Iyyar/Sivan 5779

Call 206-567-9414 for event details or see our online calendar here.

June

• 21 Potluck Shabbat
• 24 Super Supper

July

• 14 Coordinating Committee Meeting
• Shabbat – tbd
• 29 Super Supper

COMMUNITY

Congratulations to Eve on the birth of her adorable son Judah Cedar. Mazal tov to the proud grandparents Bill & Sharon. Joy abounds.

Congratulations to Savannah Irene Travis for graduating this month summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa national honors society, and with honors from Ohio Wesleyan University.  Her bachelors degree is in Psychology with two minors, dance and women/gender studies.   Savannah is remaining in the Columbus area, having rented her first apartment and preparing for a year of massage school before pursuing a Doctor of Chiropractic.  We wish you all the best, Savannah!

Congratulations to Adam Rappaport on being honored by the Interfaith Council with the Bob Satterwaite Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to IFC member congregation seniors who exemplify the IFC purposes including – to work for dignity, justice, and opportunity for all persons, to assist a greater responsiveness to human need in the institutions, structures, and environment in our community, to care for the earth, defending the rights of all of its creatures and seeking the reverent and equitable use of its resources.

Adam is an avid volunteer and truly meets the criteria laid out in the list of IFC purposes.  He has put in many hours at Fishline in Poulsbo since beginning there in January of 2018. His duties include stocking and sorting items for the Fishline market and helping clients locate items. He also helped with the 2018 fundraising auction. 

Adam attends Kingston High School and there he tutors other students in math and is a teaching assistant/tutor in the German 3 class. He is currently training as a stream monitor at Stillwaters Environmental Center. Adam plans to study electrical engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta in the fall and his goal is to work with alternative energy sources to power automobiles so as to help reduce air pollution and global warming. Congratulations to Adam’s proud parents Bill & Carol Rappaport.

JUNE SHABBAT

Friday, June 21, 2019, 6pm, Solstice Shabbat & Potluck on the Farm

Historic Suyematsu & Bentryn Family Farms, 8989 NE Day Rd, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110  (Entrance at signs for Bainbridge Vineyards & Educulture). Meet at the Winery of Bainbridge Vineyards (Parking at Winery).

Join us for a special Shabbat in the vineyards, including a locally grown farm walk and wine tasting.  Hosted by Jon Garfunkel.  Weather permitting, we’ll take an hour before sunset to walk amidst the beauty and take in the rich history of these 40 acres, while saying our blessings in the vineyards. Returning to the winery, we will gather for our potluck meal. Bring a dinner or dessert item, your happy farm shoes, and a layer for outside.  Jon is providing the wine from Bainbridge Vineyards.

Questions and RSVPs to Jon Garfunkel.

MEMBERSHIP

How does one become a Shir Hayam member, you might ask. It’s easy! Download the membership form here. Fill it out, sign it and send it to Shir Hayam, P.O. Box 11142, Bainbridge Island, WA  98110. The membership form gives you the opportunity to sign up for committees, holiday or project coordinator and make your pledge for the coming year. But – pledge or no pledge – sign the form & send it in and you are a member.

ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES

2019 Shir Hayam Annual Meeting

Submitted by: The Coordinating Committee

Our annual meeting, held Sunday, May 19, 2019, at Seabold Hall, was very well attended (25+ members) and included Israeli dancing (thank you, Jessica and Dana), a little singing and a spread of amazing food and Starbuck’s coffee. A table by the front door had membership forms for this new fiscal year (June 1, 2019 – May 31, 2020) and sign-up sheets for all the committees. Thank you to everyone who signed up to keep Shir Hayam vibrant and forward moving.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Ruach: (Robin Hruska) Robin listed all the great events we have had this year, including High Holidays, Shabbats and Havdalahs, and other holiday celebrations. She reported that Rabbi Jen Clayman is returning for high holiday services, and is seeking SH members to co-lead with her. This year’s theme is “resilience, renewal and joy.”

Cemetery: (Dee Axelrod) We sadly buried Cay’s dear daughter Ann Stern this year. A trench and low wall will be built along the southern border of the cemetery, near where Ann is buried, running the whole length of our area to keep the encroaching forest from taking over. Resources for the wall—TBD. Generous donations helped purchase a wonderful bench, which is now installed. There are 11 spots left for purchase in the cemetery.

Community Presence: (Paul Travis) We continue to have a great website (and two Gabes—Travis and Kerbrat—to keep it running smoothly), and a newsletter available online (thanks to editor Rachel Kerbrat). As a group, we discussed how we could be more visible in the community, and how CP is the arm of SH that publicizes our events in the most appropriate way. People seemed more in favor of announcements in community papers, etc. than only on Facebook as a publication tool.

Tikkun Olam: (Rachel Kerbrat) Current activities include Crop Walk (coming up on 9/22), with 25% of proceeds going to Bainbridge Helpline/Poulsbo Fishline and 75% to hunger-fighting projects around the world. Super Supper (coordinated by Denise Brown), held at Eagle Harbor Church, takes place the last five working days of the month/SH’s day is Monday. We partner with Seabold Church—we bring salad and dessert. Many past activities were mentioned in the hopes of inspiring a new leader to inject some new energy into this committee and add some activities to this list.

Five percent of the total SH budget goes to the TO account as well as any designated contributions. The committee disburses TO funds to organizations fulfilling our social justice mission. This year we focused on immigration issues and gave to Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center (KIAC), Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services in Texas (RAICES) and Jewish Family Service in Seattle, earmarked for their Refugee and Immigrant Services.

Adult Education & Cultural Events Committee: (Carol Rappaport) This group has really taken off this year! We have enjoyed a music/dance event, films and discussions. Ideas generated for this coming year include: more films, bagel and coffee discussions, a Jewish history of Seattle experience, a talk on social justice, other field trips and more.

ELECTION OF THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE SLATE

Thank you to this year’s CC for carrying a huge load with patience and vision. Elected for the next two years: Linda Golden, Mike Orr, Rachel Kerbrat and Nina Rogozen. Continuing members include: Carol Rappaport, Dee Axelrod, Jessica Lang and Sharon Rutzick. A huge thank you to outgoing member, Jeff Brown, for his extraordinary service to SH as a Coordinating Committee member, and to both Jeff and Denise for hosting most of our meetings the past two years.

ADOPTION OF THE 2019-20 BUDGET

Thank you as always to our diligent bookkeeper, Denise Brown, for another year of handling our finances and preparing the financial reports—last year’s balance sheet, profit and loss statement and the anticipated budget for this coming year—for our review. Jeff explained the documents to the group. 

• We ended this fiscal year with a $1,700 surplus (income minus expenditures). 
• We have $48,000 in our accounts, which includes restricted funds for the cemetery, Ruach, etc. 
• We have approximately $3,500 in what was previously called our JLC fund. Future discussion will be necessary to determine the disposition of these funds, e.g., development of educating SH children, when new families with kids join.
• For the coming year, Denise anticipates a total SH income of $10,890 (from membership fees) and expenses of $11,800 due to increased budget amounts for Adult Ed, Community Presence, and a slight increase in insurance. The upcoming year’s budget shows an anticipated small deficit of $910. Members passed the budget, given the large retained earnings in our balance sheet.
• The budget discussion included using some of our $48K for unexpected expenses (see next bullet), and possibly putting some of the funds in an income generating account, such as a CD.
• One member proposed that we have a “discretionary spending” line in the 2019–20 budget (between $1,500–$3,000) to allow the CC to make requested or needed expenditures without having to go back to the membership for approval. A long discussion reflected most members in favor of the proposal, however, it was withdrawn until CC reviews how or if our By-Laws address discretionary spending mid-year by CC, and if we can add a discretionary spending budget line. They will also investigate the implications of running a deficit in our annual budget. 
• BOTTOM LINE—the organization is in very good financial health.

WHAT DIDN’T BUT WILL HAPPEN

The annual meeting agenda called for breakout sessions to brainstorm Year of Renewal action in the areas of communication, participation, and Tikkun Olam. Time and energy were too squeezed by the end of the meeting to do justice to these anticipated discussions. Members reached a consensus to have a separate meeting for each, or combine with a CC meeting in the near future, with all members invited to attend any or all. STAY TUNED!

Thanks to everyone for attending, setting up, bringing great food and cleaning up. What a team!!

HAPPENING IN SEATTLE

Seattle Sephardic Legacies | National Endowment for the Humanities

Sunday, June 2, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Trace the journey of Seattle’s Sephardic Jews from the Ottoman Empire to the Pacific Northwest through the letters, documents, books, and material artifacts transported from the Mediterranean world to the Puget Sound. Get a glimpse of the diverse and rich libraries of Ladino literature that they established right here in Seattle to transmit Ladino culture to future generations in the United States.

Do you have Ladino books, family letters, immigration documents, postcards, audio recordings, or other artifacts pertaining to the Sephardic experience? Bring your Sephardic treasures for evaluation, digitization, and inclusion in the Sephardic Studies Collection. Museum-quality professional scanning services will be available onsite!

The program will recognize and acknowledge the individuals and institutions from Seattle and beyond who have contributed their treasures to the UW Sephardic Studies Program’s Sephardic Studies Collection–now one of the largest repositories of Ladino artifacts in the world.

2:00 pm Multimedia presentation by Devin Naar, the Isaac Alhadeff Professor of Sephardic Studies and Chair of the Sephardic Studies Program

3:30 pm Exhibition, open house scanning, and kosher reception.More information on Open House Scanning at 3:30 pm:Do you have books, family letters, immigration documents, postcards, photographs, artifacts including tapestries, ritual items, oral histories, audio recordings, or other items related to the Sephardic Jewish experience and Ladino culture? Please bring them in for evaluation, digitization, and possible inclusion in the UW Sephardic Studies Collection.For more information contact the Sephardic Studies Research Coordinator, Ty Alhadeff, at tda2@uw.edu.

This event is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant.