SHABBAT-O-GRAM for
September 26, 2003 and Tishre 1, 5764
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut
Shabbat Shalom
And L’Shanah Tova
….from all of the Hammermans to you
PARENTS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS – GET YOUR KIDS ON OUR E-MAIL LIST!!!!
SEND E-MAIL ADDRESSES TO office@tbe.org
Previous Shabbat-O-Grams can be accessed directly from our web site (www.tbe.org).
JUST THE FACTS…
1st night of Rosh Hashanah services will begin at 6:30 PM, as we switch to our new permanent start time
Friday Night
Candles: 6:27 PM
Services: 6:30 PM,
Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah 1st Day, as well as the 2nd Day:
Service: 8:15 – 1:00
Children’s services: 11:00 – 1:00
The Shofar is not blown on the first day because it is Shabbat, but on the 2nd day we’ll have 100 blasts (including the final ten by our Symphony of Shofars) to hear.
Mincha – Maa’riv on Saturday at 6:15 PM
Tashlich on Sunday at 5:30 PM
Torah Portion – The Abraham Saga
Read the Masorti commentary at http://www.masorti.org/mason/torah/index.asp. JTS commentary is at: http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/. USCJ Torah Sparks can be found at http://uscj.org/item20_467.html. UAHC Shabbat Table Talk discussions are at http://uahc.org/torah/exodus.shtml. Other divrei Torah via the Torahnet home page: http://uahcweb.org/torahnet/. Test your Parasha I.Q.: http://www.ou.org/jewishiq/parsha/default.htm. CLAL’s Torah commentary archive: http://click.topica.com/maaaiRtaaRvQhbV2AtLb/. Nehama Liebowitz archives of parsha commentaries: http://www.torahcc.org/nechama/gilayonarchives.htm. For a more Kabbalistic/Zionist/Orthodox perspective from Rav Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Israel, go to http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/index.html. For some probing questions and meditations on key verses of the portion, with a liberal kabbalistic bent, go to http://www.jewishealing.com/learning.html. To see the weekly commentary from Hillel, geared to college students and others, go to http://www.hillel.org/hillel/NewHille.nsf/FCB8259CA861AE57852567D30043BA26/DF7D129F15B3DF0885256AB80058E9C3?OpenDocument. For a Jewish Renewal and feminist approach go to http://rabbishefagold.hypermart.net/Torah1.html or to http://www.reclaimingjudaism.org/TakingTorahPersonally.htm
Morning Minyan: Daily at 7:30 AM, Sundays at 9:00 AM in the chapel PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MINYAN AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!
The Highest Level of Tzedakkah
The following helpful ideas came in from Janice Gilman (Greenberg), for those who are searching for employment. Thanks so much to Janice.
Rabbi--I have been thinking about your recent emails on behalf of people looking for jobs. We might want to consider putting a community career corner section on our website. Congregants could submit a summary of their company, address of the company, a link to their website, and their contact information. My company offers a referral bonus, which I would donate to the Temple. In the meantime, anyone looking for a job can go to www.Daymon.com. Daymon Worldwide is a sales and marketing organization that specializes in retailer/store brand products. We have offices in CT and around the world. Our CT jobs can range from IT, Finance, Marketing, Packaging Design and Human Resources. If they see a job they are interested in, they can contact me at jgillman@daymon or 203-352-7538.Thanks
Janice Gillman
Tzedakkah Corner
The Domus Foundation
Sheryl Young of our congregation works for the Domus Foundation, which provides community-based programming for troubled teens. One of their programs is Domus House, a residential facility for ten abused or neglected teenage boys. They are trying to collect items for the house that will make it more "home-like", including new or very gently used blankets (greatest need), throw pillows, framed or unframed posters, picture frames, etc. Also needed are: a kitchen table, kitchen chairs, small sofa, living room-type chairs, end tables and coffee tables, floor lamps, table lamps, and area rugs. Basically, many things in the house and apartments are old, torn, stained, or broken, and need to be replaced.
Prospective donors can call Sheryl to arrange for pick-up or drop-off. Sheryl can be reached at 975-1990 or SherylAYoung@aol.com
See the Domus website at http://www.domuskids.org/. Thanks to Sheryl for offering us this Tzedakkah opportunity.
Spiritual Journey on the Web
High Holidays Online
Go to http://www.myjewishlearning.com/index.htm for a number of Rosh Hashanah articles, including a multi-media feature on listening to the shofar.
Guided Learning: Take a Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur mini-course
For college students and others, the Hillel site has a number of downloadable features, at http://www.hillel.org/Hillel/NewHille.nsf/FCB8259CA861AE57852567D30043BA26/59F054B76866E47385256B13005553FE?OpenDocument, or click on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur
For a quick kids quiz on the Jewish calendar, go to http://www.jafi.org.il/education/year.html
High Holidays On the Air:
For those who are shut-in, in the hospital or stuck in Ghana, and there is no Jewish community nearby, here is an option for the 21st century: The Temple of the Air Yom Kippur television program is airing nationally on the Hallmark network early in the morning on Sunday, October 5th and then being repeated in ten large markets at noon. While the half-hour program was originally created by Temple of the Air in 2002 for the "homebound", the program ended up reaching a much broader audience.
To Take a Rosh Hashanah Quiz, go to http://www.beliefnet.com/section/quiz/index.asp?sectionID=&surveyID=189
Required Reading and Action Items
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=8494 “Who Shall Be At Peace? Beating back despair in these days of joy and renewal” (Gary Rosenblatt, the Jewish Week)
Moment Magazine Survey: Is there one way to be Jewish?
Next week, our congregation will be participating in a nationwide campaign to encourage tourism to Israel. For a preview…
New Holiday Pledge Card: Visit Israel - Ron Kampeas (JTA)
A pledge card slated to land on thousands of pews this Rosh Hashanah comes from a grass-roots campaign asking for pledges from Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist congregants to visit Israel in 5764.
This year, the number of tourists to Israel likely will reach 1.3 million - a 50% rise - thanks mostly to the rise in Jewish tourism, particularly from the U.S.
The pledge card campaign is being run in coordination with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and all the major denominational streams.
See also U.S. Synagogues Urging Tourism to Israel (AP/Newsday) and http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=3019
Why Israel's Policy is Far from Wrong - Barry Rubin (Jerusalem Post)
- If one assumes there can be no peace with a Palestinian leadership unwilling to keep its commitments and uninterested in compromise, the only choice is to continue fighting until the other side is ready to stop.
- In this difficult situation Israel does have a reasonably appropriate strategy:
- Fight the Palestinian-imposed war, trying to minimize threats to Israeli citizens, and capture or punish terrorists. Inflict costs that will encourage the other side to implement a real cease-fire.
- Make clear that Israel is ready to accept an independent Palestinian state and other aspects of a peace agreement in order to give the other side an incentive to end the conflict.
- Improve Israeli defenses to lower casualties and show that the terror strategy does not work.
- Maintain vital international support, especially from the U.S., even at the price of restraining Israel's defensive military efforts somewhat.
- Request international pressure on the PA, including bypassing Yasser Arafat.
- Encourage an alternative Palestinian leadership willing to make peace, or at least a real cease-fire.
Arafat Must Be Stopped - Mortimer B. Zuckerman (U.S. News)
- It took Yasser Arafat just 100 days to torpedo the hope of President Bush that the Palestinians could be served by a new leader.
- Israeli intelligence, using sources and intercepts, has concluded that Arafat is a central factor in the resumption and escalation of terrorist acts that blew up the peace process. Four months into the intifada, on Feb. 12, 2001, Arafat asked a group of Palestinian senior officials, "Why don't the Israelis have more dead?" Then he added, "You know what you have to do" - a statement that marked the beginning of the suicide bombing onslaught.
- Since the cease-fire was officially announced on June 29, 2003, there have been no fewer than 240 terrorist attacks on Israelis, an average of three per day.
- Arafat has never dropped the mentality of the "national liberation organization" - formed before Israel was in the West Bank, whose purpose is to liberate all the land of Israel from the Jews. As the Washington Post summed up in an editorial: "It is obvious that he will never renounce violence against Israel or agree to a final peace settlement with a Jewish state."
- When I met with him at his request two years ago, he had the nerve to tell me that the terrorist bombing of a discotheque on the Tel Aviv beach that killed 21 youngsters was an Israeli sting operation organized to inspire sympathy for Israel around the world.
- This is not the "cycle of violence" that the media keep mentioning, only the continuous and gratuitous murder of Jews. The Palestinian militants' hatred of the Jews is open, unapologetic, and unrivaled on the world stage since the Third Reich.
- This is the Palestinian export to the world: suicide terrorism. Suicide terrorism cannot be appeased but must be defeated and destroyed. The Israelis understand that terrorism involves the collaboration between the bomber and his controller; those behind the suicide terrorist can be deterred by inflicting unacceptable damage on them through targeted killings and by occupying their sanctuaries.
- President Bush in a speech on the Middle East on June 24, 2002, made two things clear: One was that Arafat and his gang of thugs tainted by terrorism must go; the second was that the obstacle to a Palestinian state is not Israel but Palestinian tyranny, corruption, and terrorism, and until that is ended, there will be no progress to a Palestinian state and no American support for it.
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00tg0 Shimon Peres’ remarks upon receiving the Nobel Peace Price in 1994. Peres turned 80 this week and was feted with a gala celebration.
Ambassador Simcha Dinitz Dies
Simcha Dinitz, a former chairman of the Jewish Agency and Israeli ambassador to Washington in the 1970s, died Tuesday in Jerusalem at the age of 74. Dinitz also served as director general of the foreign ministry and later of the prime minister's office, as well as political adviser to prime minister Golda Meir. (Ha'aretz)
Saddam's Secret Jewish Archives (Moment)
Pilots Refusing to Serve in Territories to be Dismissed - Amos Harel
In response to a letter signed by 27 reserve pilots refusing to take part in operations in the territories, Air Force Commander Dan Halutz on Thursday issued an order to ground the nine pilots who still do active duty with the force. If the pilots do not retract their statement, they will be dismissed from active service. Former president and one-time air force commander Ezer Weizman said the group lacked "morality," that their letter was a "disgrace," and that they should "put their tail between their legs" and get out of the air force "as quickly as possible." He likened the call to refuse orders to a "cancer" which had to be cut out "immediately, before it spreads." (Ha'aretz)
The Pilots' Controversy - Nahum Barnea
The path to hell is paved with good intentions and, unfortunately, the 27 air force pilots who signed the letter decided to go all the way. Their rationale is lame, and their conclusion impossible. There isn't, nor can there be, an army by request. The pilots' letter teaches that something is happening in the Israeli Left. A few of the older signers were among the founders of "Peace Now." For them the call for soldiers' refusal to serve is new. Terrorism brings out the worst not just from the Sharon government, it also brings out the worst from the "Peace Now" pilots. (Yediot Ahronot-Hebrew)
Arafat's Bonus Round - Romesh Ratnesar
In a meeting with Fatah leaders last Thursday, Arafat shouted down anyone who dared to question his choices for the new cabinet. Arafat's aides acknowledge that he did indeed subvert Abbas, who was once Arafat's first lieutenant. "He felt that Abu Mazen was going to take his crown," says a senior Arafat aide. "Arafat's morale is high," says a top Palestinian official, "not because of Israel's threat against him but because he got rid of Abu Mazen." Many top Palestinian officials believe Arafat's strategy is to eviscerate all credible alternatives to his leadership, leaving the U.S. no choice but to prod Israel to resume peace talks with him. U.S. and Israeli officials say they have no interest in giving Arafat another chance. (Time)
Road Map Rubble - Arnold Beichman
No matter what Israel gives or pledges to give, there will be no peace now or in the foreseeable future because neither Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt or, most visibly, Osama bin Laden will permit Israel, a democratic, modern state, to exist. In other words, "peace negotiations" are not about giving up the settlements or some other fictitious issue. They are about Israel's existence. Gulf War III now under way in Iraq is an Arab war to prevent another democracy from being created in the Middle East - a Muslim democracy. (Washington Times)
Behind the Attack on Sharansky (Caravan for Democracy)
The man who "pied" Sharansky last week at Rutgers, Abe Greenhouse, 25, is no prankster. Earlier this summer, he was arrested in Israel along with other ISM militants for interfering with Israeli security operations. A member of the International Solidarity Movement, he defiled the Western Wall recently with a note, "End the mother**** occupation!"
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Coming this October!!!!
TGIS (Thank God it’s Shabbat)
A rotating series of Friday night experiences
For all tastes and all ages
At 6:30 PM
Week 1 --- in the chapel, a traditional Beth El Service
Week 2 --- in the Sanctuary, Family Friday
Week 3 --- in the lobby: a creative Theme services
(on October 17, we will be welcoming Young Couples and the theme will be nature)
Week 4 --- a Carlebach-style service, featuring Hasidic nigunim and joyous meditation.
Plus our ongoing Tot Shabbat series (weeks 1 and 3 at 6:45, and Tiny Tot Shabbat on week 2 at 4)
Got it??
Lunch and Learn Series
Led by Rabbi Joshua Hammerman
Judaism, Business and Ethics for Our Time –
Using rabbinic sources, the group will explore the ethics of the marketplace, including deceptive advertising, employer-employee relations, consumer rights (and wrongs) and insider trading.
Please RSVP to rabbi@tbe.org so that sufficient materials can be ordered
Meets Monthly, beginning Wed. Oct 1, 12:30 -1:30
At Benjamin and Gold, P.C., 350 Bedford Street 4th floor
Parking in rear of building (at corner of Pedigree Ski Shop), or metered parking on the street in front of building and also behind Baby and Toy Superstore, across the street.
(many thanks to Dan Benjamin for providing the space)
WE ARE STARTING ANOTHER ADULT BAR/BAT MITZVAH CLASS!!!!
THE CLASS WILL BE TAUGHT BY RABBI HAMMERMAN, CANTOR JACOBSON AND BARB MOSKOW,
COVERING ALL THE BASICS: SYNAGOGUE SKILLS AND PRAYER, JEWISH TRADITIONS, LITERATURE AND HISTORY.
THE CLASS WILL ORGANIZE THIS SPRING, CONTINUE IN THE FALL AND CULMINATE IN
A B’NAI MITZVAH SERVICE IN NOVEMBER OF 2004.
PEOPLE WITH DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS ARE WELCOME
PLEASE RSVP IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, TO OUR EDUCATION OFFICE, 322-6901 X306
Temple Beth El is having an art auction on November 15 at 7 pm. We are going to have a variety of artwork and can request specific artists and works. We are serving finger foods, wine, beverages and dessert. Admission is $10 pp/$18 per couple by November 7. At the door, the admission is $15 pp/$25 per
couple.
It's an easy way to support TBE. There's free babysitting, with sign up by November 7. There's a registration form and more information at www.tbe.org. It's listed under "upcoming events" on the right hand side of the page.
This promises to be a wonderful evening.
On Wednesday, October 1 at 7:30
Beth El will be welcoming a talk by Berta Alchanati, formerly of Athens, Greece, now living in Netanya, Israel.
Berta and her parents were one of the few surviving families of the great Greek Jewish community of Salonika during WWII. She was in hiding in Athens for the remainder of the war and later married, had two sons and made Aliyah a few years ago, preceded by her children. Berta will speak on the History of the Jews of Greece, from ancient times to WWII.
JOIN THE CROWD OF ALMOST 100 HAPPY LULAV AND ETROG WAVERS!
GET YOUR RED HOT
STUDENT SIZED LULAVIM AND ETROGIM
Q What is the Jewish equivalent of seeing
every kid in Yankee stadium raising their
bats high on bat day?
A: Seeing every kid in our synagogue
enthusiastically waving his/her
lulav & etrog on Sukkot!
So nu...
How do we make this happen?
Well, we are offering a very special student
lulav and etrog set for only $18.00!!!
Unbelievable...but true!!!! You can wave your very own lulav and etrog in our gigantic Lulav Parade on Sunday October 12th. But the fun doesn’t stop there. You can wave your lulav & etrog every morning, and when Sukkot is over, we’ll teach you how to turn your lulav and etrog into a havdalah set!!
STUDENT SIZED LULAV & ETROG ORDER FORM
Name Phone
# of sets at $18.00 per set Total = $
Please return this form by October 5th with your check payable to:
Temple Beth El Religious School
350 Roxbury Rd, Stamford, CT 06902
E-mail from the Front”
Go to http://www.tbe.org/sog/Emailfromthefront.htm and scroll down to the most recent entries.
Time for a Joke…
Some Jewish Personals – thanks to Jeff Erskine for forwarding them
Sincere rabbinical student, 27. Enjoys Yom Kippur, Tisha B'av, Taanis Esther, Tzom Gedaliah, Asarah B'Teves, Shiva Asar B'Tammuz. Seeks companion for
living life in the "fast" lane.
2. Shul Gabbai, 36. I take out the Torah Saturday morning. Would like to take you out Saturday night. Please write.
3. Couch potato latke in search of the right applesauce. Let's try it for eight days. Who knows?
4. Divorced Jewish man seeks partner to attend shul with, light Shabbos candles, celebrate holidays, build Sukkah together, attend brisses and Bar Mitzvahs.
Religion not important.
5. Orthodox woman with get, seeks man who got get, or can get get. Get it? I'll show you mine, if you show me yours.
6. Yeshiva bochur, Torah scholar, long beard, payos. Seeks same in woman.
7. Worried about in-law meddling? I'm an orphan! Write.
8. Nice Jewish guy, 38. No skeletons, no baggage, no personality.
9. Female graduate student, studying Kaballah, Zohar, exorcism of dybbuks. Seeks mensch. No weirdoes, please.
10. Staunch Jewish feminist, wears tzitzis, seeking male who will accept my independence, although you probably will not. Oh, just forget it.
11. Jewish businessman, 49. Manufactures Shabbos candles, Chanukah candles, Havdallah candles, Yahrzeit candles. Would like to light your candle. Seeks
non-smoker.
12. Israeli professor, 41, with 18 years of teaching in my behind. Looking for American-born woman who speaks English very good.
13. Eighty-year-old bubbe, no assets, seeks handsome, virile, Jewish male, under 35. Object: matrimony. I can dream, can't I?
14. I am a sensitive Jewish prince whom you can open your heart to share your innermost thoughts and deepest secrets. Confide in me. I'll understand your
insecurities. No fatties, please.
15.Jewish male, 34. Very successful, smart, independent, self-made. Looking for girl whose father will hire me.
16. Single Jewish woman, 29, into disco, mountain climbing, skiing, track and field. Has slight limp.
17. Jewish princess, 28. Seeks successful businessman of any major Jewish denomination: hundreds, fifties, twenties.
18. Desperately seeking schmoozing! Retired senior citizen desires female companion 70+ for kvetching, kvelling, and krechtzing. Under 30 is also OK.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR A SHABBAT-O-GRAM IN HONOR OF YOUR FAMILY’S SIMCHA AND HELP OUR CONGREGATION AT THE SAME TIME – SIMPLY SEND A CHECK FOR $100 TO THE TEMPLE OFFICE, INDICATING THAT IT’S TO SPONSOR A SHABBAT-O-GRAM, LET US KNOW WHO IT IS HONORING, AND WE’LL DO THE REST! YOUR SIMCHA WILL BE SHARED WITH THE HUNDREDS OF OTHERS WHO ARE ON OUR MAILING LIST OR WHO HAPPEN BY OUR WEB SITE.
