Happy Sukkot!

October 6, 2006 – Tishrei 15, 5767

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

Synaplex is coming – in just 21 days!!!!!

And thanks to the following who helped Jeannie Kasindorf in decorating our fabulous “House and Gardens” TBE Sukkah this week:

Eileen Rosner, Barbara Jacobs, Joan Rosenthal, Heidi Ganz, Matthew Hirtenstein, Risa, Talia and Jordana Raich, Diane and Julie Arditti, Mindy and Stephanie Hausman. And a special thank you to Richard Cohen for the beautiful mums and Ellen Gordon, Kelly Sabloff and the Sisterhood for the extra decorations and to everyone else who helped.

Congregants are more than welcome to come to our Sukkah at any time and make use of it. Bring your meals here – chairs and a table will be available.

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.”

Please give generously to our High Holy Day Appeal!

Rabbi Joshua and Dr. Mara Hammerman

cordially invite you to celebrate the holiday with them

in their Sukkah

Sunday, October 8,

right after the Kiddush (1:00 ish)

leave your car at TBE and walk on over.

We look forward to seeing you!

Contents of the Shabbat O Gram:

(Click to scroll down)

Just the Facts (service schedule)

The (Occasionally) Ranting Rabbi

Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunities

Ask the Rabbi

Spiritual Journey on the Web

Required Reading and Action Items (links to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)

Announcements (goings on in and around TBE)

TBE Youth Programming

Joke for the Week

Quote for the Week

“This holiday of Sukkot reminds us of the flight of time and the change of seasons.
Holiday follows holiday and season follows season.
The years of a human being's life are few and fleeting.
Teach us to number our days that we may use each precious moment wisely.
May no day pass without bringing us closer to some worthy achievement.
Grant that these days of the holiday of Sukkot bring life and hope, joy and peace to all Your children.”

- adapted from the Silverman prayer book

JUST THE FACTS

Rabbi – when do I bring my kids for the lulav and etrog waving and parade?

I’ve been asked that by several people. Here’s the scoop: We don’t use the lulav and etrog on Shabbat, which is the first day of the festival. It’s much like the fact that we didn’t use the shofar on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. We DO use it on the second day, Sunday. Sunday we will not have junior congregation (we do have Nurit’s service for younger children at 10:30), and kids of religious school age are more than welcome in the main service (as always) – which will be as participatory as we can make it.

The first time we take the lulav and shake it will be at about10 AM, during the Hallel prayers (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallel). At that time everyone will have a chance to do the wavings. Later in the service, toward the end (11:45 ish), we march around with the lulavs and etrogs in a procession known as the Hoshanot (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukkot). We’ll invite the children in from Nurit’s service for that.

In between, it will be a regular service (with two wonderful b’not mitzvah). Time permitting, I’ll add a Sukkot story or two in lieu of a sermon.

All of which is my way of saying – BY ALL MEANS BRING THE KIDS ON SUNDAY – (Saturday too, of course). Shabbat morning credit will be given to our students for each day.

If you have ordered a lulav set, you can pick it up before or during the service in the meat kitchen. Thank you to Susan Eitelberg for ordering and negotiating with out supplier for some excellent sets!

Friday Evening

Candle lighting: 6:11pm on Friday, 06 October 2006. 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 sanctuary – kiddush in the Sukkah

Tot Shabbat at TBE – 6:45 PM – in the lobby

If you would like to host a future Tot Shabbat contact the Temple Office at 203-322-6901 or the following members:

Jeff Trell: 203-322-1531

Deb Goldberg: 203-323-3307

Stuart Nekritz: 203-322-0872

Shabbat and Sunday Morning: 9:30 AM – on Sunday, we celebrate the B’not Mitzvah of Rebecca Lavietes and Jenna Frank! Mazal tov to them and their family! Kiddush both days in our spectacular Sukkah

Children’s services: 10:30 AM – (jr. congregation service in the chapel, Tot Shabbat morning downstairs. 6^th and 7^th graders not on the Shabbaton are expected to be in the main sanctuary)

Torah Reaadings

Sukkot I (on Shabbat) - סוכות יום א׳ (בשבת)

Torah Portion: Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44 & Numbers 29:12 - 29:16

1: Leviticus 22:26-33
2: Leviticus 23:1-3
3: Leviticus 23:4-8
4: Leviticus 23:9-14
5: Leviticus 23:15-22
6: Leviticus 23:23-32
7: Leviticus 23:33-44
maf: Numbers 29:12-16 (5 p'sukim)

Haftarah: Zechariah 14:1-21

Sukkot II - סוכות יום ב׳

Torah Portion: Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44 & Numbers 29:12 - 29:16

1: Leviticus 22:26-23:3
2: Leviticus 23:4-14
3: Leviticus 23:15-22
4: Leviticus 23:23-32
5: Leviticus 23:33-44
maf: Numbers 29:12-16 (5 p'sukim)

Haftarah: I Kings 8:2 - 8:21

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 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/. World Zionist Organization Education page, including Nehama Liebowitz archives of parsha commentaries: http://www.moreshet.net/web/index.asp?f=1 For a more Kabbalistic/Zionist/Orthodox perspective from Rav Kook, first Chief Rabbi of Israel, go to http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/index.html. For some probing questions and meditations on key verses of the portion, with a liberal kabbalistic bent, go to http://www.jewishealing.com/learning.html or, for Kabbalistic commentaries from the Zohar itself, go to http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/weekly/intro. Also, try http://home.utah.edu/~rfs4/jkmfc.htm. To see the weekly commentary from Hillel, geared to college students and others, go to http://www.hillel.org/hillel/NewHille.nsf/FCB8259CA861AE57852567D30043BA26/DF7D129F15B3DF0885256AB80058E9C3?OpenDocument. For a Jewish Renewal and feminist approach go to http://rabbishefagold.hypermart.net/Torah1.html . For a comprehensive Orthodox viewpoint from the Israeli rabbi, Yaakov Fogelman, go to the Torah Outreach Program at http://israelvisit.co.il/top/previous.shtml. Guided meditations for each portion by Judith Abrams at http://www.maqom.com/kavannah.pdf

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

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/

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!

A Guaranteed Minyan has been requested for Tues. Oct. 3.

Please sign up at the Rosner Minyan Maker at www.tbe.org (for those who have had problems, it’s been fixed).

The

(occasionally)

Ranting Rabbi

Full transcripts of the High Holiday sermons are now up on our website, www.tbe.org.

Check back soon for audio files.

From the Kol Nidre Sermon

Long ago, across the world there was a moment in time when not only Judaism, but all major religions, had a recognition that the only way one could encounter God was to live a compassionate life. This period, roughly 25 centuries ago, has been called the Axial age by scholars, and it is the subject of a new book by bestselling religion author Karen Armstrong. This was the age of the Upanishads and Buddha in India, Confucius in China, Aristotle and Socrates in Greece and for the Jews, great prophets like Ezekiel, and Jeremiah. During this period, each of these cultures independently fostered almost identical versions of the Golden Rule, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Empathy was the watchword of the era.

When one looks at the Jewish sources from the period, a time that included the destruction of the first temple and exile to Babylon, it is simply amazing how a people so battered could turn out literature so compassionate. Out of that period came what was later called the P source, that strand of the Torah narrative that contains some of the Torah’s most universal and visionary material, including the Creation story. We’ve gotten so hung up on Darwin and dinosaurs that we fail to recognize just how revolutionary and amazingly beautiful the biblical Creation story is. On the last day of that creation, God looks around, sees everything that had been made – everything – “and behold, it was exceedingly good.” Then, God blesses all that was made – not just one people or one land – but everything – even, presumably, the Babylonians, the Jews’ arch enemies; and then God rested calmly on the Sabbath. The Torah’s P source focuses on the priesthood, hence the letter “P,” but not in an elitist way – for it calls Israel a nation of priests. The Jewish people, whose temple had been destroyed, could live on – through exile – in a state of holiness. This response to brutal exile was the affirmation of life – and the key to it all was compassion for the Other.

Update on Allison Gulotta…

You might recall that my Kol Nidre sermon began with a quote from the bat mitzvah of Allison Gulotta. Following Yom Kippur I caught up with her grandfather, who lives in White Plains. I was thrilled to hear that Allison is doing very well, is now a senior in college in Prince Edward Island and that she is, of all things, a religion major.

Then, last night, I received this e-mail from Allison herself:

Hi Rabbi Hammerman, this is Allison Gulotta from Prince Edward Island. I would ask if you remember me, but after having just read your High Holy Day Sermon, I don't think the question is necessary. It's been a long time, but I want you to know that I have never forgotten everything you and Hazzan Robinowitz did for me, and my mother. What you wrote was incredibly touching. As young as I was the day she became a Bat Mitzvah, I was incredibly proud of my mother. I can only hope that she looked down on me and was just as proud. I'm now in my fourth year of university, about to graduate with a major in comparative religion. I'm currently taking a class on the history of anti-Semitism, which is difficult at times because it hits so close to home. One of the many things I admired about my mother was her pride in Judaism, and I have grown to be just as proud. Thank you for everything you did to help that growth. You are a wonderful person, and I hope to one day see you again, but if not, I wish you all the best and will never forget you. Allison

From the Yom Kippur Day Sermon

We often achieve happiness through the back door, through challenge and sacrifice. There is a whole school of thought in “happiness theory” that suffering is a prerequisite for happiness. And indeed there is a complex and vibrant relationship between happiness and suffering. The very fact that crying occurs both out of sadness and joy is a hint that the two are physiologically linked, like the words “oy” and “joy.” And remember, “oy” spelled backwards is “YO!” Ancient cultures understood that linkage - as in the Greek theater masks. But it goes beyond that.

It gets to the heart of why it seems that people in a place as perpetually tragic as Israel are in truth much happier than we are. Polls have shown it. In 2003, an Israel Bureau of Statistics survey caused a stir with its findings that a staggering 83 per cent of adult Israelis are satisfied with their lives. That figure surged to a giddy 89 per cent among the young, aged 20 to 24, while the happy meter dipped slightly to 75 per cent among those aged 75 or older, the “oy” generation. This from the people who invented kvetching! Last November, a similar poll showed roughly the same numbers - 82% of Israelis said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their lives. This after five years of brutal terrorism, international isolation and an excruciating departure from Gaza. This despite a government rife with corruption, economic and social instability and the complete lack of a partner for peace. Oslo failed miserably but Israelis refuse to be miserable. In this summer’s Lebanon war they buried 116 more soldiers and 43 civilians (including 19 Israeli Arabs) – and still they are happy. Through their tears.

The Real Islam

See this video forwarded to me by my friend, Dr. Behjat H. Syed, who will be participating with me once again in this year’s Learning and Latte series, which begins this coming Tuesday at Borders.”

Please view this video and pass it along to others to create more harmony between our wonderfully stitched-together society so that people may realize the real Islaam.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kLiagBbSryY

Wsalam,
Dr. Behjat H. Syed
Peace to All. May God guide us all in our endeavors.

Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunties

Congregant Seeks Sitter

The Annulli family of our congregation is seeking a babysitter, preferably someone who can drive,

Definitely non-smoking. For more information, contact Richard Annuli directly, at mrdrannulli2@yahoo.com

 
Beth El Cares
 
Cathy Satz (968-9191; csscounsel@yahoo.com)
Cheryl Wolff (968-6361; cwolff@optonline.net)
BETH EL CARES co-chairs

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Habitat for Humanity is recruiting volunteers to assist with the planning and building of 6 to 9 housing units on West Main Street in Stamford (near the Kentucky Fried Chicken). The actual timing of the building depends on site plan and other approvals, but the ceremonial ground breaking should take place in October 2006. Please contact bknebal@habitatcfc.org if you want to help in any way. Assistance is needed now in the formation stages, as well as later with the building. Bob Knebel, CEO, can tell you what jobs are available.

LOCKS OF LOVE HAIR DONATIONS CONTINUED

Any one wishing to donate 10 or more inches of hair to Locks of Love can contact Cathy or Cheryl for more information on how to donate and how to get your before and after photo on the TBE web sit

Cheryl Wolff

Cathy Satz

HELP ME HELP OTHERS WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY WHO NEED OUR ASSISTANCE 
BY DONATING TO PERSON TO PERSON.
 
Person to Person located in Darien, Connecticut is an organization that collects new or worn items
such as clothing for babies, kids and adults.
They are looking for donations for only Spring and Summer items.
Needy families in emergency situations will go to Person to Person for assistance.
Person to Person services the Stamford, Norwalk and Darien areas.
 
You may donate clothing, food (canned items) and only brand new unopened toys.
 
We will be bringing a large donation of items on the first of every month.
Please help me with any donations that you would like to make.
I would greatly appreciate it.
I am hoping you can help me with this for my Mitzvah Project
because it is important for us to help others who may need it.
 
This is how you can help:
Please bring your donation to my house, 116 Wedgemere Road,
or e-mail coopbry@aol.com to make arrangements for us to pick it up.
We will do this during June, July and August.
 
Thank you so much for helping the needy. Eric Cooper 968-9591
 

What is Sukkot About?

Here’s part of the answer, taken from the “Guide to Jewish Religious Practice,” by Rabbi Isaac Klein, long considered the authoritative Conservative work on halakha.

1. Introduction

The festival of Sukkot is the third of the Pilgrimage Festivals. It begins on the fifteenth of Tishre and continues for seven days. The first two of these are celebrated as full holidays with all the prescriptions already mentioned. The five days that follow are Hol Hamo'ed--weekdays which retain some aspects of the festival. The seventh day (the fifth of the Intermediate Days) is Hosha'nah Rabbah, with special observances of its own. There follow two concluding days which are separate festivals () (B. Suk. 47a) and bear individual names: Shemini 'Atseret and Simhat Torah.

Like the other two Pilgrimage Festivals, Sukkot commemorates an event or period in the history of the Jewish people, has an agricultural connotation, and teaches a number of religious truths.

The Bible stresses the historical aspect: "You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God" (Lev, 23:42, 43). The agricultural theme is indicated earlier: "when you have gathered in the yield of your land, you shall observe the festival of the Lord [to last] seven days" (Lev. 23:29). Sukkot is thus a harvest festival during which we rejoice over the bounty of the harvest and are given an opportunity to thank God for his blessings.

While the Sukkah symbolizes the historical aspect of the festival, the Four Species bring to mind the agricultural, "on the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days" (Lev. 23:40).

The names of the festival also reflect these various themes. The name used most often is Sukkot, (the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles); it is also called (the Feast of Ingathering) and simply , the festival par excellence. While rejoicing is enjoined for all festivals, in the case of Sukkot an extra measure of enjoyment was prescribed: "And thou shalt rejoice in thy festival . . . and thou shalt be altogether joyful" (Deut. 16:14-16). Hence in the 'Amidah the descriptive phrase for this particular festival is .

The three names are also indicative of the religious truths that the festival seeks to impart. We noted that the reason for the Sukkah is: "that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt" (Lev. 23:43). The rabbis were not satisfied with the obvious meaning of this verse. While Rabbi Akiva says