- 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
…one tradition of blessings – the tradition begun by the hung-over Noah who offered a blessing-curse to Canaan, that half a blessing that the cleaver-wielding Abraham receives at the Akeidah, the one that Laban says aloud, and sends in Rebecca’s ears to the Jewish people. He turns toward the other tradition: the blessing of fertility and increase, the p’ru uvru blessing offered to the first people, the other half of the oddly twined Akeidah blessin…
…Jay Tilsen procured an $18,000 grant from the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven to start up a two-year program, which will offer Jewish education for adults with developmental disabilities and for adults with chronic mental illness in the greater New Haven area. ‘Kulanu Ke’Ehad Havura’ The program started last fall. Called “Kulanu Ke’Ehad Havura” (a phrase Tilsen picked from [traditional liturgy]), it means, “all as one.” “This program,” Tils…
…ssues and reveals a more sophisticated form of divine justice. Abraham now offers a defense for his deception — that Sarah was in fact not only his wife but also his sister, the daughter of his father although not of his mother. Now we have not only an issue of adultery but also of incest, although commentators indicate that relations with half-sisters might not have been incestuous at that time. In this story, God warns King Abimelech in a dream…
…d activities that have been flourishing for years. And we’ve initiated any number of new programs that you have suggested. There is energy in the air that encourages people to think, “We can do it.” Our attitude is, “Just say yes.” Last June we had a tribute dinner, honoring the rabbi and Miriam and raising a lot of money for the shul. A zillion people worked to make that happen. Prior to that, the last tribute dinner anyone could recall took plac…
…or a course in Biblical Hebrew, taught by Professor Tony Perry through the New Haven Jewish Federation’s Department of Jewish Education. On the first day of class, Tony quoted Dante, “Here begins a new life.” Thus began my yovel journey. Around the same time, with a small group of lunch buddies, I helped to start a Mishna study group with Rabbi Tilsen. We have been studying Mishna Sanhedrin weekly now for more than ten months. Here I learned that…
…roperty in the area on which to build a small synagogue for them. The city offered the congregation land on Congress Avenue downtown, and in Westville it offered the Benton School property at the corner of Whalley Avenue and Harrison Street—a beautiful site at the crest of a hill with West Rock as a backdrop. The last services at Rose Street were held on Sukkot of 1957. The downtown synagogue project stalled out—and, because plans for the Westvill…
…never let finances get in the way of joining. Rabbi Woodward works with a number of wonderful mohalim, experts in Jewish ritual circumcision. Please be in touch with him to help you find the mohel who is right for you. Rabbi Woodward has designed a custom liturgy for the naming of a baby girl that can be used either in a home ritual or in a synagogue ritual. These events can take place in your home or the synagogue; please see below for informati…
…l so far with him, to the border of Canaan. Now that he is leaving Canaan, new angels with a new mission must guide him. In a way, this happens in all our lives. When you leave one place, or a stage in your life, you leave behind the protectors and guides of that place or stage, and you face the uncertainty of whether there will be people who will take their place. Jacob was lucky in that new angels were coming down the ladder for him and he had G…
…re to include everyone. As it is, if such a family may pick only a limited number of people to honor, everyone who does not receive an honor understands that the family was limited. However, if the family is essentially unlimited, by being able to call up more than one person at a time for an aliya, then anyone who is not called up has greater grounds to feel slighted. A second reason for wanting joint aliya is that one of the proposed honorees do…
…389.5899 Postal Address: Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel 85 Harrison St. New Haven CT 06515-1724 Office Manager Peggy Hackett Ext. 114 Education Director Annie Norman-Schiff Ext. 113 President Russell Epstein Rabbi Eric Woodward Ext. 120 Ritual Committee Chairperson Bruce Spierer Youth & Family Programming Director Annie Norman-Schiff Ext. 113 BEKI Bulletin bulletin@beki.org Cemetery Association cemetery@beki.org Sisterhood Giftshop gift…
