Congregation Ansche Chesed Monthly News
May 2009 / Iyyar-Sivan 5769
 
 May Highlights
 
This Sunday, May 3, we kick off our 180th Anniversary Celebration with festive member-catered dinners at AC.  The same day, we hold our spring blood drive.  Please try to volunteer, as blood is in short supply.  At the end of the month, we celebrate Shavuot and bless our first fruits -- our new babies. 

In This Issue
May Highlights
MayCalendar
Message from the Rabbi
Families and Immigration Law
Shavuot
Senior Adult Programs
News & Notes
April Donations
May Calendar 
 
MAY1-3
FR May 1
   Hebrew School Services and Dinner
SA May 2   SHABBAT: Aharei Mot-Kedoshim
                Bat Mitzvah: Ma'ayan Kline-Salamon
                4th-5th Grade Learning 10am
                Kiddush Honoring Children's Service Leaders 12pm
SU May 3   Spring Blood Drive
                ACT Meeting 11am
                AC 180th Anniversary Dinner 5:30pm
_________________________________________________________

MAY 4-MAY 10
MO May 4  Gabbai Workshop 7:45pm
TU May 5   Board of Trustees 7:30pm
WE May 6  Talmud Study 7pm
TH May 7   Shirei Chesed 7:30pm
SA May 9   SHABBAT: Emor
                Bar Mitzvah: Isaac Rosenberg
SU May 10  Mother's Day
_________________________________________________________
                             
MAY 11-MAY 17
TU May 12 Lag Ba'Omer
WE May 13 ACT Meeting 6:30pm
                Talmud Study 7pm
TH May 14  Shirei Chesed 7:30pm
SA May 16 SHABBAT: Behar/Behukkotai
                Bar Mitzvah: Reuben Dreiblatt
_________________________________________________________ 
MAY 18-MAY 25
TU May 19  Hebrew School Moving Up Ceremony 5pm
                Hazon Panel 7:30pm
WE May 20 Talmud Study 7pm
                Adult B'not Mitzvah Class 8pm
TH May 21 Shirei Chesed 7:30pm
SA May 23 SHABBAT: Bamidbar
                Community Services: All Minyanim Together  ________________________________________________________ 
 
MAY 25-MAY 31
MO May 26  Memorial Day - Office Closed
WE May 27 Senior Adult Program 12pm
TH May 28 Erev Shavuot
               Family Shavuot Program 6:30pm
FR May 29 Shavuot - Morning Services 10am
SA May 30 SHABBAT/Second Day Shavuot
_______________________________________________________
              
SHABBAT SCHEDULE
 
Shabbat Morning Study 9:30am
Rabbi Kalmanofsky and the group study Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed. 
  
Morning Services Begin at 10am
Sanctuary Minyan - Weekly
Minyan M'at - Weekly
Minyan Rimonim - May 2, 16
West Side Minyan - May 9
 
Family and Children's Services Begin at 11am
Mishpacha Shabbat: Ages 3 and Under - Weekly
Minyan Yigdal: Ages 4 to 7 - Weekly
Big Kids' Service: Ages 8 to 12 - Weekly
Teen Tefillah: May 9, 23
________________________________________________________ 
 
MORNING MINYAN
Mondays, Thursdays 7:20am
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays 7:30am
Sundays and Secular Holidays 8:30am
________________________________________________________
SHAVUOT SERVICES
Friday, May 29 - 10am
     Evening Services 6:30pm
Saturday, May 30- 10am (Service includes Yizkor)
_______________________________________________________
 
CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES
Friday, May 1 - Light candles 7:33 / Shabbat ends 8:37
Friday, May 8 - Light candles 7:40 / Shabbat ends 8:45
Friday, May 15 - Light candles 7:47 / Shabbat ends 8:51
Friday, May 22 - Light candles 7:54 / Shabbat ends 8:55
Thursday, May 28 - Light holiday candles 7:59
Friday, May 29 - Light candles 8pm / Shabbat & Yom Tov end 9:05 
 
Message from the Rabbi
 
Our synagogue homeless shelter has hosted some 95,000 guests -10 men per night, every night of the year, since the early 1980s. But we may not reach 100,000.
 
The important contribution we and other synagogues and churches make to our fellow New Yorkers is at risk of ending, due to ill-considered plans by the Bloomberg administration's Department of Homeless Services.
 
In their efforts to focus on the "chronic street homeless," City Hall is planning immediate shifts in how it administers drop-in centers and assigns "respite beds" like ours. Typically, our guests are more capable and less desperate than those who live on the streets for months on end, and are headed for more stable housing.
 
We can only affirm the city's need to work harder for those homeless people with more severe dysfunctions, like drug addictions and psychosis. But the city's plans - set to take effect July 1 - would certainly reduce the number of church shelter beds, and could force our shelter to close altogether.
 
We've joined with the dozens of other churches
and synagogues around NYC in the Emergency Shelter Network to demand changes in the city's plans. So far, no movement. But we're still pressing, and may call on you to write and call City Hall.
 
Most distressing, the new plans would reduce or eliminate the screening that guarantees that our nightly guests are sober, non-psychotic and free of tuberculosis. Without these guarantees, we would simply not be able to operate in confidence that the shelter would be safe for the guests themselves, the volunteers and our facilities. We would have to close if the current level of screening is not maintained.
 
Also, the funding that provides nightly dinners and clean linens for the men, and a fuel subsidy for the synagogue are likely to disappear or shrink. Under those conditions - if the screening is maintained - we might be able to continue to provide a roof and a bed for our guests, but feeding our guests would become unlikely. (Other problems in the city's plan would affect other shelters more than ours.)
 
Probably the most troubling of the DHS plans would not affect our shelter. The city plans to shut a number of drop-in centers, including those serving particularly vulnerable populations, like seniors and the mentally ill, as well as those in other boroughs. Also the city will try to shift people out of sleeping in chairs in the drop-in centers. That's a terrific goal, of course, but there are no plans to add enough new beds to cover those who would lose their chairs.
I wish I could tell you that synagogue and church shelters make a large dent in New York's homelessness problem. Numerically, the problem is many times bigger than we are. Of course, Ansche Chesed's shelter matters very much to 10 men each night. And around the five boroughs, some 350 people sleep in church shelters each night (the numbers rising above 400 in winter and falling below 300 in summer). But there are more than 35,000 homeless people in our city each night.
 
So, at the macro-level, the administration is pursuing an admirable goal of seeking to help the most desperate street people, who won't be helped by a small volunteer shelter like ours. Sadly, however, City Hall has gone about that goal in a foolish way. New Yorkers still need every bed we can get. Also, Americans are growing increasingly committed to public service. We and other synagogues and churches are helping, and the city is taking steps that impede our ability to serve our fellow citizens. The Emergency Shelter Network is not broken! Don't try to fix it!
 
Soon, we and the other members of the Emergency Shelter Network may seek your help in pressuring the city to alter its plans. For now, please stay tuned.
And volunteer to stay overnight in our shelter. While you still can. Contact ac_shelter@yahoo.com. 
 
-- Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky
 
Roxroy and Elijah 
 
The New Sanctuary Coalition addresses
IMMIGRATION LAW and Its Effect on Families
 
by Laura Clark
 
 
"Can you imagine forces trying to separate you from your family? One has to live it and experience it to understand. It's an outrage and an unexplainable feeling. I'm living that experience right now.  We the families are reaching a place of desperation, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. For years, our communities and families have been destroyed by an immigration system that does not respect a person's basic humanity. The families scarred by this brutal system live all around us." --  Roxroy Salmon, threatened with deportation, has resided in the U.S. for 30 years and is the father of four U.S. citizen children.  
 
I first became aware of how families were affected by U.S. immigration and deportation policies while living in San Diego.  There I became involved with an interfaith group working with refugees who had fled their countries in fear for their lives.  As a Spanish speaker I interviewed refugees and assisted in the process of applying for political asylum.  My involvement gave me an in-depth education about how immigrants in our country are stripped of many basic human rights at the same time that we rely directly on immigrants to support our lifestyles.  It was clear to me that these policies should not be allowed to stand, and I eventually joined the staff of this organization.  From there I went on to spend two years in Central America working on similar issues.   
 
Unfortunately, more than twenty years later later, immigration policy is still grossly unjust, and there is much work to be done.  One of the groups hoping to change that is the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York, an interfaith group which works to resist unjust deportations and to influence the creation of a more humane immigration policy.  Historically this work has been the purview of Christian groups, but Jews by virtue of their history are uniquely situated to make an important contribution in this field. 
 
As one step towards exploring how Ansche Chesed might become involved with this movement, representatives from the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York joined us on March 6th for a potluck dinner.  They spoke with us about how families are affected by U.S. immigration and deportation policies.

The Coalition is led by six families facing deportation who stand in partnership with over 20 faith communities and supporting organizations.  The participant families have come from Haiti, China, Jamaica, Senegal, Ecuador, Mexico and other places.  The families and the congregations who support them are attempting to find ways to change the national discussion about undocumented immigrants and to ultimately help organize support for the movement to put human rights and family unity at the center of the United States immigration system.
 
Roxroy Salmon, one of the Coalition's family members who is threatened with deportation, spoke at the potluck dinner.  Roxroy is a national of Jamaica who has lived in the United States for the past thirty years. He came to the U.S. with his father when he was a young man.  He has four U.S. citizen children born in the U.S. He also has a daughter who was born in Jamaica. He lives with three of his children: Natasha, an 18 year old who attends Long Island University for legal studies, Nyasia, a 15 year old studying design at her high school and Elijah, a 12 year old in middle school.

Because of minor convictions from over 20 years ago, and despite many references vouching for his contributions to the community, Roxroy is facing removal proceedings.  He believes that everyone has a human right to stay with their families. He is working hard to pass legislation that would keep his family together: HR 182, the Child Citizen Protection Act (CCPA), if passed, would allow immigration judges the power to use their discretion in cases like Roxroy's, allowing them to stop his deportation.

Every year, nearly 200,000 non-citizens - many with kids who are U.S. citizens - are deported and torn away from their families, even when a judge thinks they deserve to stay in the U.S.  Under mandatory deportation, the judge's hands are tied.  Families must choose between splitting up, resulting in more single parent households and psychological and financial hardship, or forcing their U.S. citizen children into deportation with them.  These U.S. citizen children often have to start over in a country with a new language, fewer resources and an uncertain future. U.S. immigration laws force citizen children to lose their parent, or their country.
 
What you can do
 
Write a letter. 
May is a critical month for Roxroy and his family.  At his hearing on June 2nd he may be ordered deported to Jamaica after living here for over 30 years. Letters and petitions of support are being collected by Ms. Wanyong Austin, Esq., Lutheran Social Services NY, 308 W 46th St., 3rd floor, New York, NY 10036.   Ms. Austin will send all letters and petitions to Mr. Christopher Shanahan, Field Office Director of Immigration & Customs Enforcement in New York.  A petition of support is available at http://justiceisfreedom.wordpress.com/about/rspetitionfinal/.
 
Attend a vigil.
When: Friday, May 8th, 7 PM - 8 PM
Where: 201 Varick St, Manhattan, outside Varick Street Detention Center
A monthly vigil is held by Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (http://www.ympj.org) every second Friday to and protest the raiding, detention, and deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year. For more information contact Juan Carlos at jcruiz@ympj.org.
 
Meet Roxroy. 
IMMIGRATION AND CONVERSATION:  POLITICS AND POPCORN!
When: Tuesday, May 5th, 7 PM
When: First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York - 12 West 12th St. on Fifth Ave., Manhattan.
Meet Roxroy, hear his story, and better understand the laws, politics, and policies that put a 32-year resident of NYC with a U.S.-citizen family in imminent risk of deportation.
Featuring excerpts from 2 films (+ popcorn!) "Border Stories" and "An Untitled Documentary on Roxroy Salmon"
Speakers: Wanyong Austin, immigration attorney; David Wilson, co-author of "The Politics of Immigration;" and Roxroy Salmon, Brooklyn father fighting deportation
 
Educate yourself. 
Visit the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York's web site: http://newsanctuarynyc.org/. 
Attend upcoming events.  Currently in the works are a study of Jewish texts with Rabbi Kalmanofsky regarding immigrant rights and a workshop led by an immigrant support group detailing actions that individuals and our community can take to work towards a more just and humane immigration policy. 
 
For more information or to help plan future events, please contact Laura Clark, ClarkLa2@gmail.com. 
 


 
 
 
Shavuot Approaches: Bring Your Flowers and Babies
Shavuot flowers
 
Please join us at Ansche Chesed to celebrate Shavuot, especially on the second day of the holiday, Saturday, May 30.
 
It is the custom to strew the synagogue with flowers and other fragrant plants on this springtime holiday. (As is reported in the Shulhan Arukh, by R. Moses Isserles, OH 494.3.) Where does this custom come from? Some have associated it with various midrashim about revelation, such as the view that every word that God spoke at Sinai filled the air with flowery perfume, based on Song of Songs 5.13: His lips are roses, dripping flowing myrrh. So let us celebrate revelation with the scents of God's speech in our prayer spaces (Yalkut Shir 984).
 
So to fulfill this charming custom, we invite you to:
        a) contribute to Sanctuary Flower Fund, for the purchase of flowers. Or
        b) feel free to bring your own flowers and plants to the sanctuary. They don't need to match. It will be lovely to have an array of different flowers and plants in the room.
 
Not everyone approved of the custom, by the way. In the 18th century, R. Elijah, the Gaon of Vilna thought this practice too closely imitated the Christmas tree, and forbade bringing plants into synagogues on festivals. (See Mishna Berura 494 n.10.) Hmmmm. The Gaon was not known for his flexibility. I think we need not refrain from decking our halls.
 
Another possible source for the custom of flowers on Shavuot is the association of the holiday with the spring's first fruits. We mark agricultural bounty by bringing the earth's beautiful children to shul.
 
How can we urban Jews do the same? Bring our own children! As we do each year, we invite those with babies who have arrived since last Shavuot to come for an aliya on Shabbat morning, and allow us to celebrate with you the world's best new produce! 
 
-- Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky 

Anzia YezierskaSenior Adult Programs for May and June
Wednesday, May 27, 12pm-1:30pm
GUEST SPEAKER: BETTINA BERCH
"From Hester Street to Hollywood: The Life and Work of Anzia Yezierska"
Come listen to AC member Bettina Berch discuss the real story of the writer they called "The Sweatshop Cinderella."  Her fine novels, including Bread Givers, Arrogant Beggar, and Hungry Hearts, defined "the immigrant" for twentieth century readers.  Hear the story behind the romance of Yezierska and philosopher John Dewey and her friendships with other prominent members of society.  Bettina's book is based on extensive research into Yezierska's published and unpublished writings and letters.
 
 


Hard Love
 
Wednesday, June 10, 3pm-5pm
THEATER OUTING!
HARD LOVE, A Play by Motti Lerner
Directed by Susan Reid; starring Mira Hirsch and David Silverman.
In this fiercely romantic drama, Hanna and Zvi are reunited after divorcing twenty years earlier.  Raised in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim, the couple ended their marriage when Zvi turned his back on Judaism and Hannah did not.  Now the teenage children from their second marriages have become romantically involved, forcing Hannah and Zvi back into each other's lives. 

The play takes place at Theater Three, 311 West 43rd Street.  Discounted tickets are $15 if you reserve by May 22; $18 thereafter.  RSVP to mdingoor@anschechesed.org or 212.865.0600 ext. 201.

Motti Lerner, born in Israel in 1949, is a playwright and screenwriter who teaches political playwriting at Tel Aviv University.  He is the recipient of the Meskin Award for best play (1985) and the Israel Motion Picture Academy Award for best TV drama (1995 and 2004). 


NEWS & NOTES
 
Condolences to:
The Family of Janos Racz
Debra Cassel Rand on the death of her father.
 
Mazal Tov to April's b'nai mitzvah:
Nevada Harris
Zachary Stein

Mazal Tov to:
Dan and Tamara Nemo and Avery on the birth of their son and brother, Eli William.




APRIL DONATIONS  
 
GENERAL  
Michael Brochstein
in honor of the bar mitzvah of Reuben Dreiblatt
Deborah Brodie in honor of the birth of the granddaughter of Shuly Schwartz and Eric Fishman; in honor of the bar mitzvah of Adam Chanes; in honor of the birthday of Walter Dubler; in honor of the bat mitzvah of Mikaela Gerwin; in honor of the bar mitzvah of Jed Kronfeld; in honor of the birth of the Turner-Gedzelman twins; in memory of Jerome Forman, father of Robin Forman; in memory of Ervin Plaszner, father of Suzanne Weinstein; in honor of Rabbis Amy and Jeremy Kalmanofsky for staying at Ansche Chesed
Robin Forman in honor of Mikaela Gerwin-Gerstein's bat mitzvah; in honor of Sara Xing's bat mitzvah
Zaklina Milovanovic and Leon Gross
Bethamie Horowitz and Barry Holtz
in memory of Janos Racz
Naomi Marcus in honor of the 5th yahrzeit of her father, David Greitzer
Nahma Sandrow and William Meyers in honor of the bar mitzvah of Jed Kronfeld
Ellen Resnick and Eric Peterman
Sharry and David Pollock
in honor of Jed Kronfeld's bar mitzvah
Hire Resources in honor of the bar mitzvah of Jed Kronfeld
Ruth and Ira Salzman in memory of Jerome Forman, father of Robin Forman
Leah Schaefer in honor of the bar mitzvah of Jed Kronfeld
Kathy Schreiner-Leipsner in memory of her husband, Fredric Leipsner
Roberta Kupietz Shapiro and Paul Shapiro in honor of Jed Kronfeld's bar mitzvah
Diana and Howard Stevens in memory of Anne Meyer, one of the founders of the Beyond Shelter Coalition and who volunteered for the Ansche Chesed Shelter - she inspired so many people to do so much.  We have lost a treasured soul.


YAHRZEIT  
Dina Rosenfeld and Howard Berkowitz
in memory of Howard's mother, Pat Berkowitz
Beatrice Blanco in memory of her husband, Peter Blanco
Helen Bohmart Pine in memory of her father, Harry Cherlov
Feygele Jacobs and Michael Cholden-Brown in memory of Michael's father, Louis Cholden
Evelyn Dichek in memory of her husband, Maurice Dichek, in memory of her mother, Margaret Rosenberg; in memory of her sister, Frances Gross; in memory of her father, Sam Rosenberg
Howard Eisenberg in memory of his father, Murray Eisenberg
Susan and Lawrence Feldman in memory of Lawrence's father, Joseph Feldman
Shirley and Stanley Fischler in memory of Stanley's mother, Molly Fischler
Heidi and Ernest Kahn in memory of her mother, Kate Vorchheimer
Louis P. Klein in memory of Max Klein
Ira Krell in memory of his father, Mortimer Krell
Toni Landau in memory of her father, William London
Joyce and Martin Mann in memory of Joyce's mother, Selda Levy, and her great aunt, Sonia Kahn
Amy and Tom Marx in memory of Tom's father, Albert Marx
Nahma Sandrow and William Meyers in memory of Nahma's grandfather, Jacob Slavin
Rita and Sol Rosenkranz
in memory of Sol's brother-in-law, Michael Cooper and his grandmother, Hedy Cooper
Barbara Rothenberg in memory of her father, Chester Rothenberg
Leah Schaefer in memory of her brothers, Nissen Cahan, Haskel Cahan and Sidney Cahan
Lilianne and Hugh Segal in memory of Lilianne's father, Aizic Weinberg
Roberta Kupietz Shapiro and Paul Shapiro in memory of Roberta's sister, Susan Kornbluh
Herta Shriner in memory of her mother, Gertrude Lewin
Barbara Siegal in memory of her father, Ned Myers
Lorin Silverman in memory of his grandfather, Simon Silverman, and relative, Herbert Weinberg
Helen Singer and Michael Skliar in memory of Helen's father, David Singer
Jacqueline and Robert Stein in memory of Robert's father, Joel Stein


RABBI'S DISCRETIONARY FUND  
Arlene Baily
in memory of Herbert Bernard Michaelson
Ellen Flax
Abraham Marvin Konopko
in memory of his wife, Lea Konopko; in memory of his grandmother, Musha Konopko; in memory of his mother-in-law, Pearl Gittel Konopka; in memory of his father-in-law, Elias Konopka
Karen Palmer
Sylvia Weber
in memory of her father, Norton Harry Lang


SHELTER FUND  
Jill Goodman and Melvin Bukiet
in honor of the bar mitzvah of Jed Reuben Kronfeld
Miriam Benhaim and Benyamin Cirlin
Kathy and Stephen Fink
in memory of Kathy's father, Adam van Savage, MD
Miriam Harris-Kaplan and George Kaplan in honor of the bar mitzvah of Jed Reuben Kronfeld
Stephanie and Ilya Kofman
Daniel Serviansky
in honor of the Hadar shelter volunteers


KIDDUSH FUND  
Mary and Paul Feinberg
in honor of Bettina Berch and the publication of her book
Elizabeth and Jeffrey Kaiden in honor of the Kaiden family
Bonita Leeds in honor of Bettyrose Nelson
Judy Katz and Oren Rudavsky in honor of Eli's 14th birthday and his leyning
Fran and Sam Schiff in memory of Fran's father, Irving Goldstein
Fanny Steinhauser


PRAYER BOOK FUND  
Arlene and Alex Baily
in memory of Herbert Bernard Michaelson; in honor of their son, David Baily
Kathy and Stephen Fink in memory of Stephen's mother, Leona Fink
Jacqueline and Robert Stein in honor of Zachary Stein's bar mitzvah, April 25, 2009


ADULT EDUCATION FUND  
Ravid Tilles
in memory of his mother, Andrea Tilles; in honor of the congregation for giving him an aliyah on Tuesday morning


RIMONIM KIDDUSH FUND  
Rachel
Sheryl Lynn Presser


PASSOVER YIZKOR  
Herta Shriner


FAMILY PROGRAMS  
Sara Shapiro-Plevan and William Plevan
in honor of the children's service leaders


MUSIC FUND  
Carol A. Rabolt