November 10, 2006 –
Heshvan 20, 5767
Join your fellow community members and volunteer on Super Sunday,
(UJF's community phone-a-thon)
on December 3, 2006.
22nd ANNUAL
HAROLD E. HOFFMAN MEMORIAL LECTURE
Tuesday, November 14, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker:
Peter Bergen
Best-selling author and terrorism analyst for CNN
Topic: Osama
bin Laden,
History’s Most Successful Terrorist, and Al Qaeda
Check our website at www.tbe.org for super photos of our spectacular
TBE Sukkah
and mp3 and text files of the
High Holidays sermons.
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 Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary
(new)
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
"Perhaps the most striking feature
of the story of Ishamael and Issac is its balance:
Neither son is a pure victor, or a pure
loser."
Bruce Feiler,
from his best-selling book “Abraham”
Sat. Night at 8:00
– The Best of Israeli Cinema
“THE SYRIAN
BRIDE”
This Sunday Morning: 7th Grade
family program
Friday Evening
Candle
lighting: 4:30 pm pm on Friday, 4
November 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/
Shabbat Evening service:
7:30 PM– in the sanctuary (note later time on second week of the
month).
Shabbat
Morning: 9:30 AM– on Shabbat, we celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of Ilana
Springer. Mazal tov to her and to
her parents Fred and Eileen Springer!
Children’s services: 10:30 AM – (jr.
congregation service in the chapel, Tot Shabbat morning downstairs. 6th
and 7th graders are expected to be in the main sanctuary)
As
part of Ilana Springer’s Mitzvah Project, during this week’s service
we will be privileged to have a presentation during the service called
“No Hate But Harmony.”
Here
is some background information on the program from its director, Jimmy Locust:
No Hate But Harmony, Working
To Make Honor An Epidemic
Jimmy Locust
Founding Director
Our Torah
Reading for Shabbat Morning
Genesis 18:1 - 22:24 – The Abraham Saga Continues…
1: 21:1-4
2: 21:5-13
3: 21:14-21
4: 21:22-34
5: 22:1-8
6: 22:9-19
7: 22:20-24
maf: 22:20-24
Haftarah II Kings 4:1 - 4:37
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://www.jtsa.edu/community/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.
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 request has been made for
this Sunday, Nov. 12.
Please sign up at the Rosner Minyan Maker at www.tbe.org
The Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary
This week we introduce a new feature to
the Shabbat-O-Gram: the weekly portion as interpreted by our own resident Torah
scholars, our B’nai Mitzvah.
This feature carries over my High Holidays theme of including some of
the best speeches heard on our pulpit over the years. If you would like to have your
d’var Torah considered for this space, please send it along (even if it
was delivered many years ago – Torah is timeless). Check any Jewish calendar (or http://www.hebcal.com) to find out when your
portion is coming up.
This week’s d’var Torah for
the portion Vayera was delivered not long ago – in fact, just last
Shabbat afternoon (when we read the upcoming week’s portion), by Jake
Levensohn. Enjoy!
Parashat Vayera
– Jake Levensohn (2006)
Those
of you who know me know that I have a very loud hobby. I play the drums. I’ve loved the drums for the past
six years or so. It all started
when my Nana Linda got me a junior drum set for my birthday. I immediately started just banging on it
and realized quickly just how much I love playing the drums. As the years progressed, I realized that
I have a natural talent and saw that I could use this talent in many different
ways.
Currently,
I have my own rock band with my friends and I play the drums in my school
band.. I have a drum set at home
and I play it every day and occasionally give my family a real headache.
I’ve
come to appreciate some of the finer points of my chosen instrument. I feel that drums are underestimated in
terms of their importance to a band or orchestra. Without the drums, the 1812 Overture
would sound like the music on a merry go round. And imagine the Beatles without Ringo.
Also,
people don’t appreciate how much goes into learning how to play the
drums. It takes a lot of work and
practice. It’s not a matter
of hitting something with a stick.
In a band, my responsibility as a drummer is to keep the beat, while
playing 5 to different variations of beats in a single song. If I don’t do my job right, the
song falls apart.
Another
thing is that each element of the drum set, from the bass drum all the way to
the symbols, makes a different sound.
They all blend together in some unique way. Some people might not think of it as
“music,” but without drums, music just wouldn’t be the same.
I’ve
discovered that in many ways, playing drums is just like being Jewish. For one thing, for a group that makes up
such a tiny percentage of the population, we Jews make a lot of noise. Like the drum, Jews have been underestimated. There are only 13 million Jews in the
world, but we’ve earned more than our fair share of Nobel prizes, and
Jews have always been among the world’s most famous journalists,
filmmakers, scientists, and government leaders.
And
of course, not only have we made a mark on the arts and sciences most
importantly, baseball! Among the
most famous Jewish baseball players have been Shawn Green, Sandy Koufax, Moe
Berg, and most importantly for any Red Sox fan like myself, Kevin Youkilis.
It’s
not easy being a Jew. Like the
drums, it takes a lot of work and practice to be a Jew and especially preparing
for my Bar Mitzvah. And
finally, just as there are all different kinds of drums, there are all
different kinds of Jews.
My
portion teaches us about the first Jew, Abraham, who was a drumbeat of
conscience in his day. When the
cities of
If
only they had found a turkey caught in the bushes. Then they would have sacrificed it, and
since a turkey has drumsticks, we would play the drums on Rosh Hashanah instead
of the shofar.
Another
way we can make noise in the world is to give support to those in need. For my mitzvah project, through an
organization called AMIT, I am donating money to help an underprivileged
Israeli boy to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah.
His name is Maxim. I wrote to him recently.
And
so I hope you can now see that my very loud hobby has given me special training
on how, as I become a Bar Mitzvah, I might make a very loud impact on the
world.
The
(occasionally)
The Elections
We’ve
been at the eye of a national storm here in
This
is to say nothing against their opponents.
I had the privilege of having breakfast with Diane Farrell a few months
ago, at her invitation, and I was very impressed. I know that she would also have
represented us with integrity, and possibly with more clout in a Democratic
congress. But I have seen the
growth in Chris Shays over the years, have always admired his passion, humility
and humanity and I know that he of all people is suited to play a central role
as a centrist in reaching across the aisle.
Ultimately,
with all the issues at stake this year, no candidate offered solutions to our
greatest concerns regarding security and the instability of our world. The prospect of Iranian nukes is not
just an existential threat to
Some articles to check re. Jewish
perspectives on the elections:
Dems:
Aipac Needs To Mend Fences (the Forward) As Democrats prepare to take
control of Congress, they are quietly saying that the pro-Israel lobby needs to
“do some work” to improve relations with their party. Read
more
- Polls:
Democrats Score Big Win With Jewish Voters (the Forward)
- Democrats,
Jewish Candidates Score Big Victories (the
Forward)
Letting The Bidding War For Joe Begin - http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=13250
(The Jewish Week) After being
written off, the independent-minded
For all you
movie buffs,
here is an
interesting piece that came out of Beliefnet this past week.
Virtual
Talmud: Borat & the Politics of Jewish Humor
Synaplex: What
You Had to Say
Two weeks ago, our congregation entered
a new era – and people seem to like it. Our wildly successful first Synaplex
Shabbat elicited wildly enthusiastic responses. The idea of Synaplex was to change the
paradigm of how we do things – to re-imagine Shabbat,” as our logo
said, but beyond that, to re-imagine lots of other things as well: community
building, volunteer development, marketing, membership, spiritual and
intellectual growth, individual choice, and appealing to the specific needs of
each of our demographic groups.
For the first time ever, we conducted an
online survey. Over 100 responses
gave us a good indication of how the 600 + people who attended on Friday and
Saturday felt about the weekend. In
what must be a first for any synagogue anywhere, no one marked either of the
two “dissatisfied” options in filling out the form. In fact, 95% chose either “very
satisfied” or “satisfied” (with 66% being “very
satisfied.”) The results for
each individual activity were equally positive, and our variety of services
attracted large followings, ranging from the family learner’s service
(well over 100 people) to the meditative service (40+ people) and yoga (also
40) to our tot and teen services (when’s the last time we had over a
dozen teens leading their own service on a Shabbat morning?) and to our traditional
service as well (a packed chapel).
This followed Friday night’s Shabbat Unplugged that was filled
with positive energy and the sit-down oneg that was filled with warmth, all
with nearly 300 in attendance.
Some other survey results worth noting: it
is no surprise that, even with our variety of religious options, a number of
people came for reasons that were more social or intellectual than spiritual in
nature. So hundreds of people were
in synagogue on a Shabbat who would clearly have been elsewhere had it not been
for Synaplex. Nearly half the
respondents indicated that they attend services very infrequently. So we’ve reached well beyond the
“core” of active congregants to engage those less involved, which
was a major goal. We reached a
number of non-members as well, though that could not be accurately measured
since the survey only went out to our congregant e-mail list. And dozens signed up to volunteer at
future Synaplex Shabbats – this after we sent out a hundred thank-you
letters to those who volunteered at the last one. Indeed, the paradigm has been changed.
I’ve thanked our committee and
co-chairs and donors already. Now I
want to thank you the congregants of
TBE, who have started something here that won’t just change our
congregation for the better, it will have a significant impact on the Jewish
future everywhere. The ripple
effect is already being felt. I
hope you will mark all our future Synaplex Shabbats on your calendar, with the
next one being Friday night, Dec. 8.
Here are some of the comments that were
shared by respondents to the survey:
Yes, the reviews are in. Synaplex is
“My entire family was impressed with the entire weekend. There
was not only programming that was of interest to all of us, there were events
that brought us closer together as a family as well as to other
congregants.”
“I was especially pleased to see the smiles of the attendees, and
the enthusiasm of the kids. This "mood" appeared throughout the day.
As for me personally, as a TBE elder I really loved Dan's Meditation session.
He brings a special dimension of Judaism to us which we don't really have
"in house." And Matt, even tho we couldn't do the bike ride, I very
much liked your special handout.”
“Extremely stimulating-Very content laden and, at times,
inspirational. Great feeling of community.”
“WONDERFUL! IT WAS AN UPLIFTING AND AWESOME WEEKEND! THE VARIETY
OF INTERESTING ACTIVITIES WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!”
“Lovely environment, great to see so many children participate,
nice variety of learning and programming”
“Synaplex was a spiritually uplifting, and exciting experience.
It was a wonderful way to spend Shabbat with family and friends”
“It was a sensational weekend!”
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah
Opportunties
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
Why is this
month called “Bitter Heshvan?”
This is the month of Heshvan, the second
month in the Jewish calendar. It is
also called “mar-Heshvan,” or bitter Heshvan, because, according to
tradition, it is the only month without holidays or fast days. I guess the rabbis didn’t count
Veterans Day, Election Day or Thanksgiving. In fact, now, this month does have two
sad Jewish commemorations, including Krystallnacht (today and yesterday) and
the anniversary of the Rabin assassination.
Now
a movement is afoot to transform the meaning of this month entirely. See http://www.socialaction.com/education_resources/weekly_torah/bereshit_genesis/noah/Noah_Jerusalem_SAM.shtml
for a d’var Torah by Yossi Abramowitz on the portion of Noah, from I take
this excerpt:
In the month
of Tishrei, which begins with Rosh Hashana, we pursue tikkim pnimi, internal fixing, aligning our values and
intensions. If we are lucky, we emerge as clean and righteous as Noah, with
renewed life in an uncertain age. But is that really good enough?
This year
Heshvan, Noah and a global effort to step up social justice are destined for
each other. According to tradition, the rain began on the 17th day of Heshvan,
and the door to the arc finally sprung open a year later, on the 27th of
Heshvan. Heshvan is the month recently endorsed by the Knesset as Jewish Social
Action Month, and Deputy Minister Rabbi Michael Melchior, on behalf of the
Government and people of Israel, has been amplifying the call for Jews
everywhere to jump-start our pro-active, post-Noah activity and go out to heal
the world, linking our tikkum pnimi
with tikkun olam. Let’s
just say endorsements are flooding in. (see SocialAction.com and Cheshvan.org
)
Having the
call to social action begin in
Also see this article on the
subject from the
So now, we need to join the
push of Social Activism to turn this month of bitterness into a month of
world-repair. Maybe a day is in
sight when Heshvan – and the world – will be bitter no more.
The Akeda
The Akeda, the Binding of Isaac, which is read in this
week’s portion (and o Rosh Hashanah as well), has fascinated people of
all faiths for centuries. From a
historical perspective, it’s significance has shifted over the
generations. Within the Bible
itself, this incident receives surprisingly little play. While the story is told quite
dramatically in Gen. 22, it is not repeated anywhere else in the entire Bible. Other elements of Abraham’s
life are, but not this. Yet by the
time we get to the rabbinic period, the Akeda has taken on new significance,
for Jews and early Christians as well, and then for Moslems, who debated
whether it was Isaac or Ishmael who was brought up to the mountain.
Here is an annotated list of Web sites looking at the Akeda
from a variety of perspectives:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2004/09/09_abraham/
“Speaking of Faith” public radio program – on Abraham.
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/VAYERA58.htm from Rav Kook – Abraham as a
champion of faith.
http://www.shma.com/livingwords/sermons/spatz.html
-- The Akeda as an existential, rather than a moral tale. Excellent
http://www.textweek.com/art/abraham_and_isaac.htm
-- links to images of Abraham and Isaac (see http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~rs002/Images/Christian/abraham.jpg
for a 6th centuty mosaic that is particularly striking)
http://www.israel.org/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0k470
-- Akeda image from the ancient Bet Alpha synagogue in
http://www.templemount.org/moriah2.html
-- topographical look at Mount Moriah, site of the Akeda
http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/020906_BindingDisagreement.html
did it really happen?
Abraham - Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/abraham1.asp
- for Bruce Feiler’s book, “Abraham”
http://www.shma.com/livingwords/sermons/spatz.html
- Worm-Hole Aliens, the Mikveh, and the Akeda - a superb analysis by Virginia Spatz,
based on Avivah Zornberg’s commentary.
Let’s
begin with GOOD NEWS from
With Jewish
Roots Now Prized, Spain Starts Digging - Renwick McLean
Now, 500 years after expelling its Jews and moving to hide if not eradicate all
traces of their existence, Spain has begun rediscovering the Jewish culture
that thrived there for centuries and that scholars say functioned as a second
Jerusalem during the Middle Ages. Still, despite the new enthusiasm for
Israeli
Arts and Entertainment Breaks Through to the Big Time - Viva Press
Israeli musicians, filmmakers, actors, dancers, and artists have been shaking
up the international scene in growing numbers over the last five years. The
proliferation of Israeli culture throughout North America has succeeded in
exposing an overlooked side of
Israel
Sees Shale Replacing Oil - Leah
Krauss
An Israeli process for producing energy from oil shale will cut its oil imports
by one-third, and will serve as a guide for other countries with oil shale
deposits, according to the Hom Tov company, which presented its oil shale
processing method on Tuesday outside
Israel's
Economy Back on Track - Neal
Sandler (Business Week)
Less than three months after a costly war in Lebanon, investors
have quickly regained confidence in the Israeli economy, driving the Tel Aviv
stock market to all-time highs.
"We're not only witnessing a recovery but an across the
board strengthening in nearly every sector of the economy," says Gil
Bufman, chief economist at Bank Leumi. The sole exception is the tourism
industry.
Economists are now predicting growth of 4.5% for 2006, down from pre-war
estimates of 5%.
Capital continues to flow into
China-Israel
Trade Tops $3 Billion (Xinhua-China)
Zhang Xiao'an, charge d'affaires at the Chinese Embassy in
Israel, said Wednesday that China-Israel economic cooperation has enjoyed a
high growth rate since 1992.
"The average annual growth rate of bilateral trade in the
past 14 years is 40%. Last year, bilateral trade volume reached $3
billion...[and] we expect the volume to reach $5 billion by 2008."
Zhang said that Israel had set up more than 200 companies in
China by the end of 2005, while 800 Israeli companies are currently doing
business in
Cruise Lines
Return to Israel (JTA)
The Tourism Ministry in
AOL Purchases
Israeli Start-Up - Eli Shimoni (Ynet
News)
American Internet giant America On Line announced Wednesday that
it has acquired Israeli start-up company Relegence for an amount estimated at
$55-65 million.
Relegence has developed a real-time financial services news
engine, serving mainly the financial and business markets.
Permanent
Artificial Heart Transplanted in Israel - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (Jerusalem Post)
An artificial heart that serves as a permanent pump was inserted
successfully into an Israeli patient at
The pump is designed to keep elderly people who are unsuited for
organ transplant alive and functioning.
Israeli
Makes Scientific American's Top 50 - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (Jerusalem Post)
Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, 37, a Technion biomedical engineer and
tissue engineering researcher whose work aims toward the creation of
lab-manufactured tissues and organs for transplant, has been included in the Scientific
American 50 listing, honoring 50 people whose accomplishments demonstrate
technological leadership.
We
Are Family: King David’s Descendants Gather for ‘Reunion’
(Forward)
now for the rest
Prime source: Daily Alert of the
See also http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.672581/k.CB99/Home.htm
When rabbis' gay-hate turns
murderous - If
words can kill, 'pulsa danura' is a weapon of mass destruction.
(Ha’aretz)
Riots
Rock Jerusalem Before Gay Pride Parade (Forward)
Israel
to Pursue Action Against Gaza Rocket Fire - Jonathan Ferziger and Gwen Ackerman
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel will pursue military operations to stop
rocket fire from Gaza, even as he expressed regret for the accidental killing
of 18 Palestinians. The shell that hit a Palestinian home in the northern Gazan
town of Beit Hanoun was "a tragic mistake'' and meant to strike militants
in a nearby orange grove who had fired a Kassam rocket into Israel, Olmert
said. "Military operations will continue as long as there will be firing
of rockets,'' he said. (Bloomberg)
Top Hamas
Officials: We Want All of Palestine, from the River to the Sea
In the nine months since it came to power, Hamas has not changed its views.
Hamas Political Bureau head Khaled Mash'al told the London-based daily Al-Hayat
on Oct. 12: "Why am I required to [recognize] the legitimacy of an
occupying [entity]?...It is true that there is an entity called
Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar stated on Oct. 20 that
"
IDF Inquiry: Radar
Malfunction Caused Botched Shelling
- Amos Harel
Maj.-Gen. Meir Kalifi, who headed the IDF inquiry into the Beit Hanoun
incident, presented the inquiry's findings Thursday. The inquiry found that a
malfunctioning electronic card in the artillery battery's guidance system,
which was replaced five days ago, was the cause of the errant fire. The card
fed the battery's guidance system with wrong coordinates. The Israeli-developed
"Shilem" guidance system has been in use by the IDF for roughly 30
years. It is considered reliable, and IDF inquiries found that this is the
first time this particular malfunction has occurred in the system or similar
systems used abroad. (Ha'aretz)
Security
Council Meets on Beit Hanoun Incident - Yitzhak Benhorin
Danny Carmon, the deputy head of the Israeli delegation to the UN, said during
a Security Council meeting Thursday that the escalation in Gaza stems from
Palestinian rocket fire on Israel, which is acting "in self-defense."
Carmon said that
He spoke about the need to release the Israeli soldiers while
Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of kidnapped soldier Ehud Goldwasser, was present.
"She is here to remind members of the Council who voted on Resolution 1701
that they are obliged to fulfill what they voted for and act for the release of
the kidnapped Israeli soldiers." (Ynet News)
Palestinian
Rocket Attacks Injure Three Israelis - Shmulik Hadad
Three people sustained injuries from shrapnel and several others suffered from
shock Thursday evening when a rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza landed just
a few meters from a store in a crowded Sderot shopping center. Earlier
Thursday, two rockets landed in the western
Israel, U.S. Ponder New
Ways to Collect Intelligence in Lebanon - Aluf Benn
See also French
Forces Almost Fired on Israeli Jets in Lebanon - Molly Moore
French peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon came within seconds of firing
missiles at Israeli F-15 fighter jets that repeatedly dived on their positions
last week, according to French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie. (
Murderous Strategies - Marty Peretz
I am not indifferent to the death of Palestinians. I am especially not
indifferent to the death of Palestinians caused by Israeli fire. But I think I
do know who is indifferent to the death of Palestinians, and especially
ecstatic if they are killed by Israeli fire. And it is Palestinians themselves.
The 18 killed in
Have pity on the Palestinians. But aim your criticism at those
who think killing Jews is a solution to the Palestinian problem. (New
Republic)
Stopping
Palestinian Rockets - Anshel
Pfeffer
Both the efficiency and morality of using "preventative" artillery
fire against Palestinian rocket launchers have been debated at length over the
last few years. Artillery is still the quickest and cheapest method to harass
the rocket teams and minimize their threat. It is also the safest for IDF soldiers.
Artillery batteries on a 24-hour alert, well within Israeli territory, are
still the fastest and safest rapid-reaction tactic available.
The Palestinian rocket teams are constantly being hunted down, by
all the military and intelligence elements at
When Bush
Meets Olmert - David Makovsky
Israeli Prime Minister Olmert will meet President Bush at the White House on
November 13 as part of a prescheduled visit to address the United Jewish
Communities General Assembly in Los Angeles. Neither Bush, nor Olmert, has any
firm political initiative in mind. Olmert is not coming to
Human Rights
NGOs Neglect Hamas' Use of Human Shields
The Palestinian use of human shields to protect armed gunmen and rocket
launching crews from Israeli responses is widespread but largely unreported. On
Nov. 2, amidst the ongoing warfare in
See also Fact,
Fiction, and Fabrication Among NGOs - Ruthie Blum
NGO Monitor provides "raw facts about what the non-governmental
organizations are doing," says associate editor Sarah Mandel. And what
many of them are doing, according to Mandel, is using the mandate of their
funding - championing international human rights - to pursue political agendas
that seek to delegitimize
A
Liberal Brother at Odds with the Muslim Brotherhood - Michael Slackman
Gamal al-Banna is 85, and for much of his life he has been overshadowed by his
famous brother, Sheik Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood,
the Islamist political party and antecedent of a host of militant Islamist
organizations, from al-Qaeda to Hamas. He is a liberal thinker, a man who would
like to see Islamic values and practices interpreted in the context of modern
times. Banna says the radicals are guilty of imposing what amounts to their
interpretation of the Koran onto other Muslims. (New York Times)
Diary
of an Arab Woman for a Humanistic Islam - Elham Manea
We live in a time where a version of Islam, Wahhabi Islam exported from
Expert Views U.S.
Middle East Policy Following Elections - Meredith Buel (VOA News)
- Joshua Muravchik, a resident scholar
at the American Enterprise Institute, argues that even with a new
Congress, the chances for an Arab-Israeli peace agreement are slim.
- He says there is a rising sense among
some Arabs that armed resistance is a successful way to change the status
quo.
- Muravchik argues that because the
Palestinians have witnessed the insurgency in Iraq, what he calls the
perceived defeat of the Israelis by Hizballah in Lebanon, the perception
that Israel was forced to withdraw from Gaza, the rise of Iranian
influence, and the election of Hamas in the Palestinian territories, the
chances for a peaceful solution with Israel have gotten worse.
- "The sense that resistance, jihad,
is triumphant and on the upswing is absolutely a killer to any evolution
of sentiment among the Palestinians toward being willing to accept the reality
of Israel as a permanent reality and to go on and make peace."
22nd
ANNUAL
HAROLD
E. HOFFMAN MEMORIAL LECTURE
Tuesday,
November 14, 2006 at 8:00 p.m.
Guest
Speaker: Peter Bergen
Best-selling
author and terrorism analyst for CNN
Topic: Osama bin Laden,
History’s
Most Successful Terrorist, and Al Qaeda
One of the
few Western journalists to personally interview Osama, Peter Bergen is also one
of the leading experts on the subject of global terrorism. He is a senior fellow at the New America
Foundation in Washington, D.C., Adjunct Professor at the School of Advanced
International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and author of Holy War,
Inc. (Free Press, 2001), a N.Y. Times bestseller that has been translated
into 18 languages.
His latest
book (Free Press, 2006) The Osama bin Laden I Know is the subject of a
recent two-hour CNN documentary commemorating the fifth anniversary of
9/11. The “Washington
Post” review of the book wrote in part: “What made [bin Laden] into
history’s most successful terrorist?
The
Hoffman Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the family of the late Harold E.
Hoffman, a former member of the
As with
all the Hoffman lectures, the public is invited to attend without charge. Peter Bergen’s stimulating remarks
will be followed by a question-and-answer period and reception.
ISRAELI MOVIE NIGHT at TBE
Sat. NOV. 11 @ 8 PM -
In
"The Syrian Bride"
(2005)
delves into the fascinating culture of the Druse in
Refreshments and popcorn will be served:
TBE Progressive Dinner and
“Murder in the
We are proud to present the first fundraising event of the
season: The
Choose from of a wide selection of congregants' homes and
delectable cuisines for dinner, and then join us for coffee and dessert at the
All adults are welcome!
Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. and the
This year we are trying something new: we've gone electronic! Please note that because we are trying
to conserve paper and costs, you will not be receiving an invitation in the
mail for this event. Instead, it is
very important to open all the attachments by following the links below:
For the Invitation, please click here:
http://www.tbe.org/site/docs/ProgressiveDinnerInvite.pdf
For the Brochure of Dinner Venues, please click here:
http://www.tbe.org/site/docs/ProgressiveDinnerBrochure.pdf
For the Preference Form, please click here:
http://www.tbe.org/site/docs/ProgressiveDinnerRequestForm.pdf
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
contact Scott Allen <mailto:AllenS@nypbt.com>
or <mailto:scottallen008@yahoo.com>
; Elissa Hyman <mailto:ehyman@optonline.net>.
ADULT ED CLASSES
THIS SUNDAY AT 9:00 AM!!!!!
a six-session
series presented by
The
United Jewish Federation
(UJF) of Greater
In today’s
fast-paced, information-driven world, many people are confused by media reports
and unclear about the issues confronting modern
Each session
begins with a presentation followed by a discussion, and includes participant
folders with maps, resources list, historical background, and more.
REMAINING
SESSIONS:
November
12: Session Two:
1914-1947: Building the Jewish Homeland
December 10: Session Three: 1948-1966: War
& Peace: Survival and
January 7: Session
Four: 1967-1979: War & Peace: Territories and Settlements
January
21: Session Five:
1980-Present: Terrorism and
“The Many Demensions of
Jewish Prayer”
with
meets select Sunday mornings 9:00-10:00
am
Next meets on Nov. 5
Bimah 101:
Prepatory course for Adult Bar/ Bat Mitzvah
With Cantor
Meets weekly Sunday mornings 10:00-11:00
am
Judaism for Everyone
An Introductory Class for Dummies, Smarties…
and Those Who Don’t Know How to Ask
With
Meets weekly on select Sundays 11:00
am-12:00 pm
(A prerequisite for those who wish to join
the Beth El Adult Bar/ Bat Mitzvah Class.)
Fee: $50 for materials
This
week: What is the Torah – What is the Bible?
Beginners’ Hebrew class
Instructor:
Take advantage of this beginner/ class
to:
Become familiar with the Hebrew
alphabet
Improve your Hebrew reading fluency
Delve into a bit of modern Hebrew
Come explore the Hebrew language in a
relaxed group setting!
Meets weekly on Tuesday evenings at
7:30– 8:30 p.m.
SYNAPLEX at TBE
5767
Please Join Us
Synaplex & Sisterhood Family Shabbat Dinner,
Services and Program
To Honor Our New Members!!
§
Meet new
friends and share time with those you already know.
§
Share a dinner
of delicious cookbook recipes and the fun stories about the creation of this
treasured keepsake.
§
Hear the wisdom
of Elise Klein, Bridges Director of UJF, as she helps each of us to understand
how we can create a welcoming community for TBE.
Services:
Dinner:
Speaker:
“Creating a Welcoming
Community”
Elise Klein, BRIDGES
Director of UJF
Please complete and return with payment by November 29th
to:
Sisterhood of
Make Checks Payable to: Sisterhood of
RSVP/Payment
Information If you would like
to purchase a cookbook, please include payment with your RSVP Total # of Adults
______ @ $18 each = $_______ (ages 13 and older) Total # Children
______ @ $12 each = $_______ (ages 3-12) Total # Cookbooks
_____ @ $18 each = $________ (*pick up during dinner)
Grand Total Enclosed
$_______ Please indicate #
of Vegetarian Meals Needed # of Adults ______ # of Children _____
Full Names of Adults Attending
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
Names
of Children Attending
Ages
___________________________ ____
___________________________ ____
___________________________ ____
___________________________ ____
