May 23, 2008 – Iyar 18
5768 – Omer Day 33
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman,
In Memoriam … to all who
have given their lives in service of our country
And …Happy Lag B’Omer!
What is Lag B'Omer? - from Wikipedia…
…and from
the classic Jewish Encyclopedia
This Shabbat-O-Gram is sponsored by Adina and
Damian Senatore
in honor of their son, Marc becoming a Bar
Mitzvah.
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Bulletin. Call Mindy in the office at 322-6901
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Prior Shabbat-O-Grams are archived at http://www.tbe.org/sog/index.php.
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)
The (Occasionally) Ranting Rabbi
Mitzvah/Tzedakkah
Opportunities
The Beth El Bar/Bat
Mitzvah Commentary
Masechet Cyberspace (NEW)
Required Reading and Action Items (links
to key articles on Israel and Jewish life)
TBE Family
Album (NEW)
See
the video produced by Kulanu Students
who recently returned from
The March of the Living
Quote for the Week
“Though some were
knocked over and lying on their sides,
you knew that at
least every one of these people had been loved at some point in their lives.”
From the journal of one of our
teens on March of the Living,
upon seeing overturned stones in
a Jewish cemetery
TEFILLAT HA-DERECH
(THE WAYFARER’S PRAYER)
For those traveling over
the holiday weekend:
Hebrew
Text
יְהִי
רָצוֹן
מִלְפָנֶיךָ
ה'
אֱ-לֹהֵינוּ
וֵא-לֹהֵי
אֲבוֹתֵינוּ,
שֶתּוֹלִיכֵנוּ
לְשָלוֹם
וְתַצְעִידֵנוּ
לְשָלוֹם.
וְתִסְמְכֵנוּ
לְשָלוֹם.
וְתַדְרִיכֵנוּ
לְשָלוֹם.
וְתַגִיעֵנוּ
לִמְחוֹז
חֶפְצֵנוּ
לְחַיִּים
וּלְשִמְחָה
וּלְשָלוֹם
וְתַצִּילֵנוּ
מִכַּף כָּל
אוֹיֵב
וְאוֹרֵב וְלִסְטִים
וְחַיּוֹת
רָעוֹת
בַדֶּרֶךְ
וּמִכָּל
מִינֵי
פּוּרְעָנִיּוֹת
הַמִתְרַגְּשוֹת
לָבוֹא
לָעוֹלָם
וְתִשְלַח
בְּרָכָה
בְּכל
מַעֲשֵה
יָדֵינוּ,
וְתִתְּנֵנוּ
לְחֵן
וּלְחֶסֶד
וּלְרַחֲמִים
בְעֵינֶיךָ
וּבְעֵינֵי
כָל רוֹאֵינוּ
וְתִשְמַע
קוֹל
תַּחֲנוּנֵינוּ.
כִּי אֵ-ל
שוֹמֵעַ
תְּפִלָּה
וְתַחֲנוּן
אתה: בָּרוּךְ
אַתָּה ה',
שוֹמֵעַ
תְּפִלָּה.
Transliteration
Y'hi ratzon milfanekha A-donai E-loheinu ve-lohei avoteinu she-tolikhenu l'shalom v'tatz'idenu l'shalom v'tadrikhenu l'shalom, v'tagi'enu limhoz heftzenu l'hayim ul-simha ul-shalom. V'tatzilenu mi-kaf kol oyev
v'orev v'listim v'hayot ra'ot ba-derekh,
u-mi-kol minei pur'aniyot ha-mitrag'shot la-vo la-olam. V'tishlah
b'rakha b'khol ma'a'se yadeinu v'tit'nenu l'hen ul-hesed ul-rahamim b'einekha uv-einei khol ro'einu. V'tishma
kol tahanuneinu ki E-l sho'me'a t'fila v'tahanun ata. Barukh ata
A-donai sho'me'a t'fila.
English Translation
May it be Your
will, LORD, our God and the
God of our ancestors, that You lead us toward peace, guide our footsteps toward
peace, and make us reach our desired destination for life, gladness, and peace.
May You rescue us from the hand of every foe, ambush along the way, and from
all manner of punishments that assemble to come to earth. May You send blessing
in our handiwork, and grant us grace, kindness, and mercy in Your eyes and in
the eyes of all who see us. May You hear the sound of our humble request
because You are God Who hears prayer requests. Blessed are You, Adonai, Who
hears prayer.
YouTube Video - IDF
Soldiers recite prayer for a safe journey (Tefilat HaDerech)
in their tank.
Candle lighting: 7:54 pm on Friday, May 23, 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:
6:30 – Main Service –outdoors, weather
permitting
Tot Shabbat at 6:45, in the lobby
Shabbat Morning:
Mazal tov to Marc Senatore, son of Damian and
Adina, brother of Richard and Natalia,
who becomes Bar Mitzvah this Shabbat morning
Morning Minyan:
7:30 Weekdays, 9:30 Sundays
9:00 AM on Memorial Day (Monday) – and we have
a Guaranteed Minyan Request for that day
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
Parashat Behukotai
1: 26:3-5
2: 26:6-9
3: 26:10-46
4: 27:1-4
5: 27:5-8
6: 27:9-11
7: 27:12-15
maf: 27:12-15
Haftarah Jeremiah
16:19 - 17:14
Text Studies and Commentaries on Behukotai
Click here
for a summary of B’hukotai
Text Studies
Faith In Difficult Times by Rabbi Andrea Lerner
Provided by Hillel’s
Commentaries
The Blessing of Rain by Jonathan Neril
Provided by Canfei Nesharim, providing Torah wisdom about the importance of protecting our environment.
Corrupt Leadership by Carol Towarnicky
Provided by American Jewish World Service, pursuing global justice through grassroots change.
Preserving The Covenant by Dvora Weisberg
Provided by CLAL: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a multi-denominational think tank and resource center.
Stubbornness And Chance by Rabbi Avraham Fischer
Provided by the Orthodox
Science
Vs. Sabbath? by
Provided by SocialAction.com, an on-line Jewish magazine dedicated to pursuing justice, building community, and repairing the world.
No Food, No Torah; No Torah, No Food by Rabbi Marcia Plumb
Provided by the Union for Reform Judaism, the central body of Reform
Judaism in
Unifying Towards Redemption by David Frankel
Provided by the UJA-Federation of
By Alexander Aflalo
(Alexander Aflalo gave
this stirring commencement address at the graduation of Kulanu this past
Wednesday night, which included some reflections on the “March of the
Living.” I thank him for granting
permission to reprint it here. Congratulations and best of luck to Alexander
and to all the other Kulanu graduates who “only yesterday” appeared on Beth
El’s bima as b’nai and b’not mitzvah and now are headed for college: Rachel
Cohen, Dara Gold, Matt Hirtenstein, Amanda Jablon,
Ariel Poser, Taylor Ross and Danielle Shapiro)
Kulanu. It is a name it is a
word, a place, a state of being. In Hebrew it means
“together,” and over the past four years I have truly come to understand and
experience its meaning.
When I first started in this program at the beginning of my
high school years, the name Kulanu was just that, a name, a word that had no
influence on my life. However one of my first classes
here, an “improv” class, changed that. When I entered the room
I was able to let go and be myself, it was a place where together, we could all
be free. In the following years I found myself once again one among many, a
member of a group, whether it was one out of two or twenty.
Kulanu is where I went to open up and relax after school; I
would look forward to that Wednesday night every week. Kulanu is where I wanted
to be, for so many reasons: Discussing theology and the Jewish faith between Simpsons episodes, enjoying chocolate donuts and cookies at
snack while watching playful delinquents pepper each other with crumbs and
chocolate bits. I can remember bringing my juggling balls to practice or just
fool around, that is, until I lent them to some long forgotten individuals who
proceeded to throw them at each other, ending with some broken glass and a lost
juggling ball. And I haven’t juggled at the temple since.
But Kulanu has been more than just a place for fun and
relaxation with members of the Jewish community; it was a place where I
learned. I journeyed from the rich history of our ancestors, to the horrors of
the Holocaust and beyond into the hopes and dreams of the future and the state
of
At the end of last month, my classmates and I here at
Kulanu, embarked on a life-changing odyssey through the concentration camps of
I found my sanity, my joy, my pride, in Kulanu.
TBE Annual Meeting
I hope to see many of you at our annual meeting this coming Wednesday
evening at 8 PM. Although there are no
major controversies to discuss, now would be the perfect time to step into a dread-free
meeting, where it will feels unambiguously good to be here. There are lots of good things happening, and
you need to hear about them. You may
even be amazed, in fact, to hear how good things are. We also have our challenges, and some are
still daunting; but somehow, even the most lofty goals feel more attainable
now.
As I usually do, I’ll be laying out some of my goals and visions for the
upcoming year. One of those goals has
been to facilitate more visioning and team building among our leadership, and
to that end, I’m looking forward to hosting our board at my home for a special
planning session on June 1.
The annual meeting gives us a chance to thank volunteers for their hard
work and in particular, board members and professionals who have completed
their terms or are otherwise leaving. I
hope you will join me in thanking all of them next week. At the same time, we’ll be welcoming and
officially electing our new board. From
top to bottom, the list of nominees is filled with people of incredible
dedication, vision and menschlichkite. Congratulations to them – and thank you for
taking on this important work. The board
– and our congregation – are now poised to accomplish great things.
Congratulations to our Newly
Elected USY Board!
- President: Mitchell Shapiro
- SATO: Jon Arons
- Communications VP: Ali Pomerance and Billy Harris
- Rel Ed: Jackie Schechter
- Mem/Kad:
- Synaplex Liaison: Dan Hammerman
Thank you to Youth Advisor Ariela Pelaia for coordinating a fair and
constructive election, assisted by Ethan Hammerman, who was also recently
elected to the regional USY Board as VP for Re. Ed. Each candidate wrote a position paper that
was shared with all members of our chapter.
Those who did not win election have been invited to be part of the
leadership group in an advisory capacity.
Ariela will be stepping down to pursue a very busy schedule. We’ll miss
her (though our teens will still see her at Kulanu) and we are delighted that Darren
Bahar has agreed to become our Youth Advisor for the coming year.
Where
They Stand on Global Warming
This has not been a very good few months for the
earth. The horrors in
I discussed all this in my sermon last week, which
coincided perfectly with the portion describing the Sabbatical and Jubilee
years and our relationship with the land.
I’ve included some key sites for an understanding of the Jewish
perspective on environmentalism – see the Web Journey below. Meanwhile, in this political season, here is
what the candidates are saying:
Source: Chicago Tribune
John McCain: Gave a major speech
this week on greenhouse gas emissions that was well-timed—two days before the polar
bear became the first species named to the endangered species list primarily
because of global warming. Criticized President George W. Bush's
record on climate change. Differs from many in the GOP by calling
for a market-based cap-and-trade system under which businesses could meet
emissions standards by either cutting their pollution output or buying credits
from more efficient producers. Aims
to cut emissions by 60 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
Barack Obama:
Says the
Hillary Clinton:
Calls for addressing global warming "with a whole new era of
innovation—let's call it Energy 2.0." Would require that publicly traded
companies report financial risks due to climate change in their reports to the
federal Securities and Exchange Commission. Like McCain and Obama, favors a
cap-and-trade system under which businesses would limit emissions or buy
credits from more efficient producers. Sets goal of an 80 percent emissions cut
by 2050, the same level as Obama's and higher than
McCain's 60 percent.
Beth El Cares:
Inreach and
Outreach
Mitzvah Suggestions for the Week
Thursday, June 5, 2008, 10:00 am –
2:00 pm
Thursday June 19th
10:00am-3:00PM
“He who saves one life, it is as if he
had saved the entire world” -Talmud
Dear Friends,
I am writing to you to let
you know about a chance to make a difference and save someone’s life. Many
children and adults have been diagnosed with fatal blood diseases that can only
be cured by bone marrow transplants.
Chances for a match increase significantly if the patient and potential
donor share the same ethnic background.
A member of our community, Nina Weld, is in a race against time to save
her brother,
What does it entail? A
simple cotton swab in the mouth is all it takes to register. Registering as a
potential donor doesn’t obligate you to be a donor. You must be between the
ages of 18-60 and be in general good health. The entire drive is being
generously underwritten by an anonymous donor.
If you can help Alan and some many others like him in
our community, please come to Temple Sholom, 300 East
Putnam Ave, Greenwich CT on Thursday
June 5th from
10:00 am to 2:00 pm or Greenwich Town Hall, 101 Field Point Road, Greenwich, CT
on Thursday June 19th from 10:00 to 3 pm. Look for America Red Cross
signs.
Thank you for your
consideration. Please feel free to forward this message.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Joshua Hammerman
Contacts:
Nina Weld 203-622-9118 nweld@optonline.net
National Marrow Donor
Program 888-298-6571 ext. 101 www.marrow.org
Mitzvah
Opportunity – “Hachnasat Orchim” – welcoming a guest
Accommodations
needed: A Wesleyan professor will be bringing
her 8 year old son to the
Special
Request from Nancy Leferman
I will
be going through a desensitization protocol at the
As you
all know, I have relied on my village for both support and laughter as a way of
getting through so in that vein I have two requests.
1. One of my healers suggested that I ask a few
people (she has no idea what a “few” means to me!!!!!) to send me a funny
card. I will collect them and open them
while I am in the ICU at Dana Farber on an extremely slow drip IV and I will
laugh. So please start sending me cards
and ask your other friends and their other friends and so on and so on and so
on to send me the funniest card they can and mail them to me at:
Nancy Leferman
I am
not sure when I will be starting this program but I am asking you all to start
this funny card chain now.
2. I wholeheartedly believe in the power of
prayer so every time I cross your mind, please say two prayers (if you don’t
mind) -- the first one would be that I get through the desensitization protocol
without incident and the second one would be that it of course puts me into
remission.
I
thank you all in advance.
With
lots of love,
STAND UP FOR
Join Rabbi Hammerman at the AIPAC
Policy Conference, June 2-4
For more information, go to www.aipac.org
To see the full conference
schedule, go to http://www.aipac.org/about_AIPAC/Learn_About_AIPAC/2841_12377.asp
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