October 26, 2007

Heshvan 14, 5768

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

Go Sox!

This week’s Shabbat-O-Gram is sponsored by Steven Lander

with thanks to the office staff for their dedicated service to TBE.

Special Occasion?  Sponsor a Shabbat Bulletin,  (sent every Friday morning via e-mail),

the Shabbat Announcments (Distributed each Shabbat at the Temple)

& the Shabbat-O-Gram (E-mailed every Thursday night).  Sponsor all three publication for only $72

All sponsors will be acknowledged at the beginning of each of these announcements

and also listed in our Bi-monthly Bulletin.  Call Mindy in the office at 322-6901

Mazal tov to Eloise and Nicholas Hyman (and parents Elissa and James), and Joshua Lesser (and parents Rob and Holly) who become B’nai Mitzvah this Shabbat!

Please Note:

Program announcements and the service schedule are now being sent out by Steve Lander, our executive director. This now frees up the Shabbat-O-Gram to be able to focus exclusively on editorial content. There will be some overlap (e.g. some mitzvah projects, which will also continue to be featured here), but the two mailings should be seen as complementary – and much more easily digestible. If you wish to have a congregational or community event publicized, please send the information directly to Steve and to our office. Thank you!

Send your friends and relatives the gift of Jewish awareness -- a Shabbat-O-Gram each week, by signing them up at www.tbe.org. To be removed from this mailing list, sent e-mail request to office@tbe.org. If you have signed up and are not receiving our e-mails, check your spam filter to make sure that TBE is not being “spammed out.”

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

Required Reading and Action Items (links to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)

Joke for the Week

SYNAPLEX RETURNS NEXT WEEK

ON NOVEMBER 2-3!!!

Click HERE

for the complete November Synaplex Schedule

(note that the traditional service will begin at 10 AM, not 10:30):

And check out our new,

TBE Youth Website,

at http://tbeyouth.com/

Quote for the Week

It’s rare a person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear”

-- Dick Cavett

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting: 5:40 pm on Friday, 26 October 2007. For 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.

THE FULL SERVICE SCHEDULE NOW APPEARS ON THE SEPARATE TBE ANNOUNCEMENTS E-MAIL

Shabbat Services: 6:30 Friday night, 9:30 Shabbat morning, 10:30 children’s services

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 THEN NOTIFY OUR OFFICE.

Torah Reading For Shabbat Morning

Parashat Vayera

Genesis 18:1 - 22:24

1: 18:1-5
2: 18:6-8
3: 18:9-14
4: 18:15-21
5: 18:22-26
6: 18:27-30
7: 18:31-33
maf: 18:31-33

Haftarah: II Kings 4:1 - 4:37

The

(occasionally)

Ranting Rabbi

See a Fascination Photographic Exhibition by TBE’s Own Alvin Rosenfeld

Click here: Alvin Rosenfeld brings nature inside - Greenwich Time

Here are some comments I received the wake of Ann Coulter’s comments about how Jews should be “perfected”– and my response in last week’s Shabbat-O-Gram. I am always happy to share a healthy exchange of informed views of congregants on hot-button issues like this. Here are two views from a decidedly more conservative point of view.

Reactions to Ann Coulter

From Sheldon Katz

Hi Josh,

I'm sure you've been sitting by your computer waiting for me to weigh in on this issue!

I read your Ann Coulter critique. What I saw, is Ann Coulter expressing the view of Evangelical Christians. They admire Jews and would like to see them embrace Jesus.

They believe by doing that, we will be on a fast track to God like them.

Personally,

I am flattered that Evangelicals want to share their religion with us. My response to Ann is "Thanks for thinking of me, but I think I'll pass." I don't see what people are getting offended about here. Maybe what's really making people uncomfortable is she that she shares George Bush's religion.

By the way, did you watch the interview on Youtube? It is obvious that she is being tongue and cheek when asked if we should throw the religion away! A minute earlier she says that in her dreams, Democrats would all be like Joe Lieberman. Where's the credit for that? Come on, this is TV. Seriously though, what Ann Coulter is really bringing to light is the attack on Christianity from the secular progressive left in this country. I don't blame Christians for having the dream that everyone be just like them. All they want is to be able to walk into Walmart and hear a sales clerk say "Merry Christmas" or have a Christmas party at their kids school instead of a "Winter Solstice event."

You state that Ann Coulter is not interested in dialogue. Based on what?

She goes on every talk show she can. She has even been on Bill Maher's show.

Just because some are uncomfortable with someone who has a different belief and has the guts to express it, you say she doesn't understand the word dialogue. We should remember, the definition of the word tolerance is "the willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others." Ann Coulter statements are nothing more than the act of Christian missionizing. True her style is rather flippant when she says "her religion is more like Federal Express" and when she says "yeah" to the question, "should

we throw Judaism away?" As you say, she has books to sell too!

You end your message with "if she persists, we should contact the people who put her on their shows." If she persists with what? Expressing her religious and political views in an irreverent manner? Have you ever watched "Curb Your Enthusiasm"?

Should we

contact HBO if that program persists?

Okay, at this point I would have been happy to say we agree to disagree on this. Lets get a cup of coffee and watch the Red Sox destroy the Indians.

Not so fast I'm afraid. You end by throwing in Ben Burston's reaction to Ann Coulter.

I read his piece, and all I can do is shake my head. First he starts by calling the United States "chronically clueless". Thanks Ben, I really appreciate that.

Starting off

with an insult is a great way to make your point. Now where could you be going with this essay? He goes on to say "I was wrong to see her as some highly intelligent, well-educated, perversely gifted panderer to the lower common denominator."

Of course

the lowest common denominator Ben is refering to is the Christian right. What a lovely description that is! No one could feel uncomfortable with that could they?

He ends by saying "Ann Coulter has a plan for the Jews. She has one for Muslims as well. And it's her people who are exactly the kind of Americans who could find the way to try to carry it out." So Ann Coulter is Adolf Hitler and Christians are the Third Reich! Gee, I'm not a bit uncomfortable, are you?

Maybe good old Ben is just being flippant? For some reason, I can't help get the feeling that he really means what he says. I think we can all agree that irreverance doesn't seem to be part of Ben Burston's vocabulary. Maybe Christians are the ones who should be worried about a Pogrom!

Your Evangelical Jewish Right Wing Friend,

Sheldon

From Phil Granowitz

Rabbi Hammerman You and your shabbat-o-gram readers may be interested in what Dennis Prager has to say about Ann Coulter\'s comments. He is, of course, an authority on anti-semitism and literally wrote the book on the subject.

Ann Coulter Wants Jews to Become Christian -- So What?
by Dennis Prager

Those who label Ann Coulter an anti-Semite do damage to the battle against anti-Semitism.

I say this as a committed Jew, a religious Jew, a Jewish writer and lecturer, a past college instructor in Jewish history, co-author of a widely read book on anti-Semitism, recipient of the American Jewish Press Association's Prize for Excellence in Jewish Commentary, instructor in Torah at the American Jewish University, and a man who has fought anti-Semitism all his life.

There is nothing in what Ann Coulter said to a Jewish interviewer on CNBC that indicates she hates Jews or wishes them ill, or does damage to the Jewish people or the Jewish state. And if none of those criteria is present, how can someone be labeled anti-Semitic?

What damage has she ever done to Jews? What is wrong with a person believing that it would be better if another person adopted their faith? Is there one liberal who doesn't believe that a conservative would be better -- "perfected," if you will -- by embracing liberal beliefs and values? Why is it laudable for a liberal to hope that conservatives convert to liberalism, but dangerous and hate-filled when a Christian hopes that Jews or anyone else will go to heaven (that is, after all, Ann Coulter's and most other Christians' primary concern) by believing in Jesus?

I have read Jewish and non-Jewish writers who argue that Ann Coulter's words will lead to another Auschwitz. How does one respond to irrationality? How does one respond to hysteria?

There is also a move to boycott Ann Coulter, so dangerous are her words. Of course, there is no such Jewish or liberal boycott of former President Jimmy Carter, who has done real damage to the Jewish people by describing Israel as an "apartheid" state in the very title of his anti-Israel book. In fact, Carter was invited to speak on his loathsome book at Brandeis University, an ostensibly Jewish university. But f or many Jews and liberals, real hatred, real damage to Jewish security can only come from the right, especially from Christians on the right. So Ann Coulter, who has done nothing in her life to compromise Jewish welfare, is to be boycotted, but Jimmy Carter is worthy of invitations to speak.
Jewish groups even invite John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, the authors of "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," which is essentially a tempered modern-day version of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." But Ann Coulter is beyond the pale. And she said nothing to harm Jews.

She said she believes that Jews who accept Jesus as their savior are "perfected." I fail to see why this is some form of hate-speech, let alone the basis of anti-Semitism, as stated by Abe Foxman, director of the Anti-Defamation League, which often defames conservative Christians, whom he and his organization hold to be the greatest domestic threats to America.

As a practicing Jew, I do not agree with Ann Coulter's theology any more than those attacking her do. But I am neither offended by her nor frightened by her or her beliefs. She believes that Christianity is better than Judaism. So what? Why is that in any way different from liberals thinking that liberalism is truer and morally superior to conservatism? Or conservatives thinking that their values are superior to liberal values?

Liberals not only believe that conservatives are philosophically imperfect, but they often believe that conservatives are bad human beings (something in no way implied by Coulter about Jews). Howard Dean has said that conservatives don't care about children who go to bed hungry. Liberals yearn for a world without conservatives at least as much as most believing Christians want a world without non-Christians. The difference is many liberals are immeasurably more likely to impose their views on others than Christian Americans are. Liberal ju dges impose their views -- e.g., on same-sex marriage -- on society. And liberal educators force young students to watch Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," the former vice president's hysterical beliefs about impending doom -- and offer no countering viewpoint.

As fate and irony would have it, this past Sunday night I was the keynote speaker at the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas. Since 1981, the church, led by Pastor John Hagee, has had an annual "Night to Honor Israel." Five thousand Christians came to this year's event, where they heard and sang Hebrew songs and watched their pastor give $8 million to various Israeli and Jewish charities.

Those are Ann Coulter's people, and they are, by and large, the best friends the Jewish people have today. And since Judaism teaches that we judge others by their behavior, not their beliefs, this Jew thanks them. And fears those who fear them. One day, God forbid, should there be real anti-Se mitism in America, these hysterics will have cried wolf so many times that no one will listen.

Rosh Hashanah in Baghdad

Thanks to Karen Hainbach for forwarding this fascinating story…

From a WSJ reporter in Baghdad : Sep 16, 2007 6:26 PM

For obvious reasons, I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I made plans to travel to a military base on the outskirts of Baghdad for Rosh Hashanah. I didn't know if there would be a minyan, if there would be Orthodox prayer services or a shorter Reform variant, or if there would be Kosher food. You can imagine my shock - the best kind of shock, the type that comes from being pleasantly surprised - when I found that Rosh Hashanah at Forward Operating Base Striker included all of those things,
and a few more besides.

The services were held in a small meeting room in the base chapel bui lding, with signs outside listing that week's services, which ranged from Spanish-language Pentecostal to Latin Mass Catholic to Muslim jumma prayers. The back of the chapel faces onto a small yard, which is now almost entirely filled up by a newly constructed wooden succah. The succah was built by a non-Jewish amateur carpenter from the Arkansas National Guard, who told me he built it in his spare time and was glad to have been able to help. In fact, the military, from the top level on down, went out of its way to help Jewish soldiers make it to the base for services.

The Army issued a pair of FRAGOs - formal orders - ordering commanders to make arrangements for their Jewish soldiers to travel to the base for the services and giving Jewish soldiers permission to not shower or shave during the holiday (soldiers usually have to shave every day, and can be punished if they forget). Of the 40-odd soldiers who ultimately took part in the Rosh Hashanah services - plus a few civil ians, including a self-described "Jewish grandmother from New York " who is in Iraq, incongruously, to help interrogate high-value terrorism suspects - more than half flew in from other bases.

The services were arranged by a jovial chaplain with the wondrous name of Andrew Shulman, who had lived in Israel for a few years - studying at Aish Hatorah, in the Old City - and then gone to work for a synagogue in Massachusetts before volunteering to join the army and come to Iraq as a military chaplain. He is the only Jewish chaplain in Iraq full-time, though others occasionally come in from Kuwait and other bases around the High Holidays. When I emailed him a few weeks ago to say that I would be coming and would be glad to help lead the prayers or read the Torah, he said I was a lifesaver an d that he would be glad to put me to work. He kept his word: I ended up leading the long Mussaf services both days of the holiday, reading both days' Torah portions (out of a Machzor, because there was no actual Torah scroll, but still), and doing both days' Haftorah portions. With the exception of cutting out some of the optional poems in Mussaf, we did the entire Orthodox liturgy, and even found a young tzizzit-wearing soldier from Milwaukee named Rafi Karran who was able to blow the shofar, so we had shofar-blowing, as well.

The people who came to the services were an eclectic bunch. There was a full-bird colonel named Abramowitz, a bunch of young lieutenants with names like Frank and Hode, a command sergeant major (the highest position you can have as an enlisted soldier) named Soriano, and a sergeant with the "Coming to America "-esque name of Kurt Love. Some of the soldiers were converts - Soriano, who gave his name as Ami, was once named Jorge Octavio - and others had a Jewish mother and didn't discover they were Jewish till they were adults. Virtually all knew some Hebrew, though, and were as thrilled as I was to be able to take part in a full, real service.

The most fascinating soldier there, in my opinion, was a female sergeant named McCann, who grew up hunting and skinning animals in Montana and found out that her mom was Jewish right after she enlisted at 19. Before leaving for Iraq , she got herself trained as a shochet, and now buys chickens while out on mission and ritually slaughters the chickens back at the base so so she can have some kosher meat. She has gotten so religious that she won't shake hands with male soldiers and instead patiently tells them that she is "shomeret negiah." To top it off, this blond-haired, blue-eyed farm girl is planning to marry an older Israeli soldier as soon as she finishes her tour in Iraq later this year.

No Jewish event, civilian or military, would be complete without food, and Rosh Hashanah in Baghdad was no exception. Rabbi Shulman had had an absolutely astounding amount of food sent in for the holiday, and the group of soldiers did an impressive job of plowing throug h it. He had kosher wine for kiddush (alcohol is strictly forbidden in the military, so for many soldiers this was the first taste of alcohol they had drunk in more than a year), pomegranates and prickly pears as the new fruit of the season, honey for the apples, gefilte fish (some of which splashed on me, which was as disgusting an experience as I have ever had in my life), hummos and tahini, Israeli olives and pickles, and fresh Zomick's challah and rolls that had been sent in a short time earlier. For the main courses, he would prepare couscous, rice and pasta, and then top the grains with steak, chicken and beef kosher Meals Ready to Eat. For desert, there was fruit, trail mix, and honey cakes that his wife, Lori, had sent from the U.S. Of the many reasons I feel deeply indebted to Rabbi Shulman, the mound of kosher food he managed to obtain for the holiday is near the top of the list.

I have talked a lot about the logistics of the holiday, but I want to take a moment to talk about the feel of the holiday, as well. In more than four years of living in, covering and visiting Iraq , this is the first time I have ever done anything Jewish here. When I lived in Baghdad, I had nothing with me that could identify me as Jewish and had scrubbed my Palm Pilot and laptop of any file that mentioned Israel or anything Jewish. When an Iraqi asked me my religion, I would always lie and say Catholic. It burned me deeply to have to lie like that; I am proud of being Jewish, and always have been. It was even more painful to lie about my identity while living in a place like Iraq, which had for millennia been the absolute pinnacle of the Diaspora Jewish world, a place that still uses city names - like Ur , in northern Iraq - that are mentioned in the Torah. But there was no choice, until now. This holiday was the first time in all of myyears in Iraq that I was able to identify myself as a Jew and live accordingly.

A final thought: The Iraqi Jewish commun ity is down to barely six people, the last remnants of the once-proud, vibrant Iraqi Jewish world (there is a style of architecture in Baghdad that is even now called "Jewish style"). The final few elderly Jews are largely waiting to die, so they can be buried in the land of their ancestors. When they die, the Jewish community of Iraq - once so robust and important that the Talmud itself was written here - will for all intents and purposes cease to exist. For a few days, though, Hebrew was again heard in Iraq , as Jews sat down to eat, pray and celebrate in a country now populated mainly of Jewish ghosts. For a few days, there was again a Jewish community of Baghdad .

I hope that this next year is one of peace, joy, and health for ea ch of you - and for the Jewish soldiers of the U.S. military, with whom I had the distinct honor of sharing Rosh Hashanah in Baghdad.

Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunties

Beth El Cares:

Inreach and Outreach

(from MyJewishLearning.com)

This is Jewish Social Action Month
Educate, Agitate, Organize

Poverty, healthcare, racism, the environment--activism can become overwhelming. Social justice educator Aaron Dorfman considers how to set realistic goals, and let Social Action Month inspire change throughout the year.

UJC LAUNCHES FEDERATION RELIEF FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES 

United Jewish Communities/the federations of North America today launched a relief effort for victims of the Southern California wildfires, which continue to rage from San Diego to Los Angeles. To donate, go to www.ujc.org/wildfirerelief.

A Volunteer Opportunity from Montefiore Hospital

(thanks to Susan Berger Sabreen for calling this to our attention)

"Doula Visitor Program - The Palliative Care Service is currently recruiting volunteers for a special â doulaâ visitor program for patients nearing the end of life. Doulas offer companionship and emotional support for people who are within the last 18 months of life. Volunteers will receive an 8-week training as well as ongoing support. This is a unique and meaningful opportunity for people who would like to make a real difference in a person's life at an important time of transition.

Contact: Ronit Fallek (718) 920-6576 or rfallek@montefiore.org <mailto:rfallek@montefiore.org "

Beth El Cares

Christmas Eve Dinner:

Our next “official” mitzvah project is the annual preparing of food and serving Christmas Eve Dinner at St. Lukes and Pacific House. Volunteers are needed to contribute food, pick up flowers/food, transport food to the shelters and serve dinner. Save the date (Mon. Dec. 24). Please let me know if you would like to coordinate this project “before” it happens; Cheryl Wolff and Liz Vaisben will be the “house captains” for the actual dinners.

Toiletry Collection:

The third grade religious school class will be collecting toiletry items to give to the guests at St. Lukes and Pacific House on Christmas Eve. These toiletry items are the only holiday gift some of these individuals receive. Clean out your hotel amenity stash and your samples or buy full size items to donate. Watch for details in December telling you where to drop off the items.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Projects:

From ~Shira Durica, who will be setting up a table during Hebrew School to make people aware of her project:

With Hadassah, i am sponsoring JNF's (Jewish National Fund) Program to plant trees in Israel.  While i was searching more about this issue, i found out about the three Israeli soldiers, and are now raising awareness about them, and raising money fore trees. How i am doing this is by selling dog tags with the  names, age and date of captured of all three of the soldiers. They are $10 and when you buy a dog tag, you plant 2 trees!

From Dana Gordon

Dear Friends and Family,

Part of becoming a Bat Mitzvah means being a mench or doing good deeds for others in need. Temple Beth El requires kids to do a community service project for their Bnai Mitzvah. For my mitzvah project, I am collecting new games, crafts, and gift cards (less than $10 in value) to donate to the office of Joseph McNamara, MD of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology Associates, P.C. where I have been a patient the last 5 years.

Five years ago, I was diagnosed with Auto Immune Thrombocytopenia Purpura (I.T.P). My body thinks my blood platelets are the enemy and destroys them. I’m extremely lucky because at Dr. Joe’s office I receive an intravenous treatment to help my body maintain a safe number of blood platelets. Every time I receive an infusion I see kids of all ages who aren’t as lucky as I am because many of them suffer from pediatric blood cancers. At the end of your each treatment, you get the joy of choosing a toy from the toy closet. I would like to be a part of that joy by helping to restock the toy closet at the doctor’s office.

Please bring new and unwrapped games and toys for donation and place them in the box that is labeled “Dana’s Toy Drive” in front of the office or bring them to services on the morning of December 15, 2007 when I will be called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah.

Thank you very much for your support and generosity.

Sincerely,

Dana Gordon

For more information about I.T.P., visit the platelet disorder support association at www.pdsa.org

Hello. My name is Eloise Hyman.

My Bat Mitzvah

is coming up soon, so I am starting to work on my Bat Mitzvah project. A Bat Mitzvah project is something kids do to help the community when they come of age to have a bar or bat mitzvah. For my project, I am gathering books to donate for kids in juvenile residential treatment centers.

I am now asking for your help. I am collecting books in good condition for boys and girls aged 14-18.  Could you please look through your rooms, bookshelves, and closets for any spare books that you think kids might enjoy.   You could also tell your friends, and I could collect books from them as well.

The books that are allowed are fantasy, romance & teen books, history, novels, mysteries, sci-fi, science, poetry and anything else you can think of (but no sex please)!

How will you get me the books? You can:

- give them to me at school,

- have me pick them up at your house,

- send them to me,

- Or bring them to Temple Beth El the day of my Bat Mitzvah (October 27)

I will be collecting books from September to November.  The books for the boys will be going to the Abraxas Academy just north of Philadelphia and the girls books will go to the Abraxas Center for Adolescent Females in Pittsburgh.  My address, e-mail, phone number, and Aim are: address: 755 Westover Rd. Stamford CT. 06902, email: eloisehyman@yahoo.com, phone: 203.316.8228, AIM: pandaluvr106

Thank you, for reading this and I hope you will be able to help<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->.

See you in October.

Eloise

Hello my name is Nick Hyman.
 
My Bar Mitzvah is coming up soon, so I’m starting my Bar Mitzvah project.
A Bar Mitzvah project is something bat/bar mitzvah kids do for their bar/bat mitzvah to help the community.
 
For my project I am collecting books to donate for adult inmates in prison.  I ask for your help.
Could you look through your closets, bookshelves, and rooms
for any spare books that you think adults might enjoy reading.
I am collecting books for men and women ranging in age from 20-80.
 
What types of books are allowed? History, Thrillers, Mysteries, Romance, Poetry, Sci-Fi, Science, and even Math.
 
How can you get me the books?  You can:
· give them to me at school,
· have me pick them up at your house,
· send them to me,
· or bring them to Temple Beth El the day of my Bar Mitzvah ( October 27)
 
I will be collecting books from September to November.  The books do need to be in good condition.
I will be giving the books to the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Pennsylvania.
My address, e-mail, phone number, and AIM: 755 Westover Rd. Stamford CT. 06902,
nhyman@klht.org, 203-316-8228, or nickthekiwi106
 
Thank you, for reading this and I hope you will be able to help me.
If you have friends with spare books, pass this note on and I’ll collect their books as well.
 
Nick

The Highest Level of Tzedakkah

Helping someone to find a Job

Let me know if you can help in either of these situations –

both involve congregants who are extremely talented and dedicated workers…

Senior Financial Professional

Proven track