- 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
…the Talmudic concept of “a mitzva done by way of a transgression is not a mitzva (mitzva ha-ba’a be`avera eina mitzva),” that is, a commandment may not be fulfilled through the performance of a transgression.23 Notably, this Rabbinic language suggests that the mitzva is thought of as a state of being, or a state of action, as it were, rather than as a goal or end. In the same way, the liturgy of the Torah service (from Proverbs 3:17) eloquently s…
…d, there might still be some who did not get to say one; if there was no limit to the number of qaddishes added, the service became burdensomely long. So after careful scrutiny the rabbis allowed all mourners to say qaddish simultaneously. This rabbinic solution was adopted only after careful consideration, and after it was determined that mourner’s qaddish is not one of the types of public prayers that can be said by only one person at a time, su…
…heir Holiday Candles — glowing in their windows, then we are truly fulfilling the mandate of Hanuka: Pirsuma Nesa, Proclaiming the Miracle….
…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…
…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 challenging to fully engage during these tougher COVID times, but we do hope, little by little, to build strong connections of our own within our new BEKI community. Cole…
…2. BEKI believes in taking a robustly welcoming stance toward interfaith families. Coming from an interfaith and multi-racial family himself, Rabbi Woodward considers the spiritual inclusion of non-Jewish relatives in the rituals to be deeply important. If you choose to name your child within BEKI’s Shabbat morning service, please note that only one person at a time is called to recite the blessings for a Torah aliyah, though an additional parent…
…pressure 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 honor…
…nything. He won’t tell them to let me in. He doesn’t interfere. He’s just smiling. “Why is he smiling?” she asks. I think that God finds it amusing in some way…his children amuse him. And I think He’s smiling because he knows it’s not time, for them or for me, and that I have to wander a bit more. When I planned this date for my Bat Torah, I had no idea what the Torah portion would be. Maybe it was destiny that on this day I would sing the Song of…
…r in an office setting. Under the leadership of BEKI members Carolyn Kohn, Mimi Glenn, Charlie Ludwig, Saul Bell and others, the Wardrobe was housed at BEKI during the Summer and Autumn of 1997. Located just blocks from the Community Action Agency, the Congregation provided a convenient and well-equiped venue for participants to find and try clothes stored in the synagogue building. See news story in BEKI Bulletin July 1997. Abraham’s Tent – In 20…
…a She`arim? “Gimme loot, Ḥasidim!”] This fall, we are launching a Hesed Committee, chaired by Board member Muriel Banquer. This committee will not have a lot of meetings to discuss the theory of hesed. It will coordinate acts of kindness, so that no one in the BEKI family falls through the cracks. Some people in the congregation have a support network of friends and family nearby who help each other out, and this wonderful, informal network is the…
