Congregation B'nai Shalom
Traditionally Speaking
December, 2004
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Congregation B'nai Shalom Traditionally Speaking |
From the President
Programming
Sisterhood
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FROM THE PRESIDENT - ROB CHEIFETZ
As many of you know, we are holding a black-tie optional, wedding-themed dinner dance in February to raise funds to hire Rabbi Glass full-time for next year. In order to make sure that this fundraising event is a success, we need your understanding, and your help.
What We Are Planning:
Simply put, the function of a fundraiser is to raise funds. To do so, we need to do two things: (1) we need to provide an event that people will want to attend; and (2) we need to charge enough for admission so that we will make money on the event. We believe the event will be great: we’ve hired Basel & Balfour, Chicago Magazine’s “Best Kosher Caterer” (who, thank G-d, is giving us a huge price break); we will have great music and lots of dancing; we’ve hired award-winning actor/writer Jeff Dorchen to play “The Rabbi,” and we have wonderful congregants (Amy and Jeff F.) with a great sense of humor who will “renew their vows” for us in a very funny and memorable way. We want this event to be special, elegant, and enjoyable - and it will be! Jewish musical comedy never tasted so good.
Unfortunately, as those of you who have planned weddings know, planning a beautiful (and delicious!!!) wedding costs a great deal of money. Accordingly, and because this is a fundraiser, the ticket price is going to be much higher than we normally charge for events at our shul, where we generally try to just cover our costs. You don’t need to bring a gift to this Wedding, but we will be charging $100 per person. We need to raise several thousand dollars with this event, and, with our costs @$50 per person, we need to charge twice that to reach our goal.
How You Can Help:
First, Save the Date: Saturday Night, February 26, 2005, beginning at 8:00 pm.
Second, invite your family and friends. Please keep in mind that the event is NOT limited to shul members. We certainly understand that, with all the other expenses and charitable commitments you have, you yourself may not be able to afford a ticket to the event. But you may know people who CAN afford to go, and who would enjoy a fun night out with great kosher food, comedy, music, and dancing. So, please provide the names and addresses of people you think should be invited to: Sandy R., by mail or email , and she will make sure that they receive an invitation on your behalf.
Finally, you may help our “wedding coordinator,” Tara L., by donating items for our raffle, getting needed items for free or at discounts, publicizing the event, stuffing envelopes, etc. This is a great opportunity for everyone to pitch in and help us to hire Rabbi Glass for another year.
Thank you in advance for your help and understanding.
December 3rd thru December 5th will be a great kickoff weekend for the Rabbi Glass era at CBS of Buffalo Grove. We will start off by having a beautiful Friday night service at 6:15 on Friday December 3rd. Think of how exciting it will be to welcome in Shabbat with those beautiful hymns and prayers, a full sanctuary of congregants, and yes, Rabbi Glass. After that monumental service, we will all be able to enjoy a great Shabbat dinner with wonderful food and company. I have talked before of us being a "community", and now our community is complete. We have done a wonderful job building our community together and being there for one another. Now with Rabbi Glass, our teacher, our leader, and our Rabbi, it will be even richer. I can't wait to see you all there!! Saturday it will continue, with davenning and torah reading. We will do this together and learn together. The Kiddush on Saturday is going to be an enhanced one, with our Sisterhood pulling out all of the stops. Sunday we celebrate Chanukah. Yes, I know it is a week early, why not start early I always say! Also, we have found many of our congregants attend family and friend's Chanukah parties during the 8 day period, so we felt we could get the best attendance if we throw our party a week early. We will have dancing with our Hava R.'s dance troupe. We will have singing led by Naomi S. and friends, and Rabbi Glass has promised to teach us all a new Chanukah song. Dreidels will be spinning and latkes will be frying. I look forward to "partying" with you all.
So put aside the weekend of December 3rd to welcome Rabbi Glass, welcome Shabbat, and welcome Chanukah a week early.
Our D.E.L. program in November was a great success due to the tireless work of Wendy F. Not only did we make a little money, but we were able to provide Jewish books for our families. Our next D.E.L. event will take place in January, 2005, more information to follow.
Young Judaea had their second event November 21st. Over 11 kids attended Eskape in Buffalo Grove. They spent the first hour learning about current events in Israel and socializing with one another. Then they bowled their hearts out. Fun was had by all. Look for information on their next event.
Upcoming events:
Sunday, December 5th: Sisterhood Latke sale pick-up. Our Chanukah party, 4--6:30 p.m. There will be a Chanukah sing-a-long, Israeli dancers, dinner, and more. R.S.V.P. by December 1st.
Sunday, December 19th: The second Shul outing to a play, The Immigrant. You don’t have to be a member to join in the fun.
Saturday, December 25th: Pizza and Game night, 6:30 p.m. Cost is $8 per person (age 3 and over). R.S.V.P. by December 21.
The Sisterhood is now planning several events for the upcoming year. Latke pick-up is at the shul on December 5th, 2-5 p.m. In January we will be having our lox box, so get ready to sell them to all your friends and neighbors. If you have any suggestions for programs, please contact me.
We would love to have families sponsor our Shabbat Kiddushes. Sisterhood currently sponsors the pastry part of our kiddushes. The Morning Minyan group has been sponsoring the tuna salad and egg salad for our extended Kiddushes. The Big Macher and Little Macher fundraisers only cover the cost of the salads, and are paid to the Men’s Club/Morning Minyan group, People who enjoy these extended Kiddushes should stop in the office and make a donation toward the kiddushes. It is wrong to expect the same few people to feed the congregation every week. We cannot order the food if the money isn’t there.
Join Sisterhood. Membership can be paid with your shul bill, $18 for the year or $180 (over two years) for lifetime membership. Any questions, contact Jody K.