February 18-25, 2006 -
Shevat 20-27, 5766
(there will be no
Shabbat-O-Gram next week)
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,
Shabbat Shalom
and
Happy President’s Day
Send your friends and relatives the gift of Jewish awareness -- a
Shabbat-O-Gram each week, by signing them up at www.tbe.org. To be removed from this mailing
list, sent e-mail request to office@tbe.org. If you have signed up and are not
receiving our e-mails, check your spam filter to make sure that TBE is not
being “spammed out.”
Contents
of the Shabbat O Gram: (click to scroll down)
Just
the Facts (service schedule)
The Rabid Rabbi (including E-mail from the Front)
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunities
Required Reading and Action Items (links
to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)
Announcements (goings on in and around
TBE)
Quotes for the Week
“To Bigotry No Sanction,
to Persecution No Assistance”
George
Washington's Letter
to the Jews of Newport Rhode Island (1790)
“When a
person is brought before the heavenly court for judgment
the first question he is asked is whether
he was honest in business.” –
Talmud Tractate
Shabbat 31a
“A person
who doesn't tell the truth...it's as if he worships idols” -
Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin
92a
Friday Evening
Candle lighting Candle lighting: 5:12pm on
Friday, 17 February 2006 Havdalah
is at 6:16 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 – in the chapel
Tot Shabbat: 6:45 in the lobby - Tot Shabbat will be hosted this week by Karen and Scott Herckis
and their children, Molly and
Will. Molly attends
Shabbat Morning: 9:30 AM – Mazal Tov to
Children’s services: 10:30
Torah Portion: Yitro – Exodus
18:1 - 20:23
The Ten Commandments
1: 18:1-12 (12 p'sukim)
2: 18:13-23 (11 p'sukim)
3: 18:24-27 (4 p'sukim)
4: 19:1-6 (6 p'sukim)
5: 19:7-19 (13 p'sukim)
6: 19:20-20:14 (20 p'sukim)
7: 20:15-23 (9 p'sukim)
maf: 20:19-23 (5 p'sukim)
Haftarah –
Isaiah 6:1 - 7:6; 9:5 - 9:6
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: 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.
Winter Weather Advisory
Note that in the case of
bad weather, weekday minyan does not take place when
NEXT BIG THING
I’m
proud to announce that Temple Beth El has been selected as one of ten new pilot
communities nationwide for the Synaplex™ program.
We will join about three dozen other congregations that have
successfully implemented Synaplex over the past three years. We will be the first to bring Synaplex
to
I am grateful to our Board, which last
month voted overwhelmingly to endorse our participation. I also appreciate the seed funding
we’ve received from the Jewish Community Endowment Foundation and other
donors, as this exciting project begins to take shape for an October launching.
Synaplex will
benefit us in so many ways, ranging in marketing to volunteer development,
membership recruitment and retention, fundraising, community building and of
course, programming. We’ll be
using the resources of STAR (Synagogue Transformation and Renewal) which was
created by the same philanthropic visionaries that have brought us Birthright
This
partnership has brought tremendous energy to all who the congregations that
have come before us.
If
you have any questions about Synaplex or just can’t wait to become involved,
contact me or another senior staff member, or our co-chairs Judy Aronin and
Adam Eitelberg. Meanwhile, to tide
you over, some quick answers to FAQs from the STAR
website (www.starsynagogue.org):
|
|
Synaplex™
is a community-building initiative that enables contemporary Jewish individuals
and families to celebrate Jewish life through a menu of innovative options,
in the realms of prayer, study and social and cultural programs all taking
place throughout Shabbat in the synagogue. |
|
|
|
Synaplex™
was developed by STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal), a
philanthropic partnership of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman
Family Foundation, Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation and the Samuel
Bronfman Foundation with the goal of enriching American Jewish life in the 21st
Century. |
|
|
|
Who is participating in Synaplex™? Currently,
nearly 40 congregations across the country representing all denomination and
non-denominational synagogues are participating in Synaplex™. View the current listing. |
|
|
|
How might my congregation be different by participating in
Synaplex™? Synaplex™
congregations are known for innovative programs that deepen the participation
of members and attract the unaffiliated. They use their volunteer talent more
creatively than most and therefore bring in new energy into their
community. As a result,
participating congregations have seen sustained increases in Shabbat
attendance of about 50% on Shabbat morning and 80% on Shabbat evening. |
|
|
|
What can congregants expect from becoming involved with
Synaplex™? Synaplex™
is about choice, connections, and community. Congregants and those who are
currently unaffiliated are invited to make choices about the programs and
activities in which they will participate. They may make connections with the
people with whom they may already know and will also have an opportunity to
create new connections. Participants truly become part of a caring community
where their presence matters! |
|
And last but
certainly not least… What will a typical TBE Synaplex Shabbat look like?
There is no such thing as a typical
Synaplex™ Shabbat. That’s the beauty of
Synaplex™--we’ll be designing each one in a manner that best meets
the needs of our community at that time.
Some congregations hold Synaplex™ on Friday evening, others on
Saturday morning, while still others have it throughout Shabbat and conclude
with havdalah and a
post-Shabbat activity. Over the
course of the year (with approximately one Synaplex Shabbat per month, none
conflicting with Bar/Bat Mitzvahs), we’ll do all of the
above. We’ll be taking the
best of what we’ve done over the past few years – Shabbat
Unplugged, Scholars in Residence and Congregational Shabbatons,
for example, and bringing it all to the
next level.
When people experience Synaplex™, they immediately feel the
excitement as people settle in one space in the building (and sometimes move to
another!). Families with young children are in the social hall enjoying a
Shabbat Romp experience, for example, while the empty-nesters relax at the Candles and Quiet Conversation
dinner. The teens are in the youth
lounge having dinner to be followed by a program and service-learning project.
In the main sanctuary, congregants bring the weekly Torah portion to life
through dramatic performance. In one room, individuals nourish their bodies and
souls through Torah and Yoga, while in another; young adults connect socially
while playing board games and drinking coffee and talking about the perils of Jdate. One thing is certain: Shabbat in the
synagogue is where it’s at, and people love being there.
What we do here will depend in large part on your suggestions and
desires. We’ll combine
tradition with innovation and look for most meaningful ways to reach each
person. Over the coming months, we’ll
be reaching out for your involvement.
---------------
YOU
KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AS A JEWISH PARENT WHEN…
Your
child looks at a photo of the Olympic cauldron and says,
“Why
did they light that big Havdalah candle, Daddy?”
------------------
The
Power of Positive Speaking
I’ve been talking a lot about the
importance of dialogue lately, and I know my comments have resonated for many.
With so much anger and antagonism out there, and violence we have to be extra
cognizant of the impact of a single negative statement – even non verbal
ones. Body language can be just as
lethal.
I received this on Valentines Day from
Liza Elisha, who was the youth counselor for our last two groups in
While these Internet forwards tend to take
on a life of their own, and you might have received this months or even years
ago, I felt it important to forward Liza’s
message to everyone as my own belated (100 % Kosher) Valentine….
One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the
other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each
name.
Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say
about each of their classmates and write it down.
It took the remainder of the class period to finish their
assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on
a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that
individual.
On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the
entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I
never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know
others liked me so much." were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they
discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The
exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves
and one another. That group of students moved on.
Several years later, one of the students was killed in
The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him
took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the
coffin.
As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up
to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded:
"yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."
After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together
to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak
with his teacher.
"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a
wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We
thought you might recognize it."
Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of
notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times.
The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had
listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.
"Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said.
"As you can see, Mark treasured it."
All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled
rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer
of my desk at home."
Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding
album."
"I have mine too," Marilyn said "It's in my
diary."
Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took
out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I
carry this with me at all times," Vicki said and without batting an
eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists."
That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for
Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life
will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.
So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special
and important. Tell them, before it is too late.
If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and
it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care.
If you're "too busy" to take those few minutes right now to
forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that
little thing that would make a difference in your relationships?
The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at
reaching out to those you care about.
Remember, you reap
what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.
May Your Day Be Blessed and As Special As You Are
--------
E-MAIL FROM THE FRONT
In this time of transition and stress in Israel, with an ailing
Prime Minister and an acting one, with the Palestinians sorting out
implications of their political sea change and with Israeli elections at the
end of March, we are renewing the dialogue between me and my sister Lisa, who
lives in Mitzpeh Yericho
and TBE congregant Jan Gaines, who lives much of the year in Netanya. Those wishing to see prior exchanges can
find them at the Shabbat-O-Gram archive at www.tbe.org. And if you want to respond, go to our
bustling discussion forum at our web site, www.tbe.org
– your opinion is highly valued.
This week, Lisa turns up the heat on the Amona
incident, which she compares to
bs"d
Dear JJ,
We are reading news that is
opening our eyes about the Amona "
How long have I warned
that when the war comes to
Here is today's report about Amona last Wednesday:
One girl was picked up by a policeman and held up
high against a wall, while the other policeman shoved his club up her vagina.
"How do I know it is true?" the young man telling the story echoed
his mother's question. [I told her that I needed to know how the stories she
told me yesterday were true, what the sources were.]
"Because my friend just came from her house. The girl is hysterical. She
has locked herself in her bedroom. She won't come out, she's screaming and
wailing, her family is hysterical, their friends can't find a way to comfort
them, can't get her to come out or to talk to anybody. She's screaming and won't come out.
****************************************
2 boys lost an eye --
1 is being flown out of the country to try to save his eye. I'm not sure if he
is one of the 2, or a 3rd boy.
4 girls have no womb anymore
40 serious head injuries
20 boys whose testicles were crushed so badly that they don't know if they can
save them.
3 of those 20 for sure are permanently ruined, they will never be able to
father children.
Just yesterday I read that the police who took part in the events in Amona, were not Jewish but Arab, Druze and non-Jewish
Russians..."
I read it too. People were reading the nametags on the police uniforms and a
lot of the names were Arab and Russian.
We were appalled, to say the
least; however, we had been warned that this was in the making. We feel
strongly that Olmert needs to be exposed as having
extended the "coup d'etat" that
I wanted to elaborate a bit
on the "security" wall, also. When the route of the wall was first
published, it hugged Ma'aleh Adumim
and did not even come out as far east as K'far Adumim. Then it was amended to include K'far
Adumim, and a lot of people made a fuss about the
fact that it did not include our village. We were given promises, IN WRITING,
that the route would include our village. This was shortly before
Have your readers already forgotten that Hamas is now in power, de facto and de jure? Have they been lulled by C. Rice's doublespeak into thinking that they are a tractable partner for "peace?" I think that a major effort is being pulled off to help use the media to erase or delete the memory of their intractable and bellicose stance. I am concerned that the facts will not be accessible to people very soon, and that the few that are out there will be contradicted by spin and doublespeak.
As for the government, their biggest threat, the one that they pull all the stops for, is the teenage kids who are enraged by the theft of Jewish land and sovereignty. They are using grossly punitive measures to attempt to cow them. I promise that it will boomerang. Even Hamas wants more attention than they are getting since the Jews are so busy oppressing the Jews, and will do what it needs to do to assure that it will get it. All malicious eyes are on what is called the "hilltop youth."
We are fine! It is a bit discouraging that Asher is not able to find more work, but we are doing what we can. He has occasional jobs and is never idle in the house! Adereth today celebrated 10 months since she was born, and tomorrow is your birthday! So, Happy birthday, Josh! I hope that this one is very meaningful. I hope you find it in your heart to pull your family, and all your congregants' families OUT OF THERE, so that they may build this land, which sorely needs the love and support of its children!
Love and hugs; many happy returns (literally!),
Lisa
Dear Lisa,
What is happening
now in your neighborhood is something that we feared would happen last summer
in
I do want our
readers to feel the fear and anger that is so palpable in your words. We are not getting the full story if we
don’t see what is happening to the real people who live out there. Most of all, even more than the
frustration, I hear your sense of isolation. My view is very different: at last
It does little
good to argue as to the extent of the violence employed – by either side
– at Amona. But the pogrom described in your
dispatches doesn’t jive with so many accounts coming from other sources,
nor does it make inherent sense for Israeli police, Jewish or otherwise, to
commit rampant intentional, Nazi-like atrocities. I trust that the truth will come out in
time. But just at the time
I do hope that no
one decides to forgo the electoral process (wouldn’t it be ironic, just
as Hamas begins to enter elections, for the Israeli far right to opt out) for
more confrontational means. With
the multitudes of Israelis against unauthorized, surreptitious building on
these “hilltops,” why are they so automatically wrong? They aren’t all ostriches. As Gorenberg
understands, the real fight right now is taking place within Israeli Orthodoxy
– and particularly the settler movement itself.
Thanks for the
b-day wishes. It was very
nice. I’m on vacation next
week (not!), with a heavy emphasis on
Bar Mitzvah preparations for Dan, who’s just doing great. I’ve met with all the April
B’nai Mitzvah families – except for my own, so it’s time to
get to it. Dan also wants to work
on his d’var Torah in my office, just like all the other kids. So I guess Mara will have to call
to schedule an appointment.
I’m trying
to get through this letter without telling a Dick Cheney joke…and
it’s getting real difficult, so
I’ll have to sign off.
Anyway, we miss
you and hope things stay peaceful.
Love to you and
all
Josh
http://www.forward.com/articles/7332
Religious Zionists
Facing Deep Rifts After Evacuation of Amona Outpost
by GERSHOM GORENBERG
|
The Amona
showdown has generated a new wave of media discussion of a divorce between
"the religious Zionist public" and secular But there is a religious Zionist crisis, or
two overlapping ones. One crack runs through the intensely ideological
minority that has dominated the politics and education of the Orthodox
Zionist community for at least three decades, and that includes prominent
rabbis, politicians and settlement activists. Another crack runs between
generations. The activists' ideology was adapted from
the ideas of pre-state rabbinic sage Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen
Kook, who asserted that secular Zionists were fulfilling God's plan. His son, Rabbi Tzvi
Yehuda Kook, took that idea a step further and
labeled the establishment of For such believers, the The
demolition at Amona last week redoubled the shock.
At issue, rather than a score of settlements in But for several thousand young people, mobilized by the settlement council, trying to stop the demolition represented an opportunity to erase the "shame" of the relatively peaceful evacuation last summer, and to show the price of further disengagement. The army failed to keep them out of Amona, and the police assigned to the demolition showed that last summer's ultra-restrained crowd control methods were a fluke. What happened instead was the most violent
clash in recent memory between the settlers and the authorities. The police,
held back for hours by last-minute legal wrangling, showered with stones and
cursed as "Nazis," pushed their way to the houses with baton blows,
some rendered from horseback. More than 200 police and demonstrators were
injured. Settler leaders, placing the onus for confrontation entirely on the
government, are now demanding a state commission of inquiry. Yet
Amona's practical significance is still unclear. In
a television interview February 7, Olmert said that
if he is reelected on March 28, his goal is "to separate from most of
the Palestinian population" by withdrawing from large parts of the The alienation among ideological settlers
is palpable. The slogan "Olmert Is Bad for the
Jews" plays on a semantic shift noticeable in settler circles since last
summer, in which "Jews" means those faithful to land and Torah, as
opposed to "Israelis." There is an exclusive claim to legitimacy,
but also a hint of defeat, in this formulation, since "Israelis"
vastly outnumber "Jews." The refrain by young people at Sunday's
rally in "Good and evil always struggle,"
said one 25-year-old yeshiva student at the rally, turning the alienation
into theology. During galut, or exile, he
said, "evil dominates. We're trying to silence it." The sentiment,
voiced by other settler ideologues as well, carries startling echoes of the
classic ultra-Orthodox retort to religious Zionism: that even in the Religious Zionism "is in a huge
storm," said Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, the
48-year-old head of a yeshivah in Petah Tikvah that combines
study and army service. Cherlow, considered a
moderate among right-wing rabbis, said in an interview that what concerns him
most at the moment is not ideology but the danger that "we are raising
an anarchistic generation. They hate everyone —? the institutions of
the state of What Cherlow did
not say is that some members of the older generation have repeatedly
recruited youth for confrontations with authorities — and now have lost
control. The most radical of the pro-settler youth
feel spurned by secular |
Some follow-up news…
Abbi Sharofsky, the JTS student who visited
us a couple of weeks ago for JTS weekend was admitted into the Rabbinical
program the following week. Must
have been our home cooking (combined with her talent). She thanks us for our hospitality.
Beth El Cares
Cathy Satz (968-9191; csscounsel@yahoo.com)Cheryl Wolff (968-6361; cwolff@optonline.net)BETH EL CARES co-chairs
Locks of Love
Hannah and Charlotte Kriftcher
are our latest donors to “Locks of Love”
We are so proud of them! Check out more photos at www.seemegrow.net/gallery/lockslove
Ending the
Violence – Engaging the Teens
"Chess makes kids (look, feel, think, act, and become) smart"
Carol Henderson, the “Chess Lady of
KATRINA UPDATE
REPORT FROM
|
FEBRUARY 6 Most of the members of
Congregation Beth Israel are getting on with their lives. Steve Richer is
still living in a trailer and trying to find licensed contractors to repair
his home. Wayne and Lorraine Lutz are still living in their store in D'Iberville, while they, too, await the repairs they need
to make their house habitable. Rayanne Weiss, whose
home was reduced to a pile of rubble, has managed to sell her old property
and move into a new house. You may recall from the report of my first visit
to Much of the beachfront area in Unfortunately, however, the
situation to the west of After driving several miles
through this devastation, I asked, "Where are all the people who used to
live here?" Steve said that many are living with nearby relatives or in
tent cities. Some simply have moved away. A huge tent and several
tractor-trailers stand in a parking lot next to the shell of a Super Wal-Mart
alongside US 90. The parking lot serves as a distribution point and a soup
kitchen for people who have lost their homes. Nearly six months after the
storm, people are still living in tents, getting their groceries from
distribution points, and eating their meals in a soup kitchen. But when you
drive through what was once downtown |
“I Cannot
Tell a Lie”
In honor of President's Day weekend and the birthdays of our two most truthful
political leaders, a Web Pilgrimage on the subject of honesty. I used to
say that I prefer that our politicians be “straight shooters,” but
given what happened last weekend with the Vice President, maybe it
wouldn’t be so bad for a shot to miss
once in a while. But still, we look
for integrity in all our leaders.
It
is fitting that on this weekend when we celebrate our first President, the
original G.W., he of the cherry tree, and our 16th, Honest Abe himself, we also
read the Ten Commandments, including that final one instructing us not to bear
false witness. The ancient sages understood that civilization can be
sustained only when it rests on a foundation of honesty and trust. They
also understood that truthfulness is not inherited through genetics, but
through conscious parental modeling. Take this amusing Talmudic story (Yevamot 63a) for example: The sage Rav had an interesting marriage. Whatever he asked
his wife for, she gave him the opposite. So when he asked for lentils,
she would cook peas, and when he asked for peas, she would cook lentils.
Maybe Rav should have learned his own way around the
kitchen, but that's another story.
Rav's son Hiyyah watched
these shenanigans going on all his life, so when he grew up he figured out how
to beat the system. When Rav would tell his son
to inform Mom that he wished to have peas for dinner, Hiyyah
would tell his mother, "Dad wants lentils." She would prepare
peas and everyone would be happy. One day Rav
commented to his son, "Your mother has improved!" To which Hiyyah responded ,"Dad, I cannot tell a lie, I chopped
it down." Wait...wrong story. Hiyyah
replied, "Dad I cannot tell a lie, I told a lie. In fact I've
been telling them for some time. I reversed your messages."
Now, as they say on TV, YOU MAKE THE CALL!
As Hiyyah's parent, would you: a) appreciate Hiyyah's attempt to maintain Shalom Bayit,"peace
in the home," (or in this case, peas in the home) with
manipulations that one might easily call harmless "white
lies?"; or b) would honesty take precedence over tact in this case?
Well, the answer here is "b," although in other cases "a"
might have been the choice. But when we are dealing with teaching a
child, we need to remember the old saying that "people who tell too many
white lies can become colorblind." The Talmud (Sukkah 46b) instructs
us never to promise a child something and then fail to deliver, because as a
result, the child will learn to lie. From this, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, our scholar in residence on March 3-5, suggests
that the Talmud is also telling us never to have our kids answer an unwanted
phone call and say, "Daddy's not home" when Daddy is standing right
there, and certainly never to lie about a child's age when buying tickets in a
movie theater, in order to take advantage of a cheaper ticket price.
Rav thanked Hiyyah for his
consideration but instructed him to be truthful from then on. In almost
every case, and especially where children are watching, honesty is the best
policy. Something to think about while filling out our tax forms.
Some websites on the topic of honesty in Jewish and other religious traditions:
http://www.besr.org/ - includes the column The Jewish Ethicist. Also see there the Global Integrity
Network, an international network of Jewish individuals and professional who
have come together to share and harness their interest and passion for
promoting integrity and ethical values in the life and the workplace. See also The Jewish Ethicist Q&A:
How much should I tell a date?
Also
see http://www.religionlink.org/tip_040412c.php
- In all honesty … a culture of
lies: It is one of the few points all world religions agree on: Lying is
wrong. For Christians and Jews, lying is prohibited by the Ten Commandments -
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor." To Muslims, lying is "very hateful" to God. Buddhists
teach one should "utter the truth." Zoroastrians learn that lying
"destroys the holy order." So how is it that in the
And see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Honesty – an interesting dialogue on religion and honesty.
The God Questions, Part 4
1)
Why is there so much bad in a world created by a good God?
Maybe it
has something to do with the Humpty Dumpty theory
that God, and holiness, are shattered, and we have to put the pieces together
again to make the world totally good.
But I’m not so sure that “good” and “bad”
can be so easily defined. Sometimes
it is easy, like with Haman in the Purim story. But even there, if it weren’t for
the evil Haman and his sinister plot, Purim would never have been
invented! And without the evil Pharaoh,
not only would we have never had Matzah balls and the Afikoman, we probably
wouldn’t have gotten the Torah.
And even if we had gotten the Torah, its central message (about being
nice to strangers because we were slaves in
2)
Does God punish people?
Usually
the punishment is a direct result of the “crime” committed, and in
a sense, it comes from God. If a
person “steals” by, say, cheating on a test, s/he might be caught
and punished by the teacher. S/he
will also not learn the material and lose out on important lessons. But the biggest punishment of all is
that s/he’ll feel worse about him or herself and be less likely to trust
others. When a person breaks the
law, it’s because s/he feels he can’t succeed within the law. That’s sad. What’s even sadder is that with
every such crime, he begins to trust others less and less, figuring that if he
does it, others must be doing it too.
If you add up the numerical value of the Hebrew letters spelling out
God’s name, it equals the words “Ehad”
(One) + “Ahava” (Love). When we feel less attached to others,
less “one” with them, when there is less trust and love between
people, then God is less present between them.
3)
Where do people go when they die?
When you
shout into an echoing canyon, and your voice comes back at you, at first loud
and clear, and then less so, what happens to it in the end? Does it continue to bounce back and
forth forever, just a little softer each time? In some ways, our lives are like
that. Except that once we’ve
shouted into the canyon, by pouring all our life’s deeds, our love and
our tears, into that one cry, the echo doesn’t necessarily get softer and
softer with the passing of time.
Sometimes the echo gets louder over the years. Look at Moses’ echo! Sometimes a person’s life, the
accumulation of his deeds, appears to be forgotten for eternity, but then a
ripple effect is felt, in some form, generations later. My father dies twenty years ago, when I
was a young man, and recently I discovered his name on the Internet! A person I never met was paying tribute
to my Dad on that person’s website!
It was like my father had come back to life. The things we do in our lives, the
things we say, and the ways we show we care: these things live on, in some form,
forever.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110007934
Bonfire of the Pieties
Islam prohibits neither images of Muhammad nor jokes about religion. (Journal
Online)
http://cagle.com/news/Muhammad/
- cartoonists respond to the recent controversy
http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/leisure/jewishleisure_article.php?article_id=1495&page=0
– Falash Mura wait to immigrate:
Hamas Sworn
In - Israel to Cut Off Funds - Ronny Sofer
The Palestinian parliament with a Hamas majority will be sworn in this
Saturday. Indications are that
Jordan
Invites Hamas for First Visit Since 1999 Expulsion
See also Hamas
Delegation Visits Turkey for Talks
A delegation led by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Turkey on Thursday for talks, the first
visit by senior members of the militant Islamist organization to a non-Arab
country since it won a Jan. 25 election. The Hamas trip to
Hamas Video: We Will
Drink the Blood of the Jews - Nadav Shragai
The Hamas website this week presented the parting video messages of two Hamas
suicide terrorists, according to Palestinian Media Watch. The first said:
"We are a nation that drinks blood, and we know that there is no blood
better than the blood of Jews. We will not leave you alone until we have
quenched our thirst with your blood, and our children's thirst with your
blood." The second said: "We will destroy you, blow you up, take
revenge against you, [and] purify the land of you, pigs that have defiled our
country." (Ha'aretz)
View the Video
(Palestinian Media Watch)
A Religious-Cultural
Conflict of the Darkest Kind - Ari Shavit
While the fundamentalists may still be a minority in Palestinian society, this
minority is now in power and represents the Palestinian people. While some of
its leaders are characterized by tactical pragmatism, Hamas does not and will
not recognize
· For
Islamists Only God's Word Counts - Abdel Monem Said Aly
Tension on the Palestinian-Israeli front is only one small part of the much
deeper strategic transformation that is taking shape in the Middle East, of
which the Hamas victory is only one manifestation. In fact, Hamas' ascent to
primacy in the Palestinian Legislative Council has contributed to a series of
similar changes in the region that extends from
It began in
In time,
· Sharon's
Legacy and Hamas - Henry A. Kissinger
The so-called peace process has assumed a reciprocal willingness to compromise.
But traditional diplomacy works most effectively when there is a general
agreement on goals; a minimum condition is that both sides accept each other's
legitimacy, that the right of the parties to exist is taken for granted. Such a
reciprocal commitment has been lacking between
The emergence of Hamas as the dominant faction in
MYTH #208
“
FACT
Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed that the cartoons first published in Denmark, which have sparked widespread Muslim protests, were part of a “conspiracy by Zionists who were angry because of the victory of Hamas” (Al Bawaba, February 7, 2006).
Sometimes
the myths propagated by Arabs and Muslims are so outrageous and ridiculous that
it would seem to be a waste of time to respond. This is one of those instances.
Unfortunately, history has proven that one cannot underestimate the capacity of
people to believe even the most absurd charges when they are applied to Israel.
After all, large numbers of Muslims still believe that
The
cartoons, of course, haven’t anything to do with
In
a juvenile and bizarre effort to retaliate for what they consider an affront to
in their state-controlled media. Sensitivity and tolerance are a one-way street in those countries.
This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf24.html#a48
Source: Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Mitchell G. Bard.
Dr. Bard is available for media interviews and speaking engagements on this and other topics.
and SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE WEEKEND
Sponsored
by Penny & Michael Horowitz
In
loving memory of Bessie Silver
Kabbalat
Shabbat Service begins at 6:30 p.m.
Shabbat
Across America Dinner at 7:15 p.m.
(registration form below)
Nurit
Avigdor will have a special children’s program during the lecture
Rabbi
Telushkin will speak during dinner:
“The
21st Century: A Jewish Vision, One Day at a Time”
Sign
up for Shabbat Across America
Rabbi
Telushkin will speak on:
“What
Jewish Humor Tells Us about the Jews”
with
question and answer period during lunch
Dedication
of a Plaque on Noah’s Ark
beloved
member of TBE and former Associate Principal of our Hebrew School for 20 years!
Saturday,
March 4th at 7:30 p.m.
at
the home of Ron and Grecia Gross
Rabbi
Telushkin will speak on:
“Jewish
Literacy: How to Become a Knowledgeable Jew”
RSVP
to our education office at education@tbe.org
Sunday,
March 5th at 10:00 a.m.
based
on Rabbi Telushkin’s new book (being published THAT WEEK),
TBE
SHABBAT DINNER—FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006
Please
return this form with your payment to the Hebrew School Office by Friday,
February 24th:
TEMPLE BETH EL, 350 Roxbury Road,
Stamford, CT 06902
Names
& ages of children over 3 Names & ages of children
under 3
#
Adults: ____________________ @ $18.00 each = $______________
# Children:
__________________ @ $10.00 each = $______________
TOTAL
COST PER IMMEDIATE FAMILY CAPPED @ $60.00 (DOES NOT INCLUDE GUESTS)!
TOTAL
AMOUNT ENCLOSED: $__________________________
Can
you help set up? _________ Serve? _________ Clean up? _____________
An
Introductory Class for Dummies, Smarties…
and
Those Who Don’t Know How to Ask
This
week – Tu Beshvat Seder for Adults
at 9:00
Next
session: Tuesday, March 14
at 7:30 p.m.
Topic: Mary Magdeline and Esther
Led
by: Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Rev.
Douglas MacArthur, and Dr. Behjat Syed
Meets
weekly on Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.
Jewish Family Service
Begins Outreach
for its 2006 Annual Camp
Scholarship Program
Various Miller's Brand Line of Hard Cheeses :
108 Slice Brick American (Yellow & White)
Plus Individual Wrapped Packages
Muenster Blue Pack & Sliced Orange Rind
Eventually Emeck & Tenuva Israeli Quality Line
J&J Brand Cholov Yisroel Soft Cheese Line Including :
Yogurt, Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream, Whipped Cream Cheese
Regular & 2% Only New Square Milk (1/2 gallon sizes)
Plus Regular New Square Orange Juice and the popular Passion Fruit, Strawberry, Orange Juice Blend.
Stamford Kosher Activists Committee
Temple
Beth El to Honor Past Presidents - Dancing Through the Years
Gordon
Brown, Rosalea Fisher, Al Golin, Fred Golove, Jack Greenberg,
Ron
Gross, Marty Israel, Herb Kahan, Alan Kalter, Mark Lapine, Milton Mann,
Neil
Perlman, Gerald Poch, Brian Rogol and Jack Wofsey
The
Jewish Heritage Video Collection
comprises
over 200 video tapes, covering such topics as:
For
more information, please call Ilana De Laney or Sandy Golove, 321- 1373, ext.
107.
Sponsored
by the Community Commission for Jewish Education, UJF
Stamford 2006 JCC Maccabi Games
Athletes
are required to attend 2 out of the 3 tryouts. You must reserve your
tryout spot
by
contacting Nancy Schiffman at (203)487-0970 or nschiffman@stamfordjcc.org.
Boys Basketball 13/14: Boys Basketball 15/16:
Sunday, February 26 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, January 14 from 8:00 – 9:30 pm Tuesday, March 7 from 5:00 – 6:00 pm
Tuesday, January 17 from 5:00 – 6:00 pm Sunday, March 12 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm
NEW Saturday, March 18 from 8:00 – 9:30 pm
NEW Sunday, March 19 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Girls Basketball 13/14: Girls Basketball 15/16:
Tuesday, February 28 from 5:00 – 6:00 pm Sunday, January 15 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, March 4 from 8:00 – 9:30 pm Saturday, January 28 from 8:00 – 9:30 pm
Sunday, March 5 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm Sunday, February 26 from 7:30 – 9:00 pm