- 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
…cities of Greece, and even twentieth century America? Surveying the large number of works in the BEKI collection entitled “Rabbi_,” the BEKI Art Committee began discussing how best to present this work in an exhibition. Among ourselves, we called this the “Rabbi Show,” although there is nothing in the artworks themselves to signify that these are rabbis, rather than ordinary men who have been given the honor of holding the Torah. As Jewish artist…
…nt the prophet Nathan to David and Nathan said, “There were two men in one city, one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto…
…had ten children, each of whom has married and had more children. Does the city really think that all of us can live in 602 square feet?” (Jerusalem Report, 30 March 2009, p. 13). (For reference, BEKI’s George G. Posener Daily Chapel is about 1,000 square feet.) Farmer Ahmed might also find that another Israeli Arab family is already working “his” land, or that his former farmland is now a fish pond, highway interchange or shopping mall. In the pa…
…er along with the people: “And should not I care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not yet know their right hand from their left, and many beasts as well!” (Jonah 4:11). The value of the life of the individual animal is recognized in Torah tradition. That value is implied in the Zohar’s question and codified in laws that prohibit cruelty to animals (tsa`ar ba`alei hayim) and w…
…e insecure. Worst of all perhaps was the fact that local town merchants or city magnates often filed whole villages or series of villages in their own names. “The entrusting of the implementation of the [Ottoman Land] law [of 1858] to the local administration … made a mockery of the intentions of the legislator. Instead of strengthening the state’s rights over the mīrī land and the rights of the cultivators, the a`yān [notables] succeeded in re…
…ther hundred yards down a driveway leading to the Dung Gate out of the Old City, as the Conservative Jews sang a Hebrew prayer calling on God to make peace in the heavens and within the nation of Israel. Much has already been said in the media and in our Congregation about the disgraceful behavior of the Haredim at the Wall and later outside a nearby Yeshiva as the Conservative worshipers retreated. However, by far the most ominous behavior was th…
…We spent a good deal of time at Qibbutz Yizra’el and in New Haven’s sister-city Afula. We went from one end of the country to the other, from Majdal Shams in the far north, to Acco in the west (not really far), to Eilat in the south. Israel is small enough that we were able to drive from one end of the country to the other on a single tank of gas. (Small country, small car, big gas tank.) Both my dad and Tsvi especially enjoyed the tank museum (ba…
…r ten minutes, he would probably decide that he’d prefer to memorize every city the Ringling Bros. Circus visits on its cross-country tour. During the past few months, as we were helping Shai prepare for reaching the age of mitzvot, he has encountered many opportunities in which to learn how to take on greater levels of responsibility. A few months ago, Shai expressed interest in coming to shul for Shabbat morning services. After going to shul on…
…wls? Simple! I just read the same words that were read by Jews in the holy city of Jerusalem in ancient times and I’m wearing a tallit with blue-dyed threads just like my ancestors wore. Even more amazing is the fact that the method for making the blue dye was lost for thousands of years and my dentist on Emek Refaim Street in Jerusalem is one of the people doing research and leading the resurgence of the mitzva of petil tekhelet! In many schools,…
…eds will have eternal effect. The Almighty will reward them abundantly as if they had done it all themselves. Susie, Ina, Carl: Thank you for giving us hope in government, for giving us a model to point to for our children, for tr ying to build a city and society that strives toward basic decency and maybe even our highest ideals. ¹To list them, using their first initials: CIS, CSI, SIC, SCI, ICS, ISC. ²The Sanhedrin Study Group meets Thursday’s…
