August 9, 2006 – Av 18,
5766
This will be the final O-Gram until September…
Enjoy the remainder of your
summer
Special
Maccabi Edition
Welcome
to all athletes and other guests
–
especially those from
(Including
some who will be attending our services
with
their host families)
Also
On
this Shabbat, we extend special blessings to all freshmen heading off to
college over the next few weeks
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.”
FLASH
MAP OF AREAS TARGETED BY HIZBULLAH MISSILES
http://www.conceptwizard.com/n-israel.html
PRAYER
FOR
See
three different alternatives at http://www.jrf.org/israel/independence-day-prayer.html
Recite
a prayer for
Contents
of the Shabbat O Gram:
(Click
to scroll down)
Just
the Facts (service schedule)
The (Occasionally) Ranting Rabbi
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
“In
a war of self-defense [literally, an obligatory war] all go out to do battle,
even
a groom from his room, and the bride from under the wedding canopy.”
- Mishna, Sotah 8:7
As cited
in "Jewish Wisdom" by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. (from
Beliefnet.com)
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Friday Evening
Candle lighting: 7:40
pm on Friday, 11 August 2006,- Havdalah is at 8: 48 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 – and it looks good!
For those who can’t get
enough of Tot Shabbat, Nurit conducts Tot Shabbat Morning at 10:30 am
every Saturday morning. All are welcome
to attend.
AND SIGN UP NOW TO HOST A
TOT SHABBAT FOR NEXT YEAR!!! Contact Jeff and Heidi Trell at jefft@acmesignco.com or contact our Tot
Shabbat committee contacts:
Jeff and Heidi Trell 203-322-1531
Deb Goldberg: 203-323-3307
Stuart Nekritz: 203-322-0872
Shabbat
Morning: 9:30 AM – We welcome our guest Maccabi athletes and others visiting. We
also will take the opportunity to send off our college freshmen this Shabbat
with a special blessing.
Children’s services: 10:30
Torah Portion: Eikev Deuteronomy
7:12 - 11:25
1: 9:4-10
2: 9:11-14
3: 9:15-21
4: 9:22-29
5: 10:1-5
6: 10:6-18:8
7: 10:9-11
maf: 10:9-11
Haftarah Isaiah
49:14 - 51:3
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.
We’ve had several people coming lately who are
saying kaddish following recent deaths in the family. We want to make sure we have a minyan each
day. Your presence any morning is greatly appreciated!
The
(occasionally)
Off the
Front Pages?
It’s amazing how quickly the
international media can shift attention from one hot spot to another, and how
quickly Israel’s war shifted from the front page to somewhere in the
middle. One second the news anchors are
in Metulla, the next they are in
Of course they are simply
covering different angles of the same story.
Add to it this week’s primary loss for Senator Lieberman, which is ALSO
part of the same story. For there is
only one story right now, and it is the clash of civilizations and our response
to it.
Some might accuse me of a
pro-Bush bias in linking all these stories together. Not true.
I can promise you that the guy has NEVER kissed me (that lipstick on my
collar was from when he was flipping veggie burgers at the White House cookout
and caught me with a dab of ketchup).
While one might make a plausible claim that the Iraq war was botched,
that it was the wrong war at the wrong time and even that there was no direct
linkage between Saddam and Islamic radicalism, one cannot deny that the
situation is different now. The
situation may well have been misread five years ago to indicate linkage. But now there is no question as to the fact
that the linkage is there. One could
argue that the administration has helped make this a more dangerous world. But no one can now make a plausible argument
that this clash of civilizations is not happening on a world wide scale. The
same people that dragged Israel into war on their southern and northern borders
this summer, in their various Sunni and Shiite guises, are also responsible for
the current civil war in Iraq and the plot uncovered this week in London. While it might have been a mistake to link
them all five years ago, it is a mistake not
to link them now.
These radicals do not care
about human life – not even the lives of their own co-religionists. It is noteworthy that nearly half of all the
civilian deaths resulting from the rockets and missiles fired at northern
No one would love to see
Off to
College
The United Synagogue of
Conservative Judaism has initiated a program whereby incoming college freshmen
are given a proper send-off by their congregations. They are going out into a risk-laden world,
filled with opportunity and peril. The
least we can do is collectively tell them how much we love them and that we are
there for them.
We’ll be sending of our
students with a special “
From Our
Sister City of Afula
The
203-322-9227
Dear friends,
Yesterday morning (your time) I spoke to
Yael and Eitan, the chaperones of our JCC-Maccabi delegation in
I understood immediately that when you are
half a world away things always seem much worse than they really are. I
tried to calm them and said that things are not all that different than they
were when the delegation left on Saturday night, except for a few more air raid
sirens and a number of missiles, 6 to be exact, that fell in open fields on the
Gilboa.
I couldn't tell them that it seems that
the mood of people in the street….actually, there are no people in the
streets. Optimism is hard to find. I did not want to be the bearer
of bad news again. Just two days ago Eshel and I had to inform two boys
of our Maccabi delegation in
There is no relief. Asaf, my
husband, who got an "8 warrant" (Tzav 8) – the army's emergency call
up - on Tuesday morning at 5:30 am, calls to tell me that at least 12 reserve
soldiers were killed and 6 more are still missing. In the same breath he
adds that he and his unit may be sent in tonight from training into
So, you ask, what is happening in
Afula? The Home Front Command forbids running day camps or other
assemblies, and so the municipality has decided to operate small activity
centers in order to provide some relief for the children and keep them off the
streets. Despite everything, we try to keep things in perspective.
After seeing the images and hearing the voices from Kiryat Shmonah, which has
been under a constant barrage of rockets since the day this war broke out, it
seems that we should be thankful and continue searching for that optimism.
I wonder: What do I tell Yael, Eitan and
the kids tomorrow? That everything is as usual?
Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
Whose pictures will be on the front pages of the newspapers and on TV?
What will happen with Asaf? What
will happen to us? Where is all this leading us???
Nava
נאוה
חן
רכזת גשר
לקשר
שותפות
2000 עפולה-גלבוע
04-6404289
Shalom Friends,
Today at 11 AM began a massive rocket attack
on northern
At lunchtime today I decided to go out and
get something to eat. Orit, my assistant, joined me. Driving from
our office in Givat HaMoreh to downtown Afula I said to her that I hope no
missiles hit while we are on the road since the way is mostly empty of
buildings, and that it would be best to eat at the mall where they have safe
areas if needed. We reached the Afula mall and I asked the guard at the
door where the safe areas are located. She pointed us in that direction,
and as we walked in we heard that there was a specific immediate warning of a
suicide bomber heading to the vicinity of the mall. 5 seconds later the air
raid sirens sounded. We quickly ran with everyone else toward the safe
area, since we know that we only have about 30 seconds until the missiles hit.
After about 20 seconds we heard several blasts and the ground shook. We
later found out that 6 long-range missiles with 100 kg war heads fell in our
area, thankfully in open fields.
When we returned to the office I found out
that
Now I am trying to decide at what time and
by which route I should leave the office to go home, in order to minimize the
risk.
Another "routine" day in times
of war. This is the way 1 million people in
Eshel
Affiliated with the
Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion,
August 10, 2006
It's not easy to be an Israeli these days
... or any day for that matter. The news reports of our brothers,
fathers, children, friends, relatives and associates who are fighting and
falling in
With Sinora, a wonderful woman who
occupies the office directly across the hall, opposite my own and whose son is
now commanding a paratroop unit deep inside
"Any word from your son?"
A grimace and pained body language before
she answered, "No contact ... nothing. It hurts me to say this, but
I wish he would break his leg or in some other way be lightly injured ... so he
could be brought home ... to be near me." The pain and fear radiating
from her was unbearable. What could I say to her? That things will
be all right? Not to worry?
With Dr. Blondheim, our CEO, whose
youngest son is currently serving in the IDF and daughter & other son have
received Tzav 8 (emergency call up orders). I walked into her office and
asked about her children:
For a couple of frozen seconds we looked
at each other in silence before she answered, "I hope they're
ok." A shrug of her shoulders and momentary raising of the eyebrows
... gestures expressing the fact that their fate is in hands other than their
own.
A phone call to Nava, who works in the
local Jewish Agency office and who has brought many important visitors to our
hospital. She has an eight month old baby and her husband was called up
via Tzav 8 yesterday. He's a medic serving with a tank unit.
Armored units are being hit hard with advanced Iranian weaponry and suffering
many casualties. She couldn't even complete one sentence without breaking
down. Again ... what could I say?
A phone conversation with Eshel Fram, the
regional manager of our local Jewish Agency office - and Nava's superior.
Eshel lives on
"How are you and your family doing
these days in
"Not very good. Sixty missiles
have hit the city and many have fallen so near our home."
"Do you have a security room in your
flat?"
"No, only a communal bomb shelter for
the building. We actually have to walk up 15 stairs to get to it as our
building is on a hillside."
"Do you have time to get there?"
Rockets travel quickly from
"Not really. If we're dressed
and ready to go, we can make it in about 20-25 seconds. For many alerts
my son, wife and I just crowd into our 3 foot wide clothes closet and wait it
out. It's the only place in our home not exposed to any
windows."
Benay, who volunteers her services in our
ER walked into my office. She looked dazed and devastated. She
stared blankly ahead and said, "Our next door neighbor's 26 year-old son
was killed in
The window in my office faces the foot
ramp that leads people from the parking lot to our hospital entrance. I
was watching a family of four a short while ago when they suddenly froze and
then began running towards the entrance. Air raid sirens! All of us
quickly exited our rooms and stood in the long narrow hallway that has eight
offices on either side facing one another. The aimless chatter
began. Blood drained from faces as people nervously shuffled their feet
while trying to look comfortable. We waited. Would it be a muffled
boom meaning a hit several miles away ... or a deafening thunderclap that would
shake the foundations on which we stood and disrupt the very air we
breathe? We waited.
Please allow me to set the records
straight with regards to one central issue of this war. Hizbullah -
schmizbullah!
August 8, 2006
Suliman (a Druse resident of the Galilee
August 7, 2006
Once again, I will attempt to share with
you life these days in
Life has changed for us. Our daily
routines have been upset and altered. Those of us who can go to work and return
home. The drive to and from has become an exercise in fatalistic thinking, as
rockets have hit in so many areas along so many routes. There's no use in
looking out for them because if one has your name on it, you'll never see it
coming. Everything is different about the people I work with and love. Their
faces and energy radiate an acceptance of a vulnerability that was not present
before July 19th.
It's now 7:50 PM and dusk ... the time
we've been targeted the past few days. I hope the local sirens will not send me
running downstairs to my little bomb shelter. I can be there in seven seconds.
The context of every conversation has
changed dramatically. "So, how are you today?"
"Not so bad. No rockets yesterday
evening in our neighborhood."
"Two hit nearby, but nobody was
injured."
"Two alerts, but no bombs."
"I guess I'm ok, but those sirens
drive me and family crazy. We can't / won't go out. Even to our neighbors. We
feel safest in our own home."
And so it goes. We depart, saying things
like, "Have a quiet day." "May it soon end."
End? End what ... the incessant attacks?
Or the threat? That is the problem, for you as well as us. Our mutual enemies
are not uncivilized ... they are anti-civilization. They have learned that
their long-range tactics undermine our societies ... the way we live. They have
planted deadly seeds in the fertile soil of fundamentalist blind hatred.
Earlier this evening, I sat in my living
room watching a TV news update. The report showed Kiryat Shmona during an air
raid. The recorded sirens had me running to my shelter ... until I realized my
mistake. My heart was again pounding in my chest and I had to laugh at myself
for the paranoia that has gripped me. We're all on edge these days. It's
difficult to concentrate at work. Food doesn't taste very good. The topics of
our conversations are tainted with this despicable war. Daylight, dusk and
nighttime have taken on different hues / meanings and look so different to us
these days. We're worried about our children, loved ones and friends. We're
worried about next year and we're worried about you.
We're also united. All of us. All of
It's now 8:30 PM. Maybe we'll have a quiet
night.
Larry Rich
Director of Development &
International Public Relations
Phone in
Phone in
Fax: 972-4-652 2642
Email: rich_l@clalit.org.il
"Like a multi-screen theater,
Synaplex™ offers a variety of Shabbat
experiences
for
our diverse Jewish community."
-- starsynagogue.org
INTRODUCING
Save the date for our Grand Opening:
Oct. 27-28
Featuring
SHABBAT
UNPLUGGED, THE FIRST ANNUAL TBE “ROSNER BOWL” TOUCH FOOTBALL GAME, TBE PET
PALLOOZA, TORAH YOGA, and much more…
And save the following dates as well…
SYNAPLEX at TBE 5767
Friday and Sat., October 27-28 GRAND
OPENING Synaplex Shabbat
(Including Shabbat Unplugged on Friday night)
Friday, December 8 - Synaplex Shabbat
(theme of diversity, exotic multi-cultural Shabbat dinner,
December Dilemma)
Friday and Sat. January 19 and 20 - Synaplex Shabbat/Shabbat
Unplugged
Scholar in Residence Dr. Benjamin Gampel
Fri and Sat. February 9 and 10 - Synaplex Shabbat
Sisterhood Shabbat
Scholar in Residence, Rabbi Burt Visotzky
Havdalah Unplugged
Friday March 9 - Synaplex Shabbat, Shabbat Unplugged,
Shabbat, April 7 – Beth El Cares Synaplex Shabbat - Passover
Friday May 3 - Synaplex Shabbat/Shabbat Across
Friday, May 10 – Synaplex Shabbat/Shabbat Unplugged
Shabbat, June 23 -Synaplex Shabbat, adult b’nai mitzvah
Download a volunteer form at
http://www.tbe.org/site/sog/SynaplexVolunteerPackage.htm
contact our Synaplex committee at
Fill it out and send it back – and join the dozens who have
already stepped forward!
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Mitzvah/Tzedakkah
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Beth El Cares
Cathy Satz (968-9191; csscounsel@yahoo.com)Cheryl Wolff (968-6361; cwolff@optonline.net)BETH EL CARES co-chairs
BETH
EL CARES