Shabbat-O-Gram, March 7, 2003, II Adar 4, 5763
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut
SNOWY DAY EDITION
Previous Shabbat-O-Grams can be accessed directly from our web site (www.tbe.org). New E-mail from the Front can be found at http://www.tbe.org/sog/Emailfromthefront.htm
Shabbat Shalom
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Zero Hour Approaches
As the moment of truth approaches regarding a war in Iraq, it’s time for our community to engage in a healthy, open discussion of the matter, from the Jewish perspective. As usual, there is more than one Jewish perspective. A few opposing views are neatly summarized in the collection found at the top of the “Required Reading” section this week. Also, there is a fabulous, comprehensive unit on the Jewish view on War at the new web site www.myjewishlearning.com. Please take a look at both of these collections, and, if the spirit moves you, respond to me via e-mail. I may include some of your responses in future e-mails (so if you respond, assume that it could be distributed).
Let’s get a dialogue going!
A Pertinent Quote from The Jerusalem Talmud:
“Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: The world stands on three principles: Justice, truth and peace. All three are intertwined.” (Peace cannot stand without the other two)
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ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE AND SAVE A LIFE (AT THE JCC THIS SUNDAY) TO FIND OUT HOW, SEE BELOW
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BENJAMIN WEINER, Guest Lecturer
Friday, March 7, 2003 at 7:30 p.m.
Fractured Religions:
The Dangers of Diversity within the Major Faiths
Benjamin Weiner's career spans three professions, four decades and five continents. At age 20 he fought in Korea in one of the first Korean-American integrated combat units, where he was awarded the Bronze Star. As a Foreign Service officer he served in Southeast Asia, Western Europe and Washington, as well as on presidential delegations to Africa, Latin America and the Vatican. He is the recipient of the Department of State's Superior Honor Award.
Mr. Weiner is known for his early warnings on the spread of terrorism (1973), and for his early recognition of growing religious and ethnic violence (1979). He has organized conferences with the United Nations, the Department of State, the World Trade Institute, Yale Divinity School, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the Asia Society and the Middle East Institute.
JUST THE FACTS…
Friday Night:
Candles: 5:34 PM
Tot Shabbat: 6:30 (in the lobby)
Kabbalat Shabbat Service: 7:30 PM, in the chapel FEATURING GUEST SPEAKER BENJAMIN WEINER
Shabbat Morning: Sisterhood Shabbat: YASHER KOACH to all the participants!
Service: 9:30 AM
Mazal Tov to David and Jayne Hirshfield on the naming of their daughter Gabriella Rose
Children’s services: 10:30 AM
Torah Portion: Pekuday
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 perspective from Rav Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Israel, go to http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/index.html
Morning Minyan: Daily at 7:30 AM, Sunday at 9:00 AM in the chapel
Reminder of our “No School No Shul” policy: On days when Stamford public schools are cancelled or delayed, morning minyan is also cancelled. On Sunday, when our religious school is cancelled because of weather, minyan is also cancelled. Friday night and Shabbat morning services are never cancelled, but people are asked to use their own good judgment (we call it “sechel”) on days when the weather is very bad.
More Mazal Tovs:
To Michael and Jennifer Block and grandparents Walter and Marilyn Block, on the recent birth of Hilary Rebecca Block
To Jeffrey Brandt and Allison Bank on their wedding this weekend (and Warren and Barbara Brandt)
To Maxine and Arnold Scheer on the birth of Marc Isaac Scheer
HEY, HERE’S A NICE IDEA: 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.
IF YOUR LOVED ONE IS IN THE MILITARY…
Please note: USCJ has established a new listserv, TheBrave@USCJ.org, for families of our Jewish active military. TheBrave@USCJ is a new listserv established and hosted by the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism for the families of Jewish active duty military. Our servicemen and women face the uncertainties of the coming months ; those who love them are discovering the need to be brave, just as those who serve. This listserv provides a place for family members to feel
connected to others who understand this unique challenge. To subscribe to the list, simply send an E-Mail message to listserv@uscj.org with NO SUBJECT (some providers demand one so use a "," or a SPACE) and type "subscribe the brave Your Name" as the message.
Or join the list via the web at: http://uscj.org/archives/thebrave.html
“E-mail from the Front”
As these fateful weeks continue, more new “E-mail from the Front” keeps coming in. Go to http://www.tbe.org/sog/Emailfromthefront.htm and scroll down to the most recent entries.
Clouds and Silver Linings
With this week’s portion, the book of Exodus ends. The book began while we were in the depths of winter, and the subject was dark and dreary: slavery in Egypt. But the book ends with us on the brink of …er…spring, and with God’s presence filling the newly-built Tabernacle. The portion speaks of two Divine dwelling places, really, the Ohel Mo’ed (tent of meeting) and Mishkan (tabernacle). In verse 40:34, the text tells us that the divine presence, as symbolized by a cloud, “covered the Tent of Meeting” but “filled the Tabernacle.” The commentary of Humash Etz Hayim notes that we can think of these two as representing a “theology of encounter” and a “theology of presence.” There are peak moments (e.g. birth of a child, escape from danger), where God erupts into our lives with a special intensity, and other times when God is a constant presence (marriage, parenthood, years of good health) in an equally real but less intense manner, becoming so ordinary that we take it for granted. God is there throughout, at peak times, in dull times, even in hard times.
In either case, God is depicted as a cloud, so real, yet so impossible to pin down. The image of the cloud is particularly resonant to us following 9/11, when Manhattan was engulfed in a cloud that didn’t dissipate for days. To see an interesting take on that, go to http://www.ujafedny.org/911remembrance/pdf/Jewish%20Study%20Materials.pdf and see the text and questions on the last page of that Adobe file.
Clouds have always symbolized a nightmarish existence (remember that character in Li’l Abner, Joe Btfsplk -- http://www.lil-abner.com/other.html who always walked around with a cloud over his head?) or the beginning of the end of the nightmare and in a more psychological sense, of depression. See the Dictionary of Symbols at http://www.avcweb.com/dreams/subjects.htm#c. Americans are feeling rather cloudy lately. NPR’s All Things Considered is running a series on American Anxiety. Yesterday’s commentary (http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.jhtml?prgId=2&prgDate=March/5/2003) spoke of a Marine’s wife’s concerns for her husband’s safety over there as well as her family’s over here. Tuesday (http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/transcripts/2003/mar/030304.johnson.html), an author and skeptic said, “The disquieting fact is that for all my bravado I am not immune to the current climate of fear. My most vivid memory of September 11th is not of the plane striking the tower, but the moment just before, with the sky an unmarred, autumn blue, the buildings monumentally complacent, the people inside oblivious to their fates. The other night I dreamed of that same 747 flying down the Hudson and banking into a gentle and probable left turn, except that it crashed, of course, into my own home.” Today’s commentator, novelist Alexs Pate (http://discover.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.jhtml?prgDate=03/06/2003&prgId=2), is concerned that the war we are now entering will not quickly end. It’s a fear many now express over here. Americans are sounding more and more like Israelis these days. This week a new government was sworn in, one that stands a better chance of surviving for a full term than any Israeli government in years. But the promise of stability hasn’t lifted Israeli spirits, still rife with pessimism (http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0228/p09s02-wome.html).
But it IS Adar, when joy, not pessimism, is supposed to increase. So in the spirit of Adar, I include a silver lining for our little cloud: Some Purim humor: http://www.jr.co.il/humor/purim.htm, http://www.jewishsf.com/bk000526/sfnetbesser.shtml, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6807/purim.html, http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/880219_Purim_Parody.html, http://www.torahbytes.org/sechel/purimlinks.htm.
Be Happy.
Click here for names and bios of the victims of the Haifa bus bombing: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=269940&contrassID=1&subContrassID=5&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Greenberg, Waskow, Messinger, Weinstein: Jewish Views of a War with Iraq: Just or Unjust? Now or Later? (JTA 02-28-03)
Unique Online Resource Offers Timely Insight on Ethical, Historical Perspectives on War www.MyJewishLearning.com. Offers Objective Information on Ethics of Pre-emptive Strikes, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Other Relevant Issues
NEWTON, Mass., March 4, 2003 - www.MyJewishLearning.com, the most comprehensive interactive resource available for exploring Jewish religion, history and culture, announced today that it has launched a new subject area and related content on its site that addresses key issues in the current public discourse on war. The new section, entitled War and Peace, aims to educate visitors and help them form their own opinions on the moral aspects of war by providing objective information from a variety of Jewish viewpoints - including historical, religious and contemporary commentary and literature. MyJewishLearning.com's new War and Peace section covers a wealth of ancient and contemporary Jewish perspectives on issues such as weapons of mass destruction, conditions when war is and is not warranted, holy wars, and how to engage in peaceful resistance. The section offers highly relevant, thought-provoking information to individuals and groups engaged in today's active debates on warfare in the Middle East and other regions around the globe. Site visitors can learn, for example, that Jewish laws and traditions prohibit wars of mass destruction and rulers are not permitted to authorize discretionary wars without legislative approval. It is also noted though, that such approval was occasionally granted as a matter of course. Judaism recognizes the need for non-violence in certain situations but rejects absolute pacifism. "In keeping with the original promise of MyJewishLearning.com, War and Peace offers a personal gateway to Jewish exploration as individuals or organizations launch journeys to increase knowledge and understanding," said Daniel Septimus, Ideas & Beliefs Editor, MyJewishLearning.com. "The War and Peace section provides perspectives that you will not find in the evening news - to inform, spark discussion and perhaps challenge existing viewpoints." The War and Peace section is currently being featured on the home page of MyJewishLearning.com, www.myjewishlearning.com. It also can be accessed under the Ideas and Beliefs tab on the site.
A Prayer For Mr. Rogers - http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=/story/2/story_201_1.html&boardID=23298
LETTER FROM NEW HAVEN: Ranting Poet's Visit Makes For a Disturbing Week at Yale (the Forward)
Baraka's Yale visit about anti-Semitism, not Israel In a special guest column in the Yale Daily News, Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director responded to a Yale student columnist who said that the controversy surrounding New Jersey poet laureate Amiri Baraka was about Israel. In his column, Mr. Foxman said, "Baraka's visit to Yale has nothing to do with Israel. Plain and simple, he is an anti-Semite who spreads hatred." More
Meyers: Shooting the Ineffable (02-28-03) ""Ervah: Hidden Sensuality," a photo essay by Na'ama Batya Lewin, recently appeared in the journal Kerem. Ms Lewin is an Orthodox woman. In the essay she explores women's head coverings in the Orthodox community by taking portraits of herself in various Orthodox neighborhoods while wearing the head covering appropriate to that particular neighborhood. So in some cases she wears a sheitel (a wig), in some a hat, in some a kerchief, etc.... There is a long roster of truly distinguished Jewish women photographers, and although it is still somewhat unusual for an Orthodox woman to be a professional art photographer, the fact that Lewin is one is of only sociological interest. What is far more significant here is that Na'ama Lewin is using her camera, her art, to explore aspects of Judaism. Her essay quotes the Talmud and Maimonides. If she juxtaposes those texts with her photographs, she must mean for them to comment on each other. That sort of give and take is what we would expect from any Jew concerned with the tradition, but it is not something that has been done by many photographers...."
Brooks: Kicking the Secularist Habit - A Six Step Program - (The Atlantic 02-28-03) "Like a lot of people these days, I'm a recovering secularist. Until September 11 I accepted the notion that as the world becomes richer and better educated, it becomes less religious. Extrapolating from a tiny and unrepresentative sample of humanity (in Western Europe and parts of North America), this theory holds that as history moves forward, science displaces dogma and reason replaces unthinking obedience. A region that has not yet had a reformation and an enlightenment, such as the Arab world, sooner or later will. It's now clear that the secularization theory is untrue. The human race does not necessarily get less religious as it grows richer and better educated. We are living through one of the great periods of scientific progress and the creation of wealth. At the same time, we are in the midst of a religious boom...."
Bartov: Nazis in a Looking Glass World - ( Ha’aretz 02-28-03) "...The major innovation in Neumann's book is the fact that this is the first attempt to reveal the circumstantial connection - at the conceptual and operational levels - between the Nazi perception of the Jew and the Nazi perception of the Aryan. For the first time in Holocaust studies - and in any language - readers are provided with a systematic, comprehensive analysis of the relationship between Nazism's "positive" and "negative" aspects...."
Terrorists Aim at Pearl Harbor - Bill Gertz (Washington Times) Terrorists linked to al Qaeda have targeted U.S. military facilities in Pearl Harbor, including nuclear-powered submarines and ships. According to officials familiar with the reports, al Qaeda is planning an attack on Pearl Harbor because of its symbolic value and because its military facilities are open from the air. The attacks would be carried out by hijacked airliners from nearby Honolulu International Airport that would be flown into submarines or ships docked at Pearl Harbor in suicide missions.
THE SITUATION: Jerusalem Frets As U.S. Battles Iraq War Delays Israeli policy-makers are growing increasingly nervous about the Bush administration's mounting diplomatic difficulties — at NATO, in Turkey and at the United Nations Security Council — and the increasing likelihood of a delay in the launch of an American campaign against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (the Forward)
Permission from the Powerless - George F. Will
More than 4,330 days have passed since Iraq put itself in material breach of UN Resolution 687 of April 3, 1991, which ordered it to report within 15 days on the locations, amounts, and types of all its chemical and biological weapons and "nuclear weapons-usable" materials. The "second" UN resolution on Iraq would actually be the 18th. The idea has arisen that any use of American power, even after successive acts of war against it, requires the permission of France, Russia, and China, which have not sought UN blessings for their respective military interventions to discipline Ivory Coast, to grind the Chechens into submission, and to suffocate Tibet. (Washington Post)
The High Price of Waiting - Mortimer B. Zuckerman
Fear of war is not unreasonable. But the question, properly put, is whether the cost of action is greater than that of inaction. The answer is clear: Inaction will not cause the danger from Saddam's regime to diminish but to grow. Which is why it is time to implement UN Resolution 1441, authorizing military action against Iraq. As the German newspaper Die Welt put it, such action "would not be might over right but right over might." (U.S. News)
Reading Saddam's Mind - Michael R. Gordon
If attacked, the Iraqi leader does not plan to mount a determined defense of his borders. He plans to make his stand in Baghdad, playing the starring role in a drama that is designed to portray his regime as a victim holding out against an advancing American Army. It is as much a political strategy as a military one. (New York Times)
U.S. Plugs Israel into Real-Time War Monitoring - Nathan Guttman (Ha'aretz) According to the Wall Street Journal, Israel and the U.S. have set up a joint command post in Tel Aviv at which Israeli army officers will be able to view real-time pictures of the movements of American war planes over Iraq in the event of a war. A senior U.S. official said the best way to restrain the Israelis was to let them see for themselves that the U.S. was doing everything possible to eliminate the Iraqi threat.
As Israel arrested Hamas founding father Mohammed Taha and his three sons, some media tried to whitewash Taha's calls for "jihad" by placing him in Hamas' "political" -- rather than "military" -- wing. This distinction is of course transparent, as this AP file photo shows Taha flanked by a rocket-launcher: http://honestreporting.com/a/r/353.asp. Further, the IDF reported that an M-16 rifle and an explosive belt were found inside Taha's house. Yet in HonestReporting's review of the major media, we found only one such reference (in the Washington Post). HonestReporting encourages members to monitor your local media to see how they characterize Taha's activities. And the media should be questioned
for omitting the incriminating fact that weapons of terror were found inside Taha's house.
Thanks to Gordon Brown for forwarding this impressive slide show of what is meant with many Palestinians speak of the “end of the occupation.” http://www.frontpagemag.com/media/slideshowimages/slide1.html
Israel Drafts Treaty Against Suicide Bombings - Aluf Benn
The Foreign Ministry has completed a rough draft of an international convention against suicide bombers and will soon begin distributing it to foreign governments in an effort to obtain enough signatures to make it a recognized international treaty. (Ha'aretz)
Poll: Israelis Oppose Palestinian State by 2-1
The poll, conducted on February 25, 2003, by Geocartography (at the request of the Ariel Center for Policy Research), asked Israelis: "In light of the experience that has accumulated since the Oslo agreements, do you support or oppose a Palestinian state?" 61% said they oppose creating such a state; only 31% said they support it. (IMRA)
No Hunger in the Palestinian Authority
Interviewed on Israel Radio Friday, Major General Amos Gilad denied that the Palestinian civilian infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza has collapsed, causing many Palestinians to join terrorist organizations. "The description is absurd," noted Gilad, adding that education and health services were still operating. "There may be social and economic hardship within the Palestinian Authority but there is no hunger." Israel does everything possible in order to ease the restrictions on the Palestinian population that is not involved in hostile terror activities. "Palestinians enjoy unlimited movement in Jericho, thousands of Palestinian laborers enter and exit the Gaza Strip every day (for work in Israel), and Israel transfers large amounts of money to the Palestinian Authority," said Gilad. He explained that the reason for the economic failure in the territories stems from the fact that the Palestinian Authority prefers armed struggle and terrorism to a political settlement. "As long as Arafat is in power, there is no chance that he will surrender the path of terror, and that is why he must step down as Chairman," said Gilad. (IDF)
The Prerequisite for Negotiations - Moshe Arens
The major lesson drawn from the al Qaeda attack on the U.S. on September 11 is that negotiations are possible only with an opponent who has limited objectives - objectives that can be met, or regarding which he is prepared to compromise. An enemy who has unlimited objectives can only be fought and defeated - there is nothing to negotiate. Israel at this time is also facing an enemy with unlimited objectives - Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the terrorist groups associated with Arafat, and the Hizballah aim for the destruction of Israel. There is no room for negotiations with them. (Ha'aretz)
A Stone For Daniel Pearl; First yahrtzeit finds Jews reclaiming martyr’s Jewishness. Jonathan Mark - Associate Editor http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=7524
Foe of Gay Ban Won't Head Conservative Panel (the Forward) On the eve of what was expected to be his first session as chairman of Conservative Judaism's supreme lawmaking body, it was announced that Rabbi Elliott Dorff, an outspoken supporter of overturning the movement's ban on ordaining homosexuals, will not assume the position. The move came on the heels of a request by the head of the movement's rabbinical union that the law committee review the current policy and appeared to be part of a larger plan to pave the way for a revisiting of the movement's ban.
Shabbat Pekudei, Tax Time In Adar, Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman http://www.thejewishweek.com/middle/sabbathcontent.php3
“It has not been calm these last two months--there have been over 57 interceptions [of would-be Palestinian attackers by Israeli soldiers]… [P]eace starts where terrorism ends”--Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled, commenting on the devastating suicide bombing attack today on a bus in Haifa, which claimed the lives of 15 Israelis and injured 37. [Today’s terrorist attack was the first suicide bombing in Israel since Jan. 5, when 23 people died in twin blasts in Tel Aviv.] (Washington Post, March 5)
“We will not stop our resistance. We are not going to give up in the face of the daily killing.”—Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantisi, while praising today’s suicide bombing attack, did not claim responsibility for the attack. (Jerusalem Post, March 5)
“Speculations are rife about the possibility of negotiations with the Palestinians after the impending American operation in Iraq. Presumably, Israel will be presented with a road map by the Bush administration and asked to begin its implementation. But one is likely to forget the major lesson drawn from the Al-Qaeda attack on the U.S. on 9/11. Negotiations are possible only with an opponent who has limited objectives—objectives that can be met, or regarding which he is prepared to compromise. An enemy who has unlimited objectives can only be fought and defeated… Israel at this time is also facing an enemy with unlimited objectives—Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, the terrorist groups associated with Arafat, and the Hezbollah aim for the destruction of the State of Israel. There is no room for negotiations with them…”—Former Likud defense minister Moshe Arens (Ha’aretz, March 4)
“We have turned into their cannon fodder… All the residents are scared… Daily life does not take its normal course, we’re all hurt by this.”—Zvia Abergil, a resident of the Western Negev town of Sderot, a community hard hit by Palestinian rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip, located a few hundred meters away, appealing to P.M. Ariel Sharon to find a practical solution to the problem. (Ha’aretz, March 5)
ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE AND SAVE A LIFE!
Sponsored by the Stamford Board of Rabbis, local synagogues and the JCC.
REGISTER IN THE “JEWISH” BONE MARROW DATA REGISTRY
What is the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Data Registry?
A bone marrow transplant can mean the difference between life and death for a person suffering from cancer, but only about 30% of cancer patients in need of a transplant find donors within their own family. The other 70% must turn to a bone marrow data registry in the hope of finding a donor from the general population. But because patients and donors must share up from six to twelve genetic factors in order for the bone marrow transplant to succeed, the chance of finding a matching a donor from the general population is only about 1 in 30,000. For the Jewish cancer patient, who has a special genetic make-up unique to the Jewish people, the odds are even worse. Join the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Data Registry by becoming a bone marrow donor. It's easy.
What's Involved in Being a Bone Marrow Donor?
Years ago, donating bone marrow was a complicated procedure, and donors had to undergo a full-fledged operation. But today it's almost as simple as giving blood. So if you are Jewish, between the ages of 18-55 and in good medical health, you can help save another person's life by becoming a bone marrow donor.
What happens when you arrive at the site?
You'll be asked to roll up you sleeve and then a medical technician will take a small sample of blood. The results will be registered in the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Data Registry. Most people will never be contacted further, but what happens if your name pops up as a potential matching donor for a cancer patient? During the actual procedure, your arms will be hooked up to a Leucopherises machine, an apparatus that takes blood from one arm, separates the stem cells from the blood and then returns the blood to your other arm. The procedure takes a few hours and is spread out over a two-day period.
Please note that if you registered with another bone marrow data registry, you do not need to donate an additional sample to the Ezer Mizion data registry. However, you can further support our campaign to help save lives by making a donation to Ezer Mizion.
You can register for the Ezer Mizion Bone Marrow Data Registry at the
Stamford JCC’s Annual Purim Carnival,
Sunday, March 9, 2003
Noon - 5:00 p.m.
A $36 donation is suggested to cover the cost of processing.
If you cannot register or would like to help further the success of this vital project, please consider making a donation. All checks, made out to “Ezer Mizion,” are tax deductibles, and can be sent to a local synagogue office.
Volunteers needed to help on the day of the drive.
Please contact me at 322-0098.
What is Ezer Mizion?
Ezer Mizion is a health-support organization with 40 branches throughout Israel and 10,000 volunteers. Their aim is to provide all Israelis with a wide variety of health support services to supplement the country's health care system.
PURIM
March 17, 2003
Megillah Reading in the sanctuary 6:00 p.m.
followed by our Purim Carnival
Costume parade, prizes, loads of fun!
Bring in your own creative noisemakers!
CHECK OUT WHAT THE RABBI AND CANTOR WILL BE WEARING!
PURIM FOR ADULTS
PURIM NIGHT, MARCH 17-- @8:00PM
AFTER THE REGUALAR (FAMILY ORIENTED) MEGILLA READING AND CARNIVAL, WE’LL READ THE FULL MEGILLA AND HANDLE PURIM IN A MORE “ADULT” WAY. BRING ALONG SPOOFY LYRICS TO POPULAR SONGS, FAVORITE PURIM HUMOR, OR ANYTHING ELSE.
PLUS…
UTILIZING A VARIETY OF RABBINIC SOURCES, RABBI HAMMERMAN WILL DISCUSS THE TOPIC:
Purim: To Drink or Not to Drink?
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What is a Hevra Kadisha (literally "Sacred Fellowship")?
And what is it doing in Stamford???
Everything You've Been "Dying" to Know...
About the Mitzvah that is called "The Greatest Act of Kindness" and the volunteers who perform it.
Find out at a special program on
Sunday, March 23rd at 9:30 a.m.
Guest speaker: Jan Simblist
Jan has been a member for twelve years. She is a medical technologist with experience both in the research and clinical areas of laboratory science. She has been a consultant to nursing homes in Connecticut on infection control issues for Quest Diagnostics. She is a former board member of Agudath Sholom who, last year, was elected as vice president of the Hevra Kadisha.
The men and women who serve as volunteers in our community would like the rest of the Jewish community to know that there is such a service available. Here's Beth El's chance to find out all about it.
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Communal PASSOVER SEDER at TBE
Thursday, April 1 7, 7:00 p.m.
Look for the flyer coming in this week’s mail!!!
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B i k u r C h o l i m
T r a i n i n g
Know someone who is sick or alone?
We do.
Jewish Patients need you !
Become a Bikur Cholim volunteer . **
** Bikur Cholim is Hebrew for “visiting the sick”.
Jewish Family Service of Stamford & the Rabbi Isaac N. Trainin Bikur Cholim Coordinating Council of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services,
in collaboration with
Temple Beth El, Temple Sinai, Congregation Agudath Shalom, Young Israel Synagogue, The Fellowship For Jewish Learning, Chavurat Aytz Chayim and the Jewish Community Center
are sponsoring a training program for Bikur Cholim volunteers. We will all learn how to be more effective, compassionate and competent visitors to the sick,
homebound and elderly.
The training program includes:
q Introduction to Bikur Cholim; The Role of the Visitor
q How to relate to patients with sensitivity and compassion
q How to listen and respond to patients
TEENS WELCOME!
Sunday, March 30th at the Jewish Community Center, 1035 Newfield Ave., Stamford, CT
9:45 Registration and Coffee
10:00-11:30 Bikur Cholim Training
11:30-12:00 Follow Up Meeting
For more information & to RSVP call Sara Jamison, MA, MSW @ (203) 921-4161
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SAVE THE DATE
“Six Million Times One”
Community Yom Hashoah
April 28, 2003
7:00 PM
at
Temple Beth El
Request to the Community:
If you would like to include photographs of your loved ones who perished during the Shoah in our community event, please call Ilana De Laney, 321-1373, ext. 114.
 |
On March 15, our teens will lead the main service,
reading Torah,
leading prayers,
opening the ark,
having aliyot,
YOU NAME IT!
LET US KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PART!
Contact Ilana Ginsberg-322-2003 fungurl44@aol.com or
Ariel Savransky- 329-2990 aces617@aol.com
OR WHEN YOU GET THE CALL, SAY YES!
And don’t forget…..
USY Spring Convention
March 21st - 23rd
Holiday Inn, North Haven, CT
8th Grade Overnight at USY Spring Convention
March 22nd - 23rd
Holiday Inn, North Haven, CT
The Web link for this week's Shabbat-O-Gram is - http://www.tbe.org/sog/030307.htm - The site is continually updated during the week with corrections and additions. Feel free to forward this link to your friends. People can subscribe to the weekly Shabbat-o-Gram at www.tbe.org. I also send out mailings to college students, Gen Xers and teens, so let us know if you wish to be placed on any of those lists. If you wish to unsubscribe, contact office@tbe.org.
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