Anshei Isaiah
Anshei Isaiah is the men's group at Temple Isaiah. Current Anshei Isaiah news appears below.
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Men’s Retreat—March 14th, 2008—Join Us in Alamo
As this January Ruach appears, we’re turning the corner into a new (secular) year. I hope all of you, your loved ones and friends made it through the winter break without any broken bones (if any snow has materialized) or auto accidents. I would like to warmly thank Harry Strout and Michael Swernoff for leading our two December events: Bowling Night (12/3) and our main contribution to Winter Nights (“graveyard shift”), respectively. I also take this opportunity to welcome new members Michael Brent, Gary Cohn, Morris Collen, Michael Drumm, Bruce Farber, Steve Gordon, Marvin Jasper, Jon Kalan, Mike Prilutsky and Arthur Scharlach.
Take a close look at the Men’s Retreat. You should know that the retreat is the raison d’etre of Anshei Isaiah—which only got started because we wanted to replicate the feeling of our retreat on a more frequent basis throughout the year. The retreat will run from Erev Shabbat on Friday, March 14th through breakfast on Sunday, March 16th, at the Westminster Center in Alamo. For men that are new to the temple or Anshei Isaiah, the retreat is a remarkable Jewish experience that brings us closer to our faith and our temple brothers including Rabbi Graetz, Cantor Korn and Joel Siegel. The retreat makes it easy to enter Shabbat time and stay there throughout the day, with a Shabbat minyan, Torah study, hiking, nap, horseshoe, eating, discussion, havdallah….and maybe some poker (after havdallah—of course!).
Please don’t hesitate to contact me at with any questions or comments on any aspect of Anshei Isaiah. Are you getting the e-newsletter? What do you think of the programming? I sometimes hear that guys are afraid to join because they don’t want to be “roped in” to a long-term commitment. That’s understandable; we do want you to be involved. Truth be told, some guys come to one event per year, some to eight. For most of us, our lives are more scheduled and hectic than we would like them to be, and we can’t do it all. If you don’t want to join right now, come to an event anyway—we’d love to see you there. See you at Yoshi’s on the 27th!
L’shalom v’l’hitraot.
Feel free to contact me at Pete at
-- Pete Bluford
A repeat event at Dave Solomon’s house. Always a fun evening and a chance to have some easy fun with a bunch of our friends from the Temple. Anshei Isaiah has always had a game night and we always will. Everytime we do this, we have some great fun and the evening just rolls by. So join us on Monday night November 12th at 7:00 P.M. Contact Dave at
Last Sunday, October 14th was just one of the glorious days. The fall weather was warm and sunny with a light breeze. We drove up to Calistoga, checked in to the Calistoga Spa and got right into the warm mineral spring pools. Seven of us decided to meet and share a day of relaxation. It is just one of those things that you just have to do from time to time and we were all glad we did it. A few of us had massages and then after that we went out for a great lunch, followed by a walk and we found ourselves in the Calistoga Museum. This was more than we thought it was going to be. The artifacts and the diorama’s of what life in Calistoga looked like a hundred years ago were all done beautifully. We learned that the major contributor to the evolution of the town was from a man who was one of Walt Disney’s artist’s. This man had fallen in love with the area and began to build up the city. Then we were off to a couple of wineries and we watched the crushing of some cabernet grapes, tasted some wine and headed home. Please try and join us on these trips when they are available. It makes for a wonderful day of brotherhood.
The first meeting of CLIXPIX at Herb’s home on 8/15/07 was attended by Alan Jacobson, Jon Kalen, Roger Lamm, Rick Lasky and Herb Thier. During the meeting we had a very pleasant informal discussion about digital photography in general and our plans for CLIXPIX. We decided to meet every other month and to have both evening meetings and daytime “shooting pictures” meetings. Our next meeting is scheduled for October 11, 2007 at 7:30p.m. at the Temple House. For this meeting we have adopted a theme and ask all members to bring no more than five JPEG pictures of curves. We will display, discuss and enjoy our choices regarding this theme. If possible shoot some new pictures so you can record exposure, where taken etc. Favorites taken previously are also welcome. The theme was suggested by Alan and any questions should be sent to him. As part of the meeting Herb demonstrated how to display pictures on a TV screen directly from the computer. Pictures from Herb’s trips to the Galapagos and Israel and Rick’s pictures of the recent Anshei hike were shown. We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting. Invite a friend we still
have openings for at least a few new members. Contact Herb for more information at
The Enrichment Fund reduces the monthly youth program fees. The monthly outings typically require bus transportation. These expenses can double the cost of an otherwise reasonably priced outing. It’s even more daunting if a family has more than one child attending. Contributions to the Enrichment Fund come from congregants, companies AI solicits, and foundations. These monies do not pay administrative expenses or salaries. If you’re interested in donating, please send your check to Anshei Isaiah, P.O. Box 371, Lafayette, CA 94549; please write “AITFY” in the memo.
If you have questions about either of these funds, send us an email at , and put “AITFY” in the Subject Line.
CLIX-PIX - New Anshei Isaiah Photography Club
Become a Founding Member!
Share your interest, abilities, and love of digital photography as a founding member of CLIX-PIX, the new Anshei Isaiah Photo Club that welcomes rookies and experts alike.
Coordinated by Herb Thier with the expert input of Alan Jacobson, our President and resident photographer, the photo club provides us another opportunity to share interests and experiences with other Anshei members. Whether you’re thinking about buying your first digital camera, or you have megapixels galore, each of you is a perfect founding member as we find additional ways to share our mutual interests. Initial blueprint for the club would be gathering nearby for a photo shoot, then having lunch. The following meeting, we’ll gather to view, discuss and critique 20 of our favorite photos from the shoot. If interested, e-mail Herb () or call him (925-376-6892), and indicate the best night of the week for you for a first meeting.
Photo by Fox
We had a fantastic Kickoff Dinner, with NFL agent James Sims and former All Pro linebacker Greg Biekert giving us insight into what goes on behind the scenes with NFL players, owners, coaches, and agents. Kudos to Aaron Feldman, Bob Weiss, and Robert Friedberg for their hard work in pulling off this major event, which was attended by 70 of our members. AI also unveiled the exciting launch of our Anshei Isaiah Temple Youth Fund.
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Greg Bierkert;photo by Fox
Rabbi David White, Executive Director of WineSpirit: Institute for the Study of Wine and Spirituality, headlined our Wine & Spirituality event on February 6. He led a discussion highlighting the connections of wine and spirituality, beginning with a video showcasing the spiritual connections Napa Valley’s top wine producers have to wine, followed by an in-depth conversation of how wine can be an entry point to, and central focus of, spirituality.
We had 45 people enjoying some delicious wine and tasty food as Rabbi White enlightened us as to the spiritual—and Judean—roots of wine through the centuries. This program was another in Anshei’s ongoing attempts to bring moments of goodness into our lives on a regular basis. Don’t miss the natural follow-up to Wine & Spirituality, our Men’s Retreat on March 23. To RSVP, click here.
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Our most repeated event took place again at the home of David Solomon last Monday the 8th of January. It was the night of the BCS Championship Football game between Ohio State and Florida. We all had a chance to watch the game, play pool and poker with a great group of our members. David had prepared a home made pot of soup that was delicious and we all had other appetizers, wine and beer. The poker game was the center of most of the action and Roger Lamm was kind enough to donate all his winnings to the benefit of the organization. Join Anshei Isaiah to make sure there are fewer strangers at our Temple. Below: Barry Durlester fights his way into the final three and wins the last hand of the night. Robert wants his money back while Jim smiles for the camera!!!!
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CIA turns to Anshei for assistance in rooting out Global trouble—you can help
The Central Intelligence for Anshei (CIA) has determined operatives are needed in the following areas:
Programming: the lifeblood of our organization, this covert group goes about its tasks in a clandestine manner, working undercover to guide interesting and dynamic events that Anshei members want to attend. Specific guidelines ensure you won’t take on more missions than you have time for. Questions? Need more info on what it entails? Send an email to Terry Matzkin at: .
Communications: using spy cameras, microprint technology, invisible ink, Microsoft Publisher and the Internet, this group works behind the scenes to produce the articles and graphics that have wowed the congregation with professional newsletters and Top of the Month emails. Recruits would help guide Anshei direction on how it communicates with its members, chooses its member profilees, and the like. Questions? Need more info on what it entails? Email Igal Levy at .
Membership: This group recruits other operatives into the CIA. In short, we touch base with new Temple members and welcome them into our community, as well as provide support and decision-making input to our membership co-chairs. Email Aaron Feldman for info/questions at: .
It’s not just a job, it’s a volunteer adventure. Seriously...this is a great way to meet quality guys as we work to bring the men of the congregation together into a cohesive Jewish community. Drop us an email today at and help us build community.
Anshei’s Men’s Health series now consists of three sessions: Stroke/Heart Disease; Prostate Health; and Diabetes Prevention. Drs. Dave Bressler and Roy Kaplan were kind enough to allow us to record these workshops so those members who were unable to attend could still benefit from the important information they presented. Most of the audio files are approximately 60 – 90 minutes in length. You can listen directly to a stream by clicking the green PLAY arrow in the player below (you may need to click the arrow twice) for the workshop you wish to hear.
To Listen to the Prostate Workshop, click here:
To Listen to the Stroke/Heart Disease Workshop, click here:
To Listen to the Diabetes Workshop, click here:
