January 5, 2007–
Tevet 16, 5767
Send your friends and relatives the gift of Jewish awareness -- a
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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)
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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." He had a basic fairness, a big heart and a fatherly sense of humor. And among |
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
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
“WE MUST recognize the fact that the Arabs of
- Teddy Kollek, z’l, former mayor
of
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. 6th
and 7th graders in the main sanctuary)
Our Torah Reading
for Shabbat Morning
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
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)
This
Shabbat I’ll be at Temple Emanu-El in
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)
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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?
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Ariel Sharon suffers a massive stroke that leaves him in a coma.
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disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleads guilty to three felony
counts of mail fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy,
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Hamas wins a resounding victory in Palestinian Authority
parliamentary elections
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Betty Friedan, whose book The Feminine Mystique launched the
feminist revolution in the
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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.
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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.
-
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Investment guru Warren Buffett invests in Israeli manufacturing
firm Iscar, in what Israeli media hails as the “deal of the decade”
-
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Gunmen from Hamas and other terrorist groups attack a military post
inside
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Hezbollah guerrillas stage a cross-border raid into
-
A Muslim gunman attacks the Seattle Jewish Federation, killing one
woman and injuring five people.
-
-
The UN Security Council says it will sanction
-
Reuters admits it altered a photograph of an Israeli air strike on
-
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
-
Sixty-three per cent of Israelis want Ehud Olmert to resign because
of his handling of
-
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he is “reconsidering”
his plan for more unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank in the aftermath of
the
-
Joe Lieberman wins another senate term running as an independent.
-
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The growing Iranian nuclear threat and “holocaust
denial” conference
-
New survey bumps estimate of American Jewish population up from 5.2
million to 6.4.
-
Conservative movement Law Committee approves option allowing for
commitment ceremonies and gay ordination.
-
Survey of Boston Jewry indicates a rise in population and that 60%
of children of Dual faith households are being brought up as jews, with only 8%
being brought up in the other religion.
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Phenomenal success of reggae rapper Matisyahu – the number 2
reggae album of 2006.
-
-
Worldwide acclaim for movie “Borat” and Sacha Baron
Cohen.
-
Jimmy Carter’s new book, “
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Arnold Eisen chosen next JTS Chancellor
-
Ruth Messenger leads Jewish response to
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Scarlett Johanssen: Says the Forward, “Scarlett Johansson
seems to have cured filmmaker Woody Allen of his shiksa fetish… Queen Esther and Bess Myerson, move over; a
new Jewish beauty has conquered the world.”
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Jon Stewart’s Daily Show called by NBC’s Brian Williams
“a freestanding branch of government.”
-
Elie Wiesel’s 1958 classic “Night” reissued, and
chosen by Oprah Winfrey as a book club selection, (thus redeeming her from a
scandal involving her previous selection)
days after one of her book club selections was unmasked as a fraud. “Night” immediately hits the
best seller list and is found on syllabi from middle school tp post-graduate.
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Shawn Green traded to the mets. “The messiah has
arrived,” read a fan's hand-made sign at Green's Shea Stadium debut.
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“Reboot,” “Nextbook,” “Heeb,”
“Bar Mitzvah Disco,” “Jewtopia: the Book” and other
cutting edge, hipster books and websites aimed at reaching the next generation
-
Mel Gibson, pulled over on the
The Synaplex
Spirit is spreading. See the recent
Jewish Ledger article below and note that our neighbors in
“Now playing at seven
CT Jewish Ledger
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It is 9 a.m.
on a Saturday morning in late October and the doors to
Some are off on a Body-Mind-Spirit Bike Ride ….others are there for the
class in Kabbalistic Yoga…still others are there for the study session
with the shul’s spiritual leader,
At 10 a.m. worshippers have a choice to make: will they attend the traditional
service, the meditative service, the teen service or the Family Learner’s
service?
For those who want to make a day of it, the afternoon is filled with activities
like Israeli dancing, a family scavenger hunt, all sorts of workshops,
Storahtelling, and something called “Pet Palooza.”
Just another typical Shabbat at
And that means something for everyone.
One size does not fit all
Now in its
fourth year, the Synaplex initiative was created and launched by STAR
(Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal), a Minneapolis-based organization
dedicated to revitalizing synagogues. Focusing on Shabbat n which STAR’s
executive director Rabbi Hayim Herring refers to as “Jewish prime time”
n the Synaplex vision is not to come up with strategies to increase attendance
at prayer services, but rather to make Shabbat more meaningful by offering an
array of concurrent activities one Shabbat a month.
“One size doesn’t fit all in American Jewry today,” says Rabbi
James Prosnit of Congregation B’nai Israel in Bridgeport, whose Reform
congregation was one of the original 17 synagogues in the Synaplex pilot
program.
“You enrich your congregation life by having different types of learning
experiences on the Sabbath. For instance, on some Shabbat mornings we would
have our regular minyan service, a healing service, a nature walk, a tot
Shabbat… Our goal was to try to involve more people in more things by
having different entry points for various groups within the congregation.”
To understand Synaplex think Cineplex, says Rabbi Fred Greene, who was
responsible for the B’nai
“Just like Cineplex theaters has many smaller theaters instead of one big
screen theater, the Synaplex model says that having 400 people for one event
isn’t always the best thing, because it may be a one shot deal. Instead,
it advocates multiple entry points n smaller, more intimate, more focused, more
meaningful opportunities for people to connect.”
According to Greene, Synaplex not only provides participating synagogues with
an idea, but it also supplies the support services needed to implement it.
“There are lots of congregations that have wonderful programs, but they
don’t always seek out or respond to congregants needs,” says
Greene, who left B’nai
“Synaplex gives synagogue leaders, both lay and clergy, the tools to
plan, prepare, market and assess programs that provide various gateways for
people.”
It is that kind of direction that Beth Hillel Synagogue in
“Instead of doing programs that have no relationship to one another or
anything else, this will help give us a way to tie our Shabbat programs
together,” says Rona Gollob of Simsbury, a vice president at the
Conservative congregation, which will host its first Synaplex Shabbat this
weekend, highlighted by guest Cantor Aryeh Rothschild.
Reaching inward
Interestingly, increasing membership numbers and/or boosting turnout at
synagogue is not the overall goal of Synaplex n although an evaluation by STAR
of the program at its 17 pilot congregations does indicate at least modest
success in those areas.
Strengthening Jewish identity, creating a sense of Jewish community, helping
individuals and families on their Jewish journey…that’s what
it’s all about, say those in charge of Synaplex programs at its more than
100 participating synagogues.
“The goal of
Likewise, Prosnit sees Synaplex as more inwardly focused.
“Over the years our congregation has had a small increase each year, so
I’m not sure that our Synaplex affiliation affected new members coming to
us. I do think it helped us make our current membership more aware of some of
the special Sabbath programs that take place here.”
And that is Gollob’s goal, as well.
“At least this first year, we are more concerned with in-reach than
outreach. We want to get our own members more involved,” she says.
Lessons learned
At Beth El
“(Synaplex) has really become a part of the shul,” says ritual
director Howard Sowalsky, who has directed the program since its inception
almost four years ago.
“Our congregants now look for what else they can experience on Shabbat
besides services.”
In addition, notes Sowalsky, “Synaplex has affected the way we approach
many systems here at Beth El.” Including, he says, “larger
projects, like working with the Board.”
Greene also identifies the development of lay leaders and volunteers as a
byproduct of the Synaplex initiative.
“The whole idea of Synaplex is having multiple entry
points…understanding that suit congregants different needs. That means
that we need to be more responsible. We need to find the right people to do the
right task. Not everybody is able to chair a committee, but everybody has a
gift to give. Synaplex is about synagogue transformation: helping synagogue
leaders to engage more people more often on more Shabbat. It’s a good way
to engage volunteers in a meaningful way. So, all in all, holistically,
it’s a great program.”
In addition to those noted above, other
Our 5th
Grade’s Winter Mitzvah Project:
A Time to
Plant
During last summer’s war between
Micha Danieli is the
In the recent past, Micha was involved with Keren Hayesod a
fundraising organization that primarily helps
Micha Danieli received his BA in Economics and MA in Development of
Country Economy from
(see more
in announcements below)
From the USCJ
Tzedek Hekhsher
The United Synagogue and the Rabbinical Assembly are considering the
possibility of establishing the tzedek hehksher, which would certify kosher
products as being consistent with Jewish social values. We are beginning by
looking at the conditions for workers at meat-packing plants. To read a press
release, click here; for
an in-depth report, click here.
Halakhic Status of Gay Men and Lesbians
The USCJ background materials re. December 6 decisions of the Committee
on Jewish Law and Standards. For more information, including links to the
teshuvot and to a video of panels we held before the vote.
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 Mitzvah Project – Dog-related Items LINDY FRUITHANDLER WILL BECOME BAT
MITZVAH ON MARCH 17. PLEASE READ
THIS NOTE FROM HER REGARDING HER MITZVAH PROJECT:
For my mitzvah project I am helping Adopt-A-Dog, a volunteer organization in Greenwich, CT, which helps find good, safe homes for homeless animals. They have found homes for many Katrina dogs that lost their families in the hurricane. To help them, I am donating money I have raised, and collecting dog-related items such as toys, collars, bones, and leashes; and cat-related items such as toys, collars, and catnip. Any crates that your dog or cat no longer use would be greatly appreciated by Adopt-A-Dog You do not have to be dog or cat owner to help - Adopt-A-Dog also needs new or used blankets, pillows, soft table cloths, and really anything else that the animals can sleep on. I can collect some of these items myself, but I need your help to collect enough needed items to make a big difference.
I will have a collection box
out in the
You can also help Adopt-A-Dog by saving "Weight Circles" from Purina Brand Dog Food. Adopt-A-Dog receives 8 cents for every pound of weight circles sent in to Purina. Adopt-A-Dog buys 1,000 pounds of dog food every month! Each label that you clip and donate from a 20 lb. bag gives them $1.60 towards their food bill. A 50 lb. bag label means $4.00 in meals for their pooches. Trust me, it adds up! Please clip the labels off the side of each bag you buy and place them in the envelope attached to the collection box.
On behalf of all the homeless dogs and cats at Adopt-A-Dog, thanks so much for your help!
Lindy Fruithandler
322-4712
To check out Adopt-A-Dog for yourself, please visit their website at www.adoptadog.org.
MITZVAH PROJECT FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN DRIVE We have an opportunity for you. An elderly member needs assistance getting around to places. She is looking for someone who is able to drive her for food shopping, doctor’s appointments, etc. If interested, please contact Mindy in the office at 322-6901, ext. 301 or office@tbe.org. Cheryl WolffCo-chair Beth El Cares TBE Congregant Forging New Responses to Autism TBE congregant
Steven Freedman is inaugurating a new venture that might be of help to families
here. See below:
13 YEAR OLD BOY
FINALLY FIGHTS BACK AGAINST AUTISM
Join our teleseminar - “Autism: Breakthrough Approach,
Radical Results”
on Tuesday Jan. 9th, 8:00PM EST, sponsored by the Sensory Training Institute in
Darien, treating ADHD, Autism, and other sensory-based issues with a unique and
effective Sensory Learning Program.
Register at: www.thesmartmachine.com/ or 888-595-6382 (24 hr). There are only a
handful of spaces available at this point – register NOW and save your
space!
Please let me tell you what happened, and WHY you or someone you know should be
a part of this:
This 13 year old boy’s Mom has called me up almost every day with a brand
new behavior change after 3 weeks of our BREAKTHROUGH approach to Sensory
Integration, with ADHD, Aspergers Syndrome, and Autism being three of the
primary issues we can make a difference with – first it was:
Adding new words to his vocabulary
Dressing himself in the morning
Playing together with siblings
Sitting calmly with the family for dinner
Being much more relaxed at school and at home
Recently he’s been going to the kitchen, and PREPARING HIS OWN BREAKFAST!
These are all things that Mom NEVER DREAMED was possible. So many things have
VASTLY improved their family life, there’s just too much to list here.
So I said to Mom we must set up a teleconference to share some of these amazing
breakthroughs with other parents of children with autism, and let them know
these Behavior Breakthroughs are not only possible, they are REAL, and they are
happening here at The Sensory Training Institute in Darien with the only Breakthrough
Approach to pure Sensory-based learning in this area.
JOIN THE CONFERENCE CALL on Tuesday Jan. 9th, 8:00PM EST. Sponsored by the
Sensory Training Institute. Register at: www.thesmartmachine.com/autism or
888-595-6382 (24 hr).
If someone else you know and love suffers from Autism, FORWARD THIS EMAIL! You
may help improve the lives of them and their family – forward this
message, it may be the greatest gift you could give them.
Thanks for taking a moment to read this, and sharing it with someone you love.
Steven Freedman
Director, Sensory Training Institute
203-656-3636
steven@thesmartmachine.com
Register at: www.thesmartmachine.com
or 888-595-6382
THANKS TO ALL WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR OUT 2006 CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER AT ST. LUKE ’S AND PACIFIC HOUSE
To see all the
signatories, including myself, go to
http://www.africaaction.org/campaign_new/docs/2006DarfurFINAL12.13.pdf
December 14, 2006
RELIGIOUS LEADER LETTER ON THE
Dear Mr. Natsios,
CC: President George Bush
We, the undersigned religious leaders, are calling for a
comprehensive diplomatic offensive on Darfur from the
Although the African Union (AU) mandate has been extended beyond
September 30th, the AU mission lacks the capacity to provide protection for
civilians in
In order for the people of Darfur to receive protection, the
consider taking the following steps to break the deadlock on
• The
• The
U.S should push for new sanctions against senior Sudanese government officials
responsible for the continuing violence in
• The
• The
U.S. should encourage other countries to enact comprehensive bilateral
sanctions against Sudan, as the U.S. has had in place since 1997, precluding
investment in Sudan’s growing industry and other such economic relations.
Such sanctions would
register international outrage at the ongoing crisis in Darfur, for which the
• The
The actions of this administration will determine the fate of the
people of
faith who are deeply concerned about the violence in
Sincerely,
Gilad Shalit, abducted from southern
Israel into Gaza on June 25, 2006
Ehud Goldwasser, abducted from Northern Israel, July 12, 2006
Eldad Regev,abducted from Northern Israel, July 12, 2006
Guy Hever, disappeared from his army base, August 17, 1997
Ron Arad, shot down over Lebanon,October 16, 1986
Zachary Baumel, missing-in-action since June 11,1982
Zvi Feldman, missing-in-action since June 11, 1982
Yehuda Katz, missing-in-action since June 11, 1982
Please do your part to bring Gilad Shalit,
Ehud "Udi" Goldwassser and
Eldad Regev home to their families without delay.
Freethesoldiers.org represents a broad base of national Jewish organizations
and community leaders that share a common urgency to advocate on behalf of
these soldiers and their families, as well as Israel's other missing soldiers,
Zachary Baumel, Tzvi Feldman, Yehudah Katz, Ron Arad and Guy Hever. Learn
More
You can make a difference: Join one
million people worldwide by signing the petition,
keep them close to your heart by
wearing the dog tags.
http://www.freethesoldiers.org/
Job Bank: The Highest Level of Tzedakkah
I received this notice of an available position from
Rev. Dick Schuster at Lifeworks….
Date: January 3, 2007
To: Interested
Persons
Re: St.
Luke’s LifeWorks - Position Available
The following position is
available for application:
CHIEF
FINANCIAL OFFICER FINANCIAL
SERVICES FULL-TIME
Responsibilities: Responsible
for accounting and financial operations of the agency. Interface with financial
institutions, government agencies, boards of directors, major funders,
management, and staff. Supervise Accounting Manager and Senior Accountant. Manage audit requirements including
payroll, cash receipts, disbursements, accounts payable and accounts
receivable. Provide accurate
financial reports as needed by internal and external customers, including
SLLW’s Board of Directors, government funders, lending institutions, and
major funders. Manage cash flow, negotiate loan conditions, and handle
government grant payments. Lead
annual budgeting process that results in a balanced operating and capital
budget. Responsible for oversight
of grant management function.
Supervise staff in the preparation for all required audits. Develop a service entity to provide
capable financial services for other non-profit agencies. Make presentations and perform financial
analysis as required for Executive Director, , Executive Committee, and the Board of
Directors.
Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in finance,
accounting, or a related field required. CPA or master's degree in related
field or equivalent professional certification desirable. Previous experience supervising the
accounting function in a not-for-profit agency (5+ years). Management Information Systems (MIS)
experience preferred. Computer
proficiency required, especially with spreadsheets.
All candidates
interested in this position should submit a resume along with a cover letter
with salary requirements to: Louise Varricchio ,
Director of Human Resources, St. Luke’s LifeWorks/Bread & Roses, 141 Franklin
Street, Stamford, CT 06901 or you can e-mail your resume to: lvarricchio@stlukeslifeworks.org
or fax 203-363-5927.
Do We Have a Right to Privacy?
Here
is a Jewish view on the right to privacy.
With every cell phone now potentially a camera, with webcams in many
bedrooms and millions of videos on YouTube, and with “private”
e-mails routinely given mass distribution, this has become one of the most
pressing issues of our generation. Throw
in the key privacy provisions of landmark rulings like Roe V. Wade and this
issue gains even more significance.
Rabbi
David Golinkin is one of the foremost halakhic authorities in he Conservative
movement. Here’s his recent
responsum on that question:
Responsa in a Moment
Volume 1, Number 4
December 2006
A Responsum Regarding the Right to Privacy (1)
by Rabbi David Golinkin
Hoshen Mishpat 154: 3, 7
Question: It is common practice
today for one company to sell the vital statistics of its clients to another
company. It is also accepted that organizations - including rabbinic and
philanthropic organizations - sell or give their email and mailing address
lists to other organizations. Computer software known as “spyware”
frequently enters home and business computers and collects personal information
about users without their informed consent. This information is then used for
future advertising and marketing purposes. Finally, Caller ID allows a company
receiving a call to see the caller's phone number on a screen. As a result,
companies which receive orders via 800 numbers then sell the customer's phone
and credit card numbers to other companies. What is the halakhic attitude
towards these practices?
Responsum: At first glance, these
questions seem trivial. What does it matter if someone distributes my vital
statistics and as a result I receive junk mail and junk phone calls? Who does
it harm? But on second thought, these practices symbolize a much more serious
phenomenon - the inability of modern man to maintain privacy and
confidentiality. We live in an age of lack of privacy. There are many
newspapers and "entertainment" programs devoted entirely to gossip
and slander. Photographers and cameramen invade funerals and photograph the
anguished cries of bereaved families. Our vital statistics and medical records
are recorded on computers which can be invaded without too much effort. Through
the Internet, one can break into the private computers of millions of
individuals and companies.
Finally, eleven years ago we witnessed what was probably the
greatest show trial in the history of mankind. A poll taken in February 1995
showed that 82% of the population of the
Therefore, there is no doubt that the halakhah forbids
disclosure of vital statistics or confidential information about anyone without
the express permission of the person in question. This conclusion is based on
four prohibitions leading from the more general to the specific case under
discussion.
I) Visual Privacy: Hezek R’iyah
First of all, the Torah itself clearly shows great respect for visual
privacy. In Genesis 3:7, we are told that Adam and Eve "perceived that
they were naked and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves
loincloths". Later on, in Genesis 9:20-27, we read the story of Noah who
got drunk in his tent. Ham, father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and
told his brothers Shem and Yefet who took a cloth and walked backwards,
covering Noah's nakedness without looking. When Noah woke up, he cursed
In the Mishnah, this right to visual privacy gave birth to
the concept of "hezek r'iyah" or damage caused by looking. The
Mishnah in Bava Batra 3:7 states: "In a common courtyard, a
person should not open a door opposite a door and a window opposite a
window". The Talmud (Bava Batra 60a) learns this principal from
Balaam. It says in Numbers 24:2,5 that Balaam saw
II) Privacy from Intruders
A second type of privacy protected by Jewish law and lore is the
privacy of one's domicile from unwanted or unannounced intruders. This
attitude is expressed in three aggadic or non-legal statements. The first two
state that one should not enter a house, even one's own, without warning.
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (second century c.e.) states in Leviticus Rabbah
(21:8, ed. Margaliot, pp. 486-487) that "God hates four things which I
also dislike...and a person who enters his own home suddenly and - there is no
need to add - his neighbor's house." This idea is echoed by Rav, after
which the midrash relates that Rabbi Yohanan used to clear his throat
before entering Rabbi Hanina's house in order to make sure that he wasn't
invading anyone's privacy.
We learn in Pesahim 112a that "Rabbi Akiva commanded
his son Yehoshua seven things: my son...do not enter your house suddenly, how
much the moreso your friend's house".
The third source goes one step further. Midrash Lekah Tov
(to Leviticus 1:1, p. 3) states that one may not enter his friend's house
without permission and it learns this principle from God Himself! In
Exodus 40:35 we are told that Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting,
whereas Leviticus 1:1 implies that God spoke to Moses in the Tent. "From
this we learn that a person should not enter his friend's house unless his
friend [i.e. God!] says 'enter'."
Furthermore, protection from intruders also found legal
expression. In Deuteronomy 24:10-11, the Torah forbids a creditor from entering
the house of a debtor in order to take a pledge:
When you make a loan of any sort to your fellow, you must not
enter his house to seize his pledge. You must remain outside, while the man to
whom you made the loan brings the pledge out to you.
The rabbis added that even an officer of the court may not enter
the debtor's house in order to take a pledge (Sifrei Devarim, par. 276,
ed. Finkelstein, p. 295; Tosefta Bava Metzia 10:8, ed. Lieberman, pp.
118-119; Bava Metzia 113a-b) and this was codified by Maimonides (Hilkhot Malveh V’loveh
2:2) and the Shulhan Arukh (Hoshen Mishpat 97:6). Thus, even a
person with a very good reason, may not invade another person's territorial
privacy.
III) Protecting the Mail: The Herem of Rabbeinu Gershom
A third type of privacy protected by Jewish law is the privacy of
one's mail as defended by the herem (ban) of Rabbeinu Gershom
Me’or Hagolah (
IV) Confidentiality
Finally, in addition to all of the above laws and legends which
are intended to protect a person's privacy, there are sources which
prohibit the disclosure of secrets or confidential information or
require the permission of the person in question before that information may be
revealed. Proverbs 11:13 says that "A base fellow gives away secrets, but
a trustworthy soul keeps a confidence". The Mishnah (Sanhedrin
3:7) uses this verse, as well as Leviticus 19:16, to teach that judges are not
permitted to reveal their deliberations after a verdict is reached and this
ruling was codified by the Rif (Sanhedrin, ed. Vilna, fol. 9a) and by Maimonides
(Sanhedrin 22:7).
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 31a) adds a story about a student who
revealed a secret from the House of Study twenty-two years after the fact. It
is not clear what kind of secret is intended; Rashi (ad. loc.) says that
it was some bit of slander or gossip. In any case, Rav Ami threw him out of the
House of Study, saying: "This is a revealer of secrets!" This source
was followed by Rabbi Eliyahu ben Hayyim of Constantinople (1530-1610). He
ruled in his responsa (Ra’anah, No. 111) that if one of the
communal leaders revealed the secret deliberations of the City Council, he is
disqualified from serving on the Council.
The last source we shall quote has the most direct bearing on our
case. We read in the Talmud (Yoma 4b):
How do we know that when a person tells something to his friend,
the latter may not repeat it until the person says to him "go and
say"? As it is written (Leviticus 1:1): "And God spoke to [Moses] from the
Tent of Meeting to say…” (6)
This source was codified by Rabbi Moses of Coucy (France, ca.
1236, Semag, Negative Commandments, No. 9) and by Rabbi Abraham Gumbiner
(Poland, 1637-1683, Magen Avraham to Orah Hayyim 156, middle of
subparagraph 2). It means that one may not reveal a confidence without the
express permission of the confider. Thus, it is clear that Jewish law and
tradition prohibit a business from revealing its clients' particulars to other
companies without the express permission of the person in question, both
because of its general approach to privacy and because of the specific
prohibition against disclosing secrets.
There is no question that it will be difficult to change society's
attitude towards privacy and confidentiality. But through our opposition to the
so-called trivial practices described in the question, we can begin to arouse
public consciousness to the problem and to slowly restore to each individual
the privacy and the confidentiality which they deserve according to Jewish
tradition.
David Golinkin
8 Tevet 5767
Notes
1. This responsum began as part of a lengthy paper entitled
"A Halakhic Approach to the Information Superhighway" which was
delivered at the Whizin International Symposium on Technology and Ethics held
at the
2. Newsweek, February 13, 1995, p. 17.
3. On the takkanot attributed to Rabbeinu Gershom, see
Louis Finkelstein, Jewish Self-Government in the Middle Ages, New York,
1924 (and reprints), pp. 111-138; Entziklopedia Talmudit, Vol. 17, cols.
378-454; and Israel Schepansky, Hatakkanot B’yisrael, Vol. 4,
Jerusalem, 1993, pp. 78-128.
4. For the many versions of this takkanah, see Finkelstein,
pp. 31, 178, 189, 195, 211; Entziklopedia Talmudit, cols. 452-454; and
Schepansky, pp. 95-96.
5. It should be noted that the number twenty-two is a round number
in rabbinic literature. Yeruham Fishel Ber, Divrey Meshulam, Frankfurt
am Main, 1926, pp. 45-48 cites sixteen examples of this phenomenon and many
others can be added.
6. Rashi ad. loc. says that "leimor" ("to
say") is being understood as
"lo emor" ("do not say"), while the Meiri ad.
loc. explains that the redundant "leimor" teaches us that
God spoke to Moses in order that he should tell others.
Bibliography
Rabbi Alfred Cohen, Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society,
1 (Spring 1981), pp. 53-102
Entziklopedia Talmudit, Vol. 8,
cols. 659-702, s.v. Hezek R’iyah
Rabbi David Golinkin, Insight Israel: The View from Schechter,
Second Series,
Rabbi Norman Lamm, Judaism 16/3 (Summer 1967), pp. 301-312
Rabbi Nahum Rakover, Hahaganah al Tzina't Haperat (Privacy),
Rabbi Elie Spitz, Jewish and American Law on the Cutting Edge
of Privacy: Computers in the Business Sector, University Papers, Vol. VI,
No. 1, University of Judaism, October 1986, 16 pp.
Some Great
Sites to Explore…
A new site just launched by the
http://headcoverings-by-devorah.com/HebglossA.html#Top
A nice, concise online Hebrew glossary,
giving translations and deep explanations for hundreds of words and phrases
– all in English transliteration.
Example:
|
Rosh Chodesh |
Head of the Month; New Moon |
First day of the Jewish month,
celebrated as a minor holy day; it is observed for one day (if the preceding
month had 29 days) or two days (if the preceding month had 30 days). it is
celebrated by reciting a short form of the Hallel psalms, reading from the
Torah with four persons given aliyot, and adding a musaf prayer. The day is
also of special significance for women, especially in the modern period,
because of the relationship between the menstrual cycle and the lunar
calendar. See further: Rosh Chodesh
Index |
BTW, go to the homepage, http://headcoverings-by-devorah.com/
to find an entire transliterated Torah, Hebrew Bible Names, an encyclopedia of
blessings and prayers, all 613 mitzvot, annotated, and, oh yes, some head
coverings by Devorah.
See the article below to begin to understand the fascinating story of |
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By The Associated
Press |
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As a young woman in |
Let’s
begin with GOOD NEWS from
and other sources
FROM Beliefnet:
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Discussion: Can
You Be Both Jewish and Atheist? |
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FROM Israel21c:
Israeli startup enables computers to
'understand' human language
Most people have gotten comfortable with the idea of chatting on their computer
- but the day may not be far away when we'll be able to chat with our computer.
A new application created by Jerusalem-based start-up Linguistic Agents will
allow computers to accurately decode human language - a development which is
bound to revolutionize the world of computers. Currently, we change the way we
communicate in order to get our computers to understand us. Linguistic Agents'
new technology will change all that, says the company's COO Simcha Margaliot.
"The same way you talk with friends, you'll talk to your computer."
More...
Culture
| American business students sample
Israeli-style innovation
A group of 30 business students from the Unversity of California at Berkeley
spent an eye-opening winter break visiting some of the most innovative and
entrepreneurial aspects of Israel's business culture. The brainchild of student
Danel Mayer, the tour succeeded in providing background and understanding for
the future business leaders about the possibilities of collaborating with
Israeli companies and entrepreneurs. More...
Health
| Israeli medical diagnostics 'moo-ves' to the
farm
Israeli start-up Veterix has developed an innovative new electronic capsule
that sits in the stomach of a cow, sheep, or goat, and sends out real-time
information on the health of the herd to the farmer via email or cellphone. The
e-capsule, which also sends out alerts if animals are distressed, sick, injured
or lost, is now being tested on a herd of cows in Israel. The company believes
that the device will lead to better and healthier meat and milk supplies. More...
Culture
| Israeli film 'Sweet Mud' to compete at
Sundance Festival
After being rejected from film school, Dror Shaul has worked his way up through
the Israeli film industry the hard way - from his first job as a driver to
today's position as one of the country's top filmmakers. Now, the acclaimed
director's new movie, Sweet Mud, a powerful coming-of-age drama about a
12-year-old boy growing up on a kibbutz with his psychologically unstable
mother, is making international waves - it's competing at the prestigious
Sundance Film Festival in late January, and this week is being considered for
an Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film. More...
Technology
| Forget the tall tales - Israeli lie detector
keeps Skype users honest
The 130-150 million Skype users worldwide have a new reason to be satisfied
customers - an Israeli-developed free lie-detector that can be added on to the
Internet phone service which will enable callers to tell if the person on the
other end of the line is being truthful. The KishKish lie detector is based on
voice stress analysis (VSA), a technique used for many years in law detection,
but for the first time being made available to the general population. More...
Rwanda to pattern youth village on Israeli
Ethiopian model
Global
Democracy | Absenteeism is catchy, finds Israeli study
Profiles
| Israel's Mor Meluka rides a wave of surfing
success
FROM CLAL’s website - www.clal.org
“Jewish
Voices, Jewish Values”
“…What makes a Jewish community truly alive? Perhaps the most
important answer is: significant conversations among Jews…I am proposing
that the
“Saying
Yes to Mess”
“…Stop feeling bad… ‘order can be profane and
life-diminishing,’ he [Irwin Kula] said the other day. ‘It’s
a flippant remark, but if you’ve never had a messy kitchen, you’ve
probably never had a home-cooked meal. Real life is very messy, but we need to
have models about how that messiness works.’ His favorite example? His
15-year-old daughter Talia’s bedroom, a picture of utter disorder —
and individuality… ‘The room was an invitation…to search for
a deeper meaning under the
scurf….’” By Penelope Green (from the New York Times)
Gay Rights
Dialectic
“…The Conservative movement's decision to both prohibit and
legitimize full inclusion of homosexuals has something important to teach
Americans…rather than either side needing to win, there is a lesson to be
learned in the spiritual insight that there is partial truth in contradictory
opinions. Keeping polarized opinions in a conversation is precisely the way to
discover more inclusive truths that create new possibilities and
opportunities….” By Irwin Kula (from the
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
The Iraq Study Group:
Implications for Israel
Iran's Secret Plan for Mayhem - Eli Lake
Iran is supporting both Sunni and Shiite terrorists in the Iraqi civil war,
according to secret Iranian documents captured by Americans in
While the Iranian plans do not extend to cooperation with
Baathist groups fighting the government in Baghdad, the news that Iran's Quds
Force would be in contact, and clandestinely cooperating, with Sunni Jihadists
who attacked the Golden Mosque in Samarra (one of the holiest shrines in
Shiism) on February 22 could shake the alliance Iraq's ruling Shiites have
forged with Tehran. Many
Fears of a
Gaza-Based Reporter - Nidal
al-Mughrabi
When
Inter-Palestinian
Fighting in Gaza Kills Five -
Avi Issacharoff
Five Palestinians, including four Fatah members and a woman bystander, were
killed Wednesday in
See also Fatah Suffers
Losses in Clashes with Hamas - Ali Waked
On Wednesday, ten Palestinians were kidnapped by both Hamas and Fatah.
Palestinian sources reported that senior Fatah military leader Hassan al-Qasas
narrowly escaped an assassination attempt after gunmen fired an RPG towards him
on Wednesday. Ahmad Sarur, a resident of Beit Lahiya, said, "Everywhere
you go there are masked Hamas fighters."
Also Wednesday, a Hamas member who serves as Interior Minister
Sayeed Siyam's bodyguard was wounded after a bomb he was working on apparently
detonated prematurely in
See also Gunmen
Target Hamas Officials in West Bank
Assailants targeted three senior Hamas officials in the
PA
Warns Americans and Europeans to Leave Gaza
The Palestinian security establishment has advised American and European
citizens to leave
Palestinian
Rocket Attacks Continue -
Shmulik Hadad
Palestinians in
Global
Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of
America's
Many Failed Attempts at Mideast Peace - Michael Oren
American attempts at Arab-Israeli peacemaking began in 1947, when Harry S
Truman supported the UN plan to partition Palestine into separate Arab and
Jewish states. But the Palestinian Arabs rejected that compromise, and Arab
armies tried to destroy the Jewish nation.
Nearly six decades of American mediation have registered only one
lasting success: the 1979 treaty between
Iran
Has Some Radical Plans for the New Year - Joel C. Rosenberg
The Islamic messiah known as the "Twelfth Imam" or the
"Mahdi" may come to earth in 2007 and could be revealed as early as
this spring. The official Iranian government news website IRIB says the world
is now in its "last days." It claims that the Mahdi will first appear
in
An Iranian television series called "The World Towards
Illumination" has been running since last November to help answer
questions about the end of the world as we know it. The program also says that Jesus
is coming back to earth soon as a Shiite Muslim leader to serve as a deputy to
the Mahdi to destroy the infidels. Bottom line: The leaders of
Al-Qaeda
TV, Based in Syria, Carried by Egyptian Satellite - Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Nick Grace
Al-Qaeda and its allies now have their own 24-hour television station. Based at
a secret studio in
Why Are Arabs
Upset by Saddam's Execution? -
Efraim Karsh (New Republic)
- While Saddam Hussein's execution was
greeted with delight by many of his victims - Iranians, Kuwaitis, and
Iraqi Shia - it also generated widespread criticism among many Arabs and
Muslims. This evokes one of the more confounding paradoxes relating to Saddam
- the wide discrepancy between his actual track record and the adulation
in which he was held by non-Iraqi Arabs.
- Saddam transformed Iraq into the most
repressive police state in the world, where a joke or a reported thought
could cost a person his life, where tens of thousands of civilians were
brutally murdered by their government, and where millions starved while
their unelected ruler spent incredible sums of money on monuments and
palaces for himself.
- Saddam embroiled his country in a
string of catastrophic foreign adventures that claimed more than one
million lives and wrought untold physical and economic wreckage. Upon his
ascendance in 1979,
- Why has such an abysmal record been
widely applauded by Arabs and Muslims?
- It is the
The writer is head of the Mediterranean
Studies Program at King's
Former PA
Minister to Al-Qaeda: "We Hate the Americans More than You" - Yaakov Lappin (Ynet News)
Fatah leader and former PA minister Abu Ali Shahin, responding to
a statement by al-Qaeda's deputy leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, criticizing
Palestinian Fatah leaders for contacts with the U.S., addressed al-Qaeda on PA
TV on Jan. 1, saying:
"Do to Bush whatever you want, and we wish you success....We
are fighting the Americans and hate the Americans more than you!"
View video (Palestinian
Media Watch)
Jewish
Members Assume Key Committee Positions in New Congress - Hilary Leila Krieger (Jerusalem Post)
In the new 110th Congress, Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) will become
chairman of the House International Relations Committee and Gary Ackerman
(D-NY) is set to chair its Middle East subcommittee.
Nita Lowey (D-NY) should be chairing the House Appropriations
Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations.
In the Senate, Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will head the Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, while Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is
expected to take over the Foreign Affairs
Many Republican backers of
Arabs vs. Israel: A
View from Pakistan - Farrukh
Saleem (Jang Group-Pakistan)
Of the 330 million Muslims living under Arab rulers, a mere
486,530 live in a democracy.
The only "parliamentary democracy" in the region with
universal suffrage, multi-party, multi-candidate, competitive elections is
Knowledge makes
Israel now has six universities ranked as among the best on the
planet, while the 22-member Arab League does not have a single university in
the top 400.
In the Arab world, one in two women can neither read nor write.
Roughly 23% of Arab engineers and 50% of Arab doctors emigrate.
Smuggling
Tunnel between Gaza and Egypt Collapses (AP/International Herald Tribune)
A smuggling tunnel under the border between the
Israel says antitank missiles, tons of explosives, and thousands
of rifles have reached militants in
The
Palestinian Death Cult - David
Horowitz
There are more than a million Arabs living in
This death cult is the problem in the
It's
Not About Israel - David A.
Harris
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
have been among the most prominent of those viewing the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict as the root cause of many of the Middle East's problems. True, genuine
peace between
Even if
In reality, the destabilizing factors in the
ON SADDAM HUSSEIN:
Crime and
Punishment - Editorial
There will be few, beyond the Ba'athist terrorists in
King
Saddam Meets His End - Barry
Rubin
Saddam was really a king. His intention was to pass down power to his son, to
create a republican monarchy. This is what happened in
What is most important is how Saddam is interpreted. To many, the
great majority that accepts radical Arab nationalism and even lots of
Islamists, Saddam is basically a hero. He fought
See also Saddam
Hussein, 1937-2006: A Dictator's Arc of Power Ends in Utter Ignominy
- Joshua Partlow (Washington Post)
Better Off Dead - Yoel Marcus (Ha'aretz)
- It is hard to comprehend how the
execution of a cruel dictator, personally responsible for the murder of
more than one million Iraqis, Iranians, Kurds, and Shi'ites during his 24
years in power, came as such a shock to the high-minded souls of the
world, especially those in the EU who called the hanging of Saddam Hussein
a "barbaric act."
- A leader who doesn't blink an eyelid
at employing chemical warfare to murder thousands of Kurds and an equal
number of Shi'ites, and then buries dozens, if not hundreds, of them in
mass graves, who is capable of launching an eight-year war against Iran
that ends up killing a million people, is not an ordinary murderer.
- He is a war criminal who deserves to
be put to death.
- The common denominator between the
Nazi murderers and Saddam was an obsessive desire to wipe out the Jews.
Saddam was a megalomaniac who pledged to burn
- He began to build the first nuclear
reactor in the Arab world with the express purpose of putting an end to
- He encouraged and financed suicide
bombings and terror against
Eight Resolutions for the New Year – From Nigel
Savage of Hazon
(Nigel, a TBE Scholar in Residence, several years ago, continues to be one of the most innovative voices in the Jewish world)
Hazon’s mission is to create a healthier and more sustainable Jewish community, as a step towards creating a healthier and more sustainable world for all. We’re fresh from the food conference, and wanted to share with you some highlights from that as well as eight (one for each Hanukah candle) non-obvious things you can do this year to work towards this goal:
|
1. Get
on your bike. Sharon Lebewhol, daughter of the founder of the Over
110 people have already signed up for the Israel Ride. Experience For the Israel Ride information session closest to you, visit the Israel Ride web site: http://www.hazon.org/go.php?q=/rides/2007IL/informationSessions.html
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2. Build a relationship with the people who grow your food: talk to farmers at the farmers market, or the produce man at your grocery store; and if you can, join a CSA. If you live in one of the following cities, join Tuv Ha’Aretz this season: Berkeley, CA; Houston, TX; Atlanta, GA; Philadelphia, PA; New York City or Long Island, NY; West Orange, NJ; or Modi’in, Israel. If you live somewhere else, find a CSA near you through LocalHarvest.org.
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3. Get a group of friends together to learn about Jews, food and contemporary life. Our curriculum book will be available in the spring. If you’re interested in pre-purchasing a bulk order of 20 or more for a 25% discount, email Anna at anna@hazon.org. If
you're in
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4. Learn how to bake challah with friends or family. Find out if your parents or grandparents have a recipe, or look at Hazon's online resources. Our recipes of choice: Daniella Halstuch's Whole Flour Challah
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5. Engage tradition in a new way. On the first day of Chanukah, Dr. David Kraemer proposed that we follow Beit Shamai instead of Beit Hillel in the way that we light the menorah—in order to in fact follow the spirit of Beit Hillel’s position. Beit Hillel explains that we should light one more candle each day of Chanukah to symbolize our joy increasing. But—are we not thinking about ways to simplify our days, lessen our footprint, own less stuff, as a way to make our lives calmer, saner, more holy? Could we not symbolize this shift—from consumerism to simplicity—by decreasing the number of candles we light every night, and make the very real and radical statement of increasing our joy even as we decrease our stuff? You’ve got 11 months to think about this for next year…
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6. Stop talking about eco-kashrut. Just as Adam Warbach, Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger argued in as series of articles about the “Death of Environmentalism” in 2005, ‘environmental’ or ‘eco’ as a label does more harm than good by relegating the concerns of a movement to the fringe. Instead, integrate your ideals. Kosher literally means “fit”. What is fit for us to eat today is different than it was a thousand or two thousand years ago. Consider what it means to eat food that is “fit” – not only for us as Jews, but for the earth as well. This is one of the biggest discussions in the Jewish world right now: what should we eat, and on what basis do we make our decisions? Read more about our thoughts on this issue on JCarrot.org.
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7. Celebrate Shabbat with your food…the rest of the week. We often think of Shabbat as a day to eat celebratory meals, special food, and lots of it. But this celebration stands out less if, on the other six days of the week, we are also eating huge meals, lots of rich food, lots of wine, lots of desert. Consider that celebrating Shabbat might in fact mean cutting back during the rest of the week; that in restricting ourselves just a tiny bit, we actually enable ourselves to appreciate the bounty and wonderful joy of a festive Shabbat.
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8.
Support food justice work—here, in Join
the |
We invite you to join the discussion about Jews, Food & Contemporary Life on JCarrot.org.
With all best wishes for a happy, healthy & fulfilling new year,
Nigel
MYTH
#246 [update of #233]
"Israeli forces deliberately
targeted civilians during the war instigated by Hizballah."
FACT
Three weeks after the beginning of the war
initiated by Hizballah
on July 12, 2006, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report that charged Israel
with indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Lebanon”
(“Fatal Strikes: Israel's Indiscriminate Attacks Against Civilians in
Lebanon,” August 3, 2006). HRW did not claim that its representatives
were present when any of these alleged crimes occurred. Rather, the report
explained that its information was gleaned from interviewing
“eye-witnesses and survivors” of Israeli strikes who “told
HRW that neither Hizballah
fighters nor other legitimate military targets were in the area that the IDF
attacked.” To reinforce its interpretation, the report added that when
HRW investigators arrived at the various scenes, they did not see “any
signs of military activity in the area[s] attacked, such as trenches, destroyed
rocket launchers, other military equipment, or dead or wounded fighters.”
There was no dependable method by which HRW
could assess the veracity of what it was told by the “witnesses,”
many of whom were in areas where the population was sympathetic to, or
intimidated by Hizballah.
Indeed, there was no means by which it could be sure that they were not Hizballah
cadres, since members of the group do not ordinarily wear uniforms or display
identity badges.
As for the absence of physical signs of Hizballah’s
presence at bomb sites, the report seemed to assume that the group would have
left in place damaged weapons and fallen and injured comrades during the hours,
or more likely days, that passed before HRW's investigators arrived at each
site. For the especially grave accusation that civilian deaths were inflicted
“deliberately,” no evidence was offered. Civilians were injured and
killed during the war, but individuals claiming to be witnesses denied
Hezbollah had been in the area.
When challenged about the group’s
methods, HRW director Kenneth Roth said, essentially, trust me. Anyone watching
TV, however, saw the images of rockets being fired from civilian areas, and the
photos of weapons and armed men in what should have been peaceful
neighborhoods. Numerous witnesses also told reporters very different stories
than those reported by HRW, giving examples of weapons caches in mosques and
fighters using UN
troops as shields (Alan Dershowitz, "What Are They Watching?"
Two days after the release of their report
on Israel, and while being subjected to serious criticism for having double
standards, a relatively short statement (7 pages compared to 51 on Lebanon) was
released by HRW (“Israel/Lebanon: Hezbollah Must End Attacks on
Civilians,” August 5, 2006). Rockets had already been falling on Israel
for three weeks before Roth managed to call on Hizballah
to stop its attacks and declare that “Lobbing rockets blindly into
civilian areas is without doubt a war crime.” Even in this report
documenting strikes on Israeli hospitals, educational institutions, businesses
and civilian homes, HRW couldn’t resist reiterating its charges against
The decision by HRW to treat
Most remarkably, HRW did not take note of
the contrasting goals of the combatants. One of Hizballah’s
declared aims is to destroy
The spurious allegations made by HRW, as
well as similar ones published by Amnesty International, were further
undermined by a report
issued in November 2006 by the Intelligence and Terrorism Center at the Israeli
Center for Special Studies. This publication provides extensive documentation
and photographic evidence of “Hizballah’s
consistent pattern of intentionally placing its fighters and weapons among
civilians.” It also shows that Hizballah
was “well aware of the civilian casualties that would ensue” from
this activity.
This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths2/exclusives.html#a60
Source: REVISED
Myths & Facts Online -- A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict by
Mitchell G. Bard.
To order a copy of the NEW paperback
edition of Myths and Facts, click HERE.
The previous edition of Myths & Facts is also available in Spanish, German,
French, Russian, Portuguese, Swedish, and Hebrew.
Save the Date: Saturday, February 3rd, 2007
Break out your blue jeans, and your dancing shoes
and join us for a full evening of food, cocktails, dancing and good
friends.
All this while you peruse the unbelievable items up for bid at the Silent
Auction.
Kick off Super Bowl weekend when TBE transforms into the Temple
Rock Cafe
with some rockin' music, and awesome activities.
Mark your calendars for this Temple Beth El fundraising
"extravaganza".
What:
When:
Saturday, February 3rd from 7:30 p.m. -midnight
Where:
Cost:
Only $90 per person either by check, MasterCard or Visa.
Food:
Dinner (buffet), dessert and full bar.
Entertainment:
Dance to the tunes of "The In Laws" band
playing Rock and
Roll and Pop music spanning the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's.
RSVP: To www.tbe.org with our NEW online RSVP form
or send us the card you receive in the mail with your payment by
January 19th.
Bring your checkbook or credit card and enthusiasm--there will be
plenty of opportunities for you to support the
Questions?
Contact templerockcafe@tbe.org or call
203.322.6901, ext. 304
-------------------------
Dear Fellow Congregant:
We are very excited about
Temple Beth El’s 2007 primary fund raising event “Temple Rock
Café” that will take place at TBE on Saturday evening
February 3, 2007!
This event will prove to be a
fantastic evening for all adult members (FOR ALL AGES) of
The evening will be highlighted
with a Silent Auction in which we need your help in donating items and
services. Silent auction items and services can be just about anything of any
value such as:
Sports tickets Day of Golf Yoga
Lessons
Vacation Package Salon/Nail
Service
Baby Sitting
Music Lessons Theater Tickets Art Work
Jewelry DVD/Music Items Time
Shares
Autographs/ Frequent
Flier
Memorabilia
Miles
The Silent Auction is the main
fund raising component of the evening as the ticket price only covers the cost
of the event. All profits will go directly to the
![[Dr. Benjamin Gampel ]](070105_files/image016.jpg)
![[Dr. Burton L. Visotzky]](070105_files/image017.jpg)
