- 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
…m, he needed to have managing skills and he essentially built an organized business. If God ever asked him to move again, he could just restart using his past experience. One might ask, “Why does it even mention that Abraham was wealthy as it does in Gen. 13:2?” The Torah mentions this because it provides a background for the next incident in his life. That was when Lot and Abram’s herdsman got into an argument over the shortage of land. Abram the…
…way out of line with our numbers — in research, the professions and arts, business and government, pretty much as Mark Twain saw it at the end of the 19th. Will this continue to be true in the new century? Is separateness, the idea of being different or chosen, a mind-set that still has value for us and our children, or does it cause more harm than good? Aren’t we all one human family? Traditional Judaism, of course, reinforced separateness. Kash…
…ot know him as well as did my siblings who were his contemporaries and his classmates in high school. Nick was a talented chef, and when he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area he had a catering business. Nick was fit and energetic and had developed an extensive network of friends who cared deeply about him and about each other. He was an essential part of his community and of his family. Nick was my first cousin to die. He died of AIDS in 1990, am…
…the Constitution. But just because someone has a right to broadcast and a business has a right to sponsor hate-radio does not mean it is a smart thing to do. Surely listeners have a right to tell station managers that they are tuning out and inform sponsors that they will not support businesses whose revenues support hate-radio. Ken Hamblin regularly uses racist epithets to describe people and belittles those who disagree with him. Recently he at…
…and a clothing store in Iron Mountain, MI, to mention a few. He tried many businesses and he went broke many times. It wasn’t until 1938 — as he approached age 50 — when he went into the home building business in St. Paul, that he first achieved economic success. Grampa Ed and Gramma Esther were close to their siblings. During the 1930’s, they all lived in central Minnesota, from St. Paul to Red Wing. One of Ed’s brothers married one of Esther’s s…
…non-Jewish spouse. One should not try to sell one’s hametz to a non-Jewish business partner for the same reason. The best way to sell hametz is to grant power of attorney to an “authorized dealer” such as Rabbi Tilsen to sell your hametz for you. That way you can be sure that the law is strictly observed and the sale is valid. Dear Rabbi, Can Hametz be sold by email? Signed, yitsi@mitzraim.com Dear yitsi@, The selling of Hametz before Pesah (or…
…from instructions for digging a latrine outside the borders of the camp to business ethics. There are more mitzvot here than any other parasha: 72 separate precepts, according to the Rambam. A lot of it seems dated, irrelevant to how we live: offenses are punished by stoning, public flogging and even cutting off a hand; the rules about sexual relations assume polygamous marriages and a patriarchal society. There are prohibitions against cross-dres…
…res of some religious faction or organizations. Working in the kosher food business – whether as a vendor or supervising agency – can be a thankless job. Ever-changing products and standards of practice, competing religious organizations, the confluence of religion, politics and money, dealing with fanatic rabbis, all make for a lot of aggravation. Over the years, we have tried to stake out a moderate approach to kashrut that will enforce generall…
…a Director of the Congregation on several Boards, contributing his wisdom, business and engineering experience, and sensibility to synagogue operations. He spearheaded several major and numerous minor building projects, including the replacement of the roof and pointing of the exterior brickwork. George has contributed countless hours of his own labor in maintaining the grounds and building, literally from the basement boiler to the top of the roo…
…les, reciting the Shema, coming to a daily or shabbat service, baking a halla, reading a passage from the Torah or other Jewish book — these are the redemptive acts that we ourselves must do. Our own synagogue, our United Hebrew School, Ezra Academy, Kadima-USY, Makom, JTS, MERCAZ, Masorti-Israel — and above all our own family — these are the institutions that we must support. No one else is going to Jew it for you….
