The Message, Volume 23, Number 8, October 21, 1971 Page: 8 of 10
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THE MESSAGE
8
FROM THE
EDITOR'S CHAIR
Stanley Epstein
committee in charge of next year’s lec-
tures will “give us more” of the guest
speaker . . .
. . . One more reflection . . . It’s
almost a yearly mini-sermon by Rabbi
Malev . . . concerning the individual
ownership of a lulav and esrog at Suc-
coth . . . and the wearing of one’s own
tallis the year round. I think the lulav
and esrog will probably be purchased
by the same few each year, but what
I cannot understand is the lack of
PRIDE in many hundreds of our mem-
bers who do not own and wear their
own personal tallis. We make such a
ceremony at Bar Mitzvah time of the
father draping the tallis around the
shoulders of the 13 year old ... yet
many of these fathers do not own their
own shawl . . . and what is even more
shameful is that many of our fathers
buy a tallis at the Gift Shop a few days
before the Bar Mitzvah, wear it Shabbos
morning, and then try to return it to
the Gift Shop the beginning of the next
week. Think it doesn’t happen? Spend
some time around the Gift Shop and
you’ll be amazed at some of the things
that take place . . .
... Is there no feeling of ‘shame’ com-
ing to services and relying upon one
of the lobby tallism that are meant
primarily for visitors attending services?
Wonder how many of our Bar Mitzvah
young men say to themselves, “Big
Deal . . . my father puts my tallis
around my shoulders ... but he doesn’t
even have his own. Who’s he kidding”?
That’s right . . . who’s kidding whom?
. . . Open letter to Dr. Irving Rothman,
Chairman of the Library Committee:
“Why not consider the feasibility of hav-
ing a section of the library devoted to
cassette tapes of some of the functions
and activities of the congregation? Talks
like those of Miss Sally Priesand last
summer, of Robert Coleman a few weeks
ago, Dr. Shalom Paul’s wonderful series
of talks at High Holiday time, plus
talks of our rabbis. Either these tapes
could circulate as library items or could
be listened to in one of the school wing
rooms or in the library with the listener
using the private ear plug. How great
would be the interest stirred up in many
of our members if they had an oppor-
tunity to either review or to experience
for the first time some of our more note-
worthy Beth Yeshurun presentations.”
From the JEWISH POST AND OPIN-
ION, Friday, October 1:
Sermon of the Week: “Jewish Blue
Chips for our Children”—Rabbi Jack
Segal, Congregation Beth Yeshurun,
Houston . . . well deserved recognition
for a powerful sermon delivered to us
during Rosh Hashonah.
$100,000, our administrative costs are
$58,000. We depend upon dues to bring
in $320,000 this year. Costs are mount-
ing in every phase of the operation of
Beth Yeshurun and dues have to be
periodically adjusted upward to meet
our expenses. Is a member who is made
more “aware” of what is happening at
Beth Yeshurun more inclined to do
his share more willingly than before?
I’d like to think so . . . Random
thoughts . . . Rabbi Malev has often ex-
pressed the statement to me that our
Message is a Forward Looking periodi-
cal, and that its pages should not be
utilized to reflect upon the past. And
I’ve disagreed with him each time, for
I have felt that a review of many of
our activities thru out the year should
make interesting reading and perhaps
might inspire some of our non-participat-
ing members to become involved. Cer-
tainly one function that merits our pla-
udits, our review and our gratitude is
the weekend of lectures of Dr. Shalom
Paul sponsored by the members of the
Rauch family in memory of their par-
ents. Those in the sanctuary Friday
night and Saturday morning, Septem-
ber 24 and 25, and the 400 people
who heard him at the Seudah Shlisheet
Saturday evening could not help but
have been enriched intellectually as well
as spiritually. Yet I feel that somehow
we were “shortchanged” . . . that we
should have had MORE of this brilliant
young professor . . . more than the 40
minutes on Friday night, more than the
35 minutes Sabbath morning . . . and
more than the 40 minutes in the even-
ing. We should have had lectures last-
ing an hour each. Working an hour into
a service is a difficult bit of maneuver-
ing . . . and if his talks were to have
taken place outside of service, what hap-
pens to our “crowd”? Is it too unreal
to believe that word of mouth might
bring in the “crowd”? Certainly those
who did not attend will be that much
poorer for their absence. I hope the
It hasn’t been said to me, but some
members of the Board of Trustees have
had the opinion expressed to them that
a column of this sort has no ‘place’ in
our Message . . . that the Message
should merely describe the events tak-
ing place in the synagogue, contaim.the
schedule of services, the columns of the
rabbis, and items relating to Conserva-
tive Judaism.
I don’t agree. I think the Message
should be this and more. I think our
congregational publication should be
vital and vibrant. It should not be just
a “Bulletin.” It should contain monthly
columns by our educational director,
our executive director, our president,
and reports of the activities of our com-
mittees.
We have a membership of 1800 fam-
ilies. This means 5000 people are in-
volved with Beth Yeshurun—even if
that involvement consists of attendance
at High Holiday services only. I feel
we owe it to our membership to keep
them informed of some of the inner
workings of the synagogue. I believe it
helps make this large institution of ours
a little more intimate, a little more
homogeneous, a litle more feeling that
this is a ‘family’ ... a large family,
but a family nonetheless.
I feel that if our educational depart-
ment had described in a few issues of
the Message the importance of the im-
mediate necessity of converting our two
lounges into an open classroom, the
5000 people in the congregation would
have been ‘prepared’ for this sudden clos-
ing of the area. I’m sorry it wasn’t
written.
Do our congregants really want to
know more of what transpires within
the congregation, or are they just in-
terested in satisfying their particular
“need” for Beth Yeshurun? That “need”
may be a ritual need, an educational
need (for both children and parents), a
business need or a social need. I would
like to believe that our congregants are
concerned about Beth Yeshurun over
and above their “need.” That is why I
write as I do, for whatever else they
may be, my words and emotions come
from a sincere heart.
Beth Yeshurun is Big Business. We
have an annual budget of over
$500,000. The cost of operating our
school system is over $250,00 a year.
Our annual ritual expense is more than
$60,000, our building expense is
WE’RE GRATEFUL—
—To Dr. and Mrs. Sidney Turboff for
their donation of a series of Israeli
pictures for decorating the choir
room of the congregation.
—To Mrs. Mel (Barbara) Levine,
granddaughter of Mrs. Dave Tash-
nek, for her donation of the talmudic
scholar painting which hangs in our
east corridor.
—To Mrs. Arnold Grossman for her
donation of the beautiful fruit for
our congregational sukkah and for
the many hours she spent supervising
the hanging of each piece.
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Congregation Beth Yeshurun (Houston, Tex.). The Message, Volume 23, Number 8, October 21, 1971, periodical, October 21, 1971; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1287819/m1/8/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.