May 6, 2006 – Iyar 8, 5766
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,
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Contents of the Shabbat O Gram:
(Click to scroll down)
Just the Facts (service schedule)
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunities
Required Reading and Action Items (links to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)
Announcements (goings on in and around TBE)
Quote for the Week
“There is no other day of the year where our hearts beat as one as on this day; there is no genuine unity which can compare to that expressed so intensely as on Remembrance Day with a force that encompasses every soul in Israel. I know there are no words which I can say to ease your pain, but I commit myself to you… I will do all that I can to strengthen the security of the State of Israel
—Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking at the Yom Hazikaron ceremony at Jerusalem ’s Mount Herzl Jerusalem
Friday Evening
Candle lighting: 7:36pm on Friday,- Havdalah is at 8:35 pm on Saturday evening. For candle lighting times, other Jewish calendar information, and to download a Jewish calendar to your PDA, click on http://www.hebcal.com/. To see the festivals of other faiths as well, go to http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/
Kabbalat Shabbat: 6:30 PM – OUTDOORS (Weather permitting)
Tot Shabbat featuring - 6:45, in the sanctuary
Tot Shabbat will be hosted this week by Jackie and David Herman, in honor of their children, Nathaniel and Douglas. Both children attend Sara Walker.
Attention Tot Shabbat hosts: You are encouraged to bring a special decoration with you (including pictures, children’s drawings, etc.) to help commemorate your special event.
No Tot Shabbat May 19! Due to scheduling conflict, Tot Shabbat will not be held May 19, but it will be held during Shabbat Unplugged on May 12, at 7:30 pm. Tot Shabbat will also be held on Friday, May 26.
Shabbat Morning: 9:30 AM – Mazal tov to Annie Cohen and Yonatan Karas, who will become B’nai Mitzvah this Shabbat morning!
Children’s services: 10:30
Torah Portion: Achare Mot – Kedoshim - Leviticus 16:1 - 20:27
1: 17:8-12
2: 17:13-16
3: 18:1-5
4: 18:6-21
5: 18:22-30
6: 19:1-3
7: 19:4-14
maf: 19:11-14
Haftarah for Ashkenazim: Amos 9:7 - 9:15
Haftarah for Sephardim: Ezekiel 20:2 - 20:20
See a weekly commentary from the UJC Rabbinic Cabinet, at www.ujc.org/mekorchaim. Read the Masorti commentary at http://www.masorti.org/mason/torah/index.asp. University of Judaism, JTS commentary is at: http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/. USCJ Torah
For online Parsha quizzes from Pardes in Israel, go to http://www.pardes.org.il/online_learning/parsha_quizzes/ Torah for Kids: http://www.torah4kids.net/ Weekly Lesson of Popular Israeli Rabbi Mordechai Elon: http://www.elon.org/archives/archives.htm - and his parsha sheets: http://www.mibereshit.org/special/download_eng_pdf.htm From Bar Ilan University: http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/; http://www.torahproductions.com/weekly_article.jsp
THE ENTIRE HEBREW BIBLE (AS WELL AS OTHER JEWISH SOURCES) CAN BE FOUND WITH SIDE-BY-SIDE TRANSLATION AT
Morning Minyan: Weekdays at 7:30, Sundays at 9:30 AM
TO ENSURE A “GUARANTEED MINYAN” FOR THE DAY OF YOUR YAHRZEIT – GO TO THE ROSNER MINYAN MAKER AT WWW.TBE.ORG AND ALSO CONTACT ME AT RABBI@TBE.ORG.
A guraranteed Minyan has been requested for this Monday.
Please sign up at the Rosner Minyan Maker!!!
Excerpts from my sermon from last Shabbat
So
How ironic it is that the prayer for
Chapter 66, Verse 13: “As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you;
you shall find comfort in
During the archaeological excavations that were carried out near the
The inscription on the Western Wall may well have reflected the joyous prospect that the
I’ve seen that graffiti many times, most recently last summer, when our group actually prayed under it, since it is located in that southwestern corner of the kotel adjacent to what is now called Robinson’s arch. And each time I look at it, I think of the joy those workers must have felt – and how devastated they must have been at Julian’s quick demise. They would have been even more devastated had they known that only a few centuries later there would be a new religion, Islam, that would build a shrine, the Dome of the Rock would be built on that very spot, and that it would take 17 centuries for the Jewish people to regain control over that holy place, but that the temple itself would not be rebuilt.
Compared to 17 centuries, 58 years is not a long time to be lingering at dawn, not a long time of “not yet.” Things are not yet perfect, but they are not so horrible either. Yes, the Iranian president speaks openly about incinerating
But how horrible can things be for the Jews, when doctors in
No, things aren’t so horrible at all, not even in “not yet”
Ari Shavit, a commentator for Ha’aretz, describes
True,
Last week, when a terror attack in Tel Aviv shattered the illusion of quiet in the middle of Pesach, the country did not come to a standstill. Israelis have learned to live with the terror –with the operative word being “live.”
And so, on this week of Yom Ha-atzmaut, we think of those workers at the wall who inscribed that verse from Isaiah: You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, your limbs shall flourish like grass.”
These words were recited by Ross and Billie today, and our hearts DID rejoice. We are living at a truly remarkable time, one that those workers 1700 years ago never could have imagined. The Jewish people have been reborn, in our homeland. That fact has happened – nothing “not yet” about it. We can’t rest on our laurels in this year of Nach – but we can rest assured that Isaiah’s vision, and the dream of these workers, has already been fulfilled.
Independence Day 2006: 7 Million Israelis
On the eve of
COMING THIS FALL!!
For more information, go to www.starsynagogue.org
If you are interested in participating in our steering committee or would like an info packet, contact me at rabbi@tbe.org
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunties
Beth El Cares
Cathy Satz (968-9191; csscounsel@yahoo.com)Cheryl Wolff (968-6361; cwolff@optonline.net)BETH EL CARES co-chairs
Lock of Love
Todah Rabah to Rebecca Satz, the latest
Rebecca just couldn’t wait until Sunday May 7 when Beth El Cares will be hosting another group donation
for children and teens to cut their hair for “Locks of Love”. If your hair is 10” or longer (in a ponytail),
join us on Sunday May 7.
Guy Sasson & Company will be coming to
Advance sign-up is required. Mother and daughter teams will be accepted-Cathy will volunteer to “adopt a daughter” for her team!
Contact Cathy Satz to schedule your appointment.
Cathy Satz 968-9191 (
Sunday, June 4, 2006
The
The Walk/Run will be on June 4, 2006 in the morning at Shippan. Each year TBE members walk together to raise money for cancer patients and their families. In 2005, we had 51 walkers and our team raised over $5,200!! This year our goal is to raise $6,000.
We welcome all new and past walkers to come together to form the Sisterhood’s TBE Walk Team. We always have a great time for a good cause. You can walk at your own pace and you will have other TBE members to walk with! The course is either 3 or 5 miles (your choice).
See the special TBE Walk and Run webpage at http://shf.convio.net/site/TR/819699896?pg=team&fr_id=1030&team_id=1110. You can pre-register there as well as read a message from Beth Silver – she can also be reached at 967-8852, beth@silverconsulting.net.
Looking forward to having YOU on the team!
Or go to http://www.jerusalemonline.com/
Judaism and Cremation, Part 2
Following last week’s q and a on cremation, I had this e-mail exchange with congregant Michael Swartz (who’s Hebrew name is Akiva), that helps to “flesh out” the matter (oy) even more. With his permission, I reprint it here.
From: Michael Swartz
Hi Rabbi
Thank you for the "Ask the Rabbi" question this week -- it's a question I have difficulty with too. And you made me think about it quite a bit... (a good thing) My thoughts on the subject are coming more from an environmental concern:
How can we continuously bury the dead?
Is it sustainable?
Wouldn't G-d want us to "recycle"?
Won't we one day run out of room?
Everything will turn to dust eventually, so does it really matter if we cremate or not?
There's an interesting book I read in the library years ago called "God's Junkyard" (or something like that) -- and it speaks of how our great open spaces are being flattened for various human endeavors. It seems to me that you can still honor the dead in other ways -- whilst honoring the living and the earth at the same time.
One more thing: If we are to be humble before G-d, why would we leave markers? -- Which, essentially, proclaim our egos for posterity... And one final question: Besides common law, is there any Jewish law that says you can't be buried anywhere else but a cemetery? This is heavy stuff -- I'm going to have to think about it some more...
Thanks
-Akiva
Hi Keev
I've often thought about the environmental impact - more so when burying holy books rather than recycling them . When we bury people, at least the decomposed nutrients enter the soil and help to "push up daisies," as the saying goes. There's a big difference in my mind between that and ash, where the energy is expended, burned, and goes up in smoke. The space issue is problematic if you are driving through
For me, the smokestacks of
As for other locales of burial, there are differing opinions about above ground burial as well as stacking beneath the ground and burial at sea. In the talmudic era, most tombs were in caves. But in-ground burial is the form that is universally accepted now.
This is a fascinating, if morose topic. Thanks for commenting.
Let’s begin with GOOD NEWS from
This was circulated this week by our community educator, Ilana De Laney.
The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average tree is about 18-
Israeli date trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be harvested from the ground or a short ladder.
The cell phone was developed in
Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by Microsoft-Israel.
The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in
Both the Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centering processor were entirely designed, developed and produced in
The Pentium microprocessor in your computer was most likely made in
Voice mail technology was developed in
Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the
The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in 1996 by four young Israelis.
According to industry officials,
In proportion to its population,
With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups,
Outside the
The per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the
On a per capita basis,
Twenty-four per cent of
In 1984 and 1991,
When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the world's second elected female leader in modern times.
When the
Relative to its population,
democracy, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. (Hundreds of thousands from the former
Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was achieved in an area considered mainly desert.
Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized, no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.
An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical treatment. Every year in
treatment mistakes.
Researchers in
A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the Clear Light device, produces a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that causes acne bacteria to self-destruct -- all without damaging surrounding skin or tissue.
An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in southern
All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other county on earth.
THE STATE OF
From Beth Boyer: “Linking
now for the rest
Thanks to Marilyn Rodwin for forwarding this moving memorial to an Israeli soldier on the week of Yom Hazikaron: http://www.alexsinger.org/
·
A funny thing happened on the way to the Iranian bomb: The more alarming the mullahs' behavior, the more nonchalant the rest of the world seems to be about it. Israeli intelligence reported last week that Iran has purchased an upgraded version of the Soviet SS-6 ballistic missile from North Korea, which is capable of carrying a nuclear payload and has a range of about 1,600 miles, putting parts of
And the international community's response?
Last week, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
· Spare the Rod, Spoil the Peace - J. Peter Pham and Michael I. Krauss
Legally and morally, neither the U.S. nor Europe owes the Palestinians any assistance - much less hundreds of millions of dollars worth on a continuing basis. There are plenty of needy causes to which to devote the scarce humanitarian resources of our overburden governments: Darfurians subject to a genocidal campaign by an Islamist government, Congolese trying to recover from "Africa's World War," Tibetans sitting in exile in
· Three Myths about Islam - Edward N. Luttwak
The only reason the continuity of Muslim aggression is news to some is because until recently almost all Muslim countries were under European colonial rule or subjected to European protectorates. With de-colonialization, the violence resumed. It has now reached virtually all places where Muslims are in contact with non-Muslims, so that there are almost daily reports of outrages from
Timor-Leste, by the way, happens to be mostly Christian, but because it was liberated from the domination of Muslim-ruled Indonesia, it is now on the list of Islamic grievances under the Muslim doctrine that any land once ruled by Muslims belongs to Islam forever, even if the population is mostly non-Muslim. That is the doctrine cited by Hamas to claim the whole of
The Gathering Storm over Iran - Nile Gardiner and Joseph Loconte (
- In October 1938, in the heat of the crisis over German intervention in
- The Allies were not prepared to resist German aggression at that crucial moment. The result was a policy of appeasement - the infamous
- In the current standoff with
- What should the
Author A.B. Yehoshua vexes US Jews
At Washington symposium, famed Israeli writer says future of Jewish people rests on Israeli identity alone and not on Judaism; Audience of Diaspora Jews disturbed by comments
Yitzhak Benhorin
WASHINGTON - During a forum on the future of the Jewish people, renowned Israeli author A. B. Yehoshua emphasized his Israeli identity as superior in importance to his Judaism, spurring discomfort and awkwardness among his audience.
“My identity is Israeli,” Yehoshua told participants in a Washington
During the forum held in the United States Israel
Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of the New Republic, rejected Yehoshua’s statements. Yehoshua is taking the concept “Jewish” and narrowing it down to mean just Israeli, Wieseltier said. The concept of Judaism existed long before Israel
"There is Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish literature, texts that have been with us form 3,000 years," he argued. “Why do you insist on narrowing it down to Israeliness?”.
The audience in the auditorium was astonished by Yehoshua’s statements, and a few of the panelists and guests referred to the tireless contributions and efforts of American Jews towards the State of Israel in rejecting Yehoshua’s statements.
The panel moderator, news anchor Ted Koppel, was also ruffled by the comments and told Yehoshua that the great contributions of Diaspora Jews to the continuity of the Jews as a people could not be disregarded.
"There is something very very special, universal and easily identifiable among all Jews; it is beyond territory, it is something we all have in common," Koppel said.
Executive Director of the AJC David Harris described Yehoshua as very impassioned, but subscribing to a classical Zionist viewpoint which considers the Diaspora as marginal and irrelevant to the future of the Jewish people.
Yehoshua was not granted much support by the audience, Harris said. On the contrary, he pointed out, many in the audience were insulted by his words, which cancel out their own role in helping to shape Judaism’s future.
The AJC’s yearly forum opened Monday in Washington
http://www.ajc.org/atf/cf/%7B42D75369-D582-4380-8395-D25925B85EAF%7D/AJCCENTENNIALSYMPOSIUM_PROGRAM.PDF
More on the JTS selection of
See http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/docs/eisen.doc
Also, this from “Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility
Sh’ma congratulates Arnie Eisen on his appointment as the seventh Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary. A long standing Contributing Editor of Sh’ma, Arnie’s most recent essay for the journal, “The Tension between Normalcy and Covenant,” appeared in our award winning issue commemorating the 350th anniversary of Jewish Life in America (October 2004). In the essay he writes about the ways Jews can “do good” in
“We dare not let that difficulty silence us where our public agenda is concerned, just as we cannot and do not permit our inability to agree on many other Jewish and general matters stop us from living as Jewish human beings. The point is to work these disputes out inside diverse and overlapping communities of Jews, each of which is determined to build a just world with God in its midst.”
To read more of this essay, visit www.shma.com. Also on our website is an ongoing blog on the future of Conservative Judaism, selected essays from our March issue on pluralism, an audio recording of a panel discussion with founding Editor Eugene Borowitz on the history of Sh’ma, and our interactive Talmud page Nish’ma—this month an artistic visual image.
MYTH #217
"Palestinians have the right to sell land to Jews."
FACT
In 1996, the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mufti, Ikremah Sabri, issued a fatwa (religious decree), banning the sale of Arab and Muslim property to Jews. Anyone who violated the order was to be killed. At least seven land dealers were killed that year. Six years later, the head of the PA’s General Intelligence Service in the West Bank, General Tawfik Tirawi, admitted his men were responsible for the murders (Jerusalem Post, August 19, 2002).
On May 5, 1997, Palestinian Authority Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein announced that the death penalty would be imposed on anyone convicted of ceding “one inch” to
During the Palestinian War, few, if any Palestinians tried to sell land to Jews, but the prohibition remained in effect. Now that the war is over, the persecutions have begun again. In April 2006, Muhammad Abu al-Hawa was tortured and murdered because allegedly sold an apartment building in
This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths2/exclusives.html#a54
Source: REVISED Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard.
At Borders
The topic for the session:, Jesus and Muhammad, will carry over May 9 at 7:30
First Ever! Sisterhood Cookbook
Delicious Recipes! Kosher! Family Favorites!
Please help to defray the costs
\be a sponsor, place an ad, order your copies now ($18 each).
**Proceeds to fund kitchen renovation and other TBE capital improvements**
**Call Beth Silver 967-8852 for information**
DUTIFUL DAUGHTERS / MAXED-OUT MOMS
CARING FOR YOUR FAMILY WITHOUT LOSING YOURSELF
How many of us find ourselves today caring for an aging parent, juggling our children’s and family’s schedules and running the house, while desperately trying to find time for ourselves?
A unique program is being offered in our community, dedicated to women of the “
Facilitated by professionals: Roni Lang, Betsy Stone, Isrella Knopf, Netta Stern, Susan R. Greenwald, Susan Sirlin and
The program is being co-sponsored by Jewish Family Service and the Sisterhood of
Join us when we discuss the various aspects of the relationship between adult daughters and their elderly parents with the goal of becoming more knowledgeable, self-confident, and directed so that you may plan a more certain future with your parents.
Save the date – June 1 at 8:00 PM
Our Annual Tikkun Leyl Shavuot
Shavuot service, dessert and study session
Joined by
“Spirituality, Religion, Ethnicity and Identity:
Does one have to be “religious” to be Jewish?”
Thanks to David Arditti for forwarding this one!
The Great Coffee Debate
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning.
The wife said, "You should do it, because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee."
The husband said, "You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."
Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee."
Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me."
So she fetched the Bible and opened the Old Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says 'HEBREWS.'
Thanks to Beth Boyer for forwarding this beaut.
A priest, a Pentecostal preacher, and a Rabbi all served as chaplains to the students of
One day, someone made the comment that preaching to people isn't really all that hard. A real challenge would be to preach to a bear. One thing led to another and they decided to do an experiment . They would all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and attempt to convert it
Seven days later, they're all together to discuss the experience.
Father Flannery, who has his arm in a sling, is on crutches, and has various bandages, goes first. "Well," he says, "I went into the woods to find me a bear. And when I found him I began to read to him from the Catechism. Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to slap me around. So I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy Mary Mother of God, he became as gentle a lamb. The bishop is coming out next week to give him first communion and
confirmation."
Reverend Billy Bob spoke next. He was in a wheelchair with an arm and both legs in casts. In his best fire and brimstone oratory voice he claimed, " WELL brothers, you KNOW that we don't sprinkle! I went out and I FOUND me a bear. And then I began to READ to my bear from God's HOLY WORD! But that bear wanted NOTHING to do with me. So I took HOLD of him and we began to WRESTLE. We wrestled DOWN one hill, UP another and DOWN another until we came to a creek. So I quick DUNKED him and BAPTIZED his hairy soul. And just like you said, he became as gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the DAY praising Jesus."
They both looked down at the rabbi, who was lying in a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction with IV's and monitors running in and out of him He was in bad shape.
The rabbi looked up and says, "Looking back on it, circumcision may not have been the best way to start."
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