Bath Jewish History

July/August 2021
Tammuz/Av/Elul 5781

Rabbi’s Message

Dear Beth Israel members and friends,

Alyssa and I are so grateful to be spending this time getting to know our new daughter, Gavi Miriam. We are thrilled to be a family of four.

Our gratitude is also for the wonderful gift of the State Parks pass from you all. We have certainly enjoyed strolling to Popham's big island during low tide and I know we will continue to enjoy our time outside as a family in our beautiful parks. Thank you also to the Sunshine committee and all the volunteers who have provided us with delicious meals to fuel us. We feel so blessed to be part of this kehillah kedosha (sacred community). Todah Rabbah.

I look forward to seeing you all when I return in July and to being together safely in person. Amongst the many blessings to look
forward to including being together for prayer, study and community, we'll welcome our new rabbinical-student fellow from the Center for Small Town Jewish life, Joey Glick. You can read more about him later on in the newsletter.

Wishing you all a safe and joyful summer.

Warmly,
Rabbi Vinikoor

President’s Annual Meeting Message

by Peggy Brown

The congregation has been very active since this time last year despite the difficulties we’ve faced from the pandemic. We’ve continued to study, to worship, to celebrate and to build community. Here are some of the things I would like to highlight.

The Board took on the significant task of developing a successor Strategic Plan this year. A previous committee had done some truly heavy lifting with the first Strategic Plan that was approved by the congregation in 2015. That plan provided us with a solid foundation that led to our affiliation with the Reform movement, hiring a wonderful rabbi, and growing our active congregation. The newly adopted successor Strategic Plan will provide us with the guideposts for decision making over the next several years.

This year the Board, with a lot of help from Marty Fox, began to focus on the Minnie Brown renovation project in earnest. With the generous contribution from Elaine and Lon Povich of a beautiful new library in memory of Janice Povich, the Board felt that it was time to invest in the rest of the building and discontinue the piecemeal approach we’d been taking for the past twenty years. Stay tuned for updates on the design and timeline for moving forward.

Other areas of focus this year have been updating the Hebrew School Curriculum, joining with other Jewish congregations around the state to work on issues of Racial Justice, and continuing our Capital Campaign. Our Fundraising Committee has had steady success in spite of the pandemic, though they’re continuing to pursue our goal of reaching $1,000,000. This will ensure a continued healthy endowment and the ability to complete the needed renovations and upkeep of our aging buildings.

We had 22 children in our Hebrew School with four amazing sixth graders graduating in May. Our teachers - Rabbi Vinikoor, Alina Shumsky, Gila Cohen-Shaw, Michelle Lisi, Elise Hocking and Anita Lichman, the students, and their parents made a difficult, crazy situation work. We are so grateful to all of them.

And thanks to the work of the Rabbi, Marilyn Weinberg, and many others, we have celebrated holidays and studied Torah and Hebrew. We worked to get out the vote, met to discuss books and films and continued to have “Dinner Club” on-line. Our Sunshine Committee provided cards, challah, meals and comfort for those who needed a bit of help.

Thanks to all of you (in alphabetical order) who led, participated, or supported us with your donations: Adult Education Students, Board Members, Building Committee, Camille, Chai Committee, Community Read—organizer and participants, Covid Response Team, Design Committee, Dinner Club, Fundraising Committee, Get Out the Vote Team, Hebrew School Students, Parents and volunteers, Hebrew School Teachers, Lay leaders, Meal Train volunteers, Newsletter writers, Rabbi Vinikoor, Service Attendees, Shabbat hosts, Social Action Committee, Story contributors, Strategic Plan Steering committee, Sara Blumenthal, Sunshine Committee, Tech support, Torah Students, Treasurer, Yahrzeit reminders.

Shabbat Under the Stars

by Marilyn Weinberg

We have been so fortunate to be able to gather in person outside for our Friday Shabbat services this summer. We have had two services at the Bath library park, one in Bristol at the Silvers’ home and finally one in Brunswick at the Rosenthal-Katz home. Thank you to Marilyn Weinberg, Barret and Barbara Silver, Robert Gersh and Andrew Lardie and Margaret Boyle for leading our services in such a warm and joyful way.

Our upcoming outdoor services will begin at 6:00 pm (note time change), on the following dates: July 2, July 16, July 30, August 6, August 13 and August 27.
Look for your weekly email to find the location of each service.

Eydie Rose Kaplan’s Bat Mitzvah

by Allan Kaplan

Eydie Rose is thrilled to finally be celebrating her Bat Mitzvah on August 14. After deciding to postpone it by a year because of the pandemic, she cannot wait to gather with her family, friends and her Jewish community!

Eydie recently finished Freeport Middle School graduating high honors with distinction. When she is not studying, she very much enjoys sports and has played for her middle school and travel soccer teams, basketball and softball. Eydie also participated in her school drama productions and plays the clarinet. She is an avid reader and loves listening to music.

You can often see Eydie hanging out with our dog Baxter and chanting her haftorah portion to him in preparation for the big day. What an amazing young woman Eydie has become.

Alva Gandler’s Bar Mitzvah

by Todd Gandler

Alva Gandler is 13 years old and will begin 8th grade in September at Great Salt Bay Community school in Damariscotta. Alva is a well-rounded, well-liked teen with a quiet, punchy, dry sense of humor. He absorbs books with ease, while math and science come naturally. Most often at his computer, excelling at video games and chatting with friends, Alva will gladly step away to ride his bike and meet in person. Alva is a wonderful son, a patient brother, a good friend, and soon, a bar mitzvah!

Services will be held at the 1812 Farm, Bristol, Maine on Saturday morning, August 7, with a small brunch to follow. Beth Israel community members are welcome with a quick RSVP appreciated.

Sam Dunham’s Bar Mitzvah

by Rebecca Dunham

Samuel Isaac Dunham, who goes by "Sam," was born on Leap Day in Lithuania, where he lived for the first year and a half of his life. After a short stint in Virginia, he then moved to Bulgaria for three years, where he acquired his beloved Bernese mountain dog, Angus. He returned to Virginia at five and a half years of age, then moved to Freeport, where his paternal grandparents live, in 2019.

Sam's favorite thing about living in Maine is being out in nature. He loves to sail and to play baseball (usually as catcher or in left field), but you can also find him indoors playing Minecraft, watching Star Wars movies, and reading series such as Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians (Ellen Prager) and Spy School (Stuart Gibbs). He genuinely enjoys school (math is his favorite subject), likes looking at old maps, and has played the baritone since fourth grade. He's currently working on building up his lung capacity so that he can transition to the tuba. He chose the baritone and the tuba because they're the biggest instruments one can play.

Sam's musical appreciation is what led him to his mitzvah project. He asked a group of fellow students and his band teacher if they would join him in performing at two senior living facilities. They agreed, and they ended up performing five songs at each location. Sam was particularly proud of how the project helped him learn how to draft professional e-mails to adults he didn't know as he made the necessary arrangements.

Sam looks forward to celebrating his bar mitzvah this July 31 with his parents, his older brother William, other family and friends, and of course Angus.

Joey Glick - Rabbinical Student Fellow

by Rabbi Vinikoor

Welcome our new rabbinical student fellow from the center for small town Jewish life, Joey Glick.

Joey is overjoyed to be working with the Bath Jewish community. Joey is a proud native of Pittsburgh, PA, an alum of Colorado College and the Graduate Theological Union, and a current rabbinical student at Hebrew College.

Before starting rabbinical school, Joey served as the Jewish life chaplain at Vassar College. Joey is passionate about inter- religious dialogue, old time music, and Maine in the fall-time.

Stay tuned for opportunities to meet, learn and pray with Joey this summer and fall!

New Synagogue in Bath Growing – 100 Years Ago

by Marilyn Weinberg

We found another article from the archives of the local Bath newspaper from 100 years ago. The details are a treasure. So wonderful to be able to document the history our small community.

As we approach the 100-year anniversary of the synagogue, we ask that you consider pledging to its future so that we might be here for another 100 years.

https://www.bethisraelbath.org/centennial-campaign

New Board Member Anne Schlitt

I'm pleased and honored to be a new member of the Beth Israel Board. I've been a part of the Beth Israel community for three years and have never felt more at home. I originally hail from West Bloomfield, Michigan, and my life so far has been defined by my itchy foot and my love of learning.

After attending the College of William and Mary in Virginia, I taught English in Japan for three years, earned a master’s in history from Oxford University, and then came back stateside to live in Chicago, New York City, and finally Maine, where I moved in 2004. I have been lucky to work for three iconic Maine organizations: Tom's of Maine, the Maine Humanities Council, and now Chewonki, and also earned a master’s in library science along the way. I've had the opportunity to travel the state for those jobs and really learn about and understand this wonderful place and its people.

But at the end of the day, I pinch myself that I get to live in Bath (hands down the best city in Maine) with my husband Erick and daughter Willow. I can usually be found with my nose in a book or near water of any kind, and love to go on travel adventures with Willow. In addition to my work with Beth Israel, I am also a hospice volunteer with CHANS Home Health and a parent advisor for the Bath Middle School Civil Rights Team. I look forward to getting to know more of the Beth Israel community and to making a contribution.

New Board Member Tinker Hannaford

My husband and I joined Beth Israel about 40 years ago. Since then we have worked, studied, and worshipped with many wonderful people in the congregation. I served two terms on the board and taught the alef class in

Hebrew school for about ten years. One of the major decisions while I was on the board was the purchase of the Minnie Brown building. I feel very honored to be serving at this time of new developments for the Minnie Brown Center.

Many of you probably know that I was not born a Jew. My family were Mennonites and took religion seriously. I met my husband in a church group at college. We were both searching for "the meaning of life." We have participated in various denominations from Quaker to Church of England as our home moved. I think the only time we didn't worship regularly was during our three years on an Israeli kibbutz.

I'm not sure how it happened but my husband began studying with Rabbi Sky and wished to convert. Although I had at times wondered why my beliefs didn't make me Jewish. I had no idea one could become a Jew! As we studied, we became convinced it was right for us and our family and in 1967 all eight of us went to the mikvah. When people have asked me why I am Jewish I usually skip over the philosophical or religious arguments and simply say that it is a way of living which brings order, and joy and meaning to my daily activities. "It is a tree of live to those who hold onto it."

In/security

by Joanne Rosenthal

I, along with Peggy, Marilyn and Fred participated in a conversation with members from six other Jewish congregations throughout the state, about how congregations in Maine are addressing security concerns.

We learned that there are a range of security practices around the state including police presence, (both inside and outside the buildings), security cameras, panic buttons, greeters and locked doors. In Bath we have had the opportunity to receive ALICE Training (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) from the Bath Police Department.

But what do we mean when we talk about “security”? In small group discussions we explored that question and learned that people differ in their beliefs and personal experiences of what makes for a feeling of safety and security. For some, a police presence is comforting—for others it raises anxiety. Interfaith collaborations, virtual options, and building modifications were suggested as means of balancing safety while fostering a welcoming environment.

We wonder if more members of our congregation would participate in a conversation about our vulnerabilities, fears and hopes for a secure, just, and spiritually uplifting community. Watch for more on this subject and reach out with your thoughts and ideas.

Hebrew School

by Camille Kauffunger

Beth Israel thanks Buckwheat Blossom Farm for hosting our Hebrew School families on May 16 to celebrate the harvest festival of Shavuot! The daughter and son in-law of Beth Israel members Marty Fox and Thyle Shartar, farmers Amy and Jeff Burchsted, talked to us about "the firsts" of the spring season, including loveage, chives, rhubarb, dandelion greens...and baby goats! Students and parents snuggled the goats, introduced themselves to the horses, smelled the lovage, collected eggs, and planted peas. This end of year, in-person gathering was also a first for our families offering a precious chance to tend to our school community and sow seeds of friendship between our future kindergarten class. Oh, how we've grown!

To hear Rabbi Vinikoor talk about the history of Shavuot and the concept of Bikkurim or "First Fruits", click here to watch a short farm pre-teach video made for our families.

REMEMBRANCES FOR July–August 2021

May their memories be for a blessing.

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

Listing the birthdays and anniversaries of those in our immediate family creates a wonderful opportunity for our community/shul family to have an excuse to celebrate with each other.