Yom HaShoah Candle Packing Night

Members of the CAI Men's Club rolled up their sleeves and took part in an important annual Mitzvah project: Yom HaShoah Candle Packing. On Tuesday night, March 31st the club assembled shipping boxes, filled them with the symbolic yellow candles and labeled them for timely shipment. The team soldiered through some ornery cardboard boxes and the black shmutz that colored our hands by the end of the night.

The candles, which are sent to every member of the synagogue, are to be lit on Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, to keep alive the memory of the six million Jews who perished in Nazi death camps during World War II. Members are asked to make a small donation back to the CAI Men's Club for this worthy program.

In spite of the solemnity of the candles and what they represent, the Men's Club celebrated life tonight. We worked to the 60's and 70's tunes of VP Marty Schenker's iPod and yapped with anticipation of the upcoming Mets and Yankees' baseball seasons.

Gary Kabler (pictured, far right) did a tremendous job as always chairing this high visibility event. Thanks to all who came out to make this project a success: Steve Jacobs, Marty Schenker, Mark Roth, Alan Gerberg, Steve Eitman, Jay Baranker, Mitch Gladstein, Michael Simon and Adam Shandler.

Lugashi Takes NNJR District Hold 'Em Title

The winner of the NNJR Jewish Men's Clubs Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament was no man at all. Carol Lugashi (left) of Temple Beth Shalom, Livingston, was the only female participant in the district tournament, and she brought home the trophy with strong play and aggressive betting.

Doug Jacobs, also representing Temple Beth Shalom, took second place. David Kerner, pictured, a regular winner at the CAI Men's Club Tournaments, finished third. All three will compete in the region-wide tournament on Sunday, May 3rd at Beth O'r-Beth Torah in Clark.

Other Agudath Israel members participating in the district tournament included Howie Feiwus, Arthur Bocian, Ken Levitt, Adam Shandler and Harvey Hershkowitz. Harvey was a Top 5 finisher in this event held at Temple Beth Shalom on Sunday, March 22nd, in a joint venture between the Livingston synagogue and Agudath Israel of West Essex.

Good luck to Carol, Doug and David in May!

The CAI Men's Club would like to thank Paul Schaefer and Phil Crystal of Beth Shalom for organizing this event.

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From left to right, David Kerner of Agudath Israel, Caldwell, and Carol Lugashi and Doug Jacobs of Temple Beth Shalom,

Livingston, after securing the top three spots in the NNJR District Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament.

Agudath Israel Men's Clubbers Arthur Bocian and Harvey Hershkowitz contemplate one of many tricky hands at the March 22nd poker tournament held at Temple Beth Shalom, Livingston.

Don't Miss: Another Networking Night!

On Wednesday, April 1st at 8 pm, the CAI Men's Club, in conjunction with the synagogue's Employment Steering Committee, will hold another networking night. If you came to our December networking event, then you know that this is a very worthwhile and inspiring event.

Our featured speaker will be Agudath Israel member and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Stein. Dan will discuss working in the public sector. A business card exchange over light refreshments will occur after the talk.

Contact Bobby Epsetin if you'd like more information: tambo1117@gmail.com

NCAA Guys Night Out

The CAI Men's Club knows how to do March Madness.

For the third straight year, members of Men's Club took up their usual table at Miami Mike's Sports Zone in East Hanover and enjoyed the first night of NCAA Tournament Action. The action commenced at 7 p.m. on Thursday night, March 19th.

In addition to a great night out with terrific guys, fun food and refreshing drinks, we were treated to some of the best games of the tournament so far. The most notable contest featured American testing Villanova. Our own VP Marty Schenker, an American U. alumnus, (pictured with Jay Baranker) sweated it out while his Eagles built a 14 point lead over Nova, only to succumb to the more experienced and physical Big East team.

Also in action were Gonzaga and Akron. The #13 seeded Zips, representing the MAC, dominated most of the game but a late run and a worn-out Akron squad secured a Zags win. One of the tighter match-ups squared Michigan against Clemson, in which the Wolverines squeaked it out, and Texas pulled away from a pesky Minnesota team to advance to Round 2.

Those in attendance agreed that the night was great fun, and that you couldn't have picked better games to watch. The event was only enhanced by the atmosphere at Miami Mike's. "Mike always takes care of us," said Men's Club President Adam Shandler. "He has a real knack for hospitality and for making us feel like number one. We're looking forward to having future programming at Mike's."

Event chair Larry Dodyk, pictured with Miami Mike, did a stellar job organizing the evening.

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At left, Randy Kanter and Allen Zaks share good company and good games at Guys Night Out for the NCAA Tournament. At right, Gary Kabler and other Men's Clubbers hold court at Miami Mike's Sports Zone.

FJMC Sefer Haftorah At Agudath Israel

The Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs' Sefer Haftorah, a scroll of all the Haftorah parshas, is being hosted this week by the Agudath Israel Men's Club. Each year, the scroll makes its way from synagogue to synagogue around the continent, spending a week at each one. In addition to being a beautiful scroll, the FJMC Sefer Haftorah serves as a reminder of a fundraiser sponsored by the Federation. Interested parties can buy their own scrolls or replicate their favorite parshas on a miniature scroll. This is a great way to commemorate a major life cycle event in your life, such as a child's Bar Mitzvah or the anniversary of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

The FJMC Sefer Haftorah was displayed during the David Schenker talk on Tuesday, March 17th and will be held by a member on the bima during the reading of this week's Haftorah at Agudath Israel. On Tuesday, March 24, the Sefer continues its road show when it visits a Conservative synagogue in Cliffside Park. Should you be interested in a commemorative Sefer Haftorah or parshah scroll, contact Harvey Hershkowitz at HSHINC@aol.com.

Yom Hashoah Candle Packing Night

On Tuesday night, March 31st, the Agudath Israel Men's Club will be taking part in one of its annual big mitzvah projects - the packing of the yellow Yom Hashoah Candles. The candles, which commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day and keep alive the memory of the 6 million who perished, are distributed to the homes of all CAI members. Members are encouraged to make a donation to the Men's Club for sponsoring the project.

We could use some extra hands to help us assemble the mailing boxes and fill the boxes with candles and donation information. Certainly, the more hands we have the quicker the evening moves, but the more people we have participating the more meaningful the project becomes. Please respond to project chairman Gary Kabler if you are able to volunteer: gkabler@comcast.net

The Yom Hashoah Yellow Candle Program is a continent-wide program managed by the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs (FJMC), of which Agudath Israel is a member. For more information visit http://www.yellowcandles.org/.

David Schenker Talk Recap

On Tuesday, March 17th, the CAI Men's Club hosted David Schenker of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. David, who serves as the Institute's Director on Arab Politics, addressed 70 Agudath Israel members on several topics concerning the Middle East and their impact on the state of Israel and U.S. diplomacy efforts in the region.

Mr. Schenker masterfully intertwined updates about Iran's uranium enrichment efforts with talk of Syria as a nuisance to the region and the challenges and benefits Israel faces with the new U.S. administration. After the lecture, which ran about 45 minutes, David held a Q&A session for another 45 minutes. (The program could have gone longer but the clock was approaching 10 pm.) Congregants asked about the recent resignation of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a world without Arafat and the future of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. David did not merely offer broad strokes. Without bias, he offered histories on the matters and information gleaned from his conversations with the leaders of the region.

The CAI Men's Club would like to thank David Schenker for his time and valuable insights into an always eventful part of the world. We look forward to having him back to speak again. "Mazelations" to event chair Marty Schenker for organizing the event and to committee members Ken Levitt and Harvey Hershkowitz.

At left, David Schenker is flanked by CAI Men's Club President Adam Shandler and VP and event chair Marty Schenker.

Men's Club at the CAI Purim Festival

The CAI Men's Club played a very active part in the synagogue's Purim Festival on Sunday, March 8th. Our job actually started on Saturday night, March 7th, when we helped set up, build and paint carnival booths for this annual event. Heading out for liquid refreshment at the CloverLeaf afterwards was ample incentive to do some heavy lifting. (It should be mentioned that the Men's Club, as well as all CAI committees, took a two-year hiatus from this event due to the renovation project.) Games, new and old, were put on display, like the famous Win-a-Fish ping-pong game (where we only lost about four goldfish over the two days) and Hang Haman, where you have to knock a Satan doll off its chair so that it be hung in effigy. Violent? Yes, but we're talkin' 'bout Haman here. A hearty yasher koach to all who helped out on Erev Carnival, but especially to our foreman Mike Chaiet (pictured at left with Steve Jacobs) who pushed through some back pain to lead the construction.

On Sunday, it was "go" time.

The Men's Club, as it always does, did its best damage in the kitchen. Two shifts of grillmeisters flipped burgers, dogs and veggie burgers for the hungry crowd. With the help of cashiers Alan Gerberg (pictured) and Harvey Hershkowitz, we "moved meat", and scored some profits for the Men's Club.

Kitchen captains Jay Baranker and Michael Simon should be commended with running a tight, clean kitchen. Steve Eitman, Randy Krasner, Mitch Gladstein and Harvey Schenker also get a tip of the Hammantaschen as their grillmanship was top notch. (Make sure to swing by next year to sample Steve's new experi-, I mean, dish, which is being called everything from Mordechai's Mish-Mash to Haman's Revenge.

We look forward to participating in next year's Purim Festival with its new attractions...and recipes. Thanks to all who volunteered, and to the CAI Sisterhood, for spearheading this grand event.

CAI Basketball Ends Season With Loss, 0-8 Record

In 2007 CAI Men's Club Basketball won its first JCC Temple League Championship.

In 2008, the team won its second.

2009 is being labeled as "The Year of Giving Back."

The team closed out its 2008-2009 getting thumped by Temple Ner Tamid of Bloomfield, 88-45. Agudath Israel suited up six players who hustled their brains out, but a hot-shooting TNT squad and an injury to CAI's leading scorer Steve Eitman put the game well out of reach. The loss brought Agudath's record down to a lowly 0-8, cemented a last place finish in the Jerusalem Division and kept the team from reaching the playoffs for the first time in its three year history.

Co-captain Adam Shandler, who will be handing off full control of the team to Marc Weinstein, believes there were many factors that led to this forgettable season. "Our core nucleus of players, those guys that give us steady offense every Thursday night, weren't able to participate until late in the season due to other conflicts. Bob Dale, our big man who led us to the two titles, only made one game, which hurt, but I can understand his other obligations. We also got hit with the injury bug. Swingman Rich Gilbert dislocated a thumb against the JCC team and point guard Jay Lubetkin tweaked an ankle mid-season."

But the season was not a total loss, as Shandler explains. "We got two new rookies in Bobby Epstein and Adam Tekel who made some nice contributions, and Marc Weinstein and Mitch Gilbert, without question, are the Most Improved Players on the team. Both doubled their scoring output from last year. In spite of being out of reach in some games, I was able to get everybody in, so everyone got ample playing time and hopefully had a lot of fun."

Pictured above, from left to right, are co-captain Marc Weinstein, David Kerner, Jay Baranker, Steve Eitman, Richie Dicker and co-captain Adam Shandler.

The Agudath Israel Men's Club Basketball Team looks to return to its winning ways next winter. The 2009-10 season begins just after Thanksgiving.