The CMI Bulletin
SEPTEMBER 2023
More than a place - We’re a community
SERIES 108 No. 2
Shana Tova!
Happy New Year!
The New CMI Bulletin
In early 2019 (see the March 2019 Bulletin), we at CMI decided it was a great time to follow our passion to leave a “green” thumbprint as a congregation. We considered the massive use of paper we generate yearly and found it was a perfect time to “go green”. At that time, we implemented our paperless monthly bulletin as part of a series of eco-friendly initiatives.
This Spring we renewed that effort with the goal of distributing the CMI Bulletin more efficiently and at a significant savings to the congregation. The Board of Trustees authorized a transition from our traditional hard copy to an electronic bulletin. The Bulletin Subcommittee of our Revenue Generation Task Force facilitated this transition. To ensure that everyone continues to have access to the Bulletin, paper copies will still be available to those who prefer it.
As you read the electronic Bulletin, you will see much that is familiar. Greetings from our Clergy, calendar listings of events, Yahrzeit remembrances, grateful acknowledgements of donations, appreciation of greeters, and notifications of B’nai Mitzvah celebrations remain in the newly formatted Bulletin. Some noteworthy changes are also evident. Going forward, each edition of the bulletin will highlight messages from different lay leaders, along with updates on the wide array of committees and group projects that are active at CMI.
We hope that the new form of the Bulletin meets your needs. Please send feedback to Len Brin, treasurer@cmihamden.org.
Shabbat Services
Join your CMI community for Shabbat Services each Friday evening and Saturday mornings when we have a B’Mitzvah to celebrate!
SHABBAT KI TAVO
Deuteronomy 26:1 - 29:8
Friday, September 1 5:30 p.m. Pre Oneg 6:00 p.m.Evening Service
May your new year be full of peace and happiness
YOM RISHON SHEL ROSH HASHANAH
Genesis 22:1 - 19
Friday, September 15
8:00 Rosh Hashanah Evening Service
The FULL High Holy Day Service Schedule is found later in this bulletin.
SHABBAT YOM RISHON SHEL SUKKOT
Leviticus 22:33 - 44
Friday, September 29 4:30 Sukkot Arts & Appetizers 5:30 Early Oneg
6:00 Sukkot Evening Service
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS The Congregation extends a warm welcome to new members:
Joel & Cathy Cohen, Bluma Lesch & Marcello DiStasio and children, Marcello (5) and Rosalie (2).
TODAH RABAH SHABBAT WELCOME TEAM Thank you to our summer greeters:
Ivey Cooley, Sarah Greenblatt, Phil Jacobs, Joel Jacobson, Karen Kimball, Howard Lurie, Dave Rodnick, Diane Rosen, Richard & Marie Shaw, Alan Sturtz, Cliff & True Wolff
SUMMER SERVICE LEADERS Thank you to our summer service leaders:
Michael Allen, Cynthia & Dana Astmann, David & Julie Chevan, Michael Dimenstein, Alex & Michelle Forte, Scott & Abby Friedman, Stan & Bobbi Friedman, Scott Gaul, Allan Hillman, Tracy Rabin, Madeline Ravich, Hedda Rubenstein, Jeremy Schwartz, Aaron Singer, Corey Stone, Alan Sturtz, Patricia Vener-Saavedra, Jonathan Zabin and the Gaul/Ravich & Rabin/Schwartz children.
SHABBAT HAAZINU
Genesis 32:1 - 52
Friday, September 22
5:30 Early Oneg
6:00 Evening Service
SHABBAT YOM RISHON SHEL SUKKOT
Leviticus 22:33 - 44
Saturday, September 30
10:30 Sukkot Shabbat Service Celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of Eli Rocklin
SHABBAT NITZAVIM-VAYEILECH
Deuteronomy 29:9 - 30:20
Saturday, September 9
10:30 Morning Shabbat Service Celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of Marcus Ruggiero.
SHABBAT NITZAVIM-VAYEILECH
Deuteronomy 29:9 - 30:20
Friday, September 8 5:30 p.m. Pre Oneg 6:00 p.m.Evening Service 7:00 p.m. BBQDinner
High Holy Day Schedule
Selichot Community Program and Service Saturday, September 9, 7:00 pm at B’nei Israel in Southbury
Memorial Service - held at the CMI Cemetery, 701 Whalley Ave., New Haven Sunday, September 10, 1:00 pm
ROSH HASHANAH
Friday, September 15 8:00 pm Traditional Service
Saturday, September 16 9:15 am Young Family Service 10:00 am Morning Service 10:30 am Youth Program/Service 2:00 pm Family Service
Sunday, September 17 10:30 am 2nd Day Rosh Hashanah Congregational Service 10:30 am 2nd Day Rosh Hashanah Youth Service/Program 12:30 pm Tashlich at the Bridge behind Eli Whitney Museum, 915 Whitney Ave., Hamden
YOM KIPPUR
Sunday, September 24 8:00 pm Kol Nidre Service
Monday, September 25 9:15 am Young Family Service 10:00 am Morning Service 10:30 am Youth Program/Service 12:30 pm Reflection Service 2:00 pm Adult Study with Prof. Shelly Kagan 2:00 pm Family Service 3:00 pm Adult Study with Confronting Racism 3:30 pm Afternoon Service 5:15 pm Yizkor (Memorial) 6:00 pm Ne’ilah/Havdalah
SIMCHAT TORAH Friday, October 6 6:00 pm Simchat Torah Service
Saturday, October 7 10:30 am Simchat Torah with Yizkor Services
PULPIT FLOWERS, ONEG & KIDDUSH SPONSORSHIPS
One of the nicest ways to honor a special occasion is to sponsor pulpit flowers and Kiddush/oneg for services. Congregation Mishkan Israel is grateful to the following Sponsors:
Rosh Hashanah Kiddush is sponsored by Jimmy Shure. Yom Kippur flowers are sponsored by Jimmy Shure. Yom Kippur flowers are also sponsored by Sarah Greenblatt in memory of her mother, Evelyn Greenblatt. Flowers for all High Holy Days are sponsored yearly in memory of Dr. and Mrs. Louis R. Gans, Dr. Alan Gans and Audrey Gans Saidel.
Flowers & Oneg for Friday, September 8 & Saturday, September 9 are sponsored in honor of Marcus Ruggiero becoming a Bar Mitzvah with love from Mom, Dad and Jack.
Flowers & Oneg for Friday, September 8 & Saturday, September 9 are sponsored in honor of Eli Rocklin becoming a Bar Mitzvah by the Rocklin Family.
To arrange for your sponsorship, contact Tamara at (203) 288-3877 or tepstein@cmihamden.org.
SUKKOT Saturday, September 30 10:30 am Sukkot Service
A Message From Rabbi Ross
At the “Portals of the New Year”
“Open to us in mercy the portals of the new year, and grant us life and health, contentment and peace.”
Union Prayer Book II
These words come from the old High Holiday Union Prayer Book of Reform Judaism. I grew up with that prayer book and maybe you did, too. This excerpt, from the opening prayer of the Rosh Hashanah evening service, continues to speak to me of the hopes and longings of this High Holiday season.
Though I was just a kid, I was old enough to know that the word “portals” speak as if doors are opening to the months ahead. I recognized the words as a hopeful plea in the face of looming uncertainties. It told me, despite all the negatives, that goodness, health, and peace await across the “portals.”
Today, as then, an array of worries confronts us as the closing Jewish year flows into the next. Our environment – natural, political, social – just about everything that hosts and sustains life, feels at unprecedented risk of collapse, such that we will encounter darkness and despair. Yet, in the spirit of Jewish teaching and tradition, we enter the sanctuary and hear the call of hope, a plea that speaks to the possibility that the year will be mercifully filled with what’s good. And on that score of goodness, let me say a few words about what is solid and strong about Congregation Mishkan Israel, for as we enter the New Year, CMI honors its legacy as a solidly positive institution in a constantly changing and uncertain world.
I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to share the holiday season with you. CMI thrives on a foundation of integrity built on your rich history. Your leaders, staff and I are working closely to sustain and strengthen the Congregation in preparation for the arrival of your next rabbi. Our activities and offerings are described in bulletins and weekly emails, and I hope you join us throughout the year, again and again.
Yes, we are bombarded daily with discouraging news, and as we enter “the portals of the new year” the doors at CMI will open. We pledge to strive for “a year of life and health, contentment and peace” for the many who place their spiritual lives in our trust. Let us enter 5784 united in the effort to grow, individually and as a community, in spiritual richness, warmth and good. I look forward to seeing you at CMI.
With best wishes for the new year from our home to yours,
Rabbi Dennis Ross
Mazel Tov to our Newest B’Mitzvah
Marcus Ruggiero September 9,2023 Son of Christopher & Sara Ruggiero
Eli Rocklin September 30,2023 Son of Meredith & Lucas Rocklin
2023-2024 Chai Holy Day Campaign
Thank you to everybody who has already donated to the Chai Holy Days campaign! These generous unrestricted contributions will allow CMI to address some of the financial challenges our congregation has faced. We are grateful to all who help ensure that CMI stays strong now and well into the future.
Below are gifts that we received at the time of press.
Double Torah Roz & Jerry Meyer Shirley Scholder David Silverstone
Double Chai James Horwitz & Sandra Allison Hedda Rubenstein & Michael Dimenstein
Torah Judith Hahn Robert & Ruth Lesser
Chai Rabbi Herb & Elin Brockman Letty & Floyd Caplan David & Julie Chevan Stanley & Roberta Friedman Tamar Gendler & Zoltan Szabo Sarah B. Greenblatt William & Elaine Ravich Jeremy Schwartz & Tracy Rabin
Additional Gifts:
Astmann Family
Richard & Alice Baxter
Ivey Cooley
Jack Crane
Rochelle Cummings Len & Stephanie Farber
John & Frances Gordon Martin Gordon
Neil & Marlene Greenberg
Herbert Hershenson
Allan Hillman & Penny Marcus
Robert Homer & Susan Fishbein Alvin Klevorick & Susan Bender Wendy Kohli & Philip Bennett Howard Lurie Barbara Marcus
Nancy Moss-Racusin
Shirley Pripstein
Marilyn Rittner
Diane Rosen Karen Scholder Rabbi Howard Sommer & Dr. Linda Waldman Jeanne Steiner & Will Rosenblatt Cheryl Tenin Randy Wingate & Tanya Bilchik
CMI EVENTS
Friday, September 8 5:30 p.m. Pre Oneg 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Service 7:00 p.m. BBQ Dinner Congregation Mishkan Israel welcomes current and prospective members, as well as the Greater New Haven community! Experience the warmth and vitality of CMI. Rabbi Ross and Cantor Giglio will lead the service and we hope that you will also join us for a BBQ dinner after services. We look forward to seeing everyone there. We ask all members to register and donate $10.00 per person.
CMI’s Rosh Chodesh Circle Returns!
Hebrew for “head of the month” – Rosh Chodesh is the monthly holiday that celebrates the arrival of the new moon, marking the start of a new month in the Jewish calendar. In biblical times, Rosh Chodesh was a day of festive meals and refraining from doing business. Later, it became a special holiday for women.
Our intergenerational group provides for female identifying and non-binary individuals thirteen and older a place to meet, form bonds, find meaningful ways to worship and contribute to our community through discussion, song, poetry, storytelling, art, dance, and food. Our programs are themed, based on the interests of group members.
Our fall meetings will be at CMI from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. on: Sunday, October 15, the 30th of Tishrei Sunday, November 12, the 29th of Cheshvan Tuesday, December 13, the 1st of Tevet
Join us! New members of all ages encouraged! To RSVP or if you have any questions, contact Michele Abrams.
Saturday, September 9 at 7:00 p.m.
B'nai Israel of Southbury, 444 Main Street North This year, CMI will join other area synagogues for a Selichot service and program; "A Conversation with Rabbi Farbman on Ukraine & Teshuvah/Repentance." We hope to see you there.
First Meeting: Sunday, September 10 at 10:30 a.m. in the CMI lounge
Join a group of fun-loving congregants who enjoy each other’s company each month as we create together. Chevra Hands lovingly makes baby quilts and lap blankets that are given to members with new babies or to those in need of comfort. We meet just once a month and no prior skills are necessary. Of course sense of humor is an asset. For more information, please contact Susan Millen or Lina Lawall. Our Fall meeting dates are September 10, October 1, November 5, and December 3. We meet at 10:00 am in the lounge we hope to see you there.
On Tuesday, September 5 at 9:00 am, the American Red Cross will return to CMI for another blood drive. Each donation can save up to three lives! Please register and enter "Mishkan" to give blood or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to schedule an appointment.
Yahrzeits
* In perpetual memory
Morris Brochin * Lewis Bush Alexander Cahn * Edward Campbell Johanna Cleiff Sylvia R. Cohen Rose Cohen Harry Drabkin Frances L. Feinn * Eva C. Feinstein * Rose G. Fox Flora Frankenberger Fannie Goldfarb Benjamin L. Goodman * Evelyn Shukovsky Gordon Lena N. Henchel * Ernest Hess * Joseph Hozer Caryl Johnson * Jacob Johnson * Nathan Kanter Iris Kaplan Fay Kauffman * Michael Kerzner Kenneth J. Koufman * Charles Kushlan * Sarah Manasevit Stella Mendelsohn * Marcia Mersey * Stella Koskoff Nahum * William S. Perlroth * Jacquin D. Phillips * Stanley Portugal * Sadie Roseman Herbert S. Sacks, MD * Nathan Steinhardt * Ms. Barbara Susman Israel Ticotsky Bertram Weil * Henio Zarkover Seymour Zellman
September 1
Samuel Allen Benjamin Arrick * Sylvia Insler Baser * Herman S. Bershtein * Hyman Birnbaum * IrvingBlock * Mildred Bolton Shirley Chasin * Bertha Drabkin Edith Friend Richard A. Fuchs * Beatrice Gesmonde * Eleanor Glick Frank M. Goldsmith Mitchell Gompertz * Eva Heller Goodman Steffa Harrison * Henry Herz * Hyman Jacobs * Rosaline (Rosh) Kagan Frances Kaplan Dr. Leopold (Levi) Kleeberg * Eugene H. Kone * Sylvia B. Koufman * Phillip Mackler * Frances Manasevit Henry Mersey Irving Saltz * Selma Kahn Schoenberger * Alfred Simon * Annie P. Skolnick Marjorie Smith Sarah B. Trotsky * Beatrice Wallman * Yetta Zimmer
September 8
In Memory of
Susan Rosenberg Jacobson
Risa Gordon Becker Ethel Bleich George Bostin * Arnold Brown Stanley Buetens Joseph Cahn * Evelyn Carmody Joseph Chetrick * Pearl Cohen Marilyn Cohen Janet Germaine Barry L. Goodman * Lee Green Mrs. Marilyn Grossman Charles Horn Barbara Horwitz * William N. Kauffman * Codman Kruger * Robert Landowne Seymour Lemberg Walter Lesnick Howard Levenson Murray Allen Levin * Lois Postol Levin Ida L. Levy * Charles Lichtenstein * Henry Meyers Machol, Jr. * Dr. Edward S. Mack Joseph D. Muhlfelder * Mark Resnick Molly Rosenthal * Dr. Arthur A. Rubin * Ida June Sauerteig Harold Lewis Schwartz * Henry Schwarzschild * Meyer Silverman Irving Spatz Lillian G. Tessler * Richard M. Thalheimer * Nathan Ticotsky June Waldman Andrea Werner Joan Lapides Wingate * Cantor Arthur Yolkoff *
September 15
Esther Myers Adler * Sandra Adler Dr. Boris M. Astrachan * Bette S. Bender * Alfreda M. Button * Samuel Cohen * Jack Abraham Cohen Robert C. Cooper Mary Feierstein * Lawrence P. Gennett Rochelle Sosne Glaser Evelyn Greenblatt Helen Starin Harrison * Samantha Karpel Pearl Kasper Rose Levy Herbert Lipshez Rose Lowenberg Baer Gertrude Gerson Marks * Fanny Lurier Morris * Nathan A. Myers * Saul Pollack Harriet G. Rashba * Robert A. Ravich Ethel Rosenblatt Sophye L. Rosenthal * Morris Rosenthal * Rachel Golden Rudnick * Moses S. Sagal * Rosalind Schaefer Savitsky Sidney Schaefler * Theodore Shaker Richard Lawrence Shelling * Hilda Shelnitz Marilyn Unger * Olga G. Unger * Julius L. Wareck * Ethel Weisbart * Evelyn G. Zalon *
September 22
Dr. Robert S. Adams * Marie Lhevine Aries Anita Beloff Rosalind Berman Eva Sheftel Bershtein * Isaac Breslav * Sonia Brown * Bernard Chertow Seymour Aaron Cohen * Samuel Crane Gladys Field James Freedman Moss Gompertz * Betty Z. Greenberg * Joan Joffe Hall Gerald S. Heller * Ann Hinds Earle E. Jacobs, Jr. * Alice Kaminsky Nathan I. Kleiner * Sidney Kleper Robert T. Levine * Frances Evans Merberg Laura Beth Meyers * Florence E. Olinsky Harry Osterweis Elaine Paul Harold Perlin * Shirley Racusin Rella Rubenstein * Ruth Samuels * Dr. Louis M. Serling * Louis Shafer * Henry M. Shartenberg * Lesley Siegel Leo Sklarz, Sr. Sydney L. Solomon * Herman Vener William Weinstein * Israel Wilensky
September 29
In Sympathy
Joel Jacobson on the loss of his wife, Susan
Recent Donations
“…who donates much to charity becomes the richer for it…”
Zohar, iii, 110b
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Contact Us
THE CONGREGATION MISHKAN ISRAEL BULLETIN
September 2023 Series 108 No. 2
THE CONGREGATION MISHKAN ISRAEL
785 Ridge Road, Hamden, CT 06517
Phone: (203) 288-3877 Fax: (203) 248-2148
http://cmihamden.org
Rabbi Dennis Ross x236 rabbiross@cmihamden.org
Rabbi Emeritus Herbert N. Brockman, Ph.D. D.D. x238 cmirabbi@cmihamden.org
Cantor Arthur Giglio x244 cantorg@cmihamden.org
Steven Jacober, Executive Director x241 sjacober@cmihamden.org
Michelle Goldstein, Religious School Director x237 mgoldstein@cmihamden.org
Jennifer Verrier, Early Childhood Director x246 jverrier@cmihamden.org
David E. Silverstone, President president@cmihamden.org