- 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
…evision programs around the world some months ago depicting an Israeli Telephone Company employee stuffing faxes into the Western Wall. It is in fact a custom among many of our brothers and sisters to insert small handwritten personal notes and petitions to God between the stones of the Kotel, 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 petitio…
…in the Synagogue To volunteer, contact the office at office@beki.org or by phone at 203.389.2108 x114. Administration – Members are needed to serve on the work-groups, committees and board that steward and administer the congregation. Membership recruitment and retention, financial management, library services, and the Gallery are among the many areas that require eager and willing volunteers. Office Tasks – Stuffing envelopes, preparing mailings…
…d that what was in my heart did not really fit into what I thought of as a classical Devar Torah, but he convinced me that it did and he encouraged me to share it with you. And so I would like to share with you a story. It’s the story of my journey here today….so it has a very happy ending! Five summers ago. I attended Elat Chayyim, a Jewish Renewal retreat up in the Catskills. This was the first major Jewish event I had ever voluntarily attended…
…lach manot” with leftover Valentine’s Day candy. Soon, Kulanu will start a class in intensive Jewish learning (study of Hebrew and liturgy) to help “diminish the distance between the ‘bima’ and the ‘pews,’” said Johnston. By request, a Hebrew-siddur class will be held at the Learning Barn. She hopes BEKI congregants will volunteer and teach Kulanu students Hebrew one-on-one. Johnston will also ask BEKI members to provide home hospitality–inviting…
…e the BEKI Bulletin for times and dates and in some cases registration and payment instructions. Most programs are held in readily accessible spaces. Classes, programs and services are open to all without respect to age, gender, personal status or synagogue affiliation. Classes & Programs Discussion of the Week’s Parashah with Rabbi Eric Woodward is each Thursday 9-9:45a in the library, following 8:15a Shacharit. Talmud class with Rabbi Eric Wood…
…essential to a child’s developing Jewish identity and the reinforcement of classroom lessons. Children in the K-1 class meet Sunday mornings. Children in grades 2 through 6 meet Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. There are also Shabbatons and holiday celebrations. To download registration information, click here or call the BEKI office at (203) 389-2108 x114 or email the office at office@beki.org. To arrange a visit or for more information,…
…ond, the shamash must also be separate and distinguishable, and preferably higher than the others, because that is the one we use for seeing in the dark. We are not permitted to use the light of the Hanukia for any purpose other than celebrating the miracle of Hanuka, so one candle, the shamash (“utility”), is added so that we have one burning that we can use for other purposes, such as seeing in a dark room or re-igniting the Hanuka candles thems…
…dry, light, dark, hard, soft. That’s all. In comparison, a dog has a much higher level of consciousness. It is aware of itself and others, experiences playfulness, kindness, loyalty, or at least something analogous to that. But a dog cannot plan for its retirement, protest global warming, or give a really good Devar Torah. Most adults consider children’s understanding of the world to be limited much the same way. We go through a process of emergi…
…asters from the Renaissance onward, but drawn from contemporary life. Cell phones and computer screens perform functions that windows once performed for Rembrandt van Rijn and Vermeer, and indeed, sometimes mirrors perform the same function they had in the works of Diego Velasquez and Jan van Eyck. Another way in which references to masterpieces disturb and animate Wolf’s paintings is in the way his paintings utilize the interplay of gazes within…
