January 5, 2007– Tevet 16, 5767

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

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In Memoriam: President Gerald Ford and Mayor Teddy Kollek

Some recent tributes:

His Term Was Short, but Gerald Ford Left Mark on Soviet Jewry Movement

ADL Statement on the Death of President Gerald R. Ford

Kollek's Place in American History

Longtime Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek Dies at 95 (NPR)

Living in Jerusalem with wisdom (Piece written by Kollek for the Jerusalem Post in 1998)

To The World, Kollek was Jerusalem (The Jewish Week)

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/808823.html Kollek hated nudniks, but he was listed in the phonebook (Tom Segev)

Teddy Kollek once returned home very late, as he often did,

and found a note from his wife, Tamar:

A woman rang the doorbell at 1 A.M. to complain

that there is a hole in the sidewalk near her house

and that the city has done nothing about it for a month.

Kollek's home phone number was listed in the telephone book;

people could call him at home, and some abused the privilege. It

was 3:30 A.M., and Kollek promptly called the woman back. "This is Teddy," he said.

"I just wanted to tell you that tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll deal with the matter."
Kollek broadcast authenticity and apolitical credibility.

He had a basic fairness, a big heart and a fatherly sense of humor.

And among Israel's founding fathers, he was exceptional: He enjoyed his work.

Milton Mann and some new friends, taken at our recent Murder Mystery.

Check out www.tbe.org for many more new pictures of that recent event, plus

our extensive library of photo albums,

articles, sermons, info about the temple,

Shabbat-O-Grams and links to the Jewish world.

Contents of the Shabbat O Gram:

(Click to scroll down)

Jan 19-20 Feb. 3

FULL Synaplex Schedule and Temple Rock Café information in Announcements Below

Just the Facts (service schedule)

The Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary (new)

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

“WE MUST recognize the fact that the Arabs of Jerusalem are an integral part of the city by right, not by favor, and that they are determined to live here - because it is their home..”

- Teddy Kollek, z’l, former mayor of Jerusalem

JUST THE FACTS

Friday Evening

Candle lighting: 4:23 pm on Friday, 5 January 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/. The United Synagogue has updated its candlelighting information. To learn more, click here.

Shabbat Evening service: 6:30 PM – in the chapel

Tot Shabbat: 6:45 – in the lobby

Shabbat Morning: 9:30 AM

Children’s services: 10:30 AM – (Jr. Congregation service in the chapel, Tot Shabbat morning downstairs. 6^th and 7^th graders in the main sanctuary)

Our Torah Reading for Shabbat Morning

Parashat Vayechi
פרשת ויחי

Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 – The Joseph story and the book of Genesis conclude

1: 49:27-30
2: 49:31-33
3: 50:1-6
4: 50:7-9
5: 50:10-14
6: 50:15-20
7: 50:21-26
maf: 50:23-26
Haftarah: I Kings 2:1 - 2:12

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 Sparks can be found at: http://www.uscj.org/Torah_Sparks5689.html UAHC Shabbat Table Talk discussions are at http://urj.org/torah/index.cfm 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/

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 (including from me) for a yahrzeits on Monday, January 8. 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

During this hiatus from our Bar/Bat Mitzvah schedule, I’ll be featuring some helpful information regarding this central event in any family’s life. The following helpful links are provided by http://www.my-bar-mitzvah.com/, the Bar/Bat Mitzvah resource center:

Jacob Richman's Online Torah Links
Links to sites with weekly Devrei Torah on the Parasha

The Jewish Clipart Database
Free Bar / Bat Mitzvah Clipart - Graphics

Putting on the Tefillin
Visual diagrams on how to put on Tefillin

Jewish Holiday Calendar
Dates of Jewish holidays from 2003-2006

Hebcal Hebrew Date Converter
Find out a Hebrew Date or Gregorian Date

Judaism 101
Frequently Asked Questions about Judaism

Articles about Charity
Short selected articles about the mitzvah of giving

Jewish Hotsites

Large index of Jewish related sites Israel Hotsites
Large index of Israel related sites

My Hebrew Dictionary
An on-line resource containing groups of English words translated into Hebrew. The computer section itself has over 400 terms.

Learn Hebrew - with audio and transliterations
Over 1,700 Hebrew words and phrases including Nikud (vowels)
Hebrew audio of each word / phrase
Transliterations and translations in English, French, Russian, Spanish
Multilingual Menus.

The Bible Quiz
The, free, online Bible Quiz contains more than 3,000 multiple choice questions about the 5 books of Moses. Choose a chapter and timer setting, then the fun begins. Adults, as well as children will find the quiz entertaining and very educational.

The

(occasionally)

Ranting Rabbi

This Shabbat I’ll be at Temple Emanu-El in Palm Beach Florida, doing a Scholar-in-Residence weekend there on behalf of CLAL. This weekend was scheduled months ago and I’ve been looking forward to the chance to see what’s on people’s minds “out there,” a rare opportunity for me, what with bar/bat mitzvahs and other special events scheduled nearly every week. I’ll be doing a similar scholar in residence Shabbat on Feb. 2-3 in New City, New York. I’ve gotten word out to some of our TBE Floridians, who will be coming as a “cheering section” this weekend;by all means, please let your friends and relatives know about it. The schedule for the lectures can be found in that synagogue’s bulletin, the December, 2006 edition. The shul’s website is at http://www.templepalmbeach.org/

Among the issues I’ll be discussing is the current state of the Conservative movement, especially in light of last month’s landmark decisions regarding gay rights. I am happy to inform congregants here that our lay leadership and I are working together to devise the best ways to involve everyone in the process of educating and consensus-building as we adapt the new realities to our own situation. It’s really an exciting opportunity to help define who we are and how we wish to be perceived by the world. The ritual committee will play a central role in this process, which will include a discussion of these rulings during February’s Synaplex Shabbat.

2006 - The Jewish Year in Review

At services last Shabbat we looked over some of the key events of 2006 and picked our top five. Which would be your #1?

(sources include JTA and the Forward)

- Although Jews comprise only about 0.2% of the human race, Jewish influence on the world has been far greater than the numbers would indicate. Is this a good thing?

- Ariel Sharon suffers a massive stroke that leaves him in a coma.

- disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleads guilty to three felony counts of mail fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy,

- Hamas wins a resounding victory in Palestinian Authority parliamentary elections

- Betty Friedan, whose book The Feminine Mystique launched the feminist revolution in the United States, dies at age 85.

- At least 1200 people demonstrate to show their anger at the murder of 23-year-old French Jew Ilan Halimi, who was kidnapped by French and other Muslims and tortured to death.

- Ehud Olmert’s centrist Kadima Party wins Israeli elections, garnering 28 seats in the 17th Knesset. Center-right Likud, which dominated the 16th Knesset with 40 seats, falls to 11, and centre-left Labor wins 20.

- Israel’s population tops seven million

- Investment guru Warren Buffett invests in Israeli manufacturing firm Iscar, in what Israeli media hails as the “deal of the decade”

- Israel’s emergency services agency is formally admitted into the International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, ending 58 years of exclusion of Magen David Adom.

- Gunmen from Hamas and other terrorist groups attack a military post inside Israel, killing two soldiers and taking captive Corporal Gilad Shalit.

- Hezbollah guerrillas stage a cross-border raid into Israel, killing eight soldiers and kidnapping two, setting off a war that would last for 34 days.

- A Muslim gunman attacks the Seattle Jewish Federation, killing one woman and injuring five people.

- France marks the 100th anniversary of the rehabilitation of Captain Alfred Dreyfus in a ceremony led by President Jacques Chirac.

- The UN Security Council says it will sanction Iran if it does not suspend uranium enrichment by August 31.

- Reuters admits it altered a photograph of an Israeli air strike on Beirut, making the bombardment appear more intense.

- German Nobel Prize-winning author Gunther Grass admits he was a member of the Waffen SS during World War II.

- The UN Security Council approves a resolution calling for an Israeli-Hezbollah cease-fire. The resolution authorizes an increase in the UN peace-keeping force in Lebanon to 15,000 and calls on the force to assist the Lebanese army in keeping the South free of Hezbollah gunmen and preventing arms smuggling into Lebanon.

- Sixty-three per cent of Israelis want Ehud Olmert to resign because of his handling of Israel’s war with Hezbollah, according to a Yediot Achronot poll.

- Stamford hosts 2006 Maccabi games

- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he is “reconsidering” his plan for more unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank in the aftermath of the Lebanon war.

- Joe Lieberman wins another senate term running as an independent.

- US elections see a record number of Jewish candidates elected to serve in the United States Congress: 13 in the Senate and 30 in the House of Representatives.