Shabbat-O-Gram
December 16, 2005 - Kislev 15, 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)
OUR YOUTH GROUPS ARE
SOARING!
Our TBE youth program, led by Youth Director Jonathan Ostroff, is growing by leaps and bounds.
There are literally hundreds of photos of our youth programs to be
found at our website, www.tbe.org. Click on “youth group” and you’re there. Here’s a sampling from some recent events.
Come to our Hanukkah Afternoon of Fun This Sunday at 3!
Featuring TBE’s Adult
& Jr. Choirs and Special Guests
FUN FOR ALL AGES!
Music… Candle Lighting … Innovative
Hanukkiah Contest
Songs… Dreidle
Spinning Tournament … Refreshments
Quote for the Week
“At the
moment I am sad to report that many academics around the worked are
contributing to an atmosphere that makes peace more difficult to achieve. Thank
God
Minyan
on Sunday mornings now begins at 9:30 AM.
Our ritual committee decided
to abandon the 8:30 experiment. On the
bright side, the Guaranteed Minyan experiment has worked wonderfully, using the
Rosner Minyan Maker at www.tbe.org. If you
want a Guaranteed Minyan on a day when you have yahrzeit, simply go to the
site, click on the day and fill in your name, indicating that it is a Yahrzeit,
then e-mail me at rabbi@tbe.org so I can alert the
congregation. The last time we did it,
we had 24 people turn out.
As things “quiet down” (only a little) in our Bar/Bat Mitzvah
schedule, we will be having a couple of congregational lunches over the coming weeks, including December 24 and Feb 4. The one in Feb. will be
a special JTS Shabbat when we will be welcoming a student from the Jewish
Theological Seminary who will be speaking at services and joining us for the
weekend. The one on Dec. 24 is, well, on
Dec. 24 (Hanukkah Eve), and that’s always a nice time to relax over lunch. We are looking for SPONSORS for those
lunches. For more information, contact
the temple office.
Friday Evening
Candle lighting for Stamford, CT: Candle lighting: 4:08pm on Friday, 16 December 2005. 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/
Dinner and service for Dalet
Class (6th grade): 6:00
Kabbalat Shabbat: 6:30 PM – in the chapel
Tot Shabbat: 6:45 – in the lobby - Tot Shabbat will
be hosted this week by Janice and Mike
Greenberg in honor of their family birthdays; Jillian will turn 5
on December 19, Wyatt turned 2 on December 5, and Mike (Dad) turned 3X? on
December 11.
Shabbat Morning: 9:30 AM – Beth El Cares Shabbat
(see below)
Junior Congregation and Tot Shabbat Morning: 10:30
Torah
Portion: VaYishlach - Genesis
32:4 - 36:43– the Jacob story continues
1: 34:1-4
2: 34:5-12
3: 34:13-17
4: 34:18-23
5: 34:24-31
6: 35:1-11
7: 35:12-15
maf: 35:12-15
Haftarah – Hosea 11:7 - 12:12
Mincha
– Havdalah: 4:45 - Mazal Tov to Danielle Schwartz, who becomes Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat afternoon.
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
THE ENTIRE
HEBREW BIBLE (AS WELL AS OTHER JEWISH SOURCES) CAN BE FOUND WITH SIDE-BY-SIDE
TRANSLATION AT
Morning Minyan: Sundays at 9:30 AM (note new
time!!!),
Weekdays at 7:30 AM – IN THE CHAPEL
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 guaranteed minyan has been requested
for Thursday, Dec. 22 and Tuesday, Dec.
27.
If you can make it, go to www.tbe.org
and click on the Rosner Minyan Maker to let us know.
Winter Weather Advisory
Note that in the case of
bad weather, weekday minyan does not take place when
Bar
Mitzvahs Gone Wild
There has been a spate of bad
publicity for Bar Mitzvahs lately, focusing on the excesses of the lavish
celebrations. Hazzan Rabinowitz pointed
out to me an article in the
Bar Mitzvahs and vulgarity gone
together for a half a century. The new book, “Bar Mitzvah Disco” (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5049433)
highlights that pop culture connection of a few decades ago. I’ve long bemoaned the excesses of “Titanic” themed receptions and
such.
But what’s being missed here is
that there is a unique power to this sacred moment. For every shlocky
or overpriced party, I can name a hundred b’nai
mitzvah services that were profoundly moving and real – and very often those
profound, touching moments come just before the same family is going off to one
of those overpriced parties.
We’ll have over 50 Bar/Bat
Mitzvahs this coming year, and about the same number in the past year – and
they were all special – not because
of the gimmicks, but because of the kids.
Last week’s is case in
point. Alexander Aflalo
is sixteen (how many of us could have, in theory, driven to their Bar
Mitzvahs?) The journey for him to that
moment was longer than most, with many twists and turns, with last week never
being the inevitable destination. But
he made it – and with a maturity that came not merely from the aging, but from
the journey itself. A soft-spoken young
man (but excellent writer), here’s what Alexander said as he addressed the
congregation:
I am sixteen years old. A
little late by bar mitzvah standards; but according to me I am right on time.
These past three years I have matured and grown into someone truly worthy of a
bar mitzvah. Instead of trading cards, I collect ancient coins, fossils, and
many other fascinating pieces of history from around the world. Since the age
of eleven I have been writing and publishing my poetry here and abroad, and I
hope to someday publish in the New Yorker.
Besides the maturing of
my personal interests, those for my community have so as well. Over the past
two years I have volunteered at Democratic Headquarters, campaigned for Dan
Malloy and volunteered for Habitat For Humanity with Kulanu. Just this June I took it upon myself to find some
volunteering work that could lead to a career later on. I signed up at the
Maritime Aquarium in
With all of this in mind,
I would have to say that being three years late wasn’t being late at all, but
just waiting for the right moment.
I agree completely. I could list hundreds of other moments that
were equally special over my 22 years in the rabbinate. I’m sure you can too. Let me give you one more. This week I was talking to someone about one
of the most remarkable Bat Mitzvahs ever held here, for a woman named Jill who,
despite being profoundly disabled during childbirth wanted to become Bat
Mitzvah to set an example for that child.
Communication was very difficult for her, but with the help of Rosalea
Fisher, her tutor and Hazzan Rabinowitz, Jill pulled off a miracle on our bima.
But that was not the end. The true miracle was part two, in 1998, after
Jill had died, when that daughter grew up and turned 13. Here is what Allison said here that day:
My portion, Ki Tetze,
is all about relationships. It contains
over 70 laws dealing with every imaginable kind of relationship, from parents
and children to workers and employers to people and animals. But the verse that made the biggest
impression on me is chapter 24, verse 16, which states, “Children shall not be
punished for the sins of their parents and parents shall not be punished for
the sins of their children.”
This is interesting to me but the verse is so
negative. Since I try to be such a
positive person, I choose to turn it around in a more positive way. I believe that the good things parents do can
have a really great impact on the lives of their kids.
I have benefited greatly from my parents and
grandparents. My Dad and step mom have
always supported me and loved me, and my grandparents have done so much for
me. I wouldn’t be me if it weren’t for
all of them.
But there is one person who is here today in spirit, who
has influenced me more than even I know.
That’s my Mom. I know for one
thing that I wouldn’t be up here today if it weren’t for her. I can remember holding the Torah at her Bat
Mitzvah and when I was watching her I was kind of thinking, “that
could be me.” I know that she wanted
more than anything to set an example for me – and here I am.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to find out more about my
Mom, since I didn’t have the chance to know what she was like when she was
younger. I’ve discovered that she used
to love to take pictures and do graphic arts, swim and run, make clothes and go
to the beach. At times people might
have thought she was weak because she had physical problems, but she loved to
prove them wrong. She was the strongest
person I’ve ever known. She also loved
to say what was on her mind. She also
loved to laugh. I certainly can relate
to those last two characteristics.
She also loved being a Jew. She loved all Jewish holidays but Passover
was her favorite. She also wanted to go
to
So when I look at that verse from my portion, I think of
all the things that she did to make me what I am today, and the person who she
was, who will continue to inspire me for the rest of my life.
Part of becoming a Bat Mitzvah is making a better world
for others. I’d like to give some money
to the
Say what you want
about the vulgarity of Bar Mitzvahs – when it comes to conveying the sheer
drama of being alive, there is nothing that can match it.
Feiler
Follow-up
I was sent this link
by Van Wallach, who attended the Bruce Feiler lecture
at Borders last week and reviewed it for his blog. See Post: "Where God Was Born:" Bruce Feiler Visits
the Delivery Room http://mission2moscow.blogspot.com/2005/12/where-god-was-born-bruce-feiler-visits.html
Welcome
to the Neighborhood, WFHA
The just announced purchase of the
Here is the letter announcing this week’s agreement:
December
12, 2005
11
Kislev 5766
Dear
Friends,
It is
my great pleasure to announce that a short time ago, WFHA entered into a
contract with the Japanese Educational Institute to purchase the campus of the
We
expect to close on the property in early Spring. We plan
to move into the campus for the beginning of the 5767 school year. In the
coming weeks and months we will be in touch frequently to update you on the
plans and to seek out your assistance in the myriad of tasks that lie before
us.
There
are many people who deserve thanks in helping get us to this point. I am sure
many more people will require thanks by the time we move onto our new site.
However, I would be horribly remiss in not taking this opportunity to publicly
thank David Messer for his unceasing, tireless efforts–over these past two
years– to make this fleeting dream, a blessed reality. Thanks go out as well to
Steve Steinmetz for his expert help in bringing the agreement to conclusion.
I
look forward to a bright future, as we work together to take our school to ever
higher levels.
Marc
Schulman
President,
WFHA
Welcome
to
This coming week
we’ll be welcoming current and future Jewish leaders from around the world: The
Hillel International Professional Staff Conference The
Hillel International Professional Staff Conference
will be taking place here.
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And to all our
college students – welcome home, and here’s this
month’s Koach on Campus (perfectly timed for when you
are OFF campus):
“Marketing
the Miracle”
In our chapel, on top of the ark, there is a phrase from Psalms,
“I place God before myself always.” My
column in this week’s Jewish Week talks about how “product placement” has been
part of Judaism since ancient times – as is evidenced by the mitzvah of placing
the Hanukkah menorah in the window, for all to see. Read it at
http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=4696
Have
you Registered yet?
Time is running out!
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For all our students back home…
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A Greener
TBE – A Greener World
This Shabbat we are
pleased to welcome back Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener,
who will be speaking to us not about Jewish mysticism and meditation, the
subjects she ahs shared with us in the past, but about Environmentalism.
Rabbi Cohen-Kiener is the director of the Interreligious
Eco-Justice Network which is based in
The Interreligious
Eco-Justice Network encourages faithful living that reflects a right
relationship between humankind and the environment. Its website is
irejn.org if you want to obtain more information
Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener is also the spiritual leader of Congregation Pnai Or of
The
no cost. In October 2000, the EPA distributed a very comprehensive and
thoroughly documented manual entitled "*Putting Energy Into Stewardship:
Guide To Energy Star For Congregations*" (http://www.epa.gov/smallbiz/archive/doc/congregations.pdf) which has never been more
timely than right now. This booklet explains the rationale and step-by-step
instructions for implementation of a wide variety of cost-saving steps aimed at
simultaneously helping the environment. The 86-page manual includes case
studies as well as worksheets for specific projects, all integrated through a
well-designed index. Very useful at the committee and Board
levels as well as for the front-line administrator in charge of such matters.
BETH EL CARES
BACK FOR
Anyone interested
in participating on the committee please contact Cheryl Wolff at 968-6361.
A Zillion
Hanukkah Links – Guaranteed to Last for Eight Nights (and then some)!
Nice
articles on the spirituality of lighting the candles: http://www.jewishealing.com/ and http://www.rebgoldie.com/Candlelighting.htm
Listen
to (and watch, via streaming video))
CLAL Holy Days: Hanukah By Joseph Telushkin
This
Ritual Life CLAL Faculty on Rededicating Your Home at Hanukah
Links
and lots of material: http://www.uahc.org/va/bnai_shalom/hanukkah/hanukkah.html
Educator
Cherie Kohler Fox's eight ways to celebrate Hanukkah meaningfully:
http://www.jewishfamily.com/jc_a.php?text=http://www.jewishfamily.com/jc/holidays/hanukkah/meaningful_hannukah.txt
Chanukah educational links, coloring books, songs, etc http://www.j.co.il
Hanukkah
@ JTS http://learn.jtsa.edu/hanukkah/
Virtual
613.org: Real Audio (blessings, classes, songs) http://www.613.org/chanuka.html
Chanukah
Fun & Coloring Book (Torah Tots) http://www.torahtots.com/holidays/chanuka/chanuk.htm
Kidskourt Hanukkah Coloring Pages http://www.kidskourt.com/Holidays/HanColor.htm
Kid's
Domain Chanukah Coloring Pages http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/chanukah/color.html
My
Hebrew Dictionary - Chanukah Related Words http://www.dictionary.co.il
Akhlah for Kids (includes blessings) http://www.akhlah.com/holidays/hanukkah/Hanukkah.asp
Everything
Jewish: Hanukah http://www.everythingjewish.com/Hanukah/origins.htm
Being
Jewish: Chanukah Gateway http://beingjewish.com/yomtov/chanukah/
About.com:
Chanukah http://judaism.about.com/religion/judaism/library/holidays/chanukah/bl_chanukah.htm
Jewish