March 2, 2007– Adar 13,
5767
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple
Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut
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In Memoriam…
Leah Levitz Fishbane
In
her mid 30s, I saw her grow from child to adult…from Bat Mitzvah to
Huppah to full flower. She was taken from us tragically this week. Our
deepest sympathies to the Levitz and Fishbane families.
“Nature’s
first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early
leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf
subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn
goes down to day.
Nothing
gold can stay.”
- Robert Frost
Contents
of the Shabbat O Gram:
(Click
to scroll down)
Just
the Facts (service schedule)
The (Occasionally) Ranting Rabbi
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunities
Ask the Rabbi
Spiritual Journey on the Web
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)
TBE Youth Programming
Joke for the Week
Our Men’s 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
“I learned
much from my teachers, more from my books, and most from my troubles.”
- Kaminer, Baraitot
de Rabbi Yitzhak
JUST THE FACTS
PURIM
Saturday, March 3, 2007
At Temple Beth
El
For all ages!!!
6:30—7:30 PM: Family Megilla reading, costume
parade and goodies in the Sanctuary
We Always Make a
Big Megilla over our Megilla readers….
Allison
Schechter, Ethan Hammerman, David Katz, Samantha Wise, Rebecca Savransky, Peri Shapiro, David Ginsberg, Harrison Shapiro and Cantor Rachael
Littman!!!
7:30 – 9:00 PM: Our SPECTACULAR carnival, put
together by our USY and Kadima groups in the Social Hall
8:15 PM: Full
Megilla reading in chapel
9:00 PM: Bus
leaves taking teens who wish to attend the Purim Boat Cruise in Greenwich
Carnival Prices:
$12 per child and $30 for a family package of three or
more,
for unlimited access to all attractions!!
Featuring a giant inflatable obstacle course, bounce
castle, games, prizes, and more!!!!
COME IN COSTUME!!!! (kids and adults)
BRING YOUR OWN CREATIVE NOISEMAKER!!!
BRING YOUR FRIENDS!!!
This program has
been subsidized by a generous contribution from the Sisterhood of Temple
Beth El
Candle lighting: 5:28 pm on Friday, 2 March
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
Shabbat Evening service:
6:30 PM – in the chapel
Tot Shabbat – 6:45
PM – in the lobby
Shabbat Morning: 9:30 AM – Mazal Tov to haley erskine, WHO
BECOMES bAT MITZVAH THIS SHABBAT MORNING
Children’s
Services: 10:30 AM
Our Torah Portion
for Shabbat Morning
Parashat Tetzaveh – Shabbat Zachor
Exodus 27:20 - 30:10
1: 29:19-21
2: 29:22-25
3: 29:26-30
4: 29:31-34
5: 29:35-37
6: 29:38-46
7: 30:1-10
Maf:
Deuteronomy 25:17-19 (3 p'sukim)
Haftarah (Shabbat Zachor): I Samuel 15:2 - 15:34
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
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 Stamford public schools are cancelled OR
delayed. On Sunday, minyan is
cancelled if our Religious
School sessions are
cancelled. Friday evening and Shabbat morning’s main service is
never officially cancelled, but use your best judgment in deciding whether to
come. We will endeavor to get
proper notification to WSTC radio regarding cancellations, but that may not
always be possible for children’s services held on Shabbat.
The
(occasionally)
Ranting Rabbi
A Shabbat-O-Gram Exclusive
Just Back
from Israel…
Our
Beth El BCDS 8th Graders returned from a three week stay in Israel on
Wednesday. Here are some
instant reports from the kids, exclusively written for the Shabbat-O-Gram.
My Bi-Cultural Israel trip was
the best trip of my life. This was so for many reasons. One of these reasons is
the people I was with. For this Israel trip, I got to
go to Israel
with my whole grade at Bi-Cultural. It was very fun to go halfway around the
world with all of my friends from school. By doing this, I got
to develop better relationships with every single person in my grade, and our
whole grade got to bond with each other like never before. Thanks to what this
trip did, our grade will be that much closer when it comes time for our
graduation this June.
Another
reason why this Israel
trip was the best trip of my life was all of the places that we went to. We got to go to both some of my
favorite places that I’ve been to many times before, and also many places
that I’ve never been to before. Some places that I liked on this trip
were Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Eilat,
Tiberias, and the Dead Sea.
I liked Jerusalem
because of the mixture of the old and the new. I really liked going to the
Kotel again, and on this trip we were lucky to go to
the Kotel four times. I liked Tel Aviv because of how much it reminds me of New York, because of the
liveliness of the city and the tall buildings. I liked Eilat
because of its extraordinary resorts and its fantastic fish and coral, which we
got to see first hand while going snorkeling in the Red Sea. I liked Tiberias a lot
because of how beautiful it looked overlooking the Sea of Galilee,
and because of its famous tombs. Last but not least, I
liked the Dead Sea a lot because of how cool the floating was and because of
the cool places on the coast, like Masada
and Ein Gedi.
In
conclusion, this trip was awesome and I can’t wait to come back to Israel
in many years to come, and I will always have the wonderful memories of my
Bi-Cultural trip with me wherever I go.
DAN
HAMMERMAN
2/28/07
Davening at Masada
Jackie Schechter
The past three
weeks in Israel
were surely some of the best weeks of my life. I have just returned home from my school’s
eighth grade Israel
trip and now have time to catch my breath and reflect on our amazing
journey. Every part of the trip,
from climbing down a cliff to touring the Old City
to meeting Israeli teenagers, has been an experience to remember, not to mention
a lot of fun.
However, if I
had to choose the most meaningful part of the trip it would be davening at Masada. That day, we woke in the early morning
darkness and hiked up to the ancient fortress. By a stroke of luck, we made it to the
top in time for sunrise! In a swirl
of pink and orange and gold we watched the sun glide
up over the clouds and reflect its light off the glistening waves of the Dead Sea. The
girls then formed their own minyan, and my friend and I led Shacharit. Since it was also Rosh Chodesh Adar, I proudly also led Hallel for the rest of my
classmates. Davening
on Masada at sunrise
was surely the most spiritual davening of my
life. I felt closer to G-d than
ever before and was just so thankful that I was in Israel and alive at that very
moment. I know I’ll never forget davening at Masada at sunrise.
Before the trip even started I thought
that it would be great. It turned
out to be much, much more. Spending
my first Shabbat in Israel,
in Zefat, where Kabbalat Shabbat was invented was a
great way to start off. Even though I wasn’t able to
participate in everything I still had the time of my
life. I think two of the most
eventful things on the trip were going to the Kotel on our last day in Israel and
going camel back riding. It was an
awesome thing to do. The camel
behind me tried to eat my shoe.
This trip was the best three weeks ever!
Lowell Eitelberg
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
Click
here to tell your Member of Congress to maintain the current economic and
diplomatic sanctions against Iran!
Free Them Now
Ehud Goldwasser
Eldad Regev Gilad Schalit
Kidnapped Israeli Soldiers
• Click for more
information
• Sign the petition at www.freethesoldiers.org
Landmark
Resolutions Introduced in the US
Senate and House of Representatives
Recognizing Rights for Jews from Arab Countries as Middle
East Refugees
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Stanley A. Urman, 917-606-8262 or 973-669-9788
WASHINGTON, DC (February
20, 2007) - Rarely is any consensus reached on final status issues in the Middle East peace process. Yet, remarkably, US
Congressional leaders have agreed on the rights of Jewish refugees displaced
from Arab countries.
In
a rare display of bi-partisanship, four Senators and four Congressmen,
representing both political parties, have introduced landmark Resolutions on Middle East refugees that call attention to the fact that
Jews living in Arab countries suffered human rights violations, were uprooted from their homes, and were made refugees.
These Resolutions signify that "it would be inappropriate and unjust
for the United States
to recognize rights for Palestinian refugees without recognizing equal rights
for former Jewish, Christian, and other refugees from Arab countries."
On
February 16, 2007, formal bicameral resolutions were
introduced in the Senate (S.Res 85) and in the
House (H.Res 185). These far-reaching Resolutions
seek to ensure that all victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict are
treated with equality, including Jewish, Christian and other refugees
from countries in the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian
Gulf. Concretely, the Resolutions urge the President to ensure
that in all international forums, when the issue of 'Middle East refugees are
discussed, representatives of the United States should ensure: "That any explicit reference to Palestinian
refugees is matched by a similar explicit reference to Jewish and other
refugees, as a matter of law and equity."
This bi-partisan effort is being spearheaded in the House of
Representatives by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) along with Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL); Rep. Michael Ferguson (R-NJ); and Rep. Joseph Crowley
(D-NY). In the Senate, sponsors are Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ); Trent
Lott (R-MS); Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN); and Sen. Richard Durbin. The Resolutions
will be the strongest declarations adopted by the U.S. Congress, on the rights
of Jewish and others refugees that were forced to flee
Arab countries.
"When
the Middle East peace process is discussed,
Palestinian refugees are often addressed. However, Jewish refugees outnumbered
Palestinian refugees, and their forced exile from Arab lands must
not be omitted from public discussion on the peace process. It is simply
not right to recognize the rights of Palestinian refugees without recognizing
the rights of Jewish refugees," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).
"There
can be no true and lasting peace in the Middle East
unless the legitimate claims of all refugees displaced by the years of conflict
are recognized by the international community," said Sen. Norm Coleman
(R-MN). "Large numbers of both Arabs and Jews have been forced to flee
their countries and it is only right and equitable that the President acknowledge and include Jewish and other refugees in any
discussion of Palestinian refugees in pursuing this issue in the international
arena."
"It
would be constitute an injustice were the United States to recognize rights
for one victim population - Palestinian refugees - without recognizing equal
rights former Jewish refugees from Arab countries"
said Stanley Urman, Executive Director of Justice
for Jews from Arab Countries. "Both were victims of the very same Middle East conflict and the rights of Jewish refugees
must be addressed."
Additional
information and materials can be found at: www.justiceforjews.com
Pre-Passover Hametz Food Collection
As you clean your cupboards in preparation for Passover, please consider
donating unopened boxes, bags and cans of hametz to a
local food pantry. For your
convenience, you can deposit those items in a box outside the Helen Golin Gift Shop, from March 22nd to 28th. We will then deliver the food t