2020 Committee Reports

June 25, 2020
For the fiscal year July 2019 to June 2020

Adult Education Committee:
Submitted by: Jenny Pariser

The Adult Education Committee had another busy year. Rabbi Jaffe taught the second part of his series on Bible Stories for Adults and Rabbi Cohen taught a series on the End of Life Struggles of Moses and Aaron. Rabbis Jaffe and Linzer led our Saturday morning Torah study and Cantor Sternlieb taught a Torah cantillation workshop. We also heard from an extensive group of guest lecturers. Rabbi David Ellenson (former President of HUC) spoke on Jewish Identity as part of the Bader Lecture Series. Dr. Marc Dollinger spoke on the Relationship between the African and Jewish American Communities as part of the Laster Lecture Series. We also enjoyed lectures from Rabbi Alona Nir Keren on the political situation in Israel, Rabbi Deborah Prinz on Jews and chocolate, and Rachel Korazim on Israeli literature. We didn’t miss a beat when all of our learning had to switch to Zoom. In fact, several lectures were better attended than our typical meetings in the Beit Midrash, drawing over 60 participants from near and far. Still, we’re looking forward to being able to meet and study together next year.

Caring Committee:
Submitted by: Penny Hamlet

The Caring Committee continues its mission to support families during ‘Life Cycle Events’. Providing meals for Shiva, supporting families through the loss of a loved one, planting trees in memory and in honor of temple members, celebrating the joy of a new baby and arranging driving assistance to congregants in need.

We are hopeful that our ‘Books Bring Comfort’ project can be rescheduled for the fall. Donations of new books to the Westchester Medical Center’s Caregiver Program provide the caregivers and their families some comfort while caring for a loved one. In addition, the Montefiore Children’s Hospital will again be the recipient of a variety of children’s books thanks to the generosity of many temple members.

Being involved on this committee enables our co-chairs and over 20 volunteers to give back and support our temple community.

ECC Committee:
Submitted by Lisa Crandall

The ECC Preschool Committee’s role is to work with Hope Blauner on the operation of the preschool and act as Hope's sounding board on policies and procedures. The committee met a couple times before COVID struck and then met on Zoom. The committee consists of preschool parents (this year we recruited three new members), a teacher representative and the education liaison to the Board of Trustees. We met and discussed how to create Tot Shabbat decorum which resulted in having a preschool committee member address the families before the start of each monthly celebration. We worked together to fine tune the preschool registration form and asked for feedback about our buddy program. We began a discussion around giving tours and the committee suggested asking for a member to join the tour so they can speak to the prospective family and share their experience. And finally we discussed putting together a parent book discussion group focused around the Reggio Emilia process which will help educate our families about our philosophy.

ECC Parents’ Committee:
Submitted by: Becca Kohn and Val Robbins

Though this year ended abruptly, the ECC Parent Committee accomplished many exciting things, and helped strengthen our community! Comprised of several sub committees, here are a few endeavors our parents worked hard at this year:

Buddy Program: We thoughtfully paired new families with buddies to help ease the transition and serve as resources for our new parents. The buddies consistently reached out, checking in to see how their buddy family was acclimating. We have received wonderful feedback on how this has helped our new families adjust!

Working Moms Committee: They planned quarterly events (ranging from Yoga to Make Up Tutorials!) These events helped this network of working parents stay connected and support our community of working moms.

Social Gathering Committee: Planned a great Mom's Night Out! We were brainstorming several other events (including a possible couples night or a morning Yoga class) which, unfortunately, never came to fruition because of C.

Class Parents: Each year our class parents serve as liaisons between the class and the teacher. This year, class parents organized a night out for their class! Whether it was dinner or drinks, these nights were a great opportunity for families to get to know one another, and especially helpful for new people to meet and mingle!

Mitzvah Committee: This important committee collected over 50 sets of pajamas and books during our annual drive to support the Pajama Program. We also collected diapers and wipes for the 914 Cares Baby Bank. Additionally, we partnered with Ossining Children's Center by collecting over $160 in Tzedakah to benefit their classrooms. We also participated in the TBE Thanksgiving Drive by baking over 60 cornbreads.

Yearbook: This committee worked tirelessly to create a beautiful keepsake for ECC families to cherish. They compiled pictures and spent countless hours on layout and content. This also serves as a fundraiser for the ECC. Each yearbook was $25.

Four's Moving Up Ceremony: Since this year, sadly, came to a close before the Four's Moving Up Ceremony could ensue, our amazing committee worked on a video and picture montage, yard signs, and gift bags so our Fours could feel celebrated! These efforts combined with Hope's words, beautiful songs, and the Rabbi's blessings, created a beautiful virtual ceremony our families enjoyed and will always remember.

Teacher Appreciation: Usually, we host a year end luncheon in honor of our incredible teachers. But this year, since we were not together, our committee hand delivered students art work and personalized gifts for each teacher to show our gratitude.

Hesed Committee: The Hesed Committee is responsible for reaching out to those in the ECC community who have had a life event. For a new baby, we send a Shabbat dinner. If there’s a death in the family, we usually send a condolence note. In certain circumstances, we have sent or dropped off something for a Shiva. People are so touched when they've heard from us... whether it’s celebrating something exciting or supporting a difficult time.

Fundraising Gala Committee:
Submitted by: Sima Asa & Sharon Stiefel

We started the year planning for our traditional fundraising event with a casino night theme in the hopes of bringing together a large group of our members from diverse age groups for an evening of fun, good food, drinks, games and silent auction. We had secured our entertainment company as well as our caterer. This year, we also had plans to print out a program for our event which would enable us to generate additional funds selling ads and soliciting sponsorships from local businesses. Our projected revenue for this event was $20,000 with 160 of our members attending the event.

However, when the new social distancing guidelines were put in place due to COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly shifted gears and began to plan for a virtual event. Inspired by John Krasinski’s Some Good News (SGN) YouTube show, we planned for an evening of celebrating good news in our Temple Beth El community while raising funds with donations collected by congregant participants and an online auction. This event turned out to be a huge success thanks to the collaborative effort of our congregants who contributed to our show with their wide range of cheerful photos and videos during their quarantine days, our professional script writer Gregg Diller, our producer Jacklyn and our favorite MC, Rabbi Jaffe. 75+ families tuned in to watch our TBEGN show generating $11,307 from donations and $2,410 from our online auction. We look forward to having an actual event in our social hall next year.

House Committee:
Submitted by: Gregg Diller & Stephanie Saltzman

It’s been a busy year for the House Committee as we took on a bunch of projects.

We’re in the last mile of installing new TEMPLE BETH EL external signs on our grounds. Three signs in total (two on each side of the Bedford Rd entrance, one at the parking lot entrance) should be up by mid-June.

TBE also received a security grant from NYS which is allocated for two projects: the installation of security planters outside the TBE lobby entrance; and fortifying our windows. Vendors have been chosen and installation will begin this summer.

We have been working on a project to build cabinetry in the sanctuary entrance that will display a collection of Judaica donated by members and also replace the folding tables that currently greet our members.

TBE also commissioned an engineering plan that gives us a path forward to repaving the parking lot at a future date.

We felt that repairing and re-staining the siding should be the next project on our list, followed by new carpeting for the social hall. Parking lot lighting is also on our docket, but we will look to fortify this project via additional security grants.

Junior Youth Committee:
Submitted by: Shauna Levy & Diana Mann

The Junior Youth Committee organizes two fun-filled activities for each of our K-6th graders that serve to foster a sense of excitement and community around Religious School. Some of this year’s most successful events have been Sushi Night, Chopped Jr. and Cupcake Wars. The events that ran in 2019/20 saw high engagement within the 11 events that were held.

Religious School Committee:
Submitted by: Jill Liebman & Pam Goldfarb

The Religious School Committee had a great year. The Committee acts as a liaison between Rabbi Linzer and the Religious School families, and helps with events for the Religious School. We were happy to support the growing Religious School, (Kitanim to 12th grade) which grew by 15 students this year. There were a record-setting 43 kindergarteners as wll 56 madrichim, teen teachers.

The entire committee met approximately five times this year to discuss the operation of the Religious School and to act as a sounding board for Rabbi Linzer on various issues. The larger committee is also broken down further into four subcommittees. The Fundraising Committee, led by Meryl Lefkowitz, had a successful Purim Mishloach Manot fundraiser. We raised $12,343.33, which is $706 more than 2019. The congregation enjoyed giving and receiving Purim gift bags filled with delicious treats. The Volunteer Committee, led by Nicole Feig, reached out to all parents at the Religious School to solicit volunteers for events, including events for Hanukkah, Tu B’shevat, and Purim. The Publicity subcommittee, led by Alex Potashner, submitted an article for each issue of the Ladder, showcasing many of the great activities and special events the Religious School students participated in over the course of the year. We added a new subcommittee this year, the Grant subcommittee. Religious School teachers submitted grant applications and the subcommittee selected the recipients of the grants. We were pleased to award a grant for a 5th grade robotics program as well as a 4th grade biblical garden.

Members of the Religious School committee also helped at Shabbat and services. Our 2nd through 6th grade families enjoyed a grade-level Shabbat dinner before leading the Shabbat service for their grade. Two committee members with children in the particular grade planned and hosted the dinner. of the Religious School Committee also participated at the 4th grade siddur ceremony, consecration of new students, and the teacher appreciation Shabbat.

Tikkun Olam Committee:
Submitted by: Diane Thaler

The Tikkun Olam committee ran a mitzvah every month this year instead of our traditional mitzvah day. We ran several successful events this year with a goal of including as many generations of temple members as possible. Many of the activities previously done on Mitzvah day, were given there own day during the year These included various food and item drives, making dog treats for the SPCA, cooking turkeys and mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving for those in need and Souper Bowl Sunday where congregants of all ages gathered to make soup kits to distribute to home bound seniors in the Bronx.

Unfortunately, because of Coronavirus, the events we had scheduled for March and the rest of the year had to be cancelled. To meet the needs of the members of our greater community that had lost their jobs and now needed food, in April, we had a food drive for the Northern Westchester Community Center in Katonah. We collected over 4900 pounds of food. Since this need continues to exist, we are having this food drive monthly.