Shalom Congregants and Friends.....
 
Rabbi's Ramblings...... 

I felt that Yom Kippur services went extremely well. We finished Kol Nidre, morning, and evening services on time, and we had a wonderful break-fast for those who returned for Neilah. Copies of my sermons are available in the office upon request. Thanks to all who assisted in so many different areas making both of the High Holy Days successful... and, as I wrote last week, I invite any comments for the continued improvement of services... the ritual committee will be meeting in October!

I was fortunate to attend two special programs the last few nights. Sunday Iris and I, along with many congregants, attended the wonderful tribute to Ruth and Rabbi Philip Lazowski in connection with the premiere of the documentary of his life and book, Faith and Destiny. It was a memorable evening! Tuesday evening we attended the Anti-Defamation League's "Torch of Liberty" program. Two area families were honored and the important work the ADL does was described.

We immediately look ahead to the holiday of Sukkot. This is a combined e-shul, issued for the fall holidays of rejoicing.... the next e-shul will be out on October 7. First day Sukkot, we will look at the book of Jonah that was read the afternoon of Yom Kippur. On Shabbat Sukkot, we will look at the book of Ecclesiastes or Kohelet..... both "study sessions" facilitated by the USCJ's "Megillah Sparks," which now complement their weekly "Torah Sparks." Come share in and enjoy the services and study!

We have our congregational sukkah decorated, and we will have, assuming decent weather,  a sukkah-hop the morning of Sunday, Sept. 26. Details below, as well as service times.

There will be a lulav and etrog available at the synagogue for any and all to use and say the special blessings. You can also come by and enjoy our sukkah whenever!

Look forward to being with your "synagogue family" in shul here at Beth Hillel Synagogue!
 
 Rabbi Gary and Iris Atkins
"No one should leave services unmoved or unchanged...
 Shabbat / Holiday Services & Candle Lighting Times
 CANDLE LIGHTING    
Wednesday  Sept. 22, 6:22pm
Thursday, Sept. 23, NET 7:22pm
Friday, September 24.... NLT 6:25pm

Wednesday  Sept. 29, 6:11pm
Thursday, Sept. 30, after NET 7:12pm
Friday, October 1.... NLT 6:13pm


SUKKOT
First night Sukkot Services, Wed. Sept. 22 6pm, followed by Oneg
at home of Ruth and Rabbi Philip Lazowski, 34 Timberwood Rd.

Thursday, Sept. 23

Shaharit 9:30 A.M.

Mincha, Ma'ariv, 6:30 P.M.

Friday, Sept. 24

Shaharit 9:30A.M.

Mincha, Maariv 6:30 P.M.... leading into Shabbat

                                      SHMINI ATZERET

Wednesday, Sept. 29

Erev Shmini Atzeret, 6:30pm

Thursday, Sept. 30 

Shaharit 9:30 A.M., Yizkor about 11:15AM

Mincha, Ma'ariv, 6:30 P.M. ... start of Simchat Torah

SIMCHAT  TORAH

Friday, Oct. 1

Shaharit 9:30A.M.

Mincha, Maariv  6:30 P.M.... leading into Shabbat


Congregational Announcements 

Traveling in the weeks ahead?????
Ask Rabbi Atkins for "shaliach kesef" - messenger money - along with a prayer for a safe journey; it will "guarantee" you a safe trip.
It's one of my favorite  mitzvot!!   

Waldbaum's Script


Unfortunately Waldbaum's Supermarket in West Hartford will be closing the end of next month.  The office is no longer selling scrip for the store (PLEASE CONTINUE TO PURCHASE for the Crown and other chains) and we have returned our supply for refund. But be sure to use any you may have in the coming weeks!

Lost and Found
There are a number of items left in the synagogue that are in the office. Anyone missing their glasses or a cellphone? Check with the office and see if it's yours!
 Upcoming  Special Events   - For more info see  Chai-lites!!    
Congregational Sukkah Hop - Sunday morning, Sept 26. Leaving synagogue 10am. Call to let us know you're "hopping!" We will be back at the shul approximately 11am

Chai Mitzvah meeting - Sept. 28 after evening minyan

Sisterhood General Meeting - October 6 8pm

First 5771 Congregational Shabbat Dinner - October 15

Upcoming  Special Community Events     

THE HOLOCAUST BY BULLETS....... A Priest 's Journey to Uncover the Truth behind the Murder of 1.5 Million Jews

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 7 p.m.
Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT

Featured Speaker: Father Patrick Desbois

Using the Museum's archives to inform his search, Father Patrick Desbois, a French Catholic priest, is leading a historic undertaking to locate every mass grave and site where Jews were killed in Ukraine and Belorussia during the Holocaust.

Father Desbois, author of The Holocaust By Bullets, will discuss his extraordinary work to preserve the memory of Ukraine's former Jewish community and his impact on increasing local understanding of the crimes committed there during the Holocaust.

Admission is $8 per person; free for students. Donations are welcome and may be made when purchasing tickets.  To purchase tickets, please call 800.274.8587.

All proceeds go to the Museum's Fund for the Study of the Holocaust in the Soviet Union, which supports the work of Father Desbois. For more information, contact the Museum's New England Regional Office at 202.488.6585.


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JCRC Program - Tuesday, September 28
Imam Abdullah Antelpi speaking at Federation Building, 7:00pm
Jews and Muslims in America
...... call JCRC for information

___________________________________________________________________________

Chai Mitzvah Open House - Thursday, October 7, 7pm -9pm .... JCC/
Meeting at BHS Sept 28, after minyan.

Chai Mitzvah participants commit to a year of exploring and  intensifying their Jewish connections, similar to the way a young person does when preparing to become a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Adults are encouraged to "become a Chai Mitzvah" at intervals of roughly every 18 years after age 13. The eligible ages are: 26-33, 47-51, 65-69, and 80+. Participants engage in Jewish study, volunteer  time for  social action projects, adds or deepen a ritual in their lives, and join the monthly Community Learning Groups to connect with others who are in the program from throughout the Greater Hartford Jewish Community.

Everyone is invited to celebrate with us on October 7. You may come to learn more about Chai Mitzvah, to join the program for this year and receive your "Owner's Manual", to meet your alumni friends from last year, or to represent your synagogue, agency or organization as a professional or lay leader.


 Special expressions of "Todah rabbah"  - "Thank you"    
 
* Everyone in the office (Lynn/ Bonnie/ Madalyn) for all their extra work and patience over this busy season.

* Our custodian staff (Marian. Arthur/ Leslie) for all their extra work over this busy season.
 
* Our ushers and all those who helped with services over the High Holy Days
Beth Hillel Synagogue Blood Drive!!    
 
Donovan Barros will become Bar Mitzvah on November 20. He has chosen "Organizing a Red Cross Blood Drive" as his mitzvah project. This is a wonderful project on his part......
 
The date will be Wednesday, October 27. The most important part to it right now is establishing a list  of....BLOOD DONOR VOLUNTEERS
 
If you have given blood before (or are willing to be a first time donor) let Donovan or the office know. Contact Donovan at [email protected] or call Lynn at the office.
 
 Social Action Updates    
 
THE HIGH HOLY DAYS ARE TIMES TO REMEMBER THOSE LESS FORTUNATE!!  PICK UP AN ENVELOPE AND SEND A DONATION TO MAZON TO HELP FEED THE HUNGRY....
 
DONATIONS OF FOOD ARE GREATLY NEEDED FOR THE KOSHER AND REGULAR FOOD BANKS!! PLEASE DONATE AT THE SYNAGOGUE NOW!!
  
Help with Darfur ..... Help in Hartford... Help in Ethiopia
 
The 2010 Handbook of Hartford Volunteer Opportunities is now available for your perusal in the library!
 
Be aware of those less fortunate than we are!! Carry out the mitzvah of tikkun olam!
Israel Update...... away from politics for a change!

And The Word Shall Go Forth From Tel Aviv

September 15, 2010  by RabbiJoshua Hammerman
 
      I spent a few weeks in Israel this summer and couldn't help but notice a fascinating trend developing, one that might help those of us back here to overcome our uneasiness about Jerusalem, with its fundamentalist leanings and shady politics.
       It occurred to me that maybe we've been mistaken in looking exclusively toward Jerusalem for moral guidance and spiritual inspiration. Granted, our Eternal Capital is as beautiful as ever, despite the blight caused by uncontrolled growth - in particular the corruption-plagued Holyland project, an urban stain that has turned a majestic hillside into the Tower of Babel.
      So when I had a few extra days to spend in the country, I opted for Tel Aviv, a city with zero holy sites aand that a century ago was just a bunch of sand dunes. For all its grime and flatness, though, this quintessentially secular city has some sacred lessons to share. Holiness can happen even in a place where Habima is a theater and not a pulpit. While the Torah may still come from Zion, a woman holding one in parts of Jerusalem will be subject to arrest. Not so in Tel Aviv.
       It seems that even the ultra-Orthodox agree that Israel's commercial mecca is gaining some serious spiritual street cred. Recently the highway between Israel's two central cities was plastered with signs featuring a photo of a black bearded man declaring that the messiah is from, of all places, Tel Aviv. According to the "Mystical Paths" blog, the photo portrays the 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Shalom Dov Bear of Lubavitch, who died around 1920, and the sign's purpose is to draw attention to the apocalyptic expectations that have become rampant in Israel. According to this theory, Tel Aviv is mentioned to heighten curiosity even more.
While some are awaiting apocalypse, others are simply looking for a quiet evening by the seashore, and that's where I found the Torah that emanates from Tel Aviv. For the past few years, the reconfigured Tel Aviv port has become a cool hotspot for young couples and families, and now, each Friday in the summer, an outdoor Kabbalat Shabbat service, of all things, has become a huge hit in this bastion of secularism. Along with many hundreds of others, I attended one of the services, which are coordinated by Beit Tefila Israeli, a pluralistic, non-denominational group that seeks to meld Tel Aviv's creative spirit with ancient Jewish traditions. Its prayer book does just that, interspersing the traditional prayers with selections by Bialik, Heschel, Naomi Shemer and a number of other Jewish and particularly Israeli sources. The congregation wants its service to be considered an indigenous expression of modern Israeli culture, not an import from elsewhere, and it is most definitely succeeding.
       North American visitors will recognize the influence of non-Orthodox centers of Jewish spirituality in the U.S., but it is reassuring to see such recognition happening in Israel, far from the back rooms of the Knesset, where politicians appear determined to ban all expressions of Judaism save one. Almost everything about this Kabbalat service would have been prohibited near the Kotel: the mixed seating, the female prayer leaders, the many men in the congregation not wearing kippot (and the women who were), the exotic musical instruments, and the hints of Eastern spirituality combined with ballads of great Zionist poets.
       As we turned to greet the Shabbat bride, with the setting sun splashing into the blue sea before us, I realized that we had been praying the entire service facing the water - in other words facing west, with our backs to Jerusalem. I smiled. Outdoors, it really was a no-brainer to face the soothing Mediterranean rather than the fast food restaurants across the way, or the juggler a few hundred yards down the pier. But this is also the best possible response to the Rotem Bill on conversion - not to shun all of Israel, but turn away from the sickness of Jerusalem's corrupted, forbidding, vindictive brand of Judaism and seek better models elsewhere. The view from Tel Aviv that Shabbat was simply delightful.
       The congregation's siddur states: "My God - here we have no Wall, only the sea. But since you seem to be everywhere, you must be here, too. ... And maybe I was created so that from within me you can see the world you created with new eyes."
       Jerusalemites are beginning to take their cultural cues from their neighbor to the west. The most popular spot in town is now the upscale, very Tel Avivian outdoor mall in the Mamila quarter, right outside Jaffa Gate. Who could have imagined that Jerusalemites would flock to Hilfiger, Prada and the Gap? And in the hit Israeli TV series "S'rugim," which portrays the lives of single modern Orthodox 30-somethings in Jerusalem, one of the most poignant scenes of the first season involved one character's experience of an exhilarating Shabbat, not at the Kotel but on the beach in Tel Aviv.
       Non-Orthodox forms of Jewish expression are thriving in Israel and places like Beit Tefilah Israeli are not going to fade away. It reminds us that throughout Jewish history, great religious innovation could take place only at a safe distance from the watchful eyes of the Jerusalem elites. Places like Yavne, Tiberias and Safed gave rise to the Judaism we know today, while Jerusalem corroded and crumbled under the weight of its own ossified hubris.
     As we stand facing east over the coming days, toward all of Israel, recall that Torah is being renewed, with new eyes, in Tel Aviv.

Torah Portion --
This Shabbat we read selections from the book of Ecclesiastes or Kohelet. Chapter 3 of the book has become well known as a result of the popular song whose lyrics are below. Come sing it this Shabbat......


To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time of war, a time of peace
A time of love, a time of hate
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time of peace, I swear it's not too late!