December 8, 2006 –
Kislev 18, 5767
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Last weekend, nearly 140 people enjoyed
our Progressive Dinner and Murder Mystery. This weekend, approximately 160 will
come together for our Synaplex Shabbat and Sisterhood Cookbook Celebration. And NEXT week is
Hanukkah, with lots of special events.
The celebrations keep on happening at
TBE!
L to R: Matt Kasindorf,
Michelle Piskin, Allan & Roni Lang, Scott Piskin,
and Jeannie Kasindorf enjoy dinner
before the TBE Murder Mystery
Check out www.tbe.org for
our extensive library of photo
albums,
articles, sermons, info about
the temple,
Shabbat-O-Grams and links to
the Jewish world.
THIS SATURDAY NIGHT!!!
Metallic
Blues
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
"Borat essentially works as a tool. By himself being anti-Semitic, he lets
people lower their guard and expose their own prejudice, whether it's
anti-Semitism or an acceptance of anti-Semitism. 'Throw the Jew Down the Well'
[a song performed at a country & western bar during Da Ali G Show]
was a very controversial sketch, and some members of the Jewish community
thought that it was actually going to encourage anti-Semitism. But to me it
revealed something about that bar in
"I remember, when I was in
university I studied history, and there was this one major historian of the
Third Reich, Ian Kershaw. And his quote was, 'The path to
-Sacha Baron Cohen, in his Rolling Stone
interview
(see link at bottom of this Shabbat
–o-Gram)
Here’s what’s happening Friday night:
Synaplex
& Sisterhood Family Shabbat Dinner,
Services
and Program
Honoring
New Members
December
8, 2006
Services 6:30 pm
SERVICES ARE OPEN TO EVERYONE, WHETHER
OR NOT YOU ARE SIGNED UP FOR THE DINNER
Please join us in
the main sanctuary as we welcome Shabbat together and honor our new
members.
There will be a
Tot Shabbat for our children starting at the same time with Nurit.
Dinner
7:30 pm
Share in the
Sisterhood’s celebration of the all new (first ever!) TBE cookbook. Enjoy a dinner made from cookbook
recipes that were contributed by our own TBE family. Hear about the beautiful two-year
journey of over 120 Sisterhood members who contributed their hearts and
kitchens to create this beautiful keepsake for all to enjoy.
If you are
interested in purchasing the cookbook, please order using the RSVP (on the
opposite side of this page). The
proceeds will be donated to TBE’s kitchen renovation project.
Program
8:30 pm
We are honored to
have Elise Klein, UJF BRIDGES Program Director, join us to share with us how
each of us can become part of our TBE community and what we can do to make it
stronger.
Working together,
we will discuss ways in which to create a community that all want to be part of
and which all can share in – respecting our differences and celebrating
our commonalities. By strengthening
bonds we create a strengthened, enriched community: opening and welcoming to
all who wish to be part of TBE’s wonderful congregation.
There will be
children’s programming at this time, with Nurit here for the younger
children and a Scrabble tournament for older ones..
Other announcements regarding Friday night:
We have approximately 155 people signed up for this Friday
night's Synaplex Sisterhood dinner!!
While reservations are closed for the 7:30 dinner, everyone is
most welcome to come, without reservation, to the services at 6:30 (the main
service and Tot Shabbat) and to Elise Klein's presentation at approximately
8:30.
Also:
-- as with all Synaplex events, dress is casual.
-- The Cantor and I have been working together to develop a
Kabbalat Shabbat service that will be different and exciting, with a focus on
congregational singing and reflection.
Many of the melodies will be relatively new, but most will at least be
somewhat familiar to those who have attended Kabbalat Shabbat here over the
years.
-- Unlike Shabbat Unplugged, the only instrument will be
keyboard...and Cantor Littman will be accompanying herself.
-- When you arrive, after being greeted at the door, come right
into the sanctuary, where you will have the choice of sitting in the center
section pews or in a number of chairs that will be set up on the bima. We've had bima sitting before (primarily
on rainy Fridays in the summer), but this will be a chance to create a real
feeling of intimacy and embrace.
Please fill in the chairs on the bima first! Of course you are free to sit below if
you prefer.
-- Seats for the dinner will be assigned so that we can all meet
new people. As soon as the service
is over, we'll go right into the social hall for the blessings and the meal. The program being prepared by our
cookbook committee is simply going to be incredible.
-- After dinner, please stay for Elise Klein's presentation. She is truly an expert on community
building and we need to hear what she has to say. The older kids will have a board game
tournament ,with the help of our youth advisor Edoe and the Silver family (and
a special thank you to Beth, who
has done a spectacular job of co-chairing this entire evening), and the
younger ones will hang out with Nurit.
-- As we did after October's super Synaplex premier, we will
develop a survey to assess this program, but please don't be shy! The cantor and I will be especially
interested in your reactions to the service, as it could become a model for
future Friday nights. Let us know what you think !
Friday Evening
Candle lighting: 4:08 pm on
Friday, 8 December 2006. For candle lighting times,
Havdalah 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/
Synaplex Shabbat Evening service: 6:30 PM
– in the sanctuary (casual dress)
Tot
Shabbat: 6:30 – in the Kindergarten room on the lower level
Shabbat
Morning: 9:30 AM– on Shabbat, we celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Duoglas Weisman. Mazal tov to
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)
Our Torah Reading
for Shabbat Morning
Parashat
Vayishlach
פרשת וישלח
Genesis 32:4 - 36:43 – Jacob’s Wrestling Match and Reunion with Esau
1: 35:16-26
2: 35:27-29
3: 36:1-8
4: 36:9-19
5: 36:20-30
6: 36:31-39
7: 36:40-43
maf: 36:40-43
Haftarah: Hosea 11:7 - 12:12
If you liked
Storahtelling, you’ll LOVE Storahtelling’s new weekly blog about
the Torah portion Find it at http://storahtelling.blogspot.com/. ORT
Navigating the Bible; Rashi
in English; BibleGateway:
Useful for comparing different translations: Note- this is a Christian site.
What’s
Bothering Rashi (Bonchek) Each week, one example from the parashah is
deconstructed. 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 http://www.mechon-mamre.org/
100
Blessings: Download information about the grace
after meals (see Birkat
Ha-mazon explained in Wikipedia and in the Jewish
Virtual Library) The actual
prayer can be downloaded at Birkat
Hamazon [pdf]
Morning Minyan
7:30 Weekdays, 9:30 Sundays
We’ve had Guaranteed
Minyan requests for yahrzeits on Tuesday December 12 and Sunday, December
17. If you can make it, please take
a moment to sign up at the Rosner Minyan Maker at www.tbe.org.
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!
Please sign up at the Rosner Minyan Maker at www.tbe.org
The Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Commentary
Zac Krowitz’
Commentary on Nov. 17th portion: Hayye
Sarah
Everyone who knows me knows that
sports is a huge part of my life. I play it whenever I can,
I’ve watched ESPN almost every day since I was in preschool, and I can
recite teams’ and players’ statistics, especially when we’re
talking about Fantasy football and basketball leagues. My folks know that we can’t go on
vacation without bringing a ball for me to throw. You should see all of the pictures of
Andrew and me throwing a ball in
I’ve been
playing baseball since I was a little kid, first here as a member of the Temple
Beth El Matzoh Balls team and then for the past several years in National Lione
Little League. I’ve
been mostly a pitcher and shortstop.
I’ve put in countless hours of practice in order to succeed and it
has really paid off. My team made
it to the championship game all four years I was in Little League and even
though we lost every time (sorry Coach Mike) it was an amazing experience. I’ve also pitched in All-Star
games and now have started playing Babe Ruth baseball.
I also love to
play tennis and this past summer earned a gold medal in the Stamford Maccabi
games. I also love to play
basketball and ski, and I’m a big fan of the Mets, Jets and Knicks (OK,
supporting these teams every year does build character but that’s for
another speech).
I’ve learned that being good
at sports doesn’t happen by itself, just like becoming Bar Mitzvah
doesn’t happen by itself.
Each thing involves lots of time, dedication and commitment. But most of all, it involves hard
choices. Do I practice again
after school, making another hundred throws from short to first, or hitting
hundreds of backhands and forehands, even if it means I have to give up a lot
of free time? Do I give up trips to
the beach just because we have another set of weekend games? These decisions
may not rise to the level of the decisions faced by Sandy Koufax when he chose
not to pitch a World Series game because it took place on Yom Kippur or by
Abraham and Kind David in the portions I just chanted, but I’ve
discovered that we are all the product of the choices that we make.
My portion’s name is Chayyay Sara, which means “The Life
of Sarah.” Actually, the word for life is plural in
Hebrew, so the literal translation of the name is “The LIVES of
Sarah.”
Sarah dies at the beginning of the
portion, but we discover that in many ways she is still very much alive. We also discover that when crucial
choices are made, a life can change dramatically. Some commentators believe, in fact, that
Sarah died immediately when she heard that her son Isaac had nearly been
sacrificed by Abraham. Had Abraham
made a different choice, Sarah might have survived. So by calling the portion “The
LIVES of Sarah,” we are alerted not only to the life she lived, but to
the life she could have lived had she not died then.
In my portion,
Abraham sends his servant out to choose a wife for Isaac, once again denying
Isaac the chance to choose his own destiny. Isaac is very happy in the end with the
bride chosen for him, Rebecca, but you have to wonder how it affected him,
never getting to make big decisions.
Who knows what choices he would have made.
Both
Sarah’s and Isaac’s lives were the product of Abraham’s
choices. I know that up until now,
my parents have made most of the big decisions for me, but that I’ve
gotten some good practice at making key decisions as well.
It’s not
just about sports or learning a haftarah.
Recently I’ve made other important choices. For instance, for my mitzvah project, I
decided to raise money to help Israeli soldiers and their families by
supporting the Friends of the IDF.
I also chose to have an Israeli twin, Moshe Mahar, who was born in
Another reason
for choosing these mitzvah projects is that I think it is very important today
to support
I realize that
as a Bar Mitzvah I’m now responsible for most of my decisions, and every
choice I make, no matter how big or small, will have an impact on the rest of
my life. So, just as with Sarah,
there is the life that I will live, and the millions of potential lives that I
leave behind at every fork in the road.
And I also know that, as with Abraham, the choices that I make can have
a profound impact on others. So
every time I make a tough decision, I know that have to consider the impact it
will have on me and on my family and friends. And I know that my family and my friends
will always be there to help me with those choices, as I will be there for them
whenever they need me. My friends
and I are all entering an important time in our lives, when we will have more
freedom but also more responsibility, when the choices we make (whether it is
about where we go to college or where we hang out) can have a huge impact on
our lives. I made many
important choices that led to my standing up here right now and I think they
have helped to prepare me for the work I will do in the future.
David
Katz’ Commentary on Dec. 2 portion: Vayetze
(also catch
David’s Bar Mitzvah video montage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kwBEmmlKLE
– and look for my cameo performance at David’s bris!)
Those of you
who know me know that I am especially interested in table tennis…in other
words, Ping Pong. It all began when I was about 7 and I
started to play every day at Long Ridge camp. We used to play “winner stays
on,” which motivated me to get better and better. Eventually, my dad brought out an old
ping-pong table and we would play a lot.
I thought I was pretty good, so one day we went to a table tennis club
and I got a rude awakening. That
only made me work harder. So
I’ve kept practicing and playing and now I am one of the top players in
the state – including adults.
I’ve
learned lots of lessons from my table tennis experiences over the years –
and it turns out that some of the same lessons can also be learned from my
portion.
The
first lesson is that hard work pays off.
Jacob had to work for 7 years to marry Rachel, but then he found out
that he had been deceived and married her sister Leah instead. Talk about a rude awakening! So Jacob then had to work for seven more
years before being allowed to finally marry Rachel.
Jacob
was a very hard worker and his work did pay off – he ended up with lots
of sheep and lots of kids.
Another
lesson from ping-pong is what goes
around comes around – literally.
Sometimes no matter what you do, the ball just keeps coming back, over
the net. In last week’s
portion, Jacob was the deceiver. In
this week’s he was the victim of deception.
I’ve
learned this lesson in another way.
It’s important not to take any opponent lightly. When I have a
lead, I have to keep putting in 110 percent effort. When you start to fool around, that lead
can disappear just as easily as it came.
Also, the name of my portion,