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| Shalom Congregants and Friends.....
Last Shabbat Beth Hillel hosted our annual Scholar in Residence Shabbat, sponsored by both our Adult Education Committee and our Israel Affairs Committee. Our guest scholar, Rahel Musleah, provided meaningful and inspirational/ presentations on the history of this fascinating community and how most of it, in the last 60 years, has since made aliyah. She also lead the Torah service Shabbat morning, demonstrating Sephardic trope and traditions... as well as showing us her "personal" Sephardic scroll in a beautiful ornamented case. It was a memorable Shabbat!!
This weekend will give us all a chance to both enjoy a secular holiday and remember, on this Memorial Day, those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Iris and I are taking a few days vacation (looking forward to seeing grandson Jacob)... the Ritual Committee will cover services and emergency rabbinical coverage has been arranged. I'll be back on Monday.
I do hope all of you will be present at the annual Congregational Meeting this Thursday evening, May 26. There are important questions for the future of the synagogue to be decided!
Let me remind you all again: We are now moving into "graduation season." I invite everyone who has a simcha in their family to share the news with the office and myself, so we can share in your celebration as well!
Shabbat Shalom ....... Rabbi Gary and Iris Atkins
"All it takes to study Torah is an open heart,
a curious mind and a desire to grow a Jewish soul." |
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Shabbat Services & Candle Lighting Times
CANDLE LIGHTING Friday, May 27, 7:55pm DST
SHABBAT SERVICE TIMES
Friday, May 27 -- 6:15pm Saturday, May 28, 9:30am,
8:00pm Mincha/ Maariv/ Havdalah
NOTE EARLY SHABBAT EVENING SERVICE TIME -
HOLIDAY WEEKEND!!
There are congregants who need a ride to Friday evening services... if you want to help someone attend our worship... as well as doing a mitzvah, call Rabbi Atkins. |
Joke of the Week
A man's wife was in labor with their first child and suddenly she began to shout,
"Shouldn't, couldn't, wouldn't, didn't, can't!"
He asked the nurse what was going on with his wife.....
The nurse said, "She's having contractions." |
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An Interesting Report on Holocaust Education...
US Military Academy (USMA - West Point) Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies......
I wanted to share an excerpt from an email I received from a friend on the faculty of West Point (USMA) about the Academy's continuing efforts in these areas, including its effort to endow a Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
Many of you may know that the first steps taken toward U.S. Holocaust remembrance began when then-General Eisenhower visited Ohrdruf, the first concentration camp that he visited after itsliberation. He called for journalists and photographers from both the US and the UK to document what was found there, making the prophetic statement that if they did not record what American
forces discovered, "the day would come when it would be called
propaganda." With these actions,he also laid the foundation for US military remembrance efforts by saying that "The American GI does not always know what he is fighting for. Let him see this so that he will know, at least,what it is he is fighting against."
The Wikipedia article on the "Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust" includes notesabout military efforts to remember, an initiative that ADL once called the largest Holocaust education and remembrance program in the world. The Department of Defense Guide to Holocaust Remembrance Observances was ground-breaking, bringing together a host of resources for military education and remembrance programs, especially because it was printed well before the creation of the internet, where so many resources can now be found.
My approach to the Holocaust in the military was based on my approach to the story of slavery in the Bible: both are particular Jewish stories that ultimately stand as symbols for universal evils. The Israelites were slaves, and we remember their particular storyto stand up against slavery of all kinds. The Jews under the Nazis were treated as less than human -- ultimately, "life unworthy of life" -- and so we remember the very particular Jewish story of the Shoah so that we can stand against the denial of humanity in others. (And while some programs target the "Hitler without," other examples in the world of genocide or genocide-in-the-making, I also try to remember to face the challenge of "the Hitler within": that part of each one of us - perhaps linked to the yetzer hara - that makes it so easy at times to see others as less worthy and less human than we ourselves are.)
(From a West Point faculty member):
While we still have a long way to go before the Center is endowed, we have been able to accomplish much. In the last half year, we hosted numerous guest lecturers (ranging from Yale Professor Adam Tooze to Sierra Leonean child soldier turned author Ismael Beah) and sponsored a range of cadet internships and research projects, but in this email I would like to highlight two of our most recent and outstanding accomplishments to date. For this year's Day of Remembrance ceremony, we were honored by the filmmaker Victoria Barrett, who screened her award-winning documentary "Desperate Hours" and spoke about it to well over 250 cadets, faculty, survivors, Jewish war veterans, and distinguished visitors. The screening and discussionwas attended by West Point Superintendent Lieutenant General David Huntoon and West Point Commandant Brigadier General William Rapp. Ms. Barrett also talked to classes on Middle Eastern history about her experiences in living in Turkey and making the film. Using a matching grant the Center received from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, we partnered with the Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC to create a first-of-its-kind Mass Atrocity Education workshop. This collaborative effort brought together a group of West Point faculty, renowned Holocaust and genocide scholars, staff and experts from Museum, and representatives from the Naval Academy and Army War College, and aimed to achieve the following five goals:
1. To further understanding of the Holocaust and genocide with particular emphasis on the role(s) of the military.
2. To empower participants with the competencies (knowledge and skills) to develop accurate and meaningful lessons on the Holocaust and / or genocide to be incorporated into existing core curricula at the United States Military Academy.
3. To clarify the value of the Holocaust and genocide content in training future military officers.
4. To enhance the relationships between West Point faculty and other scholars as well as Museum staff.
5. To build awareness of genocide and mass atrocity and current efforts to enhance the world's ability to prevent and respond to genocide today. |
Congregational Announcements
Annual Meeting - Thursday evening, May 26 Election of Officers/ Vote on the proposed new constitution. Be sure to come - be sure that you can vote!! |
U.S. House approves Jewish Chaplains memorial
(JTA) -- The U.S. House of Representatives voted to authorize the construction of a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery for fallen Jewish chaplains.
The bill was approved Monday night and now moves to the Senate.
Dozens of national and locally based Jewish and veterans groups, led by the Jewish Federations and the Jewish Welfare Board Jewish Chaplains Council of the JCC Association of America, have been working for nearly three years to establish a memorial for Jewish chaplains in Arlington National Cemetery alongside those for Protestant and Catholic chaplains.
The memorial, which has been designed and paid for by private donations, must receive congressional authorization before construction can begin.
Thirteen Jewish chaplains have been killed while serving in the military.
"I can think of no better expression of our nation's gratitude for our Jewish War Chaplains than the passage of this resolution during Jewish American Heritage Month, and a week before Memorial Day," said Rep. Jeff Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "The 13 Jewish chaplains who will be honored stood beside our troops and lent their strength during good times and bad, on the battlefield and off. This memorial will serve as an inspiration to all to learn their stories that are such an important part of our nation's history."
The congressional resolutions, initiated by Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Tom Rooney (R-Fla.) in the House, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in the Senate, urge the provision of space "for a memorial marker, to be paid for with private funds, to honor the memory of the Jewish chaplains who died while on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States."
The design would be subject to the approval of the secretary of the Army.
The resolution notes the absence from the memorial of, among others, Rabbi Alexander Goode, one of four chaplains who relinquished their life jackets to soldiers when the USS Dorchester was sunk by German torpedoes in 1943 and went down together in prayer.. |
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Social Action Updates
There are congregants who need a ride to Friday evening services... if you want to help someone attend our worship... as well as doing a mitzvah, call Rabbi Atkins.
DONATIONS OF FOOD ARE GREATLY NEEDED FOR THE KOSHER AND REGULAR FOOD BANKS!! PLEASE DONATE AT THE SYNAGOGUE NOW!!
It opened April 2 - Bloomfield Soup Kitchen.... Hosted at Bloomfield United Methodist Church
Be aware of those less fortunate than we are!! Carry out the mitzvah of tikkun olam!
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Upcoming Synagogue & (Selected) Community Events
JUNE 3 - SISTERHOOD SHABBAT/ SIMCHA SHABBAT
JUNE 7 - TIKKUN L'AYL SHAVUOT AT BETH AHM
JUNE 8-9 SHAVUOT SERVICES - YIKZOR JUNE 9
JUNE 10 - Dr. JOE OLZAKI speaking on "RETURNING CULTURE TO RWANDA - ONE CHOIR AT A TIME"
JUNE 12 - BROTHERHOOD MTG AND BREAKFAST --
AFTER MORNING MINYAN
JUNE 17 - INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS AND VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION SHABBAT
JUNE 19-26 BUILDING ABRAHAMIC PARTNERSHIPS -
A UNIQUE WEEK OF LEARNING TAUIGHT BY HARTTFORD SEMINARY PROFESSORS, PROGRAM LED BY DR. YEHEZKEL LANDAU |
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Israel News
Prime Minister Netanyahu gave a memorable speech to Congress.... This is its essence.....
Let me stress one thing.Peace between Israelis and Palestinians is a vital need for us. Peace would be the realization of a powerful and eternal dream......
But it is not a panacea for the endemic problems of the Middle East. It will not give women is some Arab countries in the Middle East the right to drive a car. It will not prevent Churches from being bombed. It will not keep journalists out of jail. What will change all this? One word. Democracy. Real, genuine, democracy. By democracy, I don't just mean elections. I mean Freedom of Speech. Freedom of the Press. Freedom of Assembly. The Rule of Law. Rights for women, for gays, for minorities, for everyone. What the people of the Middle East need is what you have in America, and what we have in Israel. Democracy. It's time to recognize this basic truth: Israel is not what's wrong about the Middle East. Israel is what's right about the Middle East.
My Friends, Israel wants peace because we know the pain of terror and the agony of war. We want peace because we know the blessings peace could bring to us and to our Palestinian neighbors. But if we hope to advance peace with the Palestinians, then it is time that we admitted another truth. This conflict has raged for nearly a century because the Palestinians refuse to end it. They refuse to accept the Jewish state. This is what this conflict has always been about.
"It's time to stop blaming Israel for all of the region's problems. |
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Weekly Torah Portion Commentary -
Courtesy of Rabbi Michael Gold
The new book of Numbers begins with a census of all the Israelite men of military age. The final number is slightly over six hundred thousand. Counting the women, the elders, the children, the total population who wandered through the wilderness was probably between two and three million. But let us look at that 600,000 number.
Four generations earlier the Israelites had gone down to Egypt with seventy men. How many children must each family have to increase from 70 to 600,000 in four generations? One dozen? Two dozen? Perhaps three dozen? I will not try to work out the exact mathematics here. It is hard enough to imagine each family having dozens of children. But add to that the fact that the Israelites were slaves working ungodly hours. It is hard to imagine the men building the pyramids by day and coming home exhausted to their wives, then siring these huge families. There was a miracle built into these population increase.
The Midrash (Rabbinic legends) explains these amazing feats of procreation. One Midrash teaches that when Pharaoh demanded all baby boys be thrown in the Nile, the men separated from their wives. No one wanted to bring children into such a cruel world. It was Miriam, Moses' sister, who convinced her father to go back to her mother and bring new children into the world. According to tradition, Miriam told her father, "Pharaoh's decree is only against the boys, you are decreeing against both boys and girls. Pharaoh's decree is only for this world, you are decreeing for this world and the world to come. Pharaoh's decree may be overturned any time, your decree will not be overturned." As a result of Miriam's arguments, Moses parents came back together and Moses was born.
Another Midrash praises the women for maintaining the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. The men came home from their slavery exhausted. The women used their mirrors to make themselves so beautiful that the men could not resist. So the Israelites continued to have these large families. Later, when the Tabernacle was built, God ordered the Israelites to use the women's mirrors as a reward for the mitzvah of procreation.
We learn from these Midrashic passages a fundamental value from our tradition. Having children is central. Even during difficult times, children represent our hope for the future. Shortly we will be celebrating the festival of Shavuot, which honors the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. At our synagogue we have a tradition (conceived by my colleague Rabbi Stephen Steindel) called The Bounty of the Babies. In the morning, right after we read the giving of the Ten Commandments, we call up all the babies born in the congregation this past year for a blessing. The babies are our guarantee of a wonderful future.
Allow me to give a modern interpretation of a very old and strange Rabbinic passage. "Rabbi Asi said, the son of David [the Messiah] will not be come until all the souls in Guf [God's storehouse] have been born." (Yebamot 62a) God keeps a storehouse of human souls, each one waiting to be born. The quicker those souls are born, the quicker will the Messiah come. Perhaps each soul has a task to bring about the perfect age in the future. Every time a new child is born into the world, that task of perfecting the world moves forward. On the other hand, every time a family avoids having a new child, the task of perfecting the world is delayed.
According to tradition, the Israelites went from slavery to freedom. They did so by bringing large families into the world. Each new baby holds a piece of the puzzle in our slow march towards perfecting this world as a kingdom of God. |
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