General Announcements - February 2006

Saturday Sitter Service Starts February 4

Now you can attend Torah Study and Saturday morning Shabbat services each week with easy drop-off childcare in the Temple! Through the Mitzvah project of one of our B'nai Mitzvah, Elana Black, we are able to provide a new service.

DATES: Every Saturday beginning February 4. (There may be a few exceptions such as High Holidays, which will be announced)

TIME: 9:10 am until the end of services. Parents need to be attending torah study or services to use this service. Children should be picked up at the end of services and before luncheons.

AGES: Children ages 1-7.

RESERVATIONS: We recommend that you RSVP but it is not required. There is a limit of six children, however, so to guarantee your child a spot, please call the office.

COST: None - it's free!

The Saturday Sitter Service will be staffed by a responsible High School Senior who has been hired to be there each week. H/She will be assisted by one or more volunteer Temple teens. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this fund in honor of Elana's Bat Mitzvah last year. Any teenaged Temple member who is at least 12 and who is interested in doing mitzvah work by volunteering on a Saturday morning can contact Elana Black and she will contact you to schedule a time.

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From The Office

Sponsor an Oneg. This is one of the most pleasant and affordable ways to share your good fortune with the congregation. It involves a small donation of edibles which you bring for the Oneg following the service. The office can help you choose your menu and give you approximate numbers.

Sign up at your local Smith's to raise money for our school programs. To register for the Smith's Adopt a school program, you must give the store a form which you can obtain from our website or at the Temple. This is so easy: just use your Fresh Values card and we earn 5% of your bill. Last year we earned close to $500, and we are sure that many of you did not even know about this program!

Tributes and yahrzeit donations We request a five dollar minimum for a Tribute or Yahrzeit donation. If you indicate that you wish us to list your contribution, it will appear in the bulletin. Tributes received by February 20 will appear in the April bulletin. Those received after February 20 will appear in May. Our bookkeeping and printer requirements necessitate this time frame.

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Why is my bulletin late…again?!

Suspicion confirmed: The bulletin is arriving even later.

The Albuquerque Journal reported on statewide late mail delivery problems Wednesday, January 11, page B2. Non-profit mail has always been an even lower priority for the Post Office. Therefore, we must mail our bulletin by the 24th of the month if we hope to reach you by the first. We need your understanding and help in meeting deadlines. If you are a contributor to our bulletin, please click here for new Guidelines.

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CAST MUSICAL
CHILDREN'S LETTERS TO GOD

Saturdays & Sundays
FEBRUARY 25 & 26, 7:00 pm
MARCH 4 & 5, 7:00 pm

Congregation Albert Student Theatre will be producing Children's Letters to God. This is a new musical based on the book by Stuart Hample and Eric Marshall, which opened in New York just 18 months ago.

Like the book, the musical responds directly to the hard-hitting questions that kids of all ages ask. The show is fast-paced and fun and appropriate for all ages, religions and backgrounds.

CAST has grown so much that we will be running two casts, including 30 students as performers, musicians and technical crew. Tickets will be sold at the door: $6 for adults and $4 for children under 12. Four-day passes will be available on the first night: $20 for adults and $12 for children.

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Coming Next Month: Jewish Catholic Dialogue of New Mexico

Thirteenth Annual Spring Colloquium, Tuesday, March 7 at Congregation B'nai Israel
4400 Indian School Road NE
Beyond Nostra Aetate: The Children of Abraham Look to the Future.
Presenters: Rabbi Arthur Flicker, Congregation B'nai Israel
Faisal Nabulsi, President of Islam Community of Albuquerque
Fr. Chistopher Zugger, Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Byzantine Catholic Community in Association with Archdiocese of Santa Fe
Congregation Albert and Congregation B'nai Israel; Norbertine Community of New Mexico
New Mexico Anti-Defamation League; New Mexico Conference of Churches
Registration 7:30 -8:30 am; Lunch at 12:00 pm; Interfaith prayer service at 3:30 pm
Cost $40; Call Betty Kohlman at 299-3807

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The History of Bernice's Challah Fame

 

Did you know that our own Bernice Herman registered the Tradename, CHALLAH FAME with the New Mexico Secretary of State back in 1996? The Tradename is "used to identify bread and other baked goods…and applicant claims exclusive right to the use thereof." In fact, the registration comes up for renewal in September 2006!

These days, a faithful crew bakes challah for our ceremonial use and for those who order it every Friday morning, bright and early. Join them and appreciate even more what a delicious skill this is, even if you do eat too much in the process! Or, at the least, pick up an order form at the Temple and try our Challah soon.

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The Strategic Planning Analysis: Congregation Albert's Demographic Profile

In 2004 Congregation Albert President Gary Singer formed a Task Force with the objective of doing Strategic Planning. This group included Marina Rabinowitz, Susan Keith, Alan Sims and Lew Barsky. The first step consisted of collecting demographic data of our own congregation. Sally Greenbaum and Ilana Locke were especially helpful in this process.

We used several resources: 1) Survey of our Congregants (October 2004 and February 2005), response rate: 56.8 %; 2) Printouts from Membership software; 3) Survey of Institutional Structure of CA; 4) Survey of Institutional Structure of other Congregations (250-1500 members); 5) Comparative Studies—Jewish Population Studies published by URJ; and 6) Statistics of Greater Albuquerque.

What we found:

The next step was to present the results to the congregation in four open meetings. Each presentation was followed by focus groups to obtain input related to the vision of our congregants and to make comparisons between the goals determined by the 2000 Long Range Planning and our achievements since then. More on this in the next issue…

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Meditation and Healing

February 11 and 25
9:30 am - 10:15 am in the Moise Chapel

For information, please contact
Paula Schwartz, Ph.D. () or Eileen Yager, MD ()

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Mazel Tov

Don't be shy about sharing your own simchas

Sarah Burney, daughter of Gwenn Robinson and Dwight Burney, has completed her degree in Broadcast Production at UC Boulder, and is an intern at Denver Fox TV affiliate, KDVR. Sister Jennifer Burney is a doctoral student in physics at Stanford University.

Abby Feldman, 2-3 teacher in our ECC and sister of our Rabbinic intern Hayley, married Orr Bernstein on December 11 in Las Vegas.

Sherry Lewis announces that the Charles A. Lewis Endowment and Award Fund was established by the American Horticultural Therapy Association, in memory of Charlie, to perpetuate his work through an annual award to someone who has "published outstanding horticultural therapy research in a professional horticultural or medical journal." His book Green Nature/Human Nature will soon be published in China.

Paul Roth, M.D. has been appointed by the UNM Board of Regents as Executive Vice President for Health Sciences. Dr. Roth is also Dean of the UNM School of Medicine; he has served as interim executive vice president since August 17, 2005.

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A Time to Talk

is facilitated by Pearl Gross, the second and fourth Fridays of each month at the Temple. It is designed for the bereaved members of our community. This is a time to talk about your loved ones, to remember them and to share those remembrances in a safe, confidential setting.

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