President's Message
by Alex Pomerantz
I am pleased to bring greetings from the
Beth El Men's Club. First and foremost, I
would like to thank our dedicated officers and
Board of Directors who work so hard throughout
the year to ensure the success of our club.
The Beth El Men's Club had another
great year of programming and community
involvement. The following is a list of some of
the programs we were involved in:
- We hosted two brunches. One was with Nolen Fine who shared
some of his stories from his years as a referee in the NBA, and the
other was the Sunday of the Scholar-In-Residence weekend.
- We had our annual Tides game event last August which is always
a great success.
- We had a joint program with Sisterhood where we brought in an
AIPAC speaker three weeks before the national election to discuss
the issues concerning Israel and the election.
- We had our annual ODU basketball night.
- We led Friday night services at Beth Sholom Home twice this
year.
- We honored Avraham Ashkenazi as our Blue Yarmulka Man-ofthe-
Year with a fantastic brunch at Rodef Shalom.
- We had another huge crowd for bingo (about 300 people) which
raised enough funds for our club to once again increase our
financial assistance to the Religious school and the Camp
Scholarship fund.
- We helped the JCC with their Yom Ha'atzmaut day by manning
the interactive map of Israel.
- We passed out candles to Religious school, Hebrew Academy and
Beth El members for Yom Hashoah and sponsored the reading of
the names on Yom Hashoah.
- We held our annual Men's Club Shabbat where just about the
entire service was led by the Men's Club.
- ?We held a Mother's Day brunch in May and had as our speaker
Meyera Oberndorf who talked about her years in politics and the
balance of being a wife, mother, and the Mayor of Virginia
Beach.
- We continued to coordinate the weekly Shabbat greeter list.
We also added some exciting and rewarding new programs:
- In July, twenty of us went to Colonial Downs to watch the race
from an indoor viewing area. This was a nice family event.
- Fifteen of our Men's Club members cleaned up the scout room
above Myers Hall one morning.
- Thanks to Admiral Herm Shelanski, we were treated to a private
tour of the USS Harry S. Truman in February.
- We had a great joint event, with the Men's Club from Rodef
Shalom, where we went bowling and enjoyed some fellowship.
- With the leadership of Norman Soroko and the guidance from
Rabbi Tendler, the Men's Club formed a Shomrim Committee to
perform the mitzvah of sitting with the deceased and reading
psalms before burial.
These are the highlights, but as you can see, we had a very busy
and successful year.
At this time, we are still putting together our plan for the New
Year. We will continue our annual traditions such as Bingo, the Tides
and ODU games, leading services at Beth Sholom Home, helping with
Yom Hashoah and Yom Ha'atzmaut, contributing to the Religious
school and Camp Scholarship Fund and bringing in great speakers
throughout the year. I am also working with Rabbi Ruberg, Rabbi
Tendler and Cantor Piltch on how the Men's Club can enhance Jewish
life in our shul.
To keep up with all the latest Men’s Club news, please e-mail
Noelle at noelle@bethelnorfolk.com and ask to be added to our weekly
e-mail list.
If you are not currently a member of the Men’s Club, we invite
you to join. Board meetings are open to all and usually have some
great nosh, so come on by.
On behalf of all the Officers and Board of Directors, I want to
wish you and your families a very happy and healthy New Year.
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