May, 2025 Megillah
RABBI'S NOTES
A long time ago in college, where for most of the time I was very little concerned with being Jewish, I joined a study group at the local Resource Center for Nonviolence. They were reading Elie Wiesel’s writings. A decade earlier Wiesel, who as a young teenager was imprisoned for two years at Auschwitz, had published his agonized memoir Night. Following its publication, Wiesel had poured out novel after novel, essay after essay, probing the moral and spiritual questions that arose from his catastrophic experiences. Folks at the Resource Center for Nonviolence were reading Wiesel mostly because the Shoah was the hardest case for those who advocate strictly nonviolent response to social wrong. Plainly put, if you said to someone that you were into nonviolence they were very likely to respond, “Well what would you do about Hitler?”
For me this study group and Wiesel’s writings were really the first time that I had seriously contended with my own heritage and identity. It was life-changing for me; in important ways it was the beginning of my Jewish life. I grew up kind of on the edge of the post-war American Jewish community, which was, weirdly, both obsessed with the Holocaust and incredibly inarticulate about it. I had read Anne Frank’s diary and was roughly aware even as a child of its terrible contours. Like many other Jewish children of that time I wondered, “How could they do such a thing?” “What would I have done?” “Could it happen again?” I’ve kept wondering ever since.
I’m writing this on Yom Hashoah, the annual Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust. In a few hours we will gather at our community’s Holocaust memorial in our Mendocino Jewish cemetery and read, as we do every year, a long list of names of our own family members and people we are connected with who were murdered by the Nazis.
This year there is an ominous air to our remembrance. Right now there is much in public discourse about Antisemitism. In particular, among several particulars, the current administration is using the excuse of combatting it to attack universities for not doing enough to protect Jewish students. Since the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent military campaign against Gaza and the West Bank, there have been mass encampments and other kinds of demonstrations on many college campuses opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza. These were, and continue to be, strong and passionate. Much of the language and action condemn Israel and Zionism. I have no doubt that, for some Jewish students, these public actions on their campuses have been painful and intimidating.
While I have strong feelings about these issues myself—and, as always, remain available for one-on-one conversation about them—I don’t want to argue any side of these demonstrations here today, on Yom Hashoah. What I want to note instead is how Jews are being used by an administration whose intentions I don’t trust one bit as an excuse to attack and diminish higher education in our country.
Between the time I started this column on Yom Hashoah and when I pressed “save,” news came out that the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had texted many Barnard College faculty and other employees on their private phones and asked them to fill out a survey disclosing whether they are Jewish. Barnard is affiliated with Columbia University, the first major university to submit to the Trump administrations draconian demands.
I find this not only offensive but deeply frightening. I don’t frighten easily. And these days I have been trying not to use words like “frightened” unless I really mean them. I’m not quite scared, but my apprehension-meter has gone up significantly. Whatever I think about Gaza or Zionism or anything else, I don’t want Jews to be used as an excuse to place departments of Middle Eastern Studies under five years of government “receivership.” I don’t want universities to be required to turn in the names of protesters, or of Jewish employees, to the government. I don’t want student visas revoked or protesters who are lawfully in the U.S. to be seized and deported. I don’t want scholarly research defunded in the name of protecting Jews.
I don’t want these government actions because I think they are wrong. And I also don’t want them because they single out Jews as excuses for reprehensible actions. To use a classic phrase, this can’t be good for the Jews. Jews are, to use a more contemporary term, being weaponized as excuses—or to use a very ancient name, being scapegoated—for actions that we did not author, do not need, and are not responsible for.
Nara Milanich, a history professor at Barnard, compared the recent Barnard survey to 1930’s Italy, when lists of Jews were put together by the government. “We’ve seen this movie before,” she said. “It ends with yellow stars.” We may have different feelings about Palestinian solidarity demonstrations, and they are not monolithic themselves. But whatever we feel and think about the campus demonstrations, it is not good or right to use Jews as an excuse to attack the universities where they take place.
I am pleased that there has been outcry from many in the Jewish community against this weaponizing of Jews in the name of preventing Antisemitism. The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (a very mainstream Jewish organization with whom I hardly ever agree!) put together a statement which was signed by most of the major Jewish movements. In part is says: “History has made clear that our safety as Jews is inextricably linked with inclusive, pluralistic democracy. A focus on countering antisemitism on campus and beyond is welcome. Undermining inclusive democracy in the name of countering antisemitism only makes Jews – and so many others – less safe.” Here’s the whole statement: https://jewishpublicaffairs.org/news/jcpa-responds-to-trump-administrations-executive-order-on-antisemitism/
I couldn’t agree more!
PAIGE NOTES
This week, we begin the Hebrew month of Iyar, which some Jewish mystics interpret as an acronym for אני יי רפאך, meaning “I, the Divine, am your healer” (Shemot/Exodus 15:26). Once, about six years ago, I was wandering through SFO and saw a billboard that read “Healing is not linear.” I was amazed that, amidst the advertisements for tech, travel destinations, and other capitalism-driven agendas, someone had paid to remind the world that healing was possible. It really stuck with me. I have been ruminating on that often lately, as I read the news. In the grand scheme of social justice and equality, we have made so much progress in the past century. On the micro level, though, of just the past decade, or even the past four months, it feels like we’re going backwards. Progress is not linear.
So, what do we do with that? When I hear אני יי רפאך, “I, Adonai/ God/ Oneness, am your healer,” I hear “you do what you can to heal and the universe will take care of the rest.” There’s only so much we can do. That’s one of the greatest lessons of life, isn’t it—that we have no control? That’s not to say we throw our hands up and contribute to destruction or wounding, the opposite of healing, but, as the Mishnah reminds us, לא עליך המלאכה לגמר, ולא אתה בן חורין לבטל “It is not on you to finish the work of the world, nor are you free to neglect it” (Mishnah Avot 2:16). We do our part, we do what we can, and then we “let go and let God.”
Here on the Mendocino Coast, the healing theme of Iyar beautifully aligns with May being peak bloom for elderberries, considered in many parts of the world as a wonderful healing plant. We’re surrounded by reminders for healing. We don’t have to put our heads down and wait for all the bad to end in order to start healing from it. We can be mending as it continues, strengthening our spiritual immune systems even in the middle of an ethical pandemic. With elderberry and Iyar medicine this month, we come together to heal, on this nonlinear, Divine journey of life.
SHABBAT MORNING SERVICES
A full Shabbat service is led by community members, with singing, chanting and silence, Torah teaching and reading, blessings for healing and peace, and time for mourners to say Kaddish. The teachers for May are listed below. We have hybrid services, so come to the shul or Zoom from 10:30 AM until about 12:30 PM.
| 5/3/25 |
Tazria - Metzora |
Margaret Holub |
| 5/10/25 | Achrei - Kedoshim |
Paige Lincenberg |
| 5/17/25 | Emor |
Leslie Krongold
|
| 5/24/25 | Behor - Bechukotai |
Raven Deerwater |
| 5/31/25 | Bamidbar |
Ariel Breit |
If you would like to give a Torah teaching during Shabbat services, or want more information about what’s involved, please contact Raven Deerwater at raven@taxpractitioner.com or (707) 937-1099.
FIRST NIGHT PASSOVER SEDER
Hosted by our Millennials Group and led by Rabbi Paige, the first Seder will take place on Saturday, April 12th, at 5:00 PM at the shul. Just as the Haman narrative at Purim hit us differently this year, it's a potent time for us to come together over the themes of Pesach to pray for liberation & equality. For more information, contact Paige at rabbipaige@gmail.com. Please sign up to bring a vegetarian potluck dish, and add your name to the Attendance List, here: (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lB2wA2miIJ0Pbs3GnKUWHjONP7dUdbv4ui7E6YsurEo/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0).
KABBALAT SHABBAT
May hosts are Esther Ehrlich and Neal Davis in Little River. Please note the date change to May 9th (earlier in the month than usual). Please contact them at (510) 847-0628 for directions and to let them know you are coming. In June our hosts will be Rabbi Paige and Ben on Cameron Road in Elk.
If you’d like to host, but don’t have the space in your home, it’s possible to host at the shul. To schedule a Shabbat gathering, please contact Mina at (707) 937-1319 or mcohen@mcn.org.
Note: The Shabbat candle lighting on Zoom will move to 6:30 PM for the sunny months, beginning on May 2nd.
SHAVUOT
Shavuot begins on Sunday night, June 1st. Rabbis Paige and Margaret are preparing a night of study and reflection centered on prayer. We’re thinking we’ll take a close look at different prayer books, prayer customs, formal and personal prayer, prayers said and sung, Hebrew and English; we’ll think about healing prayers and praying for peace, the technology of prayer (tallitot, tefillin…). Details TBA. We will probably study late into the night, but not all the way to dawn. But that, like so much else, remains to be revealed.
HONOR OUR TORAH SCROLL
MCJC is the home of Memorial Sefer Torah #809, our beloved Czech Torah scroll which survived the Shoah. Over 40 years ago we were loaned this scroll from the Memorial Scrolls Trust, and we have continued to love it and read from it. We don’t own it; it belongs to the Jewish people, and we are its honored hosts.
Last year at Shavuot we learned more about our Torah scroll, including listening to a fantastic talk from Memorial Scrolls Trust member Lois Roman, all about our particular sefer Torah and all the Czech survivor scrolls. But we haven’t yet followed up on one request from the Memorial Scrolls Trust: that communities with these scrolls create a page about their sefer Torah on their community website and link it to the Memorial Scrolls Trust webpage. The Trust has all the information to share, and MCJC has its fine, no-longer-so-new website, which would happily accommodate a page about our scroll. If this bit of research and writing calls your name, please contact Margaret (mholub@mcn.org) and she will put you in touch with the Memorial Scrolls Trust.
THANKS FROM MARGARET
My heart is bursting in the aftermath of the gorgeous Double Chai celebration on March 30th! I’ll never forget walking into the Caspar Community Center and seeing SO MANY friends from our Jewish community gathered together. It was overwhelming in the most beautiful way to be among all of you, just to soak up who we all are, to look at your beloved faces, to remember so many occasions when we have been together, one-on-one, in small groups and en masse. And that was just the first minute! I hope I have more personally thanked all the people who took the lead in making this incredible happening happen, so I won’t do it here. But what about that wild rabbi who came down FROM THE RAFTERS and served up such elegant Toyrah? And how about that heap of Xeroxed books that got schlepped and lifted up that a bunch of you must have actually read at some time or other? And did you already know that TIRAMISU means “lift me up???” Anytime! And all aboard that Yellow Submarine!
I know this happened on the occasion of my being your rabbi for 36— double chai—years. And I breathed your love and your blessing into my heart, where it will stay all the rest of my life and give me energy and joy. But I hope you felt what I felt every bit as much: that it was a celebration of all of us and what we’ve been creating together all these years: this funny, profound, enduring, sparkling community that we are. And that you felt, as I did, the entirety of countless Megillahs folded, chairs put up and taken down, matzah and hamantaschen baked, prayers lifted up, arguments argued, phone calls made, stories told, tears shed, experiments tried, songs sung, jokes laughed and groaned at. It is protean, kind of miraculous and extremely alive. I am endlessly grateful to all of you!
ZOOM ADDRESS
We are using the Zoom address below for many MCJC events. Password is shalom. Disregard the numeric passcode at the bottom of the invitation unless you’re dialing in on a landline. If you have questions or problems, contact susan.tubbesing@gmail.com.
Join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7071836183?pwd=NzFaTkpjOXVYMDNnNnprOXlnZjVhQT09
Meeting ID: 707 183 6183
Passcode: shalom
Numeric Passcode: 776001
BIRTHDAYS
Please reach out to the celebrants noted below and spread love. If you would like your natal day listed, email rabbipaige@gmail.com with your birth date. (We list the day, but not the year, and your name will be featured only during the actual month of your birthday.) Below are the May birthdays:
5/14 Sandy Glickfeld, 5/15 Nancy Drooker, 5/19 Rhoda Teplow,
5/28 Susan Levenson-Palmer, 5/30 Rachel Lahn
HERE FOR YOU
Rabbis Margaret & Paige want to remind you all that we’re always available for you in any way we can be! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of them to go on a walk or have tea with you.
PHILOSOPHY CIRCLE
Once a month, we’ll gather to explore a thought-provoking, philosophical topic. No outside reading or work required. Just show up, hear a few profound sentences from a Jewish philosopher, then get lost in a stimulating discussion with our community! Monthly on the first Wednesday of the month at 5:30 PM at the shul, starting May 7th (and then June 4th, July 2nd, August 6th, and so on). For more information, contact Rabbi Paige at rabbipaige@gmail.com.
ELDERS CONVERSE
The Elders’ Conversation continues ever onward, with intimate, exploratory, often deepening conversation about topics of our choice. We meet every second and fourth Tuesday of the month, 3:00-4:30 PM on Zoom. May dates are the 13th and 27th. Topics are voted on at the end of the prior meeting, and questions to stir the pot are shared in the MCJC announcements that Susan Tubbesing sends out before the meeting. We really mean it that people of all ages are most welcome to join the conversation.
SHARE YOUR GIFTS
On Sunday, May 18th at 4:00 PM, come to the Matanah to explore a variety of essential oils, learn about their healing properties, and go home with a sample of your favorite blend. Materials will be supplied. For more information, and to RSVP, please contact Leslie at elkrong@yahoo.com.
JUSTICE GROUP
The Justice Group regularly meets on the last Monday of the month but, because of Memorial Day, the meeting has been moved up a week. The May meeting is scheduled for May 19th from 5:30-7:00 PM at the shul (in-person only). May's agenda includes updates on the Justices' projects—Citizenship Scholarship and Indigenous Relationship; information on activities and opportunities to support other justice-making groups; and a learning activity based on a current justice concern. Participants might like to bring a song, a poem, a snack, but mostly themselves. Send any questions, concerns, or suggestions to Donna Medley at dmthebeez9@gmail.com.
THREE MUST-SEE MOVIES
The Mendocino Film Festival’s 18th year—which runs May 29th to June 1st—features three movies that may be of particular interest to MCJCers. "Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse” explores the life and career of the cartoonist and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus, about his father, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The zany comedy “Bad Shabbos,” starring Kyra Sedgwick and David Paymer, tells the story of an engaged interfaith couple who are about to have their parents meet for the first time over a Shabbat dinner. Academy Award-winner “No Other Land,” made by an Israeli-Palestinian collective, shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta, a community that had been resisting displacement, and the alliance that develops between Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham. The film will be followed by one-on-one listening sessions for anyone who wishes to share their thoughts. The complete program and tickets are available at mendofilm.com
BOOK GROUP
We meet Monday May 19th at 2:00 PM on Zoom to discuss Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie. A presumably political assassination that’s in fact deeply “personal,” the separate histories of the disputed territories of Strasbourg and Kashmir, and the classical Indian epic Ramayana are all ingeniously conflated and reimagined in this novel. It begins in 1993, when former U.S. Ambassador to India, Maximilian Ophuls, is murdered and nearly beheaded outside his Los Angeles home by his Muslim driver, who, the world will soon learn, is Kashmiri native Noman Sher Noman, a former traveling player and amateur acrobat known as “Shalimar the Clown.” Ambassador Ophuls, a French Jew from a distinguished family in Strasbourg, is a Holocaust survivor and hero of the wartime Resistance.
In interconnected narratives spanning six decades, we learn of Noman’s youthful marriage to beautiful dancer “Boonyi” Kaul and her calculated dalliance with visiting diplomat Ophuls, who takes her (willingly) away, fathers her daughter, and sorrowfully permits her disgraced return to Kashmir as Boonyi. Parallelling this story is an extended flashback detailing Max’s youth in war-torn Strasbourg, experiences as a Resistance hero, and rise in the world of diplomacy. Other narratives recount Kashmir’s ongoing victimization by Pakistan and India. Rushdie describes Noman’s training as a terrorist within an increasingly violent Kashmiri “liberation front.” If you are not currently in the Book Group, please contact Fran Schwartz for the Zoom invitation at franbschwartz@gmail.com. Books are usually at Gallery Bookshop.
LET’S FILL THE FREEZER
It’s time to fill the freezer at the shul with some veggie prepared food that can be frozen in individual portions. We want to assist folks who need sustenance because of sickness or budget cuts to programs they rely on. Please label each portion with the date and contents. A list of ingredients can be added to the clipboard in the shed by the freezer. If you need the code to access the freezer, contact Karen at nerak@mcn.org, Mina at mcohen@mcn.org, or Fran at franbschwartz@gmail.com. Thanks for fulfilling this mitzvah.
MCJC BOARD MEETING
The MCJC board will meet on Wednesday, May 28th at 5:30 PM on Zoom. If you wish to attend part of the meeting, please contact Susan Tubbesing at (707) 962-0565, or susan.tubbesing@gmail.com, and she will give you the address.
INSURANCE EXPERTISE
MCJC Treasurer Raven Deerwater is seeking advice on what policies to purchase from someone who knows their way around the insurance market these days. If you ran a business or managed risk for one, you might have an insight you wish to share. Please contact Raven (raven@taxpractitioner.com) if you do.
YOUR PRIZE IS IN THE MAILING
Mary Lacey Gibson folded, labelled, and stamped the April newsletters and took them to the post office. The task was a prize she received at the Purim party. She hadn’t realized how much fun it could be until she won the whole Megillah. You can be a big winner too by contacting Sarah at 962-0565 or sarah.nathe@gmail.com Please use the bonus code GANZEMEGILLAH when placing your offer.
MEGILLAH SUBSCRIPTIONS
The Mendocino Megillah is published monthly as an emailed PDF and an online version. The online Megillah is posted on the newsletter page of the MCJC website: www.mcjc.org/newsletter. Any information on changes in email address or in email notifications should be sent to Sarah Nathe at sarah.nathe@gmail.com. If you choose not to be a contributing member of MCJC, we request a $54 annual fee for the Megillah.
THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING DONORS
Raven & Becky Deerwater, Arleen Weisman, Camille Weisman (Karen Bowers), Myra Beals, Esther Faber, Dawn Hofberg & Robert Schlosser, Barbara Oceanlight, Helen Sizemore, Bob Evans, Donna Weintraub, Elise Cox, Ronnie James, Jane Corey, Laura Goldman & Dennak Murphy, Tracy Salkowitz & Rick Edwards, Kath Disney Nilson, Elaine & David Tavelli, Alison Trick-Thornton, Nancy Drooker & Alix Sabin, Jeffry Krieger & Daniella Rabbie, Madeleine Lansky
In Honor of Rabbi Margaret Holub’s 36 Years of service to our community
Roslyn and Bruce Moore, Camille Weisman, Arleen Weisman, Susan Miller, Lyla & Asher Nathan, dobby sommer, Richard Frey & Margaret L Kane
Citizenship Scholarship Fund
Estreilla Allen
CONTRIBUTIONS TO MCJC
Thank you to all who have contributed to MCJC in 2025. If you have not yet made your annual donation, this would be a great time to do so. You can send a check to MCJC, PO Box 290, Little River, CA 95456, or go to our MCJC website (www.mcjc.org) and donate using our great new web-based payment system, Zeffy. Zeffy is only available to nonprofits, and unlike PayPal, does not charge the recipient organization a fee for donations made through it. You can make a one-time donation or set up a payment schedule; either way, MCJC will never have to pay a percentage fee to receive your contribution in full.
EDITORIAL POLICY
The Mendocino Megillah is published monthly, except for August. The deadline for article submission is the 20th of the month before publication. The editor will include all appropriate material, space permitting, with the exception of copyrighted material lacking the permission of the author. Divergent opinions are welcome. Material printed in the Megillah does not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of the MCJC Board of Directors.
Please Support Our Generous Underwriters
Albion Doors and Windows: Thousands of recycled windows, French doors, thermal windows, entry doors, new & used. Leaded glass, arches & unique styles. Liquidation prices at 937-0078 in Albion. www.knobsession.com
Karen Bowers Studio: Painting workshops and studio gallery. Website: karenbowersstudio.com Email: karenbowers@gmail.com Tel: 964-0656.
Frankie's Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor: Homemade pizzas, Cowlick's ice cream, and other yummy things to nosh on. Beer and wine available. Open every day but Monday from 1:00 pm - 7:00 pm at 44951 Ukiah Street, Mendocino, 937-2436. www.frankiesmendocino.com
Out of this World: Telescopes, binoculars, & science toys. 45100 Main Street, Box 1010, Mendocino. 937-3335. www.OutofThisWorldShop.com. Serving all your interplanetary needs since 1988.
Rainsong Shoes: Shoes & accessories for men & women. (707) 937-1710 or www.rainsongshoes.com
Thanksgiving Coffee Company: Artisan roasted on the Mendocino Coast since 1972. A B Corporation featuring a wide variety of certified organic, shade grown coffee & fair trade coffees. (800) 462-1999. Learn more and buy coffee at www.thanksgivingcoffee.com.
MCJC underwriters increase their businesses’ visibility to over 350 subscribers and improve their presence on the web. $150/year.
| Chevra Kadisha |
Clare Bercot Zwerling |
956-571-0945 |
clarebercot@icloud.com |
| Cemetary |
Donna Montag |
707-877-3243 |
montag@mcn.org |
| Outreach (new to the community), Finance Committee, Announcements |
Susan Tubbesing* |
707-962-0565
|
susan.tubbesing@gmail.com |
| Justice Committee |
Donna Medley* |
707-962-9493 |
dmthebeez9@gmail.com
|
| Women's retreat, Annual dinner |
Harriet Bye |
707-937-3622 |
bysawyer@mcn.org
|
| Kabbalat Shabbat Coordinator |
Mina Cohen |
707-937-1319 | mcohen@mcn.org |
| Volunteer Coordinator |
Joy Lancaster* |
510-703-9955 | martyjoy@sbcglobal.net |
| Building Maintenance |
Marnie Press* |
707-937-1905 | marniepress@gmail.com |
| Treasurer, Finance Committee |
Raven Deerwater* |
707-964-8333 | raven@taxpractitioner.com |
| Landscaping, Library |
Nina Ravitz* |
707-357-6462 | ninabo@mcn.org |
| Secretary, Finance Committee |
Alix Sabin* |
415-238-1342 | alixsabin@gmail.com |
| Book Group, Bikkur Cholim |
Fran Schwartz |
707-937-1352 | franbschwartz@gmail.com |
| Web dude |
Gus Mayeno |
webmaster@mcjc.org | |
| Megillah Editor, Name & Address & Subscription changes |
Sarah Nathe |
707-962-0565 |
sarah.nathe@gmail.com |
| Rabbi |
Margaret Holub |
707-734-0311 | mholub@mcn.org |
| Rabbi |
Paige Lincenberg |
rabbipaige@gmail.com |
