- 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 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…
…ograms. Rides for kids when their parent is unable to drive. An occasional phone call or visit to someone who lives alone or in assisted living. A cooked meals or groceries for someone recuperating from illness or surgery. Of course, we can’t provide regular nursing service or permanent carpooling, but we can extend a helping hand, and we should. How will this work? Well, were just getting started, and there may be some kinks till we work out the…
…are, Maintenance and Renovation – The 32,000 square-foot building, built in 1959 and 1964, requires a great deal of attention, as does the grounds on which it stands. Skilled and unskilled volunteers are needed for every aspect of building management and operation, from planning renovations to weeding flower beds. Green Team: Conservation & Environment – Conservation, Environmental Awareness, Energy Efficiency, Recycling and related concerns are a…
…n’t look at the vessel, but at what’s in it. In other words, don’t judge a book by its cover. There’s a folktale that illustrated this pitgam: A young woman saw a very unattractive scholar enter her father’s house and muttered, “what a pity that such a beautiful mind is in such an ugly person.” The scholar overheard, and when they sat down to dinner he asked her, “why does your father serve his wine in a plain clay jar? Why not a silver pitcher?”…
…he achievement of the larger goal herein envisaged.” This permission was misunderstood. The Rabbis who articulated this stance in the 1950s only meant that they would not object to driving to shul, because they believed the alternative of not going to shul at all was worse. They never envisioned that people would think that it was permitted to drive altogether, or that people would reasonably conclude that if they could drive to shul, they could d…
…d Design in Jerusalem, Avniel emigrated from Parychy (currently Belarus) in 1921. Relocating to Haifa in 1935, he founded a law firm while maintaining an active art career from his studio on Mount Carmel. Later, Avniel joined the Artists’ Colony in Safed and worked in a home studio there. Avniel’s style evolved over the years from detailed,realistic images executed in a variety of media — such as woodcuts,copper and stone — to a more abstract,land…
…Wild Indians & Wicked Witches – July 1998 The Dangers of Success – February 1999 My First Cousin – 1995 What Shul Do You Belong to? The Danger of Extremism – Rosh HaShana 5762 – 2001 LeHitgaber: Perspective and Coping – Yom Kippur Yizkor 5764 – 2003 A Place in the Sun – Yom Kippur Kol Nidre 5769 – 2008 Listen: Slow Down – Rosh HaShana 5760 – 1999 Predicting the Past Lasting Forever – Yom Kippur Yizkor 5762 – 2001 The Voice of Jacob Where All Peopl…
…are two accounts of creation in this parshah. One starts at the beginning, 1-1 and goes through 2-4. The second starts at 2-5 and goes through at least 2-23. After that they merge, more or less. But in the beginning of “in the beginning” the two stories are quite distinct. The first story describes itself as the story of heaven and earth. [1-1, 2-1, 2-4] The second story describes itself [2-5] as the story of earth and heaven. In the first story…
…ld come to Egypt to ask for food). In his second dream he dreamed that the sun and the moon and 11 stars bowed to him. His brothers hated this dream and even his father asked: “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Do you really think that I and your mother and brothers will bow down to the ground to you?” This question is surprising because Yaqov favored Yosef, as “he was the son of his old age” and because Yosef reminded Yaqov of Rahel, Yose…
…tion at the Annual Meeting, and a wonderful morning of landscape work last Sunday. In VaEthanan, we see that the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness were winding down, and although Moshe was eager to continue doing what he had done so well for so long, the time was coming for Joshua to take charge. Moses wasn’t the right man to lead the people into battle. A new era was about to begin. New leadership was taking over, with new objectives and a…
