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It all came out of the blue -- at least to me!  I got this letter in the mail from USCJ back in March, congratulating me on my nomination for the Alan Karlsberg Tzedek Award...

There were 20 nominees for this Tzedek Award from all over the Northeast.  I was the Temple Beth El nominee.

 

A while later, I received the invitation below with extras to send to family and friends.  The big event was to take place at Temple Reyim in Newton, MA on May 1st.

This is Alan Karlsberg, in whose memory this award honors.

Here are the nominees, with me at the top of the list...alphabetically.

 

And here is the back of the invitation, with those responsible for putting this event together and selecting the ultimate winner.

 

So, it seemed like an eternity, but the big day finally arrived.   On Sunday, May 1st, my wife, daughter and I pulled into the Temple Reyim parking lot (our son was busy studying at college in Florida).    We checked in at the front desk and moved down the crowded hallway toward the sanctuary where the festivities were to be held.  We found other family members and several TBE family members, including Rabbi Braun, Dov and president Judy!  

At around 11:30 am, the sanctuary doors opened.  The nominees had assigned seats in the front row.  All of a sudden the throngs of people in the hallways spilled comfortably into the sanctuary.  Exerps from the program follow:

 

Here again we see the list of the nominees

 

And the schedule of events...

 

A letter from the international president...

 

and from the USCJ president and executive director...

 

Here are excerps from the nomination entries for the first four nominees...

 

And remarks from the chair of the Northeast section of USCJ...,

 

These are pictures of the metal personalized tzedaka box that each of us nominees received

 

Here is a picture of the nominees (that's Alan Karlsberg's widow, Ronnie on the far right)

 

AND THE WINNER IS...the bearded guy in the front, Herb Daroff from Temple Adath Sharon.

 

We had a great representation from Portland...

 

Me and my pushke!

So there you have it.  After the ceremony and pictures, we all headed into the social hall for a declicious lunch (which included brisket).

I continue to be humbled for being the sole nominee representing Temple Beth El, and would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you all for your kind words and encouragement.     

On Friday, May 27th, the Temple Beth El morning minyan gathered across town at Etz Chaim.  After Kaddish, Federal Judge George Singal spoke to us about how his parents survived the Holocaust.

Here is his story:

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Pictures on March 16th during Shelach Manot prep and School Talent show.

More pictures from March 19th during the Purim Ball

See it all here

 

Video of the Purim Parade on March 20th

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We had perfect, sunny afternoon with shade and a nice breeze at Payson Park.  Old friends and new friends with good food, music, hula hoops, balls, flying discs, and decorated faces and cookies.

See is all in pictures here

Click here to see it in pictures

 

The Funniest Clergy in Maine Contest in video:

Contestant #1:   Dov
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Contestant #2:  Rabbi Braun
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Contestant #3:  Rabbi Wilansky
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Contestant #4:  Rabbi Schwarzman
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And the winner is...
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Todah Rabah to our fabulous Landscaping Clean-Up day volunteers for tending to our front entry, walkways, hedges and plant beds:
Rabbi Braun, Sharon Bressler, Hedy Cohen, Becky and Joe Delois, Barbara Dichter, Ellen Froncek, Gregg Garson, Dan and Judy Gatchell, Karen and Geoff Hindall, Rhetta, Leticia and Elijah Huttman, Joy Krinsky, Ivan Most, Michael and Barbara Peisner, Clara Purinton, Pat Reef, Peggy and Steve Shapiro, Jodi and Terry Veysey, and  Norm and Judy Wilson.

Thanks to your hard work and amazing green thumbs, the TBE grounds look great - we appreciate your efforts!

Click here to see it all in pictures...

Temple Beth El's professional and lay leadership welcomed the congregation to our 2010 Annual Meeting on Sunday morning May 23rd, to review the past year's accomplishments, honor our volunteers, celebrate our synagogue, and look to the future.

Click here to see it all in pictures...

Click here to see it all in pictures...

 

The last week of February was  incredibly busy week at Temple Beth El planning,  organizing and getting ready for Purim.  Phyl Rubinstein was busy getting food ready for the Saturday night's festivities.   A dedicated band of workers got together on Wednesday afternoon to make about 400 shelach manot baskets.  

Then the big storm hit and the Temple lost power at midnight Thursday night for 12 hours.  By time it was restored, all of the prepared food had spoiled.   Phyl then had to scramble to re-make those delicacies in time for the Purim Ball the next night...with the caveat that you can't cook on Shabbat!

Saturday started out with the regular Shabbat Service, followed by another wonderful teaching session by Rabbi Freidenreich during lunch.   Then it was the Megillah reading at 6:30 pm in the sanctuary amongst the hundreds of Shelach manot baskets.  Readers included Joy Kinsky, Fred Farber, Dov and Rabbi Freidenreich.  Then with much ruach, it was time for the Costume   Ball to kick off.  Rhetta Huffman spun the CD's.  Phyl's food was ready and delicious.  There was scotch and champagne and dozens of costumed creatures and lots of dancing.

One would think that would have been sufficient (diyanu).  But the festivities continued on Sunday, with another megillah reading for families and hebrew school students.  That was followed by a community parade that started at TBE and headed over to Shaarey Tphiloh for a Purim Carnival!  Meanwhile volunteers were loading up their cars with shelach manot baskets to deliver to their intended recipients all over southern Maine.

All in all, it was a busy and satisfying week of Purim with lots of fun activities and mitzvot!

Click on the link above to see pictures of the various activities.  Video of the parade will be forthcoming soon!

 

Click here to read Rabbi Braun's editorial piece, "Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat," featured in the April/ May issue of The Voice.