- 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
…e New York Times reported that one senator said that President Bush’s Iraq policy was a “fraud” and on the Senate floor described “the policy as a ‘colossal failure’ unworthy of what he said was an $87 billion blank check…. [A Representative] accused [the senator] of uttering ‘hate speech’ and said he needed to apologize to the country for accusing Mr. Bush of what amounted to treason. Senate leaders said the criticism threatened the military’s mi…
…While masks are not required at BEKI, we strongly suggest that everyone wear a quality mask inside BEKI. We encourage everyone who is eligible to please get vaccinated. We thank you for your help reducing the spread of COVID….
…isles along both side walls of the sanctuary, along with a center aisle. Chairs Don’t the chairs need holders for chumashim and prayer books? Yes. The software the architect used doesn’t have images of chairs with holders. We’re researching what’s out there and have found several options. We will include chairs with and without armrests, to meet diverse accessibility needs. We’ll also choose chairs that can be attached together, to maintain the ne…
…t publicity usually received more severe treatment. No explicit government policy towards conscientious objectors existed, and cases have been dealt with on an ad hoc basis. Notes 1. According to the Israel Defence Forces, 18,000 Yeshiva students had received deferments between 1948 and 1987, as reported by Dan Margalit in Ha’aretz, 28 Jan. 1988 p. 1. 2. Martin Blatt, Uri Davis, and Paul Kleinbaum, ed., Dissent and Ideology in Israel — Resistance…
…imal because it is just the best that they think is attainable. It is not fair to oversimplify the process – doing so is itself a poor way to influence public policy. I do think clergy can, and should, play a significant role in the development of public policy, and that our religious values should inform our positions on civil questions. The Bishop’s attempt seems clumsy, but who am I to comment on internal Church issues. Their approach would hav…
…duly done. In this way both the honour of the Emperor and the traditional policy regarding Jerusalem were alike preserved. In this episode unspecified threats of war (“Do not cause a war!” or something like that) would seem to preclude the classification of this episode as purely nonviolent resistance. Yet the events as reported suggest a realist, overall nonviolent approach to the conflict. The “Jews at large” chose to send a delegation to Pilat…
…l’s credit as an extraordinary effort at peaceful coexistence. It is not a policy of expulsion or genocide against an entire people, let alone the residents of this one city. A Google search finds the vast majority of cases in which the terms “ethnic cleansing” or “transfer” are used in this context are the words of Israel’s enemies, not Israeli leaders. From time to time, right-wing voices are reported to talk about the desirability of transferri…
…s “should the RA admit openly Gay and Lesbian people?” That is a matter of policy, a political question, more than a halakhic or legal question. My answer to that is, Yes, the RA should continue its historic policy of admitting Gay and (more recently) Lesbian rabbis, acknowledging the fact that people now normally live openly Gay and Lesbian lives. All that changes is that whereas in the past we quietly overlooked what was considered a technical (…
…t will shape our congregation for generations to come. What needs to be repaired right now? Our drafty single-pane windows are not energy-efficient. Our noisy HVAC system doesn’t even bring in fresh air. It needs an upgrade. Some of our seats have the stuffing coming out of them. The back divider is falling apart and is held together by a hope and a prayer. All of these things require immediate attention. Doing nothing is not an option. What are w…
…while ignoring the halakha. That would be a dubious way to make Synagogue policy, and one liable to create discontent and foster contempt for law and tradition as well as for the Synagogue leadership. I agree with Rabbi Avram Israel Reisner’s teshuva (responsum) “Joint Aliya” approved by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly, the highest halakhic body in the land, on 28 October of 1992, that prohibits the practice o…
