PLEASE NO CONVERSATION DURING SERVICES WEEKDAY DAVENING INFORMATION

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1 בס ד Saturday night, at 12:55 AM, we begin reciting Selichot. We continue reciting Selichot every weekday morning through Erev Yom Kippur (this year even on Erev Rosh Hashanah as it falls on a Sunday). שבת פרשת כי תבא SHABBAT PARSHAT KI TAVO 21 ELUL/SEPTEMBER 1 Haftorah is Isaiah 60:1-22 אורי) (קומי Pirkei Avot Chaps. 3 & 4. FRIDAY NIGHT MINCHA - 7:00 PM CANDLE LIGHTING - 7:13 PM TZAIT - 8:16 PM SATURDAY HASHKAMA - 8:00 AM SHACHARIT MAIN - 9:00 AM LAST KRIAT SHEMA - 9:39 AM GEMARA SHIUR - 5:55 PM MINCHA - 6:55 PM SHKIA - 7:29 PM SHABBAT ENDS - 8:14 PM SELICHOT - 12:55 AM נא לא לדבר בשעת התפילה PLEASE NO CONVERSATION DURING SERVICES WEEKDAY DAVENING INFORMATION Sunday (9/2) Monday (9/3) Tuesday (9/4) Wednesday (9/5) Thursday (9/6) Friday (9/7) Earliest Talit 5:25 AM 5:27 AM 5:28 AM 5:29 AM 5:30 AM 5:31 AM Shacharit 8:15 AM 8:00 AM 5:45 AM 5:45 AM 5:45 AM 5:45 AM Gedolah 1:28 PM 1:28 PM 1:28 PM 1:27 PM 1:27 PM 1:26 PM Mincha - Maariv 7:05 PM 7:05 PM 7:05 PM 7:05 PM 7:05 PM 7:00 PM Shkia 7:28 PM 7:26 PM 7:24 PM 7:23 PM 7:21 PM Tzait 8:13 PM 8:11 PM 8:09 PM 8:08 PM 8:06 PM Giving choices to our members to actualize their spirituality remains a rock steady commitment of our shul, as we realize that one size does not fit all. In that vein, starting this Shabbat, there will be some changes to our Hashkama minyon, including (1) beginning at 8:00 AM, (2) a short D'var Torah each Shabbat, (3) regular shul announcements, and (4) on applicable Yomim Tovim a Yizkor appeal. If interested in coming regularly or on occasion, please jostu23@yahoo.com, as we will need to get commitments before each Shabbat until the minyon is firmly established. SHIUR FOR WOMEN On Sept. 4, Rebetzin Chana Shestack will be giving her final shiur in the series entitled Love in the Time of Nach: Exploring Relationships in Neviim and Ketuvim, to take place at the Shestack residence, Saddle River Rd., Tuesday night, 8:15 9:15 PM. CONGREGATION AHAVAT ACHIM SADDLE RIVER ROAD FAIR LAWN, NJ BULLETIN INFORMATION TO REQUEST A BULLETIN ANNOUNCEMENT (BY 7:00 PM WEDNESDAY) OR DEDICATE A BULLETIN FOR $36 ($54 W/PHOTO), SEPLOTNICK@GMAIL.COM Start Elul off right helping to re-stock the Jewish Family Service Food Bank. Please pick up an empty bag in the shul lobby and return it full by September 4. Welcome to our Friday Night End of Summer Dinner Thank you Randi Spier for arranging. For all those joining us, we look forward to a spiritually meaningful and oneg-filled Shabbat! Rabbi Ely Shestack "1 President Aryeh Brenenson

2 Kiddush Information If you are around when the Rabbi says your assistance in, על המחיה clean up would be appreciated. To sponsor a Kiddush ($1000/$613/$318 plus scotch) send an to gplotnick@aol.com. Adult Education GEMARA SHIUR - One hour before Mincha, through the first Shabbat in November. DAYTIME TORAH VOYAGES - Thursdays at 2:00 PM. FUNDAMENTALS OF JEWISH THOUGHT - After Kiddush. PEREK ON THE LAWN, Pirkei Avot Periodic Shiur. Men s Club ע ה Sept. 16 (Sunday) - Sylvia Latkin Sukkah Assembly, volunteers needed. Sept. 16 (Sunday) - Arbat Haminim (Lulav & Etrog) sale. Sept. 24 (Monday) - Sukkah Hop! To volunteer your Sukkah, contact Elliot at MensClub@AhavatAchim.Org. October 28 (Sunday) - Avraham Groll from JewishGen.Org will discuss "History of Jews in Poland. Babysitting on Rosh Hashanah will be from 10:30 AM - 2:00 PM, and on Yom Kippur from 10:30 AM - 3:00 PM. Parents must assure that their children are with the babysitters or are sitting in the sanctuary! Light nut-free snacks available! ע ה Gita Cooperwasser Youth Program Youth groups are on hiatus until further notice. Look out for more info soon! Tot Shabbat 10:40 AM, this week featuring special story time reader Gloria Lewissohn! Sept. 1, Play & Stay, at the Wigod home, Landzettel Way, at 4:30 PM. Todah Rabah Thank you to our Perek on the Lawn presenters this season, R. Shestack, Margo Heda & Ilana Schwitzer; and to our host families, Sonnenblick, Garfunkel, Spier, Salazar/Carrion, Greene, & Bernstein; and to all those who attended! Looking forward to next year s POTL! Points To Ponder Ahavat Achim Future Events Sept. 8 - Seudat Shilishit is sponsored by the Agress family on the Yahrzeit of Amy s father Ha'Rav Yisroel Yehuda Ben. ז ל Ephraim Michal Ha'Levi Pruzansky Sept Kiddush is sponsored by the Goldberg family on the Yarhtzeit of Joan s father. Sept Kiddush is sponsored by the Winchester family on the Yarhtzeit of Steve s mother Helen Winchester, ע ה Miriam Hendl bas Shimon March 9 - Yachad/Yavneh Shabbaton Community - Please get the Events name(s) you wish N/A to be in this year's Yizkor Booklet to Joyce Heller by Sept. 3, 14 Kershner Pl., Fair Lawn, NJ or via at jheller127@gmail.com. - Please get your Rosh Hashana Scroll info into Natasha Borsuk by Sept. 2, 82 Garwood Rd., Fair Lawn, NJ Yomim Noraim are almost upon us. Marty at thegabbai@aol.com to arrange for High Holiday Seats. 1st - what promise does the bringing of bikurim explain that Hashem fulfilled? 4th - why does Hashem want us to write the torah on a rock when we cross the Jordan river? 5th - which of these arur's doors the chofetz chaim explain is a reference lashon hara? 7th - [bonus] why do we need the tochacha, the warning of all that Hashem could/ would/will do to us in the future in order to have ears to hear and eyes to see? Answers to Points To Ponder 1st- the promise of the exodus, "vheiveisi", bringing us to this place (26:9). 4th - to indicate that Hashem told this would happen, enabled us to do it and is coming with us (27:3). 5th - (27:24) "hitting" your neighbor in secret. Sisterhood Annual Coat Drive, for Center For Hope and Safety, will be Sunday, November 4 (Mitzvah Day in Bergen County), 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Hale Pl., Fair Lawn. Gently worn, not torn, outer garments for all ages. For more info, contact Audrey at bickelar@aol.com. The Sisterhood is looking for vibrant dedicated women to take over its leadership reigns, shape it in accordance with their vision, and prepare it to serve the next generation of women in the shul. Please step up, speak to Aryeh, and let s keep the momentum going! Shirley Vann has dedicated this week s Covenant & Conversation (used with permission. ע ה of the Office of Rabbi Sacks) in memory of her beloved mother Necha bat Yitzchok "2

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9 JFCS Food Pantry Needs your help! Stop by Ahavat Achim for a reusable grocery bag. Fill it with unopened, unexpired and food items. Items needed include: Canned Items: fruits, vegetables, soups, beans, tuna/sardines, tomato sauce; Spices: salt/ pepper; Broths: chicken, meat; Pasta; Kosher Mac n Cheese; Rice; Cereal; Oatmeal; Shelf Stable Milk; Kosher Grape Juice; Toilet Paper; Paper Towels; Toothpaste; Soap: Bars/ Liquid; Shampoo/ Conditioner ; Deodorant Please return the full bag to our shul by Tuesday, September 4th. We thank you in advance for your participation in this most important mitzvah. For more information on Jewish Family & Children s Services of Northern New Jersey please call or visit

10 Jewish Federation presents October 31 - November 18, 2018 Tickets and Information Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door joyceg@jfnnj.org Committee Suzette Diamond (Chair), Lauri Bader, Susan Benkel, Ariella Drori, Nancy Eichenbaum, Etti Inbal, Nina Kampler, Donna Kissler, Joan Krieger, Lynn Karpo-Lantz, Gail Loewenstein, Jo Resnick Rosen, Marian Salamon, Ava Silverstein, Wendy Zuckerberg This program is made possible in part by a grant administered by the Bergen County Division of Cultural & Historic Affairs from funds granted by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

11 SCAFFOLDING ohnudhp Wednesday, October 31 Teaneck Cinemas OUTDOORS khkdc,hc Monday, November 5 Wayne YMCA HEADING HOME PLUS SHORT FILM GETTING SERIOUS xusrcut Tuesday, November 6 Warner Theater, Ridgewood THE TESTAMENT,usgv Thursday, November 8 Teaneck Cinemas BENEATH THE SILENCE ohnukv PLUS SHORT FILM STANDUP pt-sbyx Tuesday, November 13 Teaneck Cinemas SHELTER ru,xn Wednesday, November 14 Warner Theatre, Ridgewood Thursday, November 15 United Synagogue of Hoboken THE CAKEMAKER ihkrcn vputv Sunday, November 11 Hamilton House, Jersey City Sunday, November 18 Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, Tenafly All films begin at 7:30 pm Tickets and Information

12 Tot Shabbat Parents & Me: For kids 5 and under Starting at 10:40 AM STORY TIME, TEFILLAH, SHABBAT SONGS AND FREE PLAY Fair Lawn, NJ Info: totshabbataa@gmail.com

13 SHABBOS DAY PARENTS AND ME PLAY & STAY Congregation Ahavat Achim Kids 10 and Under are Welcome! September 4:30 Wigod Home Landzettel Way COOL info: programmingaa@gmail.com

14 BS D AHAVAT ACHIM ORTHODOX CONGREGATION OF FAIR LAWN Saddle River Road Fair Lawn, New Jersey July 20, 2018 Dear shul member, Yes it s that time again. In preparation for the Yomim Noraim, High Holy Days, I would like to establish the seating requirements so that members have the opportunity to choose their seats. Members wishing to retain their Shabbos seats may do so if their reservation is received no later than Sunday, August 26th. Once again it will be the policy of the shul to provide free seats to children of members from first grade through Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Only after these requests are handled will seats be sold to non-members. As per shul policy, all families must have their June 30, 2018 outstanding balances paid in full before reservations for High Holy Day seats can be accepted. Note: Associates are not entitled to member s rates. I would greatly appreciate and strongly urge you to take a few moments to complete the attached form and return it to me as soon as possible. Your prompt response will assist me in more efficient planning and also avoid disappointment. The deadline again is Sunday, August Please return this form to me at: 6 Kershner Place Fair Lawn, New Jersey or your response to me at: thegabbai@aol.com. If you have any questions please call me at Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, Marty Sonnenblick Gabbai

15 Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur 5779 (2018) Family Name [ ] I plan to be here on Rosh Hashanah [ ] I plan to be here on Yom Kippur A name must be filled in for every seat request Male/ Female Adult Member and child 22 years and above Child or grandchild of Member over Bar/Bat Mitzvah to 22 years old Child or grandchild of Member 1 st grade to Bar/Bat Mitzvah Guest of Member (excluding Fair Lawn residents) Adult Non- Member Non member s child bar/bat mitzvah to 22 years old Non member s child under bar/bat mitzvah Price $150 $75 $0 $175 $250 $125 $75 ****Associates pricing Adults-$200 Bar/Bat Mitzvah-22 years old-$100 1 st grade-bar/bat Mitzvah-$50 Please return this form to: Marty Sonnenblick 6 Kershner Place Fair Lawn, New Jersey Or to: Thegabbai@AOL.com In case of financial hardship or special circumstances, please speak in confidence with the President, Aryeh Brenenson. Please note: Associates are not entitled to members rates.

16 בס ד Congregation Ahavat Achim s Rosh Hashana Scroll Yes, please include me/us on the Rosh Hashana Scroll. Please PRINT my/our name(s) as follows: Cost for Inclusion in the Scroll is $10 per family Please return this form and your check to: Natasha Borsuk 82 Garwood Road Fair Lawn, NJ nbnadler@gmail.com Please make your check payable to SISTERHOOD OF AHAVAT ACHIM. Kindly respond by September 2nd. Thank you for your participation. May Hashem grant us all a happy, healthy & peaceful New Year.

17 The Story We Tell Ki Tavo 2018 / 5778 The setting: Jerusalem some twenty centuries ago. The occasion: bringing first fruits to the Temple. Here is the scene as the Mishnah describes it. 1 Throughout Israel, villagers would gather in the nearest of 24 regional centres. There, overnight, they would sleep in the open air. The next morning, the leader would summon the people with words from the book of Jeremiah (31:5): Arise and let us go up to Zion, to the House of the Lord our God. Those who lived near Jerusalem would bring fresh figs and grapes. Those who lived far away would bring dried figs and raisins. An ox would walk ahead of them, its horns plated with gold and its head decorated with an olive wreath. Someone would play a flute. When they came close to Jerusalem they would send a messenger ahead to announce their arrival and they would start to adorn their firstfruits. Governors and officials of the city would come out to greet them and the artisans would stop their work and call out, Our brothers from such-and-such a place: come in peace! The flute would continue playing until the procession reached the Temple Mount. There, they would each place their basket of fruit on their shoulder the Mishnah says that even King Agrippa would do so and carry it to the Temple forecourt. There the Levites would sing (Psalm 30:2), I will praise you, God, for you have raised me up and not let my enemies rejoice over me. The scene, as groups converged on the Temple from all parts of Israel, must have been vivid and unforgettable. However, the most important part of the ceremony lay in what happened next. With the baskets still on their shoulders the arrivals would say, I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us. Each would then hold their basket by the rim, the Cohen would place his hand under it and ceremoniously wave it, and the bringer of the fruit would say the following passage, whose text is set out in our parsha: 1 Mishnah, Bikkurim 3:2-6. The Story We Tell 1" Ki Tavo 5778

18 My ancestor was a wandering Aramean. He went down into Egypt and lived there as a stranger, few in number, and there became a great nation, strong and numerous. The Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labour. We cried out to the Lord, God of our ancestors. The Lord heard our voice and saw our suffering, our toil and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with terrifying power and signs and wonders. He brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now I am bringing the first fruit of the soil that you, O Lord, have given me. (Deut. 26:5-10) This passage is familiar to us because we expound part of it, the first four verses, in the Haggadah on Seder night. But this was no mere ritual. As Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi explained in his Zakhor: Jewish History and Memory, it constituted one of the most revolutionary of all Judaism s contributions to world civilisation. 2 What was original was not the celebration of first fruits. Many cultures have such ceremonies. What was unique about the ritual in our parsha, and the biblical world-view from which it derives, is that our ancestors saw God in history rather than nature. Normally what people would celebrate by bringing first-fruits would be nature itself: the seasons, the soil, the rain, the fertility of the ground and what Dylan Thomas called the force that through the green fuse drives the flower. The biblical first-fruits ceremony is quite different. It is not about nature but about the shape of history, the birth of Israel as a nation, and the redemptive power of God who liberated our ancestors from slavery. This is what was new about this worldview: [1] Jews were, as Yerushalmi points out, the first to see God in history. Our ancestors saw God in history rather than nature. [2] They were the first to see history itself as an extended narrative with an overarching theme. That vision was sustained for the whole of the biblical era, as the events of a thousand years were interpreted by the prophets and recorded by the biblical historians. [3] The theme of biblical history is redemption. It begins with suffering, has an extended middle section about the interactive drama between God and the people, and ends with homecoming and blessing. [4] The narrative is to be internalised: this is the transition from history to memory, and this is what the first-fruits declaration was about. Those who stood in the Temple saying those words were declaring: this is my story. In bringing these fruits from this land, I and my family are part of it. [5] Most importantly: the story was the basis of identity. Indeed, that is the difference between history and memory. History is an answer to the question, What happened? Memory is an answer to the question, Who am I? In Alzheimer s Disease, when you lose your memory, you lose your identity. The same is true of a nation as a whole. 3 When we tell the story of our people s past, we renew our identity. We have a context in which we can understand who we are in the present and what we must do to hand on our identity to the future. 2 Yosef Hayyim Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Memory, University of Washington Press, The historian David Andress has just published a book, Cultural Dementia, subtitled How the West Has Lost its History and Risks Losing Everything Else (London, Head of Zeus, 2018), applying a similar insight to the contemporary West. The Story We Tell 2" Ki Tavo 5778

19 It is difficult to grasp how significant this was and is. Western modernity has been marked by two quite different attempts to escape from identity. The first, in the eighteenth century, was the European Enlightenment. This focused on two universalisms: science and philosophy. Science aims at discovering laws that are universally true. Philosophy aims at disclosing universal structures of thought. Identity is about groups, about Us and Them. But groups conflict. Therefore the Enlightenment sought a world without identities, in which we are all just human beings. But people can t live without identities, and identity is never universal. It is always and essentially particular. What makes us the unique person we are is what makes us different from people in general. Therefore, no intellectual discipline that aims at universality will ever fully grasp the meaning and significance of identity. This was the Enlightenment s blind spot. Identity came roaring back in the nineteenth century, based on one of three factors: nation, race or class. In the twentieth century, nationalism led to two World Wars. Racism led to the Holocaust. Marxist class warfare led eventually to Stalin, the Gulag and the KGB. Since the 1960s, the West has been embarked on a second attempt to escape from identity, in favour not of the universal but the individual, in the belief that identity is something each of us freely creates for him- or herself. But identity is never created this way. It is always about membership in a 4 group. Identity, like language, is essentially social. Just as happened after the Enlightenment, identity has come roaring back to the West, this time in the form of identity politics (based on gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation). This will, if allowed to flourish, lead to yet more historical disasters. It is a major threat to the future of liberal democracy. What was happening in Jerusalem when people brought their first-fruits was of immense consequence. It meant that that they regularly told the story of who they were and why. No nation has ever given greater significance to retelling its collective story than Judaism, which is why Jewish identity is the strongest the world has ever known, the only one to have survived for twenty centuries with none of the normal bases of identity: political power, shared territory or a shared language of everyday speech. Clearly, not all identities are the same. Characteristic of Jewish identities and others inspired by 5 the Hebrew Bible are what Dan McAdams calls the redemptive self. People with this kind of identity, he says, shape their lives into a narrative about how a gifted hero encounters the suffering of others as a child, develops strong moral convictions as an adolescent, and moves steadily upward and onward in the adult years, confident that negative experiences will ultimately be redeemed. More than other kinds of life story, the redemptive self embodies the belief that bad things can be overcome and affirms the narrator s commitment to building a better world. No nation has ever given What made the biblical story unique was its focus on greater significance to redemption. In partnership with God, we can change the world. This retelling its collective story is our heritage as Jews and our contribution to the moral story than Judaism 4 In his new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (London, Jonathan Cape, 2018), Yuval Harari argues passionately against stories, meanings and identities and opts instead for consciousness as the basis of our humanity, and meditation as a way of living with meaninglessness. He takes a position diametrically opposed to everything argued for in this essay. In the modern age, Jews whether as philosophers, Marxists, postmodernists or Buddhists have often been leaders of the opposition to identity. The late Shlomo Carlebach put it best: If someone says, I m a Catholic, I know that s a Catholic. If someone says, I m a Protestant, I know that s a Protestant. If someone says, I m just a human being, I know that s a Jew. 5 Dan McAdams, The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By, Oxford University Press, The Story We Tell 3" Ki Tavo 5778

20 horizons of humankind. Hence the life-changing idea: Our lives are shaped by the story we tell about ourselves, so make sure the story you tell is one that speaks to your highest aspirations, and tell it regularly. Shabbat shalom. LIFE-CHANGING IDEA #45 Make sure the story you tell is one that speaks to your highest aspirations, and tell it regularly. ** DON T MISS: Rabbi Sacks new BBC radio series on Morality in the 21st Century ** Star%ng on Monday 3rd September, Rabbi Sacks will be presen%ng a five-part series on BBC Radio 4 which explores morality in the 21st century. Over the daily episodes Rabbi Sacks and a host of expert contributors will explore topics that include ideas around moral responsibility and who s%ll has it; the impact of social media on young people; Ar%ficial Intelligence and the future of humanity; the impact of individualism and mul%culturalism on communi%es and who young people see as their moral role models. Each programme will be broadcast between 9am and 9.45am (UK Nme) and will be available on the BBC Radio 4 website aqerwards. The series will also be available internanonally as a podcast together with the extended interviews with the other contributors. More details to follow. LIFE-CHANGING IDEAS IN SEFER DEVARIM DEVARIM: If you seek to change someone, make sure that you are willing to help them when they need your help, defend them when they need your defence, and see the good in them, not just the bad. VA ETCHANAN: To make love undying, build around it a structure of rituals. EIKEV: Listening is the greatest gift we can give to another human being. RE EH: Never define yourself as a victim. There is always a choice, and by exercising the strength to choose, we can rise above fate. SHOFTIM: To lead is to serve. The greater your success, the harder you have to work to remember that you are there to serve others; they are not there to serve you. KI TEITSE: Never be in too much of a rush to stop and come to the aid of someone in need of help. KI TAVO: Make sure the story you tell is one that speaks to your highest aspirations, and tell it regularly. The Story We Tell 4" Ki Tavo 5778