Sharing Faith & Friendship in St. Charles County, Missouri
Sharing Faith & Friendship In St. Charles County
1701 St. Peters-Howell Road
St. Peters, Missouri 63376
Ph: (636) 279-6524
בני תורה
One of the pleasures I look forward to each week at B’nai Torah is the discussion I have with our Confirmation/Adult Education Class every Sunday.
During a discussion about the intelligence of humans, as compared to other forms of life, we spoke about the spider in South America that has developed a unique method of escaping from its predators. Spiders are considered a delicacy by certain birds who steer clear of ants because of the acid inside the ants.
Ants have six legs, and spiders have eight. This spider folds its front two legs
upward to appear as if it was a six-legged ant with two antennae. The birds pass it by. We discussed whether this spider was “intelligent” and whether this was a “creative” act by the spider.
On another occasion, during a discussion about where the soul resides within
each of us, we talked about our heart and our brain. When one student suggested that our soul was in our blood, another student asked what happens when we are bitten by a mosquito.
All members and friends of B’nai Torah are welcome to join this discussion class at 10:30 on Sundays. Please ask me for a school calendar, as some Sundays we have field trips, etc.
Calendar Information
Chanukah Celebration: December 3rd at 7:30 PM.
You are welcome to bring as many friends, family and children as you wish. Please let me have the names and ages of all the children who will
be attending, as we wish to have Chanukah gifts for each child.
B'nai Torah's next board meeting: December 8th at 6:30 PM.
Torah Restoration Celebration: December 11th at 10 AM (Saturday).
Torah Service, conducted by Rabbi Dale Schreiber, accompanied bysinger/guitarist Andrew Bollinger.Open House: December 12th from 2-5 PM.
Our Students' Service
We start each Sunday with a students' service that brings each student to
the bima to lead a portion of the service. The student who leads the Tefillah
tells us that this prayer “originally consisted of 18 blessings that we ask G-d
to give to all people, and therefore is also known as the Shemoneh Esreh,
which means 18.”
Recently, upon completion of our students' service, our students and parents
studied our prayer book, Gates of Prayer for Young People to see how many
of the 18 blessings they could find. They found all eighteen. The few minutes
this took, was time well spent. How often has this prayer been read without
understanding what it communicated? This does not happen at B’nai Torah!
Our student led service each Sunday morning is designed to teach our
students about the ethics of being a Jew, the history of our prayers, and the
love of Torah, as well as the recitation of prayers and the singing of our
beautiful Hebrew melodies.
Gates of Prayer for Young People
The Siddur we use at B’nai Torah for our students is one written by the
Reform Movement for use in Reform Synagogues. The first four words in this
prayer book are, “G-d began the world ---.” Shortly thereafter, we read,
“God finished creating the world ---.” Several pages later we read, “We
praise You, Eternal G-d, You created the world---. “ And on the next page we
read, “G-d, You gave us the Torah---.”
Since the founding of B’nai Torah in 1984, we have been teaching our students that G-d is the Creator of everything, and that He gave us the Torah. We welcome the enrollment of new students by parents who want their children to be
taught this beautiful message.
Mazel Tov
Our members Candace and Steven Marton recently visited Florida to
celebrate the wedding of their daughter, Rebecca, to her fiancé, Daniel. B’nai
Torah extends our love and best wishes to the parents and to the bride and
groom.
B’nai Torah’s Ironman
B’nai Torah extends a mazel tov to Steve Weeks upon completion of his sixth
Ironman Triathlon on October 24, 2010. This world competition, held annually in
Hawaii, consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike race and a 26.2 miles
marathon run, raced in that order and without a break between events.
The Ironman race started at 7 AM with a 2.4 mile swim that had to be
completed in 2 hours 20 minutes, or less. The cut-off time for the 112 mile
bike race was 5:30 PM, and to receive an award for completion of the
Ironman Triathlon, the marathon run had to be completed by midnight.
B’nai Torah’s Ironman completed this Triathlon at 9:36 PM with more than
two hours to spare!
Have you looked at www.BnaiTorahStChas.com lately?
“My mother, Fannie Cohen, always said,
“It doesn't cost anything to say THANK YOU.”
Thank you Arthur, Zina and Michelle Kaplun for placing our prayers in the
Western Wall during your recent visit to Israel.
Thank you Arthur, Zina and Michelle for the miniature Torah Scroll replica
that you purchased for B’nai Torah while you were in Israel. It’s amazing
how much the cover of this miniature matches the cover of our Holocaust
Torah. We will use this Torah when we have our student’s Torah Procession
each Sunday. And, thank you for the piece of Israeli art you donated to our
art gallery.
Thank you to our members and the many guests who attended our
November 12th Shabbos Celebration. It was wonderful to have a full house.
Thank you Rina and Paul Kenkel for the beautiful Oneg Shabbat you
hosted in celebration of your birthday, Rina. Mazel Tov!!
Thank you Akiva and Revi. Your generosity and gracefulness is much
appreciated, as well as your words of wisdom.
Thank you Jeremy Karp for putting B’nai Torah on FACEBOOK.
Special Thanks
Thank You Hashem for blessing B’nai Torah by sending us Your messengers,
Rabbi Dale Schreiber and her singer/musician accompanist Andrew Bollinger
to celebrate Shabbos with us on November 12th. It was a joyous celebration;
but more importantly, it was a spiritual celebration. When the Rabbi walked
with our Torah, Your Spirituality filled our sanctuary and entered our hearts.
Annual Congregational Meeting: Sunday, January 9, 2011
Election will be held for the following positions:
Vice President: Madi Brown, term ending January 2013
Treasurer: __________, term ending January 2013
Secretary: Laura Cohen, term ending January 2013
Corresponding Secretary: Tony Moseley, term ending January 2013
Website Manager: Mark Karp, term ending January 2013
Board Member: Sylvan Cohen, term ending January 2014
Board Member: Lenny Baer, term ending January 2012
Board Member: __________, term ending January 2014
The following position is not up for re-election:
President: Jack Cohen, term ending January 2012
Please note that we are still looking for a Treasurer. This task has been automated by Myra and Lenny Baer, using Quicken Software. This is a
good opportunity for someone to increase their software knowledge, and add
an important skill to their resume.
Lenny and Myra will provide as much coaching and training as necessary,
and they will be available to assist and answer any questions once the
responsibility is transferred. Please contact our Nominating Committee Chairperson, Madi Brown at (636) 227-3699 to let her know you are willing to fill this position. If your schedule requires accepting this position later than January 2011, that is acceptable to Myra and Lenny. You are also welcome to call Myra and Lenny at (636) 978-6972 to discuss the responsibilities with them.
Agenda for Annual Congregational Meeting:
10:00 AM - Briefing by our President and Treasurer
10:30 AM – Election and voting
10:40 AM – Complementary Gourmet Breakfast
The following items will be voted on by our members:
• Officers and Member at Large• Approval of the Rabbi selected to conduct our Shabbos Celebrations, and other events
• Approval of the following revisions to our Constitution:• Addition of “Website Manager” as an officer’s position on our Board to recognize the important role that our website plays in attracting new members and communicating with our current members, and the community• Approval of our 2011 BudgetDuring our December 3rd and December 11th Services
Yahrtzeits will be said for our following loved ones:
Name Memorial Jewish Yahrtzeit Date Remembered By
Jeff Weeks Steve Weeks and family
Bertha Sherberg Stan Levy & Fran Karp families.
Robert Marton Steven & Candace Marton
Joseph Foier Reva Horowitz and family
Irving Muller Rina Kenkel and family
Joseph Sherberg Stan Levy & Fran Karp families
Stan Levy & Fran Karp familiesBen Schatz ShevatMark Schatz and family
Mark Schatz and family
B’nai Torah Monthly Newsletter
December, 2010
“B'nai Torah Monthly Newsletter: December 2010”
Authored by Jack Cohen
Graphic Arts by Tony Moseley
