May 18, 2012   26 Iyyar 5772
Congregation Beth Shalom - Bloomington Jewish Community - Bloomington, Indiana 
 
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Congregation Beth Shalom
3750 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47401
(812) 334-2440
Office hours M and W 9-12 Friday 9-3 and by appointment

bethshalombloomington@gmail.com

Congregation Beth Shalom is a house of community, of learning and of prayer that provides a unifying Jewish focus for its diverse membership as congregants explore their identity as Jews and their relationship as Jews to the larger community. To fulfill its mission, Beth Shalom offers communal activities; inreach to its members; outreach to the community; social welfare projects; education for children, teenagers, adults and families; and activities that foster spiritual exploration.

2011-12 Membership form

 

WELCOME RABBI BRIAN BESSER! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT THE NEW RABBI OF BETH SHALOM!

Rabbi Besser photo and bio

rabbi@bethshalom-bjc.org

Our rabbi in the news!

Sponsor an Oneg  

 

 

Please consider sponsoring a Friday night Oneg in honor of someone you love or a life cycle event. Click on the link below to be taken to the current sign up chart. If you prefer, you may contact the Oneg Coordinator, Lana Eisenberg or the office.

 

June through August Oneg sign up

What's Happening at Beth Shalom?  

This Week At Beth Shalom

May 22nd 7-9PM

Annual meeting

Where Do We Go From Here?


Many transitions are taking place at Congregation Beth Shalom as we complete our fiscal year and begin a new year with a full time Rabbi.  In addition to elections, there are many individuals that we want to honor and thank.  In addition to the information that we want to share, there will be time to hear your comments and concerns. Plan on joining us for what will be a memorable occasion.




Slate for 2012-2013 is as follows:

Judith Rose-President
Amy Applegate-Vice President
Mark Greenfield-Secretary
Sue Swartz-Treasurer
Paul Eisenberg-Past President
Beth Silberstein-Rel. School Liaison
Ann Harman-Director
Jerry Meyerson-Director
Tom Frohman-Director
Carolyn Geduld-Director
Laura Zimmerman-Director
Milton Taylor-Director

Celebrate Shavuot!

Join us for dinner and special thank you to our student rabbi Josh Herman at his last Beth Shalom weekend!

Saturday, May 26th

6-7pm: Pot luck Dairy dinner and make-your own sundae, RSVP below

http://www.doodle.com/8537kpmyubh72yws


  • 7pm: Havdalah: BOSY & JYG will lead us in a short Havdalah service
  • 7:30-8:30:  Study session for Adults: Led by student Rabbi Josh Herman
  • 7:30-8:30: Study session for Teens(7th-12th grade): Led by Dara Hill
  • 7:30-8:30 Study session for young children: Led by Jeremy Shere
  • 8:45-9:45 Study session for adults


 

 


 


Tikkun Olam in the News!

Beth Shalom in Pictures  
Passover
The Gathering  
See you Next Year!
The Gathering-In Pictures  
From the President  

WHAT’S NEXT?

In Bloomington, May is full of transitions – North, South and New Tech High School graduations, IU graduation, the end of school and beginning of summer.  At Congregation Beth Shalom, May is also a time of transition: our annual congregational meeting, election of new Board members, the start of our fiscal calendar, and the mailing of membership forms enabling congregants to renew their covenant for another year. 

It’s also a time of re-assessment at Beth Shalom.  We receive final reports from committees. The Board of Directors reviews its objectives and begins to plan new ones.  It is a recent tradition to invite the incoming Board members to the May board meeting to meet those going off the board and have input into the next year’s priorities. 

To give you an idea of what we have been working on…

This year we divided our goals into 2 major categories –  “Physical Infrastructure” and “People Infrastructure” – each with several goals.  We reviewed our progress each month at Board meetings.  Being accountable to 11 other individuals seemed to work quite well, as we accomplished a great deal. 

Last summer we remodeled the kitchen, cleaned the building top to bottom, created new storage space, painted many areas, and installed the new playground.  Since then, we installed new carpet in the ‘original’ classrooms behind the sanctuary, repaired the skylights, and constructed new drainage channels between the building and the playground.  We have started researching how best to remodel our original bathrooms. We have also approved the purchase of a new key fob security and fire system and, as this Bulletin goes to print, comparing bids.  We now have a working kitchen committee and have created systems for keeping the building clean and  organized. We continue to monitor our energy bills and find new ways to green our building.  Finally, we are in the

first  stages of implementing a very exciting new software system for the office that includes a new website. 

Under “People Infrastructure”, we had several key goals.  Number one was to hire a rabbi.  Rabbi Besser and I took over a month to correspond back and forth over the many aspects of his job so that we could have a clear and complete final employment agreement.  As we asked questions and posed hypothetical situations, we developed a style of working together. During his visit the weekend of March 23rd; Rabbi Besser and I invited the chairs of the Rabbi Search Committee and their spouses to witness the signing of the final Engagement Agreement. 

We chanted the Shehekeyanu and read aloud the following words from the Agreement: “We recognize that the  relationship between congregation and Rabbi is a covenant through which each party undertakes the obligations of working together in the service of God and the Jewish people.”  Rabbi Besser will officially start work on July 16.

More difficult to implement and assess, the Board is committed to enhancing the lines of communication between members and elected leadership, building community through one-to-one member interactions, increasing administrative efficiency and proactivity, ensuring that committees are working to full capacity, and building a solid volunteer system. Clearly, this cannot be accomplished in a single year or by any single individual. 

It will take the participation of the entire community to meet these goals. This year we hope all members will attend the annual meeting on Tuesday evening, May 22nd. In what ways did we succeed this year?   What might we do differently next year?  What are your goals and dreams for Congregation Beth Shalom? How might you help?

Please come to the annual congregational meeting on May 22nd  and help answer the question “What’s next?’

Judith Rose, President

Save the Date!  

 

May 20th Gan Shalom garage sale...Your trash is someone's treasure

May 22nd Annual Congregational Meeting

Sunday May 27th Traditonal Shavout Service 9:30 AM and Monday May 28th 9:30 am (includes Yizkor)

May 29th Art with Avi begins

Gan Shalom 2012-13 enrollment forms and 2012 camp available!

Pre-school application

Camp sessions will be June 4-8, June 11-15, June 18-22, June 25-29 and July 2-6

Calendar of events  

For more information, see also the weekly At Beth Shalom email, Bulletin, and Calendar.

From the Webmaster -- Web update Notes  

Calendar: Google calendar maintained by Beth Shalom Office.
Bulletin: March 2012

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Items of Interest  

For those interested in spending 10 minutes a day on study, the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) makes study available via email (can read or can listen to).  Each day has a separate theme: Torah, Mishnah Day, Israel Connections, Delving into Liturgy, and Jewish World and Social Action. Select all five days or any combination.  The link is: http://urj.org/learning/torah/ten/."


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