- 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
Environmental Responsibility Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel seeks to be a model urban institution and to promote good citizenship among its members. The community seeks to comply with the Biblical law of bal tashḥit, which prohibits destruction of the natural environment and wasting of resources. The congregation aims to put the conserve into Conservative Judaism. Building Renovations Increasing energy efficiency is a major goal of the ongoing…
Congregation Beth El–Keser Israel (BEKI) in New Haven offers a wide array of adult education opportunities for the committed, the curious and the concerned. Adults seeking wholeness and holiness through Torah or who want to explore their relationship with Tradition find food for their hungry minds and souls at BEKI. Adult Studies at BEKI are a supportive setting for exploring and developing spiritual and communal identity through study and discus…
…nd comprehendible structure. G‐d, who ultimately loved and was guiding the Israelites to a good end had a reason for allowing centuries of Israelite slavery, had good reasons to harden Pharaoh against them, had good reason to condemn the first generation to the wilderness even if these reasons are unfathomable; at least they give meaning and sense to otherwise senseless suffering. This theological way of thinking isn’t confined to Biblical times e…
…ew of hunting. The “Great Hunters” of the Bible are viewed by the Sages of Israel as wicked men: Nimrod, whose very name means “one who rebels [against God],” and Esau, who is the utter antithesis of the spirit of Jewish Civilization. Rashi, who lived some 900 years ago in France, explains Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi’s comment on the first verse of Psalms, “Happy is the one who has not walked in the path of sinners” by saying that this means one who doe…
…would have been an equally appropriate choice, as Icelandic was spoken in Israel about as much as Latin in that period. Even more bizarre, I am told, is the negative portrayal of Jews in the film. Not just the deicide – that “the Jews” are assigned responsibility for the death of the filmʼs protagonist – but worse, all of the Jews have crooked teeth and big noses. Outraged Jews complained that no group should suffer such negative stereotyping and…
…ge your sexual orientation.” It is commonly believed that Beth El or Keser Israel has engaged quietly gay rabbis in the past. Our congregation, like many, simply accepts Gay and Lesbian individuals and families on the same basis as we accept everyone else. If you’re Jewish, and your check clears the bank, you can be a member. There are no ritual debilities and no institutional discrimination. We try to actively welcome Gay and Lesbian people, part…
…ting a Lifetime of Creative Work summer 2022 Mordecai Avniel:Landscapes of Israel summer 2022 Naomi Safran-Hon April – July 2022 Suzanne Neusner: Fiber Arts April – June 2022 BEKI Ancestors 2021 High Holiday exhibition Bruce Oren: Entropy Warriors: 50 year Retrospective January – March 2022 2020-2021 5781 2019-2020 5780 Leslie J. Klein: Spirit and Fire, A Retrospective Exhibition mid-January– June, extended due to gallery closure for the Pandemic…
