Sharon Berman

Marilyn Cohen

Beth Kaplan

Brandon Osian

Thelma Sorscher

Jane Schonfeld

Werner Straus

Tikva Ofeck

Larry Lesh

Bruce Rosen

Iris Fox

Rona Topiel

Harold & Anne Bendell

Adrian Osian & Michelle Reisner

Alan & Leslie Fromkin

Harvey & Barbara Fishman

Bill & Helen Tobenkin

Volunteers to light the community menorah in the triangle at Lemoine and Schlosser on the other six days of Hanukkah between 4 and 5 PM. We'll even give you the secret code to the menorah's padlock!

Please e-mail me with your availability.

The Seminary does little better or more important than

CAMP RAMAH

And it's right here in Nyack...  Click here to read about this year's programs.

Pardon Our Dust

Renovation of our Chapel, in honor of Carl Hess, is underway! Stop in and see the progress...

Saudi Prize Awarded to a Jew

I got this in an email this week; it was news to me.  Wonderful as it is, it turns out to be old news - from 2009.

I discovered that when I googled the prize and saw that a Columbia Professor, Richard L. Berkowitz, was the 2012 co-recipient.  Still, it's not ho-him that the Saudis are regularly recognizing accomplishments without regard to religion-and in the case of the first winner, his Israeli connections!  Click here to read more. 

Another little tidbit that sheds light on "appearances from the outside"

I Samuel 22

12 Saul said, "Son of Ahitub, listen to me." "Yes, master," he answered. 13 Saul said to him, "Why have you and Jesse's son joined together against me? Why did you give him bread and a sword? Why did you ask God a question for him? Now he has turned against me. He is hiding and waiting to attack me right now." 14 Ahimelech answered the king, "David is true to you. In fact, he's more true to you than anyone else who serves you. He's your own son-in-law. He's the captain of your own personal guards. He's highly respected by everyone in your palace. 15 Was that day the first time I asked God a question for him? Of course not! "Please don't bring charges against me. Please don't bring charges against anyone in my family. For a preview of the edited text click here  

Don't forget to join us following services on Saturday, December 14, when we explore the relationship between David and his first wife, Michal (King Saul's daughter).

The Observant Life

Rabbi's LIFE class

Learning Is  For Everyone

Our next session will be on Thursday, December 5 at 10:30 AM in the Library.

OrCam

Click here to read about Israel's take on water technology.

Inventing Health: Israeli Innovations in Life Sciences - Part 1

Click here to read about Israel's solar power effort 

Click here to read about Israel's innovative edge 

Inventing Health: Israeli Innovations in Life Sciences - Part 2

A New Israel-Inspired and Situated TV Series

Set to air on USA Network "Dig" is being jointly created by Gideon Raff, who brought "Homeland" to life, first as an Israeli television series, and Tim Kring, who fashioned the breakout hit "Heroes" for NBC seven years ago. 

Update on IsraAid in the Philippines

Synagogue World Tour (courtesy Huff Post)

Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Assassination

Of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, but the material presented here is not for the Faint-Hearted:

The videos of the doctor who took care of Kennedy are fascinating:  Interview with Robert McClelland on the 50th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination

Click here to see the interviews.  

It is now 50 years later, and the special November issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has brought together Dr. Rohrich, Dr. McClelland and many others to reflect upon the events of Nov. 22, 1963, and re-examine the medical evidence of the JFK assassination. Read several special topic and editorial pieces in this issue to remember this tragic historic event and, potentially, shed new light onto its old secrets.

Don't miss the exclusive video interview with Dr. McClelland, for a first-person account of the day from a surgeon's point of view. "Sitting in a folding chair outside of Trauma Room 1, I saw Mrs. Kennedy," Dr. McClelland recalls. "I had to literally force myself to keep walking down toward Mrs. Kennedy, and walk past her and push the door open and walk into Trauma Room 1, and was horrified. What I saw there immediately was President Kennedy, lying on his back, face up, his bloody head and a light shining down on him." 

TORAH Page 226      HAFTARAH Page 247

VA-YEISHEV

Jacob's favorite among his twelve sons is Joseph. The favoritism is so blatant that it causes resentment among the brothers - a resentment that is only exacerbated by Joseph's dreams of grandeur. Joseph gets his comeuppance when his brothers strip him of the multi-colored coat given to him by his father, and throw him into a pit. He is subsequently sold by his brothers to Ishmaelites and winds up in servitude in Egypt. The brothers dip Joseph's coat in blood, leading Jacob to believe that Joseph had been killed by a beast.

The narrative of Joseph's life is interrupted by the story of Judah and his sons. Judah's eldest son married Tamar, but this son soon died. In accordance with the custom of levirate marriage, the next son, Onan, was to marry Tamar in order to produce a male heir for his deceased brother.  Onan refused to be a party to this, and he too died. Judah, fearing that Tamar was the cause of both sons' deaths, was reluctant to let his youngest son marry her. Disguising herself as a cultic harlot, Tamar seduced her father-in-law, Judah, and bore twins. Judah admitted his error in not requiring his youngest son to enter in levirate marriage with Tamar.

Back in Egypt, Joseph had become the most trusted and favored servant of Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials. Joseph comes to the attention of his mistress; repeatedly rejecting her advances, she exacts revenge by accusing him of attempted rape. Joseph is imprisoned. He wins the favor of his jailer, who gives him a position of responsibility. Joseph correctly interprets the dreams of two of Pharaoh's jailed servants: the baker who will be executed, and the butler, who will return to Pharaoh's service. Joseph implores the butler not to forget him upon his release, for he has been imprisoned unfairly.