This was created as a ‘Featured Article’
Irwin Friedman
About Irwin Friedman
Posts by Irwin Friedman:
Social Action
Annual Food Drive and Ongoing Hunger Relief Efforts:
BYBS members begin the Jewish New Year with an annual food drive. The food collected goes to local food pantries and The Ark’s kosher food pantry. The blue barrel in our entryway lets members drop off donations for distribution to local agencies on a regular basis. BYBS is a Mazon Partner Congregation.
South Suburban PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter):
Our members, from b’nei mitzvah students with their parents through our most senior members work together once a month to serve the homeless population in our midst. A choice of volunteer opportunities is available, from purchasing or cooking food, serving meals, setting up and manning the overnight shelter.
Cancer Support Center, Annual Walk of Hope:
BYBS fields a team of walkers for this community-wide event to raise funds and awareness for the Canter Support Center.
Hanukkah Toy Drive:
School families and the larger congregation donate toys for distribution to needy families through our local JUF social services office.
Spaghetti Dinner and Dessert Auction:
School families organize and run this event for the entire congregation. Delicious desserts are auctioned at a premium, with funds donated to a charity chosen by our school.
Blood Drives:
BYBS organizes and hosts blood drives several times throughout the year.
Worship
Our worship at B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom is a living ritual in which members participate actively, and friends and guests are warmly welcomed. We hold Shabbat services both on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings with a Torah reading and learning on Saturday morning (for details and service times, click on the Shabbat link).
There is an Oneg Shabbat on most Friday nights. Often we have a program after service on Friday or Saturday, which may be adult education or a special guest speaker, sometimes with a light Kiddush lunch on Saturday. One Saturday a month, we have Bible & Bagels, an informal discussion of the week’s Torah portion and/or another interesting topic.
For High Holy Days, we follow Reform practice, but we observe both the first and second days of Rosh Hashanah.
As an active part of the tight-knit South Suburban Jewish community, we hold combined services several times a year with the other neighboring synagogues and those in northern Indiana, both Reform and the Conservative.
Funeral Plan
Our congregation has arranged for a standard funeral plan to be available to our members and their immediate families (including parents and children) on an optional basis. A phone call will initiate this procedure and spare the grieving family the burdens of planning a funeral, selecting a funeral director, choosing a casket and deciding on the amount to be spent on the loved one’s burial. Regardless of what time of day or night, Chicago Jewish Funerals will have a funeral director personally assist the family and meet with them at their home, hospital or any location the family requests. Every congregant served by Chicago Jewish Funerals will be cared for with the utmost dignity and respect.
The program has been designed with Chicago Jewish Funerals and offers the following:
- Professional services of funeral director and staff
- Custodial and general care of remains
- Transfer of remains from place of death
- Hearse/Graveside transfer vehicle
- Staff and equipment for chapel, graveside or synagogue service
- Simple, dignified, dark stained, semi-oval traditional wood casket
- Muslin shroud (if selected)
- Register book
- Shiva and Yizkor candles, k’riah ribbons, service folders, acknowledgement cards
Limousine, newspaper notices, death certificates are available at an additional charge. This plan does not include cemetery charges.
A staff member of Chicago Jewish Funerals will go the family’s house to make funeral or pre-need arrangements.
Contact the rabbi and the temple office, and in the event of a late hour call, please phone Chicago Jewish Funerals directly at (847) 229-8822, and advise them that you are calling in connection with the B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom funeral program.
Life Cycle
Baby naming: We welcome babies into the covenant of the people Israel and give them a Hebrew name through ceremonies held at home or in the synagogue.
Brit Milah: The Covenant of Circumcision, is held on the eighth day of a boy’s life. Our rabbi can assist families in finding a mohel (person trained in performing circumcisions) and with the ceremony. Naming for boys can also take place at shabbat services.
Girls are welcomed into the covenant (without a surgical procedure) at a special ceremony for family and friends or at shabbat services in the synagogue.
Consecration: This is a ceremony to welcome our newest students into our Religious School. Held on Sukkot or Simchat Torah, children entering first grade or beginning their studies in our school are called to the bimah (pulpit) to recite the Sh’ma (a statement of God’s unity) and receive a certificate and a miniature Torah scroll. We celebrate this moment to indicate to children and their families the value and importance of Jewish education.
Bar/Bat Mitzvah: At the age of 13, Jewish children become Bar- (for a boy) or Bat- (for a girl) Mitzvah. This means that they are of the age that they can take responsibility for performance of mitzvot – commandments or Jewish obligations. At BYBS, the ceremony marking this occasion takes place within the Shabbat morning service. The bar/bat mitzvah helps conduct the service and is called to the Torah for the first time.
Formal bar and bat mitzvah preparation begins the year prior to the ceremony. It is our goal to focus on Jewish values and make the study and ceremony meaningful for the student and family. Students attend a weekly trope (cantillation) class on Shabbat morning and stay for Shabbat services following the lesson. The rabbi holds several family education sessions throughout the year for students and parents. During Hebrew School, students receive individual tutoring on their assigned Torah and Haftarah portions. The Hebrew School curriculum covers the basic prayers required to lead the service. Independent practice outside of religious school is expected and necessary. Students and families are encouraged to engage in a mitzvah project meaningful to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah student. The rabbi helps each student prepare a d’var torah (speech explaining and interpreting the portion). During this year, we hope each family will explore basic principles and traditions of Judaism at home, within the B’nai Yehuda Beth Sholom community and the greater Jewish community.
For more information about Bar/Bat Mitzvah, go to:
http://urj.org/kd/_temp/BD2F80AF-EE07-914C-6AAAB09812D699B1/mcount.pdf
Confirmation: This ceremony at the end of 10th grade marks the students’ affirmation of Jewish beliefs and practices. It usually takes place on or near Shavuot, the festival commemorating the giving of Torah at Mount Sinai. The Confirmation Class conducts the service and shares their interpretations of some aspect of Judaism and Jewish learning.
Marriage: We rejoice with happy couples and seek to help them establish Jewish homes. Our rabbi is available for pre-marital counseling, and enjoys officiating at wedding ceremonies. Many couples like to have an aufruf – a pre-nuptial blessing in the synagogue on a Shabbat prior to their wedding.
Death: When there is a loss in our temple family, we respond as a community. Some of our members choose to hold a funeral service at the temple, while others prefer a funeral chapel or graveside service.
Music
The Klezmedics is a group of professional people who love music. The group is made up of eight men and two women. The name Klezmedics is a play on words because most of the group’s members are physicians. The Klezmedics has a large repertoire of songs from Yiddish origins as well as some more contemporary Jewish and Hebrew melodies.
They have played at many of our temple functions, such as Deli Night and Music Shabbat, and also at weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs. The Klezmedics have played at a Chanukah Party in Glencoe, Illinois, a temple anniversary in South Haven, Michigan, and a temple fund raiser in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They have also performed at Flossmoor Fest, Walk for Israel, the URJ Regional Biennial in Milwaukee, as well as luncheons for Jewish organizations.
The Klezmedics is directed by Jim Mollin, who also arranges most of the music and plays piano. The other members include Megan Heng – baritone, John Kern – saxophone, Joel Cahan – clarinet and vocals, David Gottlieb – clarinet, Jeremy Marks – percussion, Allan Ruby – violin, Matthew Lipman – viola, Mike Anger – guitar and banjo, and Gae Mollin – synthesized bass. The group has recently released a CD called “Just for Fun.” This collection of their favorite numbers is available at the temple gift shop. For more information call Jim Molllin at 708-891-5160.