- 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 other days of Creation are denoted, as you would expect, using ordinal numbers – second, third, and the like; but not the first day, Yom Ehad – Day One. Rashi teaches that “Day One” is to be understood as the Day of the One, the Day of God, and that God created everything in all its potential on that Day. From that day on, it follows that, as my daughter Sarah has recently begun quoting Martin Buber in the tag line to her email messages — To p…
…ou all. Please help us again, this time by passing along our thanks to the number of congregants who are away this weekend of Thanksgiving, giving thanks of their own elsewhere. The morning of the surgery I prayed and learned another prayerbook lesson, this time explicit. At my request, Marsha had brought me a copy of our Siddur, Sim Shalom. Uncharacteristically, I admit, I started from the beginning of the Shaharit, or morning, service. There I d…
…essage. Over the course of the school year, the kids would memorize a fair number of these. The sayings she chose reflected her particular take on Judaism, which tended to the ethical rather than the spiritual. In cleaning out her apartment last year, my sister Naomi and I came across some of these sayings, which I’ve brought with me to show you. Some of the pitgamim were easy to memorize and therefore were very popular with the kids: “Tov shem m’…
…, 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…
…nsgresses a prohibition, as Scripture states, “Do not add [to the required number of lashes]” — if the Torah warns not to add blows to a guilty person, how much more does this apply to an innocent person. Even to raise one’s hand against another, even if one doesn’t actually hit him or her, is called wicked, as Scripture states, “And he said to the wicked one, Why do you hit your neighbor?”7 Rabbenu Perez, in his decree, cites a responsum of Rabbi…
…11 Nov Film Discussion: “I Am Not Your Negro” November 11, 2020 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm Home Page Interior Page Launching BEKI’s film and discussion series about racial justice, we’ll discuss the film “I Am Not Your Negro,” a 2016 award-winning documentary, narrated by Samuel L. […] More Info…
…ov June 30, 2021 BEKI Annual Meeting June 21, 2021 JUNETEENTH, the African-American Celebration of Freedom Robert Forbes June 16, 2021 Tea Tasting Caroline Keogh of New Haven Tea June 9, 2021 Anti-Asian Racism in America Rachel Forbes June 2, 2021 Together New Haven: Economic Development in New Haven Carlos Eyzaguirre May 26, 2021 Regendering the Torah Yael Kanarek May 19, 2021 Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding, and Ending U.S. Poverty Joann…
…Hanukkah 2022 concert To download the Hanukkah Song Sheet, click here Kumsitz We will sing around a campfire at a “kumsitz,” meaning “come” and “sit.” We will gather at 7 pm in the BEKI courtyard. We’ll sing niggunim—which have no words—as well as traditional American songs and Jewish songs. To download, the Kumsitz Songsheet, click here To download audio files of these songs, recorded by Max DuBoff, click here….
…serve a diverse, urban, largely uninsured community. In 2012 I joined the American Jewish World Service clergy delegation to Muchucuxcah, a Mayan village in the Mexican Yucatan, which sparked a deeper connection to my Mexican and indigenous roots. Throughout my rabbinate, I have been committed to social justice and interfaith action. As assistant rabbi at Congregation Tifereth Israel, I engaged in community organizing with B.R.E.A.D., a coalition…
…21 Jul Kumsitz July 21, 2021 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm BEKI Kids page Home Page Interior Page Since we were rained out on LagBaOmer, we’ll try again with a Kumsitz on Wednesday July 21 (rain date July 22) at 7 pm. We’ll sing […] More Info…
