- 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
…lowed to lapse. We have enhanced 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 dinne…
…passage. Last year (2001) the Federal government passed a “temporary” ten-year tax cut program. That was at a time when large budget surpluses were projected. Now they want to make those cuts permanent. This is at a time of huge projected deficits and hardship for many American families. Most of those tax cuts benefit the wealthiest one percent of Americans. Tax cuts for the wealthy are unconscionable at this time. Our synagogue board members kno…
…ments for further information. A schedule is presented below. To purchase tickets online, click here, then scroll down to High Holy Days – Tickets. SECURITY UPDATE: Please know that our High Holy Days team is working hard to make sure that while remaining the warm and welcoming community we have always been, it is doing its best to implement some new procedures and policies, which take your security very seriously. Your understanding and total…
…ght: The meaning of the phrase “and the man shall be free of guilt….” At a time when a man is clean of sin, the water tests his wife. At a time when a man is not free of sin, the water does not test his wife. Therefore, when adulterers increased in their numbers, the sota’s bitter waters ceased. This reading by the Gemara has answered both our questions while demonstrating for us the evolutionary nature of the halakha, the laws by which the mitzvo…
…ed greenhouse. There in a plain pot was “Methusaleh,” a sapling sprouted a year ago from a nearly 2000-year old date seed found in a jar at Mesada (see Steven Erlanger, “After 2,000 Years, a Seed from Ancient Judea Sprouts,” NYT 12 June 2005). The archeological evidence and carbon dating proved its age. This was quite an accomplishment, as a seed that old – or anything like it – had never been successfully germinated. That one seed embodied the st…
…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…
…parted for me a few years ago. I had been living in Connecticut for a few years now and had toyed for a long time with the idea of seeking out a synagogue. I got on the mailing lists of all kinds of synagogues in the area. Each month I read the brochures and made a promise to myself to visit a synagogue. But each week I found excuses. Then I read about BEKI. It had been written up in the Advocate. I remember reading the article several times and…
…05 Jun End-of-Year BEKI-BJ USY Shabbat Dinner June 5, 2015 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Interior Page End-of-Year USY Shabbat Dinner Friday, June 5th Time: 7 pm – 9 pm House of Jacques Ben-Avie, 345 Stevenson Rd, New Haven, CT 06515 Details TBA […] More Info…
…verall within the same space, how will we feel more intimate? Reducing the number of seats means that (in non-Covid times) we will all sit closer to each other. Nobody will be in Alaska, Florida, or Nova Scotia. The design and placement of the ark and ark platform will also make the room more human-scale. Why can’t we integrate pews AND movable chairs, to accommodate all of our needs and interests? The redesign committee considered combining fixed…
…bout three years ago of a red heifer, the first one in almost two thousand years. The fact that the heifer would be three years old, the proper age for a sacrifice, in the year 2000, helped to stoke the millennial fervor, and created great expectancy among the groups who are interested in building the third Temple and restoring the sacrifices. Unfortunately for some, a few months ago the cow grew two white hairs in her tail, demoting her from the…
