Education Report

From the Education VP It’s summer already, but we are already planning for the next school year at CSH. If you have not already done so, please do register your children for Hebrew & Religious school. While the Early Bird registration period is over, new students can still register without a registration fee. Forms are available at the synagogue. Please remember that you must be in good standing financially in order to register your student. We need you to register well before school begins so we can plan for the coming school year. The first day of school is September 9th. We have some things to kvel about in our congregation family. Mazal tov to our Pre-K/Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Patti Nesrsta, as she was named Deer Park ISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year! What an accomplishment and we are sure is well-deserved. And also a sincere Mazal Tov to our own Jake Kornblau who was named Valedictorian of Clear Creek High School! Congratulations to the whole family. If you have anything that you think needs “kvelling” about, please send an email, and we’ll try to get it in the next article. We are trying to put together an Education Committee for the coming school year and would like you to seriously consider joining us. Ultimately we would love to have someone from every grade/age group represented. This committee will meet monthly during school hours and would support the school by problem-solving issues that come up, working on the curriculum, and offering assistance with special events. And sometimes we bring refreshments J If you are interested or have questions, please contact us. Lastly, there is a contest going on you should know about. Please share this with your kids: http://jewishstorywriting.com/contests1/my-rabbi-the-super-hero-contest/ This is a creative writing contest asking your child to share a short story explaining what they think makes our rabbi so special. And there is a lot of material in our Rabbi Federow that is so special to write about! The details are on the website. Good luck! Wishing you all an enjoyable summer with your families, B’shalom, Nancy Weiss & Katy Izygon nanweiss@comcast.net

Co-Presidents' Report

Our Synagogue had many exciting activities in the past few months!  Friday night and Saturday morning Shabbat services are very well attended.   We had many congregants and guests attend our Shabbat Alive services held in April and June, our Confirmation class led services in May and our Teacher Appreciation Shabbat also in May.

The next Shabbat Alive Service will be on August 10 at 7pm.  This service will feature Jennifer Rolnick, a cantorial student and our own congregants on instruments and vocals.

The synagogue board has been very busy discussing and implementing new exciting events for all of us.  Please continue to read the blog at http://cshshofar.blogspot.com/   and the weekly Happenings sent via email.

Our Sisterhood and Men's Club are a very important part of our congregation and both groups are very supported of us.  Thank you for all you wonderful ladies and superb gentlemen in both groups.

Our Religious school had another wonderful year.  Katy Izygon as the principal and all of her fantastic teachers make our Religious School one of the best in Houston.

Our Rabbi is another valuable asset to our congregation.  We thank our Rabbi for all his leadership and support to all of us.  

Perhaps, you think that synagogues run themselves. However, that is not the case, and many people volunteer many hours to help see that it runs smoothly. Did you know that there are many studies that show a link between volunteering and increased feelings of self-worth? Some of our committees include fundraising, education, social action, membership, ritual and facilities. Come and join one of these committees or the many other activities at our synagogue and share your expertise with your congregation,.

Our board meetings are held on every third Thursday of the month at 7pm and are open to all members.

We are looking forward to meeting and talking to each one of you in the coming months and are eager to learn your ideas about what our synagogue can do for you and your family.  Feel free to contact us to share your ideas and please tell us which committee of our synagogue you would like to participate.

Sandy Ostrosky  

Debbie Angel

Adult Education Report

Dear Friends,

Rabbi Federow moderated a thought provoking and interesting seminar on May 31, 2012 on the topic Ancient Aliens as the Source of Religion.  Thanks Rabbi for the handouts, thought provoking presentation and lively discussion!  If you were unable to attend, we look forward to seeing you at future events. 

Since I last checked in with everyone, my efforts have been primarily focused on making our 3^rd Annual Crypto-Jewish seminar a success.  Rabbi Peter Tarlow has now confirmed that he is available and will be presenting at our seminar again this year.  His topic will be Columbus and the Crypto-Jewish Experience.  It was kind of him to modify his calendar to accommodate our request to appear at our seminar.

I have also been in contact with Gabriela Bohm- the award winning, independent filmmaker that is presenting her film The Longing:  The Forgotten Jews of South America.  It is my understanding that this is a very moving presentation.  The film and workshop will be scheduled for mid-day in the seminar as her presentation (film and workshop) is approximately an hour and forty minutes in length.  The preliminary plan is to serve a catered lunch during this time.

Presently, my efforts are focused on scheduling speakers and preparing marketing materials to forward to our publicity committee as soon as possible.

As always, if anyone has any particular topics that they would like me to seek a speaker to address or if anyone knows of a speaker they would us to invite to speak at future adult education events, please feel free to contact me at any time with the information and I will be glad to follow up on it.  You may email me or contact me on Facebook.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Elaine Laird

Adult Education Trustee

Email:  lori.lawyer@hotmail.com

Facebook:  Lori.Lawyer2

Sisterhood Summer Social!  Join Us!

Questions?  Contact Sharon Valentine via email at shirahvalentine@gmail.com.