- 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” about Purim costumes, learn about “cool” shiny face make-up and hair mascara, and make “shelach 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 student…
…ent family. Exposed to one of our nations most traumatic experiences, they carry on. They will never forget 9/11 but neither have they been psychologically damaged by it. How well did most people in NY deal with 9/11? There have been a few survey studies and it turns out that one month after 9/11 over 40% of those with direct exposure had not a single symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Only about 8% met criteria for the diagnosis and most…
…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…
…y of Shabbat and weekday programs for children and youth expanded, and the number of minors grew from under 70 in 1994 to over 225 a decade later. A typical Shabbat morning includes simultaneous programs or services for children and youth, as well as youth participating in the main service and Shabbat Shalom Torah Study. In 2003, the congregation began a process of building renovations, aimed at improving accessibility, enhancing energy efficiency…
…dry completely between uses, resulting in less transmission of bacteria.” Caring for one’s body is itself a religious obligation, as the Good Book says: “Only take good care of yourself, and guard your life diligently,” etc. (Deut. 4:9). To the extent that separate toothbrushes promote health, they would be required. Indeed, the Torah was concerned with poor dental hygiene, as we read in Job 41:14: “Who can open the doors of his face? His teeth a…
…e! What I mean, rather, is that we need to stop looking for others to take care of us; we need to take care of ourselves. We need to stop looking for others to set our agendas; we need to set our own agendas. We need to stop looking for others to take care of our institutions; we need to take care of our institutions. What is the collective implication for the BEKI community? Most simply, this: let’s get our synagogue in shape – organizationally,…
…s at this, my successes at that. Good health, wonderful family, successful career – thank You, God! I owe it all to You. But as I awaited neurosurgery, for the first time I felt that God did not owe me an uninterrupted high ride to be worthy of my affection. In other words, my illness stripped me of a layer of conditionality in my love of God. Here I was, facing dire possibilities, feeling blessed. You may ask, where did these feelings, be they od…
…have been members of the General Board in the past three years. You are a caring, dedicated group of volunteers, and it’s been a pleasure eating carrots with you and getting the work of the shul done. I must especially thank my friends on the Executive Board, who have served with me and become an incredibly effective team. Most congregants – even most Board members – are spared discussion of the bylaws, contracts, leases, insurance policies, comp…
…ha. Mattot opens by talking about promises and vows, and the importance of carrying out what you swear to do. That is, unless you belong to the female persuasion. Look at Chapter 42, verses 11-14. If you’re a grown woman, your husband could nullify any vow you made, so long as he spoke up when he heard about it. This position reflected the norms of the time and the second-class status women held. Today, I think most of us would agree that the rule…
…, a very complex distribution network. The way it operates is by a certain number of power plants producing energy, usually by burning fossil fuels, and then feeding it into the massive grid of electrical power lines. I think this is quite similar to the societal structure of the monkeys and the medieval Jewish court system, in that the majority of interactions, or in this case, power transmissions, are local, but the network is able to transmit p…
