Rabbi Joshua Hammerman TBE Shabbat-O-Gram

March 28, 2008 – 2 Adar 21, 5768

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

Thank you to Arnold and Lisa Karp for sponsoring this week’s Shabbat-O-Gram in honor of their daughter, Danielle becoming a Bat Mitzvah.

Thank you to the Satz Family for sponsoring last week’s Shabbat Announcements in honor of Temple Beth El’s recently announced commitment to Rabbi Joshua Hammerman and Mara Hammerman

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

the Shabbat Announcements (Distributed each Shabbat at the Temple)

& the Shabbat-O-Gram. Sponsor all three publications 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

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.”

Prior Shabbat-O-Grams are archived at http://www.tbe.org/sog/index.php.

Contents of the Shabbat O Gram:

(Click to scroll down)

Just the Facts

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

Last week, over 450 people took part in our Purim festivities.

Check our Purim photo album at www.tbe.org

Quote for the Week

From the Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut

Lord God,

I know that my life has consequences,

that the things I say and do and think have consequences,

that my actual sins have consequences,

even those things I wrongly suppose to be sin

have consequences.

And yet somehow I also know

that your love is unconditional,

and that only such love can empower us

to live together without violence.

When we know that God loves us deeply

and will always go on loving us,

whoever we are and whatever we have done,

it becomes possible

to expect no more of our fellow men and women

than they are able to give,

to forgive them generously

when they have offended us,

and to respond to their hostility with love.

By doing so we make visible a new way of being human

and and a new way of responding to our worlds problems.

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting: 6:57 pm on Friday, March 28, 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.

MAZAL TOV… to Danielle Karp, parents Lisa and Arnold Karp and siblings Samantha and Alexa, on her becoming Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat morning; and to Barbara and Joseph Field on the aufruf and forthcoming marriage of their son,

Matthew, to Jennifer Hartstein.

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

Friday Night Shabbat Services:

6:30 – Main Service – in the lobby

6:45 - Tot Shabbat- in the chapel

Shabbat morning

9:30 AM: Main Service

10:30 AM: Children’s services

Morning Minyan: 7:30 Weekdays, 9:30 Sundays

PLEASE COME TO MINYAN!

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.

Now you can become more comfortable with the prayers of our morning service by heading to…

http://www.tbe.org/site/sog/minyanmastery.htm

Torah Reading For Shabbat Morning

Parashat Shmini / Shabbat Parah

Featuring the laws of Kashrut

Torah Portion - Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47

1: 9:1-6
2: 9:7-10
3: 9:11-16
4: 9:17-23
5: 9:24-10:3
6: 10:4-7
7: 10:8-11

On Shabbat Parah, a special maftir

Numbers 19:1-22

Haftarah for Ashkenazim: II Samuel 6:1 - 7:17
Haftarah for Sephardim: II Samuel 6:1 - 6:19

Weekly Torah Commentaries, compiled by www.myjewishlearning.com

Shemini

Leviticus 9:1-11:47

Click here for a summary of Shemini.

Text Studies

Overcoming And Learning From Our Mistakes by Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger

Provided by KOLEL--The Adult Centre for Liberal Jewish Learning, which is affiliated with Canada's Reform movement.

Boundaries, Sanctity, And Silence by Rabbi Cary Kozberg

Provided by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the central body of Reform Judaism in North America.

Commentaries

An Abundance of Fish by Candace Nachman

Provided by Canfei Nesharim, providing Torah wisdom about the importance of protecting our environment.

Considering Our Food Choices by Rabbi Elliot Rose Kukla

Provided by American Jewish World Service, pursuing global justice through grassroots change.

Lessons from the Pig by Beth Kalisch

Provided by American Jewish World Service, pursuing global justice through grassroots change.

From Regulation to Relation by Rabbi Kerry Olitzky

Provided by the Jewish Outreach Institute, an organization dedicated to creating a more open and welcoming Judaism.

Kashrut After Refrigerators by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

Provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, which ordains Conservative rabbis at the University of Judaism.

The Time And Place For Spontaneity by Rabbi Shimon Felix

Provided by the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel, a summer seminar in Israel that aims to create a multi-denominational cadre of young Jewish leaders.

Role Models For Leadership by Michelle Wasserman

Provided by Hillel’s Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning, which creates educational resources for Jewish organizations on college campuses.

The Role Of The Elders by Rabbi Avraham Fischer

Provided by the Orthodox Union, the central coordinating agency for North American Orthodox congregations.

Alcoholism And The “Nation Of Priests” by Rabbi Carl Perkins

Provided by SocialAction.com, an on-line Jewish magazine dedicated to pursuing justice, building community, and repairing the world.

Death, Grief, And Consolation by Beth Freishtat

Provided by the UJA-Federation of New York, which cares for those in need, strengthens Jewish peoplehood, and fosters Jewish renaissance.

COMING ATTRACTIONS at TBE…

see our Shabbat Announcements and www.tbe.org for more details

Community Scholar-in-Residence Program

Three fascinating days of learning with one of Israel and England’s finest scholars

April 1 – 3 • Michael Wegier

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THE MARCIA KAHAN MEMORIAL CONCERT

Cantor Rachael Littman

Sunday, April 6, 2008

KOL ISHA

A WOMAN’S VOICE

Celebrating 20 years of investiture of women cantors in the Conservative Movement.

Pre-Concert Art Exhibit at 3:30 p.m.

(Continued after concert)

Concert at 4:00 p.m.

Temple Beth El’s

Second Night

Community Seder

Sunday, April 20 at 7:00 PM

GET YOUR RESERVATIONS IN NOW!

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MAY 9-10 SYNAPLEX:

“Israel @ 60: The Jew Re-imagined”

Featuring Scholar in Residence

Reuven Kimelman

Friday night: “Israel @ 60: The New Jew”

Shabbat morning: “Israel @ 60: Jews, Christians and the Love of God”

Shabbat after Lunch: “Israel @60: Jews, Moslems and the Struggle for Jerusalem”

STANDARD-UPDATE REUVEN KIMELMAN, Professor of classical rabbinic literature at Brandeis, co-directed the program in Judaism and Christianity in Late Antiquity. He teaches courses and directs doctoral work in Talmud, Midrash, liturgy, ethics and and the Jewish political tradition. His focus is on the relationship between historical and literary analysis. One of his books, The Rhetoric of Jewish Prayer: a Literary and Historical Commentary on the Prayerbook, is to be published by The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, while another, The Mystical Meaning of Lekhah Dodi and the Welcoming of the Sabbath, was published in Hebrew by Magnes Press of the Hebrew University. He serves on the Executive Editorial Committee of The Cambridge University History of Judaism Volume 4:The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period and is responsible for its section on liturgy and the synagogue. Professor Kimelman recently issued three audio books, two on The Moral Meaning of the Bible - The What, How, and Why of Biblical Ethics, and one on The Hidden Poetry Of The Jewish Prayerbook: The What, How, and Why of Jewish Liturgy. He also recently served as a Lady Davis Scholar at the Hebrew University and as a fellow of the Sholom Hartman Institute of Jerusalem. He represented the Jewish community in Washington D.C. at the Catholic commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, and served as an educator for the March of the Living in Poland and Israel.

And highlighted by the area premier of Storahtelling’s

“Becoming Israel”

“Becoming Israel is a powerful drama,

tying the biblical, the historical,

and the personal into a knot of

celebration: a worthy garland for

Israel’s 60th.”

–Peter Pitzele, PhD

“…powerful, illuminating,

beautifully performed.”

–Alicia Ostriker

Check out my new blog at

http://ononefoottheblog.blogspot.com/

Reverend Wright: Reverend Wrong

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield's essay, "Raging Sermons," in this week’s Jewish Week, makes some excellent points about the invective coming from pulpits lately. With all the hatred spewing forth from religious leaders, it is important for responsible citizens not to let it slip by without response. I would have hoped that Barack Obama, as a public official running for president, would have done that. We all know that lines from sermons can be taken out of context, it is very possible that the full record is not one of hate, and that the African American sermonic tradition is known for its prophetic bluster. But words still matter, and the comments about America, Israel and Jews are particularly disturbing.

Hirshfield adds that John McCain also has to be careful of his associations with evangelical leaders, including Rev. John Hagee, who has made denigrating comments about Catholics. In the article, he writes of his youthful infatuation with the hate-speak of Rabbi Meyer Kahane, whom I also found alluring during my teen years, especially when I heard him speak live at my high school. But I never crossed the line to swallow the venom.

And then there is Rabbi Hershel Schachter, one of America’s most influential Orthodox rabbis who recently commented that “we should shoot the prime minister,” of any Israeli government willing to divide Jerusalem. His comments have been condemned widely, but all too many have tried to justify them on the same grounds that Rev. Wright’s comments have been justified: that he is expressing the pent-up frustrations of those who have been victimized and trampled upon. Sorry, it just doesn’t work.

Because words matter.

Words matter, and Obama’s speech on religion and racial healing was masterful in light of that. But this is not about the presidential race. I believe that we know enough about each of the three remaining candidates to say that their views on Israel and Jews are all constructive and positive. (Hey, McCain even donned a knitted yarmulke at the Kotel last week – see my comments on that on a Jewish Week blog). Those views will continue to be put to the test over the coming weeks.

As to the broader question of whether people’s views can be gauged by the words of their pastors, well, I’ve never believed that to be true. Yes, in a broad sense, people who are members of a congregation normally buy into the basic vision of that congregation – and that typically means the pastor’s vision too. But I think I’d be hard pressed to find a single person here who agrees with everything I’ve ever preached. However, if I were to say “God D____ America!” I suspect someone would point out to me that perhaps it wasn’t the wisest thing to say. Nonetheless, if that person were to have a connection with me that goes far beyond what is preached, including namings, weddings, funerals, bar mizvahs, and all the other things that happen over twenty years, we would begin to understand that such a relationship goes well beyond what is said on Rosh Hashanah from the pulpit.

Maybe it’s different for Jews, though, for if any rabbi were to preach what Rev Wright preached, I suspect he would be looking for a new job pretty quickly. Unless his name is Rabbi Hershel Schachter…. Or the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, who said that Israeli soldiers were dying in Lebanon (during the first Lebanon war in the 80's) because Jews in Israel had failed to check their mezuzahs carefully (see Rabbi Gerry Skolnik’s entry in the Jewish Week blog), or a former Chief Rabbi of Israel blamed the Shoah on the rise of non-Orthodox Judaism in post-Emancipation Europe, or… Well, you get the idea.

Maybe it’s different for Jews…and maybe it’s not.

My column in last week’s Jewish Week

Purim and Good Friday: An Unholy Alliance

by Joshua Hammerman
Special To The Jewish Week

http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c55_a5355/Editorial__Opinion/Opinion.html

On March 21, for just the second time since 1910, Purim will coincide with Good Friday (the first was three years ago), leaving us with the oddest of bedfellows: Easter and Esther.

It’s simply unnatural. Holy Week should coincide with Passover. That way, Jews and Christians can all celebrate common roots together, sharing interfaith Seders and the annual telecast of “The Ten Commandments.” The stars are usually aligned for this Paschal connection to occur. Easter occurs on the Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox and that full moon usually coincides with the first day of Passover. During Jewish Leap Years, Passover is pushed back by one lunar cycle and on rare occasions when that happens, Good Friday must contend with Passover’s raucous little sister: Purim.

This year, the natural rhythm has been thrown off completely. While my Christian neighbors will be commemorating the crucifixion, I’ll be participating in a very different sort of passion play, complete with masks and groggers.

Purim is Passover in a funhouse mirror. One is noted for its levity while the other is completely unleavened. On Purim, boundaries dissolve, as Jews traditionally imbibe until, according to tradition, even good and evil are indistinguishable. On Passover, the theme is not liberation through libation, but rather liberation through intensified structure and discipline; its main meal is even called the “Order” (seder).

Upon closer examination, Purim and Good Friday are a match made in an unholy heaven. To my knowledge, no one at the Last Supper was asked to pass the hamantaschen. But there are significant associations to be made between the two holidays, and more specifically between the deaths of Haman and Jesus.

Ancient Aramaic versions of the Esther story employ the term tzalab, “crucify,” to describe Haman’s demise. The first-century historian Josephus did as well. While Jews have traditionally ascribed his death to hanging with a noose, historians doubt that such methods of capital punishment were used during that period. In his Sistine Chapel interpretation of Haman’s death, Michelangelo emphasized the Christological parallels, depicting a crucifixion rather than a hanging.

For Jews of the Middle Ages, who often suffered under oppressive Christian rule, the parallels between Jesus and Haman were more subtle. While Jews never vilified Jesus himself, the way they vilified the genocidal Haman, Purim gave them the opportunity to channel their fears into an annual celebration of epic triumph over an eternal oppressor. The rabbis called that oppressor “Amalek,” noting Haman’s ancestry that is recounted in the book of Esther itself. It is noteworthy that Amalek is introduced in Genesis as the grandchild of Esau, whose Edomite line was linked by post-biblical sages to Rome and later, to Christendom.

No wonder fifth-century Byzantine rulers proscribed the Purim custom of burning Haman’s effigy, suspecting that Jews were trying to satirize Jesus’ death. Just as with the Passion Play, the Purim spiel has carried the potential to incite participants and observers alike toward an intensified hatred of the Other. The most infamous Passion Play is the Oberammergau Passion Play, called by Hitler in 1934 a “precious tool” in his war against the Jews.

It is not coincidental that vicious attacks against Jews have often taken place during the Christian Holy Week — and that one of the most heinous attacks by a Jew, the massacre of 29 Muslims at prayer by Baruch Goldstein in Hebron in 1994, took place on Purim. Goldstein attended Purim services just before setting out on his infamous mission, undoubtedly drinking up the Megillah’s message of vengeance. Esther is meant to be read as farce, but taken literally, it is perhaps the bloodiest and most chauvinistic book of the entire Bible. The unholy alliance of Purim and Good Friday is an ugly tableau that appeals to the worst instincts of human nature, and that highlights the most dangerous traits embedded in both faith traditions.

These traits can be traced through liturgy, such as the Pope’s recent reintroduction of the Tridentine Latin Mass, which includes the prayer recited specifically on Good Friday “for the conversion of the Jews.” And in Jewish liturgy there is the original Alenu prayer, which chastises those who “bow to vanity and emptiness,” i.e., Christianity.

Despite it all, Jews and Christians continue to love these two holidays. That’s because, along with all the malice, Good Friday and Purim also reveal Judaism and Christianity at their most hopeful. The messianic themes so endemic to Easter are also on display in the Purim story. Echoing a passage from Book of Esther, “These days of Purim will never cease among the Jews,” Jewish tradition proclaims that of all our holidays only Purim will continue to be celebrated in Messianic times. Not Passover. Not Yom Kippur.

Just Purim.

And Good Friday?

Perhaps in that dreamlike end-time, even the boundaries between Easter and Esther will begin to dissolve and, to paraphrase Alenu, we’ll rally behind all that is good about our fellow human beings, even if we worship the same God differently. On that day, not only will God be One, God’s name will be One as well.

New Book “Hip Kosher” by Ronnie Fein

Ronnie Fein, who has been a member of our synagogue for decades, has written her third book: Hip Kosher 175 Easy-to-Prepare Recipes for Today’s Kosher Cooks. The title says it all. This is not a book of traditional Jewish dishes, but focuses on modern recipes that show how kosher cuisine can be adapted to what Americans are eating today. Over the years, like everyone else, kosher home cooks have been exposed to the international tastes that have influenced modern American cooking trends. Supermarket shelves are lined with products such as wasabi powder, hoisin sauce, harissa, salsa, and ancho chili pepper.

Adapting local cuisine to kashruth is nothing new. For millennia, kosher cooks have followed the cooking styles of the places where they lived, changing recipes to meet kosher requirements. This is no less true in America, where the foods that we eat reveal a rich and varied cultural heritage. Modern American cuisine includes foods that embrace Latin, Asian, African, and European influences. It’s a little Italian, a little Chinese, a little Mexican, a little Moroccan, and so on. Modern kosher-American food should do the same. The recipes in this book underscore our rich culinary heritage. They include recipes that illustrate the variety of our ethnicity: Chicken with Dates and Toasted Almonds from the Middle East; Beef Kebabs with Quick Pebre Sauce, a Chilean specialty; Italian-Style Bread and Tomato Soup and Mexican Huevos Rancheros. There are also some old-fashioned “American” classics like Baked Alaska, updated to consider current-day tastes and time constraints, and some that reflect the way modern American cooks take the best elements of several cuisines and combine them into one delicious recipe: Grilled Salmon with Pineapple-Mango Salsa, Lamburgers with Sun-Dried Tomato Mayo, Stir-Fried Couscous with Chicken, Dried Apricots and Pistachio Nuts, Pumpkin Bisque with Curry and Pear and Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies to name a few.

It’s hip kosher, with stylish, easy, up-to-date recipes that will help you expand your culinary repertoire and keep dinner interesting. All the recipes are kosher and all appropriate ingredients have a hekhsher. But don’t let the recipe names fool you. These are all easy enough for every day dinner.

Beth El Cares:

Inreach and Outreach

BETH EL (REALLY) CARES

We are currently embarking on some new initiatives for inreach, including groups of people who will do visitations at nursing homes and hospital, rides to temple events, providing baby sitters for congregants, as well as those sustaining and growing our daily minyan, along with other inreach initiatives. If you are interested in participating in any of these endeavors, please contact me at rabbi@tbe.org

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AN ELDERLY GENTLEMAN (PRIMARILY YIDDISH SPEAKING) WOULD LOVE A RIDE TO SERVICES ON SHABBAT MORNINGS. HE LIVES ON SHIPPAN AVE. AND HAS NO OTHER WAY TO GET HERE. IF YOU CAN HELP PLEASE CONTACT MINDY IN OUR OFFICE AT office@tbe.org.

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Many people know Lillian Wasserman, especially from her many years of work at Bi Cultural Day School. Since her daughter (Rivka Lieber) moved to Westchester, it has become increasingly difficult for Lillian to continue working here. She needs to find a small apartment or shared living situation in order to do so, at a price range of 1000-1200 dollars a month.

She is looking for bedroom and access to microwave/fridge, and one parking spot.

If you can help, contact Rivka directly at home 914-833-0909 or via email at Lieberr@aol.com

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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP WITH OUR ANNUAL 2^ND NIGHT TBE SEDER,

CONTACT DARICE BAILER AT daricerb@aol.com. OUR SEDER COMMITTEE IS ALREAY HARD AT WORK!

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Do you know of any high school or college girls that are looking for some extra money??? Or even a mature adult who is bored and wants some spending money or to spend some time with children – mine that is…two beautiful, nice girls in fifth and first grades. We need someone after school (Roxbury) Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 3:15 – 6:15 PM. You would need your own car to drive short distances to activities in Stamford. Please contact Susan and Mark Plotzky at 203.359.2290.

Mitzvah Suggestion for the Week

DO A HUGE MITZVAH FOR OUR JEWISH SOLDIERS IN IRAQ

THIS SUNDAY, March 30^th @ 10:00 AM

BREAKFAST & PRESENTATION BY NAVY COMMANDER BRADLEY BOYER SPONSORED BY TBE MEN’S CLUB

“My Tour of Duty with the Multi-National Forces-Iraq Law and Order Task Force”

We want to share with you an opportunity to do a huge mitzvah for Jewish Americans deployed overseas in the military (mainly in Iraq), and we're making very easy for everyone to participate!

Help our service members feel connected to Klal Yisrael this Passover by making a care package.

You box it up and bring it to the temple, and we have a crew ready to label the packages and get them mailed.

Here's what to include:

Several juice boxes of kosher grape juice (seal in zip bags) wrap in bubble wrap

Canister of macaroons

A box of kosher for Passover cereal

A box of kosher for Passover matzah crackers, like Tams, but they should be the Pesach ones

Assorted other Passover goodies that don't look like they'll melt and preferably nothing coated in chocolate, it's getting hot over thereA tube of toothpaste (place in a zip lock bag)\

A tube of foaming bath gel (place in a zip lock bag)

An extra Haggadah (even a Maxwell House one will do)

Write a card, addressing it to "Shalom Hero!" -- Provide an email address in the card for contact, so whoever receives it can write back and say thanks.

Box all items in a PLAIN cardboard box (post office often won't mail a box with other labeling or wording).

No need to label the box, we'll take care of that.

Bring your box of goodies to Temple Beth El by NO LATER THAN THIS SUNDAY.

In fact, bring your package by 10 am Sunday and stay to hear Navy Commander Brad Boyer speak about his tour of duty in Iraq (he returned 3 months ago).

The presentation is meant for an adult audience (mature teens at the discretion of parents), but your whole family can join in making this meaningful gift to a US service member missing the holiday of Passover at home.

DON’T HAVE TIME TO FILL A BOX? – Help us defray the mailing costs, which is $10.95 per box. Donations can be sent to Temple Beth El, 350 Roxbury Rd., Stamford, CT 06902. Please indicate on the check that it is for the Shalom Hero’s Boxes.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Projects:

HELP THE ANIMAL SHELTER

BRING NEW DOG OR CAT TOYS

ALSO BRING IN NEW OR OLD TOWELS OR BLANKETS

THIS IS FOR JULIE PISKIN’S

BAT MITZVAH PROJECT

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NOW THERE’S ONE MORE REASON TO COME TO MINYAN…

We’ve just received copies of a new and comprehensive commentary on our siddur, “Or Hadash” – This joint project of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and the Rabbinical Assembly, authored by Rabbi Reuven Hammer, features material from classical and contemporary sources, explanations of the history, structure and meaning of prayers and more. The page numbers match our regular weekday siddur, but the in-depth commentaries will bring a whole new dimension to your experience of prayer, opening new doors to understanding the service.

What Happens When the Day Before Passover is Shabbat?

Source http://www.responsafortoday.com/eng_index.html

Question:
Erev Pesach this year falls on Shabbat. How should one prepare for the holiday and what should one eat on Shabbat?

Responsum:
This is a rather rare occurrence; it happened only eleven times in the twentieth century. The main laws are as follows:

1) The fast of the firstborn: According to R. Yosef Karo, once the fast is pushed off, it is pushed off entirely. According to the Rema, the fast is moved up to the Thursday before Pesach, and this is the accepted Ashkenazic practice. Thus Ashkenazim should conduct a siyyum on Thursday, the 12th of Nissan, in order to enable the firstborn to eat.

2) The search for the hametz: This ceremony is performed on Thursday evening and the hametz is burned on Friday morning. Technically, it could be burned at any time on Friday since it is not Erev Pesach, but it is burned at the usual time at the end of the fifth hour (10:28 a.m. in Jerusalem) in order not to confuse people the following year.

3) The Shabbat meals: This is the main problem connected with Erev Pesach which falls on Shabbat. On the one hand, according to the Yerushalmi (Pesahim 10:1, fol. 37b) it is forbidden to eat matzah on Erev Pesach in order to eat it at the seder with a hearty appetite. On the other hand, it is difficult to keep hallot in the house on Shabbat when all of the remaining hametz was already burned on Friday morning. Furthermore, it is forbidden to eat hametz on Shabbat morning - which is Erev Pesach - after the fourth hour of the day (9:10 a.m. in Jerusalem).

Indeed, this situation is already mentioned in the Mishnah (Pesahim 3:6), Tosefta (ibid. 3:9, 11) and Bavli (ibid. 49a and parallels) but those sources are not entirely clear and, as a result, four solutions have developed over the years:

1) Rabbi Yitzhak ibn Giyyat (Spain, d. 1089) ignored the Yerushalmi mentioned above or was not familiar with it and ruled that one should eat matzah at all of the Shabbat meals. This custom seems to have disappeared because it contradicts the Yerushalmi.

2) The second approach is based on Pesahim 13a and parallels, which says that one leaves enough hametz for two meals - one on Friday night and one on Shabbat morning before the fourth hour of the day, after which one recites "kol hamira" at the end of the fifth hour, as one does every year. This approach has been followed for hundreds of years, but it is quite inconvenient because one must eat in a corner away from the Pesach dishes and one must make sure no crumbs fall on the floor. Furthermore, one must wake up very early in the morning in order to pray and finish eating hametz by 9:10 a.m. (in Jerusalem) and then discard the hametz outside of the house. Rabbi Eliyahu Hazzan (d. 1908) and others have already criticized this method because of the problems of crumbs, sweeping the house, the prevention of Oneg Shabbat and the fear lest one eat hametz after the permitted time. Therefore, it is preferable to look for another solution.

3) Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef has suggested a third approach - to use matzah, which has been recooked in soup. After the soup cools off, one removes it in whole pieces and dries it out. It can then be used for the second and third Shabbat meals while regular matzah can be used on Friday night because the prohibition in the Yerushalmi does not pertain to the night before Pesach. This method is halakhically valid, but it is difficult to adopt for practical reasons because most Jews will not have the time or patience to follow this complicated procedure.

4) The fourth approach is the simplest and the preferred method - to use "matzah ashirah" (egg matzah) at all three Shabbat meals since it is neither hametz nor real matzah. It is already mentioned by the Maggid Mishneh (Spain, 14th century) and by Rabbi Yosef Karo. The latter only rejected it for practical reasons, since not everyone could bake egg matzah. R. Haim Palache relates that this was the practice in Ismir in the nineteenth century and it was followed by Rabbi Eliyahu Hazzan mentioned above and by Rabbi Joseph ben Walid. In the twentieth century, it was recommended by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, by my grandfather Rabbi Mordechai Ya'akov Golinkin z"l, the Av Bet Din of Boston for many years, by my father Rabbi Noah Golinkin, by Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Rabbi Kassel Abelson and others.

As for the third Shabbat meal (seudah shelishit), it is possible to be stringent like the Rema and eat only fruit, meat and fish. But it is also possible to eat egg matzah all day long following the custom of Rabbeinu Tam, Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Yehezkel Landau.

In conclusion, in our day the fourth custom is preferable. One should search for the hametz on Thursday night, burn the hametz and recite "Kol Hamira" on Friday morning and eat egg matzah on Pesach dishes at all three Shabbat meals.

Rabbi David Golinkin

Also, see our website’s Passover information section:

» A Guide for the Perplexed
» When Pesach Falls on a Saturday Night
» Sale of Hametz Form (must be received by April 18)

Jewish Renewal in Israel

Jewish renewal in Israel has not come from the expected sources – the American movements that have preached it for decades. See this fascinating article for more background on this startling grassroots phenomenon: http://www.nif.org/media-center/nif-in-the-news/31234197_093022_file_3.pdf

Havaya provides creative lifecycle ceremonies: http://www.havaya.info/lhe/apage/24594.php

The Bible Raps Project http://www.bibleraps.com/index.html

Bible stories, together with rap rhymes and hip-hop music caught our imagination. Really, it sounds like Purim – it is, but it’s much more than that. The approach is innovative, educational and engages young people (12-30 years old) in a wildly successful way – www.KBYweb.org/BibleRaps See a video sample of the project, a rap Purim parody that Matt wrote for younger kids that was filmed in Jerusalem: www.HamanSong.com. Read what Ha’aretz has to say: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/954491.html

And just in time to show how Israel is developing a new sense of soul, the Israeli – French singer Yael Naim is topping American charts with her new hit, “New Soul”: See a video interview at Israel's Yael Naim shares her soul on the US music charts

When she was a very young singer-songwriter Yael Naim decided she was an old soul. Later the Israeli realized that she'd made a mistake. This realization is the inspiration for the American breakout hit of the year, New Soul, chosen by Apple CEO Steve Jobs to market Apple's newest laptop.

Sung in English, the song went on to become the Number 1 downloaded song on iTunes, and landed Naim Billboard magazine's "Hot Shot" designation, scoring the highest for any debut song on the magazine's singles chart.

"It was when I was really young that I sincerely believed I was an old soul reincarnated and I could even say it gave me a sense of superiority over others," says Naim, 29, who grew up in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon.

"But then as I subsequently did everything the wrong way around I concluded that it was actually my first time on earth and that I should learn to be more humble."

Naim, who sings in Hebrew, English and French, was born in Paris and moved to Israel as a four-year-old. She went on to complete mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces.

She writes ISRAEL21c by email: "In Israel the military service is [mandatory], so I did it like everybody." Today, Naim regards herself as "lucky" for being chosen by the IDF to be an army musician and singer because it "gave me lots of experience in live performances."

As a little girl, she remembers tapping her fingers on a tiny organ. "My interest in the instrument was so obvious, one day I got home from school and there was a real piano in my bedroom," she recalls.

Then there were 10 years of conservatory and classical piano lessons. She thought she'd write symphonies after seeing the film Amadeus, but then discovered her father's Beatles records and later, at around 18, Joni Mitchell.

In 2000, Naim - already a performing artist on the Israeli circuit - was invited to perform at a charity concert in Paris, and was not long after plucked up by EMI. This partnership led to a disappointing record deal.

Later, and still in Paris, Naim met David Donatien, a multi-talented musician. Encouraging her to sing in Hebrew, Naim credits the partnership with Donatien for her music's sudden rise in popularity.

She's happy about ranking in the top 10 US music charts, mainly because she thinks it's incredible "to be able to be completely yourself, sing in your language and still do modern music, and especially see that people can be touched by it."

Neither is sure exactly why their music has struck such a deep chord in the American market. "It's hard for us to answer," she writes. "Even in France it's hard to explain. What we can say is that we made this album with an intense sincerity and perhaps the people can feel it in the US like in other countries."

And what's next? "Now we just want to enjoy all that is happening to us," she says. "We worked two and a half years in my living room and are very happy to play our music, meet all these people and travel so much with the music. We really want to keep this road calm and human and beautiful."

Two other popular songstresses in the US have direct ties to Israel: Keren Ann, an Israeli citizen living in New York, Europe and sometimes Israel; and Regina Spektor, who at a concert in Tel Aviv last year, said her inspiration for songwriting came while on a hiking trip to Israel as a youth.

Israeli Air Force fly over Auschwitz - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfv3jsLGzL0

The Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary

Elana Leichter’s commentary on Parashrat Vayetze – from last November 10

Today is an important date on the calendar. Yes, it’s my Bat Mitzvah…but also it’s a day known as Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” commemorating what many consider to be the beginning of the Holocaust. Tomorrow is also Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. All of these events teach us the importance of sacrifice, especially when it comes to our family and our country.

My portion of Vayetze teaches that very same lesson. Jacob leaves his homeland and moves in with his extended family. There he falls in love with Rachel, the younger daughter. He works for seven years to marry her. But on the night of the wedding, he gets tricked into marrying the older sister, Leah. He then has to work another seven years to marry Rachel.

Most commentators blame Lavan for the deception. But some rabbis say that this is a great example of sisterly love. According to a midrash, Rachel knew that there was a custom for the older daughter to marry first. One commentator tells us that Rachel and Jacob had a secret code, so that Jacob would know that it was really Rachel under the veil and not Leah. But being the sweet sister that she was, she gave up her happiness so that she could let her sister marry first, by telling Leah the code.

I would have done the same thing for my little sister, Helene. Like the time we were at Rye Playland and we had just enough tickets for only one of us to go on the last ride. At first my Dad said that we could flip a coin, and I won, but when my sister got a little upset – OK – a lot upset – I decided that she could be the one to go on the ride.

The things I have given up for Helene and other members of my family are very small compared to the sacrifices that both of my Grandfathers made during World War II. My Grandpa Murry served as an infantry officer and did his best to help defeat the Nazis and ensure that his brother, who had been shot down over France, would come home safe. My Grandpa David courageously resisted the Nazis as a prisoner of several concentration camps. At one point, a Nazi officer told him that no one would ever know that the Jewish people had ever lived. “WE WILL ERASE YOU,” he said. It was at that point that my Grandpa David decided that, no matter what he had to go through, he would survive.

I can’t even imagine what it took to survive with people dying all around him, with no food and nowhere to go. But somehow he made it and he is here today.

I’ve tried to apply the things I’ve learned from both of my grandfathers and from Rachel to my own life. For my Mitzvah Project, I work with younger kids at the JCC, reading to them, doing art projects and playing games with them. In the midrash, Rachel is seen as sort of a mother figure for all of Israel. If I can show that same kind of concern for all the children I will work with, I will have learned the most important lesson that my portion has to teach. In the end, a small sacrifice of time and effort can make a big difference.

Noah Arons’ commentary on Parashat Vayikra

The world is far from perfect. This is a theme that runs through both my Torah portion and the special portion for this Shabbat, along with the Haftarah. Each of these shows how we need to deal with an imperfect world in looking for ways to solve problems.

The Torah readings are concerned especially with how to deal with all the bad things that people do. In today’s regular portion of Vayikra, people are told to bring sacrifices as a way of asking God to forgive them. But this is far from a perfect solution because in bringing a sacrifice, an animal often had to be killed.

The maftir reading, Zachor, and the special Haftorah both speak about the evil nation of Amalek. We are commanded to destroy it completely. But when King Saul has that chance, he doesn’t finish the job. It was impossible for him to wipe out every last trace of evil.

I know what it’s like to attack a difficult problem. I’ve had a lot of practice. Since last September, I’ve become an expert at solving the Rubik’s cube. It’s gotten to the point where I can totally solve the problem in less than a minute.

From my experience with Rubik’s Cube, here are some lessons that I’ve learned about solving problems.

1) It’s important to take things one step at a time. My technique is to solve the first layer (or side) completely before going on to the next.

2) Once I’ve solved the first layer, then I solve the second layer.

3) Sometimes I have take a small step backwards in order to go forwards.

4) Within a given layer, I begin by getting the middle pieces aligned first, starting with the one right in the center, and then I let the outer edges fall in to place. I keep my eyes focused on the center.

5) I solve it faster when I stick with a pattern that is familiar to me. For that reason, I always put the yellow side on top.

6) I believe in teamwork, and in doing Rubik’s cube, my hands work as a team.

I’ve found that Rubik’s Cube not only helps me with problem solving, it also helps me develop skills related to Memory, Persistence and thinking out of the box. I kept at it and after a month or two everything just fell into place. It was sort of like Eli Manning. Finally, and just in time, everything just clicked for him and overcame his old problems as a quarterback

So while it is true that the world is far from perfect, I’ve learned that perfection can be just a few twists and turns away…. as long as you keep at it.

These are lessons that I am also teaching younger children as part of my mitzvah project. I’m volunteering at the JCC, working with kindergarten and first graders on their basketball skills.

Download an mp3 file of the recent Jewish Week panel, in which I participated,

“Is the Internet Good for the Jews?” here or at

http://www.thejewishweek.com/podcast.html

and see video highlights by clicking here

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For Some GOOD NEWS check

http://www.israel21c.net/ - THE BEST ISRAELI NEWS PORTAL!

Israel's Tjat supplies pain-free cellphone to email access

It's the kind of thing that can bring on a headache: the flashy new cellphone - with all the bells and whistles - won't let you hook up to your email account or online address book. Either the special software you need doesn't install properly, or those very important emails that should come through, are only received part of the time. Making the cellphone to email hassle go away is the Israeli startup company Tjat (pronounced t-jat) - the name coming from Swedish "to heckle." The company's online solution has successfully bridged the gap between your PC and cellphone, without the pain of having to install anything.

Israelis stop reproductive clock in women undergoing chemotherapy

Girls as young as 14 who are exposed to chemotherapy for treating breast cancer, Hodgkin's disease, and other non-malignant diseases such as lupus, put their reproductive system at risk. The chemotherapy can trigger premature menopause and leave women infertile. New research by an Israeli team of doctors, led by Prof. Zeev Blumenfeld from the Rambam Medical Center and the Technion Faculty of Medicine in Haifa, has found an effective new treatment that helps keep a woman's reproductive health intact while undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatment.

Growing Israeli children into hothouse flowers

Magical kingdoms and secret gardens don't necessarily have to stay in the realm of fairy tales any more, proves an Israeli initiative - The Greenhouse - which for over 30 years has been conducting a unique socio-environmental project. Started by a disenfranchised artist, Avital Geva, in the late '70s, Geva decided to try and solve society's problems a different way, through a living greenhouse. Today hundreds of school-age children participate in one of any number of projects.

See www.israel21c.net for more on these and other stories…

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Israelis Affect the Lives of Americans - David Barish and Randall Czarlinsky
Despite the conflict that engulfs the people and governments throughout the entire Middle East, of which the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is really a footnote, Israelis go about their daily lives, and their positive actions affect the lives of Americans and the rest of the world. A small number of domestic flights in America went wireless last year, and seasoned travelers released a collective sigh of relief. By the end of this year expect trans-Atlantic flights to become the newest frontier to go wireless, thanks to Israeli ingenuity.
An Israeli-developed system for generating rain in desert regions has interested Texas officials who hope that it can be useful to increase agricultural production in Texan deserts. Through a new process, scientists hope that they can alter air currents and increase condensation, resulting in increased rainfall. For nearly two decades, the Texas Agriculture Commission has worked to harness the Israeli-designed drip irrigation systems to enhance production for the multitude of large and small agriculture farms and greenhouses throughout the state. (Houston Chronicle)

At the Zenith of Solar Energy - Neal Sandler
Zenith Solar, based in Israel, is a pioneer in a new type of solar energy that uses mirrors and lenses to focus and intensify the sun's light, producing far more electricity at lower cost. Compared with traditional flat photovoltaic panels made of silicon, this "concentrated solar power" technology has proved in tests to be up to five times more efficient. "Our goal is to utilize every suitable roof, backyard, and open space in Israel to turn households, hotels, and factories into net producers of electricity and thermal heat," says Roy Segev, founder and chief executive. (BusinessWeek)

now for the rest

Prime source: Daily Alert of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

. The Gaza Dilemma - Leslie Susser
If Israel had tolerated years of Kassam rockets raining down on the town of Sderot and other communities close to Gaza, the heavier, longer-range Grad [Katyusha] rockets crashing into the coastal city of Ashkelon crossed an unacceptable red line: They placed hundreds of thousands of Israelis under threat and put strategic installations at risk. Worse: If the trend was allowed to continue, bigger and heavier rockets could soon threaten metropolitan Tel Aviv.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog, former commander of the Southern Front responsible for Gaza, says Israel needs to act soon: "Otherwise, in a few years time, we could find ourselves fighting on two fronts, under a hail of hundreds of rockets a day, covering virtually all of Israel." (Jerusalem Report)