors!
The Annual Brotherhood Synagogue
Schools Benefit was a real treat. The theme of
this year’s benefit was a quote from Theodore
Herzl, “If you will it, it is no dream.” I hope our
dreams come true for all our children.
The annual Hebrew School Musical this
year was The Wizard of Oz. This is my favorite
program at Brotherhood. It was a smash with a
sold out house both nights. The musical builds
such strong community among all the students
and adults involved in putting on this show.
We started a new program this year, called
“Sifriyat Pijama” for all our Hebrew speaking
families with small children. Thank you to
Roberta Kahn for organizing this program.
We just celebrated Shavuot with services.
The children listened to the reading of the Ten
Commandments and then had a fabulous ice
cream party with more toppings than I knew
existed!
Underlying the depth of all this programing
and events at Brotherhood is Rabbi Alder.
We are blessed by Rabbi Alder’s wisdom and
thoughtful guidance and compassion. He has
a wonderful sense of humor, even if he is an
Oakland A’s fan!
Cantor Weis made this “Year of Music”
exciting with new Shabbat melodies, Voices of
the Sacred, and Shabbat Koleinu.
Phil we luv ya! You are the best at bringing
the “ruach” (spirit) and joy to Brotherhood
with all you do for us.
All of the programs on our very rich calendar
would not be possible without Roberta Kahn.
Toda rabba!
We are looking forward to next year when
our theme will be: ISRAEL!
We need your ideas—don’t hesitate to get
involved!
L’Shalom and have a wonderful summer,
Judy Shapiro
Sivan / Tammuz 5775
June 2015
^Garden of Remembrance
June 6-12
^Herman Asnas, Ruth Bergman, Sylvia Braun, *Pauline
Cagen, Dean Dodd, Ellen Doherty, Leon Epstein,
Lillian Feinstein, *Julius Field, Martin Finegold, Elsie
Frommer, ^*Morton Geller, Leo Goldberg, ^Wilhelm
Goldreich, ^Elizabeth S. Goldschmidt, *Tillie Goldstein,
Charlotte Gothelf, ^Lena Green, David Greenleaf,
^Sima Kislak Jelin, ^Alter Michael Kaplan, Eva
Kaufman, ^Leisel Kaye, Julian Koenig, ^Faye Kuhne,
^Ruth Labiner, Abraham Levine, Moshe Lifshitz, Irwin
Magerfield, ^Harold Merkelson, Isador Moed, Rhoda
Moed, Dona Gracia Nasi, ^*Nathan Neidich, Robert
Nelson, *Jean Pauker, Elliott Perlman, Irving Plutzer,
Morris Press, ^William Raskin, ^Norman Redlich,
Emily Rich, Melvin Rudoltz, Moishe Sage, Frank Savits,
^Anna Schaffer, *Regina Schlanger, Gertrude Schorr,
Frances Schwartz, Sadie Schwartz, Ruth Schwartzberg,
^*Patricia Greenhouse Seaman, Mary Sonnenfeld,
^Morris Steinberg, Ruby Strauss, ^Jacob Weisman,
Arthur Weiss, ^Lili Wolf, *Henry Wolfson, ^Harry
Zolick, ^Seth Zucker
June 13-19
^George Z. Abrams, ^Robert Adler, ^Mary Blum,
Leon Cohen, ^Samuel Coppersmith, ^Lillian Dursht,
Eli Bodie Enzer, *Rose Farland, Ruth Feiner, ^Arthur
Feitell, Daisy Fish, ^*Annafay Bayuk Franklin, *Samuel
Friedwald , Dorathy Gaum, ^Sarah B. Glass, ^Gerry
Goldberg, ^Martha Golden, *Rose Goldman, ^Aaron
Gottlieb, Ellen Greenleaf, ^Philip Haim, ^Mildred
Hofstetter, ^Ruth Holzberg, Helen Klein, ^Eugene
Labiner, Sally Leatherrman, Ivor Lederer, Victoria
Leffel, *Dora Lowy, *Dora Magerfield, *Betty Mald,
Julius Marke, *Fay Markel, Victoria Menasjy, *David
Moses, Phyllis Noone, Maurice Pine, Fred Profeta,
Kenny Quinn, Philip Raphael, ^Dr. William Reisner,
^Maurice Rickles, ^Molly Rosenblum, ^Helen
Rubenstein, *Fannie Schwartz, ^Ira Sollar, William
Spielberger, ^Jeff Sugarman, Willie Walther, *Elias
Werner, ^Audrey Zollman
June 20-26
Alfred Adler, *Sidney Altman, *Samuel Ash, Diana
Balaber, ^Lillian Benardo, ^Milton Bloom, Sylvia
Brumberg, ^Florence Burrell, *Abraham Cooperman,
^Elaine Davidorf, *J. Howard Denny, ^Irwin Diamond,
^Jennie Douglass, *Sadie Elson, Morris Feinstein,
Morris Glusband, Arthur Gold, *Barney Goldman,
*Jack Harrison Gorta, Harold Green, ^Frank Scott
Green , ^Mollie Green, ^Max Greenberg, Michael
Greenspan, Enid Guttman, ^Louis Himmel, ^David S.
Hocky, ^Lewis J. Honekman, Charles Kalisky, Deborah
Sue Kornblatt, ^Dr. Leo J. Koven, Sidney Levin,
Benjamin Levine, Gregory Litwack, *Nicholas Lowy,
^Sue Machlin, ^Saul Magram, Lillian Mandel, Jeanne
Marshall, Elizabeth Meyerowitz, Janet Miltenberg,
Eileen Osofsky, ^Rosalind Pesiri, ^Pauline Pessar,
Morton Pollak, *Carl Rosner, *Rose Rothchild, ^Frances
Schechter, Joseph Silver, *Dorothy J. Sims, ^George
Singer, *Murray Sirkin, Hugo Stern, Rose Storick,
*Book of Remembrance
William Tricanowicz, Edward Tuft, *Henry Unterweiser,
^Benjamin L. Wasserman, Herbert Weissberg, Thomas
Werner, Rose Yatrofsky
June 27-July 3
Ray Aaronson, ^Florence Alster, ^Joseph Alster, ^Sylvia
Altman, Mollie Bender, *Diana Berel, Norman Block,
Edna Bloom, *Fannie Chizner, Joseph Cosnow, Isadore
Davis, Marilyn Dershowitz, Milton Fischbein, Israel
Garfin, Heinrich Gelber, Seymour Gerstenhaber, Rose
Glazer, Isidore Gluck, ^Benjamin Gordon, Marilyn
Greenblatt, Daniel Hamburger, Nathan Kaye, Barbara
Levine, Ida Medwed, *Nathan Natilson, Robert David
Newman, ^Sandra Newman, ^Doris Perlman, Irving
Protaz, ^Mildred Ray, Miriam Roland, Anna Rosenthal,
^Ethel Rubinstein, Sam Sagman, Joseph Saltzman,
Margot Salzman, *Jacob H. Schlager, Dr. Michael
Shander, ^Celia Shorin, Sylvia Sidney, Harry Siegel,
Jack Sorrell, *Samuel Sosnen, Naomi Rubin Strumpf,
^Morton Usdan, Sylvia Vanacore, Miriam Weber,
Peggy Weiner, ^Ruth Weintraub, ^Isidore Weiss, *Mark
Werner, ^The Family Weygman, ^*Rose Zweibach
GRAMERCY PARK
MEMORIAL CHAPEL
353 Second Avenue New York, NY 10010
(212) 477-6334
The Brotherhood
Synagogue
28 Gramercy Park South
New York, N.Y. 10003
Phone: (212) 674-5750
Fax: (212) 505-6707
www.brotherhoodsynagogue.org
RABBI DANIEL ALDER,
CANTOR MIKE WEIS,
RABBI IRVING J. BLOCKZ’’L D.D.:
Founding Rabbi
HERMAN DIAMOND: Cantor Emeritus
SHIYA RIBOWSKY: Cantor Emeritus
JUDY SHAPIRO: President
PHILLIP ROTHMAN:
Executive and Education Director
Congregation founded in 1954
Historic Landmark Building
erected in 1859
The Chesed* Committee
Wants You to Know
If you or a loved one is ill, responding to multiple requests for updates and offers to help
from other friends and family can be time consuming and exhausting. The good news is that
various websites offer the means to post news just once to reach everyone and make it easy for
them to sign up to visit or bring a meal. One such website is caringbridge.com.
*The Chesed Committee provides help and compassion to Brotherhood members in times of need. We can be
reached at chesed@brotherhoodsynagogue.org or through the synagogue office.
The Brotherhood Synagogue
5
Congratulations to Our Graduates!
Our High School Graduates:
Our College Graduates:
Jonathan Alony on his graduation from NEST+m
and his acceptance to LIU College.
Theodore Altman on his graduation from
Hamilton College (Art History).
Naomi Blech on her graduation from Barnard
College (Sociology).
David Cooper on his graduation from the
University of Michigan (American Culture).
Jessica Evans on her graduation from Cornell
University (English).
Brendan Raffel Evers on his graduation from
the University of Colorado (Physics).
Jordan Glaubinger on his graduation from George
Washington University (Organizational Science).
Michael Harland on his graduation from
Harvard University (Economics).
Sherry Hochbaum on her graduation from
Pratt Institute (Photography).
Max Moore on his graduation from Washington
University
(Psychology,
Neuroscience,
Philosophy).
Alex Perle on her graduation from Syracuse
University (Graphic Arts).
Eli Regen on his graduation from Bard College
(Physics).
Daniel Rich on his graduation from the
University of Michigan (Communications).
Benjamin Schmutzer on his graduation from
the University of Michigan (International
Relations).
Robert Ascher on his graduation from Beacon
and his acceptance to Bennington College.
Cary Block on his graduation from Brooklyn
Tech and his acceptance to Tulane University.
Simona Dwass on her graduation from Hunter
and her acceptance to Swarthmore College.
Jonah Gaynor on his graduation from Dalton
and his acceptance to New York University.
Ariel Goldner on her graduation from Brooklyn
Friends and her acceptance to Worcester
Polytechnic Institute.
Sharri Greenwald on her graduation from NYC
Lab and her acceptance to Skidmore College.
Samuel Harris on his graduation from Friends
Seminary and his acceptance to Wesleyan
University.
Sasha Hulkower on her graduation from
Hunter and her acceptance to Tufts University.
Max May on his graduation from Frank
McCourt and his acceptance to the State
University of New York at Albany.
Jeremiah Milbauer on his graduation from
Hunter and his acceptance to the University of
Chicago.
Rebecca Newman on her graduation from
Dalton.
Sylvie Rosen on her graduation from Heschel
and her acceptance to Barnard College/List
College of JTS.
Raphael Schmutzer on his graduation from
Tufts University (Philosophy).
Sacha Sellam on her graduation from State
University of New York at Stony Brook
University (Art History and French).
Caroline Warren on her graduation from the
University of Rochester (English).
Emily Uniman on her graduation from
Dartmouth College (Anthropology/Psychology).
Jonathan Wolf on his graduation from Tufts
University (Political Science and Economics).
Samuel Zeitlin on his graduation from Bard
College (Asian Studies).
Benjamin Zonon on his graduation from Connecticut College (Film).
And to:
David Salant on his graduation from Harvard
Law School.
And Congratulations to:
Irma Schonhaut on the graduations of her
grandchildren: Ethan Schonhaut from Great
Neck High School South and his acceptance
to Buffalo University; Alexa Schonhaut from
Penn State.
Hannah Cohen on the graduation of her
grandson, Barry Mondry-Cohen from the
Unversity of Michigan.
Family Shabbat at Brotherhood!
Paul Schorin on his graduation from Fieldston
and his acceptance to Princeton University.
Starr Silver on her graduation from NYC
Lab and her acceptance to the University of
Michigan.
Toby Teitel on his graduation from Horace
Mann and his acceptance to Emory University.
Carly Teperman on her graduation from
Columbia Prep and her acceptance to Cornell
University.
Nathaniel Uniman on his graduation from
Birch Wathen Lenox.
Jennifer Urban on her graduation from La
Guardia and her acceptance to the University
of Delaware.
Sydney Wiener on her graduation from Poly
Prep and her acceptance to Emory University.
6
Friday, June 5 • 5:30 pm
This year Family Shabbat for our youngest children continued to grow and grow! Twice a month parents and their
Children up to 3 years old with
Daphna Mor in the Yellow Room.
children up to three years old came together in the Yellow
Older siblings welcome.
Room on Friday evenings to welcome Shabbat together
with music and movement and, of course, challah & juice!
Very special thanks to our wonderful Early Childhood teacher, Daphna Mor, for her inspiration
and amazing talents and for leading our Family Shabbat and Terrific Toddler Programming! Family
Shabbat programming for children of all ages will resume again in the fall. Happy summer!
The Brotherhood Synagogue
Sivan / Tammuz 5775
June 2015
MAZAL TOV
To All of the
Chai-Q 5775
Competitors and
Winners!
Pictured left to right at the competition: Phil
Rothman, Sadie Goldstein, Anna Mintzer
CHAI-Q CHAMPION 5775 !!!!
SADIE GOLDSTEIN
Kitot Gimmel & Dalet
(3rd & 4th Grades)
First Place: ANNA MINTZER
Second Place: SAM LUBELSKY
Third Place: GRACE BOBER
Kitot Hey & Vav
(5th & 6th Grades)
First Place: SADIE GOLDSTEIN
Second Place: HARRIS BENYACAR
Third Place: CHLOE METZ
Nursery School Thoughts
by David Fine
A
s a parent of Adam, currently in the
Red Room, and Isabel, a graduate of
the Blue Room who is now in first grade,
I have an interesting perspective on the
teaching and learning that takes place at
The Brotherhood Nursery School. While I
always knew that the nursery school provides
a warm, safe, and nurturing environment for
our children, I did not fully appreciate effort
taking place to prepare them for life after
the cozy confines of the Synagogue’s lower
level. From an “academic” point of view,
between the various holiday plays, Shabbat
celebrations, and arts and crafts, Isabel
and Adam were gaining a solid foundation
of the skills and tools that are necessary to
be comfortable in elementary school while
having fun and playing.
As Isabel progressed from the Yellow
Room to the Red Room she was introduced to
more structure, learning, and independence.
By the time she was finishing the Blue Room
her daily routines and activities very closely
resembled those of a kindergarten classroom.
This was all happening without much notice
and while still remaining focused on fun
activities centered around the children’s
interests. For example, she was learning math
skills that would be helpful in kindergarten
while playing dice games in the Blue Room.
She was also creating incredible art projects
and putting on performances while learning
basic fundamentals of reading, expression
and communication. I was very impressed
with the smooth transition Isabel made to
Kindergarten, which without a doubt was
a result of the experience she gained during
her three years in nursery school.
As Adam has matured and moved into
the Red Room, he has been challenged
while taking part in activities based around
his interests and those of the entire class. It
seems that every few months he passes new
milestones in development and growth—
starting with just speaking in the Yellow
Room (he didn’t say a word until January), to
actually participating in the Pizza Pizza song
rather than passing, sharing his thoughts and
stories in the Red Room, and handling all his
“jobs” with serious determination (although
when asked if his job of turtle nanny included
cleaning the turtles he said, “no, that’s
something Lisa should do.”). Aside from
knowing the alphabet and counting numbers,
more importantly, he has been instilled
with a sense of competence, independence,
and confidence and I know he will be well
prepared for whatever comes next. l
♪ Cantor’s Notes: When “Sorry” is Too Much ♪
by Cantor Mike Weis
W
e all know the feeling. A friend is
sick. A colleague has lost a spouse. A
relative has died. We screw up our courage to
pay a visit or pick up the phone. Maybe we
write a card or an email. We are seized by an
earnest desire to help, to make “them” feel
better, to make ourselves feel better. We offer
to help. “Is there anything you need?” “What
happened?” or “How ARE you?”
As I write this, my mother-in-law is
currently in home hospice care. Though we
don’t know exactly when the end is coming,
it’s been on our minds ever since we spent
a harrowing week with her in the hospital
two weeks ago. The outpouring of care and
concern for her has been overwhelming and
our family has been truly grateful for each
and every gesture.
What has surprised me, though, is that
being on the receiving end of my own
personal “go-to” comfort phrase when
encountering others in need doesn’t feel
Sivan / Tammuz 5775
June 2015
nearly as comforting as I thought it would.
In fact, it doesn’t feel comforting at all.
When well-meaning people say, “I’m so
sorry,” on the outside I graciously accept
the sentiment, but on the inside, the words
seem to have lost their meaning. Maybe it’s
because I’ve heard them so often in such a
short period of time.
And I’m only the son-in-law. I can
only begin to imagine what my wife or my
mother-in-law herself must feel when hearing
these words. Do they feel as put off by the
sound of those words as I do? And what of the
countless friends, relatives and congregants to
whom I have spoken these very same words?
Have I unwittingly put off the very people
whom I have been trying to comfort?
I’ve found myself thinking a lot lately
about the advice of the rabbis on how to
behave upon entering a shiva house. Quite
simply, the rabbis say that one should say
nothing but wait for the mourner to speak
The Brotherhood Synagogue
first. Though it has felt excruciatingly
uncomfortable to do this in the past, through
this experience, I have begun to understand
the profound wisdom of this advice.
Saying nothing removes the burden both
from the visitor and the visitee. As visitors,
we need not contort ourselves in attempts to
find just the right words to make everything
alright, because nothing we say can make it
alright. And as visitee, we need not worry
about putting on a good show or rehashing
painful details we’re not ready to deal with.
What the rabbis knew, and what I have
begun to learn, is that the mere fact of our
presence is enough.
It is our presence, not our words, that
are of the greatest comfort to our loved
ones in need. So next time you pay a shiva
call, just remember the immortal words of
the White Rabbit from Disney’s Alice in
Wonderland, “Don’t just [say] something.
Stand there.”l
7
Brotherhood
Synagogue
Sunday
Sivan / Tammuz 5775
June 2015
Monday
1
Tuesday
2
10 am: English-in-Action
5:40 pm: Minyan
Wednesday
3
10 am: Baby Class
Thursday
4
2 pm: English-in-Action
11 am: Pre-Toddler Class
Noon: Lunch & Learn
6 pm: Annual Fund BBQ
Friday
5
8:05 pm: Candles
Saturday
6
5:30 pm: Family Shabbat
(up to 3 years old)
9:30 am: Services
Bar Mitzvah of
Benjamin Brown
7:30 pm: Services
BEEHA’ALOTECHA
7
8
9
10 am: English-in-Action
5:40 pm: Minyan
10
10 am: Baby Class
11
Noon: Lunch & Learn
11 am: Pre-Toddler Class
12
8:09 pm: Candles
7:30 pm: Services
Shabbat Koleinu
2 pm: English-in-Action
Last day of
Nursery School
13
9:30 am: Services
Adult B’nai Mitzvah of
Alma Chaudhary, Danielle
Howe & David Howe
SHELACH
14
15
16
10 am: Englishin-Action
(Last Tuesday session
until the Fall)
17
7:30 am Minyan
18
21
22
23
5:40 pm: Minyan
11 am: Pre-Toddler Class
ROSH CHODESH
24
10 am: Baby Class
11 am: Pre-Toddler Class
1 pm: Make Music New
York at Brotherhood
19
8:12 pm: Candles
20
ROSH CHODESH
25
Noon: Lunch & Learn
9:30 am: Services
7:30 pm: Services
2 pm: English-in-Action
(Last Thursday session
until the Fall)
10 am: Baby Class
5:40 pm: Minyan
6:30 pm: Annual Meeting
Noon: Lunch & Learn
KORACH
26
7:54 pm: Candles
7:30 pm: Services
27
9:30 am: Services
1 pm: Shabbat Club
CHUKAT
28
29
The Brotherhood Synagogue
28 Gramercy Park South
New York, NY 10003
30
5:40 pm: Minyan
Join us on Friday, June 12 for Shabbat Koleinu: Unplugged Edition.
Rabbi Alder and Cantor Weis will be joined by Hazzan Ellen Arad on guitar
and vocals while the Koleinu Ensemble takes the night off. Sit back and
enjoy the harmony. A service for the whole family.