Temple Beth El Blog

Did you know there are many ways to support social justice efforts at Temple Beth El? 

Our signature High Holy Day Food Drive has been going on for decades. This year’s drive will begin in advance of Rosh Hashanah and continue for several weeks. We work with community organizations specializing in food distribution to make sure your donations are used well. 

Temple Beth El also has a social action fund as one of our options for targeted giving. These funds are used to support social justice work at TBE, including the work of the Social Action Committee. You can make a donation online by choosing “Program – Social Action” in the drop-down menu for payment type. You can also make donations specifically for Mitzvah Day projects, as several donors did this year. Please contact Stefanie Kushner at exec@tbemadison.org or 608-238-3123 with any questions or for assistance in making a donation.

Our Religious School weaves the principles of tzedakah and tikkun olam through the curriculum for all grades, teaching students about the importance of giving and repairing our world. Students make contributions during the year to a special tzedakah fund. The older students research community needs, and then the students vote on where to send the money. This year, the organizations that received the most votes were:

• Angel’s Wish https://angelswish.org/
• Briarpatch Youth Services https://youthsos.org/
• Second Harvest Foodbank https://www.secondharvestmadison.org/

A colorful evening was enjoyed by those who attended our Pride Party and Pride Shabbat on June 9. The service was interactive, including video and music by LGBTQ+ artists and composers, questions and sharing from participants, our choir, and more. You can view the Pride Shabbat on YouTube.

Thanks to Jennifer Szlasa for making rainbow challah once again; you can find her rainbow challah recipe and see a demo online. Thanks to all who contributed colorful snacks: Lauren Schmick for rainbow pretzels, Sue Golden for rainbow cake, Paul Grossberg and Dean Ziemke for fruit, Marni Ginsberg for cheese, crackers, and rainbow tomatoes, and Sarah Benn for Fruity Pebbles treats. Thanks to Steve Lipton for all these wonderful photos.

On April 2, the Social Action Committee and UW–Madison Hillel hosted “Reclaiming Reproductive Rights: An Intergenerational Effort,” featuring an expert panel discussing the state of abortion rights in Wisconsin. 

Attended by more than 40 people, including many UW students, the panel included leaders who highlighted Jewish teachings on abortion, current legal challenges, efforts to help women access abortion care, and student perspectives, followed by spirited discussion during dinner. 

Hillel’s Rabbi Andrea Steinberger introduced the panel and praised the dialogue between TBE members and UW students. Panel members included Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, chair of the Wisconsin Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights and executive director of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice; Nicole Safar, executive director of Law Forward; Jessica Melnik, a UW student; Johanna Hatch, board member of Pregnancy Options Wisconsin: Education, Resources, & Support, Inc. (POWERS); and Rev. Terry Williams of Faith Choice Ohio, who joined the panel via a pre-recorded video.

Rabbi Margulis provided the Jewish foundation for the discussion. “While Judaism believes all life, including fetal life, is sacred, Judaism has always prioritized the actual life of the pregnant person over the potential life of the fetus when the two are in conflict,” she said. “The Reform movement has a long-standing position that the decision to continue or terminate a pregnancy should be between the pregnant person and their doctor, free of interference from the government.” 

Panel members highlighted the role that preserving democracy plays in regaining abortion rights, the work being done to help women access resources like travel, lodging, and funding for an abortion, and how students view the loss of the right to make private decisions about their bodies. 

Abortion rights will be an ongoing effort within TBE, and members are encouraged to join in this work. Please feel free to use and share this list of organizations that provide support to women seeking an abortion. 

Check back here for updates and pictures on the Israel trip led by Rabbi Biatch and Cantor Niemi

June 22, 2023

Our last full day of Israel brought us to the Jaffa Institute, a non-profit organization whose goal is to break the cycle of poverty within the Israeli society. They work with families with children, ensuring that they have nutritious meals and an opportunity to study using internet and other contemporary learning tools.

From a warehouse in the city of Jaffa, there are more than 40 institutions all over the country which intervene with children at risk, Holocaust survivors, refugees, and migrants. After hearing about their goals and mission from their development director, our group packed boxes of food destined for homes with food insufficiency. We assembled 24 boxes, each box containing approximately 25 items, which would have helped for 4 to 7 Days of food needs in the home.

Following our time at the Jaffa institute, some people walked through the city of Jaffa which is a mixed Jewish and Arab city, and other people returned to the hotel for an afternoon of free time. In addition to shopping, there was swimming in the hotel pool, bathing in the Mediterranean Sea just directly next to our hotel, sleeping and relaxing.

In the evening, we attended a farewell dinner to all members of our group at the Maganda restaurant, a Yemenite institution in Tel Aviv for more than 40 years. We offered gratitude to our guide and our driver, and the group gave many toasts to our travelers and our leaders who experienced something extraordinary these past 9 days. Tomorrow morning, we look forward to going to the airport and departing around noon. there are some members of our group who are traveling at different times, and we wish everyone a safe voyage home.

June 21, 2023

This morning, we awoke to a beautiful television sunrise, in the city that never seems to sleep. At least, that is its reputation. We were able to sleep in a little bit later and began our day with a panel discussion regarding the Palestinian Internship Program. 

This is a non-profit organization, with that designation specifically in Israel and in the United states, that helps members of the Palestinian community who are entrepreneurs to learn how to improve their business acumen and to engage in mentoring programs that increase their possibility of success. 

This program builds on business to business, and people to people, relationships. It is not supported by any government yet has been very successful in training Palestinian entrepreneurs. We heard from the executive director of this organization, one of her primary staff people in program development, and one successful graduate who lives on the West Bank and yet comes to Tel Aviv to participate in this program. 

Following this panel, we drove to Rothschild boulevard which was the center of Tel Aviv at the time of the state's independence war in 1948. We learned about the development of the initial neighborhoods of Tel Aviv outside of the city of Jaffa, and we saw Independence hall, the location of the signing of the declaration of independence, which we could not visit as it was under renovation and reconstruction.

For our lunch, we walked through the Carmel market and had special Yemenite treats including sabich and falafel. 

For the early part of our afternoon, we spoke with someone from Rainbow Tel Aviv, an organization that orients people to the LGBTQ community here. We learned that an estimated 30% of the population of Tel Aviv are members of the LGBTQ community. We learned of the difficulty of living in Israel, where prejudice against queer people runs high in the religious community, and ignorance is also part of the dynamic. However, services for LGBTQ people in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem exist to help the community.

Our evening tonight was free, with people seeing relatives, friends, and going out to local restaurants.

June 20, 2023

Today, June 20th, was quieter day at Kibbutz Ma'agan, our temporary home for the time we spent in the northern part of Israel. We departed the hotel at 8:30 a.m. and traveled the one hour and 15 minutes up into the Western Galilee hills to visit the town of Tzfat; this name by the way is a one syllable word in case you were wondering. Tzfat is the home of 16th century Jewish mystical practice and studies and remains a place where Jewish mysticism mixes with commercial art and tourism, and forms a beautiful community. Tzfat is a place where people come to find themselves.  

In Tzfat, we were hosted by Rabbi Tamara Shfirin, rabbi of a Reform synagogue in Rishon L'tziyon. Rabbi Shfirin grew up in and Orthodox household yet was forever stymied by the lack of egalitarianism. She later broke away from her family's heritage, graduated rabbinical School in the reform seminary in Jerusalem, and became a scholar of Jewish mysticism. She took us around the community today, showing us three primary homes of Jewish mystical thought, that is, three different synagogues where individuals made the difference in bringing mysticism to light. 

One of her main points was that, in every generation, reform occurs within Judaism and that which was once new may become old yet still needs to be venerated. She made the point that Jewish mysticism and Jewish mystical practices can be learned and studied and experienced, and that people need to be given the latitude to study and not be thought of as simply those in search of personal spiritual experiences. After a 2-hour tour of the town and its mystical roots, we had an hour for lunch. The day’s weather was in the low 80s, yet the sun's direct rays was quite warm on us. After an hour of lunching and shopping, we were all ready to get back on the bus for our 2-hour drive to Tel Aviv. 

We found, along the way, that our bus seems to have been having an air conditioning problem. Every once in a while, our driver needed to stop the bus and reset all of the functions. Then it cooperated for a while and we had to repeat the process. Not so terrible, but as we entered the frantic, frenetic, and start and stop traffic of Tel Aviv, it became a little worrisome. But, not to worry, buses can be repaired, and our travel group understood that flexibility, having a sense of humor, and having patience all go a long way in helping to improve one's experience.  

As we entered Tel Aviv, we immediately recognized the diverse nature of the city, though we will visit with representatives of the LGBTQ+ community tomorrow, We headed toward the neighborhood of Nachalat Binyamin, one of the few areas of first settlement outside of the tel Aviva center. In this neighborhood, there is on Tuesdays and Fridays a street art fair and we were given the time to shop for original art pieces and speak to the artisans. We then returned to check in at our hotel, Herods, where our group greeted one another and enjoyed one another's company until it was time for supper. Then individual groups found their way to restaurants or across the bike path to the beach, and people enjoyed a lovely evening on our own in North Tel Aviv adjacent to the beach. 

June 19, 2023
Many of us were up early and watched as the sun rose above the Golan heights, just above the kibbutz hotel where we are staying. The sun rose at about 6:00 a.m., even though it had risen earlier and was already shining on the city of Tiberius directly across the lake from us. There is something about this region, it's warm breezes here about 650 ft below sea level and the surrounding hills, that simply creates a beautiful place to spend a few days.

Today was a day of fun and some relaxing. In the morning, we traveled from the southern tip of the Kinneret to the far northeastern edge of the Golan Heights, right next to the kibbutz named M'rom Golan and the former Syrian city of Kuneitra. At this vista point, at a coffee shop and overlook called Coffee Anan ('anan' being translated as 'clouds', and it’s a pun on the name of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan),  we learned about the strategic importance of the Golan heights, the success of the 1967 six day war, the failures and lack of confidence emanating out of the Yom Kippur war in 1973 and the continuing self-evaluation that Israel goes through about how and how much of this territory to maintain. One of the most impressive things about this location is how close it is to the borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. No one in our group was terribly anxious about being at this border, which was described to Us by our guides as being one of the most peaceful borders in the world. 

Following lunch, we drove back down from the Golan Heights into the lowlands surrounding the Hula valley. We came to an attraction where we could either have a wine tasting or a session in chocolate making, and our group divided about 50-50% for each of these attractions. I think wine connoisseurs would not have been pleased from the selections, and those who know about chocolate were been happier :-).  

After this tasting and making of chocolates, we continued traveling south and found a place where we went rafting on the Jordan River. It likely was the Dan River but there would be no point in quibbling over this identifier. The route was approximately 5 km long, and on the river with us for hundreds of teenagers, and some older people as well, who were having a wonderful day. The river at this point was ahout 25-30 feel wide, and mostly about three feet in depth. There were also large rocks along the riverbed, which posed a problem to those who were steering the boat.

June 18, 2023

Happy Father's Day to all people on our trip who our fathers, who had fathers, and/or who think of their fathers for whatever reason at any time.  

This morning we left Jerusalem and traveled in the direction of Tel Aviv. We passed through a neighborhood in Jerusalem called Revhavia, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Jerusalem, a place where former prime ministers and presidents have lived. 

In pulling out of the city, we traveled West on Highway 1, then traveled North on Highway 6 toward and to the city of Caesaria, this home of King Herod that was built by the sea in central Israel.  

Everyone would love to have a house on the ocean, and this egotistical and megalomaniacal ruler was no exception. He built a palace, a hippodrome, an amphitheater, and many other pastimes to please him. The town of Caesaria was home to King Herod, the Romans who conquered him afterward, Byzantines, Crusaders, Muslims, and a constant stream of others who built upon the ruins of Caesaria one generation after another. 

Today, excavations mark this site as they continue to unearth treasures from the past and archaeologists try to discover what lies beneath the surface. We are told that the amphitheater in Caesaria is home to contemporary music festivals and shows throughout the year. If someone has truly made it in Israel, they will have appeared here. It is a beautiful location, and the weather today was exquisite, being around 80 degrees with a constant 10 to 15 mph wind off the ocean. 

We then traversed the rest of the Highway 6 between Caesaria and the Israeli city of Haifa, There we visited the Bahai shrine and learned a little bit about this religion. We viewed their world famous gardens, then continued up the coast to the city of Acco. The ancient city of Acco, also built layer upon layer, begins with ruins that they have discovered, from the Hellenistic period. This was followed by  

Byzantine, Crusade, Muslim, Ottoman, British, and then Israeli. The ancient city contains today a large and ample marketplace, jewelry and art dealers, and stores selling everything one can imagine. These stores serve the general population of the area. To present modern history, there is a special museum dedicated to activities of pre-independence Israel. Acco served as a British prison where captured and suspected Israeli spies were tortured and killed.

While in the ancient city of Akko, we visited an artist studio called Art 192. This is a cooperative effort run by 10 women who jointly create art, staff the store and performance business, and worry about every aspect and detail of their enterprise. Individually and alone, none of these women would be able to succeed in the art world. But together, as they have joined forces it is easy to see how they can thrive and produce and sell their art.  

Edna introduced us to her cooperative and related stories about the difficulty they have had in getting started. On the day we visited, it was the 4 1/2 year birthday of their work together, and she recounted one or two stories. Specifically, she told us of the time when, two years ago, they were Arab riots in the streets and cities of Israel, because many of the Arabs in Israel lost confidence in the security forces to treat them well and safely in light of the emotions that were elicited in light of tit-for-tat attacks and recriminations. 

There seem to be very few Jewishly owned businesses in the Old City, but these women have developed good relationships with their neighbors, who protected their studio during these riots. They could not enter the city to check on it. But they realized that their Arab neighbors had checked on it for them, had give them reports by phone about it, and had assured them that no one would attack the store as they had other stores in the immediate neighborhood. They owe their success and patience to the goodness of their Arab neighbors, and this is likely a good example of coexistence in this mixed city. Finally, we took a walking tour of some of the underground archaeological discoveries, including the barracks of the Crusaders, and the work yard and execution chamber used by the British who, in the mid-1930s and 1940s, executed prisoners and performed tortures. 

When concluding our time in Acco, we boarded the bus for the 75 minute ride to our hotel, Ma’agan Eden, located near the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee. 

 June 17, 2023

Shabbat shalom. After having awoken and taken our 6:00 a.m. stroll this morning and after a delicious breakfast, we boarded our bus and traveled to the Dead Sea valley. Our first stop, on this first day of a very uncomfortable heatwave here, was the mountain called Masada. Click here for a website that will  tell you a little bit about Masada

Our guide took us to the top of the mountain via the cable car, and shared with us information about the north palace, the Western palace, the synagogues, the bath houses, and even the latrines. These were initially constructed by Herod the Great, the Israelite King, the last of his line, who served under the Roman occupation and who died in the year 4 BCE. Herod collaborated with the Roman government, hoping to maintain power and his lifestyle. Eventually, Masada, his winter home, fell into disuse and disrepair and nothing was done to the mountain after his death. About 75 years later, 970 Jewish zealots moved up to Masada, including men women and children, and they defied the Roman government by not surrendering when the rest of the nation did. For 3 years, they were able to resist the occupying forces, creating a completely independent life in the desert. Eventually, Rome was going to destroy the people on the mountain and, on hearing this, the Israelites on Masada decided that it would be better for them to kill themselves than be taken as servants and slaves to Rome. 

The majority of the accounts of their deaths were recorded by Josephus Flavius, and Israelite and Roman commander who left his command for the writing of history. Although exaggerated, he wrote of the fall of Masada as being important in the life of the nation of israel.  

In the 1950s, Israelis were loathed to use the image of Israel as a weak power, recoiling somewhat from the defeat at the Holocaust and the subsequent dissolution of the community. Instead, they constituted the story of Masada as a symbol of Jewish power and resistance even in the face of certain death. 

Following our experience in Masada, we traveled to Ein Bokek, a resort by the Dead sea. After a buffet lunch, members of our group swam in the Dead Sea or in the salt and freshwater pools, took advantage of some of the spa amenities, and enjoyed themselves. On the way back to Jerusalem we stopped at Ein Gedi, one of the few freshwater sources in the Dead Sea valley. While there, Rabbi Jonathan celebrated his wedding anniversary by treating the group to ice cream treats. 

We returned to Jerusalem at about 6:00 p.m. participated in a ceremony of Havdalah, and then people were able to spend the evening as they liked. About eight members of our group attended the weekly demonstration, this evening taking place at the residence of Israel's president. The main message of tonight was, to the president, that although they appreciate his willingness to search for a compromise, the demonstrators, meaning the organizers, express the feeling that there is no compromise when it comes to the Democratic nature of a society. They were very intent on getting this message across, both to the president and to the prime minister tonight.  

We returned to our hotel for an evening of packing and preparing to leave tomorrow for our tour of the northern part of Israel. 

Shavuah tov. 

June 16, 2023

Today in Israel we rose early and traveled across Jerusalem to Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial museum. One can spend no less than two-and-a-half hours here, as the permanent exhibit of the background, history, process and results of the Holocaust consist of panels after panels of crucial historical texts. Taken as a whole, the collection of the museum presents an honest and difficult assessment of the role of German and its allies in executing up to seven million Jews and another 5-6 million Roma, Catholics, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other so called genetic non-desirables. 

We also toured the Children’s Memorial, wherein a million flames—corresponding to the number of children killed—light up a darkened tower of mirrors, accompanied by a reading of the names of the victims. 

Following our time at Yad Vashem, we traveled by the relatively new light rail train to Machaneh Yehudah, a grand open air market in the Jewish section of the Western side of Jerusalem. The sights and smells of the city are on grand display here, as fresh fruit and vegetables, housewares, and Israeli street food can be found in a small but very crowded part of the city. 

After a discussion led by Abraha Avner, a former Mossad agent who consults with the film and television industry on matters of spycraft, we went to “Tachanah Rishonah”, Jerusalem’s famed “First (Train) Station which is now a large outdoor mall and entertainment venue. On Friday evenings, it is transformed into a large synagogue that welcomes a band to offer Kabbalat Jerusalem style, and it welcomes more than 400 ‘worshipers’. It was a warm and beautiful evening, and we had a blast. Click here to see video. 

We then returned to the hotel for a Shabbat dinner and evening walks through the quiet city. Shabbat Shalom. 

June 15, 2023

This morning, our TBE group headed down to the lower Judean Hills to the archaeological site named Beit Guvrin, roughly translated as the ‘place of heroes’. This is an active archaeological dig as well as a living museum to the Maccabean settlement of the Second Century BCE.

Our purpose was to enter the dig site named “Samson” (a hard limestone cave about 50 feet under the surface of the hill), to perform some human excavation skills, and to learn about the process of Israeli excavation and preservation of historical places such as this. After some instruction (picture 1 and video) and ‘care instructions’, we began the process of removing perhaps an inch or so of soil in one of the 5,000 caves of this site. It was only one inch because we had limited time and the process of digging is a complex one. We uncovered pottery shards (some large, some small), bones (from food that was consumed at the site), a new step in the spiral stairway that was once dug into the hard limestone, and even bits and pieces of charcoal (demonstrating that cooking took place at this site).

Then we carefully took all of the surface soil to the surface to sift it to ensure we did not find anything further.

Click here to watch video of the dig.

Our next journey was to visit the Ayalon Institute, near the town of Rehovot. This was a secret ammunition factory that ultimately helped the struggling new Israeli state fight its independence war. Located in a building disguised as a kibbutz laundry and bakery, this factory produced, over a three-year period from 1945-1948 (after which it did not need to be kept secret) more than 2.5 million bullets, each one essentially made by scratch and by hand. Luckily, according to the Institute, there were no accidents in the dangerous and arduous process of smuggling the raw materials and the machinery into the fledgling country, stamping, cutting, and shaping the casings, adding and pressing the gun powder, and preparing them for delivery to their front lines. This is to say nothing of keeping the whole process top secret, getting 45 people into and out of the underground factory, maintaining that secrecy, and giving otherwise apparent kibbutz members who were supposed to be working in the fields a tanned appearance.

Finally, or what we thought was finally, we went to the city of Lod, adjacent to the Ben Gurion airport, where we spoke to program people at the local multi-cultural center about relationships in that town between Jews and Arabs.

These relationships do not exist: Seventy percent of the residents are Arabs and 30% are ultra religious Jews who acquired their land and homes very inexpensively. The Jews wish no contact or relationships with the Arabs, preferring to remain in their sequestered community. We spoke to an Arab woman named Hilde who described her personal story of domestic abuse—of many varieties—and how she had survived, and also how she would wish for better relations with Jews but no one from that community has stepped forward to accept her overtures.

We heard also from Rabbi Rinat Shwartz, of V’ahavta – HaKehila Hashivionit Shoham (The Reform Community in Shoham), a town about 15 minutes away by car, who also described unfulfilled wishes about coexistence with Arabs, unfulfilled, that is, from the standpoint of trying to get the Lod-based Jews to participate. We also heard from local entrepreneurs trying to bring these sides together.

The relationships between Jews and Arabs, and among Arabs and, for that matter, Jews, are fraught with difficulty, and it was this lack of ability to bring people to simply sit and talk that made our TBE group very frustrated. So much so that we had a meeting after arriving to the hotel tonight about what we can do to be involved in helping. The group decided that there would be engagement and action on our part. More on that later. 

An early Shabbat Shalom!

June 14, 2023
From Rabbi Biatch:

The first morning of our tour began at an early 6:00 am, when Cantor Niemi and Rabbi Biatch took three brave travelers on a walk through the neighborhood of our hotel, Dan Panorama, in Jerusalem. The air is fresh and clean, not yet stained by the pollution of buses and cars, and we walked the seven minutes to the Montefiore Windmill.

The traveling day consisted of a stop at the Haas Promenade, an overlook at the southern end of the Old City walls from the long walk through the Old City (the Walled city) of Jerusalem.

It is amazing to see people who have not visited these areas get excited by the Jewish sights and sounds of the land and its language. From the Western Wall to the Temple Mount to the walled city’s many gates, this place has something for everyone.

Later on we visited the City of David, a massive archaeological dig that begins just south of the old city’s southern border. It is a site of great promise (as people uncover more information about Israel’s past; and of great complexity as the dig frequently disrupts life in the Palestinian village of Silwan.

We ate dinner in beautiful view of the walls of the Old City, and we heard from one of the staff people at the Israel Religious Action Canter. He described their work and how it can benefit the Democracy movement in Israel.

June 12, 2023
After two uneventful and pleasant flights on LOT Polish Airlines, we arrived this evening in Tel Aviv. We met Cari our guide and are now on the way to Jerusalem. We are tired and happy.


June 12, 2023
Many of our travelers land at Chopin airport in Warsaw on their 5 hour layover before landing in Tel Aviv. 

As a beit tzedek (house of justice), we work toward a better world, putting our values into meaningful action through social justice opportunities.

April 2023 marked the return of Mitzvah Day, with more than 160 congregants of all ages participating in service projects across Madison. We also held a program on reproductive rights together with UW Hillel, inaugurated the Joel Pedersen Lectureship in Tikkun Olam and the Environment, sent over 1,000 postcards to voters in low-turnout areas, and so much more.

Check out the other sections of our Year in Review 2022–23 to read about our worship, community events, and educational programming.

Mitzvah Day

In April, Mitzvah Day returned to Temple Beth El, led by our co-chairs, Lynn Renner, Staci Rieder, and Linda Reivitz, with staff support from Aleeza Hoffert and the help of many project leaders. The building was abuzz with activity, as young families brought their children and longtime members worked side by side with old friends.

Over 160 people of all ages volunteered for Mitzvah Day. We cooked hundreds of meals, tied blankets and knit hats, built shelves and cleaned kitchens, sent letters of appreciation to first responders, and hosted a Social Justice Fair in the Weinstein Community Court.

How TBE members supported our community:

• We had 160 registered volunteers, plus more showing up to help that day.
• Members donated bags full of diapers, toiletries, food, school supplies, and yarn, along with $832 to help purchase supplies.
• We swabbed the cheeks of nine potential bone marrow donors and shared information with many others.
• We turned out 45 volunteers of all ages to work outside on a cold blustery day. We cleaned up and spread mulch at Beit Olamim cemetery, readied garden beds at Goodman Community Center, picked up at garbage at Wingra Park, and helped at the Arboretum.
• We prepared 340 meals for future dinners at the Catholic Multicultural Center and did a spring cleaning of their building.
• Our knitters made 14 items, including hats, dishcloths, and small creatures for children’s library reading programs. We also formed a new TBE knitting group!
• We made 26 gift baskets for distribution at a Mother’s Day program for FOSTER, a case management program for parents.
• To help hospitalized children, we made 30 meals at Ronald McDonald House and tied 27 fleece blankets for Project Linus.
• Children and parents made cards for first responders through Operation Gratitude and wrote pen pal letters to children in Israel.
• We supported 6 nonprofit community organizations at our Social Justice Fair. 
• We also gave manicures and hand massages to residents at Capitol Lakes, sorted and bundled diapers for delivery to the Village Diaper Bank, and built bookshelves and assembled yard signs for the GSAFE LGBTQ+ youth program.
• Adamah and the Great Dane donated a delicious lunch for 101 students and their families, and Sam and Roger Brown donated Rocky Rococo pizza for 40 people at dinner.

Additional photos from Mitzvah Day:

Other Social Action Initiatives and Accomplishments

For the second summer, our Racial Justice Action Team worked with the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County to offer internships for 11 high school and college students with employers from TBE and the broader Jewish community. The program will continue in summer 2023 thanks to an additional grant from the Jewish Federation of Madison. 

Our Environment and Climate Change Action Team worked with the Facilities Committee and TBE staff to improve our building’s energy efficiency. Thanks to a generous grant from the Goodman Foundation, TBE will be installing solar panels this year, honoring our commitment to the planet and saving money at the same time.

Our Immigrant and Refugee Rights Action Team worked throughout the year to furnish apartments and buy groceries for newly arriving refugee families from around the world, working with Jewish Social Services and Open Doors for Refugees. We also helped coordinate collection of coats, winter gear, and school supplies for refugee families.

Our Social Action Shabbat focused on threats to our democracy and ways to strengthen our political institutions in Wisconsin. This fall and spring, our Civic Engagement Action Team sent over 1,000 postcards to voters from low-turnout areas, canvassed households in south Madison, and offered voter registration at UW–Madison and the Wisconsin DMV.

Our Environment and Climate Change Action Team and our Torah Study group began an annual lecture series in honor of the late Joel Pedersen, exploring the connection between climate science and Jewish values. Professor Jamie Schauer was the first invited speaker, talking about air pollution and its impacts around the world. 

Together with UW Hillel, we hosted a panel discussion on “Reclaiming Reproductive Rights: An Intergenerational Effort.” The panel highlighted Jewish teachings on abortion, current legal challenges, efforts to help women access abortion care, and student perspectives, followed by a spirited discussion continued over dinner.

Social Action by the Numbers

How TBE members supported our community:
 

• High Holy Day Food Drive: Thanks to the generosity of our members, we were able to distribute $13,000 to Second Harvest Foodbank and $3,000 to six smaller food programs. We also bought food for the Mitzvah Day cooking projects.
• Goodman Community Center Thanksgiving Basket Collection: Religious School students and families donated 336 items for Thanksgiving dinners.
• Catholic Multicultural Center: 21 TBE volunteers served meals and cleaned up after a community dinner every month, serving nearly 400 people over the year. 
• Healing House: 27 volunteers planned, bought, and cooked four weeks of dinners for people without permanent housing recovering from illness or surgery, a total of 224 meals. 
• Thoreau School Food Program: 10 volunteers packed and delivered bags of food for 35 children for 7 weeks.
• Mount Zion Baptist Church: TBE volunteers packed 300 sack lunches for participants in a 6-week parenting program.
• Allied Wellness Center Essentials Pantry: In recognition of Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Jr. Day, TBE members donated $3,500 for hygiene items and gift cards. 
• Jewish Social Services refugee resettlement program: Our volunteers have helped set up about 16 apartments with furniture and food, welcoming refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, and Syria.
• JSS Aljirani  “friendship/mentor” program: Our volunteers have been helping refugees learn about American culture and systems.

Social justice education and advocacy in support of Jewish values:

• We hosted a discussion of historical and continuing barriers to home ownership for Black households, in connection with a local production of the play “Raisin in the Sun.”
• Together with TBE Sisterhood, we toured the exhibition “Sifting and Reckoning” at the Chazen Museum, about the history of racial prejudice and protest at UW Madison. 
• We offered a regular “Racial Justice Action of the Month” in the Weekly Happenings emails, with opportunities to educate, participate, advocate, and donate.
• Walkers and bikers met at Temple for a talk by a Madison city engineer on the impact of runoff on the Lake Wingra watershed, followed by a ride around the lake. 
• We wrote articles for the Social Justice Spotlight on transportation sustainability and efforts to improve the energy efficiency of the Temple building.
• We sponsored a program on “Climate Change as a Driver of Human Migration,” followed by a lively discussion among the participants. 
• We hosted a presentation on using humanitarian parole to reunite families needing to leave Afghanistan.

As a beit midrash (house of study), TBE offers lifelong education for children and adults, from Religious and Hebrew School to lectures, courses, and events.
 
In 2022–23, we celebrated the b’nai mitzvah of 19 students, learned from Madison’s women rabbis at our Swarsensky Memorial Weekend, welcomed an average of 18 participants per session to our weekly Torah Study, raised over $2,000 for youth programs and scholarships at a disco-themed pasta dinner and dessert auction, and so much more! Read on for some notable numbers. 

Check out the other sections of our Year in Review 2022–23 to read about our worship, community events, and social action activities.

Our Religious School community celebrated Hanukkah with an all-school shira, a song session led by Cantor Jacob Niemi and the music team.

The annual pasta dinner and dessert auction run by our teen youth group was disco themed this year. The teens raised over $2,000 for youth programs and scholarships by auctioning donated desserts.

Congregational Education

The Swarsensky Memorial Weekend in November 2022 focused on the history of women in the rabbinate and featured Madison’s women rabbis, who shared their perspectives on the challenges we face in the American Jewish community.

The featured speaker at the Blockstein Memorial Lecture in February was Francesca Hong, Wisconsin’s first Asian American state legislator.

Kesher Israel Committee

On June 7, 2022,  Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh, the first Israeli Druze woman elected to the Knesset, gave a 30-minute presentation regarding her time as a Cabinet minister and her experiences growing up in the Druze village of Daliyat al-Karmel.

Our Kesher Spotlight newsletter in Spring 2023 included, among other items, a piece by Rabbi Biatch titled “The Challenges of the 25th Knesset: Theirs and Ours,” Israel-themed artwork by Ellen Meyer, an overview of the Reform movement’s expansion in Israel, and a portion of a poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai titled “Abraham’s Sons.”

In March and April 2023, Rabbi Biatch and Madison's Israeli shlichim (emissaries) spoke on “Israel: The Present and Future Reality,” both for those traveling to Israel with TBE in 2023 and for all who are interested and concerned about Israel at this important moment in history.

The Union for Reform Judaism’s Israel Leadership Network (ILN), led by Rabbi Josh Weinberg, meets monthly to learn from experts and discuss ways to help Israel in these difficult times. Kesher Israel Committee chair Joanna Berke is the TBE representative, although others are encouraged to join. Joanna sends updates to keep people informed as protests against the current Israeli Knesset continue.

Led by the Kesher Israel Committee as part of TBE’s congregational Mitzvah Day in April 2023, Religious School students wrote notes to kids at our sister congregation in Israel, Kehilat Shir Chadash.

The chair of our Kesher Israel Committee shares with us these articles of interest on Israeli news, history, and society: 

"Germany sets up panel to review 1972 Munich Olympic attack" (AP News, April 21, 2023) 

"Israel’s Declaration of Independence — May 14, 1948" (Times of Israel) 

“Tens of thousands join protests against Israeli judicial overhaul” (CNBC, May 7, 2023) 

“Israel and the UAE join forces to accelerate AI innovation in Abu Dhabi” (Jerusalem Post, May 9, 2023) 

We celebrate LGBTQ+lives and fight for LGBTQ+ rights all year. In June, during LGBTQ+ Pride Month, we celebrate the freedom to be ourselves even more!

Please join us for a colorful weekend June 9 and 10 featuring the work of LGBTQ+ artists in our worship and opportunities to eat, pray, craft, and learn together.

Before we begin our celebration, take a moment to learn about current legislation that can harm the freedom of many, and take action now.

Temple Beth El firmly believes in the Jewish value of b’tzelem Elohim, that we are all created in God’s image. We aim to create a community based on inclusion, collaboration, kindness, and equity, both in our congregation and in the wider community. Please see our Inclusivity and Accessibility page and our in-person information for details.

Pride Party
Friday, June 9, 6:30–7:30 pm • TBE

Dress up to show your pride and join us for a rainbow-themed celebration before our 7:30 pm Pride Shabbat worship. Enjoy a colorful array of sights, sounds, and tastes representing LGBTQ+ pride. This family-friendly event will include rainbow-colored foods, craft projects, a photo wall, and more.

To help our planning, RSVPs for the Pride Party are appreciated.

Learn more and register now

Pride Shabbat
Friday, June 9, 7:30–9:00 pm • TBE & YouTube

Our Shabbat service will feature melodies by LGBTQ+ writers and composers as well as songs with relevant themes. Our worship and community spaces will be decorated with lots of color! 

Everyone is welcome!

Learn more and join us in person or online

Queering the Text: Finding Meaning in LGBTQ+ Perspectives on Torah
Saturday, June 10, 9:00–10:00 am • TBE & Zoom

Cantor Jacob Niemi will share examples of queer interpretations of text that add new facets to our understanding of Torah and its relevance in our lives. While this approach may be particularly meaningful to those who are LGBTQ+, the conversation will explore how reading through a “bent lens” (a term borrowed from David Shneer’s introduction to “Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible”) can deepen the experience of all who find meaning in the study of Torah.

Learn more and register now

Get in the Pride Spirit through Song

Watch the recordings of B’ou NashirPride playlistfrom 2021 and 2022 where Cantor Niemi shared songs with Pride themes and elevated the voices of the current generation of LGBTQ+ singers and songwriters to fill our souls.

Pride Resources

The 2020 Pride team put together a wonderful list of resources available on the Temple blog. 

Want to join our PRIDE planning team? Have questions? Contact Aleeza A. Hoffert.

Our endowment campaign continues to go strong, and we are grateful to all of our donors. As of March 23, over 120 households have donated more than $4.8 million to the Endowment for Spiritual Leadership. Every contribution represents a lasting and meaningful step toward transforming our future.
 
To ensure that we attain our goal of 100% community participation by June, TBE board members will be reaching out with phone calls to congregants we haven’t heard from. These phone calls will be a chance for you to have a conversation with board members about the details of the endowment and get answers to any questions you may have.
 
You can make your pledge by completing the form on the Endowment for Spiritual Leadership web page, emailing Stefanie Kushner (exec@tbemadison.org), or returning the donation card you received in the mail. Donations can be given over multiple years.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Stefanie Kushner at exec@tbemadison.org.

Held on the fifth day of Iyar in the Hebrew calendar (April 26, 2023), Yom Ha’atzmaut commemorates Israel’s independence in 1948. According to Jewish Virtual Library, “Israeli Independence Day is always immediately preceded by Yom Hazikaron—Memorial Day for the Fallen Israeli Soldiers. The message of linking these two days is clear: Israelis owe their independence—the very existence of the state—to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it.” 

As Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion said, quoting Israel’s Declaration of Independence, "This is the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State."

As described at timeanddate.com:

Independence Day is a holiday in Israel, and like many Jewish observances, this "day" starts the evening beforehand. On this evening, the speaker of the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset, gives a speech and there is a dramatic televised presentation. Groups of soldiers carry Israeli flags and form shapes that represent symbols of Judaism, including a … menorah and a … Star of David. In addition, 12 beacons are lit by people who made a special contribution to Israeli society in a particular field. Each of the beacons represents one of the 12 tribes of Israel.

Many people hold parties or sing and dance in the streets to celebrate and fireworks are set off. ... It is also common to display the Israeli flag prominently on homes and cars. Many religious people may read the Torah or say the Hallel, which are six Psalms, or blow the shofar. … 

Yom Ha'atzmaut is also celebrated by [Jews living in the Diaspora]. ...

[Yom Ha’atzmaut] is not celebrated by everyone. … Many Arabs feel that the day, which they call al-Nakba, the disaster, represents a loss of national identity.

This is a letter written to President Biden by the chair of our Kesher Israel Committee, who presents it in the hope that others will write to President Biden and their representatives asking for support of democracy in Israel.

Dear President Biden,

Israel has just elected Netanyahu as its new Prime Minister. It was a tight election with half the population voting for a liberal government. 

P.M. Netanyahu has brought with him an ultra-Orthodox cabinet prepared to eradicate all the equal rights declared by Israel's Declaration of Independence, many of which had been reintroduced by the outgoing government. For many reasons, including the elimination of the "right of return law," these ultra-Orthodox changes will affect those of us in the U.S. and the wider Western hemisphere as well as in Israel.
 
The U.S. is committed to Israel politically, economically, and morally.

I'm writing to plead with you to stand by Israel and its people in this most precarious moment. Please exert any possible influence on P.M. Netanyahu. Please ask him to use his common sense when moving forward with this newly chosen cabinet.

Thank you.
Joanna S. Berke

The Kesher Israel Committee hopes that this letter might inspire others to learn more.  Please write to your representatives encouraging them to support Israel in this most difficult of times.

The 25th Knesset, elected November 1, 2022, consists of 120 representatives representing 12 political parties that all received at least 3.25% of the votes in the most recent election. In order to form a government, one political party must receive enough votes to give them one more than 50% of the Knesset (MKs). If that threshold is not met, party leaders can attempt to form coalitions representing a number of parties, if the parties and the MKs agree. (Such coalition agreements may be built on mutually beneficial ideological or practical lines; there is no norm and no legal requirement for any one party to pair with another.)

Because Likud, the party of Benjamin Netanyahu, received a large number of votes in the last election and was able to convince Israel’s president that he could amass a coalition of at least 61 members, the president gave Netanyahu a “mandate” (permission with a three-week shelf life) to form a coalition government. And, indeed, he subsequently formed the current governing coalition consisting of 64 MKs representing right-wing, conservative, ultra-Orthodox, and settler-driven parties, each with their unique political and philosophical direction, each willing to provide mutual support to the other coalition partners.

Many observers report that the current government is the most politically conservative ever elected in Israel. Yet despite that government’s majority, their coalition is fragile, and they cannot afford to have even one Knesset member defect from the coalition. So, everyone must be appeased in some way.

There are at least five problematic areas where this coalition has raised the ire of liberal Israel:

• Prioritizing Orthodox denominations by foreclosing the possibility of any egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall; forbidding non-Orthodox conversions; and amending the Law of Return to prohibit those with only one Jewish grandparent to qualify to enter Israel under the Law.
• Eliminating outside speakers in public schools who, in the eyes of the new authority, would bring “inappropriate” materials, such as information about gender diversity and other LGBTQ matters; and eliminating the use of non-Orthodox resources for teaching about society, which is currently done by Reform and other liberal streams of Judaism.
• Allowing the young Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men—not to mention young women—to return to studies and elect not to serve in the army or offer national service.
• Imposing Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox curriculum materials in public schools.
• Altering the status quo and loosening Jewish prayer restrictions on the Temple Mount, an area where exclusively Muslim worship is now permitted.

For these reasons and others, Israeli Jews have been motivated to protest in the streets since the beginning of this government.
 

This year’s speaker for the Liesl M. Blockstein Memorial Lecture on February 12 was State Representative Francesca Hong, who represents an Assembly district in central and northeast Madison. Representative Hong works to build community and support the working class through issues such as housing access, climate justice, labor rights, and educational and racial equity. 

Rep. Hong introduced her family and spoke about her upbringing, the difficulties they faced as immigrants, and the religious and cultural values that inform her work as a legislator. She noted that discussions in the Wisconsin legislature too often come from a mindset of scarcity where people are pitted against each other to divide resources, a mindset that favors the already rich and powerful. Rep. Hong believes there are enough resources in this country for everyone to be housed and educated, and she rejects the mindset that some must be diminished for others to succeed. She hopes to push our politics toward a mindset of abundance, where we work together to fashion lives of goodness and dignity for all people. 

When asked what can be done to support these goals, she urged people to push back through voting and asking others to vote. She also suggested that we talk with our friends and neighbors about our hopes for a more just society and ways public policy can offer concrete solutions. 

Here are her remarks:

Hello everyone, 

Thank you so much for being here and for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today. The Liesl M. Blockstein Memorial Lecture is truly an honor; its legacy of activism and public service a guiding light for our community. I would like to thank Kai Mishlove-Gardner and Rabbi Biatch for inviting me today, and thank my family for friends for being here with me.

My name is Francesca Hong. I’m the daughter of Korean immigrants, a small business owner, a proud mother, and state representative for the 76th assembly district here in Madison. 

My story is not unlike many of yours here today; my parents, deeply devoted, hardworking individuals, instilled in me the importance of resilience and determination at a young age. I grew up watching my father navigate the unrelenting, often impassive world of higher education as an immigrant while my mother made a new home and career in a city and country far away from the familiarity of her homeland. Their struggles and their accomplishments became guidelines by which I swore I’d live my life—their sacrifices an inspiration and their adversity my driving force. 

As many children do, I looked up to them. Begrudgingly at first, of course we all have moments when we think we know better than the people raising us, but eventually it transforms into an immeasurable respect and awe. 

I was intrigued that at the heart of their values was a deep, unrelenting faith that defined their lives and I would come to hope, would define mine. 

As many of you know, faith is a complexity. For my parents, it of course meant church. Devotion to a higher entity at its simplest form is in what you believe and how you believe it. 

But for them, faith also meant comfort, courage and community. I saw that inherent to my parents’ commitment to religion, was a commitment to the collective. My mother is a music teacher, my father is a sociologist and so naturally enough that commitment reached far beyond Sunday services and into their careers. 

They are two people committed to community through faith, a theme that is shared by many in this room and is a defining tenet of the wonderful organizations hosting us today, Jewish Social Services, Temple Beth El, and of course the legacy of Liesl M. Blockstein.

My parents are Catholic, my sister is Jewish, and many in this room hold a similar or different religious background. But no matter what we believe, the sense of responsibility to our community is a common denominator that unites us. 

So today, I hope to talk about that common denominator. What community is and how community can ultimately set us free. 

What makes a community? 

On the near west side of this city near UW–Madison, there’s a little neighborhood called Eagle Heights. There, I spent my formative years in a sort of utopia. University graduate students and their families from all over the world made Eagle Heights home; our playgrounds were diverse and our community safe from the often harsh realities of an America that did not welcome immigrants as openly as this little neighborhood did. 

But as I grew up and moved away further west, the bubble burst. I was no longer sheltered and protected by the diversity of university housing. I made my way into white spaces where I was forced to re-evaluate my value, identity and purpose almost constantly. I had suddenly and unexpectedly discovered segregated Madison, where the color of my skin mattered, but not in any way that was fair. Or maybe in a sense, segregated Madison had discovered me. 

I struggled from grade school through high school with the concepts of identity and belonging brought on by my transition into a mostly white school (where my conflicts too often occurred with other students of color, and I didn't realize until later how deeply white supremacy is engrained to pit those with vulnerable senses of belonging and identity to not be supportive but competitive).

I was missing those playgrounds where every language was spoken and where different fragrant lunches were normal and intriguing. I was missing a place where it seemed there was always someone to listen, empathize, and help. A place where the collective looked out for the individual. 

I was suddenly different and made to reckon with assimilation, privilege, white supremacy and the isolation those bring. And at an early age I understood the absence of community, and the harm its absence does. Community at a foundational level is a place where equity, justice, and inclusivity take priority. 

But it wasn’t until my service in government, did I realize that community is most importantly, a place where abundance replaces the scarcity mindset. 

——

If you tune into politics, or any sort of debate where policy makers are discussing a specific budget proposal, there are usually two sides. A side that argues for a policy on the basis of its value to a constituency, and a side that argues against that policy on the basis of its cost. For many of the issues that come before us legislators like healthcare, childcare, public education, immigration, and the like, we have to make the case, and sometimes beg, that an investment is worth the expenditure it takes. 

In some cases, it’s a way of keeping good governance, a way of making sure that we are responsible stewards of taxpayer money. But in a lot of cases, especially those that regard progressive policy initiatives like racial equity, it’s a way for the powerful and wealthy to maintain their control through a cynical brand of politics that prioritizes austerity over care. 

The contrast in how government works and how our communities responded to the Covid crisis really exemplified for me the detriment of scarcity mindsets. 

As an independent restaurant owner, I saw my fellow industry folks jump into action to help each other in a time of great uncertainty. I saw advocacy organizations pool resources to help people trying to keep a roof over their heads or food on the table. I saw a community look after itself when the economic and political safety nets that were supposed to catch us tore because of the pandemic. All of this while the government debated how much help we deserved. 

These individuals didn’t weigh the cost of helping before they extended a hand, they understood the importance of mutual aid and rejected the scarcity mindset. They lived up to what it means to be a community. 

It’s important to always keep in mind that scarcity mindsets have been imposed on us by the white supremacist systems that want us to feel like we can’t have it all. That we can’t have the beauty of Eagle Heights in every corner of our state. That our society must segregate and minimize others in order for a few to rise to the top. 

Mia Birdsong, a Black activist and storyteller in Oakland, describes it like this:
 
“The American Dream’s focus on getting ahead is a race to win so you don’t lose. It plays into our well-developed fear instincts, creating a real and imagined scarcity of resources, time, and money. This fear-based sense of scarcity pits us against one another. It also leaves us with a poorly developed sense of ‘enough,’ both of the material and of love and care.”

So what makes a community? Abundance. The belief that there is always more to give and more to have. The faith and perspective to understand that good can never come with an expense if it is done in the effort to help others. 

I reject the notion that we need to choose between our individual success and doing good. Actually, I think it’s not only possible, but necessary to create another option together.
 
We must pave a path that acknowledges that we are all inextricably bound together—that our success is tied to the well being of one another and our planet—that we are all better off when we work together.

We must strive to recreate Eagle Heights and the community present in this room here, everywhere we are. 

So how can community set us free? 

Birdsong reminds me that when we actually look at the resources in the U.S., there is plenty here for all of us to eat, to be housed, to have a comfortable life, a good education, and quality health care. Any politician who claims otherwise does so from a place of cynicism or self-interest. 

Abundance for everyone is possible, if we as a society—and as leaders—make different choices about what we prioritize, about how we care for each other.

Therefore, in order for us to fight the evils that face our society today we need to truly internalize, politicians especially, that our success and our hurt intertwine. And we can only do that when we commit, unrelentingly to the collective and to care.

There is an African proverb that says, “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” 

And to this effect, throughout history, there have been many examples of how communities united achieved the impossible and went far in the fight for justice and freedom. 

Here in Wisconsin for example, Senator Gaylord Nelson rallied an estimated 20 million people and thousands of events 53 years ago in the first major environmental protest that lives on to this day as the annual celebration of Earth Day. 

The Stonewall riots, where LGBTQ+ people rebelled against discriminatory policing strategies and violence, lasted five days and later inspired protests across the country and marked the beginning of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

The Battle of Blair Mountain, where 10,000 West Virginia coal miners marched in protest of perilous work conditions, squalid housing and low wages, and other grievances, was the largest labor uprising in American history and its legacy defines the worker rights movement today. 

From these stories and many others, it’s clear that our communities are often the first line of defense to many crises that require institutional, systemic change.

Walter Brueggemann once said (by way of Harvard’s Marshall Ganz) “...prophetic imagination or transformational vision occurs at the intersection of two elements: criticality, a clear vision of the world’s hurt, of its needs, of its pain, coupled with hope, a sense of the world’s promise and possibility.”

Only at the core of our communities do we discover what we need and only with unity and an abundance mindset do we reconcile our shortcomings and build a better, more equitable future. 

Our communities set us free by allowing us that transformational vision. That prophetic imagination, as Brueggemann put it, is hard to come by alone. 

——

I want to round out today’s lecture with an ask of all of you. An ask of those of you, like my parents, who have committed to serving your community through devotion and faith. 

My ask is that you understand your care, your potential, your power. That you recommit to deeply understanding that a group of people, linked together in kindness, in generosity, and in hope can massively impact the world.

Faith communities have always had a unique role to play in changing our American political climate for the better. From the Jewish Tzedakah to the Muslim Zakat, the Christian Stewardship to the Buddhist Dana, the values of good doing and charity are tremendous tools to counteract the scarcity mindset our politics push. 

And now, when it comes to the fight for reproductive health freedom for example, or the fight to protect and affirm our LGBTQ youth, faith communities are uniquely situated to push back on Christofacists or other religious hardliners who are much more interested in dividing us than anything else. There is room enough in this country for us to be who we are, love who we want, and live our lives with agency over our bodies and destinies. To dream and hope how we want.

As we stand in our current political climate, it is true that the road ahead is uncertain, but it is not unfamiliar. There’s suffering and anguish in our communities but as I’ve learned from all of you, they are but a lighthouse to firmly guide us to a better future.

To transform our society, we need your voices to resonate in every corner of this state. We need the inherent goodness and dignity that is foundational to the faith community to guide us forward. And we need it not just as democrats or republicans, but as Americans, as people deeply committed to democracy, progress, and representation. 

Thank you for the belonging you’ve given me today—the kindness and love you’ve extended by inviting me to speak. I am honored to be in community with you and look forward to all that we achieve together. 

TBE will be installing and activating solar panels this summer, thanks to a generous grant from the Goodman Foundation and the tireless efforts of various committees, volunteers and staff. Not only is this effort consistent with our commitment to tikkun olam; it is also expected to result in an initial savings of $12,000 per year. This will allow us to continue our responsible stewardship of congregation resources. According to Dan Esser, “we feel strongly that we want to be good stewards of the earth and that there is no reason to waste money on things.”

This story starts with formation of the Capital Needs Assessment (CNA) Task Force in 2018 to determine priority improvements for our building and the resources required. This team determined that our sound system and sanctuary needed revamping, and that solar panels would be a worthy investment. The first two areas of work were completed during the pandemic years, when it became clear that our sanctuary layout was not conducive to safe distancing and that an updated sound system was required to offer high-quality hybrid services. Solar panels were put on hold, since there wasn’t enough money for everything. At the same time, our heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system needed urgent maintenance—wear and tear were taking a toll and it had become inefficient, requiring substantial investment. 

Still, the CNA Task Force, the House Committee, the Environment and Climate Change Action Team, our executive director, and our building staff continued to pursue how we could install solar panels. In June 2022, Stefanie Kushner submitted a grant proposal to the Goodman Foundation for solar panel purchase and installation, using the cost information obtained by the CNA team. TBE was awarded a grant of up to $300,000 in October of that year. The grant stipulates that we apply for all other relevant rebates and incentives. So with assistance from Full Spectrum Solar, our solar panel provider, we will be requesting support from AB RENEW WI Solar, MadiSUN Backyard, and Focus on Energy Commercial. 

Installing something heavy on our roof turns out to not be a walk in the park; it requires coordination with a number of contractors. The TBE team, led by Dan Esser as project manager, includes Stefanie Kushner and Facilities Coordinator Steven Gregorius, in collaboration with the House Committee, the Environment and Climate Change Action Team, and the CNA Task Force. This team is (literally) laying the foundation for a successful project through a number of related upgrades. This means replacing parts of our aging roof, some of which is 27 years old, at a cost of approximately $100,000 starting this spring. Some HVAC rooftop units and duct work will have to be lifted and new rubber installed underneath. Space in the building will also be needed to house inverters that convert energy generated to usable energy (DC to AC). Thanks to the generous help of TBE Sisterhood, this space has already been secured. 

The end goal is for 189 solar panels to be online by fall 2023, after a net investment by TBE/Goodman Foundation of approximately $150,000 for solar panel installation and connection to the MG&E grid. Recoupment of this investment through energy savings is projected to take about 12 years. 

Our commitment to tikkun olam also includes an evaluation by Richard Peidelstein, congregation member and expert in building energy efficiency, to identify ways to optimize our HVAC system. From his home, Richard has been able to remotely diagnose our energy efficiency performance and identify actions we can take to improve. 

This is all good news—knowing the problem is a great start for addressing it. And our strong community of staff and volunteers is up to the challenge. As Dan says, “spending up to $300,000 is a big deal.” We have no doubt that with his commitment and strong support from the TBE staff and community every penny will be invested wisely, with big returns.