Welcome to Temple Beth Shalom!

Temple Beth Shalom is a dynamic congregation of about 100 families, under the leadership of Rabbi Michael Ross. Known as the Synagogue of the Western Reserve, we are a Reform Jewish congregation, affiliated with the national organizations of that movement.

Although the Temple has grown over the years, it endeavors to maintain a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Please come join us so we can share who we are today and our vision for the future.

The Temple is located in a beautiful, historic building at 50 Division Street in Hudson. Friday night services are held twice a month at 7:30 p.m. For a schedule of services and other activities, see our Calendar page.

50 Division Street
Hudson, OH 44236
330-656-1800, Please Note: there is no on-site staff and there may be a delay in retrieving and returning messages left at this number.
Office hours vary; please email for appointment.

Rabbi: rabbimichaelross@gmail.com
Education Director: education@tbshudson.org
President: president@tbshudson.org
Membership: membership@tbshudson.org
Accounting: accounting@tbshudson.org


e-Megillah

Thursday, March 14, 2024
Issue #659

Letter from Rabbi Ross
Rabbi Michael Ross
Dear TBS Friends and Family,

This Saturday, 3/16, is our next Prayer Lab and as we gear up for Purim in a week, we will have a special text study of the book of Esther.

Sunday, 3/17, is our Purim Carnival, come join the fun, sing Purim songs and eat hamantaschen. Next Friday, 3/22 will be our Purim Shabbat!

Wear a funny hat, drink a lechaim and enjoy the Megillah reading!

Purim Carnival Schedule – 3/17
9:00 am: Student drop off, havdalah
9:30-10:30: Student classes, volunteers need to set up Purim Carnival
10:30-11:00: Purim Songs and Tefillah with Deb Rogers
11:00-12:00: Carnival and Hamantaschen
12:00-12:30: Clean up  

 


 

My weekend column for the Record-Courier is about my recent trip to Israel:

My Cup Overflows – with Joy and Tears
A few weeks ago, I was honored to join a “Delegation of Responsibility” tour of Israel. Our delegation was composed of 30 North American Jewish educators sponsored by the Jewish Education Project in New York. During our 9-day visit, we would bear witness to the pain and tragedy, and we would attempt to understand the wide-ranging traumas of the October 7 Israel-Hamas War. Since my return, I have described the impact of the Israel visit with the verse from Psalm 23, “kosi revaya – my cup overflows.” I tell folks I am holding two cups: one filled with joy of new experiences, new learning, new friends, and a second cup overflowing with tears.
We heard from Israelis and Palestinians living in Israel. We heard from hostage families and from high school principals. We heard from evacuees and we heard from soldiers and from teenagers. We heard from coordinators of the massive volunteer efforts and we heard from parents about burying their dead children. We heard from protesters against the government and we heard from a Likud minister who wants to reshape the government the “day after.”
I am only just beginning to comprehend the depth of the stories and the power of the pain and the hope of people slowly trying to emerge from this horrific nightmare. These are a few of those moments.
On our first full day, we visited the sight of the Nova dance festival, where 364 Israelis were brutally raped, beaten, and murdered by Hamas in their surprise attack. This was the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. The location of the festival in Re’im is about a kilometer from the edge of the Gaza Strip. The grieving families have planted large pictures of their loved ones on long posts, as a type of grove. Each family personalized their loved ones’ location with personal mementos. We saw the images of lives cut down too soon, and we saw the envisioned future frozen on the faces of each poster. As we walked through this grove of death, we heard loud IDF artillery shells exploding in Gaza about every 30 or 45 seconds. The booms were felt in our chests. We knew the artillery shelling was keeping us safe and each explosion represented more damage and more death in Gaza.
We spoke with amazing school principals who needed to come together and hold their students and faculty in the aftermath of October 7. Some built new schools for their evacuated community many miles away. Some, like Ofakim, were not evacuated, and were forced to recover without government assistance. The teens of Ofakim are slowly learning to tell their stories of the start of the war. There was hope in their eyes as they shared their narratives of family members who were murdered.
We met with Mohammed Darawshe, the Director of Strategy at the Givat Haviva Center for Shared Society. Mohammed is a Palestinian Arab educator living in Israel. He was born in Jaffa. Mohammed’s cousin, Awad Darawshe, was an ambulance driver trying to rescue people at the Nova dance festival. Awad spoke Arabic, and thought that would help him survive that morning. He was killed and his ambulance was stolen and taken to Gaza by Hamas. Mohammed also had family in Gaza who were killed by IDF shelling. Mohammed described how he holds the trauma of his nephew and those he was helping alongside the trauma of his family members. And in between these two traumas, he continues his life’s work, building bilingual schools in Israel, teaching Hebrew to Palestinians and Arabic to Israelis. His contention as an educator is that once we establish relationships with the other, the other can no longer become marginalized, rather they are humanized, people created in the image of the divine.
We were inspired by the work of Achim Leneshek, Brothers and Sisters in Arms – a group of high tech entrepreneurs who had spearheaded the Israeli democratic protest movement for 10 months before the war broke out. On October 7, the protests ended, and the organizers used their community organizing tools and lists to create volunteer networks to supply Israel in the midst of the surprise attack.
We heard the desperate pleas from hostage families as they demanded the release of their loved ones, held captive in Hamas tunnels for more than 5 months. Each day is an agony for them.
On Saturday evenings, the hostage families gather in front of the building where the war cabinet meets to demand a hostage release. When we were there, after the initial hostage rally, a second protest demanding new elections was convened nearby. These protests are drawing huge crowds. The passion and the cathartic outlet of anger seems like a weekly ritual that allows the society to function in a somewhat normal, albeit a deeply wounded manner.
Our cohort of educators has returned, and we are beginning to teach about our experiences, the stories we heard, the pain we witnessed. So much pain, so much trauma.
Kosi revaya – my cup overflows.


Judaism 101 – 12 Sunday afternoons (3/3-5/12 at 4:00 pm)
Have you ever wanted to learn more about Judaism from an adult perspective?
Are you considering conversion to Judaism?
If so, this class can form a great foundation to get you started. We will focus on Jewish history, holidays, ideas and traditions.
There will be a few paperback books as part of the class as well.

  • Class fees – $10 for TBS members or $56 for the entire course, $18 per class non-members or $154 for the entire courseCollege students can pay a donation. (Fees for the class will go to pay our zoom manager/teaching assistant.)
  • RSVPS are needed in advance. Please email rabbimichaelross to RSVP or get more info and syllabus. 
Course Link:    Judaism 101   
Meeting ID: 874 2204 2658, Passcode: judaism101
 

 Donations to support Israel can be made at Cleveland Federation:

  ISRAEL EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN   


From the Union For Reform Judaism / Reform Movement

The Story of Esther, The Story of Us

The Story of Esther, The Story of Us sdolgov

Over the past few years, I’ve found that parts of the Purim story parallel parts of my own life. I’m a big believer in the power of stories to help build communities of belonging.

Extraordinary Ordinary Heroes

Extraordinary Ordinary Heroes jemerman

Simcha Blass, Helen Suzman, Eddie Jacobson, and Abby Stein all contributed to our world in different ways. Yet, they shared traits - commitment, integrity, resolve and an inner sense that they could make a difference.

WRJ's Legacy of Championing Equitable Pay for All

WRJ's Legacy of Championing Equitable Pay for All jemerman

March 12 marks Equal Pay Day, which is intended to draw attention to the ongoing disparity in earnings between men and women. March 12 marks how long it takes a woman, on average, to earn the same amount as their male counterparts did the previous year.

Vayikra 5784 Haikus

Vayikra 5784 Haikus sdolgov

These Haikus focus on weekly Torah portions.