January 25, 2008 – Shevat 18,
5768
A special thank you to our Synaplex and
Sisterhood Shabbat chairs and committee members, and all those who will be
participating in this weekend’s services and events, including all the women
leading services and reading Torah in the morning and our junior choir, who
will be singing at Havdalah Unplugged.
AND WELCOME TO OUR SCHOLAR, YOSSI KLEIN
HALEVI
Special
Occasion? Sponsor a Shabbat Bulletin, (sent every
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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
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Prior Shabbat-O-Grams are archived at http://www.tbe.org/sog/index.php.
NEXT WEEK!!!!
THIS WEEK!!!!
Click here
for a full
updated Synaplex schedule
Featuring
scholar-in-residence Yossi
Klein Halevi. Click
here for his bio.
Friday evening: “
Saturday following
morning services: “A
Jewish Journey into Islam and Christianity: Experiences and Lessons.”
Saturday following
lunch: “Beyond Left and
Right: How
for
Peace with the Palestinians.”
Saturday following
Mincha at the Seuda: (Third Meal) - “Meet the Scholar”
Saturday following
Havdalah Unplugged (open to all, but especially for Young Professionals staying
for the UJF comedy night program or those staying for our Israeli Movie Night):
“Tracing Israeli Politics from 1967 to Today
Through Israeli Rock Music.”
Some other highlights:
Our Yoga team
is putting together a great new session, emphasizing a Shabbat theme.
Interest is growing in
our Meditative Service drew 35 people last time.
Donna
Sweidan will be leading a workshop on “10 Steps to Implementing a Successful Job Search
or Career Change”
Havdalah
Unplugged will be spectacular – Imagine Shabbat
Unplugged with glow sticks!
Daniel
Krauss deals with “Helping our Aging Parents Stay at Home”
Lot Therrio, a therapist and
former minister, has enthralled
people of all ages with his stories from around the world.
My book discussion will be on Emma Shore's new
biography of Emma Lazerus. It is part of the Nextbook
series. Click
here to purchase it.
And, last but certainly
not least…it’s SISTERHOOD SHABBAT!
This just in…
the deadline
has been extended to TONIGHT for tomorrow night’s USY’s Teen Shabbat
Dinner
(8th
Graders are invited too!)
When/Where: Meet in the TBE Youth
Lounge @ 5:30pm. Pickup is at 8pm.
We'll enjoy a (dairy) lasagna dinner and challah
before having our own services in the youth
lounge, then hanging out and having a dessert oneg!
Cost: $5
RSVP to YOUTH@TBE.ORG by Thursday, January 24th.
The first 10 teens to RSVP will get a $5 Cold Stone
Creamery Gift Certificate
Contents
of the Shabbat O Gram:
(Click
to scroll down)
The (Occasionally) Ranting Rabbi
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah
Opportunities
The Beth El Bar/Bat
Mitzvah Commentary
Required Reading and Action Items (links
to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)
Quote for the Week
A person’s character can be
judged by the way he handles three things:
his drink, his money and his anger:
And some people say by the way he jokes also.”
- Babylonian Talmud (Eruvin
65b)
Rave reviews for last week’s experimental “Nefesh
Service” on Friday evening:
“I thoroughly enjoyed the new and experimental Nefesh service on Friday
night. The setting, sitting in comfortable chairs in the lobby, was ideal.
Rabbi, Cantor and David Daniel led us in a well thought out service. We prayed
together, we sang, we heard interesting stories, we meditated, we connected
with people in the circle both visually and orally, and we tried new ways to
make prayer more meaningful.”
Candle lighting: 4:44 pm on Friday, January 25,
2008. 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 in the sanctuary
Followed by our scholar
in residence Yossi Klein Halevi.
“
Tot Shabbat Friday at 6:45 pm. in the chapel
Shabbat morning
full updated Synaplex schedule
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.
Reminder
of our “No School No Shul” policy: On days when Stamford
Torah
Reading For Shabbat Morning
Torah Portion: Exodus 18:1 - 20:23
The Ten Commandments
1: 18:1-12 (12 p'sukim)
2: 18:13-23 (11 p'sukim)
3: 18:24-27 (4 p'sukim)
4: 19:1-6 (6 p'sukim)
5: 19:7-19 (13 p'sukim)
6: 19:20-20:14 (20 p'sukim)
7: 20:15-23 (9 p'sukim)
maf: 20:19-23 (5 p'sukim)
Haftarah for Ashkenazim: Isaiah 6:1 - 7:6; 9:5 - 9:6
Haftarah for Sephardim: Isaiah 6:1 - 6:13
- myjewishlearning.com
- Torah
from JTS
- JTS Podcasts
- American Jewish University
- Academy for Jewish Religion
The Obama
Libel
I don’t yet know whom I will be voting for in the CT primary, but
the horrible smear campaign that has been waged
against Barack Obama should
offend every Jew. According
to an
article in this week's Jewish Week, “Jewish leaders in diverse parts of the
country say the year-old campaign to pillory Obama
based on the four childhood years he spent in Indonesia and the fact his
stepfather was a secular Muslim continues, despite intensifying efforts by the Obama campaign to reaffirm his friendship with the Jewish
community and tout his credentials as an active Christian.”
Of all people, we Jews should be especially wary of the dangers of
the type of unsubstantiated rumors that have become increasingly prevalent in
this era of instant and unedited global communication. It becomes clearer all the time that human
nature has yet to catch up to the technology.
When people began driving cars, they had to get used to the added
speed. For example, they needed to learn
an entirely new way of negotiating turns, very different from the old
horse-and-buggy days. Well, now we have
to get used to the fact that with a single click of the mouse, unsubstantiated
rumors can go viral globally in just seconds.
That’s a far cry from the quaint old days when
Yenta the Matchmaker would tell Golda and Tevye about
Lazar Wolf’s dirty laundry. We need to
recalibrate our ability to sniff out falsehood and become all the more careful
before repeating things we’ve read.
Of course, Obama is hardly the only
victim of political dirty tricks. But
I’ve seen little else directed specifically by Jews to Jews. In light of the upcoming vote in Florida
Let’s just stick to the issues, folks!
Our Kulanu
Teens on YouTube
A week
ago Wednesday night, Kulanu held an open house program for 7th graders (also
attended by 8th graders) featuring a drumming workshop. It was
a fantastic program and the kids had a great time. Also, it was just uploaded to YouTube – so check it out! Maybe
you’ll see someone you know! To our TBE drummers and
dancers – Yasher Koach!
Oh yes,
it’s at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEQplyiSykg
Pats vs.G-Men
It’s not going to be easy to put together my annual Super Bowl
prediction for next week’s O-Gram. Never
before has a Super Bowl hit so close to home for so many around these
parts. Since it’s abundantly clear that,
as a Patriots fan I will be all-to-likely to manipulate the Jewish sources to
show how they are predicting a New England victory, (not that I’ve ever done that in the past!), this year I want to
invite YOU to send me your predictions, based on Jewish sources. Anything is fair game:
numerology, biblical references (lots of giants in the Bible), the Hebrew
meaning of names of players (did you know
that “Tom” in Hebrew is “simple,” – think of the third of the four sons at the
Seder – and he does make things seem so simple!), folklore, cities in
Israel, number of Jews in each city (I
believe Boston has more…J), whether a team’s legendary owner has your wife’s
name (J),
you name it!
I’ll collect the “evidence” and present it objectively next
week. I’ll assume that you don’t mind my
using your name in presenting your prediction.
Teens and kids are most welcome to add their two shekels to this as
well.
Should be a fun week…
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah Opportunties
Beth El Cares:
Inreach and Outreach
Mitzvah Suggestions for the
Week
Chevra Kadisha
of
We at TBE benefit
greatly from this community-wide service.
Our members have always been among the volunteers, but the Chevra is always looking for more people from our
congregation to become involved. The Chevra (Burial Society) performs the sacred act of tahara, washing and preparing the deceased for burial. It is done in a
loving, traditional manner that is profoundly meaningful to all who
participate. Let me know if you might be
interested in helping out. Meanwhile, here is the announcement regarding their
annual dinner, always timed to be held on the date
traditionally known as Moses’ Yahrzeit, a date when burial societies have
customarily been honored throughout the Jewish world.
ANNUAL DINNER
Wednesday, February 13, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at
Congregation Agudath Sholom
Honorees: Bernard L. Shapiro, President of the Chevra
Kadisha, and his son, Benjamin Shapiro
Community Service Award: Michelle Balazano of Leo P.
Gallagher and Sons Funeral Home
Guest Speaker: RABBI TZVI HERSH WEINREB
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb is the Executive
Vice President of the Orthodox
Donation - $36 person
Sponsorship available at $180 (entitles one to
two reservations at the dinner)
Please join us as the community honors the
many volunteers who selflessly perform the mitzvah of preparing the dead for
burial according to Jewish tradition.
For further information, please call Phyllis
Shapiro at 327-6711.
I received the
following urgent request from our friends in Westport
The Israel Children's Action Network (ICAN!) is comprised of four Israeli organizations that make a tremendous difference in the lives of children.
- Ofanim retrofits old buses into mobile classrooms that
travel throughout the
- College For All is an intensive 11 year mentoring and tutoring program for underprivileged children grades 2-12 with potential;
Tavrow|Lund Consulting has identified
these four Israeli nonprofits as well-managed, unique and effective.
These special nonprofits help children who deal with problems that we do
not like to associate with
Visit our webiste, www.icanfund.org,
to learn more about ICAN! and each organization.
ICAN! is visiting
You can give children in
Bar/Bat Mitzvah Projects:
Keep watching
for projects to appear in this space….
The responsa below contains
a fascinating historical survey showing the wide diversity of Jewish
practice. In the end, Rabbi Golinkin comes out in favor of he entire congregation
standing for the mourner’s kaddish, something that is not the current practice
here (it used to be). My own feeling is
that standing for mourner’s kaddish is something that
enables the mourner to “do” something on behalf of a departed loved one – and
this can be a very powerful, healing act.
Read Rabbi Golinkin’s responsa and see what
you think.
Should We Stand or Sit for
the Kaddish?
by Rabbi David Golinkin
Question:
In some congregations
people stand for the Kaddish, in others they sit, and in others some
stand and some sit. What is the correct custom?
Responsum:
Sitting or standing for the Kaddish
has been a subject of dispute for over 1,000 years. Indeed, Jews have also
argued about sitting or standing for the Shema for 2,000 years, but that
argument is based on many Talmudic sources.1 The Kaddish, on
the other hand, is only hinted at in the Talmud2 so there are no
early sources as to whether it should be recited while sitting or standing.
I shall therefore present
five different customs regarding our topic and then state my own opinion:
1. Sitting for Kaddish
Rav Natronai
Gaon (ninth century) was asked:
A person who enters the
synagogue and finds the congregation who are responding to Kedushah
or Yehi Shemo Hagadol [ = the refrain of Kaddish] when they
are standing [for Kedushah] or sitting [for Kaddish],3
may he answer when he is sitting and they are standing or vice versa, or
what is the correct practice?
So it is good to do: When
they stand, stand; and when they sit, sit; and don't stand out from the entire
congregation.4
The questioner was not
directly interested in our topic, but we learn from his question that the
congregation normally sat for Kaddish.
Rabbi Judah Al-Barceloni (of
and this is a custom of all Jews
in all synagogues to sit seriously bent over (or: with heads bowed) when the Sheliah Tzibbur
recites Barekhu… and Rav
Amran Gaon wrote the same
thing… (Sefer Ha'itim, ed. Ya’akov Schorr, Cracow, 1903, p. 250).
Rabbi
Maimonides (1135-1204) has a similar
approach. He says (Hilkhot Tefillah 9:1-5) that the congregation sits until the Amidah and only the Sheliah
Tzibbur stands beginning with Kaddish and Barekhu.
Finally, this is also the
approach of Rabbi Avraham Hayarhi (1155-1215) in his Sefer Hamanhig,
written in
2. It is Forbidden to Stand
for Kaddish or Barekhu Because of Yohara
Rabbi Yehizkiya
of
those who stand in the
synagogue for Barekhu or Yehey
Shmey Rabbah [the
refrain of the Kaddish] who compare those prayers to Barukh
She'amar or the Shema, it seems to me that
we protest because it appears like yohara
[=haughtiness to appear more observant than others]… and so ruled Rabbi Azriel, unless the person is a well-known Talmid Hakham
[Sage]… (Teshuvot Or Zarua, ed. Kahana, parag. 391 = Y. Z. Kahana, Maharam Mirotenberg: Teshuvot, Pesakim Uminhagim, Vol. 1, Jerusalem, 1957, p. 56, parag. 29; also quoted by Leket
Yosher, Part 1, p. 17 and Shu”t
Maharil Hahadashot, No.
17).
Rabbi Yehizkiya
felt that since everyone sits for Kaddish and Barekhu,
it is a form of yohara or haughtiness to
stand, and only well-known Sages may do so.
3. If One Asks the Answer is
"No", but One Does Not Protest if One Stands
This was the response of
Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg
(ca. 1220-1293) to Rabbi Yehizkiya (ibid.):
"Of course, one who asks, he is instructed not to stand, but [if he
stands], one does not protest, since his heart is directed towards Heaven".
In other words, one who stands for Kaddish and Barekhu
is not guilty of yohara; he does so out of
true piety and we do not protest.
4. If One is Standing When
the Sheliah Tzibbur
recites the Kaddish, One Continues to Stand
This was the custom of the Maharil, R. Ya'akov Moellin (
would not stand neither for Kaddish
nor for Barekhu, but any Kaddish that
caught him standing, he remained standing until [the Sheliah
Tzibbur] finished "Amen, Yehey Shmey Rabbah".
(Minhagey Maharil,
ed. Shpitzer, Jerusalem, 1989, pp. 438-439, which is
quoted by the Rema in Darkhey
Moshe to Orah Hayyim
56 and many others).
Rabbi Hayyim Vital (Safed, 1543-1620)
reported in his Sha’ar Hakavanot
(end of Drush Hakaddish,
fol. 16d) that his teacher, the Ari z"l, would not stand for "Amen, Yehey Shmey Rabbah",
but if it was the Kaddish after the Amidah
of Shaharit or Arvit
or Minhah, he would remain standing,
complete the reply [of "Amen, Yehey Shmey Rabbah"] and then
sit.
It should
be noted that neither the Maharil nor the Ari gives a reason for this custom. The reason may
have been simple logic – if one is already standing, he should remain standing
until he recites the reply “Yehey Shmey” which sanctifies God’s name. In any case, they,
as usual, had a tremendous influence on subsequent halakhah. Thus, for
example, Rabbi Hayyim Benveniste
(Turkey, 1603-1673) says in Sheyarey
Knesset Hagedolah (to Orah
Hayyim 55, on the Tur,
parag. 1) that he changed his own custom after he
read about the custom of the Maharil. Similarly, the Hida, Rabbi Hayyim Yosef David Azulay (Israel and
Italy, 1724-1806) says that we must follow the Ari
because the Kabbalists of our generation follow the Ari (Shiyurey Berakhah to Orah Hayyim 56, subparag. 1 = Responsa
Tov Ayin, No. 18, parag.
32 = Responsa Tuv Ta’am, No. 32, p. 30 quoted
in Sinai 109 [5752], p. 243).
Indeed, modern Iraqi
authorities such as R. Ya’akov Hayyim
Sofer (1870-1939; Kaf
Hahayyim to Orah
Hayyim 56, parag 20),
R. Yitzhak Nissim (1896-1981) in his Responsa Yein Hatov (Jerusalem, 1979,
No. 30) and R. Ovadiah Yosef
(born 1920) in his Responsa Yehaveh Da'at (Vol. 3, No. 4) all follow the Ari. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef adds that this is the custom of the Sefaradim and Oriental Jews.
5. Standing for Kaddish