Eitman Wins Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament

In a game that raged on till 11:15 pm, Men's Club Treasurer Steve Eitman won his first CAI Men's Club Texas Hold 'Em Poker title. Carl Schaerf took second place and David Kerner, who one has taken first, second or third prize at least once in his storied career, came in third.

The December 15 event, which featured 30 players, started with pizza and schmoozing. After the tables were assigned and money collected it was time to deal. It took almost an hour for the first player to bow out, but soon enough, a consolation table was filled with six players. Larry Dodyk, (pictured above, far left) playing with only one good hand (not a poker hand but his right hand) won first prize in that bracket and a starter poker kit.

We would like to thank Temple Beth Shalom of Livingston members Ira Sessler, Paul Schaeffer and Alan Shandler for participating in our event. We will be holding another Texas Hold 'Em Tournament in May. Stay tuned for details!

Happy Hanukkah From the Men's Club

The Men's Club of Congregation Agudath Israel of West Essex wishes you a festive and enjoyable Hanukkah. Whether you've welcomed a new child into the world, got a new job, or did a big mitzvah, we hope you are enjoying your miracles great and small this Hanukkah season. Chag Sameach!

CAI Drops First Game of the Season to B'nai Shalom

The CAI Men's Club Basketball team played a hard game but couldn't stop the hot shooting of B'nai Shalom, losing 58-48. In the game played at JCC of West Orange on Monday night, December 7, Agudath Israel dropped its 9th straight dating back to last season when it finished the 2008-09 campaign at 0-8.

"I would say we are the Nets of the JCC Temple League, but the Nets have won a game this year," said team general manager and small forward Adam Shandler, who was not present at the game.

Richie Dicker paced CAI with 14 points while Steve Eitman netted 13. David Kerner brought down 20 rebounds in the loss. Agudath Israel takes the floor again on Thursday, December 17 in a battle versus the JCC-Whippany team at 8:15 pm.

General Men's Club Meeting, Tuesday, December 8

The next general meeting of the CAI Men's Club will be held on Tuesday, December 8, 8:00 pm in the conference rooms. All new and prospective members and their ideas are welcome.

On the agenda:

-Recaps of the Topics on Tap event and Man of the Year Dinner

-Preparation for the December 15 Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament

-Blood Drive in January

-FJMC Night at the Nets Game

-Recap of season's first Men's Club basketball game

For more information, please contact club president Adam Shandler: adshandler@gmail.com

CAI Men's Club Basketball Announces 2009-10 Schedule

The CAI Men's Club begins its 2009-2010 basketball campaign on Monday, December 7th, at 7 pm. The team will take on B'nai Shalom at the JCC of Metrowest in West Orange. Agudath Israel, which went 0-8 last season, is looking for its first win since winning its second straight Jerusalem Division championship in 2008.

CAI will be led on the floor by last year's scoring leaders, center David Kerner and power forward Steve Eitman (pictured). Rich Gilbert returns from a thumb injury to provide depth at both guard and forward and Richie Dicker will run the point for another season. Marc Weinstein will coach this year's team and Adam Shandler will retain general management duties.

Come support your CAI Men's Club Basketball team! All games will be played at the JCC on Northfield Road in West Orange.

Monday, December 7, vs. B'nai Shalom, 7 pm

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Thursday, December 17, vs. JCC-Whippany, 8:15 pm

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Monday, December, 21, vs. JCC-West Orange, 8:15 pm

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Monday, January 4, vs. Temple Emanu-El, 7 pm

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Week of January 11 BYE WEEK

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Monday, January 18, vs. B'nai Shalom, 8:15 pm

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Thursday, January 28, vs. JCC-Whippany, 7 pm

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Monday, February 1, vs. JCC-West Orange, 7 pm

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Thursday, February 11, vs. Temple Emanu-El, 8:15 pm

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Week of February 15 BYE WEEK

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Thursday, February 25 - "B" Division Playoffs (Time TBD)

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Monday, March 1 - Division Final (Time TBD)

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Monday, March 8 - "A" vs. "B" Championship (Time TBD)

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Monday, March 15 - ALL-STAR GAME

Big CAI Presence at 2009 Man of the Year Dinner

On Wednesday night, November 11, the Northern New Jersey Region of Jewish Men's Clubs held its annual Man of the Year Dinner at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston. Eight clubs from the Northern sector of the region were represented, and Congregation Agudath Israel of Caldwell was featured prominently.

Our 2009 club honoree was Larry Dodyk. Larry, a recent past co-president now serving as club adviser, partnered with Scott Kopen to keep our club vibrant while CAI went through a two-year building renovation. His enthusiasm with events like the speaker's breakfast, family picnic and participation on our two championship basketball teams was very much needed during our time of diaspora.

Austin Mahler was CAI's Youth of the Year, a new concept for the dinner. Austin could always be counted on to help us put up and take down the Sukkah. As his mitzvah project, Austin catalogued and organized every volume for easy access in the shul library. An imminent Eagle Scout (who had his board review the morning of this blog entry), Austin is a senior at Newark Academy in Livingston. He is the son of Alfie, an active club member, and Jeannette Mahler.

The superstar of the night was Harvey Hershkowitz. Introduced by our own Rabbi Alan Silverstein as a man whose committment to Israeli causes goes unmatched, Harvey accepted his honor with grace, humility - and the best part - a short speech! Especially the last part about eating! Harvey, who was a three-year president of CAI Men's Club from 2004-2007, serves on the NNJR board as its Vice President.

Thirty-seven people from the CAI circle were in attendance, including the family of Austin Mahler and Larry's co-workers from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Congratulations to all of our award recipients!

Topics on Tap Recap

Rabbinic Intern Michael Jay was a hit as moderator of his first Topics on Tap event!

On Tuesday, November 10th, the Men's Club hosted 30 congregants who took part in our first current events discussion group of the calendar year. Formerly known as Torah on Tap and held at Cloverleaf Tavern, the program with the new name moved on campus to Agudath Israel's library. Amidst the ancient texts and the classic Jewish literature, participants dined on pizza and snacks and drank cool refreshing beer while discussing the topic "Barack and Bibi: Can We Really Be Friends?"

Michael did a masterful job of kicking off the talk with a commentary on the week's parsha before seguing into a history of American presidents' relationship with Israel. Then the floor - and floodgates - were open for dialogue. It was hard for participants not to draw comparisons betweeen the tepid Obama-Netanyahu relationship and those of U.S. and Israeli leaders of the past. Many were critical of the President's non-committal stance on the Jewish state, and his foreign policy in general, despite the administrative support he receives from Jewish members of his staff. That said, in the eng the group agreed that it is still early in the relationship and hoped to see more of a bridge built between the two nations.

The Men's Club would like thank Michael for his superb, well researched presentation and the Topics on Tap Committe of Harvey Hershkowitz, Ken Levitt and Adam Shandler. We would also like to recognize Metrowest Youth Shaliach from Israel Yotam Zach for attending and offering the perspective of a young Israeli.

The Club is considering adding another Topics on Tap event for 2010 and is open to ideas. Current events that affect world or American Jewry and the state of Israel tend to be of most interest.

(Pictured above are Israel Committee Co-Chairman Harvey Hershkowitz, Rabbinic Intern Michael Jay and Men's Club President Adam Shandler.)