2013 ADMINISTRATOR ANNUAL REPORT MAY 5, 2013

Staff Full time Administrator, Nancy LaFleur Full time Rabbi, Ira Korinow Full time Cantorial Soloist, Mindy Harris Part-time Religious School Director, Debbi Levasseur Part time Religious School Administrative Assistant, Cheryl Hill Part-time bookkeeper, Kim Giannopoulos Part-time custodian, Don Kumis

Membership Statistics: 198 Members

116 Family Members

82 Single Members 19 Associate members

8 Associate Family Members

11 Associate Single Members 46 Prospective Members

31 Prospective Family Members

15 Prospective Single Members

21 new members joined this year. Of the 21 new members, 4 were previous members, 17 are First Year Free members 15 members resigned this year - 5 Deceased, 4 moved out of area, 6 for other reasons

First Year Free Membership Statistics from first inception: 2006 – 2007 Fiscal Year - 17 First year Free Membership 3 remained members as of this year 2007 – 2008 Fiscal Year - 11 First year Free Membership 5 remained members as of this year 2008 – 2009 Fiscal Year - 16 First year Free Membership 11 remained members as of this year 2009 – 2010 Fiscal Year - 18 First year Free Membership 6 remained members as of this year 2010 – 2011 Fiscal Year - 13 First year Free Membership 8 remained members as of this year 2011- 2012 Fiscal Year – 9 First year Free Membership 4 remained members as of this year 2012 – 2013 Fiscal year – 17 First year Free Membership

Administrative:

Sat on both the Executive and Board of Temple Emanu-El

Fiscally responsible for Temple budget

Processed all accounts receivables: Dues payments, dues adjustments, credit cards, cash and check payments, monthly and yearly billing, tax statements, donation payments and bank deposits.

Corresponded and interfaced with Temple members, Prospective Temple members, and Temple donors.

Attended Dues meetings and work with Dues Committee on dues adjustments.

Coordinated with Temple Committees and members in scheduling their events for the FY13 Temple Calendar.

Created new FY14 Temple Calendar utilizing Google and Hebcal Calendar which can be automatically updated onto our website and be downloaded onto any device (IPhone, IPad, Laptop, computer)

Updated and maintained Chaverware software, a premier windows® based synagogue membership and accounting software.

Scheduled all Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Prepare and mail confirmation letter to Bar/Bat Mitzvah candidates of their date, torah portion and scheduled Bar/Bat Mitzvah payments after securing Bar/Bat Mitzvah deposit.

Participated in the Bar Mitzvah II Seminar

Worked with Bar/Bat Mitzvah family and their caterers and/or vendors for their Kiddush and/or reception.

Prepared and mailed monthly yahrzeit notices

Coordinated with Committee Chairs, staff and Robin Zaremba on the monthly bulletin

Coordinated with Temple committees in preparing, designing, mailing and emailing of the Temple Bulletin, flyers, brochures and letters.

Informed membership of Temple events utilizing our website, Facebook and email.

Worked with Social and Gala Chair, Mindy Lichtman on Break the Fast, The 75 Anniversary Party, Latke making, Chanukah Party and the Super Raffle

Continue to update and populate Temple website

Tracked and purchase inventory for both the office and custodial staff.

Prepared monthly custodial schedule.

Gave detailed custodial instructions for room set-ups/breakdowns, Committee Meetings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, Oneg, Kiddush’s, Adult Ed Programs, Receptions, Open House, funerals, Religious Services and functions.

Maintained the inside and outside of Temple building. o Hiring outside vendors o Scheduling maintenance workers

Maintained temple grounds o Snow blowing & shoveling o Landscaping – Fall/Spring clean-up, plowing, shoveling, landscaping

Managed and scheduled the installation for:

Paul Family Memorial Yahrzeit Board

New gas boiler

Paving of 10th ave driveway

Negotiated lower contract bids for Air Conditioning units and Elevator inspections for the coming fiscal year budget

Bulletin:

340 bulletins emailed

81 bulletins mailed

Please let me know if you can help save the Temple money and save the environment by having your bulletin emailed instead of mailed.

A big thank you to Robin Zaremba who donates her time and creativity each month preparing the Temple bulletin.

New website and email provider

New website host is Weebly

New email provider is Comcast

Thank you to the Belsky/Breger family who generously donated their time and money in constructing our new website.

Thank you to Brian Helman for helping the Temple with the switch over of both the website and email.

Summer Maintenance Cleaning:

All classrooms and offices thoroughly cleaned and put back together - all furniture removed and cleaned, ceilings and walls washed and rugs extracted.

All hallways, Greenbaum Room, Kladky and Starensier floors stripped and waxed.

Starensier painted and damaged floor tile fixed.

All tiled floors stripped and waxed

All Shrubberies and trees trimmed

Boiler tuned-up

Snow Blower tuned-up

Building inspected and passed

Fire detectors inspected and replaced as needed Sanctuary

All seats and carpet extracted

All lighting fixtures cleaned

All woodwork washed

General Maintenance / Building Improvements – completed FY 13

Re-tarred driveway and added new cement dumpster

Created small storage area for tables and chairs in Kladky

Replaced and fixed light fixtures on front portico

Replaced four outdated alarm sensors

Installed gas boiler

Removed oil tanks and repaired concrete wall where existing oil pipes were

Fixed actuator in overhead blower in Sanctuary

Replaced broken ladder in choir loft.

Installed, by the City of Haverhill, new crosswalk from Main Street to 10th ave

February Blizzard

Hired an extra hand to help Don with the snow removal. Each worked thirteen hours during Saturday and Sunday to clear the parking lot, sidewalks and front portico of Temple on Saturday and Sunday of the weekend blizzard; with Don working two and half more hours on Monday.

Hired roofers to remove snow from flat and Main Street roofs

Replaced Slates that fell off of roof.

Repaired leak handi-cap bathroom from ice damage.

Installed new rubber gasket on Family room door.

Replaced door opener card in elevator

Generous gifts donated to Temple:

Memorial Yahrzeit Board

Gas Boiler

Room darkeners and shades and receiver cabinet in the Starensier I would like to thank Rabbi Korinow for his guidance during difficult matters, Debbi Levasseur and Cheryl Hill who are always willing to pitch in when needed, Kim Giannopoulos for her help in accounting and Don Kumis, who works extremely hard maintaining the inside and outside of the Temple. Respectively Submitted, Nancy J. LaFleur Administrator

ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMMING REPORT – 2012/2013 Submitted by Fred & Rhoda Feldman

Chairs: Fred and Rhoda Feldman Committee: Rabbi Korinow; Douglas & Nora Cannon; Kevin Miller

Mission and Vision of the Committee

Review of last year’s programming and upcoming for 2013

Potential programs for 2013-14

Mission and Vision: The Adult Education Committee

Arranges periodic programs for Sunday mornings with outside speakers or internal resources

who present on RELEVANT OR INTERESTING JEWISH TOPICS while a light community breakfast is

served.

The committee also assists the rabbi in identifying topics for Saturday lunches dubbed

“Shmooze N’ Shabbat.”

Adult Education opportunities include the rabbi’s on-going classes on basic Judaism,

Shabbat Shiur/study and Israel Chavurah/discussion, the annual learn to read Hebrew in Less

than a Week, and study with the parent hours of our Religious School’s Parent-Child

Connection

Review of 2012-13 Major Programming:

1. Sunday, October 21, 2012 9:30

a. “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story”

i. Video narrated by Dustin Hoffman,

ii. Martin Abramowitz, CEO of Jewish Major Leaguers introduced the program and

took questions and led discussion

iii. Attendance about 45 people including Temple youth

2. Sunday, November 18, 2012 day

a. “Global Day of Jewish Learning – Third Annual”

b. Jewish concepts of blessing and gratitude.

c. Topics Selected:

i. Blessing the Bad: How do We Relate to Bad Things?

ii. Finding God, Finding Gratitude: How to Appreciate Our Everyday Lives

iii. Is There a Recipe for Prayer? A Lesson in Picking the Perfect Words

d. Format: Chavruta Learning with 3 facilitators

e. Good Attendance; lots of interest; not enough time; opportunities to expand topics

3. Sunday, December 16, 2012 9:30

a. “Advanced Jewish Genealogy: Hands-on Preserving Precious Documents”

i. A hands-on working session on how to preserve precious documents and

photographs.

ii. Douglas Cannon copied (105) documents or photographs to film

iii. Fred Feldman scanned (110) documents and records to computer files

1. Genealogy/Preserving and working with pictures talk also given

b. Highly involved/enthusiastic participants

4. Sunday, February 3, 2013 9-11

a. “Superman: Who Knew He Was Jewish?” Larry Tye

i. A fascinating look at the history of Superman and the super hero’s Jewish Roots.

ii. Larry’s autographed book, Superman, was available for purchase.

iii. Excellent talk; very well received

iv. Over 50 attendees plus Temple Youth

5. Sunday, March 10, 2013 9-11

a. “Tracing Jewish Roots Along the River Mystic”

i. Mystic River Jewish Communities Project

ii. Slide show/presentation about ife along the Mystic River – the towns of East

Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Medford, Malden, Somerville and Winthrop –

bursting with Jewish culture, music, and business. The sights, sounds and

stories of these early Jewish immigrant communities.

6. Sunday, April 7th at 2:00 pm

a. Yom Hashoah Commemoration: “Night Words – A Midrash on the Holocaust”

b. At Cascia Hall on the campus of Merrimack College*

c. Co-sponsors of the event:

i. The Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations (JCM) at

Merrimack College.

ii. Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation

d. 36 participants (readers) from: Temple Emanu-El (Haverhill); Temple Israel

(Portsmouth); non-affiliated individuals

e. Recorded for public replay by Haverhill Community Television

f. High degree publicity including excellent article in the Haverhill Gazette: article and

pictures posted on Temple Facebook page

7. May 19th Adult Education Program: Rebirth: The Jews of Cuba

a. While the history of Jewish communities in Europe is well known to many American

Jews, there are many Jewish communities in the world that are little known to us.

b. Laurie Tishler Mindlin, Director of the Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation went on a

Mission to Jewish Cuba along with 25 other Directors of small Jewish Federations from

across the US this past February. She returned filled with enthusiasm after observing

and enjoying the Jewish community's history and resurgence of Jewish life. They

visited the sites of Jewish Havana and met with a host of committed Jewish leaders who

are reviving and rebuilding Kehillot after 40 years of “anti-religion” communist rule. They

learned about their challenges and opportunities, what the American Jewish community

has done to help out, and how we, in the Merrimack Valley, might be a part of their

future. They were changed by this experience and would like to share it with you.

c. This is a real opportunity to learn about Jewish history and experience outside the

diaspora that we’re familiar with.

d. As always, a breakfast will be served at 9:30 am and the program will start at 10 am.

2013/14 Committee

Larry Cann

Doug Cannon

Nora Cannon

Fred Feldman

Rhoda Feldman

Rabbi Korinow

Kevin Miller

Karen Newborn

2013/14 Adult Ed Calendar 1. Sunday, September 22, 2013

2. Sunday, October 27, 2013

3. Sunday, November 17, 2013: Global Day of Jewish Learning

4. Sunday, March 2, 2014

5. Sunday, March 30, 2014

Committee Meeting to start off the year: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 at 7 pm

Atid Program 2013

The Atid program was presented this year after a hiatus of many years. The purpose of the program is offer to its participants, in classroom style, the inner workings of the Temple and its affiliations in hopes in interesting the participants enough to become more involved in the Temple community either as a member of the Board of Directors or as the chair of a committee. Atid was run in three sessions this year with participants chosen for their interest in the community and their already-known desire to attend many of the programs run by the Temple. The first session was spent discussing the management of Temple Emanu-El. We talked about the responsibilities of the officers and Board members of the Temple, with particular emphasis on the fact that these people are volunteers who give of their time to manage these responsibilities. We then discussed the paid employees of Temple Emanu-El, what their job are, and how indispensable they all are to the day-to-day running of the community. Finally, we discussed the By-Laws, so that the participants can obtain a basic understanding of the rules by which we all live, here at the Temple. The second session was a discussion with Temple Emanu-El’s partner, the Union of Reform Judaism, or URJ, and what they can do for us. This discussion was facilitated by Rabbi Sue Elwell, who is the spiritual leader of a congregation in Philadelphia and is also an employee of the URJ. She led a lively discussion of the various services that the URJ can provide for us, as well as how the organization can help solve individual issues that arise within the Temple community, itself. The final session was a discussion of the issues that are handled by the Board and Executive Committee on a regular basis. Emphasis was placed on specific issues culled from the recorded minutes of recent Board and committee meetings, to learn how the participants would handle these situations as they arise. All the participants gained new insight into the complexities of these issues, and how much thought is required to solve them. Hopefully their interest was piqued, and they will continue to increase their involvement in keeping Temple Emanu-El the wonderful institution that it has become. Respectfully Submitted, Kevin R. Miller, Chair, Atid Program Committee

Mindy Harris Temple Emanu-El

2012-2013 Annual Report Summary: I am now moving into my 5th year here at Temple Emanu-El, and boy has time flown by! I continue to get enormous pleasure from my work with our kids, leading religious school music, conducting our choir, developing new musical activities for Friday evenings, and teaching our B’nai Mitzvah students. And of course I still continue to work with the best colleagues – in Rabbi, Nancy, Debbi, Cheryl and Don. New Activities this Year: 1. Temple Emanu-El Choir –The Temple Emanu-El choir has continued to do amazing things and grows musically every year. This year our performances included: High Holidays, Gospel Shabbat, Yom HaShoah, Confirmation and Membership Shabbat. We have made a specific effort to keep some of our teenagers engaged – and are very proud that the choir is a place at Temple Emanu-El that appeals to a multi-generational group. I have always felt very passionately about keeping teenagers engaged in synagogue music throughout their high school years, and we have been very blessed to have a few who have continued with us. A hearty Yasher Koach to this year’s participants: Claire Breger-Belsky, Sue Shwom, Stacy Karlin-Smith, Sheldon Cohen, Doreen Robotnick, Shaina Gilks, Gail Pelegrino, Rachel Smith, Sandra Deardorff and Doug Zimon. Our ongoing challenge is time commitment. Sometimes it is a challenge for our members to keep up with our performance schedule, with such busy lives – so we are re-evaluating how many performances are reasonable for this group in a year. We are always inviting and recruiting new members, and will begin our High Holiday preparation after Confirmation. 2. Religious School Music –My music work with the kids has spanned from our TAPT program, through K-2, and onto the upper grades. Music gives kids a great sense of fun and spirit on Sunday mornings here in the temple. Some classes and kids volunteer to lead music, and really enjoy some of the dance moves and hand signs we teach along with our upbeat Hebrew and liturgical pieces. I have been blessed for a few years now with two amazing Madrichim, who have stayed with me for a few years – Hannah Jacobs and Shaina Gilks. They lend a remarkable amount of energy and leadership to our music program, and I couldn’t teach without them! 3. Religious School Services – This year I have been leading services for our students on Sunday mornings. The kids have grown more and more comfortable in the sanctuary, on the Bima, and with the liturgy in general. They are inspirational to watch. I have also developed the services as a kind of assembly space for the school – where, in addition to going through morning prayers, we take time to grapple with issues in Judaism and in this world. I am proud of our kids and their opinions and ability to share thoughts and feelings whenever they need a safe space to be heard. Our kids are incredibly thoughtful about world issues, incredibly compassionate towards others – and have learned to express themselves in a kind and caring way. We will continue to make sure that Temple Emanu-El provides a space for critical thinking, Tikkun Olam, caring for others, and spiritual personal development for kids. 4. B’nai Mitzvah Lessons –our B’nai Mitzvah lessons go on as usual. Students meet with me once per week for a half an hour, usually on Monday afternoons, for tutoring. Every year, I try to find new ways of teaching kids in accordance with their own learning style and have incorporated techniques such as color-coding, Torah and Haftarah trope integration, and the use of MP3 audio files, for kids to learn with at home on the computer or on their iPods. One challenge that we continue to face – as

many congregations do – is the issue of what the meaning of Bar Mitzvah is – for the entire family. We are working at ways of engaging parents and family members, so that Bar Mitzvah is truly a collective endeavor, and not just something kids are going through by themselves. We are currently working on a Bar Mitzvah Covenant – or promissory document, which will really articulate how we view Bar Mitzvah at Temple Emanu- El and what values we want to instill in our kids. One practice technique that I have implemented now, with all our students is – that we require all our kids to call in to my voicemail each night to chant their daily Bar Mitzvah homework assignment – so that they are being held accountable for their work. I do this to help engender in them a consistent approach to practicing, and to give them a sense of ownership over the material. With most cases, kids are compliant, and it has worked really well as a motivator for them. It has had a very positive effect on kids. 5. Shabbat and Holiday Officiating – I am currently serving on the pulpit with Rabbi Korinow for the High Holidays, 8th Day of Yom Tov, Musically Shabbat Friday Nights, Special Religious School and Event Fridays, and for B’nai Mitzvah Services. This year we used both David Collins (our High Holiday accompanist) and Anat Hochberg – a pianist from the Boston area – for music at the temple. We have two Shabbats built into the budget next year, where will be incorporating a pianist. This is new for us, and I’m very pleased that we are continuing to make music a priority within the synagogue. 6. Gospel Shabbat –My major project this year at Temple Emanu-El included a much-enhanced Gospel Shabbat in January. Once again, I worked outside the temple with Calvary Baptist’s Music Director, Joe Devoe, on preparing music ahead of time for both our communities to sing together. I went to Calvary Baptist on a number of occasions, in advance, and helped prepare their choir to sing the pieces I selected. In addition, our choir also learned pieces from their liturgy. All the music –their pieces and ours – were all in a jazzy or gospel style. This musical strategy leant a unified musical and emotional experience to the entire service. I look forward to a new year with Temple Emanu-El, and wish everyone a relaxing and fulfilling summer season. Cantor Mindy Harris

CHESED COMMITTEE 2012-13 ANNUAL REPORT

The Chesed Committee continues with its initial mission established four years ago to support temple members in the event of life changes; to provide outreach for those who are no longer able or who find it difficult to participate in Temple programming; and to build on the already-existent kindness and caring within our Temple community. Our original goal of offering bereavement services continues; this consists of providing house preparation and meal set-up at the time of a funeral, and organizing and conducting a shiva minyan if needed. Bereavement information folders (organized by Amy Sherr) are provided to all families who experience a death. Rides to services and special programs continue to be offered. A diverse display of educational folders are available at the 10th Avenue entrance. Deliveries of holiday food plates for three holidays, Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah and Purim have been made to those in our community who find it difficult to get to Temple. As we did last year, we worked with other Temple committees – namely, Sisterhood, Social Committee, and Hebrew School – to cook the wonderful food that we delivered. Along with some great chefs, there is a faithful crew of drivers – Amy Sherr, Mike and Ann Jacobson, Carole Taut, Michele Howard, Rena Roseman, Harriet Peick and Susan Shwom- who graciously make these deliveries. They (both the plates and the deliverers) are most appreciated by the recipients, who also appreciate being remembered by the Temple. We hope that everyone is finding the Membership Directory that was published last year helpful. I know I frequently use mine to check out a phone number or an email address. The involvement of many Temple members with the Kapanga-Ndjibu family, a family who arrived from the Congo two years ago, has been enriching for all. Although they have very recently moved out of our community to more easily access refugee services, rides, hospitality, friendship and support have been provided in abundance. Volunteer drivers enabled this family to attend shabbat services and holiday programs, and for their now 3-year old to attend the TAPT program. This year a new program was made available: offering help to those living independently who might need their smoke detectors checked. We hope to continue to offer this service. A sub-committee of Chesed Committee was formed this year to formulate a “friendly visitor” program. This project remains in the formulation stage; we hope to see this come to fruition in the coming year. Under the able direction of Fred Feldman, we are in the process of launching our LotsaHelpingHands program, an internet-based program that coordinates volunteers with identified needs. Not only will this program be used for Chesed needs, but for the greater Temple as well; volunteer needs for special programs, for other committees' purposes, for Temple Administrative needs, can all be posted on LotsaHelpingHands. I thank the Board for their encouragement in moving this program forward. And most importantly, I thank Fred and Nancy LaFleur for an incredible amount of work over this past year to put this into place. Watch for a launch date soon!! We look forward to seeing everyone become 'members' of LHH and offer their help in whatever way they can in this coming year. This Committee is guided by the thoughtful input of those who attend our regular meetings: Rita Harris, Rena Roseman, Harriet Peick, Carole Taut, Fred Feldman, Rhoda Feldman, Michele Howard and Susan Shwom. We welcome our newest member, Karen Newborn. Rabbi Ira always offers thoughtful and supportive guidance to our planning. And there are countless others who offer to lend a hand when the need arises. There is an abundance of Chesed (kindness) within this community and I thank all of you for your contributions. Sharyn Russell, Chairperson

Dues Committee Annual Report

May, 2013 Committee members: Larry Jacobs, Chair Judd Nathan Loren Goldstein Kevin Miller Nancy LaFleur The Board of Directors establishes dues and fees appropriate to sustain the congregation. The leadership is committed to making it possible for our members to participate fully in our programs and services. In order to equitably allocate the costs of operating our temple, each household has an obligation to assume the responsibility to pay applicable full dues. The Dues Committee, in keeping with the Temple By-Laws, may give appropriate consideration to the financial ability of a member or applicant to pay the established dues. A dues adjustment is based on economic necessity, and is in effect for the current fiscal year only. This is our fifth year using the Dues Reduction Request Form, to help us keep track of congregants requesting adjustments on their dues. Some have been able to commit to the amount we have agreed upon, while others have not. As of this report, for this fiscal year, there are 23 families that are more than 90 days past due in their payments of dues amounting to approximately $15,000. This is an improvement over last year by $10,000 where there were 25 families who were more than 90 days past due in their payments of membership dues, amounting to more than $25,000. This is even a larger improvement reflecting a huge decline in the number of memberships that were delinquent over three years ago at which time over 60 memberships were past due with an amount over $34,000. Past due amounts from prior fiscal years are still outstanding from four memberships in the amount of $8,125 which is the smallest amount in many many years. With continued approval from the Board, we have been more effective enforcing the agreements we have reached. Specifically, when members request and are approved for a dues adjustment, they will agree to pay that amount either via a single one-time payment, or via a monthly debit card payment, similar to the way they may use online bill payment. If unresolved delinquency has continued and arrangements could not be made termination of membership has been carried out. The dues committee has done a fantastic job this year surpassing goals from many prior years. A special thanks to our dues committee members, Judd Nathan, Kevin Miller and Loren Goldstein for their professionalism, ideas & discretion and many hours of voluntary service. Thanks go out to Nancy LaFleur as her constant follow-up and continuing follow through make all of our tasks much easier. Sincerely, Larry Jacobs

Annual Report of HaSifriyah – The Jewish Community Library May 5, 2013

Summary of the 2012-2013 year:

1. Library usage continues to increase. The library remains a popular meeting place for parents during religious school hours. The library is used for individual tutoring and visits by religious school classes. Circulation has increased among both students and other congregants.

2. The Temple Emanu-El book club continues to meet. Since the last annual meeting, we have held discussions about The Assistant, by Bernard Malamud; The Last Jew, by Noah Gordon; Cain, by José Saramago; The God Upgrade, by Jamie Korngold; and Once We Were Brothers, by Ronald H. Balson.

Six additional dates have been scheduled on the 2013-2014 calendar. Among the titles to be discussed next year are The Time Keeper, by Mitch Albom; Wherever You Go, by Joan Leegant; Mr g, by Alan Lightman; and Jerusalem Maiden, by Talia Carner.

3. Fundraising continues through the Amazon.com Associates Program. HaSifriyah receives a

referral fee for all purchases made by clicking through our dedicated link (available on the Temple's website). Since last year's annual meeting, purchases by Temple members and their friends and family have generated almost $600 for the library. Since our affiliation with the program in November 2010, we have raised approximately $2000. All funds are used to acquire books, magazines, music, videos and supplies for the library.

4. We have added approximately one hundred titles to the collection in the past year.

Approximately 14 titles were marked as lost during the same period; these are titles that were identified as missing during our physical inventory but were never checked out (either electronically or through use of the check-out sheet on the circulation desk). It is possible that a few of these titles will find their way back to the library during the upcoming year.

5. HaSifriyah now has its own page on the Temple’s website, containing library and book club

news. 6. We have received a variety of donations to HaSifriyah, including books from the religious

school in honor of students receiving awards for the 2012-2013 school year and a number of books, CDs and DVDs from congregants.

7. BookNotes, a column focusing on new acquisitions and other library news, continues to appear in the Temple bulletin.

8. Holiday and other topical displays continue.

9. Wi-Fi continues to be available to members in HaSifriyah. The password and usage policy are

posted in the library.

10. We have set up additional workstations in the back of the library and have responsibly recycled old and unusable equipment.

Plans for next year include:

1. Upgrading our cataloguing and circulation system. Our current library software is obsolete and no longer supported by the developer, and our desktop computer is at risk of imminent failure, thereby placing our data in jeopardy in the event of a hardware crash. Our hope is to obtain donations of approximately $1500 to allow us to purchase new software and a new computer. One of my priorities for the new cataloguing software is to find a package that will allow members of Temple Emanu-El to search our database online. If you are able to assist us by making a donation for this upgrade, please contact Nancy in the office.

2. Inviting local authors to visit the Temple Emanu-El book club and join in discussions of their work.

3. Purchasing a Wi-Fi range extender to allow members to access the Wi-Fi from other areas of the building.

4. Continuing to acquire current titles, including periodicals, for the collection.

5. In conjunction with the cantor, expanding the library's collection of CDs for circulation.

6. Soliciting funds for operating expenses and book acquisitions, as well as for donations of current books and periodical subscriptions.

7. Continuing to increase circulation.

8. Increasing visitation and usage by religious school students. Thanks to everyone who has donated funds, books and time to the library and to those who have made it a vibrant gathering place and educational resource. Paula Breger Librarian

Temple Emanu-El Investment Committee

Annual Report, May 5, 2013

I wish to first thank the members of the committee: Sandy Channen, Larry Cowan, Judd Nathan and Jesse Kamien. Their attendance and participation at our meetings was outstanding. I also wish to thank Terrence Beaton, our Financial Advisor, for his good work on our behalf. As a result of the difficult interest rate situation the committee has moved from reliance upon fixed income securities to a heavy equity position. Since our investments are spread over many different industries we are not concerned about the security of the Temple’s Portfolio. The present value of the Portfolio stands at $706, 000. The investments are returning 3.13% on an annualized basis. This is in spite of contributing $2,500 per month to Temple operating funds from the Portfolio’s funds. The total has been diminished because of a large amount of money that was loaned to the Temple to enable it to pay off its line of credit at the bank. This is expected to be repaid over time. If you are interested in serving on this committee, which meets quarterly, please get in touch with me. Respectfully submitted, Stuart L. Mandell, Chair

Membership Committee Annual Report

May 5, 2013

Temple Emanu-El’s membership consists of 217 members, 124 family members, and 93 single members. A key outreach tool we use is to recruit new members is our “first year free” membership dues program. Our membership covers a large demographic area from southern New Hampshire through Middlesex and Essex counties.

The role of the Committee is to welcome new members into our Temple Community. Throughout the year, we try to connect with new and prospective members -- informing them of special events, listening to ideas and concerns and answering questions as they arise.

We could always use help on very important committee, there are no long time commitments-just a little bit of your time, so please feel free to contact me.

Respectfully Submitted,

Eric Jacobs, Chair

Presidents Annual Report May 5, 2013

It is hard to believe that we are coming to the close of another wonderful year at Temple Emanu-El with many new Members and an increase in Religious School students. Beginning with our 75th Anniversary Friday Night Service and the 75th Anniversary Gala, it’s been an exciting year. Our largest project was the replacement of our old oil-burning boiler with a new natural gas boiler. The cost for this purchase was $80,000. Thanks to the hard work of our Treasurer, Larry Cowan, we received very generous donations from the Paul family, as well as from other members, that made the decision to borrow the money from our Endowment Fund or the bank unnecessary. Once again our Community Members responded to our financial needs. I cannot thank you all enough! We started off the secular New Year with lots of Religious School/HEFTY Friday night services. Thank you for attending and supporting our children. Our Annual Martin Luther King multi-denominational service on January18th was a great success. Our Temple Emanu-El Choir, led by Mindy Harris, was wonderful and sounded beautiful. Thank you to our Adult Ed Committee, led by Rhoda & Fred Feldman. We have had many wonderful Adult Ed programs to attend all year. The Book Club, led by our librarian Paula Breger, has been active once again. The Chesed Committee, led by Sharyn Russell, has been busy proving support and comfort to our Members during times of need. They will soon be launching Lotsa Helping Hands, watch for upcoming details. On May 17th, we will have our Confirmation Service. We will also wish our High School students the best of luck as they graduate and head off to new future studies and new adventures. This service also rewards our Religious School students for their hard work all year- they will receive their Religious School Awards. I encourage everyone to attend this very important service to honor our children. On May 31st, we will have our Installation and Volunteer of the Year award recipient: Sharyn Russell, CHESED committee chair. Thank you to all Board Members and Committee Members, as well as our many volunteers, who have worked so hard to make this past year a successful one. These dedicated volunteers all contribute to make Temple Emanu-El what it is today. Thank you to Rabbi Ira for his hard work as our representative in the Merrimack Valley and as our Spiritual Leader. Thanks to Mindy Harris for a job well done as our Cantorial Soloist, song leader and Bar/Bat Mitzvah tutor. Many, many thanks to our hard-working teachers who make learning rewarding and fun. I want to thank the staff of Temple Emanu-El : Nancy LaFleur, who works tirelessly as our Temple Administrator; Debbi Levasseur , Religious School Principal, who makes sure that our children have a quality Jewish education in a fun and caring environment; Cheryl Hill, our Religious School Administrative Assistant; and Kim Giannopoulos, our Bookkeeper, and Don Kumis, our Custodian. Lynn Dreyfuss Martin President

2012 - 2013 TEMPLE EMANU-EL RELIGIOUS SCHOOL ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

Submitted by Debra L. Levasseur, Religious School Director

This year we registered 75 students (36 families) – a 6 year high!

Faculty: 12 Faculty members, 18 Madrichim and our Administrative Assistant

We will have 5 students celebrate their Bar/Bat mitzvah during this calendar year

9 students will be confirmed and 2 will graduate on May 17th. You are all invited and encouraged to attend this beautiful Confirmation service.

Here are some of the activities, which went on in our religious school this year to help enrich the education of our children: On-going Family Programs:

TAPT program for 2 and 3 year olds and their parents

Gan Days for PreK and kindergarten students and their parents

“Home Start” for first and second graders and their parents (expanded program this year including time with our Family Educators)

“The Stella Kurland Wise Family Education Program” – programs for grades 3 & 4 and their parents, plus other interested adults in the community:

Family Shabbat Services conducted by our students Holiday Celebrations:

High Holy Day Children’s Services run by the religious school

Students decorated and had snack in the Sukkah

A Chanukah program for students in grades pre-K through grade 2

Students in grade 3 through high school lit the Kenneth Salk Chanukah Menorah

TuB’Shevat celebrations in various grades

Purim Carnival with parents, faculty and students manning booths

Passover Seders/programs at different levels for students in our religious school

Lag B’Omer outdoor games and picnic

Tot Shabbat services were offered 4 times this year School Programs:

“Breakfast with the Rabbi” – all grades

Grades TAPT through grade 7 participated in music each week led by Cantorial Soloist Mindy Harris

Sunday morning services

Students from our High School Program volunteered as Madrichim and assisted teachers and students

Tutoring program continued lead by Claire Breger-Belsky

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Students participated in the B’Mitzvotav Program

Chugim (extracurricular activities) 4 times this year for grades 3-7

Our School Wide Theme this year was Ivrit (Hebrew) – Each month students learned 10 new vocabulary words for common objects such as animals, clothing, colors etc.

High School Reunion

Religious School Awards

T’Kun Olam – Repairing the Earth:

Students donated money to various charities in Israel, the United States and other countries

Students wrote cards to soldiers in Israel

Students donated money to the CJP Boston Relief Fund: Support for Marathon Bombing Victims

Field Trips:

High School students joined the 7th graders for a Shabbaton at the winter home of teacher Jesse Kamien

Grade 7 delivered food to Emmaus House and learned about their purpose

Grades 3 & 4 went to Magic Brush to create Seder Plates

9th graders participated in the annual Confirmation trip to New York City Special Programs for 2012 – 2013:

The School created two decorated tile plant boxes for the Bimah in honor of the 75th Anniversary of Temple Emanu-El

Students in grades TAPT through 7 participated in a Read-A Thon where over 270 books were read.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Seminars 1 and 2 – 6th graders and their parents

Orientations were held for parents and students: Grade 2 for the 3rd & 4th grade participation in the Stella Kurland Wise Family Education Program and the transition to a two day a week program Grade 7 for the transition to the High School Program Religious School Committee:

Rita Harris became our Religious School Committee chairperson

3 new people joined the Religious School Committee

The Religious School Committee, the temple security committee, the Haverhill Police Department the temple staff and I are working on a new plan for the increased security of the students, faculty and parents while at the temple

Fund Raisers:

PTO Bookfair

Purim Carnival

Labels for Education/Box Tops for Education

2013 Spring Basket Auction

Donations to the Adeline B. Watnick Religious School Children’s Fund New for 2013 – 2014:

Reinstituting field trips to Mayim Chayim, Vilna Shul, Jewish Brookline scavenger hunt, JCAM cemetery tour

Theme school wide will be – T’Fillah with prayer goals for each grade This year I remained an active member of the Merrimack Valley Jewish Educators Group. I continue to participate in leading Tot Shabbat services along with Rabbi Korinow 4 times during the year. I also prepare the annual Religious School budget to present to the budget committee.

Thank you to those who helped make this another successful year at our school: Rabbi

Korinow for all his help, Mindy Harris for bringing “ruach” to our school, Nancy LaFleur for the many

things she does for us, Cheryl Hill for all she does to keep the school running smoothly, Larry Jacobs for coordinating the Purim Carnival, Rita Harris and the school committee for all their support and guidance, Marie Katzen and Lisa Desberg for coordinating the Basket Auction, Paula Breger for her work with our faculty and students in HaSifriyah, and all of the parents, students and members of the temple for their continuing support. We are always looking for new members to our religious school committee, please call if you are interested. Thanks for another great year!

Religious School Committee Report Annual Meeting of Temple Emanu-El 2013

Rita L. Harris, Interim Chair

The religious School Committee remains one of the most active in our Temple community. We strive to support the staff, parents and children of the Religious School so that the Temple can continue to provide a quality education to its students. We meet monthly throughout the school year and during the summer when necessary. We currently have seven active members. Our tasks include the review and evaluation of curriculum, policies, and staff. Our accomplishments this year include a successful Basket Auction chaired by Marie Katzen with lots of help from Lisa Desberg. The money raised went to the Adeline B. Watnick Religious School Children’s Fund which pays for enrichment programs for our families including the popular Family Connection. Holiday celebrations included a Model Seder and a very enjoyable Purim Carnival run by Larry Jacobs. Each grade level participates in a Friday night service and the Religious School Director, Debra Levasseur participates in Tot Shabbats. Our goals for next year include increasing the membership on the committee, continuously reviewing and updating our security policies with help from David Belsky, and revising our mission statement. Our school has shown slow but steady growth under the leadership of Mrs. Levasseur. We are proud of the dedicated staff that not only teaches our children to live and learn as Jews, but also sets an example of how to truly live your life according to Jewish principals. We thank them for their outstanding efforts on behalf of the youth of Temple Emanu-El. Respectfully submitted, Rita L. Harris, Chair

Religious Practices Committee Annual Report 2013

The Religious Practices Committee was very productive this past year. The committee met to discuss and resolve three important issues for the community. First, the committee decided to change the way we read the Torah each week at Saturday morning Shabbat services. Previously, we would read the beginning of each weekly Parsha, and occasionally move around through the Parsha to find the important passages and stories. The net effect of this is that we would generally read the same sections of each Parsha each week, and not read the other sections of each Parsha. The committee decided to change the method to the Triennial method, where we read 1/3 of each Parsha each week, taking three years to read the entire Torah. In keeping with other Reform congregations who have adopted this method, we are currently reading the last 1/3 of each weekly Parsha. The net effect of this change is that, while we no longer read just certain passages from the Torah, we now read the last 1/3 of each Parsha in its entirety, so we are constantly reading and learning unfamiliar passages. This has led to many lively discussions during the Torah-reading section of the service, as we find new, interesting items to study. The second issue discussed by the Religious Practices Committee was whether our community’s true pastoral strength is in the Friday night services or the Saturday morning services. While Temple Emanu-El strives to serve many constituencies by offering both Reform and Conservative liturgies and different services, as a Reform congregation, our direction should be toward the Reform Friday Evening service. To that end, the committee decided to put more energy in strengthening the Friday Evening service and to work on ways to ,make this service more fulfilling and more interesting to a larger part of our community. The ultimate goal is to increase the attendance at these services. This, of course, will be done by offering more theme-type services to appeal to members of the community and to offer more variety in the way the services are presented, also designed to increase member interest in attendance. This will be an ongoing project into the future. Finally, the third issue discussed by the committee is whether to revamp our Purim service. Purim used to be one of jewels of Temple Emanu-El, but in recent years attendance has waned. This is unfortunate, as Purim is designed to be the most fun evening service of the entire calendar. One suggestion, which is being pursued, is to replace the costume parade with a Purim Spiel, or funny skit designed to tell the Purim story in a silly, joke-filled manner. The concept has taken hold at many congregations around the country and, given enough time for rehearsal, could also work here in Haverhill. The committee will continue to work on this idea and attempt to develop it enough to make a presentation at Purim, 2014. Respectfully submitted, Kevin R. Miller, Chair, Religious Practices Committee

Annual Report Rabbi Ira L. Korinow

May 5, 2013 • 25 Iyar 5773

As always, our Annual Meeting falls during Sifirat Ha-Omer, the seven weeks, or more precisely, the 50 days, between the second night of Passover and the Festival of Shavuot. It is during this time that the Torah instructs us concerning the counting of the omer. It is traditionally a time of mourning and thus, subdued celebration. The Talmud states that during the time of Rabbi Akiva, 24,000 of his students died from a divine-sent plague during the counting of the Omer. The Talmud then goes on to say that this was because they did not show proper respect to one another, befitting their level; they begrudged each other the spiritual levels attained by their comrades.

After the death of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students, he taught just five students, among them Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who went on to become the greatest teacher of Torah in his generation.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is purported to have authored the Zohar, the major text of Kabbalah, Jewish Mysticism, although most critical scholars consider it the work of the 13th century Jewish writer Moses de Leon. According to tradition, on the day of bar Yochai's death, he revealed the deepest secrets of the Kabbalah. Indeed these days are seen as a celebration of the giving of the hidden, mystical Torah through Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, as a parallel to Shavuot, which celebrates the giving of the revealed Torah through Moses. There is a source in the Kabbalah that Moses was reincarnated as Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai to give this mystical element of the Torah to the Jewish people. I’ll come back to Sefirat Ha-Omer in a moment.

Each year, this Annual Meeting gives me the time to reflect on how have I used my rabbinate to fulfill my goals of bringing Judaism into the lives of everyone in our congregation. With the help of the committee chairs and other tireless members of the congregation, together we strive to make Temple Emanu-El a strong congregation in the three traditional roles of the synagogue: as a beit tefilah, a house of prayer, a beit midrash, a house of study and a beit knesset, a house of gathering.

The year 5773 has been a year of strengthening our commitment to Judaism and the Jewish people by expressing that commitment in our congregation in all three areas. Our members again have had the opportunity to bring a beit tefilah, a beit midrash and a beit knesset into their lives.

As a beit tefilah, a house of prayer, Temple Emanu-El strives to meet the spiritual needs of its members of diverse Jewish backgrounds. Our use of different siddurim, different prayerbooks, reflects the pluralism in our community and our commitment to k’lal Yisrael, the oneness and unity of the Jewish people. Our continued use of the revised version of Siddur Sim Shalom, the prayerbook of the Conservative movement for our Shabbat morning and festival services reflects part of our diversity. For several years now we have been also using the new Reform Siddur, Mishkan T’filah, the siddur of our the Reform movement. Both siddurim incorporate gender-inclusive language in the Hebrew and gender-neutral language in the English and together both siddurim reflect the diversity of religious practice in our Temple community.

Under the direction of our cantorial soloist, Mindy Harris, the Temple Emanu-El Makheila (choir) continues to meet regularly. They sang on the High Holy Days, at the annual Martin Luther King service, at our Annual Yom Ha-Shoah Community Service and the Makheila is busy preparing for the Annual Membership Recognition Service (which includes the installation of new Board members and the tribute to our Volunteer of the Year) on May 31st at 7:00 pm. The choir has diminished in the number of participants, so I know that Mindy will welcome new voices to join the choir. If you’re interested in a wonderful spiritual experience, contact Mindy about becoming a member of the Temple Emanu-El Makheila.

Mindy tutors our Bar/Bat Mitzvah students and co-leads the Shabbat morning service of each Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Each young person has told me how much they enjoy studying with Mindy and having her help lead services on their special day. Of course, Mindy participates in our holiday services on which Yizkor, personal prayers in memory of our loved ones, is recited – our next one being on the 2nd day of Shavuot, Thursday, May 16th at 9:30 am.

A few years ago, we amended our religious practice of having services on the 2nd day of yom tov, that is days on which work is traditionally prohibited. While the Temple Office would remain closed, we decided to no longer hold religious services on those days on which the majority of Diaspora Jewry considers to be yom tov. Specifically, I am speaking about the 2nd day of Sukkot, the day of Simchat Torah and the 2nd day of Passover. Now we are faced with another dilemma – the status of religious services on the first day of yom tov; specifically, the 1st day of Sukkot, the 1st and 7th days of Passover and the 1st day of Shavuot. It has been very difficult having a service on those days and those who do come are doing so because they feel they need to in order for the service to take place and not because they want to. (There are less than a handful who really “want to.” We do have at least a minyan on the three days of yom tov on which Yizkor is recited, namely on Shemini Atzeret (the 8th day of Sukkot), the 8th day of Passover and the 2nd day of Shavuot. Our Religious Practices Committee should meet to determine what direction we should take as a congregation on the days of yom tov on which we have a problem. This is not a problem unique to Temple Emanu-El. Many congregations, especially in the Reform movement are grappling with this problem.

In the area of Religious Practices, our Tot Shabbat program continues. The children along with their parents and, in some cases, older siblings and in some cases grandparents enjoy being together and they enjoy the fine programming done by Debbi Levasseur.

As a beit midrash, Temple Emanu-El offered its members many opportunities to study this year. From the Sunday morning adult education lectures (with breakfast), to the continuing Basic Judaism Class, the annual class on Learn Hebrew In Less Than a Week and the weekly Shabbat Shiur (Torah Study Class), there are many opportunities to study. The Shabbat Shiur enjoys studying Parashat Ha-Shavua, the weekly Torah portion, often on the subject raised in the weekly Shavuon which I send to everyone in the community whose e-mail address I have. Once a month, the Shabbat Shiur becomes the Israel Chavurah during which we discuss issues concerning Israel and the Middle East and on which we often have heated discussions as everyone who feels passionately about the issue at hand shows why he or she should be Prime Minister of the State of Israel! The next Israel Chavurah is scheduled for May 25th.

This year’s Sunday morning Adult Education series began in October with the movie, “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story” narrated by Dustin Hoffman. We had as a guest in this room, Martin Abramowitz, the Founder and CEO of Jewish Major Leaguers which has produced the collector’s set of Jewish player baseball cards that are now at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Martin Abramowitz introduced the film and took questions and led a discussion after its screening.

In November, we participated in the 3rd Annual Global Day of Jewish Learning, joining with hundreds of communities world-wide studying Jewish texts on the Jewish concepts of blessing and gratitude. We are currently exploring our possible participation in the 2013 Global Day of Jewish Learning in November.

In December, Adult Education Committee Co-Chair Fred Feldman led a workshop on “Advanced Jewish Genealogy: Hands-On Preserving Precious Documents.” With the help of committee member Douglas Cannon, Fred converted over 200 documents and photographs that attendees brought into digital form which they could then put on their computers at home or into web-based storage sites on line.

In February, we welcomed back Haverhill and Temple Emanu-El’s “Favorite Son,” best-selling author Larry Tye who spoke to us on his latest book, Superman: The High-Flying History of America’s Most Enduring Hero. His presentation, “Superman: Who Knew He Was Jewish?” included a special presentation to our own Super Man, Life President of Temple Emanu-El, Stuart Mandell.

In March, we had a speaker from JCAM, the Jewish Cemetery Association of Massachusetts speak to us about “Tracing Jewish Roots Along the River Mystic.”

In April, the Adult Education Committee presented Night Words: A Midrash on the Holocaust, the dramatic reading by Professor David Roskies presented by 36 readers in November 2011 here in our Temple on the occasion then of the observance of Kristallnacht. On April 7th, the eve of Yom Ha-Shoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), 36 readers, mostly from our Temple, presented this dramatic reading on the campus of Merrimack College. That program received much publicity through its co-sponsor, the Center

for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations. Haverhill Community TV was present to tape the production and is being shown this week and next on channel 22 in Haverhill, and can be viewed through live streaming on the Internet at HaverhillCommunityTV.org.

On May 19th at 9:30 A.M. the final Adult Education Program will feature Laurie Tishler Mindlin, Executive Director of the Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation who will speak about her recent trip to visit the little-known-about Jewish community of Cuba.

Once again, adult members of the congregation were invited to attend the Family Education adult classes for parents in Grades 3 & 4 taught by myself and by Gail (Korinow). Gail’s class this year was about “Family Mishigas in the Bible” while my class was on “Jewish Views of Life After Death.” The topics of these classes are announced in the weekly Shavuon and everyone in our community is invited to attend.

Please read Fred Feldman’s comprehensive description of our Adult education this year in his Adult Education Committee report for even more details on the year’s programs.

Finally, as a beit knesset, a house of gathering, Temple Emanu-El is a place where Jewish identity and Jewish values are expressed by the many opportunities to become involved. This year the Social Committee chaired by Mindy Lichtman once again helped organize our annual Yom Kippur Break-Fast, Chanukah party and the Super Raffle, the important major fundraiser this year. The Committee also helped make latkes for the Chanukah party and baked hamantaschen for our Purim celebration.

The Chesed Committee, chaired by Sharyn Russell has successfully helped Temple members in time of need through its sacred work. The Chesed Committee has successfully helped many home-bound members of Temple Emanu-El feel a part of our caring community. The Chesed Committee this year once again helped the Social Committee to make latkes on Chanukah and hamantaschen on Purim. They then delivered the latkes and hamantaschen to home-bound members of the Temple. The Chesed Committee encourages everyone to make use of the Temple Directory, easily accessed on the Home Page of our Temple website, under the drop-down menu under “Membership.” If you do not know the password, contact Nancy in the Temple Office and she will gladly give it to you. If you are interested in helping the Chesed Committee in its sacred work, call the Temple Office or Sharyn Russell directly.

For nearly a year, we had living in our community a refugee family seeking political asylum from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Kapanga-Ndjibu family has become an integral part of our community participating weekly in our Shabbat morning service, often in our Friday evening services and bringing their daughter, Sardoine, to TAPT, our pre-school class for toddlers, each Sunday morning. Although they have relocated to Brookline recently to be able to be closer to much needed refugee support services, they continue to consider Temple Emanu-El as their Jewish community. The Chesed Committee has also been quite active in helping Wilson, Naomi, Sardoine (almost 4) and Jasper Joseph (almost 2) to meet their many needs while they were living here and continue to do so, albeit to a lesser degree, since they moved almost one month ago.

This brings me to my next point. By a unanimous vote of the officers of Temple Emanu-El, Sharyn Russell has been selected as our “Volunteer of the Year” and will be honored during our Membership Recognition and Installation Service on Friday evening, May 31st at 7:00 P.M.. Sharyn, with the technical assistance of Chesed Committee member Fred Feldman, is working hard on making volunteer work easy to access for all members of Temple Emanu-El through our own web page of a fabulous web-based service called Lotsa Helping Hands. Now everyone in Temple Emanu-El will be able to contribute to our caring community by easily volunteering with just a click of the mouse. See the letter from me sent out to the community for more information on how to get started on Lotsa Helping Hands. Mark your calendars now – be here on May 31st to honor our Volunteer of the Year, Sharyn Russell!

That same evening, I will have the opportunity to install the new members of the Board of Directors. At this time I want to commend Lynn Dreyfuss Martin who has served our congregation as its President during this, her first of a two year term. Please join me in expressing our thanks for her leadership and the leadership of our Temple Executive Committee and Board of Directors.

Finally, I want to thank the staff of Temple Emanu-El for being the team players that they are and that make our congregation quite unique. Nancy LaFleur works tremendously hard in her position as Temple Administrator. As Religious School Principal, Debbi Levasseur works timelessly to make sure that our Religious School children have a quality Jewish education in a fun and caring environment. Both Nancy and Debbi work hard in their positions. I appreciate all that they do to help me, even as I appreciate all the hard work that Cheryl Hill, our Religious School Administrative Assistant, and that Kim Giannopoulos does as our Bookkeeper.

Now, as promised, back to Sefirat Ha-Omer. Traditionally, beginning on the 2nd night of Passover during the seder, this period of the omer is counted – 50 days until the major holiday of Shavuot. However, this countdown is far from typical. At this time of the year, children (and many teachers, too!) count down until the end of the school year. Only 24 days until summer vacation. Then, only 23 days until summer vacation and so on… However, the countdown to Shavuot during the Sefirat Ha-Omer is not a count-down, but rather it is a count-up. At the 2nd seder we say, “This is the 1st day of the Omer.” On the next evening we say. “This is the 2nd day of the Omer” and so on… Why do we count up to Shavuot and not count down? As you’d expect, the rabbis had an answer! They said that in matters of kedusha (holiness), we only increase in number and never decrease. (Similarly, the rabbis ruled in favor of Hillel who said we should light one candle on the 1st night of Chanukah, 2 on the 2nd night etc… while Shammai said we should light 8 candles the 1st night, 7 the 2nd night and so on. We follow the way of Hillel because, as the rabbis said, in this matter of kedusha, we increase in number and not decrease.)

At this time of the year, during these sacred days, I am pleased to report that our congregation is increasing not only in membership, but increasing in active participants in many walks of Temple life.

Thus, it is appropriate to conclude with the ritual of reciting the blessing for counting the omer, as we traditionally do during these 7 weeks between Passover and Shavuot. In reciting it, we do so counting the many blessings that we have as a community of committed Jews to the survival of our people. (Please rise.)

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheynu Melech ha-olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu al sefirat ha-

omer. Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who has sanctified us through commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.

Hayom arbaim yom she-haym chamisha shavuot v’chamisha yom la-omer. Today is the 40th day, which is 5 weeks and 5 days of the Omer.

May we at Temple Emanu-El continue to go from strength to strength!

Treasurers Report Annual Membership Meeting 2013

Dear Temple Members; This year has essentially been a repeat of last year. Last year, our combined billed income (dues, past dues, religious school items) was around $217,000 through March. This year that total is $216,000. However, an area that is often discussed and sometimes criticized has excelled this year. Despite the continued economic conditions, our fundraising has gone from $85,701 last year to $139,181 this year. The telethon, our one recurring fund raising activity, brought in, as of April 22, $17,321. This is almost the same amount as last year, which ended at $18,278. Since we have just sent a follow up appeal, we probably will meet or exceed what we did last year. The biggest bump came from the incredible response we had to raising funds for our new boiler. The new boiler cost us $80,000. Our members generously responded by making gifts totaling $79,000 to cover this. Or major fundraising effort for the year, the super raffle, did not quite deliver the profit we had hoped for. The raffle raised a net of around $5,000, but the time and effort required to get the $5,000 brings into question as to whether we would want to do it again. Last year we had the Rabbi’s event, which netted a profit of $25,000. Expenses for the year have risen approximately $6,000. Increases in personnel and other costs have been offset by a huge reduction in our heating bill. The change from oil to gas has reduced our bill by close to $20,000 through March. Unfortunately we are still on target to run a deficit of about $25,000 for the year. Keep in mind that the boiler expense and the money raised to cover that expense are not included in the profit and loss computation. The boiler was a capital expense that is accounted for outside of this report. Currently we owe Pentucket Bank $134,000. Last year at this time we owed the bank $154,000. While this is partially good news, keep in mind that we have got to pay the bank off come October, and be out of the bank for 30 days. This fiscal year we relied upon the generosity of two Temple members to provide us with $90,000 as a bridge loan to pay off the bank. We also liquidated $54,000 from the endowment fund for this purpose. While the members have been paid back, we can’t keep relying upon them to bail us out. We have not even attempted to pay back the endowment fund. Thank you! Respectfully submitted, Larry Cowan Treasurer

May, 2013 Youth Committee Report

Haverhill Emanu-El Federation of Temple Youth (HEFTY) (grades 8-12) Temple Emanu-El Junior Youth (TEJY) (grades 5-7)

To the Members of Temple Emanu-El: This year, we had seven Executive Board members and 15 paid Regional members in our senior Hefty youth group with Advisor Jesse Kamien to whom we are grateful for his devotion and guidance. Each year, an improvement goal/s is set. This year’s goal was organization and enhanced programming, which was considered for each program. Some highlights include:

Hayride, Havdallah and S’mores at Smolak Farm, 12-15 participants

Dinner and Shear Madness comedy in Boston

Social Action baking night where desserts were sold the following morning at a bake sale and proceeds donated toward the new Temple boiler

Annual shul-in with “Jews in Entertainment” theme. Along with some of the usual favorite games, charades was played acting out famous Jewish entertainers

Shabbaton weekend with the 7th graders in the White Mountains at Jesse’s house for Shabbat rituals, games, swimming, sledding, etc.

NH Jewish Film Festival, Jews in Toons

Creative Service with “Jews in Entertainment” theme At the time of this writing, we are looking forward to the next event at Wasabi Hibachi Grill restaurant in Salem, NH. Finally, the annual end-of-year barbeque will be at Jesse’s home where the 2013-2014 Executive Board will be voted in. Throughout the year, several Heftyites attended NFTY Regional Conclavette weekends, dances, and Board meetings representing our Temple while meeting and interacting with Jewish youth from other communities. The weekly Wednesday “snack shack” where snacks are sold to Religious School children continued to be a success and small source of fundraising. Many thanks go to the Koffman family for their generous donation of the snacks. Purim carnival food sale brought in a few extra dollars, but was more of a service to the Temple. Heftyites also assisted the Religious School/Temple with Sukkah decorating, blood drive, Chanukah party, basket auction, and recycling program. Our younger youth group (TEJY) was not active this year. The Merrimack Valley Jewish Federation did not run any programs and it is difficult to find volunteers to plan and implement programs. In conclusion, I must recognize the commitment of our Advisor, Jesse Kamien, parents and Youth Committee members whose input at meetings, willingness to drive and/or chaperone events when needed, and general support of our children are invaluable. For next year, an attempt will be made to break down the Youth Chair responsibilities in order to spread some tasks amongst Committee members. As always, I look forward toward planning next year as we continue to build on the strengths of our youth, our future leaders. Cordially, Trudy Zakin Youth Commissioner