- 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
…should be clearly different from the familiar day to day. A BEKI sanctuary should be warm, orderly, and quiet. It should be respectful of tradition, have qualities of timelessness. The physical symbols and decorations that might provide us with these feelings have changed since the sanctuary was designed forty years ago. Styles and values, even technology and the materials from which art, and synagogues, are made, have changed. The spare lines of…
…number one — go from your land, your birthplace, your father’s house. List number two — take your son, your only son, the one you love, Isaac. This similarity led me to still others. One of the first, and most obvious, comparisons between the two instances of lekh lekha was that in both, God is sending Abraham on a journey. In the first lekh lekha, God is starting Abraham off on his career as God’s prophet and messenger to people on earth. The fir…
…4, office@beki.org Harriet Friedman, Sisterhood Liaison 203.675.8607, giftshop@beki.org Rachel Bashevkin, President president@beki.org ROOM RATES 1. Shabbat Kiddush/Luncheon Option Shabbat luncheon in the social hall for a period of up to 2 hours following Shabbat morning services. The entire congregation is invited and must be included in the calculation of number of guests. a. Sponsoring Kiddush prepared by BEKI Kiddush Team This fee (prices a…
…y person unnecessarily….”17 And in a fourth tale, when the Besht finds a dishonest shokhet (animal slaughterer), “Since he was careful about cutting off anyone’s livelihood, he said, ‘I will remove him from his position and find another way for him to earn a living.’”18 Today, job availability and the stress of economic dislocation are recognized as major factors in crimes against persons, crimes against property, suicide and domestic violence,19…
…e Ely House, Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT, and has curated a number of independent exhibitions. She studied at the Akademie fuer Angewante Kunst in Vienna, Austria, and received her MFA from San Jose State University. Anna Broell Bresnick has collaborated with dancers and musicians in the creation of installations for performances. These have included large sculptural str uctures, floor drawings and video. Broell Bresnick has taught…
…Avi & Arielle in Fairfield) and our grandchildren (Charlie, Shayna & Zoe). Shortly thereafter we were “recruited” by the Rodwin family, Charlie & Shayna and their parents, to join their shul—BEKI. We’ve always been a synagogue-centric family and miss the community we left behind in Needham, MA. It is so gratifying for us to see the next generation understand the importance of synagogue life for themselves and for their children. It’s been challeng…
…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…
…needed to help organize daily services. Master Chefs, Vegetable Choppers & Shoppers – Cooks, cleaners, shoppers and organizers are needed to participate in the four Kiddush Preparation Teams managed by the Kiddush Committee, and the same is needed for the Benei Mitzva Kiddush Committee. On most Shabbatot and festivals, the Congregation provides an extended Kiddush presentation following the musaf services. Sponsors are needed as well. Children’s P…
…, the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. The service provided by the phone company allows people unable to visit the Wall in person to fax their petitions to an agent who then carefully inserts the sheets into cracks between the stones. But you don’t even need a fax machine to reach God. Our sages valued sincerity in prayer above all else. Length, language, or location are secondary considerations. Better a few words from the heart than the…
…el invisible anymore. One day I was speaking with my brother-in-law on the phone. I was talking about BEKI (which by this time I had joined) and the feeling that I have here. And I confided in him that one day I’d like to get up on the bima and read from the Torah. And as I said these words I began to tremble. The very thought was overpowering to me. To even think of myself as playing such an honored role among Jews seemed so bold. Who was I to ge…
