May 2, 2008 –Nisan 27 5768

Hear the siren sounded today in Jerusalem for Yom Hashoah (YouTube)

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

Thank you to Sandra and William Gottlin and Renee Migdal Judd and Sam Judd,

for sponsoring this week’s Shabbat-O-Gram in honor of their daughters,

Alexandra Gottlin and Elizabeth Judd, becoming B’not 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.

NEXT WEEK!!!

MAY 9-10 SYNAPLEX:

» Invitation and Flier
» Schedule of Activities
» Israeli Dinner Sign-Up Form

“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 and the Struggle for Jerusalem”

And highlighted by the Grand Premier Preview performance of…

“Becoming Israel”

Read all about “Becoming Israel”

And see a video preview…

by clicking HERE

MARCH OF THE LIVING

Beth El - Kulanu teens Amanda Jablon, Danielle Shapiro and Arielle Poser

enjoy a rare moment of relaxation on the March of the Living, in Poland.

Click here for more photos of our teens at the March of the Living

STORY HOUR AT BORDERS

Here I am, nearing the stunning climax of “Five Little Gefiltes”

at my recent Passover Story Hour at Borders.

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

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

Quote for the Week

Why do I live in Israel? Because Israel lives in me, as it lives in all Jews. It is who we are. And those of us lucky enough to recognize this truth and embrace it in all its fullness and depth are the luckiest Jews in the world.

Carolyn Glick, Jerusalem Post. Full article is below

JUST THE FACTS

Candle lighting: 7:34 pm on Friday, May 2, 2008. For Havdalah times, other Jewish calendar information, and to download a Jewish calendar to your PDA, click on http://www.hebcal.com/. To see the festivals of other faiths as well, go to http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/. The United Synagogue has updated its candlelighting information. To learn more, click here.

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

Friday Night Shabbat Services:

OUTDOOR SERVICES – weather permitting

6:30 – Main Service – OUTDOORS (or in the sanctuary)

6:45 – Tot Shabbat – IN THE LOBBY

There’s no better way to welcome May than Tot Shabbat on Friday, May 2 at 6:45 p.m. in the lobby and Saturday, May 3 at 10:30 a.m. in the kindergarten room. Nurit Avigdor leads services complete with a Torah procession, songs, and stories and our own special Shabbat celebration with blessings over candles, juice, and challah.

Temple Beth El’s weekly children’s services are open to everyone in the Jewish community. You don’t have to be a member of Temple Beth El to enjoy them or to be a Tot Shabbat host. Your child’s birthday – or any other special occasion -- is a terrific reason to sponsor a Tot Shabbat. Your child can lead the Torah procession or sing a solo. You can also have a shiny, new Children’s Prayer Book with your child’s name in it. For more information, contact committee chairs Sherry and Kenneth Jay Cohen (968-8600; mail@sherrycohen.com).

Shabbat Morning

9:30 AM: Main Service

Mazal tov to Alexandra Gottlin, daughter of William and Sandra Gottlin,

as she becomes Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat morning!

10:30 AM: Tot Shabbat Morning with Nurit

Shabbat Mincha service at 5:30 PM

Mazal Tov to Elizabeth Judd, daughter of Sam Judd and Renee Migdal Judd

and sister of Adam and Daniel, who becomes Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat afternoon

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.

Parashat Kedoshim

(the holiness code)

Torah Portion: Leviticus 19:1 - 20:27

1: 19:1-4
2: 19:5-10
3: 19:11-14
4: 19:15-18
5: 19:19-22
6: 19:23-32
7: 19:33-37
maf: 19:35-37

Haftarah for Ashkenazim: Amos 9:7 - 9:15
Haftarah for Sephardim: Ezekiel 20:2 - 20:20

I recently had the chance to take my Kulanu “Write On” journalism class to The Jewish Home in Fairfield, where the students interviewed residents about Israel. Below is the students’ (exquisitely written) article.

“A Dream Come True”

Israel Miracle Spans the Generations

By Jackie Schechter, Hillary Weinberger, Josh Fox,

Rebecca Poser, Emily Riordan and Billy Harris

Josh Fox with Sadie Kruger

It is a scene depicted only in fuzzy TV stills, grainy newspaper shots, staticky radio announcements in an exuberant baritone. Sixty years ago, it was only viewed through black and white, through cameras thousands of miles away in a new place called...home.

On the day that Israel was born, May 14^th 1948, Lillian Tishler, recently married, found herself “literally dancing in the streets,” as she “cried with happy tears.”

Lillian was one of several residents interviewed recently by students from Kulanu, the Stamford supplemental community Hebrew high school, at The Jewish Home in Fairfield, Connecticut. Unable to remember the birth of Israel themselves, the students wanted to gain perspective from those who could.

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“Israel is something we can be proud of,” said Bertha Chayes, one of those interviewed. Raised in Vienna, Austria, Bertha attended a Hebrew gymnasium and was also a member of a local Zionist organization. She said that Israel was something they always talked about.

It wasn’t until after Bertha moved to America as a teenager that Israel was officially declared a state. When asked how she reacted, Bertha said “I always wanted that… They can’t tell you, ‘Jew, Jew’.” That is why Israel was created, as a safe homeland for the Jews.

When Israel was first established, it was nothing but an old piece of desert land. It wasn’t easy to gain this territory, nor has it been easy to keep. “The Israelis are very determined,” Bertha said. “The Jews, if they want something, they get it the hard way. It’s not easy, but they get it.”

On her first trip to Israel in the 50’s, Bertha traveled in a group to go sightseeing. “It’s unbelievable what they did in Israel,” she said.

Her second trip was about 10 years ago. She commented that Israel is so “modern” and “Americanized.” But even still, after living in this country her entire adult life, Bertha said, “What I feel for Israel, I could never feel for America.”

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Another resident, Sadie Kruger, emphasized how important it is for American Jews not to take Israel for granted.

“I envy people who have been to Israel,” Sadie said.

“I was supposed to go, but my husband became ill, so we had to cancel.” For Sadie, who views the birth of the state of Israel during her lifetime as a miracle, the longing to see the Jewish state with her own eyes has never died. As she stated, referring to herself and other residents, “I think that the ones who have not been to Israel long to be able to go, now that they’re older, before it’s too late.”

Sadie was overjoyed when her own granddaughter was able to make the trip to Israel. When asked if the visit had positive effects upon her granddaughter, Sadie replied with a powerful affirmation, “Definitely. It motivated her to go more to synagogue when she has time. . . and she feels that by going to Israel she was able to meet more Jewish people, more Jewish students.”

Sadie urged all young people to “think more about going to Israel” while they are still able.

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Lillian Tishler and Carol Engelman are two seniors whose reactions to Israel’s founding echoed the awe of other American Jews upon learning that the distant land of their prayers was now an official state.

May 14, 1948 was “a dream come true,” according to Lillian, in that the Jews were finally a people with a homeland, restored to them after a Diaspora on the brink of becoming permanent. “Everywhere I went there was excitement,” she continued. “Something that we had hoped for over the years finally arrived.”

It was truly a miracle that Jews worldwide gained a haven to worship freely, live as a nation, and believe in the God of their forefathers. For this wonder, Carol “was very glad… [it was] much worse when it was Palestine...a lot of chaos.”

The infamous Arab attacks one day after Israel’s birth stirred up much emotion back in the States. “It was awful, awful. I wanted to go there and fight,” said Lillian. Carol took a different approach: “We always want peace. You have to like who’s decent. There are many good Arabs.”

Carol has never visited Israel; she knows of it through emissary descriptions and educational films. Lillian, alternatively, made the journey twice, “walking through the Bible” each time. But both seniors are avidly interested and attached to the state, and clearly underwent the same reaction when it miraculously declared its independence.

“I never had the opportunity to go, but I would’ve liked it,” Carol said. When a chance to travel to Israel did arise in the 1960s, her parents, in fear of her safety, said no. Yet, through the songs and movies brought to the Home by the Israeli emissaries, Carol feels like she’s been there. “The cities are gorgeous,” she comments, along with, “That must be beautiful there...standing in the mountains, looking down in the countryside.”

Like Carol, Lillian was born in the US. Raised in an observant home in Brooklyn, she recalls baking challah, attending Hebrew school, and lighting Shabbat candles every Friday night. She also belonged to a Zionist youth group, Hashomer Hatzair, which kindled an everlasting bond with Israel. “I’ve always been interested in what’s going on in Israel,” Lillian said. “I remember going on the subway in New York, collecting money in the blue box for JNF.”

She first made the journey to her newly-established homeland in the 1970s as a tourist, where her climb up Masada, in the days before the installation of the tram, deeply affected her. She returned some years later to Netanya “as a volunteer...I tutored high school students.” The two months she spent teaching Hebrew and English were unforgettable. As Lillian put it, “I went to do my share...and [show] the pride that we had as Jews in a state of our own.”

As for the future, Lillian advises young Jews to “disregard all the propaganda against going and go; it’s a wonderful growing experience.” She sent four of her grandchildren to Israel, “my gift to them,” trips that taught them to fully appreciate their Judaism.

Though that pivotal day in May is now sixty years and thousands of miles behind us, characterized by the blurry images of the media, it is still documented in the vivid, colorful, real-life experiences of those lucky enough to have witnessed it. Lillian and Carol are still struck by the event, a moment they experienced firsthand and relish reliving. “It was unbelievable,” Lillian murmured.

“That’s right,” Carol replied. “It’s our state--OUR state.”

What Happens in Israel … Comes to Beth El

Join us on Wednesday evening at 8 for the opening ceremony of Israel’s 60th anniversary celebration. The ceremony, which will be carried by direct feed from Israeli TV with English subtitles, includes greetings by the speaker of the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament), a dramatic presentation, a ritual march of soldiers carrying the Flag of Israel, forming elaborate patterns (such as a Menorah, Magen David ,and the number 60 which represents the age of Israel) and the lighting of twelve torches (one for each of the Tribes of Israel).

Twelve Israeli citizens, who made a significant contribution in a selected area, are invited to light the torches.

This year, the people chosen to light the beacons are -

Galila Ron-Feder Amit, an Israeli author of children's books and a former foster mother who still volunteers in organizations for children at risk.

Roni Duek, a businessman who has been working with programs for children at risk for 20 years.

Dr. Erika Landau has been helping for 40 years to educate gifted, highly intelligent and talented children to be leaders in society.

Dr. Yitzhak Kadman is director of the National Council for the Child.

Rabbi David Grossman from Migdal Ha'emek, founded the Migdal Ohr educational network for the benefit of Israel's children, including children at risk and new immigrants.

Yossi Sadeh established a ranch 10 years ago to help deprived youth study and prepare for service in the IDF.

Sanna Elbaz, who lives in Beersheba, is director of the only community centers organization in the Bedouin sector, and works to improve Bedouin schools.

Hadara Rosenblum is director of the organization of youth councils and has initiated several programs to help youth, including Seeds of Peace and Young Ambassadors.

Naftali Der'i, general-secretary of the council for youth movements, has led the Civilian Leadership project for the promotion of the civil society in Israel.

Prof. Pnina Klein is an Israel Prize Laureate for Education and a medical doctor of the originator of the theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability who treated children with Down's syndrome.

A representative from the Jewish Diaspora

The 12th torch-lighter is to be chosen from the ranks of the IDF.

Frank Rosner z’l