- 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
…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…
…familiar symbolic images embedded as decorative elements. “All That Remains” will next be presented at the Virginia Holocaust Museum, Richmond, VA, in October 2020. The works in this show include images from each of these series. In this retrospective of her work, a number of works in private collections are represented by photographic reproductions, thus providing context for the entirety of exhibition. for more information and for purchasing wor…
…the 10th century B.C.E.; and the E strand probably written between 900 and 800 B.C.E.. The redaction or the compiling of the whole Torah is usually seen as occurring in Babylonia between 600 and 400 B.C.E. For our three passages only J and E are relevant — the first and third passages are usually attributed to J and the second to E. The first account, of Abraham and Sarah in Egypt, is most like a folktale; it is the simplest in structure. It show…
Phone: 203.389.2108 Fax: 203.389.5899 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….
Not by Might, nor by Power, but by My Spirit, says Adonai Seva’ot These words of the prophet Zekharia, read in the haftara of Shabbat Hanuka, express the essence of the message of Hanuka. The victory we celebrate is the survival of Jewish culture in the face of foreign cultural hegemony. Remarkably, when the Talmud tells us the meaning of Hanuka, it does not even mention, let alone glorify, the military struggle of the Maccabees. Rather, our sage…
…evil influence both subtle and overt. It is the struggle to cleanse one’s spirit of sin. This is the most important level of jihad. Then there is the Verbal Jihad, which is to speak the truth in the face of a tyrant. The Prophet Mohammed encouraged raising one’s voice in the name of Allah on behalf of Justice. The third is Physical Jihad. This is combat waged in defense of Muslims against oppression and transgression by the enemies of Allah and M…
…e, elevator, and many other renovations, tonight I’m going to focus on the spiritual, communal and social aspects of synagogue life. It seems to me that BEKI is humming with renewed energy. In the course of the past three years, we have revitalized programs that had been allowed 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…
…, Abraham had accomplished much. He was a great leader and warrior. He was spiritual, personable, and principled. And yet, after everything, it is as if he has not yet arrived. Lekh lekha — go, travel — is repeated. He must journey again. Because a religious person never arrives. A religious person is always on a pilgrimage. A religious person is, spiritually, never at rest. Nehama Leibowitz notices that in each lekh lekha, God asks Abraham to for…
…is to say nothing about helping others at the expense of our own pleasure, spiritual satisfaction, or bank account — we’re talking mitzva here. Like the Biblical Yosef, if we flaunt — or simply enjoy — our material blessings while our brothers and sisters go without, we run the risk of being thrown in a pit. It may be a physical pit, or it may be a spiritual pit. Many Americans are facing a relatively challenging fiscal climate. We are feeling tha…
…of all the people. Imagine if the parshah has told us, tribe by tribe, the number of people in each tribe, and separately, the number of males, 20 and up, who were fit for service. Would that kind of census send a different message to us, a message saying, “everyone counts”, including all the women? The second census, what I’ll call the redemption census, I find a strange one. It requires counting of all the male Levites who were at least a month…
