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Congregation Beth El
El--Atereth Israel
Parshas Ki Sisa
Stone Chumash
Haftarah
Shema by
Mincha
Seudah Shlishis
Shabbos ends:
p 484
p 1160
9:03 am
5:15 pm
6:25 pm
March 7, 2015
16 Adar 5775
Kehillah Konnections
Beth El Briefings
Mazel Tov— to Shelly and Harry Bloom on the birth of a granddaughter and mazel tov to parents Elyssa and
Daniel Bloom. May they raise her to Torah, Chuppah, and Ma’asim Tovim..
Middle School Musaf Minyan (M&M Minyan)— the M&M Minyan will continue this Shabbat at 10:45 am for 6th
– 8th graders. The idea behind this Minyan is that it offers the children the opportunity to daven in the main Minyan
and hear the Torah and Haftorah.
Beit Midrash and Rabbi Segal’s Shiur— The Beit Midrash program for men, co-sponsored by Beth El and the
Kollel, and Rabbi Segal’s weekly Talmud shiur, will continue on Tuesday, March 10 at 8:00pm & 8:45 pm
respectively in the shul library.
Thursday Morning Class— Rabbi Segal’s Thursday morning class will take place at 11:00 am in the library. The
class will cover various topics on the Parashat Hashavua.
Bnei Akiva Snif— There will be no Bnei Akiva snif this Shabbat.
No Breakfast- this coming Sunday, March 8, 2015.
Daylight Saving Time— will take place Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 2:00 a.m. so don’t forget to set the clocks forward to 3:00 a.m.
JC&FS Family Table— as we head into the Yomim Tovim, not everyone is so fortunate. Each year at Congregation
Beth El, we fulfill our commitment to the mitzvah of Ma’achil R’evim and the JC&FS Family Table program by directly funding the purchase of Kosher l’Pesach food. This year we are purchasing eggs. Once again, the Family Table bin will be removed until after Pesach, and we will not be accepting any food items—cash only. It’s easy to contribute and it’s a wonderful way to begin a new year. Please email Jane Hanser to make your pledge at [email protected] or telephone her at (617)965-8257.
AIPAC Policy Conference— Yasher koach to all the members of our shul, listed below, who participated in the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington DC as part of the Beth El delegation. A special thanks goes to Jone Dalezman for organizing our shul delegation and for her outstanding work on behalf of AIPAC and the Israel/US relationships as AIPAC’s Greater Boston Council Chair. Lynn and Brian Abrams, Debra and Gerry Bickoff, Ethlynne and
Steve Brickman, Jone and Allen Dalezman, Holly and George Flesh, Mina and Bruce Gillers, Stephanie Karger, Jean
Kasmer and Charles Jacobs, Heidi and Isaac Kohane, Lillian Leavitt, Robin and Phillip Levy, Naomi and Carl Lopkin,
Debra and Eitan Milgram, Debbi Moskowitz, Susan Peresky, Debbie Schuss, Rabbi Gershon and Tovah Segal, and
Andrew Weiner.
Students who attended: Debbie-Lee Baskir, Alyssa Bickoff, Jacob Fine, Yehudit Fox, Shmuley Goldish, Perry Kangoun, Abigail Kosowsky, Issac Levy, Daniel Mael, Ayelet Portman, and Davey Schoenberg.
Purim Recap & Thank yous—
While we are still enjoying a warm afterglow from Purim we want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude
to the numerous individuals who have made our Purim experience so meaningful and enjoyable. Of course, the participation of every member of our community and their families all have contributed to the warm communal atmosphere that makes our shul experience so special.
Megillah Reading, Children’s Program and Children’s Parade.
Thank you to David Soll and Eric Banks for reading the Megillah. Thank you to Sarahbeth Lefman for running the
children’s program during the evening Megillah reading. Thank you to Dena and Mark Salzberg for donating the
prizes for the children participating in the costume parade after the evening Megillah reading. Thank you to Bruce
Gillers for taking pictures at the costume parade and for capturing so many memorable shul moments throughout
the year.
REGULAR CLASSES
Mishnah Brurah
Rabbi Segal
Sunday: 1/2 hour before Shacharit
(8:00 am)
Halacha Yomi
Rabbi Segal
Daily, after Shacharit and between
Mincha and Maariv
Gemorah
Mesechet Chullin
Rabbi Segal
Tuesday, 8:45pm
Parshat Hashvuah
Topics Related to Weekly Portion
Rabbi Segal
Thursday:
11:00 am
Mishnayot:
Seder Nezikin
Rabbi Asher
Shabbat morning
Leeder
8:30 am
Rabbi Leeder’s
home
Shabbat Morning Groups
Youth Groups
Toddlers-2nd grade
10:00am-end of Shul
• Toddlers—1st Lower Level
Classroom
• Pre K– K—2nd Lower Level
Classroom
• 1st-2nd Grades—3rd Lower
Level Classroom
Youth Minyan
3rd-5th Grades
10:15-11:00am
Chapel (in the basement)
M&M Minyan
6th-8th Grades
10:45 a.m.—11:15 a.m.
First Upstairs Classroom
Interested in sponsoring a Youth
Kiddush?
Contact Shari Lederman at:
[email protected]
Please remember to remove all
your trash from the Sanctuary!
If you have any life cycle events
that should be published in the
Kishrei, please inform the shul
office.
Office Hours
Monday-Thursday-9am-1pm
Friday: 9:30am-1:30pm
Purim Recap and Thank You’s continued...
Purim Seudah— Thank you to Tami Wald and Shari Lederman for organizing this year’s
Seudah. Thank you to Hillel and Amy Rosen, Mayer Kahan and Gil Bloom for this year’s Purim Shpiel. Thank you to Catering by Andrew for his generous donation toward the Seudah,
allowing for discounted pricing. Thank you to Dan Goldish for setting up the online registration. Thank you to Sarabeth Lefman and Israela Kahan for organizing the children’s program.
Mishloach Manot Program
Thank you to Tanya Fisher for organizing Beth El’s annual Mishloach Manot program. The
creativity, energy and organizing skills yielded a wonderful enhancement of the Purim spirit
for our community and successful fundraising project. The baskets were beautifully done and
the participation of so many members in various aspects of the program was much appreciated.
Thank you to the following individuals for helping to assemble the baskets: Ben Fisher, Tanya
and Abigail Fischer, Elisheva Bloom, Miriam Kosowsky, Stacey Ramelson, Rabbi and Tovah
Segal, Beth Fox, Leat Storm, Lauren and Brian Baskir, Tova Goldring, Ruth and Humi Vishniavsky, Iris and Rachel Frisch, Batsheva and Yitzchack Yehudah Mitzner, and Melissa and
Rebecca Weiss.
Thank you to the following individuals for helping to distribute the basket in shul on Purim:
Tanya, David, Eitan, Amalya, and Dahlia Fischer, Iris Frisch, Beth Fox and Stephanie Karger.
Thank you to the following individuals for driving and delivering the baskets to individual
homes: Iris, Noah and Rachel Frisch, David, Abigail, Eitan, and Ephraim Fischer, Stephanie
Karger, Ruth Vishniavsky, Lyle Mitzner and family, Marshall, Maytal and Noam Storm, Lynn,
Adina, Orli, and Talya Abrams, Rabbi Segal, Miriam Kosowsky, Tamar and Eitan Banks, and
Herbert and Gita Weinberg.
By Rabbi Avraham Fischer. A publication of the Orthodox Union in cooperation with the Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center
standing at the opening of the Tent, and
all the people (KOL HA’AM) stood and
March 7 2015——16 Adar I 5775
they prostrated themselves, each one at
the opening of his tent. And Hashem
Those who sinned with the golden calf
have been punished, yet all has not been would speak to Moshe face to face, as a
man speaks to his friend, and he would
restored to its original state, when the
entire nation were on such a spiritual level return to the camp. And his attendant,
as to be worthy to hear the first two com- Yehoshua son of Nun, assistant, did not
move from within the Tent (Shemot 33:1mandments directly from Hashem and
proclaimed, “We will do and we will lis- 11).
ten!” In the aftermath of the transgression,
a rift in the relationship between Hashem A number of questions arise:
• If Hashem is still liable to destroy His
and His people is revealed.
people, would it not be better to wait
And Hashem told Moshe, “Go, go up from until relations are less strained before
this [place], you and the people (HA’AM) departing for the Promised Land?
• What news causes the people to grieve?
that you brought up from the land of
• If the people did not put on their ornaEgypt, to the land that I swore to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov, saying, ments, why does Hashem command the
‘To your seed will I give it’ and I will send people to remove them?
an angel before you, and I will expel the • What is the role of Yehoshua?
Canaanite, the Emorite and the Perizzite, • What has happened to the command to
build the Mishkan, which was interrupted
the Hivvite and the Yevusite to a land
by the narrative about the golden calf?
flowing with milk and honey; because I
will not go up in your midst, because you
are a stiff-necked people (AM), lest I de- Malbim (R. Meir Leib ben Yechiel Michael,
1809-1877) begins by asserting that the
stroy you on the way.” And the people
command to build the Mishkan was given
(HA’AM) heard this bad thing and they
to Moshe during the forty days between
grieved, and they did not place, each
man his ornament, upon him. And Hashem the Revelation and the sin. (This is in line
with Ramban, rather than Rashi.) Now,
said to Moshe, “Say to the Children of
however, there is no point in building the
Israel (BNEI YISRAEL): ‘You are a stiffnecked people (AM); [if] in one moment I Mishkan, for Hashem no longer desires to
do go up in your midst I will destroy you. bring His intimate Presence into their
midst. They will enter the Land without
And now, remove your ornament from
upon you, and I will know what I will do to delay, but only because of Moshe’s merit,
and Hashem’s oath to the Patriarchs.
you.”’ And the Children of Israel (BNEI
YISRAEL) removed their ornament from
Mount Chorev. And Moshe would take the Hashem reassures them, however, that He
will not abandon them entirely, but will
Tent and pitch it outside the camp, far
send His angel a lower level of Divine
from the camp, and he called it the Tent
of Meeting; and it was, that anyone who Providence to guarantee success in conquest and the material blessings of the
sought Hashem would go out to the Tent
land. But, it is to their advantage that
of Meeting that was outside the camp.
And it was, that as Moshe would leave for Hashem withdraws, for as long as He is in
close connection with them, He will rethe Tent, all the people (KOL HA’AM)
spond immediately and severely to their
would rise and stand, each one at the
obdurate and uncooperative ways.
opening of his tent, and watch after
Moshe until he came to the Tent. And it
was, as Moshe came to the Tent, that the Malbim refers to R. Yehudah Halevi’s (c.
pillar of cloud would descend and stand 1075-1141) explanation in the Kuzari
at the opening of the Tent and He would (I:97), that the Children of Israel misunderstood that they required a tangible image
speak with Moshe. And all the people
in order to bring Hashem’s Presence into
(KOL HA’AM) saw the pillar of cloud
Parshat Kee Tissa
their midst. They waited for Moshe
“clad in the same apparel in which they
had witnessed the drama on Sinai, without
removing their jewels or changing their
clothes, remaining just as he left them,
expecting every moment to see him return.”
When Moshe failed to return, they made
the calf as a physical means of bringing
Hashem among them.
When they are punished for this fundamental error, they grieve for their lost
hope. The common people (HA’AM) therefore remove their ornaments, but the
leaders (BNEI YISRAEL), who had not
joined in the sin, still expect Hashem’s indwelling. However, because they bear the
responsibility for not correcting the people, they must join in the national mourning.
Malbim states:
“when the Godly light departs from the
Israelite body, the masses will feel it . . .
first, and the nobility and the prophets
will feel it last . . . And Moshe . . . knew
that the Presence would not alight upon
him too, as long as he was within the
camp.”
He, therefore, relocates the Tent of Meeting for all those who, notwithstanding
Hashem’s withdrawal, seek Him.
By watching Moshe closely, these seekers
after Hashem are touched by a lesser
spirit of holiness, as well as awe before
Hashem, as exemplified by Moshe’s attendant Yehoshua. The people thus learn that
the way to bring Hashem into their midst
is to see Moshe not as an intermediary,
but as a role model. The repercussions of
the golden calf have faded, and the people are now ready to build the Mishkan
with the correct understanding of its function in the projected commonwealth of
Israel.
It is when we pursue Hashem, though He
hides Himself from us, that we create a
world of holiness.
Rabbi:
Gershon Segal
617-244-7233 X2
President: David Fisher
617-969-0713
Vice Presidents
Sam Wald
617-558-9985
Judy Packer
617-964-6956
Jack Schuss
617-964-6024
Treasurer
Ira Scharf
Associate Treasurer
Gary Lasman
Recording Secretary
Burt Leeds
781-983-6196
Associate Recording Secretary
Kenneth Snow
Corresponding Secretary
Michael Hirsh
617-969-7713
Associate Corresponding Secretaries
Sarah Okon
Larry Speiser
Financial Secretary
Payson Greene
Associate Financial Secretaries
Arnold Andler
Chairman of the Board
Philip Levy
617-244-5863
Vice Chairmen
Herbert Birnbaum 617-965-8235
COMMITTEE CHAIRS
ADULT EDUCATION
Judy Packer
617-964-6956
ANNUAL APPEAL
617-558-9985
Sam Wald
BROTHERHOOD
Norman Hartstone
617-244-4891
ERUV
FAMILY TABLE
Jane Hanser
617-965-8257
FUND RAISING
Phillip Levy
HISTORY
Ken Snow
617-332-4273
HOLOCAUST COMMITTEE
David Fisher
HOUSING
Payson Greene
781-444-7184
Burt Leeds
781-983-6196
ISRAEL SOLIDARITY TZEDAKAH FUND
MEN’S CHESED
Mike Hirsh
617-969-7713
NEW MEMBERS
Tami Wald
617-558-9985
Eliana Vidan
617-965-0484
POLITICAL ACTION
PROGRAMMING
Amy Rosen
617-965-1297
SHABBAT & YOM TOV YOUTH GROUPS
Shari Lederman, Shari Bloom
PUBLICITY
Debbie Schuss
RABBINIC ADVISORY
Arnie Andler
781-235-4444
RENOVATIONS
Mark Salzberg
617-796-9029
RITUAL
Nahum Vishniavsky
617-527-8462
WOMAN”S CHESED
Sara Okon
617-964-7375
YOUTH
Sherri Cohen
617-527-3624
Shari Lederman
617-969-4169
‫קהלת בית א־ל עטרת ישראל‬
Cong . Beth El-Ateret h Is rael
561 Ward Street
Newton Centre, MA 02459