Fri., May 23 Daf Yomi 7:45AM Shach 7/8AM Minchah 7:00PM Candle Lighting: 7:55PM

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1 The Jewish Center S H A B B A T B U L L E T I N May 17, 2014 PARSHAT BECHUKOTAI 17 Iyar 5774 Erev Shabbat 7:00PM Minchah 7:48PM Candle lighting Shabbat Morning 7:45AM Hashkama Minyan 8:30AM Rabbi Israel Silverstein Mishnayot Class 9:00AM Shacharit followed by a public lecture by Rabbi Ari Berman, Army Service, the Charedi Community and the Struggle to Build a Just and Inclusive State 9:15AM Hashkama Shiur with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, Sefirat HaOmer 3: Days and Weeks 9:15AM Sof Zman Kriat Shema 9:15AM Young Leadership Minyan (5 th floor) 9:30AM Teen Minyan (4th floor) and Hot Kiddush (9th floor) 9:45AM Youth Department Breakfast (7 th floor) 10:00AM Youth Groups: 2-year-olds: lower level; 3-5-year-olds: lower level; 1 st -3 rd grade: 7 th floor; 4 th -6 th grade: 7 th floor Youth Department Mishnayot Class with will resume next week Community Hot Kiddush (5 th floor) 12:45PM Bikkur Cholim Luncheon (1 st floor) With Thanks to our Kiddush Sponsors: Hashkama Kiddush, Vivian & Daniel Chill in commemoration of the yahrtzeit of Vivian's father, Harold M. Jacobs and Daniel's father, Rabbi Abraham Chill Community Kiddush, Rochelle Tarlowe & Seth Jonas in honor of Zachary Jonas on his upcoming Bar Mitzvah Community Kiddush, Miriam Gutwein & Alex Klein in commemoration of the 16 th yahrtzeit of Miriam's father, Samuel Gutwein, Reb Yehoshua ben Yitzchak Community Kiddush, Alan Nussbaum in memory of Ruth and Max Nussbaum Community Kiddush, Menahem Schitzer in honor of his return to Israel Teen Kiddush, Lori Zeltser & Len Berman, Beth & Josh Schwartz and Anonymous Shabbat Afternoon 3:15PM Bikkur Cholim/Bikkur in the Home to Mt. Sinai Hospital and home visits. Meet at the Westmont at 730 Columbus Avenue 6:30PM Parent-Child Learning with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, Tochachah of Bechukotai (5-8th grade) 6:30PM Shabbat afternoon program with Rabbi Ari Berman, Conversations with my Arab Neighbors: Personal Experiences and Halachic Reflections on Jewish Sovereignty 6:45PM Israel Friedman Daf Yomi 7:30PM Minchah, afternoon youth groups Seudah Shlishit Speaker: Rabbi Ari Berman, Fate and Fantasy, Dreams and Destiny: The Challenges and Opportunities of Living in a Miraculous Era With Thanks to our Seudah Shlishit Sponsors: Rachel Lurie in memory of Sanford Lurie 8:49PM Shabbat concludes Sun., May 18 Lag Ba Omer Daf Yomi 7:45AM Shach 8:30AM Minchah 7:55PM DAILY SERVICES Mon., May 19 - Thurs., May 22 Daf Yomi 7:45AM Shach 7/8AM Minchah 7:55PM Fri., May 23 Daf Yomi 7:45AM Shach 7/8AM Minchah 7:00PM Candle Lighting: 7:55PM WELCOME BACK, RABBI ARI BERMAN! SHABBAT MORNING PUBLIC LECTURE: Army Service, the Charedi Community and the Struggle to Build a Just and Inclusive State SHABBAT AFTERNOON: Conversations with my Arab Neighbors: Personal Experiences and Halachic Reflections on Jewish Sovereignty SEUDAH SHLISHIT: Fate and Fantasy, Dreams and Destiny: The Challenges and Opportunities of Living in a Miraculous Era Sponsored by Joan and Henry Lieberman, Alan Nussbaum in memory of Ruth and Max Nussbaum and Anonymously in memory of Rav Shmuel Tzvi ben Yosef HaLevi The Jewish Center Annual Dinner Monday, June 9, 2014 at 6:30PM Museum of Jewish Heritage Honoring HEDDA RUDOFF and in Memory of SHELDON RUDOFF, z l ESTHER & MICHAEL JACOBS Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung Memorial Award SHIRA SILTON Community Service Award Special Shiur with Rabbi Daniel Fridman 5:30PM-6:30PM Please visit our website for more information and to place your ad in the Dinner Journal. MEMORIAL DAY LECTURE BY REAR ADMIRAL HERMAN SHELANSKI ADMIRAL'S LOG: A JEWISH SAILOR'S JOURNEY Wednesday, May 21 at 7:00PM This program is free and open to the public. Please visit our website to register. Women's Tehillim - Monday, June 2 at 7:15PM Contact Joyce Weitz for more information at The Jewish Center - The Modern Orthodox Center for Jewish Life and Learning

2 SHAVUOT AT THE JC TUESDAY, JUNE 3 THURSDAY, JUNE 5 YOUNG LEADERSHIP SHAVUOT DINNER Tuesday, June 3 Please visit our website for more information. Please visit our website to register. WOMEN S MEGILLAT RUTH READING Thursday, June 5 Join JC women of every generation for this special event. Light dinner to follow. TIKKUN LEIL SHAVUOT Tuesday night, June 3 Please join us for learning. Details to follow. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPONSOR THE EVENING, PLEASE CONTACT AARON AT ASTRUM@JEWISHCENTER.ORG. CLE COURSE AT THE JC BY EVELYN FRUCHTER On two recent Mondays, lawyers from the community have had the opportunity to earn credits towards their continuing legal education (CLE) requirement by taking classes at the Jewish Center taught by Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann, Director of the RCA's Beth Din of America. The first two lectures in this four part series focused on beth din procedure and the doctrines for decision -making utilized by the beth din panel, allowing participants to learn the basics about this forum for conflict resolution that is uniquely Jewish and unfamiliar to many attorneys. In both of his lectures, Rabbi Weissman has made a point of explaining how beth din practice is similar to or different from other arbitration panels, as well as state or federal courts. The lectures provide participants with a better understanding of when and why the resolution of a dispute by beth din could be advantageous as compared to other forms of dispute resolution. The next two lectures, which Two classes left! Mondays, May 19 and June 2. Please visit our website to register. will take place on May 19th and June 2nd, will move away from procedure and address substantive legal issues that a beth din may be asked to address: prohibited interest, halakhic wills, and issues related to agunot. SHABBAT WITH CHIEF RABBI DAVID LAU This past Shabbat The Jewish Center was honored to host Israel's Chief Rabbi David Lau. Before Minchah, Rabbi Lau presented a shiur b'ivrit, followed by a conversation on the laws of Shmita with our youth and addressed a capacity crowd at Seudah Shlishit on his aspirations for the Chief Rabbinate today. We are proud to have been one of Rabbi Lau's destinations on his first trip to the U.S. as Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel. MAY 31 DOV LIPMAN, MEMBER OF KNESSET He will give a shiur Halacha at 6:45PM followed by an address at Seudah Shlishit. DAILY (except Shabbat) Israel Friedman Daf Yomi, 7:45AM MONDAY Ancient Jewish History: Judaism & the Origins of Christianity with Rabbi Ari Lamm, William Fischman Rabbinic Intern, 8:15PM TUESDAY Advanced Talmud Chabura with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, 7:45AM Nosh and Drash will resume next week WEDNESDAY Advanced Talmud Chabura with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, 7:45AM Seudah Shlishit Speakers Series JUNE 7 TED COMET Resilience: The Mystique of Jewish Survival. Highlights of 65 years in Jewish Communal Service -- 90th Birthday Reflections Jewish Center University Spring Semester Women of the Bible with Rabbi Yosie Levine, 11:00AM Sleepless on Shavuot? (moved to Thurs.) The Next Level with Rabbi Mark Wildes, 8:00PM THURSDAY Life, Literature and Legacy: The Works of Rabbeinu Yonah with Rabbi Dovid Zirkind, 8:15PM Sleepless on Shavuot? with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, 7:00PM SHABBAT Rabbi Israel Silverstein Mishnayot Class with Rabbi Yosie Levine, 8:30AM The Uncharted Future of the Jewish Family: An Armchair conversation on Modern Medicine and Contemporary Jewish Ethics Featuring Rabbi Saul Berman and Dr. John Loike Listen to the recording of the lecture on our website. Thank You to our Bikkur Cholim Lunch Sponsors LEAH ALBEK DAVID ARBESFELD JONNY GLASER ELEANOR MERCZYNSKI & DAVID HAIT ALAN NUSSBAUM JUNE 14 LISA SEPTIMUS, UWS YOETZET HALACHA Details to follow. Minchat Chinuch and the World of 19 th Century Halachic Thought with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, 9:15AM Youth Department Mishnayot Class with Rabbi Daniel Fridman Israel Friedman Daf Yomi with rotating JCU Faculty, 1 hour before Minchah Parent-Child Learning with Rabbi Daniel Fridman, 1 hour before Minchah Perek in the Park with JCU Faculty, Shabbat Afternoons before Minchah (from June 7-21) To sponsor Kiddush or Seudah Shlishit or a JC event, please contact aaron@jewishcenter.org

3 A LAWYER S GUIDE TO BETH DIN: A CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION COURSE Mondays, May 19 and June 2 from 8:00PM-9:30PM Taught by Rabbi Shlomo Weissman of the Beit Din of America, this CLE-accredited series explores the synthesis of Jewish Law and American ethics, identifying the legal capacity of a beth din (religious court) within the American judicial system - where the two overlap and how dissonance between them is resolved. The classes cost $75 per session. Please visit our website to register for either or both of the final two classes. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Monday, May 19 at 8:15PM Each year we hold a meeting to conduct an open forum on shul business, elect new officers and members to the Board and Administrative Committee and welcome new members (and remember departed ones). This year we will thank and express our appreciation to those members who have served the community through their leadership and are ending their terms or their service in those roles. STAR-K KASHRUTH TRAINGING SEMINAR Tuesday, May 20 from 10:00AM-4:00PM This program will outline and explain the complexities and challenges of implementing modern-day kosher supervision at food-service facilities with an emphasis on training of potential mashgichim and mashgichot. The course familiarizes participants with the overall responsibilities of a food service Mashgiach. Certificates will be given to participants upon completing the course. Additional time and learning is required to become a Mashgiach. Sponsored by The Jewish Center and Kol HaNeshamah. The class costs $75. Please visit our website to register. MEMORIAL DAY LECTURE BY REAR ADMIRAL HERMAN SHELANSKI, ADMIRAL'S LOG: A JEWISH SAILOR'S JOURNEY Wednesday, May 21 at 7:00PM Admiral Shelanski joined the Navy in He is a committed Conservative Jew and active member of his Norfolk, Virginia congregation. This event is co-sponsored by The Jewish Community Relations Council and Council of Young Jewish Presidents. Please visit our website for more information and to register. THIRD ANNUAL KETER TORAH AWARD HONORING GLORIA MEHLER AND PENINA BLAZER Shabbat, May 31 In the spirit of Shavuot, which celebrates two great Jewish heroines, Naomi and Ruth, the Keter Torah Award will coincide with Shavuot and is an opportunity for the congregation to show its high regard for the outstanding commitment and leadership of women in our community. The program will be followed by a festive dairy kiddush. If you would like to honor the women of our synagogue and our honorees, please visit our website. All donors will be listed in the program to be distributed at the presentation. BOOK CLUB MEETING - BY THE WATERS OF MANHATTAN BY CHARLES REZNIKOFF Sunday, June 1 at 7:30PM This year the Book Club theme is The Jewish Immigrant Experience in New York City. This meeting will be held at the home of Maureen & Laszlo Marcus, 645 West End Avenue, Apt #2C. The discussion will be led by Nava Rephun. To RSVP and for questions, please bookookclub@jewishcenter.org. WOMEN S MEGILLAT RUTH READING & LIGHT DINNER Thursday, June 5 at 6:00PM Women of all ages are welcome. Please contact Beth Schwartz at bethschwartz18@gmail.com if you are interested in participating. Light dinner will follow. SPECIAL TALK BY MAURIZIO MOLINARI, THE POPE IN JERUSALEM: A FIRST-HAND BRIEFING Shabbat morning, June 14 at 11:00AM Maurizio Molinari, La Stampa's Middle East Correspondent, will address our community on Shabbat. SAVE THE DATE: GRADUATION KIDDUSH Shabbat, June 14 UPCOMING EVENTS GUIDED TOUR OF THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY Wednesday, June 18 at 11:00AM Join Rabbi Yosie Levine for a guided tour of the New-York Historical Society's exhibit: "I Live. Send Help. 100 Years of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The tour costs $22 for JC members, $25 for non-members and $20 for seniors. Sponsorship of $180 includes 2 tickets. This tour is open to everyone. Register on our website. YOUTH DEPARTMENT EVENTS ATTENTION JC YOUNG WOMEN! Rachel would like to invite you to her home for a casual seudah shlishit get-together to talk, laugh and enjoy SEUDAH SHLISHIT WITH REBBETZIN RACHEL LEVINE Shabbat, May 31 at 7PM for high school girls some great treats. To join, Batsheva. Shabbat, June 14 for 6th-8th grade girls COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS MAZAL TOV Rochelle Tarlowe & Seth Jonas on the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Zachary Jen & Ami Eden on the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Benjamin Sherry & Mark Fessel on the forthcoming marriage of their daughter, Emily to Elan Zanger THANK YOU TO OUR USHERS Thank you to Steve Graber, Adina Wagman, Avi Jacobowitz, and Aliza Herzberg Brodie who are our ushers this Shabbat. THANK YOU TO CSS We would like to once again thank CSS and our dedicated CSS members for providing the security for our synagogue this week. CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE Sunday, June 1 at 11:00AM Join The Jewish Center at one of the largest gatherings in the world in support of Israel. For more information visit israelny.org. JC Online - Become a fan for the latest news and events. Facebook.com/TheJewishCenter and

4 This past week an Israeli newspaper debated a moral dilemma that is far from pressing, but informative nonetheless. Makor Rishon asked its readership whether it is appropriate to host a musical concert during Sefirat HaOmer (when concerts are normally forbidden) on the technicality that the style was a cappella? Strictly speaking the prohibition against music during Sefira forbids musical instruments; the human voice is not included in that restriction. Yet, the paper wondered, does a concert of that nature contradict the tempered spirit of the Sefira season? The assumption that Sefirat HaOmer has an overarching theme of mourning, which generates a prohibition against musical performances, is an oversimplification to say the least. During parts of Sefira we refrain from taking haircuts, throwing lavish parties and listening to live music. The tragic death of Rabbi Akiva s students is indeed a memory we must fight to remember; a message relevant to every generation of Jews who aspire to build a greater sense of national unity. Yet, the mourning for his students only overlaps with one fraction of the season, and even during that time, the biblical themes of Sefira that run beneath the surface are completely unrelated to that tragic moment in our past. As we approach Lag B Omer and the practices of mourning cease, we should wonder what the true spirit of the Omer season was meant to produce. In Sefer Devarim the Torah describes Shavuot as a holiday emerging from the feelings of Themes of Sefirat HaOmer Rabbi Dovid Zirkind, Assistant Rabbi achievement in a plentiful crop. The harvesting season culminates with luxurious gifts being brought to the Mikdash, Misat nidvat yadcha commensurate with the success God showered you with. (Devarim 16:10) We are not instructed to count the days between Pesach and Shavuot, nor are we asked to calculate the days before we receive the Torah. Sefira in its biblical form is a schedule designed to track the timing of gifts brought from the field to the Temple. In the Torah s view, the anticipatory pride of infusing our agricultural success with spiritual purpose is well worth counting towards. The synthesis of the physical and spiritual, the financial and the religious, generates a season that is anything but mournful; it is a time of great joy and pride. For that reason, the conundrum of the a cappella concert held during the first half of Sefirat Ha- Omer is all the more complicated. It highlights the contradictory themes that Sefira has come to possess and asks if it is possible for them to coexist at all? One definitive answer may not even be appropriate. On Shavuot we read of the relationship between Ruth and Boaz, one that began in a field where the mandate of chessed was second to no other ethos. How appropriate it is to remind ourselves of that theme in the season of the harvest; using our success to provide for the less fortunate and to express our appreciation to the Creator who blessed us to be in a position to do so. Clergy & Staff Yosie Levine Rabbi Dovid Zirkind Assistant Rabbi Chaim David Berson Cantor Daniel Fridman Resident Scholar Ari Lamm William Fischman Rabbinic Intern Aaron Strum Executive Director Eliane Glassman Director of Programming and Communications Ruth Schwarz Interim Youth Director Batsheva Ritholtz Clergy Assistant/ Youth Coordinator OFFICERS Virginia Bayer Hirt President Avi Schwartz First Vice President Andrew Kaplan Vice President Rachel Ringler Vice President Mark Segall Vice President Len Berman Assistant Vice President Adina Spiro Wagman Treasurer Yaron Kinar Assistant Treasurer Andrew Borodach Secretary Phone Numbers Chevra Kadisha UWS Mikvah Hatzalah Eruv Status To advertise or list an announcement in The JC Shabbat Bulletin, please contact Eliane at eliane@jewishcenter.org

5 MAZAL TOV TO OUR 2014 DINNER HONOREES Honoring Hedda Rudoff and in Memory of Sheldon Rudoff, z l Esther & Michael Jacobs, Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung Memorial Award Shira Silton, Community Service Award HEDDA RUDOFF Hedda Rudoff has lived on the Upper West Side since 1964, and with her husband Sheldon (z l), became a member of The Jewish Center in She was born during the war in Slovakia, and together with her parents was forced to flee and hide. They returned after the war, but then left due to the impending Communist regime. Her family emigrated to Montreal, Canada when she was eight. She attended a Yiddish after-school program, where she was taught a smattering of Jewish history, and joined Bnei Akiva as a teenager, which provided her with a like-minded, Zionist community as well as a place to go on Shabbat. After graduating from McGill University, she came to New York and attended Yeshiva University s Wurzweiler School of Social Work, where she received her master s in clinical social work. She later continued her education, attending a psychoanalytic institute, and received a certificate in psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. She has been in private practice on the Upper East Side for the past twenty-five years. While attending graduate school, she met and married her husband Sheldon. He had received smicha from Yeshiva University while simultaneously studying law at NYU. He practiced corporate law, and soon became a partner in his law firm. They had three daughters, Shaindy (z l), Sarah and Simone. Sheldon was active in various community organizations, eventually becoming president of the OU, where he was instrumental in the establishment of NCSY. He was president of the Bet Din of America, aggressively pushing it to be a viable organization. Both organizations have sponsored an annual memorial lecture in Sheldon s memory; they have all been held at The Jewish Center. He was a board member for many years at YU s RIETS. Hedda has long been dedicated to the efforts of Amit, and is a member of Amit s Board of Governors. She initiated the Amit book club, later named it for Shaindy, and co-facilitated it for 17 years. After a visit to Bardejov, Slovakia, her hometown, with her daughters Sarah and Simone, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the round-ups, she participated in the creation of a memorial for the Jews who died during the Shoah. She and her husband endowed the graduate program in creative writing at Bar Ilan University and named it in memory of Shaindy, a professor who taught literature there and was the Founding Director of the creative writing program, the first of its kind, which attracts Jewish writers worldwide and holds a yearly symposium in Israel featuring writers, readings and workshops. Hedda is a proud descendant of important Hasidic lines on both her mother and her father s side of her family. She attends a variety of Torah classes throughout the week from Rabbi Levine s Women of the Bible to classes at Drisha to the parsha of the week with Rebbetzin Kohn of the Jewish Renaissance Centre. On Shabbat, she s davening at the Jewish Center, and thus each day brings her a component of learning and spirituality. With her children Sara and Ira Olshin, and Simone and Mark Semer, she is the proud grandmother of six amazing grandchildren, aged 6 to 18: Rachel and Meir; and Eli, Yonina, Yamin and Shaina. In addition, she is blessed to have the family through Shelly as a lifelong source of strength, support and friendship. In The Jewish Center, she s found a supportive community and a spiritual home. The Jewish Center Annual Gala Dinner Monday, June 9, 2014 The Museum of Jewish Heritage

6 THIRD ANNUAL KETER TORAH AWARD Shabbat, May 31 Rabbi Shimon said, "There are three crowns: the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship. And the crown of a good name is superior to them all." The Third Annual Keter Torah Award will be presented to GLORIA MEHLER and PENINA BLAZER on SHABBAT, MAY 31 following morning services in the main sanctuary. In the spirit of Shavuot, which celebrates two great Jewish heroines, Naomi and Ruth, this program will take place the Shabbat preceding Shavuot and is an opportunity for the congregation to show its high regard for the outstanding commitment and leadership of women in our community. Afterwards we will gather for a festive kiddush. Please mark your calendars and join us for this special event! If you would like to honor the women of our synagogue, please visit our website: Your donation will contribute to celebrating our honorees and also support the work of The Jewish Center. All donors will be listed in the program that will be distributed at the presentation. Keter Torah sponsor - $180 Rimon sponsor - $72 Gloria Mehler Penina Blazer The Jewish Center 131 West 86 St. New York, NY