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Cogitator Nov 6, 2013
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Reverend Don Anderson from RI State Council of Churches and Rabbi Amy Levin of Temple Torat Yisrael
VISITING ROTARIANS
None.
GUESTS
Bill Winter’s young daughter Catherine joined us for Rotary lunch. Greenwich Bay Manor’s Anne Marie Charland was a guest of Chuck Sauer for the third week in a row.
BIRTHDAYS/ANNIVERSARIES
Happy birthday wishes from the club go out this week to Jonathan Soule, who said he turns 49 again on November 10th.
ROTARY FOUNDATION DINNER
The Venus De Milo Restaurant will be the site of this year’s Rotary Foundation Dinner on Thursday, November 14th. Our club has purchased a table, and there are 7 spots left. Please see Ed Neff if you’re interested in attending. Tickets are only $22.50, half the regular price, as the club is chipping in the rest.
CITRUS DRIVE
Sue Dorne reminded us that our revenue goal this year is $22,000; we’re a ways off so far at only $3,500 in fruit sold to date. Our net proceeds goal is $10,000. Volunteers are needed for sales shifts at Kent Hospital on Friday November 15th. Jane Boynton is also organizing our phone bank at Coldwell Banker on Thursday, November 21st, from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Finally, Bonnie Sauer asked us all to ‘Sell, Sell, Sell!’
GO WEST YOUNG MAN
Jonathan TerMeer was in Pomona, California last week, and he took in a Rotary meeting. It was a great experience and Jonathan’s first make-up outside the club!
ROTARACT
New Generations Chair Bill TenEyck was pleased to see the preview of the New England Tech Rotaract Club on the cover of this year’s Rotary Phonebook. Bill said that the Rotaract Club is now up to 30 members, half of which traveled to TriMark Corporation last week for an educational field trip in project management.
LITERACY COMMITTEE
Karen Taylor and her Literacy Committee are planning a second book distribution day at London Bridge Child Care Center. They will meet on November 19th to hash out the details.
HAPPY BUCKS
-Pat Lenihan was very happy that the Red Sox were able to win game six of the World Series fairly easily, rather than in another nail biter as was the case for most other playoff games. Pat also made a plug for a Crossroads fundraiser to be held on November 14th at the Providence Arts Club, from 6 to 9pm. There will be great auction items available, along with a nice dinner. Please see Pat for more details if you’d like to attend...
-Jane Boynton’s son turned 19 and is doing great at URI, and her daughter is also faring well with school in Italy. Jane added that she was away on business in Florida last week, and it took some time to get past the, well, umm, fogginess…yeah that’s it…upon her return.
-Former Rotarians and guest speakers Amy Levin and (Past President) Don Anderson were both happy to be back at Chianti’s with Rotarian friends. Don also expressed his special joy over the recent arrival of his first grandchild.
-Andy Erickson gave a ‘welcome to East Greenwich’ buck for Temple Torat Yisrael, and he noted that Boy Scout Troop 10’s meeting sight was at Temple Beth Israel for nearly 40 years.
-Karen Taylor, on behalf of the East Greenwich Free Library, thanked Stan Reuter for all of his recent printing work.
-Yours truly added a happy buck for the 2013 World Champion Boston Red Sox and laughed thinking about how young New England kids have witnessed 8 championship seasons since 2001 (3 Patriots, 3 Red Sox, 1 Celtics, and 1 Bruins). Pain and suffering? Curse of the Bambino? Huh? What’s that all about?
-Sue Dorne was happy to see her 83 year old father-in-law, a big Red Sox fan, enjoy another Fall Classic win.
-Vin Meola wondered if Dave Iannuccilli, on vacation in the Dominican Republic, is secretly on the New York Yankees’ payroll furiously scouting out pitching talent for the 2014 season.
SPEAKERS/PROGRAM
Reverend Don Anderson from RI State Council of Churches and Rabbi Amy Levin of Temple Torat Yisrael
Imam Farid Ansari, Reverend Don Anderson, and Rabbi Amy Levin
Don and Amy’s trip included time spent with famed Israeli archaeologist Avner Gorin, who was treated like an Indiana Jones type celebrity while in their presence. Gorin was the primary source for a PBS special about his 15 years in the field during a major archaeological project in the Sinai Peninsula. He was therefore quite famous around the museum which they were visiting, since so many of the artifacts inside were his.
Amy said she lived in Israel for 20 years, and the trip brought back warm memories and a sense of awe for the old city of Jerusalem.
While traveling, Don, Amy, and Farid were granted access to several ‘new areas of exploration.’ For example, they visited a baptismal site at the Jordan River alongside divine clergy from all over the world. They also ventured to the Judean Desert mosque. Don and Amy had coffee in the beautiful courtyard there, while Farid took off his shoes, solemnly washed his feet, and went inside the mosque for prayer.
Amy mentioned that the 1987 intifada pushed a wedge between Arab and Jewish families in Israel. No longer was it ‘normal’ for Arab and Israeli moms to watch their kids play together at local playgrounds. A new age had unfortunately dawned, one of less cooperation and more suspicion.
Lastly, Don told a story of three groups--Israeli, Christian, Muslim--passing each other, celebrating happily in their own unique ways at an intersection. Don and his guide had a great vantage point as the groups drew closer. Nothing happened upon the great convergence. Rather, each continued on merrily beyond the intersection, leading to Don’s guide sighing with pleasure, ‘Ahhh…that’s my Jerusalem!’
Here is the video presentation, ‘The Swifts over the Holy City of Jerusalem’
For more information about Don and Amy, including additional details of their trip, here are their websites:
http://councilofchurchesri.org/staff/rev-don-anderson/