Welcome To Temple Beth El!

May/June 2016 – L’dor V Dor: From One Generation To The Next

We find these words at the end of the kedusha the part of the Amidah we only do as a community.  But what does it mean from one generation to the next?  What do we want to share from one generation to the next?  What are the most important parts of our Jewish faith, our heritage, our history, our culture, our traditions, our values?  How should we share these things?

Over the course of our school year we have spent a lot of time thinking about giving the next generation the richness of our Jewish heritage.  We have spent time considering as families what do we want to give to our children and why is it important? We have spent time in experiences that have given parents an opportunity to share with their children what they find most important.  We have spent time as parents exploring what exactly we want to give to our children and why.  This is an ongoing journey.  It’s not something we can accomplish just once, but yet something that we do over and over and over again.  It’s something we strive to consider as our children get older, it may be that we change what we share with them or clarify it more deeply.  Our children gain so much from having the knowledge and experience of those who have come before them.  We ourselves as adults gain so much from sharing with our children that which is important to us.  Collectively we are creating a future that has the values of the past shaped by the knowledge of our present time.  It is with this transfer of knowledge and transfer of values from one generation to the next one that we are able to Jewish-ly enrich the lives of our children, the lives of our families, and the lives of each generation.

Our school year is ending on May 22, 2016.  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our Youth/Education staff & volunteers: Kimberly Ambrose, Michelle Caron, Josh Cline, Lisa Cline, Bonnie Comisar, Roei Dery, Leah Friedman, Josh Fuller, Rich Gordon, Allison Grosser, Phil Katzman, Maya Kovach, Mikayla Kravetz, Emily Krohn, David Leichtner, Matt Lipschitz, Ben Lukacher, Jeremy Markus, Nira Mehlenbacher, Michael Miller, Joan Papkin, Avi Presberg, Rebecca Reich, Sammie Reich, Amy Ressel, Spencer Ressel, Halle Rogoff, Scott Rogoff, Jenn Schwab, Talia Schwartz, Sarah Schwarz, Gabi Silverstein, Shira Silverstein, Sydney Singer, Josh Sofian, Brad Spencer, Sheryl Tatelman, Gail Vail, Ally Yanoff, Melinda Yanoff, Rebecca Zaretsky, David Zarkowsky, Rachel Zeger and Daniel Zucker.  Thank you also to our Education Committee led by Sonya Charatz and Victoria Goldstein.

Samara Sofian