ADULT EDUCATION SEMINAR:
Sunday, February 25
10 a.m.
Beth Shalom - Social Hall
Topic: "Ingathering of the Exiles: How Israel has Absorbed Communities of Jews From All Countries of the World."
Moderated by: Dr. Leon Spotts Dr. Spotts will also comment on the current conflict in Jerusalem at the Elaqsa Mosque. This promises to be an interesting seminar, in as much as Dr. Spotts is a recognized authority on the Middle East. (Bagel & lox breakfast: $3 per person)
Friday, February 23, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
Weekly Announcements
Adult Education:
Thursdays 5:15-6:15 p.m. Pirke Avot “The Ethics of our Fathers.” This study group is being facilitated by Dr. Henry Ray Wengrow.
Thursdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. Join us as we study the Zohar, the classic work of Jewish mysticism.
Saturdays 1:30-2:15 p.m. “Journey to Virtue”- a study of the Torah laws of Interpersonal Relationships.
********************************************************
This weekend:
Friday, February 16 - 6:30 p.m. 6th & 7th Grade Shabbat services.
Saturday, February 17 - 9:45 a.m. Shabbat services
Sunday, February 18 - No Hebrew School
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, February 21
7 p.m. Jewish Women’s Book Club meeting. Join us to discuss: “The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther” by Rebecca Kohn - Social hall.
7:30 p.m. Board of Directors meeting in the library.
Sunday, February 25
10 a.m. STAR Program at Tree of Life
10 a.m. 6th & 7th grade program, drop off your students at Tree of Life
10 a.m. Adult Education Seminar - Topic: “Moderated by Dr. Leon Spotts, Topic: "Ingathering Of The Exiles: How Israel Has Absorbed Communities Of Jews From All Countries Of The World." Dr. Spotts will also comment on the current conflict in Jerusalem at the Elaqsa Mosque.
6:30 p.m. Jr. & Sr. High School students “kick off dinner” planning session.
Wednesday, February 28–6:30 p.m. Strategic Planning Committee meeting in the library.
Thursday, March 1–7:30 p.m. Board of Education meeting.
Friday, March 2–6:30 p.m. B’nai Mitzvah–Brandon & Eden Picow
Saturday, March 3
9:45 a.m. B’nai Mitzvah–Brandon & Eden Picow
10:30 a.m. Junior Congregation.
7:30 p.m. Purim Event and Megillah Reading with the Learning Shul at Beth Shalom. Join us for the Megillah Reading. Come in costume, we will have a costume parade and a sing-a-long led by Marvin Bienstock.
Sunday, March 4–10 a.m. Purim Carnival & Musical Services, Sha'harit followed by interpretive Megillah reading⁄performance (in English). Come in costume, attend the Purim Carnival–we’ll have lunch, games & prizes! Bring a friend, grandparents & parents! Don’t for get to order your Mishloach Manot!
Let your inner Esther shine! We need aspiring thespians to participate in the reading of the Megillah on Sunday, March 4. If interested, please speak with Rabbi Siff.
Tuesday, March 6–6:30 p.m. Join us for a study group - Intro to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers, led by Alan Witten.
Friday, March 9–6:00 p.m. Magical Family Shabbat dinner. Join us for an early (6:00 p.m.) evening service, followed by dinner and a magic show for the children.
Tikkun Olam: 3 ways you can improve the world this week:
1. Donate used dress clothes to help high-schoolers attend their proms in New Orleans. Clothing can be dropped off at the JCC. This drive is being organized by Hadassah.
2. Sign up for a credit card which helps Israel every time you use it: www.hasadvantage.com
3. Bring in canned goods for the STAR High School program’s canned
food drive. Donations can be left in the boxes in the lobby, and will go to the Jewish Family Services Food Bank.
Any more ideas? Send them to the rabbi: dsiff@juno.com.
Thursdays 5:15-6:15 p.m. Pirke Avot “The Ethics of our Fathers.” This study group is being facilitated by Dr. Henry Ray Wengrow.
Thursdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. Join us as we study the Zohar, the classic work of Jewish mysticism.
Saturdays 1:30-2:15 p.m. “Journey to Virtue”- a study of the Torah laws of Interpersonal Relationships.
********************************************************
This weekend:
Friday, February 16 - 6:30 p.m. 6th & 7th Grade Shabbat services.
Saturday, February 17 - 9:45 a.m. Shabbat services
Sunday, February 18 - No Hebrew School
Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, February 21
7 p.m. Jewish Women’s Book Club meeting. Join us to discuss: “The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Esther” by Rebecca Kohn - Social hall.
7:30 p.m. Board of Directors meeting in the library.
Sunday, February 25
10 a.m. STAR Program at Tree of Life
10 a.m. 6th & 7th grade program, drop off your students at Tree of Life
10 a.m. Adult Education Seminar - Topic: “Moderated by Dr. Leon Spotts, Topic: "Ingathering Of The Exiles: How Israel Has Absorbed Communities Of Jews From All Countries Of The World." Dr. Spotts will also comment on the current conflict in Jerusalem at the Elaqsa Mosque.
6:30 p.m. Jr. & Sr. High School students “kick off dinner” planning session.
Wednesday, February 28–6:30 p.m. Strategic Planning Committee meeting in the library.
Thursday, March 1–7:30 p.m. Board of Education meeting.
Friday, March 2–6:30 p.m. B’nai Mitzvah–Brandon & Eden Picow
Saturday, March 3
9:45 a.m. B’nai Mitzvah–Brandon & Eden Picow
10:30 a.m. Junior Congregation.
7:30 p.m. Purim Event and Megillah Reading with the Learning Shul at Beth Shalom. Join us for the Megillah Reading. Come in costume, we will have a costume parade and a sing-a-long led by Marvin Bienstock.
Sunday, March 4–10 a.m. Purim Carnival & Musical Services, Sha'harit followed by interpretive Megillah reading⁄performance (in English). Come in costume, attend the Purim Carnival–we’ll have lunch, games & prizes! Bring a friend, grandparents & parents! Don’t for get to order your Mishloach Manot!
Let your inner Esther shine! We need aspiring thespians to participate in the reading of the Megillah on Sunday, March 4. If interested, please speak with Rabbi Siff.
Tuesday, March 6–6:30 p.m. Join us for a study group - Intro to the meaning and structure of Jewish prayers, led by Alan Witten.
Friday, March 9–6:00 p.m. Magical Family Shabbat dinner. Join us for an early (6:00 p.m.) evening service, followed by dinner and a magic show for the children.
Tikkun Olam: 3 ways you can improve the world this week:
1. Donate used dress clothes to help high-schoolers attend their proms in New Orleans. Clothing can be dropped off at the JCC. This drive is being organized by Hadassah.
2. Sign up for a credit card which helps Israel every time you use it: www.hasadvantage.com
3. Bring in canned goods for the STAR High School program’s canned
food drive. Donations can be left in the boxes in the lobby, and will go to the Jewish Family Services Food Bank.
Any more ideas? Send them to the rabbi: dsiff@juno.com.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Parshat Mishpatim- Shabbat Shekalim⁄Mahar Hodesh
Parshat Mishpatim
Shabbat Shekalim⁄Mahar Hodesh
(2 Kings 12:1-17)
February 17, 2007
This Shabbat marks the first of four special Shabbatot preceding Pesah. Shabbat Shekalim recounts the special tax offered for the maintenance of the sanctuary and afterwards, the first and second Temples. (See Exodus 30:11-16 and Mishnah Shekalim 1:1.) This tax, traditionally collected during the month of Adar, was originally intended to allow the special artisans designated by Moses, Bezalel ben Uri ben Hor and Oholiab ben Ahisamach, to fashion the sanctuary for the desert sojourn. The special haftarah for this Shabbat picks up the story some 600 years later. The Temple in Jerusalem had fallen into disrepair and was desperately in need of restoration after having been neglected by the wicked queen mother, Athaliah. Not only did she murder her own children so that she could retain the monarchy but she also had shed her loyalty to God in favor of idol worship. This led her to disregard the Temple and allow it to fall into disrepair.. When the kingdom was finally wrested from her evil hands and placed in the hands of her youngest son, Jehoash, who through the tutelage of Jehoiada, the High Priest, was loyal to God, there was a tremendous need to restore the Temple.
The project was initially put in the hands of the priests, but these religious leaders of the people seem to have succumbed to the malaise and corruption inspired by the previous leadership of the nation, leaving the Temple in disrepair and the funds raised for the purpose of restoration unaccounted for. (12:5-9) This situation, contrasted dramatically, with the behavior of the generation of Moses, where all of the funding for the building of the sanctuary were meticulously accounted for by the artisans who carried out the work. Perhaps it was this precedent that inspired Jehoiada, the priest, to turn the project over to the workers themselves. They carried the work out with skill, precision, and, above all, with honesty: "Then they (the royal scribe and the High Priest) would deliver the money that was weighed out to the overseers of the work who were in charge of the House of the Lord… No check was kept on the men to whom the money was delivered to pay the workers; for they dealt honestly. (Verses 12; 16) (See Y. Leibovitz in the name of B.Z. Frankel, Seven Years of Discourses on Parshat Hashavua, p. 434)
The fact that this passage singles out the workers for praise over their "so called" leaders speaks also to our generation where we, too, often bear witness to leaders unwilling to bear responsibility for their actions, leaving the "workers" the responsibility for maintaining the welfare of the world.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
Shabbat Shekalim⁄Mahar Hodesh
(2 Kings 12:1-17)
February 17, 2007
This Shabbat marks the first of four special Shabbatot preceding Pesah. Shabbat Shekalim recounts the special tax offered for the maintenance of the sanctuary and afterwards, the first and second Temples. (See Exodus 30:11-16 and Mishnah Shekalim 1:1.) This tax, traditionally collected during the month of Adar, was originally intended to allow the special artisans designated by Moses, Bezalel ben Uri ben Hor and Oholiab ben Ahisamach, to fashion the sanctuary for the desert sojourn. The special haftarah for this Shabbat picks up the story some 600 years later. The Temple in Jerusalem had fallen into disrepair and was desperately in need of restoration after having been neglected by the wicked queen mother, Athaliah. Not only did she murder her own children so that she could retain the monarchy but she also had shed her loyalty to God in favor of idol worship. This led her to disregard the Temple and allow it to fall into disrepair.. When the kingdom was finally wrested from her evil hands and placed in the hands of her youngest son, Jehoash, who through the tutelage of Jehoiada, the High Priest, was loyal to God, there was a tremendous need to restore the Temple.
The project was initially put in the hands of the priests, but these religious leaders of the people seem to have succumbed to the malaise and corruption inspired by the previous leadership of the nation, leaving the Temple in disrepair and the funds raised for the purpose of restoration unaccounted for. (12:5-9) This situation, contrasted dramatically, with the behavior of the generation of Moses, where all of the funding for the building of the sanctuary were meticulously accounted for by the artisans who carried out the work. Perhaps it was this precedent that inspired Jehoiada, the priest, to turn the project over to the workers themselves. They carried the work out with skill, precision, and, above all, with honesty: "Then they (the royal scribe and the High Priest) would deliver the money that was weighed out to the overseers of the work who were in charge of the House of the Lord… No check was kept on the men to whom the money was delivered to pay the workers; for they dealt honestly. (Verses 12; 16) (See Y. Leibovitz in the name of B.Z. Frankel, Seven Years of Discourses on Parshat Hashavua, p. 434)
The fact that this passage singles out the workers for praise over their "so called" leaders speaks also to our generation where we, too, often bear witness to leaders unwilling to bear responsibility for their actions, leaving the "workers" the responsibility for maintaining the welfare of the world.
This study piece is offered as a service of the United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva. It is prepared by Rabbi Mordechai (Mitchell) Silverstein, senior lecturer in Talmud and Midrash at the Conservative Yeshiva. He is a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
With the permission of The United Synagogue Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Rabbi Edward S. Romm - Director of Education
© 2005
Henry Ray Wengrow
Ritual Chair
Beth Shalom
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Let's "Wrap and Roll"!
Date: SUNDAY, February 4, 2007
When: 10:00 a.m. Beth Shalom
Where: Beth Shalom Chapel
LET’S “WRAP AND ROLL”!
Dress: Wear clothing with loose sleeves so wrapping is easy!
JOIN WITH OUR PEOPLE!
PARTICIPATE IN THE MITZVAH!
EXPERIENCE THE WONDER AND JOY!
What is the WORLD WIDE WRAP?
On this day, we try to have all Jews everywhere put on TEFILLIN. Sounds crazy! No? But now…it is a TRADITION!
IN THE BEGINNING there was an idea, a vision, a dream!
Picture this in the eye of your mind: February 4, 2007. The sun rises. It is time for minyan. Jewish families across the globe will gather together at Shul and put on Tefillin! They will experience the mitzvah and wrap themselves in the words and the spirit of holiness. You, your family and your Shul will be a part of this experience!!!
SEE YOU AT THE WRAP!!
When: 10:00 a.m. Beth Shalom
Where: Beth Shalom Chapel
LET’S “WRAP AND ROLL”!
Dress: Wear clothing with loose sleeves so wrapping is easy!
JOIN WITH OUR PEOPLE!
PARTICIPATE IN THE MITZVAH!
EXPERIENCE THE WONDER AND JOY!
What is the WORLD WIDE WRAP?
On this day, we try to have all Jews everywhere put on TEFILLIN. Sounds crazy! No? But now…it is a TRADITION!
IN THE BEGINNING there was an idea, a vision, a dream!
Picture this in the eye of your mind: February 4, 2007. The sun rises. It is time for minyan. Jewish families across the globe will gather together at Shul and put on Tefillin! They will experience the mitzvah and wrap themselves in the words and the spirit of holiness. You, your family and your Shul will be a part of this experience!!!
SEE YOU AT THE WRAP!!
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