Men's Progress Club

Welcome!

The Men's Progress Club is an active and vibrant arm of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B'nai Israel . During the course of the year, we will run several meaningful programs, donate our time and resources when needed to the Center, bond with other members of our club, and have fun! We are always looking for more men within the center to be active participants in our programming and social action activities. So please consider joining our club today, and reaping the benefits of membership immediately!

News Items

If you not familiar with our club, we would like to share with you our mission statement:

• To strengthen, promote, and advance the objectives and activities of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center / Congregation B'nai Israel;
• To stimulate social, cultural, and religious activities among its members;
• To promote Jewish interest and commitment of its members;
• To sponsor and support activities of special interest within the Jewish community.

Quality Club Award

We have been recognized for the past two years as one of the top Men's Clubs in our parent organization, the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs.

Here is an example of what we did this past year to have earned this distinction:

• We doubled our pledge to Yom Kippur appeal to become one of the highest donor levels in the Shul
• We were one of only three clubs in New Jersey that donated money to the Israel Emergency Appeal for the Masorti Foundation to assist Israeli soldiers during the Gaza Conflict
• We made a contribution to the Religious Affairs committee to help restore approximately 60 Etz Hayim that were in need of new bindings
• We provided two scholarships to the Fair Lawn High School and another two scholarships to honor two high school graduates from our own Men's Progress Club membership

Men’s Progress Club Executive Board 2009-2010

President………………………………….. Stuart Alper
Executive VP………………………………. Ira Lieman
VP: Finance……………………………….. Jeff Kroll
VP: Membership………………………….. David Gotlib & Bob Sokol
VP: Religious Affairs…………………….. Seth Seigel-Laddy
VP: Program & Events…………………… open
VP: Food Services……………………….. Howard Kessel
Corresponding Secretary……………….. Michael Gruber
Recording Secretary…………………….. Neil Garfinkle
Treasurer…………………………………. Lyle Novick
Member-At-Large……………………….. Joel Ringer
Immediate Past President……………….. Scott Pass
Past Presidents………………………….. Charlie Cohen, Brian Frisch, Evan Marcus

A bit about our President

Stuart Alper is beginning his first term as president of the Men's Progress Club after serving for two years as its Executive Vice President. Prior to that, he served as Member at Large and Recording Secretary of the club. Stuart is no stranger to volunteerism at the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B’nai Israel. He has been the chairman of the Purim Carnival over the past two years, is one of the B’aal Tikiah during the high holidays, and has chaired many other events for The Men's Progress Club. Just recently, he chaired a committee that completely rewrote the bylaws of the club. He had no idea what a challenge that would become, but with a great committee and the support of the Executive Board, the new bylaws were ratified in May of 2009.

MPC Shofar Corps

On September 13, nine very eager preteens and teenagers along with three volunteer adults from the Fair Lawn Jewish Center/Congregation B'nai Israel embarked on a wonderful mitzvah of sounding the shofar for individuals in Fair Lawn unable to attend synagogue services during the High Holy Days. This group, called Shofar Corps, began learning about the shofar and training to sound the shofar in the months of May and June. At the end of their training, they each either composed original writings or found compositions about the shofar. Those pieces were then compiled into a shofar service, which was conducted at the homes of 9 individuals identified through the Jewish Family Services of North Jersey.


The idea was born from a conversation between Rabbi Ronald Roth, spiritual leader, and Stuart Alper, President of the Men's Progress Club. Leah Kaufman, Executive Director of the JFSNJ provided the list of people in need and desiring the service. The Men's Progress Club donated shofarot for the Corps members to take home and practice, printed the services and provided lunch to the members prior to leaving for their destinations. Through the Men's Progress Club, the Shofar Corps also provided honey cake to the individuals, a symbolic and traditional gesture to welcome in a sweet year.

The Shofar Corps members were also honored during Yom Kippur services by sounding the final shofar blast which concludes the period of fasting and praying.


“It was a really wonderful experience," said Miranda Alper, one on the Corps members. “We went to the house of one woman who recently had eye surgery," she continued. "Our service was the first thing she had been able to read since her surgery, and she said it was a wonderful start to being able to see again. She enjoyed our service and our company. I can't wait to do it again next year."

Lily Shinkar, one of the adult supervisors, shared a similar experience. "We drove to the house of an elderly man, who was waiting for us at the front door. You could see from his facial expression how grateful he was for our visit. After the final Tekiah Godolah was sounded, he told us the children's shofar blowing was better than going to temple. After we left another home, I thanked the woman for having us, and she quickly said, ‘why are you thanking me? I am the one that is grateful for your visit.”
Her son, Zachary, is no stranger to volunteer work. “This was just like I expected. It is really wonderful when you realize that you have put a smile on someone's face who otherwise might not be smiling. I will definitely do this again next year, and I hope more kids participate and we visit more homes."


“The first time they heard the shofar you could see the smile on their faces,” said Brian Toron, a High School Junior. He said that some of the people his group visited were frail, but they perked up when they heard the familiar tone.

All in all, it was a very rewarding experience for these young adults, and every person in every home expressed their sincere gratitude and joy over being visited by these special young adults and hearing the shofar live.
See all the Shofar Corps Photos