THE FALLING LEAVES
The falling leaves
Drift by the window
The autumn leaves
Of red and gold.
Autumn Leaves, adapted from the French song “Les Feuilles Mortes,” by Johnny Mercer
Yes, summer is on the way to becoming a distant memory, the High Holiday season a more recent one and a distinct chill is taking over for the warm weather experienced into early-October. Yes, fall is finally here in all its splendor as the foliage shows off its beauty with an unimaginable display of color and we begin to think about what always seems to follow … winter (UGH!). But on the horizon is also a new season of programs, lectures, Hebrew classes, dinners and other reasons to join with your fellow MJCers for the camaraderie that makes the Malverne Jewish Center so special.
And Rabbi Elkodsi and Pat Sach’s Program Committee have been working extra hard to give us more reasons to get together, with an array and variety of programs guaranteed to, as that say, provide something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for something spiritual, educational, motivational or just plain fun, you’ll find it at MJC.
So, plan on joining us and making certain you keep up with what’s happening by checking out our website (MalverneJewishCenter.org), looking for our announcement flyers, reading this informative Newsletter or doing it the old-fashioned way by just calling the office.
On a more serious note, we’ve been experiencing a serious problem getting a Minyan for Shabbat and even Yom Tov services. I’ve written about this before, but due to illnesses and other reasons, we haven’t made much headway in improving the situation.
As I’ve indicated in the past, this situation not only makes it difficult to experience the kind of Jewish service we should expect, but it fails as well to provide our friends with the community required to say Kaddish to honor a loved one. If for no other reason, we owe it to them and to ourselves to make every effort to attend services so that we may all exercise our Jewishness in the proper manner.
I also want to remind our members that if a lack of convenient transportation is preventing you fromattending services or our events, we have arranged for taxi service at no cost to you. All it takes is a phonecall to the taxi company (make certain to have our account number available) and we’ll even arrange to get you home.
In the interest of full disclosure however, I must tell you that we’ve experienced some difficulties recently regarding unacceptable waiting times. Jaci has worked with the taxi company to resolve these problems and we plan to monitor their performance. But you are still encouraged to call the taxi company at least an hour (preferably more) in advance of your trip to arrange for pick-up.
Finally, I’d like to mention a word about the improvements we’ve been making to our space. I’m sure you’ll agree that the new ceiling and LED lighting have improved the Berger Room, both cosmetically and utility-wise, allowing us the ability to read the written page without the eyestrain we’ve gotten used to.
Even covering the mirror gave our self-conscious congregants considerable comfort during High Holiday services. And as I indicated during my High Holiday remarks, there’s more to come as we work to improve the appearance and comfort of the Berger Room and the Chapel. In line with this, we welcome and encourage your suggestions.
So, as the days grow long and soon [we’ll] hear old winter’s song, make it much more bearable (and even enjoyable) by spending them with your friends at the Malverne Jewish Center. We look forward to spending them with you.
Dave Feldman, President
