Men's Club Events & News

Before discussing current happenings, I would like to
make a correction to last month’s article regarding Purim. Several
volunteers from the Men's Club helped with Purim setup,
manning the liquor bar, helping with the ice cream sundae bar,
and assisting with clean up. I would like to acknowledge and
thank the following Men's Club members: Seth Arbital, Harold
Farin, Alan Gabel, Rick Robinson, Mark Rosenthal, Howard
Schornstein, and Ivan Sokoloff. It gives me a source of pride
that whenever asked, Men’s Club volunteers are always ready to
step up and help.
Last month we commemorated Yom Hashoah. I hope
you all lit your Yellow Candles to honor the memories of those
who perished in the Shoah. Thank you to all who made donations.
As is our tradition, all the net proceeds will be donated to
CHHANGE (The Center for Holocaust and Human Right &
Genocide Education) at Brookdale.
Looking to this month, May is a month for celebrating
Israel. On May 1st, we are co-sponsoring “Israeli Music Live”
with the Men’s Clubs of East Brunswick Jewish Center and
Temple Beth Ohr. Josh and Mairov Shron, a husband and wife
radio team, have been inspiring a deepened connection to Israel
through Israeli music since they attended Rutgers in the 1990s.
They will be the guest speakers, hosted at East Brunswick Jewish
Center. I am so excited that we are once again working with
other Men’s Clubs across our Jewish community.
May 4th is Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israel Independence Day.
The following Saturday, on May 7th, TBA celebrates Israel with
our special Israel Shabbat Service and Luncheon. The Men’s
Club is a top tier sponsor of this Israel Shabbat. I am looking
forward to sharing the celebration of Israel with all of you.
Thank you to the Israeli Affairs committee for all their efforts
for this Shabbat, and for their continued efforts promoting our
connection with Israel.
Later in the month, on Sunday, May 22nd, New York
City will host this year’s Celebrate Israel Parade. In the past,
the Men’s Club, led by Ira Stein, has coordinated TBA’s representation
in the parade. We have been lucky that the Jewish
Federation in the Heart of New Jersey was able to subsidize the
costs of transportation to and from New York City. Unfortunately,
they are unable to do so this year, and the costs have
significantly risen. We are exploring ways to obtain the funds to
allow us to participate in the parade, without putting too much
of a burden on the those who want to participate. Please look
for email announcements about the parade. I am hoping we will
be able to find a way to participate this year.
Looking forward to June, we will be hosting our Men’s
Club Shabbat and installation on Friday, June 10th. This is always
a fun and inspiring service. I urge you to please try to
attend. Rick Robinson is currently working with the Rabbi on
planning this service. Please contact Rick Robinson with any
questions or if you are a current Men’s Club member and would
like to participate.
As a final reminder, if you have not already purchased
your raffle ticket, please consider doing so. The cost is $20 per
ticket, and first prize is $1800. A portion of the proceeds from
this raffle go directly to support our Men’s Club. I will once
again quote our current Religious/Education Chair and Past
President, Rick Robinson: “A donation to the Men’s Club is a
donation to TBA.” Thank you for your continued support of
the Men’s Club and helping us to help our TBA community

I was so excited that our Purim Megillah reading was
onsite, with all the celebratory activities. It was very nice that
our Religious School and Preschool were able to participate in
our scaled down Purim Carnival. Let’s hope next year we can
be back to the full carnival we are known for. Thank you to the
Men’s Club volunteers who helped with the bar and the ice
cream sundae bar on Erev Purim: Seth Arbital, Harold Farin,
Alan Gabel, Rick Robinson, Mark Rosenthal, and Ivan Sokoloff.
And thank you to Rob Goldfarb for ensuring that the
streaming was available for those that could not attend the
Megillah reading in person.
This past month, the Men’s Club donated a second
WiFi extender, located in the library to allow for better signal
for those utilizing Zoom for our daily minyan.
Last month we hosted the latest in our virtual tours,
Ukraine. Thank you to our main sponsor, Ira Stein, and for
those who donated to help sponsor this program: Stu and JoAnn
Abraham and Seth Pollack. Our tour guide, Jacob Shoshan,
took us through the Jewish Communities of Ukraine, prior to the
Russian invasion. We all pray that this war will end soon, and
Ukraine can start to rebuild. We also look forward to bringing
future virtual tours to the temple.
Please remember to light the yellow candles that Men’s
Club provided in your Purim Baskets on the Erev Yom Hashoah,
Wednesday, April 27th. Please consider making a donation to
the Yellow Candle Program. The letter that came with the candle
explains how to donate. All proceeds after cost will go to
the Center for Holocaust, Human Rights and Genocide Education
(CHHANGE) at Brookdale College.
Rick Robinson is currently planning the Men’s Club
Shabbat, scheduled for Friday, June 10th at 8:00 PM. This service
will be followed by a Men’s Club sponsored Oneg. In
addition, we will be installing our new Men’s Club officers. If
you are a Men’s Club member, and would like to participate in
our Men’s Club Shabbat, please contact Rick Robinson. For all,
please save the date.
We are also in the process of planning some other fun
events. Please stay tuned for announcements. And if you have
any ideas for future programs, please let us know.
As a final reminder, we are selling raffles for the
Northern NJ Region of Jewish Men’s Clubs. The cost is $20 per
ticket. A portion of the proceeds from this raffle go directly to
our Men’s Club, which allows us to better support the temple. I
will quote our current Religious/Education Chair and Past President,
Rick Robinson: “A donation to the Men’s Club is a donation
to TBA.” If you have not already, please consider purchasing
a raffle. We very much need your support to help us continue
to support our temple community.
On behalf of the Men’s Club Board, I wish you all a Zissen
Pesach! Enjoy celebrating with family and friends.

I cannot believe it is February already! It is almost
time for Superbowl Sunday (February 13th,) which
means it is almost time for our annual World Wide Wrap.
We are currently working on options for this program. It
appears likely we will be doing a remote program this
year, but we will be sending our communications in the
next week to let you know. Please look for emails.
Also in February, we are co-sponsoring the virtual
Paris Tour with Sisterhood on Sunday, February 20th at
11:00AM. Experience Paris’ Jewish quarter, and cultural
landmarks from the comfort of your own living room.
This is a free event, but reservations are required to get the
Zoom link. Please email: sindy.tbasisterhood@gmail.com
to reserve your spot.
On behalf of the Men’s Club, I am sorry we had to
once again postpone the Elton John Tribute concert. Due
to current Covid numbers, we had no choice. All reservation
monies have been returned. We are hopeful that we
can reschedule for the Spring. Please look for notices
about this.
We are also in the process of working on other
programs to bring our Men’s Club members together (in
person or virtually) and the temple community at large, for
some fun and meaningful experiences.

hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving celebration
with your families and are enjoying Chanukah! This
year we started eating potato latkes before we finished
the sweet potato leftovers from Thanksgiving. And holiday
shopping is rushed. It seems like a lot of stores had
“Black Friday” sales early this year to accommodate. In
past years, we have joined Sisterhood in sponsoring our
Pancake Breakfast with a basket auction that contains
many items for holiday gifts. Unfortunately, we have had
to postpone this event until later this year. Hopefully you
were able to get all your Chanukah shopping done.
As a reminder, on December 12th, we will be
honoring our Man of the Year, Rob Goldfarb, and our
Youth of the Year, Melissa Neglio, at the annual the Federation
of Jewish Men’s Club’s annual dinner at B'Nai
Tikvah in North Brunswick. Abbi Cohen and I will also
be recognized as last year’s honorees. I look forward to
celebrating with those of you who will be attending. The
RSVP date was December 1st, and due to Covid protocols,
there are no walk-ins this year.
We are taking reservations for our annual show,
“An Elton John Tribute.” This will take place on January
8, 2022 (doors open at 8PM). This is a Kosher BYOB
event, and dessert will be served. Please make your reservations
soon, as space is limited. Bring your family
and friends, as these shows are always a lot of fun. Tickets
are only $36 per person. Please reach out to Steve
Schuman or myself to RSVP.
Some additional Save the Dates –
 Sunday, February 13th – World Wide Wrap
 Friday, February 4th - Sisterhood/Men’s Club cosponsored
Scout Shabbat. Details are forthcoming.
 Sunday Feb 20th at 11:00am – Sisterhood/Men’s
Club co-sponsored virtual Paris Tour. Details are
forthcoming.
If have not yet renewed your Men’s Club membership,
this is a great time to do so. It is only $40 per
year. In addition to the programs we currently have in
the works, we are actively working on additional ideas to
engage the men of our congregation and the congregation
at large. We are also actively supporting the temple.
Sisterhood joined us in a donation of a laptop and laptop
cart for our library to enable hybrid minyans, which allows
those who cannot attend in person to attend online.
As always, please let me or one of the Men’s
Club board members know if you have any ideas, or you
would like to get more involved.

was great seeing so many people in temple over the
High Holidays. And I hope those of you that attended via live
stream were able to enjoy services as well. I personally enjoyed
the Rabbi’s sermons and how they followed a theme. He
and Cantor Goldwasser did an admirable job leading services.
I can only imagine the challenges they faced, both being brand
new to the congregation. But thanks to their diligent efforts, in
cooperation of many TBA volunteers (our High Holiday Chair
Rick Robinson in particular), the services went very smoothly,
and were very meaningful. It was unfortunate that we needed
to cancel Break Fast this year. We are looking forward to
sponsoring it next year.
We have made our first donation of the year to our
Religious School to support their Sukkot and Tu B'Shevat
programs. We have also pledged our yearly donation to
help with the temple’s operational budget.
Our Men’s Club Sukkah Squad, led by Rob Goldfarb,
once again came together on September 19th, to build our temple
Sukkah. We were hoping to co-sponsor a Sukkah event this
year with Sisterhood. However, due to rising Covid-19 numbers,
we decided to postpone this until next year.
For other programs, we are moving ahead, and will
work with the CCOTF and the EC to ensure that we follow
proper Covid-19 protocols. The events we have planned over
the next few months include:
 Tuesday October 26th - Men’s Club Paid Up Dinner.
Our guest speaker will be Alan Davis, who will present
“An Evening of Yiddish Through Song and Story.”
(We’re gonna sing a little, laugh a little, and talk a
little foolishness. Come! You’re gonna be very happy.)
Thank you Howard Schornstein for getting our speaker.
We are currently accepting RSVPs for this dinner. We are
encouraging all men at TBA to return their application and
dues and RSVP to me at smarbital@gmail.com as soon as
possible as not to miss out. At this time, we do not have a
limit on attendees, but this may change.
 Sunday October 31st – our first Sunday Brunch Speaker
for the year, An Interview with Rabbi Edelstein.” This
event will be co-sponsored with Sisterhood. Representatives
from Sisterhood and Men’s Club will interview Rabbi
Edelstein on his road to Judaism.
 Sunday, November 14th - the Sisterhood and Men’s Club
will be co-sponsoring our annual Pancake Breakfast. We
need volunteers to help out. Please notify me or Rick
Robinson (metsfan63@gmail.com) if you would like to
help with setup, cleanup, cooking, preparation, auction
basket preparation, etc.
 Saturday January 8th, - our annual Men’s Club show, A
Tribute to Elton John. This event is Kosher BYOB.
Desserts, coffee and soft drinks will be served. Flyers will
be sent via email shortly. Please do not hesitate reserving
your space once the flyers go out.
 We are starting work with the Rabbi and others to plan a
co-sponsored Sisterhood/Men’s Club Scout Shabbat in
February. Please stay tuned for future announcements on
scheduling for this.

My first year as Men’s Club president comes to a
close this month. As I reflect back on the last year, I take so
much pride in our temple and our Men’s Club. At last month’s
Men’s Club Shabbat I gave a summary of what our club has
accomplished this past year. As I wrote my speech, it made me
realize how much we accomplished, as a Men’s Club and as a
temple community.
Thank you to all the Men’s Club members who participated
in the Men’s Club Shabbat on June 4th. A special thanks
to Rick Robinson for coordinating and leading the service. I
had mentioned at the Men’s Club Shabbat, we have been recognized
by the Jewish Federation of Men’s Club with this year’s
“Quality Award.” This award is given to Clubs who demonstrate
that they have met specific criteria including: enhance
their temple and their Jewish Community, support their temple’s
religious services, promote men’s health, and support the
FJMC ideals. Only 8 clubs achieved this status in the 2020-
2021 year.
In addition, we have won two coveted “Torch
Awards” for outstanding programs. These awards are presented
to those clubs for excellence in programs and practices.
Submissions are judges from across North America and Gold,
Silver and Bronze awards are given for the top three entries
across a variety of categories. We won a Bronze and a Gold
Torch Award in the Joint Programs category. The Bronze
award was for the “Unpacking Antisemitism: How American
Jews can Confront Antisemites" multi-temple program where
my sister, Rodi Franco, gave a unique presentation of how Jews
are stereotyped, and how in America, both the far right and the
far left are united by their anti-Jewish messages, using similar
tropes. We received amazing feedback, both internally and
from others on this program. The Gold award was for the multi
-temple virtual cantorial concert, " Shirei Tikvah V’Hahavah:
Songs of Hope and Love," we hosted last summer, featuring
performance by clergy of 5 temples, including Cantor Adi
Wyner (with a special appearance by Rabbi Malik and Adi’s
daughter Rifka).
I am now looking forward this new year. We are off
to a great start. We are working with Sisterhood to bring back
our co-sponsored Pancake Breakfast. We have scheduled our
annual Men’s Club show, this year featuring an Elton John
Tribute performance for Saturday, January 8th. We are looking
forward to hosting Sunday morning brunch programs with
guest speakers again. And I am very happy that we are planning
our 2nd Men’s Club paid-up dinner for Tuesday, October
26th.
The Men’s Club Board is very excited to welcome
Rabbi Chaim Edelstein to the TBA Men’s Club Board. We
have purchased a “Wine on the Vine” to welcome Rabbi Edelstein
and his wife Audrey to our Temple, and have presented
him with a framed certificate
On behalf of the entire Men’s Club, we look forward
to seeing you all at TBA to share both services, simchas, and
wonderful programs. Next month, I will be bringing you further
details on upcoming Men’s Club programs and some of the
donations we will be making to the temple to start the year off.
In the meantime, please be on the lookout for emails and additional
details on these and other programs. And please be sure
to complete your application and send application and dues, so
you do not miss out.

I cannot believe summer is here already. Soon we will start preparing for High Holidays. This month ends my first year as TBA Men’s Club President. It went by fast, but I cannot believe what we have accomplished. I did not anticipate this type of year, when I thought about my tenure as the Men’s Club President. However, I could not be happier and more proud of our Men’s Club. We have a dedicated group of men who consistently come through. We thought out of the box, and thrived. While we were not able to have our standard Sunday morning breakfast programs, we brought engag-ing speakers virtually to TBA. We led the efforts for the first multi-temple Men’s Club program in our area’s his-tory with an uplifting Cantorial concert, followed by a unique program on antisemitism. We were instrumental, both financially and with volunteerism, in helping TBA bring outdoor and indoor Shabbat and High Holiday ser-vices to our congregation. We were one of the major do-nors for the new Sukkah canvas, and our Sukkah squad came together to ensure we had a Sukkah this year. And most of all, we found innovative ways to stay connected, and support each other in good and bad times. We are thrilled to start off this month hosting our annual Men’s Club Shabbat on Friday, June 4th. This year, we are doing a “Shabbat Under the Stars,” celebrat-ing our ability to once again come together in person to welcome Shabbat. And we are hopeful that we will soon be able to bring back our annual Dinner Show and the Sisterhood/Men’s Club Pancake Breakfast. Please moni-tor your email closely for future announcements about these and other programs. And as we do a “reboot” of TBA and start com-ing back to shul on a regular basis, we have another new beginning - our new religious leader, Rabbi Edelstein starts his tenure with us. I am personally looking forward to working as a member of the Welcome Committee, and am excited to have our new Rabbi as an active member of our Men’s Club. We will be purchasing a Wine on the Vine to welcome Rabbi Edelstein and his wife Audrey to our Temple. If you would like to purchase a vine for Rabbi Edelstein, for a celebration, or for an honor of a loved one’s memory, please let me know. Your $18 will help Israel’s wine industry and Israeli charities, in addition to supporting our club. And the family or person honored will receive a beautiful certificate (PDF included or a physical certificate mailed for a small processing fee). And if you have not already done so, please re-member to purchase your Men’s Club pride T-shirt - available for $18 per shirt. We have sizes Medium through XXL. To order please contact Rick Robinson (metsfan63@gmail.com). Your shirts will be hand deliv-ered to your home.

As we start April, we are in the midst of Passover. I want to wish everyone a Zissen Pesach. I hope you were able to join friends and family either in person or remotely at a cele-bratory Seder. As a child, I remember Passover as being my favorite holiday. From the time I was 11 years old, my parents allowed me to lead the Seder. I would make special gifts for all our guests. And some of my favorite memories are my father and the family doing his rendition of Chad Gad Yah with all the different voices. We would all end up laughing and enjoy-ing being with each other. Last month we celebrated Purim, and the Men’s Club donated Yellow Candles that were included in everyone’s Pu-rim Basket. Thank you to all who donated towards the Yellow Candles this year. We raised over $300 that will be 100% do-nated to CHHANGE (Center for Holocaust, Human Rights & Genocide Education at Brookdale). Last month we were also very fortunate to co-sponsor two virtual tours of Israel; one of the Holy City, and one of the Northern Borders. We had over 60 people attending each tour, and the feedback received was wonderful. I want to give a spe-cial thank you to both Ken Philmus and Karen Pollock for or-ganizing these tours, to Matthew Kaufman for his help with Zoom, and to all our sponsors:  Gold Sponsors: Seth & Janice Arbital, Sandy Finkelstein and Jay Turoff, Gary & Jill Fishman, Alan & Ann Gabel, Ken & Irma Philmus, Karen Pollock, Rick & Allison Rob-inson, Steve & Anne Schuman, Ivan & Carol Sokoloff,David & Monica Young, and Marvin & Ellen Winston  Silver Sponsors: Leroy & Risa Doris, Bettyann Honig, Edie Jacobs, Ruth Lipman, and Paula Pollack We look forward to working with Sisterhood and other temple arms, co-sponsoring events in the future. Upcoming Programs  On Wednesday evening, April 21st, we will be hosting a zoom presentation about the Yom Kippur War of Octo-ber 1973, where Egypt and Syria attacked Israel on two fronts. This war was pivotal in US-Israel relations The conflict resolution had a significant impact on Arab-Israeli relations, and ultimately led to permanent peace between Egypt and Israel. Our speaker is Itzhak Brook, MD, MSc from the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest. (https://embassies.gov.il/chicago/Speakers/Illinois/Pages/Itzhak-Brook.aspx). Please keep a lookout for email an-nouncements with further details and zoom registration information.  Men’s Club will be hosting a “KabbalatShabbat Under the Stars” on Friday, June 4th. This will be an outdoor ser-vice with appropriate Covid-19 Protocols (masks, social distancing, preregistration, etc.). Registration is currently open on Shul Cloud. If you are a Men’s Club member and would like to lead a prayer or reading, please notify Rick Robinson at metsfan63@gmail.com.  Our club is also working on a fun, interactive, and compet-itive scavenger hunt. We are targeting this program for the summer. Please keep your eyes peeled for detailed an-nouncements.

As I reflect on the first half of my first year as Men’s Club president, I realize how proud I am of our Temple and especially of our Men’s Club. The pandemic has definitely presented challenges, but we as a community have met them head on. And I am happy to say that our Men’s Club has played a significant role. We had wonderful and inspiring High Holiday services a few months ago; we were the only shul in our area that allowed all our congregants to participate in a safe and comfortable way to each of us. While we had to modify how we observed the holiday, we did celebrate Sukkot in the Sukkah. And we honored two wonderful people, Alan and Ann Gabel, on Simchat Torah. Over the last six months we have enjoyed sharing in simchot, and have supported those grieving or commemorating yahrzeits. A large thank you goes to both Rabbi and Adi for their tire-less efforts. Thank you to our Scenario, CCOTF, and Security & Safety committees for making the onsite ser-vices possible. Many of our Men’s Club members serve on these committees, and I personally am proud to be on two of them. Our Club has been there both in service and financially to support our temple’s COVID-19 efforts. In addition to our religious services, our Men’s Club has been instrumental in bringing many virtual pro-grams to TBA, including our multi-temple Cantorial Concert, the Antisemitism Program, co-sponsoring a Virtual Historical Visit through New York City, and most recently our TBA Trivia Night, to name a few. We are currently working on plans for a Virtual World Wide Wrap on Super Bowl Sunday, a possible Virtual Israel Tour, and other events for the second half of our fiscal year. We have brought to TBA a new way to honor someone’s memory, or to celebrate a simcha or achievement through our participation in the “Wine on the Vine” program. The recipient gets a beautiful certificate, and you are helping Israel in addition to supporting our club. While the past 6 months have presented many challenges, and the next few months will as well, I urge everyone to keep rising to the challenge, and focusing on the positives in our lives and in our TBA community. Please join our virtual programs, and when possible again, our on-site programs. Feel free to contact me or anyone from the Men’s Club Board if would like information on becoming more involved, or have any questions about the Men’s Club. We always welcome new ideas. As a reminder, we still have some TBA Men’s Club T-Shirts left. You can find the order form in the mid-month mailings and in this Shofar. Hurry and get yours. Stay safe and healthy! I look forward to seeing you shortly online and hopefully in person.

This past month our Men’s Club took part in the NJ Federation of Men’s Clubs annual Man of the Year/Youth of the Year Program. I was honored to be chosen by the Men’s Club board to be this year’s Man of the Year, and thrilled to share this honor with our Youth of the Year, Abi Cohen. This year’s program was virtual. The Federation did a wonderful job with the presentation. The recording can be found at https://www.facebook.com/michael.keats.509/videos/10218326181006717. Thank you to everyone who attended the event. A special thank you to all that made donations in honor of Abi and myself, and who took out ads in the MOY/YOY journal. Please let me know if you would like a PDF copy of the journal.

On January 18th, we will be hosting a TBA Trivia Night. This will be a free event with gift card prizes to the top 3 trivia masters. Registration will be required. A flyer will be emailed to the congregation. Please sign up as soon as you can to ensure you receive the Zoom information.

Please remember the “Wine on the Vine” pro-gram if you are looking for a great way to celebrate a sim-cha, honor someone special, or honor someone’s memory. Each vine costs $18 and the recipient is emailed a PDF version of a beautiful certificate ($5 extra for a hard copy to be mailed). Orders can be made directly from the website https://fjmc.wineonthevine.org/product/plant-vines-in-israel, or you can email me at smarbital@gmail.com for an order form.

As a reminder we are selling TBA Men’s Club T-Shirts for only $18 per shirt. We have most sizes (M, L, XL, XXL) in stock, and we can order more if needed. This is a great way to support the Men’s Club and show your pride in the TBA Men’s Club.

Have a wonderful and safe secular New Year! As always, please feel free to contact me or any-one from the Men’s Club Board if you have any questions, feedback or ideas for events. Also, please feel free to contact me if you want to get involved with our wonderful club.

Seth Arbital, Men’s Club President