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Shabbat Shalom
ouka ,ca
November 22, 2014
29 Heshvan, 5775
Beth David B’nai Israel Beth Am Synagogue
Affiliated with The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Blessing of the New Month, Rosh Hodesh Kislev occurs on Sunday, November 23.
Toledot
,sku,
The Illumination for the
Haftarah of Parashat “Toledot”
Max’s Bar Mitzvah Parashah
has been dedicated by
Max & Lillian Ander
in honour of their
Children & Grandchildren
Service Times
Parashah: 146 Haftarah: 1216
This issue of the Shabbat Shalom is sponsored by
Lillian Ander in celebration of
Max Ander’s 75th Bar Mitzvah Anniversary.
This issue of the Shabbat Shalom is sponsored by
Marla Levant-Bornstein & Sheldon Bornstein in
honour of their son Randy becoming Bar Mitzvah.
Members are asked to refrain from
wearing fragrances in the synagogue
Friday ......................................
Friday Candle Lighting..............
Shabbat Mincha.......................
Shabbat ends . .........................
Service Times
Sunday -Thursday ...................
4:30 PM
4:30 PM
4:30 PM
5:29 PM
4:45 PM
Mornings:
Shabbat .................................. 9:00 AM
Sunday .................................... 8:30 AM
Monday - Friday .............7:00 & 8:00 AM
Teen Kiddush Club: Montessori Jewish
Day School ............................. 10:00 AM
Junior Kiddush Club: Chapel.... 10:00 AM
PLEASE TURN OFF ALL ELECTRONIC DEVICES WHILE IN THE SYNAGOGUE
55 Yeomans Road, Toronto, Ontario, M3H 3J7 | Phone: 416.633.5500
Fax: 416.633.1740 | www.bethdavid.com
Donations & Sponsorship Opportunities at Beth David
• Send a card to a family member or friend $18
• Donate a Chumash in honour or in memory $108
Sponsor us!
• Sponsor a Kiddush on Shabbat morning $360
• Sponsor a Seudah Shlishiyt $120
• Sponsor a Breakfast $72, $180, $250
• Dedicate the weekly newsletter in memory, celebration or
honour of a person or event $100
• Honour or memorialize a loved one, commemorate a simcha or recognize a
special achievement with an inscription on our Tree of Life $250
Sponsor or Co-sponsor any of the events in the Synagogue Priceless!
Upcoming Events
brotherhood
BETH DAVID B’NAI ISRAEL BETH AM BROTHERHOOD
PROUDLY PRESENTS
FISH THE MAGISH
Fish the magish will delight the wide eyed youngster and the young
at heart with his family comedy magic show. Whether you are 8 or 80 years
young, you won’t be able to figure out Fish’s success so don’t even try.
Just come and be truly amazed and entertained. Join us for a delicious brunch
and an afternoon of magic and fun with FISH THE MAGISH
SUNDAY DECEMBER 7, 2014 11:30AM
IN THE SISTERHOOD HALL
$10 PAYABLE AT THE DOOR
PLEASE REGISTER ON THE BETH DAVID WEBSITE
Sisterhood
Craft group
- next meetings December 16, January 20 and
February 17. Willing to teach skills.
Contact Noreen Kasman - 905-881-2164 or [email protected]
Donations of worsted weight yarn or funds always welcome.
Tanach Reading Opportunity Corner
This corner is for those who would like to read Torah or a
Haftarah in general, but also especially for anyone who might like to mark the
anniversary of their Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration or Wedding Aufruf by reading
from the same portion chanted on that special occasion. You will find here a list
of coming Shabbatot & Festivals when there is no Simcha taking place at our
Synagogue, meaning the Haftarah and any Torah reading is open to our members. If
you are interested, please contact Michael Rubin directly by email –
[email protected] – and confirm your chanting assignment!
Also, we would like to update our records of when your Bar/Bat Mitzvah took place.
Please email Michael Rubin with details – Gregorian date and Parashah. We look forward
to hearing you relive the excitement of that special day, however many years ago!
Reading Openings:
Shabbat / Festival
Shabbat December 20
Shabbat December 27
Shabbat January 3
Shabbat January 10
Shabbat January 24
Shabbat January 31
Shabbat February 7
Shabbat February 14
Shabbat February 28
Shabbat March 7
Shabbat March 28
Parashah
Mikeitz – Hanukkah
VaYigash
VaYechi
Shemot
Bo
B'Shallach - Shirah
Yitro
Mishpatim - Shekalim
Tetzaveh - Zachor
Ki Tissa
Tzav - haGadol
Haftarah Torah
N/A
Available
N/A N/A
Available Available
Available Available
Available Available
Available Available
Available Available
Available Available
Available Available
Available Available
Available Available
Kiddush Sponsor
Jerry Weiner
Enhanced Seudah Shlishiyt Sponsor
David Lieberman and Steven Lieberman
& Families
Enhanced Breakfast Sponsor
Molly Starr, Trudy Bleier and
Rita & Carey Drutz
Cari Kozierok Bahar and Cindy Joseph
and Families
Breakfast Sponsors
Rebecca Golosky
Joe Gold
Thank
you to this week’s sponsors!
Alan
Freedman
Aime Maman
Lynda & Allen Weinberg
Thank you to this week’s sponsors!
What a beautiful way to commemorate a
Yarzheit, Birthday, Anniversary or any other
special occasion in your family’s life!
Club Chaverut
Sunday December 14, 2014
at 1:30 PM Sisterhood Hall
A R K A D I & C O M PA N Y
“A medley of upbeat contemporary music”
Members: $7 Non-members: $10
RSVP to Rose Haspel at 905 764 8141 by Dec 8, 2014
Rae (Rachel) Astroff
(Ostrovsky)
Natasha Barer
Dora Bass
Avrom Ber
Samuel Joshua Berman
Sadie Black
Yisrael Blitzer
Saul Bornstein
Fanny Bukmuz
Harry Burke
Carl Chapelle
Harry Clayman
Georgina Daurio
Baruch Doman
Edith Enushevsky
Helen Feigen
Lillian Fienberg
Rose Finkelstein
Eva Fisher
Anne Fogel
Leon Franklin
Rose Freedman
Janice Fruitman
Ben Gan
Minnie Gold
Max Goldsman
Sarah Shevah Goldstein
Albert Golosky
David W. Goodman
Kay Goodman
Thelma Greenblatt
Philip Grief
Adela Gruszka
Frank Gula
Joseph Heller
Jack Horenfeldt
Rebecca Huberman
Jennie Jacobs
Leo Jacobson
Eli Kabatznik
Susan Katz
Bella Kirshenblatt
Sheila Klarman
Julia Klein
Harry Kliaman
Ya h r z e i t s c om m e m o r at e d t h i s w e e k :
Something special coming up? Make it meaningful this year!
Joel Kramstyk
Helen Krieser
Dora Lenga
Sidney Levitt
Zsigmond Liebenau
Esther Lieberman
Murray Lieberman
Jennie Lipson
Joseph Lubek
Mary Lubek
Gershon Naftolin
Mildred Nashman
Bella Orfus
Albert Orvitz
Harvey Pacter
Rhoda Helen
Pappenheim
Lillian Perlmutar
Herbert Perlmutter
Myer Joseph Plum
Nathan Rosen
Jean Ross
Dorothy Rubinoff
Bessie Sachs
Lily Samson
Samuel Sheps
Dora Shinwell
Ethel Shulman
Harry Shuster
Ann Singer
Menahim Solomon
David Starr
Morris Steinberg
Nathan Steinberg
William Steinberg
Hyman Stoll
Herbert Stone
Dora Swartz
Bernard Tugg
Sarah Ugar
Sophie Weinberger
Ruth Weiner
Louis Weinstein
Martin Winter
Morris Wise
Yosipha Wise
Adult Education
youth/families
Our Women’s Study Group
Led by Rabbi Philip Scheim and Ritual Director
Michael Rubin
Topic for 5775:
“Genesis: The Beginning of
Desire”
A year-long course (based
on the writings of Avivah
Zornberg) exploring the roles and traditions
of women in the Book of Genesis.
10:30 AM to 2:00 PM.
Upcoming ClassesNovember 25th, December 16th
Admission Free Open to all
Yiddish Literature - Self Study
MONDAYS: Boardroom, 10-11 AM
Books
are available
for purchase in
the office for
$20
Open to all
C o n g r e g a t i o n-wide Nosh ‘n Dro sh
— w i t h v a r i o us discussion leaders
SATURDAY JAN 24th 2015 after morning services
Group discussions related to the parashah of the week—Bo.
Open to the entire congregation
Admission is free but advanced registration is required
(contact the Synagogue office or register on-line
at www.bethdavid.com)
S H A B B AT S I D R A L U N C H E O N
S a t . J a n u a r y 1 0 t h : Following morning services.
Stephen Kraft will lead a discussion
of Shemot and the accompanying Haftarah.
Advanced registration for luncheon required: $10.00
by Tuesday Jan.6th.
Register online at www.bethdavid.com or call BDBIBA
at 416-633-5500 or e-mail [email protected]
Shinshinim Programs
for Adults
Weekly Media Class
Wednesdays from
8PM - 9PM
November 26, December 10
Come watch an Israeli TV
series followed by discussions
in Hebrew. All levels of
Hebrew are welcome!
First Movie Night
Wednesday,
December 10
at 8 PM
Come watch a great
Israeli movie with Gal and
Ishai followed by a brief
discussion. FUN!
This week’s Tora h r e a di ng :
Toledot
,sku,
Parashah: 146 Haftarah: 1216
saac and Rebekah have been unable
I
to have children. Isaac pleads with
God, who responds. The result: twin sons.
Rebekah’s pregnancy is terribly difficult,
causing her to wish for death. Her pain,
God explains, is the prenatal struggle
between the two fetuses, foreshadowing
future tensions between Jacob and
Esau, and in later history, between their
descendants. The twins are born, and
grow into manhood as distinct individuals,
Esau, the hunter, the “man of the field,”
and Jacob, “the mild man who stayed in
the camp,” who, our sages suggest, studied
Torah. The internal family tensions are
exacerbated when each parent chooses a
different son to favour; Isaac favours Esau,
Rebekah favours Jacob.
We read the story of Esau’s sale of the
birthright to Jacob, in exchange for a
meal. In ancient times the bekhorah, the
birthright, entitled the first-born son to the
larger share of the family inheritance, to an
enhanced spiritual position in the family,
to a privileged status. One is troubled
by Jacob’s seeming advantage-taking
of his starving brother in this episode.
Commentators have suggested that it was
Jacob who, in fact, was more worthy of the
birthright. He was serious and studious,
his brother indifferent to spiritual matters.
“Esau was a hunter whose chief pleasure in
life was killing and eating. Esau’s belly was
his god. He despised the birthright that
he should have held sacred; to satisfy his
appetite he was willing to sacrifice eternity.”
[Gunther Plaut, The Torah: A Modern
Commentary]
Towards the end of our parashah, it
becomes time for Isaac, old and blind,
soon to die, to transmit his blessing to
his children. Rebekah knows that her
husband will save his choice blessing for his
firstborn, for his favoured Esau. She devises
a ruse to trick Isaac into giving Jacob the
preferred blessing. Isaac is fooled, Jacob is
blessed and Esau is furious.
Was Isaac truly deceived? Note that
nowhere does he reprimand Jacob or
Rebekah for the deception. Had he finally
realized that Jacob, in fact, was the better
inheritor of tradition, that the blessing
would be more deserved by him and more
significant to him? Our portion ends with
Jacob’s fleeing the wrath of his brother, to
his family’s native territory of Paddanaram,
in order to find a wife of his own people, as
his father Isaac has instructed him.
Rabbi Philip Scheim (with appreciation
to Rabbi Asher Ostrin)
Dear Members,
When calling the office for your various Synagogue activities and needs, please note the extensions
listed below for our office staff. This will help make your office experience more efficient.
Cari Kozierok Bahar (ext. 22)
Robyn Zajac-Cooper (ext. 35)
Jeev Logan (ext. 27), Helene Jacobs (ext.28), Faye Major (ext. 0), Simmi Toby (ext. 24)
Philip S. Scheim - Rabbi | Marshall Loomer - Cantor | Michael Rubin - Ritual Director
Cari Kozierok Bahar - Executive Director
David Bienstock - President
Andy Pascoe - Vice President, Finance and Administration
Madeleine Sarick -Vice President, Programming and Ritual
Steven Risenman - Vice President, House and Property
Karen Bernstein - Secretary
Jerry Paskowitz - Treasurer
Ettie Schimmer - Past President
Steven Risenman - Brotherhood President
Lisa Levine - Sisterhood President
Chairman of the Board - Barry Levine