What fun we had making handprints this week! We thank so many of you for participating in our annual Tile Wall Fundraiser and we'll keep you posted as to when the tiles will be hung up.
Everyone is looking forward to a festive hands-on celebration tomorrow for Yom Ha'atzmaut - Israel's 77th birthday! After a joyous musical start to the day, your children will be making their own orange juice, planting flowers to beautify our playground (as if they were decorating their own kibbutz), going on an archaelogical dig, visiting the Kotel, and much, much more! We can't wait!
Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS), who oversees our Project SEED program, are excited to offer a Zoom workshop for parents on May 7th from 9:45-10:30am with Amanda Klotz, Speech & Language Pathologist. Amanda has a great deal of experience working with young children and their families. They hope the workshop will be valuable and informative for parents. Please see the flyer below for further details and registration info.
Spring Cleaning Alert! Beth El Day Camp is collecting magazines to be used during staff training. Magazine donations can be brought to the labeled box in the synagogue lobby. They thank you in advance!
As a reminder, Ronnie has been participating in Cohort 2 of the Shomer Collective, As part of Ronnie's participation, she has developed resources to bring conversations about end-of-life issues into our Nursery School community. It is not unusual for parents to turn to us with questions regarding young children’s participation in a funeral, attendance at a cemetery, or general questions regarding conversations about death, heaven, God, etc. Often these issues arise in the heat of the moment when a family death may occur, and parents may be at a loss as to how to handle these challenging times with their children. Please join in an evening of dialogue on Thursday, May 15 at 8:00PM at Beth El, where we will have an opportunity to discuss this important topic. Please click here to RSVP via email.
It is so hard to believe that the end of the school year is drawing near. End of year celebrations for each class will be on the last day of school, Wednesday, June 11. Please find times for each age group's celebration below:
Wonderful Parenting Workshops from Project SEED facilitated by Julie Schnur, our Project SEED Consultant
Mabel's Label's Fundraising We are continuing our fundraising through Mabel's Labels. With every order we will earn 20% commission for our school. If you are not familiar with Mabel's Labels, they offer personalized waterproof name labels for your children's items. This is the perfect time to get your orders in before the school year begins. Visit campaigns.mabelslabels.com and choose Beth El Nursery School (New Rochelle) from the organization list. Click here to order.
We hope you're having a great week. We have multiple opportunities to volunteer for service hours coming up, as well as a special Teen Shabbat Dinner with the Clergy on May 9. Please RSVP here by MAY 1.
Speaking of service hours...we have regular chesed (community service) on Shabbat mornings for 9th-12th graders. Please see details below.
Upcoming events:
Every Saturday, 11 am-12 pm: Volunteer for Shabbat Childcare (9th-12th). See information below. Earn community service hours.
Sunday, May 4: Volunteer to help with the community-wide Yom Ha'Atzmaut program, here at Beth El! Earn 2 (or more) community service hours.Register here.
Interested in learning more about our Teen offerings at Beth El, or getting more involved? Reach out to Vered (teens@bethelnr.org) or Alyssa (aberman@bethelnr.org). We're happy to connect!
All the best, Vered and Alyssa
Shabbat Childcare: Saturdays from 11 am-12 pm
We have launched a new supervised play space on the playground/in the Kasakove for kids on Shabbat morning, and we need your help! We need our high schoolers (9th grade and up) to volunteer for this program on Saturdays from 11 am-12 pm! We are happy to offer service hours.Teen responsibilities include:
Pick up the children from their services (Den or Levenson Chapel).
Walk with them to the Kasakove or to the playground.
Play with them and supervise them, making sure that everyone is safe, respectful, and behaving appropriately.
Bring the children back to the Sanctuary at the end of the service (or for b’nei mitzvah candy).
Clean up the Kasakove or playground during the end of the service, before you go to Kiddush.
Kumi: Foundations Fellowship: Application due Friday, May 9 For 10th-12th graders
Kumi is a unique opportunity for Jewish teens to interrupt racism, antisemitism, and other manifestations of oppression. This teen leadership experience imparts knowledge and skills for exploring justice and equity from a Jewish lens.
Participants will be prepared for bold changemaking on college campuses, in social justice spaces, and wherever else their passions take them. Together, they will contribute to the building of more inclusive communities and movements for justice as Jews. Through their experience in Kumi, participants will be challenged to explore their connection to their own Jewish identity and build the skills to turn their values into action.
Trip Info Session Sunday, May 4th at 11:15am In Person or by Zoom
Join Rabbi David Schuck in person or on Zoom to learn more about this community volunteer mission with opportunities for subsidization by UJA Federation of NY.
This year's Gala, on June 12, 2025, celebrates our 10 years together with Rabbi Schuck, our community and our commitment to the future!
We will once again be holding a top-notch Silent Auction. With your help, we can truly catapult Beth El Synagogue Center's annual fundraiser to new heights. If you have access to any of the items listed below, or other worthy items we may not have mentioned, and are able to contribute them to our auction, we will be most appreciative and will recognize you at the Gala:
Sports tickets: football, baseball, hockey, tennis, etc.
Sports Memorabilia
Behind the scenes experience/private tour
TV show tapings
Studio tour
A round of golf
Theater tickets
Airline miles
Hotel/Inn rooms
Gift Certificates for experiences(i.e. pottery making, mosaic classes, escape room, etc.)
Sessions with a professional organizer
Timeshare weeks
A weekend at your summer or beach house
A ski weekend at your winter house
BRAND NEW electronics
BRAND NEW handbags or accessories
Jewelry
Judaica
Limousine services
Gift certificates to stores/kosher restaurants/nail salons/beauty parlors, etc.
Artwork
If you have something to donate please contact Lori Schwartz no later than May 8, 2025. For artwork, please submit a photo, description, and value of the item you are donating.
With your help, this Silent Auction will be a wonderful addition to what promises to be a memorable, meaningful, and financially successful evening.
Thank you in advance,
Lori Schwartz and Shery Rosenstein Gala Auction Co-Chairs
I am excited to share that back in September I was selected to participate in Cohort 2 of the Shomer Collective Educator Fellowship, a 9-month cohort-based learning experience for Jewish educators interested in integrating Jewish wisdom about life and death into their work.
Shomer Collective is dedicated to improving end of life experiences by helping people talk more openly about death, dying, and mourning through the lens of Jewish wisdom and Jewish practices. As part of my participation, I have developed resources to bring conversations about end-of-life issues into our Nursery School community.
It is not unusual for parents to turn to us with questions regarding young children’s participation in a funeral, attendance at a cemetery, or general questions regarding conversations about death, heaven, God, etc. Often these issues arise in the heat of the moment when a family death may occur, and parents may be at a loss as to how to handle these challenging times with their children.
It is my pleasure to offer an evening of dialogue on Thursday, May 15 at 8:00PM at Beth El, where we will have an opportunity to discuss this important topic. Please click here to RSVP via email.
Wonderful Parenting Workshops from Project SEED facilitated by Julie Schnur, our Project SEED Consultant
Mabel's Label's Fundraising We are continuing our fundraising through Mabel's Labels. With every order we will earn 20% commission for our school. If you are not familiar with Mabel's Labels, they offer personalized waterproof name labels for your children's items. This is the perfect time to get your orders in before the school year begins. Visit campaigns.mabelslabels.com and choose Beth El Nursery School (New Rochelle) from the organization list. Click here to order.
For event accessibility needs, please be in touch so we can address them.
Friday, April 25th 12th Day of Omer 6:30pm Kabbalat Shabbat 7:27pm Candle Lighting
Saturday, April 26th 13th Day of Omer Parashat Shemini 9:00am Shabbat Morning Services 10:30am Mini Minyan 10:30am Tot Shabbat
This week's kiddush is sponsored by Russell & Allyson Geller in honor of their daughter, Melanie's bat mitzvah 12:45pm Daf Shevui 7:30pm Mincha/Maariv 8:28pm Havdalah
Mazal tov to Russell & Allyson Geller on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter, Melanie Geller, and mazal tov also to Melanie's brother, Jason.
Mazal tov to Lori Weber, who is receiving her Cantorial Ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion next week.
Mazal tov to Robin Bronk, who is being admitted to the Manhattan Jewish Historical Initiative Hall of Fame.
Those marking a simcha, observing the loss of a loved one, or someone who is sick or recovering from an illness have delighted/comforted that their lifecycle event has inspired generosity. If you would like to make a donation to Beth El in honor or in memory, please click here. MISHEBERACH LIST If you would like to add a name to the Misheberach list, please email Rabbi Sitkin at zsitkin@bethelnr.org.
As a service to our members, Beth El includes in this section outside events that may be of interest to members of our community. Listing an event does not constitute endorsement of the event by Beth El.
OUR BODIES, OUR JEWISH SELVES Join Rabbi Viki Bedo on Sunday, May 4th 9:30am-12:30pm at the JCC Mid-Westchester, where she will lead a discussion group as part of the second annual Jewish Women's Health Summit. This will be a morning of honest conversation, expert insight, and meaningful connection. The panel will feature Rebecca Soffer as the moderator (best-selling author of The Modern Loss Handbook and cofounder of the Modern Loss community); Dr. Sara Glass (psychotherapist, queer advocate, and author of Kissing Girls on Shabbat); Lauren Tetenbaum (psychotherapist, women's empowerment advocate, and author of the forthcoming book Millennial Menopause: Preparing for Perimenopause, Menopause, and Life's Next Period); and Dr. Margo Lederhandler (double board-certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon, and assistant professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine). Register at jccmw.org/event/womens-health.
RETIRED TEACHERS, EXPERIENCED VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CHILDREN IN WHITE PLAINS A recently arrived Afghan family has 2 young sons who are unable to register for school because they are not yet in permanent housing. Volunteers will use a 1st and 2nd grade homeschooling curriculum. If interested, please contact Jane Dixon at lilrhodie@gmail.com. SYNAGOGUE MEMBERS BACK AFGHAN REFUGEE FAMILY Beth El members have committed to supporting a refugee family from Afghanistan that arrived in New York on April 3rd. Beth El has partnered with Westchester Reform Temple to help this family, sharing the financial and volunteer commitment between the two congregations. The group needs volunteers to ensure the family’s smooth transition. To join this effort, please contact blairselber@gmail.com. Here are ways you can provide immediate assistance:
If you would like to provide a gently used or new item for the family’s new home, please provide your information here. We will be happy to pick up your items.
To sign up to tutor them in English, please provide your information here.
Rides are needed to take the family to English lessons and back three times a week. Classes are 10am-12pm, and sign-up is here.
SIP YOUR WINE, SEND HEROES TO DINE, STRENGTHEN ISRAEL Want to say thank you to an exhausted reserve soldier and equally exhausted "single-parent" spouse? Send them on a date! Perfect for a Passover gift! Learn more on our Israel 360 page.
RUN 4 THEIR LIVES is an opportunity to create community while supporting the releease of the hostages in Gaza. You can read more information about our 'why' at http://Run4lives.org. The group meets weekly on Sunday mornings. Participants can walk or run as much as they would like. Learn more about the upcoming November Israel trip, as well as weekly announcements about meetup locations in the WhatsApp Group, which you can join here.
VOLUNTEER AT JCCMW Do you want to make a difference in our community? Every act of volunteering—big or small—makes an impact. Visit jccmw.org/volunteering for more information on how to get involved.
DO A MITZVAH Beth El Synagogue and UJA-Federation are co-sponsoring the annual post-Pesach food drive on Monday, April 21-Wednesday, April 23 to benefit the food pantries (kosher and non-kosher) at HOPE Community Services, a UJA grantee. Bring your everyday non-perishable groceries and unopened leftover Pesach groceries (no matzah), along with cleaning supplies and toiletries in bags or boxes to the lobby. Beth El is joining with other local synagogues to fight hunger. For any questions,
We are sorry to share that one of our Shoresh friends has strep throat. This child was last in school yesterday, Thursday, April 24, and tested positive later that day.
Common symptoms of strep throat include the following:
Throat pain that usually comes on quickly Painful swallowing Red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus Tiny red spots on the area at the back of the roof of the mouth (soft or hard palate) Swollen, tender lymph nodes in your neck Fever Headache Rash Nausea Not all sore throats are strep.The only certain way to diagnose strep is through a throat culture. The incubation period is 1-5 days. Please let us know if any other cases develop and we wish a refuah shlema to our classmate.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual Meeting of the Beth El Synagogue Center Membership will take place, on WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2025, AT 7:30 PM, beginning with learning with Rabbi Schuck. All members in good standing are eligible to attend and vote upon all matters duly presented at said meeting. We encourage you to attend in person, however if you are unable to,
