BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

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1 Familyshul.org AUGUST-SEPTEMBER AV/ELUL/TISHREI בס"ד BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE בס" ד

2 Dear Friends, At the time of writing, Israel has just entered Gaza to root out Hamas terrorists once and for all. We pray that our soldiers be protected and that the casualties be few. May we see peace in the Holy Land speedily in our days. While the summer is a little quieter at the shul, September is jam-packed with activity. Of course, at the beginning of August we have Heritage Days and Tisha b Av. Regarding the former, our own Tsipora Reboh is once again spearheading the Israel pavilion and has asked us to gather as many volunteers as possible. If you can help out, please call her. With regards to Tisha b Av, it is always a significant date on our Beth Israel calendar. Please join Rabbi Yeamans and me for Aicha (Lamentations), Kinos and special shiurim (classes). The first weekend in September, we are honouring two very special couples who have completely given themselves over to the success of our shul. I don t know where Beth Israel would be today without the devotion of the Starkmans and the Zabludowskis. We owe them so much and I urge everyone to attend and sell tickets to all your friends!! Apart from the important occasion itself, we need this event to continue all the vital work we do at BI for Klal Yisrael. The second weekend in September, we are partnering with JNF and Christians United for Israel for a Night to Honour Israel. The featured speaker is Pastor Scott Thomas, who will be speaking in our social hall. We hope to have 1000 attendees. Scott is incredible I ve heard him speak he LOVES Israel and the Jewish people. Please encourage all your friends of all faiths to attend. Especially at difficult times like these, we need as many friends as possible. Of course then we move into High Holy day season. This Rosh Hashanah, once again we will be hearing the sweet and meaningful prayers of Rabbi Chazan Moshe David Shwekey. Rabbi Yeamans is putting together a wonderful program for the kids, so please make sure to go and tell everyone you know that BI is the place to be! Last but not least, on the final Tuesday of the month, we will have the inaugural PI@BI event of the year. You all remember the exciting and inspirational event we had for our tenth anniversary. We learned Torah, we were uplifted by the music and we walked away feeling passionate about our Judaism. This year, we are aiming to have such an event every month. Rabbanit Batya and I will provide prophetic inspiration from the Book of Judges and Rabbi Eliyahu Glatt together with a band that is currently in formation (thank you, Jay Cairns!) will provide the musical inspiration. There will be no charge, so please encourage as many people as you can to attend. The event will be professionally recorded and uploaded with a goal to reaching a worldwide audience! Rabbanit Batya and I wish you all a healthy, happy, sweet and inspirational year full of passion, excitement and spirituality! The Talmud teaches that when the rabbis of Pumpeditha would take leave of one another, they would wish each other, May the One who revives life grant you a healthy and good life. This blessing was based upon the adage in the Book of Proverbs, For length of days and years of life and peace He shall add to you. What does that mean? asks the Talmud, are there some years of life and some years not of life?!? Rabbi Elazar explains that this blessing refers to those years that are turning points in a person s life from the bad to the good. In other words, when one is having a bad year, it s as if one is not living at all! The blessing is that the Almighty grant us years of life, i.e. years that are clearly good and worth living. While there are some circumstances in life that are beyond our control in terms of fortune and misfortune that befalls us, very often the question of whether or not we are living comes down to our personal attitudinal choices. Will this be a year of life or of non-life? Will I make the most of every moment or will I simply pass the year going through the motions of life, but merely existing and passing time until next year and the following year and the year after that? Living life, says the Talmud, means that my life is full of joy, full of purpose, full of meaning and direction. If not, I may have had a year, but I have not lived a year. May the Almighty grant us years of life and may we make every effort to do our part to live that blessing to the fullest! We would like to apologise for the error in spelling of Ashley Nahornick Vale s name in the Parsha Sheet of last month. We wish her a hearty Mazal Tov on receiving her Doctorate from Columbia University. BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 1

3 The President Presents Dear Congregants, Gabbai s Gab As the summer progresses so do the activities at the Shul. Shavuot was again celebrated in fine style with a night of learning including the midnight BBQ. Kol Hakavod to our Rabbis who provided such an inspirational evening and of course also to those who volunteered with the meals. The Shul was really highlighted in a strong positive manner. The Zabludowski Shabbaton with Rabbi Hain was also a special weekend. He is a great speaker with a warm and friendly personality. I m sure those of you who heard him speak appreciated his special talents and knowledge. June saw our AGM. No major issues to mention other than a recurring theme of the necessity to raise funds to keep our Shul active and vibrant. I am in the process of working on 2 major initiatives, which if come to fruition with help sustain us in the long and short terms. Firstly we plan to separate NCSY and our youth department into a separate entity with the aim of gaining an extra casino and thus extra funds. The second project is more long term with the establishment of a BI Charitable Foundation for planned giving. As I mentioned these are in the very early stages of planning and further details will be presented when we have more details. The Board has added 3 new members as over the last few months we have had 4 members leave the Board for various reasons. Please join me in welcoming and thanking Ralph Hechter, Karen Farkas and Alex Bernstein as new members and wish them well in their new positions. The multipurpose room is now officially dedicated as the Ron Bercov Torah Learning Centre. The floor has been refinished and we also plan to refurbish the room to an appropriate learning centre. The invitations to our Gala dinner for 7 September have been mailed. If you have not yet received your invite, please contact the office for one. This promises to be a most special evening. The dinner committees under Elaine and Ram Romanovsky have been hard at work with preparations, fundraising and all that is required to make this a memorable evening. Please make every effort to attend and support our honorees and Shul. Thank you to all of you for helping to make our Shul the special place of prayer, learning and activities that we are so well known for. Shavuah Tov Stan Kitay Summer time and the living is easy is the opening line of an old song. I wish life was as easy as the song portrayed it. Although many of us have been enjoying vacations and summer activities at home, recent events in Israel and in Canada remind us emphatically that life is not so easy. The tragic and senseless murder of three Jewish teenagers in Israel has saddened Jews around the world. After they were kidnapped we prayed that Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel would be found and returned safely to their homes. We waited anxiously for eighteen days and were then devastated at hearing the news that their bodies had been found. We prayed again but this time it was to mourn their passing and give condolences to their families. The equally tragic and senseless murder of an Arab teenager has also saddened us. We sympathize with his family. The aftermath of these murders is occurring as I write this. Rockets are being fired by Hamas from Gaza to Israel. The expected and necessary consequence is that Israel is bombing Hamas targets in Gaza. Some people are dying and others are being injured. Tragedy has also struck Alberta. The disappearance and apparent murder of five year old Nathan O Brien and his grandparents Kathryn and Alvin Liknes has touched Albertans very deeply. We extend our sincere condolences to their families. Weather and the environment have also affected Canadians. Floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and wild fires have taken their toll. We have just completed the fast of the 17 th day of Tammuz that begins the three week period of mourning that will conclude with Tisha B Av. This is the saddest time of year for us. We mourn the destruction of our temple and reflect on our people having lived in exile for two thousand years. However, the reestablishment of the Jewish homeland in Israel provides consolation, hope and optimism. I do not wish this column to be all doom and gloom. At Beth Israel we look forward to good things happening. We will soon begin a new year with Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur followed by the celebration of our joyous festival of Sukkot. Rabbis Friedman and Yeamans organize a wonderful variety of programs to educate and stimulate us. Congregants are also involved in planning programming and there are many events to enjoy throughout the year. I urge congregants to attend services and participate in these programs. Beth Israel really is a great place to be. Lewis Wasel Summer Time BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 2

4 Director s Diary The casino has come and gone!! What would we have done without the hard work of Miriam Rabinovitch, ably assisted by Rebecca Asbell. They organised and got together our wonderful volunteers. The hours have been extended, and yet no-one complained Thank you! Thank you! Miriam to you and all our great volunteers B.I. really appreciates it. I hope you all enjoyed the sandwiches, fruit and vegetables that Yuri and Keren prepared for you, they looked magnificent. We are now busy with the Gala replies are coming in nicely don t forget to send yours in and tell us who you would like to sit with, even better, phone your friends and make up a table!! We are honouring well deserving people and as for our guest speaker, Rex Murphy, I believe he is outstanding!! It should be A night to Remember Our office is running smoothly with monthly notices going out to notify you of your Yarzeit. I hope that this helps you, it certainly helps us as many of you, as the tradition holds, are giving tzadaka to the shul, this is certainly most helpful, thank you!! On many occasions I have asked whether you would like to donate towards a kiddush in honour of maybe a birthday, anniversary or any life event. We have someone who would like to donate $50 a week towards enhancing the kiddush, but that is not sufficient to give something substantial to all of you, so don t be shy, come forward and help us serve a bit more than just cholent every week Another way of helping your Beth Israel family, please could you pay your outstanding accounts. If there is something you would like to discuss, make an appointment with me. I am here to work out a plan with you, all in confidence, of course. We would love it if all amounts could be paid by cheque as it saves us lots of interest, but we do also accept debit/credits cards. Our machine is in the 21 st century, so if you are paying by card it would be wonderful if you could come in with your card, so that we could put it through immediately, like in a supermarket, and save the shul lots of interest. We have a large variety of tribute cards, starting from $ What a wonderful way for you to acknowledge your family and friends by sending them a card. Come and look at our showcase where we have a variety of gifts Israeli and local, mezuzahs, and mezuzah inserts. Todah rabah to Sylvia Benjamin who very kindly has taken over from Beryl Nahornick, who is recovering from knee replacement surgery, to get a group of volunteers together to call for our Yizkor book. We have not increased the price of your inserts so I thank you in advance for supporting our wonderful shul buy placing your tribute! Enclosed in this issue of the bulletin is the order form for the Lulav and Etrog Please send the form in as soon as possible together with your payment. It s unbelievable that the Yom Tovim are around the corner if you need extra seats don t forget to arrange with me in advance. All the best!! Luba Allen BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 3

5 Facebook Fast For Israel That was the Facebook feed I woke up to this morning. And I was deeply saddened. Not just by the last post, which of course is the greatest source of my pain. But I find the other posts also troubling. It pains me when I see that some of my Facebook friends don t appear to be affected by the current events in the Holy Land. To all of you who are posting about the war in Israel IDF videos showing the courage and emunah that the soldiers are feeling, the bold speech from PM Netanyahu, the awful propaganda from Arab news I commend and thank you. But to my other dear, dear friends, I ask you: When our people are at war, why do you feel compelled to tell me about your vacations, your pets or your favorite restaurants? I feel guilty taking my daughters to the park or the pool while my friend Chedva cannot venture from her house further than a few hundred feet with her children since they live in Netivot, a mere twelve miles from Gaza. How can we kvell in our vacations or be proud about our gym achievements while our brothers are in the crossfire; while there are thousands running to shelters; while hundreds are in hospitals? But what can we do thousands of miles away from the conflict? Should we just put our lives on hold? We should fast for times of distress that befall our people until there is mercy from Heaven (Maimonides, Laws of Fasts 1:4). Throughout history, our leaders have proclaimed fasts to save the Jewish people. Till today, we continue to fast on some of these occasions, such as the Fast of Esther, called by Queen Esther when Haman wanted to destroy us. Normally we think of fasting in terms of abstaining from eating and drinking. But that s not the only kind of fast in our tradition. One Yom Kippur, in addition to the regular fast, I took upon myself a Taanit Dibbur a fast of speech, where I only spoke that which was absolutely necessary. In today s world of social media I propose we have Taanit Posting. Yes, we cannot stop living, but maybe until our brothers and sisters get home from Gaza and the sirens stop throughout Israel, we could fast from posting on Facebook, Twitter, etc, unless it is something that relates to Israel. It would achieve two things: firstly, it would remind us of what s really important at this dangerous time for the Jewish people; and secondly, it would follow in our tradition of appealing to G-d for His mercy by fasting, i.e. afflicting ourselves, in our time of distress. Israel is at war. Our brothers and sisters are on the frontlines fighting for our safety and security. We cannot forget that for one minute. While we cannot stop living we can stop reveling in our safe and secure lives on social media. Facebook and Twitter should be filled only with Israel related feeds. Israel needs to know that we are with them every second. That we are not just continuing on with our lives while they are giving up theirs. Rabbanit Batya Friedman Today my cat, Sadie, passed away. She was a good friend. Just had a wonderful gym workout! Enjoying our vacation in the Bahamas! IDF announces one soldier unaccounted for. August Marcia Bercov Bev De Jong Bobby Cairns Shira Tankel Greg Pesin Lorraine Stillman Stephanie Lazar Bernice Milner Bar Yosef Stocker Leo Superstein Jeremiah Benjamin Anna Zeisler Yuval Yosef Bavly Marilyn Cohen Robert Dlin Isabel Rodnunsky Jack Soroka Rosemary Kitay Lauren Baram Rowena Schwartzberg Rebeccah Rosenblum Jaffa Carolina Lattke Abayay Stocker Lilach Gabriel Liora Lehrer Elaine Romanovsky Michael Stocker Stan Greenspan Shon Rabinovich August David & Robin Marcus Joel & Tsiporah Reboh Bernie & Miriam Adler Bobby & Sharon Cairns Abie & Myra Kacew Norman & Leanne Wasel Charles & Yiskah Feinstein Shane & Rebecca Asbell Alex & Nina Bertnstein Aube & Diana Levine Yuri & Inna Abramov Eytan & Osnat Wine Bar Yosef & Hanit Stocker September Ram Romanovsky Benjamin Bernstein Melissa Benjamin Erez Allouche Ezra Tankel Andrew Gergely Aleksandr Aronov Ezra Bavly Sharon Cairns Ellen Dlin Sue Winestock Cheryl Gluckman Asher Lehrer Inna Abramov Netanya Bushewsky Yaffa Wasel Zev Wasel Marina Marcus Micah Allen Ruth Allen Clarice Switzer Rebecca Asbell Arna Macklin Roni Sheps Edward Kaplan Osnat Wine September Joseph & Rachel Ovics Rick & Bev De Jong Sam & Margaret Frohlich Harry & Marlene Warhaft Robert Wood & Sherrie Banks Greg & Frida Pesin BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE ~ 4

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