February 16 and 23,
2007– Shevat 29 and Adar 6, 5767
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,
There will be no Shabbat-O-Gram next week
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Contents
of the Shabbat O Gram:
(Click
to scroll down)
Just
the Facts (service schedule)
The (Occasionally) Ranting Rabbi
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunities
The
Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary (new)
Required Reading and Action Items (links
to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)
Announcements (goings on in and around
TBE)
Our Mens Club of the Future!
TBE seventh graders at the
recent World Wide Wrap
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.
Quote for the Week
“To Bigotry No Sanction,
to Persecution No Assistance”
George
Washington's Letter
to the Jews of Newport Rhode Island (1790)
“When a
person is brought before the heavenly court for judgment
the first question he is asked is whether
he was honest in business.” –
Talmud Tractate
Shabbat 31a
“A person
who doesn't tell the truth...it's as if he worships idols” -
Talmud Tractate
Sanhedrin 92a
Candle lighting: 5:03 pm on Friday, 9 February 2007. 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.
Friday Evening
Candle lighting: 5:12 pm on Friday, 16 February 2006, 5:20 on the 23rd. 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.
Due to the
2/23: Tot Shabbat: 6:45 PM – in the
lobby – only on the 23rd
Next week on February 23, Tot Shabbat will be hosted by Sam and Ethan Essenfeld and their parents,
Stacey and Elliot. Sam and Ethan, both 5, attend
Shabbat Evening service:
6:30 PM – in the chapel (both weeks)
On the 23rd, the service will feature the naming of Samantha
Shabbat Morning (both
weeks): 9:30 AM
this week’s
discussion:
a Rabbinic
Driving Manual
My son Ethan turned 16
last week, so now I’m consumed with parental worry over the idea of my
child sitting behind the wheel. So
I’ve come up with some driving tips from Jewish sources, including this
week’s portion. Bring your
teens and ‘tweens to this one!
Children’s
Services: 10:30 AM (on Feb. 17 there will just be one
children’s service, for the younger children. All students are always invited into our
main service)
Our Torah Portion
for Shabbat Morning
Parashat
Mishpatim – Shabbat Shekalim
1: 23:20-25
2: 23:26-30
3: 23:31-33
4: 24:1-6
5: 24:7-11
6: 24:12-14
7: 24:15-18
maf: Exodus 30:11-16 (6 p'sukim)
Haftarah: (Shabbat Shekalim / II Kings 12:1 - 12:17)
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
9:00 AM on Monday, President’s Day
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!
Winter Weather Advisory
Note that in the case
of bad weather, weekday minyan does not take place when
The
(occasionally)
Looking back at Synaplex – and Looking Ahead
We’ve
now experienced four Synaplex Shabbats, including three combining Friday night
and Shabbat day and one Friday night only.
Because of our busy spring Bar/Bat Mitzvah schedule, three of the
remaining five Synaplex Shabbats will be Friday night only, including our next
Shabbat Unplugged, scheduled for March 9.
This, then, is a good opportunity to gain some preliminary perspective
on this grand experiment.
Last
weekend’s Synaplex was the closest we will come this year to a complete,
in-house Shabbaton, spanning Shabbat from end to end (and beyond), complete
with programs large and small and opportunities for all ages to come
together. Each segment of the day
was designed to address one of the three main Synaplex programming pillars:
spirituality (praying), education (learning) and community building (eating,
discussing, relaxing and helping one another). Attendance was superb on all
counts. On Friday night, for
instance, where we normally have fewer than 20 on a non-Shabbat Unplugged night, we had over 100. On Shabbat morning, more than 30 were
here at the ungodly hour of 8:00 AM for breakfast, Yoga and my “Ethics of
Cheerfulness” discussion, and the numbers zoomed from there throughout
the day. By some estimates, we doubled the
attendance from last year’s Sisterhood Shabbat and fed up to 250 for
lunch. The kids and teens raved about
their programs with Nurit Avigdor, Edoe Cohen and “Shabbat Rocks”
with Jonathan Cahr. The three workshops
after lunch were well-attended (and well-received) and about 75 sat in the
chapel at 3 PM (3 PM – on a
Saturday???) to hear Burt Visotzky’s third lecture, where, as a
special bonus, he described his ongoing dialogue with Sunni leaders and Arab
heads of state. Then, following a
relaxing dinner, Havdalah Unplugged was simply a revelation. At 5:30 PM on Saturday afternoon, the
sanctuary was filled with more people and more energy than we’ve ever had
for a non-Bar Mitzvah Ma’ariv-Havdalah service here. Where
did all those people come from?
Everyone loved it! And then,
we even had 30 people come for the Israeli movie at 8 PM, and another 20 stayed
overnight for our USY sleepover.
I
arrived here at 8 AM last Shabbat, and, aside from a half hour breather following
Havdalah, was here until 11 PM. While
very few had that kind of marathon, everyone who stepped into this building even
for just an hour or two sensed the energy of the entire day.
Someone
asked me this week what our special guests remark about Beth El when they come
here. This past month, we’ve
had two distinguished speakers who have visited many communities. Burt Visotzky estimated that he’s
been to 300 Conservative shuls. And
he was wowed. Both speakers were
amazed at the sense of community and they are totally sold on Synaplex. Benjamin Gampel told me, “This is
one happy congregation!” Visotzky called it “Yom Kippur with
lunch!”
Now
I won’t pretend that Gampel’s estimation is 100 % accurate. Not everyone here is happy here all the
time. But what each of these
speakers saw, and what many others also saw last weekend, was TBE at its best,
TBE as it could be. Synaplex has given us a small taste of
the kind of holy community we could become – and a glimpse of what in
fact we already are: a family that can spend lots of time together, a community
that is ever nurturing, learning,
seeking, striving, caring, dancing, singing, meditating, exploring, embracing, loving…and,
naturally, eating.
All
this, and we aren’t nearly running on all cylinders yet. Our Synaplex committee has been
tremendous, but we still need more volunteers. We especially need to have someone pull
together our publicity and marketing efforts. Yet despite these challenges, and the supreme
challenge of staging back-to-back Synaplex Shabbats just three weeks apart, we achieved
“Yom Kippur with lunch.”
Imagine what we’ll be able to accomplish when we really get it together!
My
thanks to all who made it possible – all who have dared to dream the
dream.
But
enough of what I have to say.
Here’s what some of you
said:
“What I loved best about Synaplex…”
Here are some of the comments we’ve received from last
week’s Synaplex Shabbat.
“It was an excellent day. To see the number of young people
who came to Havdalah Unplugged as well as the healthy mix of young and seniors
and all therein was a delight to behold. Beth-El is rocking. Most quotable
phrase of the day: From Burt Visotzky-‘Synaplex is like Yom Kippur with
Lunch!’” Don Adelman
“My hearty applause for all of this recent Synaplex, but
especially for Havdalah unplugged - a high-energy way to face the coming week
and wrap up a lovely Shabbat.”
David Robinov
Kundalina Yoga with Raema and Jackie was an AWESOME way to
start Shabbat morning! The
discussion led by Roni and Mara on "Dealing with Difficult People" was
EXCELLENT. The hour flew by! More discussion groups on this
topic are definitely needed. Havdalah Unplugged provided me with an
uplifting, cozy and special experience! The band, choir and Cantor
Rachael were TERRIFIC! I have never
been in such a wonderful and enthusiastic group that meets with the Rabbi,
on Sunday mornings on "The Meaning of Prayer". The discussions
led by the Rabbi are so informative and interesting. THANK YOU!
Heidi Ganz
“Once again
Suzanne and Norman Stone
“I was totally moved by Beth Silver's response as
recipient of the Rose Rosner volunteer honor. It is
amazingly "Beth" to be humble and appreciative
concerning what the
Beth was so eloquent in her comments and really was surprised that
she was selected for the honor. Perfect choice, she is a joy to know and
be with.
Also, so enjoyed the Scholar In Residence and Roni and Mara's
presentation on "difficult people". I am beginning to see that
all persons need "guidance" in improving relationships.”
Sandy Siegartel
“We were all having Seudah
Shlisheet (the ‘third Sabbath meal’ a light dinner in late
afternoon) , the "Unplugged" rehearsal was in the background, there
were about 30 or so people in the Social Hall, the various programming
successes of the day were being discussed, the "warm-fuzzy" vibe
was still palpable even by this post 5:00 hour. Fran Ginsburg walked over
to note that the Main Sanctuary was filling up. I know it may not sound like a
"peak" moment, but it was for me. The whole weekend
various members of the congregation had turned out for something and for just
about 24 straight hours it was clear we delivered on our promise.”
Adam Eitelberg
Here are some of the results of the online survey
done after the January Synaplex
Thank you to the
62 who responded
Overall, were you satisfied with your
Synaplex™ experience?
|
|
|
Very Satisfied 60.7 % |
|
Satisfied
31.1% |
|
Neutral
6.6 % |
|
Dissatisfied
1.6 % |
|
Very
Dissatisfied 0% |
Response(So
how many things in life get a 92% approval rating?
This
might be unprecedented in the history of synagogues!)
How long have you been a member at the
One year or less 3.2 %
1-3 years 6.5%
3-5 years 11.3
%
5-10 years 29%
10-20 years 22.6%
Over 20 years 27.4 %
(The widespread
satisfaction cuts across demographic and generational lines.
A
number of non members also attended and really enjoyed the programs)
How often over the past 12 months have you
and/or your family attended Shabbat services at
Never 0%
1-5 times 12.9%
6-10 19.4%
10-15 19.4%
Over 15 times 48.4%