April 4, 2008 – 2 Adar 28, 5768

Shabbat Hahodesh

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

This week’s Shabbat-o-Gram is sponsored by Suzanne and Craig Olin

in honor of their son, Joshua, becoming a Bar Mitzvah

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.

THIS SUNDAY!!!

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.

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

Masechet Cyberspace (NEW)

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

Joke for the Week

Over 450 people took part in our Purim festivities.

Click here for photos of our Purim Celebration

Quote for the Week

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

- Martin Luther King

(Assassinated exactly 40 years ago)

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We die with the dying.

See they depart and we go with them.

We are born with the dead.

See they return and bring us with them.

- T.S. Eliot

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting: 7:04 pm on Friday, April 4, 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 Joshua Olin, parents Suzanne and Craig

and siblings Ilana and Jessica,

on his becoming Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat morning.

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

Friday Night Shabbat Services:

6:30 – Main Service – in the chapel

NO Tot Shabbat this week – Nurit’s in Israel

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

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.

Torah Reading For Shabbat Morning

Parashat Tazria / Shabbat Hahodesh

(The Shabbat marking the upcoming new month of Nisan – the month of Passover)

With a Midrashic focus on the Laws of Gossip (Lashon Ha-ra)

which we’ll be exploring at services on the next two Shabbatot

Torah Portion Leviticus 12:1 - 13:59

1: 12:1-4
2: 12:5-8
3: 13:1-5
4: 13:6-17
5: 13:18-23
6: 13:24-28
7: 13:29-39
maf: 13:37-39

On Shabbat HaHodesh, a special maftir

Exodus 12:1 - 12:20

Haftarah: Ezekiel 45:16 - 46:18

Weekly Torah Commentaries, compiled by www.myjewishlearning.com

Click here for a summary of Tazria.

Text Studies

Clean Up Your Act by Rabbi Andrea Lerner

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

Judging Ourselves And Others by Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger

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

Commentaries

Healing Ourselves, Healing Our Planet by Rabbi Natan Greenberg

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

Leprosy and Other Plagues by Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels

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

Recognizing God’s Presence by David Nelson

Provided by CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a multi-denominational think tank and resource center.

Life, Death, and Impurity by Rabbi Lauren Berkun Eichler

Provided by the Jewish Theological Seminary, a Conservative rabbinical seminary and university of Jewish studies.

The Leprosy Of Irresponsible Speech by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson

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

Parental Sacrifice by Rabbi Joseph S. Ozarowski

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

A Gay Perspective On Punishment And Disease by Rabbi Roderick Young

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

Better Than God? by Rabbi David Goldstein

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

Cycles Of Life, Death, And Purification by Simon S. Kaminetsky

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

Temple Beth El’s Second Night Community Seder

Sunday, April 20 at 7:00 PM

A Traditional, Kosher Seder Meal featuring Entertainment and Activities for All Ages!

» Click here for the flier

» Click here to sign-up online

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Passover Story Hour

Join Rabbi Hammerman for a “Passover Story Hour” at Borders on High Ridge Road on Thursday, April 24 at 10 AM, as he reads some new and old Passover classics, including “The Littlest Frog,” “I’ve Got Gefiltes” and “The Carp in the Bathtub,” and that all time favorite, “K’tonton.”  There will also be snacks, thanks to our “host” family, Sheryl and Dan Young, Andrew, Marissa and Jeremy.

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 afternoon: “Israel @60: Jews, Moslems, Christians and the Struggle for Jerusalem”

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

A full collection of past articles, sermons and essays can now be found at my new blog at http://joshuahammerman.blogspot.com/

Excerpt from my sermon of last Shabbat:

Holiness happens in relationship.

If you look at the book of Genesis,

loneliness is the first thing that God called “not good.”

One might safely say that the opposite of holiness …

is loneliness.

Encouraging American Attitudes on Israel

According to a major new poll by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research commissioned by The Israel Project:

* 80 percent agree that now is the time to toughen sanctions to compel Iran to stop developing nuclear weapons;
* More Americans than ever believe the U.S. should take Israel’s side in the conflict;
* Fully 76 percent of U.S. likely voters consider Israel a vital ally of the U.S.;
* Fully 89 percent believe Palestinian leaders must end the culture of hate that encourages children to become suicide bombers;

The full results of the poll are found below and here. They are fascinating. The support for Israel is wide and deep and cuts across party lines. (See below for more evidence of this, the Congressional resolution on Jews from Arab lands). But in looking closely at the raw results, what struck me most were these two questions:

54. And, do you happen to have a friend, family member or co-worker who is Jewish?

45% YES, FRIEND

12% YES, FAMILY MEMBER

17% YES, CO-WORKER

54% TOTAL YES

44% NO

3% DON’T KNOW/REFUSED

(IF Q87:1-3, THEN ASKED:)

55. And, have any of your Jewish contacts spoken to you about Israel this year?

18% YES

82% NO

Let’s look at that for a second: The poll results, reflecting American demographic trends, show 3% of their sample as being Jewish. Yet fully 12% of the sample said that they have a Jewish family member. This point to the growing impact of dual faith households.

But even more shocking, from a New York area perspective, is that nearly half of all Americans do not claim to have a relationship with a single Jew. It’s absolutely shocking – and yet, in glass half full mode - it should be equally surprising that a group as small as ours, just 3%, is known personally by nearly half of all Americans….

But, more to the point here, among those who have Jewish contacts, fewer than one in five of those Jewish contacts have spoken about Israel.

What are we afraid of? Why do we keep such an important subject to ourselves? Why are we so uncomfortable, when it is clear that for many of our non Jewish friends, Israel is regarded with great sympathy?

So, the great miracle here, if one can call it that, is that without Jews advocating for Israel –and nearly half of all Americans not even knowing any Jews… STILL the support for Israel is zooming skyward.

So much for the power of the so-called “Jewish Lobby!”

It is clear that now is the time for us to stand by Israel’s side. We need a clear headed understanding of the dangers that she faces and the abilities and willingness of our presidential candidates to defend her. It is for that reason that I have decided to attend this year’s AIPAC Policy Conference on June 2-4. I would love to bring a delegation from here. Over 6,000 typically attend, and this year’s conference promises to be even more important than most, with key Israeli and American leaders (from both parties) briefing us on the current situation. Click here to find out more about the conference and to register – and let me know if you are interested. We’ll be part of a larger Connecticut delegation and we’ll also find time for our group to meet during the conference.

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Recognize the names of who’s featured in the following blurb??

They recently spoke here!

THIS WEEK’S JEWISH WEEK HAS it’s largest issue in memory -- 140 pages -- including a handsome 68-page special section on Israel At 60, which we hope will be a keepsake for years to come. It includes original essays from  Israel by historian Michael Oren on the Jewish State's most formidable challenge (and it's not security) and journalist Yossi Klein Halevi on the  paradoxes of Israel life, as well as other essays and features, looking ahead to the future, and much more.

Two Articles on Conservative Judaism

What is your reaction to this idea presented in the Jerusalem Post?

"Merge Conservative and Reform Judaism"

At JTS Straight Talk on Gay Struggles by Gary Rosenblatt of the Jewish Week

Beth El Cares:

Inreach and Outreach

Blood Drive
 
Give the Gift of Life! Get involved in a short term mitzvah project that will save lives. Who benefits from these blood donations? 
People who are born prematurely, people with auto-immune and other blood disorders, people involved in accidents… 
Many people, including temple members, have received blood transfusions including some people who need regular blood transfusions. 
 
On Sunday, May 18th between 8:45 am and 1 pm we need 125 healthy adults who are at least 17 years old, 
weigh at least 110 pounds and have not given blood since the beginning of March. 
 
Contact Alison Wolff at 203-968-6361 to schedule your donation time or to volunteer to help. 

Religious School Mitzvah Projects

THANK YOU to the 7^th grade class, and their donor parents, which collected Passover food items for Jewish soldiers serving in the US military. The class members also made beautiful holiday cards that were included in the packages. Thanks to Eran and Mara for their assistance with this project!

Passover Food Drives

Thanks to everyone who contributed to our two recent Passover food drives. The first food drive, was similar to the 7^th grade class project, where congregants donated boxes containing Passover food items and Haggadot for Jewish soldiers serving in the US military. Special thanks to Beth Boyer for handling the customs forms and mailing. The second food drive was for local residents in need of some Passover staples. Special thanks to Liz Finkelstein for handling the collection and distribution of these packages.

Daffodil Days

Thank you to Ronni Ginsberg for organizing a Daffodil Days sale at Temple Beth El. Proceeds from the sale of daffodils benefited the American Cancer Society.

Volunteer at The Jewish Home for the Elderly

The Jewish Home (in Fairfield) is starting a new program called “Monthly Mitzvah Day” and is asking for groups like ours to select one day per month for members to volunteer at the Home. Please contact me if you’d like to organize this endeavor.

Cathy Satz 968-9191 (csscounsel@yahoo.com)

Chair, Beth El Cares

WASHINGTON, DC (April 1, 2008) - In what may be the beginning of a dramatic shift in United States policy, the U.S. Congress passed House Resolution 185, which grants first-time-ever recognition to Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

Prior to the adoption of H.Res.185, all Resolutions on Middle East refugees referred only to Palestinians. This Resolution affirms that the U.S. government will now recognize that all victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict must be treated equally. It further urges that the President and U.S. officials participating in Middle East discussions to ensure that any reference to Palestinian refugees must: "also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries."

The Resolution was introduced by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Joseph Crowley (D-NY) and Mike Ferguson (R-NJ). With the passing of this Resolution, Rep. Nadler stated, "We believe that as a member of the Quartet, and in light of the U.S. central and indispensable role in promoting Middle East 'just peace', the U.S. must reaffirm that it embraces a just and comprehensive approach to the issue of Middle East refugees."

Rep. Joseph Crowley said, "The world needs to understand that it is not just the Arabs and it's not just the Palestinians in the Middle East, but also Jewish people who themselves were dispossessed of their possessions and their homes, and were victims of terrorist acts. These are people who lived in Middle Eastern communities not for decades, but for thousands of years." Rep. Crowley added that the Resolution will, "bring light upon an issue that has been swept under the carpet."

"Discussions of Middle Eastern refugees invariably focus exclusively-and shortsightedly-on the plight of those of Palestinian descent," said Rep. Ros-Lehtinen. "Far fewer people are aware of the injustice faced by Jewish refugees from Arab lands and Iran. Many Jews saw their communities, which had existed vibrantly for centuries systematically dismantled. They lost their resources, their homes, and their heritage sites, fleeing in the face of persecution, pogroms, revolutions and brutal dictatorships."

Rep. Mike Ferguson said that there was very strong bi-partisan support for this issue which recognizes, "the plight of hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who were displaced from countries in the Middle East, Northern Africa and all around the Persian Gulf." Congressmen Ferguson acknowledged that the U.N. has never recognized Jewish refugees, and that this,"is completely unacceptable and long over due, and this is one of the things this Resolution seeks to address."

Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice-President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations commented, "the failure during all these years to recognize other refugees, compounded the indignation and the suffering and the deprivation of Jews in Arab countries. There was a systematic process of expulsion which the Arab governments engaged in." He added that the Resolution is not an obstacle to peace. "It is a distortion to talk only of one refugee population, as that would undermine the ultimate outcome of any negotiations. The Congressional action will educate a generation that know too little about the other refugees."

The passing of this Resolution is the strongest U.S. declaration on the rights of Jewish refugees that were displaced from Arab countries. H.Res.185 underscores the fact that Jews living in Arab countries suffered human rights violations, were uprooted from their homes, and were made refugees.

Stanley Urman, Executive Director of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries stated that, "Congress has restored truth to the Middle East narrative, by recommending equitable treatment of all Middle East refugees. Only in this fashion can there be movement from truth to justice, from justice to reconciliation, and from reconciliation to peace - between and among all peoples and states in the region."

Underscoring the importance of the Resolution, Rep. Nadler added, "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."

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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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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Mitzvah Suggestion for the Week

STAND UP FOR ISRAEL!

Join Rabbi Hammerman at the AIPAC Policy Conference, June 2-4

For more information, go to www.aipac.org

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

I love baseball and many other sports, like basketball, lacrosse, football and soccer. For my mitzvah project, I would like to gather new or used sports equipment to donate to organizations in Stamford, such as the Boys and Girls Club, to use in their children’s afterschool and summer recreation programs. As spring training comes to an end and you buy new equipment to start your regular season, please see if you have any old equipment that you can donate such as-balls, bats, mitts, shin guards, cleats, etc. A donation bin will be set up outside the Temple office.

Thank you.

Adam Satz

Why Do We Sell Our Hametz Before Passover?

Source: http://www.koach.org/hametzsale.htm

Passover: M'khirat Hametz

(Selling Hametz) One must not have any hametz (leaven) in his or her legal possession during Pesah. 

After doing a complete and thorough cleaning of your house/apartment/dorm room, you should throw away any opened packages of hametz, thereby beginning Pesah in a hametz-free environment. 

Consider donating all new and closed hametz items to a local food pantry. 

Because of the complexities of our economy, it may be far too costly to get rid of all of your sealed and unopened hametz. For this reason, a ceremony was developed which in effect "sells" your hametz to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday. 

Shtar Harsha'ah

This symbolic sale is carried out by a rabbi whom you authorize by filling out a shtar harsha'ah, or document of permission. The rabbi then sells your hametz by writing a shtar m'khirah, or document of sale.

If you'd like to learn more about the origin of these practices, you can find the sources in the Shulhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law, 1554 CE) of Rabbi Yosef Karo, in the volume Orah Hayyim, sections 445, 446 and 448:3. Other books like Isaac Klein's A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice and Michael Strassfeld's The Jewish Holidays are good resources as well.

For up-to-date information on prohibited and permitted foods, check out the Rabbinical Assembly Web site at www.rabbinicalassembly.org.

You should sell your hametz (see the "Document of Permission") even if you will be away for the duration of the holiday. On Thursday night, April 17, 2008, or the night before you leave (whichever comes first), don't forget to do the b'dikat hametz (search for hametz) which you can find at the beginning of most haggadot.

For online sale of Hametz, go to http://www.koach.org/hametzsaleform.htm

Or, to do it through my auspices: » Sale of Hametz Form (must be received by April 18)

Also, see our website’s Passover information section:

» A Guide for the Perplexed
» When Pesach Falls on a Saturday Night

Haggadah Tales

The Haggadah demonstrates both the continuity and diversity of the Jewish people through history, and nowhere is that more apparent than on the Web.  There one can find a breathtaking array of Jewish expression.  Over 4,000 Haggadot are known to exist, and just type in the word "Haggadah" and on Google you’ll find 448,000 sites.

1)      Birds and Hares

Where to begin… How about with history?  A superb assortment of medieval illuminated Haggadot can be found at http://www.library.yale.edu/judaica/exhibits/haggadah/, where you’ll see the pages from the 13^th century Bird’s Head Haggadah.  In this illuminated manuscript from southern Germany, the facial features of people have been replaced with those of birds, in deference to the commandment prohibiting graven images.  This stringent interpretation of the law was not the rule in medieval Haggadot, but it serves as a reminder not only of the piety of Jews in this generation, but also a hint as to their sense of self.  The images almost look like grotesque reflection of the centuries of European dehumanization of Jews.  Read Jerzy Kosinski’s "The Painted Bird," or Bernard Malamud’s short story "Jewbird," then look at these pictures - the effect is devastating.  This collection also features some fine modern Israeli Haggadot.

At http://www.cn.huc.edu/libraries/haggadahs/ you can find more medieval manuscripts, including some on the YaKNHaZ acronym that will come into play this year, when Passover begins on Saturday night (see http://www.huc.edu/libraries/exhibits/haggadah/plate2.html).  Since when do Jews have hounds who hunt hares, anyway?  Then it’s time to cross the pond to the British Museum, where you’ll find the exquisite Barcelona Haggadah, at http://www.facsimile-editions.com/bh_page.htm.

More history can be found at Ohr Samayach, at http://www.ohr.org.il/special/pesach/hagghist.htm
(with other Ohr info. on Passover at http://www.ohr.org.il/special/pesach/pesax.htm), which informs us that the popular song "Had Gadya" was first found in a Haggadah dating from the 12^th century.  Also, although we don't know who actually authored Had Gadya, tradition teaches that it is a very significant work. "Literally hundreds of explanations have been written on it.  The Vilna Gaon (1730-1798) alone wrote more than 10 different explanations."

2)      An Array of Judaisms

You can find a Haggadah to reflect almost every form of Judaism known -- and then some.  See articles about that variety at http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Passover/TO_Pesach_Seder/Haggadah/New_Haggadot.htm and at http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/20134/edition_id/410/format/html/displaystory.html. I even found a Christian Seder.  No, this is not part of that Hebrew Messianic garbage (and they do have a field day with Passover), but rather a guide for legitimate churches wishing to hold a "last Seder," and it’s at http://www.christianseder.com/. 

You know, in rabbinic history, Christianity was perhaps only the second most dangerous heretical sect. For many centuries, public enemy number #1 to the rabbis was a group called the Karaites.  You can find out all about them, and how they observe Passover, at http://www.karaite-korner.org/haggadah.shtml.  The Karaites take the Bible literally and reject rabbinic interpretation, so unlike our Haggadah, the Karaite Haggadah does not tell stories about Mishnaic rabbis staying up all night in B’nai Brak, but instead uses Biblical quotations to tell the story of the Exodus, interspersed with short explanations and blessings.  By the way, there are very few Karaites left, primarily in Israel, where to this day they still perform the annual Passover sacrifice, just as was done in the days of the Bible.

There really is a Haggadah for every taste.  There’s a Humanist Modern Version Haggadah for Passover, feminist Haggadot and guides (The Women's Seder Sourcebook) a Vegetarian’s Haggadah (http://www.judaism.com/display.asp?nt=ajauaD&etn=DDHBI), and even a special Haggadah created for Israel’s 60th – the Liberty Haggadah (http://www.matan-arts.co.il/liberty_eng.htm) a real collector’s item, which I just purchased. On that same site, you can also find regional Haggadahs celebrating the ancient Jewish communities of Aleppo (Syria) (http://www.matan-arts.co.il/aram_eng.htm)

and Persia (http://www.matan-arts.co.il/shushan_eng.htm). Check them out!

A Haggadah that was used for a seder with the Dalai Lama no longer can be found on the web (although there is a Haggadah for Jews and Buddhists, at http://www.amazon.com/Haggadah-Jews-Buddhist-Elizabeth-Pearce-Glassheim/dp/product-description/0977322106), but it was a very timely reminder of the parallels between the Jewish and Tibetan experiences. Some may want to echo these lines at their own seders: "We set aside as a token of hope, this matzah of freedom, as we remember the Tibetan people, whether in exile or under the yoke of Chinese oppression. The Talmud teaches that in messianic times we will recall at Passover not just the liberation from Egypt but the liberation of all peoples from their oppression. We can bring that time of perfection closer by recalling the hope of freedom for all Tibetan people."

Not surprisingly the Seder ends with a chorus of "Next Year in Jerusalem" and "Next year in Lhasa."

3)      Good to the Last Drop

You can also find Web sites for a number of published Haggadahs.  Among these, some of my favorites are the Santa Cruz Haggadah, at http://www.santacruzhag.com/ (for a way-out "Californian" Seder), and the Shalom Hartman Institute’s wonderful Haggadah, " A Different Night," http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/hartman/.  I use it at my Seder.  The price has gone way down on this one, so now might the time to switch from the old Maxwell House wine-stained booklets to something of lasting quality.  The same company that distributes the "A Different Night" also sells those fun Plagues Bags you may have seen around.  They’re a great way to involve the kids in the Seder. Plus this year, they’ve added a fascinating book where the four questions are translated into 300 languages! See it – and hear it! - at http://whyisthisnight.com/

Other links can take you to Haggadot modeled after specific themes, like world hunger and liberation, but I think it’s best to stop here, before the children fall asleep, so we can finish this virtual Seder.  BTW, want to know what’s for dessert? Checked out "afikoman" on Google -- over 27,000 hits. This could keep us in front of our computers all night  until our students in B’nai Brak inform us that it’s time for the morning prayers!

Shabbat Shalom and a Joyous and Kosher Pesach to all!

Elephant Painting – from YouTube –Unbelievable – and see the “About this Video” to understand the Jewish connection!

Cool Facts About Israel – from YouTube, complete with Israeli music

thanks to Denise Greenman for forwarding.

The Beth El Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary

Danielle Karp on Parashat Shmini

One of the most important characteristics about being Jewish is to be caring. The torah has many ways of teaching us to be kind and caring. My torah portion contains a number of laws that discuss how to follow a kosher diet.

The torah states that if you consume gentle animals such as chickens, which are animals that don’t eat other animals, these animals are considered kosher and therefore are suitable to eat. Animals that are carnivores such as hawks, ravens, and vultures are more violent and are not considered kosher. You could say, “you are what you eat” and that keeping kosher is one way to be a more caring and gentle individual.

There are of course numerous other ways of being a kind and caring person. One of the best ways is to help others. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always been interested in helping those who are not as fortunate as I have been. At an early age, I remember seeing a St. Jude’s commercial for children with cancer and I asked my parents what I could do to help other children with either physical or developmental disabilities. I decided I wanted to help children with special needs.

Since the 3^rd grade, I have been involved in a program in my school system that provides instructional education for children with numerous and different types of special needs. When it came time to choose what I would like to do for my mitzvah project, the choice was obvious. I spend several hours a week playing with and helping children with Autism, Down’s syndrome and various other disabilities. I work with these children on learning their colors, improving their reading skills and even helping them learn to play sports. I’ve had the chance to teach one boy how to shoot a basketball. The first time I put a ball in his hands, he had no idea how to shoot it. Even though basketball is my game, it took me months before I saw him finally get his first basket. He felt a real sense of accomplishment, and so did I! I’ve developed close relationships with several other children as well. These kids have become very important in my life, and I think I’ve become important to them.

I have learned a lot about myself and others through this experience, and I believe it has helped me become a more patient and caring person. In fact, it’s probably the most important lesson I have learned at school.

This new, interactive feature of the Shabbat-O-Gram explores the new ethical frontier that is the Internet. As I’ve explored recently in articles, sermons and a panel discussion, cyberculture presents a long list new challenges to our timeless values of privacy and sacred communication. What I would like to do here is to begin to compile a new Talmudic tractate of sorts (the Talmudic word for tractate, masechet, is also the word for “web”), a guide to how one should behave online – Jewishly. This guide will remain a work in progress because new situations are constantly arising. So please send me your questions, ethical dilemmas or suggestions, and I’ll display them here.

One question that constantly arises is, when is it appropriate to forward a third party e-mail without the permission of the original sender?

In the 11^th century, Rabbenu Gershom issued a ban of excommunication to those who opened other people’s mail. (see http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=172&letter=G&search=Gershom). By extension, one would assume that in all cases it would be forbidden to open an e-mail addressed to another.

But what if the e-mail was addressed to you – is it now your property? Do you now have the right to do with it what you want? If not, under what circumstances do you have that right? One would assume that if the intent is simply to embarrass the original sender or to use it against him, that would not be appropriate. But if the sender was intending to cause harm to another, is it then OK to warn the other? Maybe so, but must that warning require the forwarding of the original e-mail?

The situation is complicated even more when the posting is not in an e-mail, but on, say a Facebook wall, or other arena that may not be completely public (restricted to friends of the poster), but is certainly not in the category of unopened private mail.

The question, then, is “What would Gershom say?” More to the point, what would the Torah say? And, what is the right way to behave?

I await your answers! BTW, unless you indicate otherwise, I’ll assume that it is OK to reprint your response in a future Shabbat-O-Gram, with attribution.

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

------------------

For Some GOOD NEWS check

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

New: "Israel 60" Website (Conference of Presidents)
    Resources for celebrating Israel's 60th anniversary.

Poll: U.S. Voters Support Israel (JTA)
    Americans likely to vote in November strongly believe the U.S. should take Israel's side in its conflict with the Palestinians, according to a poll of 800 likely voters conducted on March 18-20 and released Monday.
    "The militant actions by Hamas and disarray among the Palestinians have moved Americans to side with Israel even more strongly than in the past," said Stanley Greenberg of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research.
    93% agree Palestinians must stop their missile attacks before a two-state solution can bring peace to the region.
    84% of Americans agree Israel should remain a Jewish state and a homeland for the Jewish people. Only 20% believe that Jerusalem should be divided.

See also: http://elections.jta.org/2008/03/31/who-loves-israel-most/ Among U.S. likely voters, 60 percent support Israel, while support for the Palestinians has fallen to 8 percent. Majorities voting for McCain (85 percent), Obama (62 percent) and Clinton (58 percent) all support America standing with Israel in the conflict. Additionally, 76 percent of U.S. likely voters consider Israel a vital ally of the United States, and more than two-thirds think U.S. foreign aid to Israel is a good investment. Here are the results.

More on Israeli singer Yael Naim’s sudden rise up the charts for her hit song “New Soul” is found in last week’s Jewish Ledger at http://www.jewishledger.com/articles/2008/03/30/news/on_the_cover/news01.txt

Israeli company leads the gray product revolution [VIDEO] Life for the elderly and disabled is likely to become a great deal easier thanks to Israeli non-profit organization GeronTech, which is developing a range of products designed to improve day-to-day functioning for our graying population. more

Israel's Ivri Lider aims for platinum in the US He's already made it big in Israel. Now musician Ivri Lider hopes to do the same in the US, with his first English language album produced by top US producer, Gary Gold - the man behind Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, and Smokey Robinson.

Israeli Veterans Hit the Slopes - Charles Agar
Roni Goazlan, 35, is one of 10 wounded Israeli veterans who were in Snowmass this week for a sports clinic sponsored by the Jewish Community Center, Chabad of Aspen, and Challenge Aspen. A medic with the border patrol in Israel, Goazlan was on vacation in Jerusalem in June 2002 when he spied a suspicious man outside a crowded bus terminal. "I knew he was a suicide bomber," Goazlan said. He tackled the bomber and pushed the man against a wall just before the bomb exploded. Goazlan spent ten days in intensive care and endured 22 operations over one year and 8 months before his legs were amputated.
    "You must go on; you can't go back to the past," Goazlan said, adding that he's never felt sorry for himself over his injuries. In fact, he's got a new lease on life. "Before I was attacked, I didn't do any sports," Goazlan said. Today, he's the captain of his hometown wheelchair basketball team, he rides horses, and thanks to the folks at Challenge Aspen, he skis. (Aspen [CO] Times)

American Tourists Donate Blood in Israel - Daphna Berman
The Topel family from Chicago - In Israel to celebrate their twin daughters' bat-mitzvah - toured the Old City of Jerusalem, shopped on Ben Yehuda Street, lounged by the hotel pool and rolled up their sleeves to give blood at a Magen David Adom drive. "When you give blood in Israel, it's like leaving a part of yourself behind," said Amy Topel. "We're definitely seeing an increase in the number of tourists donating blood while on vacation," said Jonathan Feldstein, the Israel representative of American Friends of Magen David Adom. "Nowhere else in the world are tourists putting blood drives on their agenda while they are on vacation."
    "There are very few things we can do as Americans to show solidarity with Israel. We can visit, we can support the economy and we can give blood. These are very tangible ways to make a contribution to the State of Israel," said Daniel Derman, a U.S. physician who hadn't given blood in 15 years until he rolled up his sleeve while on vacation last week in Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz)

Israeli Archeologist Finds Artifacts from Time of Solomon's Temple - Rhonda Spivak
Yuval Baruch, Jerusalem's district archeologist at the Israel Antiquities Authority, made archeological history in October 2007 when he uncovered pottery artifacts on the site of Jerusalem's Temple Mount dating from the time of King Solomon's Temple (the First Jewish Temple). "The Muslim Waqf does not allow Israeli archeologists to conduct any excavations on the site. But I got access to a small tunnel where electrical cables run....I was not supposed to be left there alone, as the Waqf always has someone present when Israeli archeologists are on the site....By chance the Arab electrical workers left me and a member of my staff for about 15 minutes while they went to pray. When I was alone in that brief time, I found the pottery shards among dust near the bedrock level," he sa ys.
    Baruch's findings include ceramic bowl rims, bases and body shards; the base of a juglet used to pour oil; the handle of a small juglet; and the rim of a storage jar. The finds are dated from eight- to six-century BCE. In particular, the bowl shards were decorated with wheel burnishing lines characteristic of the First Temple Period. (Canadian Jewish News)

now for the rest

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

Iran Assembling Advanced Centrifuges
Iran has assembled hundreds of advanced centrifuges reflecting a possible intention to speed up uranium enrichment, diplomats say. One diplomat said more than 300 of the centrifuges have been linked up in two separate units in Iran's underground enrichment plant and a third was being assembled. He said the machines apparently are more advanced than the thousands already running underground. But a senior diplomat said that while the new work appeared to include advanced centrifuges, they were not the sophisticated IR-2 centrifuge that Tehran recently acknowledged testing. (AP)

Hamas Ideology Complicates Peace Efforts - Steven Erlanger
In the Katib Wilayat mosque in Gaza one recent Friday, Imam Yousif al-Zahar of Hamas told the faithful: "Jews are a people who cannot be trusted." At Al Omari mosque, the imam cursed the Jews and the "Crusaders," or Christians, and the Danes, for reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. He referred to Jews as "the brothers of apes and pigs," while the Hamas television station, Al Aksa, praises suicide bombing and holy war. Such incitement against Israel and Jews was supposed to be banned under the 1993 Oslo accords and the 2003 Roadmap peace plan. Hamas, no party to those agreements, feels no such restraint.
    Since Hamas took over Gaza last June, Hamas sermons and media reports preaching violence and hatred have become more pervasive, extreme and sophisticated, on the model of Hizbullah and its televi sion station Al Manar, in Lebanon. No matter what Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agree upon, there is concern that the attitudes being instilled will make a sustainable peace extremely difficult. (New York Times)
    See also Hamas TV Shows Child Stabbing President Bush, White House Turned into Mosque
In a Hamas TV production for Palestinian children aired on Sunday, a child stabs U.S. President George Bush to death. In the episode, Bush is shown talking to a Palestinian child, who accuses Bush of killing his father in Iraq, his mother in Lebanon and his brothers and sisters in Gaza with the assistance of the Israelis. The child tells Bush: "You are a criminal....I have to take my revenge with this sword of Islam." Bush invites the child for talks in the White House. But child counters that the White House has been turned into a mosque, and "i m pure Bush" can't enter it. Then the child stabs him repeatedly. (AP/International Herald Tribune)
View the Video (MEMRI-TV)

Report: U.S. Names North Korean Nuclear Experts Helping Syria (Kyodo News-Japan)
    The U.S. has presented to North Korea a list of names of North Korean nuclear experts allegedly involved in offering nuclear technology to Syria, a Seoul newspaper reported Tuesday.
    The list was presented when top U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill had talks with his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Gwan recently, the Chosun Ilbo reported.
See also Olmert: Syria Got North Korean Help for Nuclear Facility Hit by Israel - Nanae Kurashige (Asahi Shimbun-Japan)
    Japanese government sources said over the weekend that Israeli leader Ehud Olmert told Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda during talks in Tokyo on Feb. 27 that an Israeli airs trike against Syria last September targeted a nuclear-related facility that was under construction with technical assistance from North Korea.

Israel, U.S. to Boycott UN Anti-Racism Conference - Barak Ravid (Ha'aretz)
Israel and the U.S. decided a few weeks ago to boycott the Durban II conference scheduled for early 2009.
    According to a senior government official, the joint decision was made after discussions among senior U.S. State Department and Foreign Ministry officials, and after being raised in talks between Foreign Minister Livni and Secretary of State Rice.
Israel and the U.S. decided to make their participation in the conference conditional on guarantees the event would not become a rerun of the previous anti-Israel festival in Durban in 2001.
    "The burden of proof will be on the UN and the organizers," a Jerusalem source stated.
    On Wednesday, major U.S. newspapers ran an advertisement signed by 25 public figures calling on the gove rnment to boycott the conference.

Palestinian Sniper Attacks Israel's Public Security Minister, Wounds Aide - Amos Harel
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter's bureau chief, Mati Gil, was wounded by Palestinian gunfire Friday while he and Dichter were touring the Givat Nazmit observation point in Kibbutz Nir Am, adjacent to the Gaza security fence. Also Friday, Palestinians opened fire on farmers working in the fields of Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha near Gaza, Army Radio reported. (Ha'aretz)
    See also Al-Qaeda Affiliate Jaish Al-Umma Claims Responsibility for Shooting (Israel Radio-Reshet Bet-Hebrew)
    See also Jaish al-Umma (Army of the Nation) - An Al-Qaeda Affiliate in Gaza - Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi (Ins titute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

Nationwide Drill to Simulate Missile Attack (Jerusalem Post)
A nationwide Home Front drill simulating a surprise missile attack will be held on Tuesday, April 8. A warning siren will sound for a minute and a half.
    At Israeli schools, all pupils and teachers will immediately proceed to a protected area or shelter where they will stay for an hour.
    Schools in the communities surrounding Gaza and in Ashkelon will be exempt from the drill

Vietnam to Open Embassy in Israel (AFP)
    Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Vu Dung, on an official visit to Israel, announced that Hanoi intended to open an embassy in Tel Aviv "within several months," the Israel Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
    Although the two countries established ties in 1993 and Israel has an embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam has been represented by its embassy in Egypt.

Ohio Couple Fosters Agricultural Ties in Israel (Newark [Ohio] Advocate)
    Orville and Rachel Felumlee, of Licking County, were among 63 Ohio farmers and agricultural professionals to learn about new technologies, ideas and opportunities during a February visit to Israel sponsored by the Negev Foundation and the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation.

Former Terrorist Leader: Palestinians "Marching Toward Total Ruin" - Avi Issacharoff
Zakariya Zubeidi, until not long ago the commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin, is no longer hiding from the Israel Defense Forces. In an interview he said, "We've shut down the Al-Aqsa Brigades...in part because of the conflict between Fatah and Hamas. Look, it's perfectly clear to me that we won't be able to defeat Israel." "Back in [Arafat's] day we had a plan, there was a strategy, and we would carry his orders....Everything that was done in the intifada was done according to Arafat's instructions."
    "We failed entirely in the intifada. We haven't seen any benefit or positive result from it. We achieved nothing. It's a crushing failure. We failed at the political level - we didn't succeed in translating the military actions into political achievements. The current leadership does not want armed actions....When [Arafat] died, the armed intifada died with him." "I got tired. When you lose, what can you do? We, the activists, paid the heavy price. We've had family members killed, friends. They demolished our homes and we have no way of earning a living. And what is the result? Zero. Simply zero. And when that's the result, you don't want to be a part of it any more. Lots of other people, as a result of the frustration, and because Fatah doesn't have a military wing any more, have joined the Islamic Jihad." (Ha'aretz)

IDF Kills Three Islamic Jihad Gunmen in Gaza - Yuval Azoulay
Israel Defense Forces troops killed three Palestinian gunmen from Islamic Jihad on Thursday in an exchange of fire during a military operation near Khan Yunis. (Ha'aretz)

Israel Still Fighting for Independence - Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Cal.)
Israel's security situation is even more complicated now because of the split in the Palestinian government. If Israel should reach a peace agreement with the PA, it would still have to fend off the terrorist-controlled government of Gaza. Hamas must be dealt with before any agreement with the PA would have teeth.
    We are committed to the two-state solution as outlined at the Annapolis conference, but this can only be achieved when terrorism is defeated. Sixty years is long enough for a nation to fight to retain its independence. Our Arab partners, including Egypt and Jordon, need to join with the U.S. to pressure Hamas and other terrorist groups to cease and desist. The writer is a member of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and a senior member of the Foreign Affairs C ommittee. (Los Angeles Jewish Journal)

The Damascus Summit - Only Division and Fragmentation? - Amir Kulick
Meetings of the Arab League have become the most important and prestigious inter-Arab institution, a symbolic affirmation of the principle of "Arab unity." Precisely for that reason, the most recent meeting in Damascus was noteworthy for the divisions among League members. 11 of the 22 invitees preferred not to come. There has never been a boycott of heads of so many central Arab states.
    The Damascus Summit may be best remembered as the most symbolically expressive manifestation of the division of the Arab world into two camps - a pro-Western one led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and an anti-Western one dominated by Iran and Syria and including Hizbullah and Hamas. What is new is that Syria, once the "beating heart" of Arab nationalism, may now be gradually making its way outside the Arab camp, r eplacing the Arab national identity that the regime of Hafez al-Assad worked so hard to cultivate with a new identity in which the dominant dimension is Shi'ite. If so, then the chances that Damascus will agree to cut off ties with its current allies as part of an overall Israeli-Syrian settlement are quite remote. (Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University)

Real Sanctions Will Cool Off the Ayatollahs - Yossi Sarid
The international community's weakness is revealed in all its shame when it comes to Iran and that country's nuclear option, which is slowly but surely taking shape. Iran's provocative policy is unusual in its severity: there are many conflicts and confrontations in the world, but no other country save Iran is threatening the destruction of another country. The principal actors responsible for the weakness of the international community are Russia and China. But they are not alone. Were the nations of the world to really seek to stop Iran's nuclear program, they could do so without firing a single cruise missile.
    International sanctions are a very efficient tool for dealing with "crazy states" and "leper states." Isn't it strange that thus far not a single truly painful and serious economic sanction has been leveled against Iran? Iran may be one of the largest producers of oil, but it is a big consumer of refined petroleum products that it does not itself produce. One can only imagine what would happen in that country were it to be denied refinery products in one fell swoop. (bitterlemons-international.org)

The Islamists Really Are True Believers - Michael Young
Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, often mentions Israel's eventual evaporation. In 1992, following his appointment as head of Hizbullah, he described the party's long-term strategy as "fighting against Israel and liberating Jerusalem, as well as [Iran's] Imam Khomeini's proposal - namely ending Israel as a state." Academics, analysts, and journalists, particularly the Westerners among them, for whom the concept of elimination is intolerable, think much more benignly that this is a "bargaining" position. Hamas and Hizbullah are pragmatic, they will argue, so that their statements and deeds are only leverage to achieve specific political ends that, once attained, will allow a return to harmonious equilibrium. But for outside observers to ignore or reinterpret their words is both self-c entered and analytically useless. (Daily Star-Lebanon)

"UK Is European Center of Anti-Semitism" - Etgar Lefkovits
Britain has become the epicenter for anti-Semitic trends in Europe, exacerbated by a growing and increasingly radical Muslim population and the detachment of the British from their Christian roots, said Hebrew University Prof. Robert S. Wistrich at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. The Cambridge University-educated historian said anti-Semitism in Britain "has been around for 1,000 years of recorded history," noting that the expulsion of all Jews from Britain in 1290 by King Edward I was the first major expulsion of any Jewish community in Europe.
    During World War II, the British refusal to rescue the Jews of Europe and their decision to close the gates of Palestine stemmed not only from realpolitik but from anti-Semitic sentiments, he said. "Nothi ng was to be construed as fighting a Jewish war." Wistrich said that today's British media had an almost universal anti-Israel bias. "Palestinian terrorism is portrayed as a minor pin-prick compared to 'massive' retaliation of this 'rogue' state [Israel]," he said. (Jerusalem Post)
    See also British Jews Are Free from Fear - British Ambassador to Israel Tom Phillips (Jerusalem Post)
    See also We're Alright, Professor Wistrich - Henry Grunwald, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews (Jerusalem Post)

The War Against the Jews - Melanie Phillips
Palestinian children are taught from the cradle to hate and to murder Jews. This Nazi-style indoctrination in hatred of the Jews and incitement to murder, fired by the rocket fuel of purportedly divine authority to produce mass genocidal hysteria, is the real cause of the Middle East impasse. Yet such continuous incitement scarcely figures in the deliberations of a Western world determined to force Israel into a "compromise" with those who would destroy it. (Spectator-UK)

The New Generation of Anti-Semites Want to Exterminate, Not Just Excommunicate, Jews - George Jonas
In the 21st century all anti-Semites are foes of the Jewish state. They would all dismantle Israel if they could. This hasn't always been the case. There used to be anti-Semites, especially in Europe, who wanted to induce their Jewish neighbors to return to Zion. They wanted Jews to have a country of their own, not because they liked them but because they didn't. Today's anti-Semites no longer want to exclude or exile or excommunicate. They want to exterminate. (National Post-Canada)

PA Policeman Who Murdered Israeli Officer on Joint Patrol Sentenced - Efrat Weiss
The IDF Military Court in Samaria on Wednesday sentenced Na'al Yassin, a Palestinian police officer who murdered Border Guard officer Yossi Tabijah, to a life term and an additional 30 years. On September 29, 2000, a Palestinian vehicle and an Israeli Border Guard vehicle were on a joint patrol and parked near the West Bank city of Kalkilya. Yassin exited the Palestinian vehicle and began to shoot at the Israeli vehicle, crying "Allah Akbar," killing Tabijah and wounding another Israeli officer. A representative from the prosecution said that during some of the hearings, Yassin claimed he would continue to kill after he is released from jail during prisoner exchanges. (Ynet News)

ISRAEL: Myths and Facts

MYTH

“Jerusalem need not be the capital of Israel.”

FACT

Ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel more than 3,000 years ago, the city has played a central role in Jewish existence. The Western Wall in the Old City is the object of Jewish veneration and the focus of Jewish prayer. Three times a day, for thousands of years, Jews have prayed “To Jerusalem, thy city, shall we return with joy,” and have repeated the Psalmist’s oath: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.”

Jerusalem “has known only two periods of true greatness, and these have been separated by 2,000 years. Greatness has only happened under Jewish rule,” Leon and Jill Uris wrote in Jerusalem. “This is so because the Jews have loved her the most, and have remained constant in that love throughout the centuries of their dispersion....It is the longest, deepest love affair in history.”6

“For three thousand years, Jerusalem has been the center of Jewish hope and longing. No other city has played such a dominant role in the history, culture, religion and consciousness of a people as has Jerusalem in the life of Jewry and Judaism. Throughout centuries of exile, Jerusalem remained alive in the hearts of Jews everywhere as the focal point of Jewish history, the symbol of ancient glory, spiritual fulfillment and modern renewal. This heart and soul of the Jewish people engenders the thought that if you want one simple word to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be ‘Jerusalem.’”

— Teddy Kollek7

6Leon and Jill Uris, Jerusalem, (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1981), p. 13.
7Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem, (DC: Washington Institute For Near East Policy, 1990), pp. 19-20.

This article can be found at http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths2/Jerusalem.html#q3

Joke for the Week

PASSOVER COMEDY ON YOUTUBE

SEE MATZAH MAN (ORIGINATED HERE AT Tot Shabbat)! http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=uItYVhrdhKM

I WILL SURVIVE (Passover cleaning) http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=hOe2gWCuENI

Thanks to Joel Schoenfeld for forwarding this classic:

A Real Bar Mitzvah Invitation

 In keeping up with the Rosen's and the Abelson's,

It is with great stress, emotional and physical fatigue,

and incredible financial sacrifice beyond comprehension,

that we invite you to join us as our wonderful son

 Jacob Adam

is called to

the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah.

 Saturday, May 12th

(yes, we realize it's Mother's Day Weekend)

Temple Israel

14 Coleytown Road

Westport, Connecticut 06880

at the ungodly hour of 9:00am - even though you don't really need to

be there until 10:20am to catch the real action.

 If you make it through the three hour service, please skip the kiddush (its

just cookies and cake) and join us instead for an overly

large and ostentatious evening meal, which starts at 7:00pm.

(not 8:00pm, or you will miss out on all the appetizers). 

 Birchwood Country Club

25 Kings Hwy S.

Westport, CT 06880

(which we had to join just for this event and

you would not believe the initiation fees)

 You will be in the presence of lots of boisterous and expensive entertainment

and 60 to 70  unruly pre-teens wearing expensive dresses, funny hats,

fake bling and brand new white ankle socks... 

as well as 80-100 middle aged+ adults, some balding, some with bad toupees.

 Most will be professionally coiffed, designer attire galore, lots of REAL bling, and "tootsed" to the nines.

At least 1/3 will be hormonally challenged and some will act stupid while under the influence.

Some will not even know where or who they are.  Some will complain about the food. Blah Blah Blah.

 Please have the courtesy of showing up if you RSVP that you are attending,

or you will be billed $210.00 a plate if you are a no-show. 

Please RSVP as soon as you get this and not the day before the cut-off date. I can't take the stress.

 The gift of choice is either green, or contains a routing and account number.

"Off the top of your head" gifts and Gift Cards are a waste of your time and ours. 

Hope you can make it!

 Lisa and David Cohen

 Dress: Black Tie optional 

Theme: 007 James Bond

BYO Kippot.  I don't have the strength!

Previous Shabbat-O-Grams can be accessed directly from the archives on our web site (www.tbe.org)

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