Thank you to Arizona Jewish Life for featuring Beth Ami Temple’s return to in-person events with our Open House on Friday, September 8th! We welcome the community to attend and see what makes this “small temple with a big heart” so special!
https://azjewishlife.com/beth-ami-temple-hosts-in-person-open-house/
Here are two photos from the Zoom Shabbat Service followed by an online Oneg on November 13th, 2020.
In these Covid times we are looking for ways to keep our Beth Ami Temple group physically and mentally fit. Jan Hertzfeld, assisted by her husband Steve, have started an exercise class on Zoom which you can do from the comfort of your home.
The class, which meets every Tuesday morning at 10am for 60 minutes, is for all fitness levels to help you improve your strength, balance, and increase your energy!
Just a few spots left!
Contact Jan now and join in with the fun!
I’m sure you have heard by now of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was strong and she was gentle. She fought for gender equality and gay rights. She devoted her life to the court as an institution. She had a profound sense of dignity throughout her life. Her loss, in addition to all the other losses we as a humankind have experienced this year, could no doubt have a negative effect on your ability to connect with our High Holiday liturgy this year.
After all, we have been in our homes for months, we wear masks in public, so you can’t see when someone is smiling at you. We have lost our ability to physically connect with friends and family for fear of getting sick.
We have lost the ability to touch others, to eat a meal with others. We have a connection deficit!
Please try not to despair. Focus on the words of our sages who implore us to look toward the Divine in times of turbulence, and not to turn away. There are no words of comfort that I can send to you that might make your heart and soul feel settled; that’s what our liturgy is there for. In these times of true trouble, let the words speak to you this year. I wish you all the sweetest possible new year. May we find peace, remain in good health and truly connect with each other.
L’shana Tova!
“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had
to do her work to the very best of her ability.”
-Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Nancy Unferth hosted Beth Ami Temple’s first ever online Oneg Shabbat using the Zoom application on Friday evening, July 17th.
Eight members of the Beth Ami Book Club took part in our group’s first virtual meeting on Thursday, April 23rd, using the Zoom software application to communicate with each other. A screenshot photo of us during the meeting appears below.
Judy Lohr-Safcik led a lively discussion of the novel A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza. Attendees felt the meeting was highly successful and are looking forward to meeting again next month. It was great fun being able to socialize with each other after feeling isolated for many weeks.
In these times of unprecedented need of so many people, we at Beth Ami would like to mention a small food bank that we have promoted for many years during our High Holidays: the Paradise Valley Emergency Food Bank ( http://pvefb.org ).
The AZ Republic newspaper recently included an article about the Paradise Valley Emergency Food Bank. To view the article, please press/click here.
Donations are greatly needed, and monetary donations can be made to the food bank through PayPal. You do not need to have a PayPal account to donate.
The Beth Ami Players, under the guidance of Rabbi Lawton and Bobbi Lazarus, presented a spirited Purim Spiel at Shabbat services March 6. All of the performers got into the script and were cheered and booed by an appreciative audience. Cantor Mike provided a musical interlude.
Twenty-two members of the Fressers’ Dinner Club enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Bobby-Q’s BBQ Restaurant in the Biltmore area of Phoenix on February 5th. Judy Lohr-Safcik was hostess for the dinner.
Our February 7th service celebrated Shabbat Shirah, “Sabbath of Song”, which featured the music of Debbie Friedman, a well-known singer/songwriter of Jewish songs and melodies who passed away in 2011 at the age of 59. Rabbi Lawton led the Shabbat prayers and the Torah portion containing the Israelites’ successful crossing of the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea), while Cantorial Soloist Mike Robbins gave a musical sermon with assistance from several Beth Ami members.
While the majority of Debbie Friedman’s songs contained lyrics familiar to most of us, some of her beautiful melodies were new to us. One of Debbie Friedman’s most well-known songs is Mi Shebeirach, the prayer for healing that we sing during every Shabbat service. If you are interested in learning more about how Debbie came to write Mi Shebeirach, please tap/click here.
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| To watch a short video of Miriam’s Song, please press/click here. |
