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What is Shir Hadash?
Shir Hadash, located in the heart of Jerusalem, is a Synagogue, Educational Institute and Community Center dedicated to bringing people closer to Judaism, to one another and to Israel. Our activities include: THE SYNAGOGUE - Daily & Shabbat Services - Ranked by The Jerusalem Post as one of the two most popular Synagogues in all of Jerusalem.
- College of Jewish Studies - Adult Education Programming
- Spiritual Diplomacy, providing hospitality and educational programs for high level political, communal, academic and business delegations to strengthen their connection to Israel and the Jewish people.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE - Outreach Lectures to 1000+ teens every summer, and overseas University students every week.
- Mini-Yeshivot (1-3 week intensive learning programs) & other Short Term, High Impact Educational Modules
- Book Talks
- Unity Beit Midrash
- Hesed Fellowship
- Rabbinic Intern Training Program
- New Song Publishers
COMMUNITY CENTER
- Most popular early childhood center in Jerusalem, aids in absorption of new immigrants.
- Social and Educational Programming for Singles
- Hesed Central
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The Accidental Zionist No Longer an Accident
A couple of years ago Shir Hadash's publishing arm, New Song Publishers, put out the book "The Accidental Zionist." Earlier this year we sold out and thus set to work on a second edition, which should be out in stores by the fall. In the meantime, one of our readers so loved the essential message of the book that he decided to edit it down to under 100 pages (instead of the more than 300 of the original) and distribute it at his own cost to young people throughout the world. By creating a shorter version of the book, it is now possible to expose even more people - especially young people - to Rabbi Pear's fundamental philosophy on Israel. The title of the new book? You guessed it: The Zionist.
From Jerusalem to Hollywood At the same time a friend of the community, and a prominent documentary filmmaker to boot, also read the book and felt that it would make an excellent film to help encourage young people to identify with the Jewish State. As a consequence, we are now working on a script and soon hope to explore available funding options. It's a little too soon to get your popcorn ready, but the process has begun ... |
Summer News 
A sampling of diverse activities Shir Hadash engaged in this summer:
- Hosted a 3 week Crash Course in Judaism for Australians visiting Israel as part of the Hineini Youth Movement;
- Worked with, and provided programming for, a local orphanage to strengthen their connection to the broader community;
- Conducted another successful Unity Beit Midrash;
- Forged a partnership with a new NCYS/OU year program to help provide hesed (social welfare) training to its participants;
- Will commemorate Tisha B'av with Rabbi Chaim Brovender leading an explantory kinot service, but not just to the jam-packed room of local 'mourners' but also - via the WebYeshiva - to a world wide internet audience.
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Summer Tour in America
Rabbi Pear will be visiting America from August 12th-29th. If you would like to meet with him to discuss Shir Hadash activities and/or donor opportunities for major projects, please e-mail us at shirhadash613@gmail.com to make arrangements.
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Greetings!
Let me begin this second Shir Hadash quarterly e-newsletter with some exciting news: The musical group The Maccabeats will be performing at our summer fundraiser this year (set to take place on Sunday August 28th in Atlantic Beach, NY). The Maccabeats won world-wide fame with their YouTube smash, Candlelight, and are sure to offer a great show to all those in attendance.
Your participation will be particularly appreciated this year - for Shir Hadash is not only growing in influence throughout Jerusalem, but is also expanding its outreach efforts throughout Israel (with classes and programming set to take place next year in at least 3 additional cities) ... and it's your support that makes all this happen!
For those who have not yet received an invitation to this event, let me know at shirhadash613@gmail.com and I'll be happy to send you one right away.
If you can't make it but would like to help out anyway, your tax deductible donations can be made on-line here and are of course greatly appreciated (you can also mail them to: Shir Hadash
c/o Abrams / 11 East 86th Street, 7A / NY, NY 10028).
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In other 'news' we continue to shine a 'spotlight' on different Shir Hadash programming, this time with a brief review of our summer lecture series for nearly 1,000 visiting teenagers. Also included in this edition is an update about my book ("From Jerusalem to Hollywood"), a quick look at recent events at Shir Hadash, and an exploration of the question "What Makes a Treadmill Jewish?" in the D'var Torah section.
All in all, it is my hope that these reflections will not only shed light on Shir Hadash's always present mission of bringing people closer to Judaism, to one another and to Israel, but will also encourage you to see Shir Hadash as a worthy representative of your values here in Jerusalem. As always, I'd love to hear what you think.
Until then, enjoy
Ian (Chaim) Pear
Founding Rabbi
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Spotlight on ... Teens
Every summer Israel is invaded ...
Thankfully it's the good kind of invasion, the one that entails thousands of Jewish teenagers exploring - many for the first time - their Jewish heritage and connection to Israel and Jewish peoplehood.
For several years now Shir Hadash has been honored to play a significant role in facilitating this exploration, sometimes by providing Shabbat hospitality and religious services, but primarily by offering lectures and outreach classes on a weekly basis to nearly 1,000 teenagers each summer. Participants hail from programs associated with such diverse organizations as BBYO, JCC Associations, and summer camps of all denominations. Though these trip providers may be part of mainstream American Jewish organizational life, their participants are anything but traditional - often lacking a basic understanding of why it's important to be Jewish or feel connected to Israel. With educational programming characterized by intelligence, inspiration and humor, Shir Hadash breaks down stereotypes and breaks through barriers, thereby reaching these students where others cannot.
But don't take our word for it. Here are some comments from recent participants:
"Far and away the best explanation I've ever heard for why Israel matters."
"A real inspiration. It opened my eyes."
"I felt more aware of the world I live in, and realize now what kind of world I want to be a part of."
"One of the main reasons why I decided to become more traditional."
These reactions perhaps best explain why each year there is a wait-list of organizations hoping to include Shir Hadash's lectures on their itinerary.
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D'var Torah:
The Jewish Treadmill?
Following the destruction of the first Temple the prophets of old instituted Tisha B'av as a day of mourning. And it was observed as such for the 70 years between that destruction and the return of Jews to Israel and the building of the second Temple. During the time of the second Temple, however, Tisha B'av was cancelled as a day of mourning. To the contrary, it was celebrated as a day of joy and gladness!
Unfortunately, this situation of course did not last. The second Temple was destroyed as well and the Jews were sent into exile, this time for 2,000 years. Tisha B'av thus returned to be a day of mourning.
As the generation fortunate enough to witness the rebirth of Israel and the beginning of redemption, how should we commemorate Tisha B'av? The Temple still does not stand, and the sinat chinam - or selfless hatred - that our sages taught caused the initial destruction still remains. So obviously we must still mourn.
On the other hand, though, our Tisha B'av experience ought not be blind to the new reality. Yes there is much more work to accomplish to create the Israel we can all be proud of - but at the same time it would be spiritually criminal to ignore the miracles both human and Divine that have blessed our existence.
The following d'var Torah, written last year, suggests that the rebirth of Israel requires a new paradigm - not just in our observance of Tisha B'av but for all of Jewish life. It is one that both honors and draws inspiration from the past but is animated by the possibilities inherent in the future.
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or a few months now, a group of young men from the neighborhood have organized a weekly full court basketball game in the courtyard of our shul. During this whole time, one of the organizers has consistently invited me to join the game. Until yesterday, I did my best to resist these invitations - the guys are younger, faster and taller than me; I haven't played basketball for probably 20 years; and I'm out of shape.
But then my friend offered one last word of encouragement: Don't worry if you're not that good. We have a lot of guys who aren't so good, and some that even have never played before. We even have one guy from England.
After a quick review of all NBA stars hailing from England - and only coming up with a guy whose name was English, as in Alex English born in South Carolina - I decided I could probably play with these guys.
But obviously aware that I would be terribly out of shape if I didn't first prepare a little, I decided to begin 'working out' a few weeks before my inaugural game. Basically this entitled me getting on my treadmill and jogging for 30 to 40 minutes everyday. As my distance clocked increased - from 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 kilometers - I began to feel pretty good about myself ... and ready to begin playing basketball.
Boy was I wrong. After about 2 minutes of running up and down the court, I was totally winded, gasping for air.
How could this be? At home, I had been running for nearly an hour without any problem.
And that exactly was the problem. The physical activity of running relatively slowly on a treadmill is nothing like running full speed in a competitive basketball game. [It probably didn't help that my style of running on a treadmill was not necessarily the most challenging. At times, I would sometimes get off - maybe even get a snack - but let the treadmill continue running. When I would return, I was always amazed at how many calories I had burned during my snack as well as the distance covered.]
Apparently, all physical activities are not the same; and all physical activities are not necessarily good preparations for other physical activities.
The same can be said for spiritual activities. What might be required in one situation might not be helpful for another situation.
Such is the case with Jacob when he hears the news that his son Joseph is still alive in Egypt and has invited him - and the entire family - down to Egypt to live during the difficult days of famine currently gripping the entire world.
Read the entire article ...
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