You can benefit many others when you have a will. While this is the common way to distribute an estate, it also is a wonderful way to make thoughtful gifts.

After you have provided for your family, there are a variety of ways to benefit charitable interests, including your synagogue. Your attorney can add a simple amendment which designates a specific amount, or a percentage of assets to go to your charity after providing for your main beneficiaries.

This is a simple, inexpensive way to adjust your planned giving wishes. Each month we will explore other ways to consider helping the next generation continue Congregation Tifereth Israel.

Congregation Tifereth Israel president Z. Micah Kaplan and Rabbi Myron Fenster with North Fork Reform Synagogue Rabbi Doornek and President. Irwin Freeman

Approximately 25 members of the North Fork Reform Synagogue joined an equal number of members of our shul to enjoy a Tu B'Shevat seder on Saturday afternoon, January 23^rd. Barbara Sheryl of the visiting synagogue organized the seder program with the Shalom Teens group, and Rabbi Jill Doornek and Rabbi Myron Fenster officiated, adding to the program with stories and observations.

Rabbi Fenster explained that Tu B'Shevat is equivalent to an Earth Day celebration -- a holiday to focus on the environment and the fruits of the earth. It is meant to teach us to appreciate and protect the physical world that surrounds us, the rabbi said.

During the Seder, participants read the Talmudic story that says when a boy is born, a cedar tree should be planted, and when a girl is born, a Cyprus tree should be planted. When they are ready to marry, the trees will be sufficiently grown so that the branches of the two trees will intertwine to form the wedding chuppah.

Rabbi Doornek said that the story of the intertwined branches reminded her of the intertwining of Congregation Tifereth Israel and the North Fork Reform Synagogue. She explained that, as in the Talmudic story, the branches of the two trees may have grown separately, but that they have been brought together for a beautiful purpose.

What does one eat at a Tu B'Shevat Seder? Ricky Fenster and Gloria Waxler prepared the three traditional categories of fruits and nuts. One category was edible on the outside and inedible on the inside, like olives and peaches. A second category had an inedible outer shell but an edible inner core, such as walnuts and oranges. The third category was made up of fruits that were totally edible, like berries and figs.

We ate, we schmoozed, and we learned to value the fruits of our wonderful earth.

--Adrianne Greenberg

Congressman Tim Bishop Will Speak At Our Shul on May 2

Our man in the U.S. House of Representatives, Congressman Tim Bishop, will give a talk at our shul on Sunday, May 2, at 2 pm. He represents the 1st Congressional District, which covers Eastern Suffolk County from Smithtown to the North and South Forks.

First elected to Congress in 2002, the Southampton native is serving his fourth term in Washington. Prior to his election, he was provost of Southampton College. He serves on the House Budget Committee, focusing on health care and jobs; the Education and Labor Committee, where he has been helping to make college more affordable for middle income families; and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, bringing Federal money to our area for the protection of Long Island Sound and other waterways.

We look forward to a lively discussion on local and national issues, followed by a question and answer session.

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