http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple en Temple Isaiah Copyright 2008 Temple Isaiah 2008-11-25T02:24:55-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/20_discount_on_invitations/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/20_discount_on_invitations/#When:01:17:13Z Women of Isaiah News 2008-10-01T01:17:13-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/greetings_from_your_co_presidents/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/greetings_from_your_co_presidents/#When:21:44:50Z WOI Supports Gan Ilan Play Yard    - Ellen Bernstein-Ellis, WOI Co-president Just a few weeks after the start of our preschool year, Woman of Isaiah hosted a Gan Ilan café for parents, with hopes of offering more opportunities to interact with our families with young children. We are a multigenerational group and are looking to explore which activities and services most interest our younger members. It also gave us “moms of older children” the opportunity to ogle over the adorable babies and toddlers attending Gan Ilan. Women of Isaiah News 2008-09-29T21:44:50-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/chanukah/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/chanukah/#When:02:24:55Z Women of Isaiah News 2008-11-25T02:24:55-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/chanukah_at_the_gift_shop/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/chanukah_at_the_gift_shop/#When:02:05:26Z Women of Isaiah News 2008-11-25T02:05:26-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/upcoming_holidays_chanukah/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/upcoming_holidays_chanukah/#When:11:09:59Z (From WRJ Holiday Guides, www.womenofreformjudaism.org/resources/holiday-guides/chanukah ) On the 25th of Kislev are the days of Chanukkah, which are eight... these were appointed a Festival with Hallel [prayers of praise] and thanksgiving. -Shabbat 21b, Babylonian Talmud Chanukah (“dedication”), also known as the Festival of Lights, begins on the 25th day of Kislev, which this year falls on December 21st. There are as many ways to celebrate the holiday as there are to spell its transliterated name. Historically though, Chanukah, like so many Jewish holidays, is the story of a small Jewish army defeating a larger oppressing one. In the time of Alexander the Great, Jews in Syria, Egypt and Palestine were free to practice their religion openly. But around 167 BCE, Antiochus IV, a successor of Alexander’s, changed the laws and prohibited the practice of Judaism. The Temple was desecrated by the sacrifices of pigs on the alter and many Jews were killed. Two groups rose up against Antiochus IV, and joined forces to defeat him. As the victors sought to rededicate the Temple, it became hard to find pure oil for the ner tamid (everlasting light). Only enough oil was found for one day, but it miraculously burned for the eight days that it took to purify a fresh supply and a festival was declared that would last for the 8 days in celebration. That’s the popular belief for the celebration. 1 Maccabees says “For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the rededication...should be observed...every year...for eight days. (1 Mac.4:56-59)" From a religious standpoint, whether the celebration is for the rededication or the miracle, Chanukah is not a prominent Jewish holiday. In modern times, it has become one of celebration and gift-giving though, to mirror that of Christmas. The only observance called for during the holiday is the lighting of the candles. One candle plus a shammus (servant) is lit in a candelabra called a menorah or chanukkiah. On the first night three blessings are recited: a prayer over these candles, a prayer thanking God for performing miracles for our ancestors at this time, and a prayer thanking God for allowing us to reach this time of year. On subsequent nights, only the first 2 are said. The first candle is placed at the far right and one candle is added to the left of the first and so on throughout the holiday. The candles are lit by the shammus from the left to the right in order to honor the newest first and are allowed to burn out on their own. One stipulation is that the light of the candles be enjoyed as a reminder of the miracle but not used as a light source for practical purposes (although this is not the case for the shammus). The menorah is also meant to be placed in a street-facing window in order that passersby can also be reminded of the great miracle. Because all Jewish holidays revolve around food to some extent, on Chanukah we eat food fried in oil to commemorate the miracle; latkes and jelly donuts being the preferred choices. Another common symbol of Chanukah is the dreidel, a spinning top marked on four sides with the Hebrew letters Nun, Gimmel, Heh, and Shin for "Nes gadol hayah sham" (“a great miracle happened there”), referring to the miracle of the oil. The game, which is usually played with peanuts or pennies represents the (legal) gambling games that Jews in Antiochus’ time used to conceal the fact that they were (illegally) studying Torah whenever an official happened by. All at WRJ wish you a Happy Chanukah. May your menorahs glow brightly and proudly as we remember the miracles of the past. Women of Isaiah News 2008-11-01T11:09:59-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/giftshop_goodies/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/giftshop_goodies/#When:22:24:52Z Women of Isaiah News 2008-10-24T22:24:52-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/october_specials/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/october_specials/#When:01:45:44Z Women of Isaiah News 2008-10-01T01:45:44-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/womens_torah_study_session_1_genesis_breshit/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/womens_torah_study_session_1_genesis_breshit/#When:20:33:11Z “Let Us create a humankind” The first session of the Women’s Torah Study group began with a prayer led by Rabbi Shanks and quickly evolved into a lively discussion of the two Creation stories, as presented in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. This recently created work features contemporary voices—poems and interpretations—that illuminate the text, and represents “scholarship and insights of women across the Jewish spectrum and around the world” Some of us were surprised to learn that that there are two Creation stories, having heard all our lives that Eve sprang from Adam’s rib; she is secondary. In the other version, God created human beings “in Our image, after Our likeness . . . male and female.” Or, in Hebrew, read by Rabbi Shanks: “Let Us create a primordial human, a humankind, adam, in Our image.” There is one humanity - adam. Our humanity comes first, our sexual identity second. The Torah is a highly edited text, Rabbi Shanks reminded us, changed over generations, and this Torah continues that tradition. In this liberal commentary, plural is used rather than male and female pronouns; the editors intended to include women in this Torah. And in our Women’s Torah Study group there is no one answer. We are not meant to censor ourselves in adding to the commentary. Each voice has value. - Donna KaulkinListen to Women's Torah Study Discussion, September 8, 2008 : (Recorded September 8, 2008; Temple Isaiah, Lafayette, CAWomen's Torah Commentary Study Group; )(To skip ahead, you can click on the green sound bar) Women of Isaiah News 2008-09-23T20:33:11-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/2008_2009_women_of_isaiah_board/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/2008_2009_women_of_isaiah_board/#When:23:41:18Z ELLEN BERNSTEIN-ELLIS, CO-PRESIDENT FORMER POSITIONS: Avodah co-chair FUNNIEST WOI MEMORY: "While helping a friend look for her lost sunglasses while hiking at Sports Day, we were surprised by the Sheriff showing up in the middle of nowhere because we had veered off on the wrong path and had become a security threat to EBMUD." LYNN EPSTEIN, CO-PRESIDENT FORMER POSITIONS: VPs: Membership, Programming, Publicity, Chair Kick-Off, Sports Day, Progressive Dinners FONDEST WOI MEMORY: At an ice breaker during first board meeting, announced that mezza, mezza was her favorite Yiddish word! GLORIA SCHILLER, MEMBERSHIP FORMER POSITIONS: Sports Day, Kick-Off FONDEST WOI MEMORY: Biennial San Diego PAT HEJTMANEK,    MEMBERSHIP CAROL COPPERSTEIN, MEMBERSHIP - DATA SHERRY ROWEN, PROGRAMMING GAIL KOFF, ON-GOING PROGRAMS FORMER POSITIONS: Past President of WOI; past Director of WRJ FAVORITE PROJECT SUPPORTED BY WOI: The “new”  High Holiday Torah covers SUSAN MARON, FUNDRAISING CHERYL KOHLREITER, COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR FORMER POSITIONS: VP Programming FAVORITE WOI EVENT: Pesach recipe exchange & Women’s Seder JEANETTE GROSS, WEBMASTER FORMER POSITIONS: Rosh Chodesh Chair FAVORITE WOI EVENT: Women's Retreat; every year we say it was the best one ever!! Michele Holtz, Support Our Troops Chair Former Position: WOI President Favorite WOI Event: Rosh Chodesh/WOI Retreat Rosalee Ben Joseph, Mailings Former Position: Membership Favorite WOI Event: Movie Nights Susan Mautner, Mailings Barbara Kaplan, Treasurer Former Position: Publicity Favorite WOI Event: Women's Seder Lynn Harrington-Golde, Recording Secretary Former Positions: Editor to Ruach Funniest WOI Moment: Watching the film on 3 generations of a family making gefilte fish sponsored by Rosh Chodesh Linda Waldroup, Corresponding Secretary Former Position: Recording Secretary Favorite WOI Event:Passover Tastings, Shabbat Services at Women's Retreat Karen Marrinner, Rosh Chodesh Former Position: Always Rosh Chodesh Fondest WOI Memory: Rosh Chodesh trip to mikveh with octogenarians who asked how a man and wife express intimacy during the niddah time. Ellen Montague, Rosh Chodesh Nancy Crevin, Gift Shop Chair Former Position: WOI President Favorite WOI Event: Fall Kick-Off Dinner Kim Drucker, Gift Shop/Parliamentarian Former Positions: Programming Chair, Treasurer, Co-President Fondest WOI Memory: Wrap up dinner for old board Jan Trzesniewski, Parliamentarian Former Postions: Co-President , Co-chair membership Fondest WOI Memory: The Women’s Seder last year. Women of all ages, from eight to eighty, coming together, praying, singing and celebrating for the first time in seven years. Diana MaKieve, WRJ Liaison Former Positions: Parliamentarian, Co- President, VP Programs, VP Publicity, Membership Committee Fondest WOI Memory: When Nancy Crevin was honored as our first Woman of Valor Nancy Horstman, Avodah Chair Former Position: Gift Shop Volunteer Favorite WOI Event: Rosh Chodesh movie night Jocelyn Schneider Dunbar, Staff Outreach New to WOI Board Favorite WOI Activity: Women’s Seder Katya Bock, Historian Cherri Shiffman, Special Projects Former Position: Graphics for years & years Fondest WOI Memory: Baking hundreds of Ruggelah for Onegs Melissa Jakubowitz, Temple Board Liason Women of Isaiah News 2008-09-14T23:41:18-08:00 http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/womens_torah_commentary_discussions/ http://www.temple-isaiah.org/temple/isaiah/info/womens_torah_commentary_discussions/#When:02:41:40Z Women of Isaiah News 2008-09-13T02:41:40-08:00