- Congregation Beth El–Keser Israel
85 Harrison Street, New Haven, CT 06515-1724 | P: 203.389.2108 | office@beki.org
85 Harrison Street, New Haven, CT 06515-1724 | P: 203.389.2108 | office@beki.org
…hei HaBesht (Tel Aviv: Devir) 5707/1947, 5735/1975, p. 35. A table of tale numbers and the corresponding page numbers in other editions is given at the back of the book by Ben-Amos and Mintz. 2. Violence is neither advocated nor condoned in these tales to any significant extent, whereas many tales strongly advocate the efficacy and advantages of nonviolence. The main exception to this generalization are a few of the first fifteen tales (pp. 39-51…
…Holy City without offending the Jews. He had placed in the palace there a number of gilded shields, which bore simply Caesar’s name, and that of the giver, namely Pilate, without any representation of any living thing whatsoever. Far from being mollified, the opposition increased.”15 Schurer, more cautiously, observes that “there is no certainty in regard to the chronological sequence of these two happenings,” but supposes that the shields incide…
…30s Havura, thanks to the initiative of Miriam Benson and the support of a number of program participants such as Eva Landau. It’s a nice way to bring people together and to help people locate their cohorts in the sea of members. The number of formal members does not tell the whole story. There are many families or individuals who identify BEKI as “their” synagogue, even though they are not formally members. For at least some purposes, we should t…
…to the assassination of Mr. Rabin. Before Yigal Amir pulled the trigger, a number of Orthodox rabbis had stretched medieval Jewish law beyond all reasonable limits to classify Mr. Rabin as a “pursuer,” whose life could be taken in self-defense. The same body of medieval law explicitly sanctions the killing of Jewish heretics as the Union of Orthodox Rabbis surely knows. To publicly denounce Reform and Conservative Jew as apikorsim in the current h…
…nk, To the deaths of Miriam and Aaron. * * * One thing to notice About the number 14,700 Is that it promises reduction: It moves toward its own diminishment. There is a half-life logic to it, An inherent halving: 14 in the thousands category, Then 7, half-14, in the hundreds. In this promise of reduction, We move toward zero, Though we will never reach it. Just after the number of dead is given, Parshat Korach turns suddenly. G-d tells Moses to ta…
…or covering and seating? The committee will seek congregational input on a number of items, including the seating and potentially floor covering. The committee will make the final decision based on a variety of factors, including cost, durability, sustainability, and congregational input. Sound and Acoustics How will we handle room acoustics? We will work with the architect and potentially with an acoustical engineer. Is the space intimate enough…
…r friends, neighbors and families wished to exact.35 Similarly, an unknown number accepted induction but made private arrangements with the administration whereby they could avoid actual combat or use of weapons, or could avoid serving in the occupied territories. At the same time, thousands of others found other ways to avoid the military altogether, through Yeshiva deferments, emigration, and faked medical or psychiatric exemptions.36 Moreover,…
…t this text. This is from the Mishna, (Sanhedrin 8:1-4), written down about 1800 years ago. They begin by asking a question: A rebellious and disobedient son – when does he become a rebellious and disobedient son? From the age when he can produce two hairs but before he grows a beard…. And then they quote: When a man has a son – this means a son and not a daughter, a son and not a man, and a minor is exempt since he has not as yet entered into the…
…rs, words and spaces, although exact layout (number of words in a line and number of lines in a column) may vary, as will the quality of the materials and calligraphy. We take out the particular scroll or scroll that is set to the portion that we are reading on the given occasion. The weekly reading goes in sequence, so each shabbat we begin reading from the spot we left of the previous week. But on festivals and other occasions we may read from a…
…ake sure he’s dead.” There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: “OK, now what?” Even if you follow all the directions geschribben in the Shulhan Arukh strictly, letter by letter, you are not performing the mitzvot as our sages intended unless you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. Our sages have taught that in order to perform a mitzva optimally, in most cases, one must do so conscientiously, th…
