|
Upcoming Events
|
|
THIS SHABBAT!
February 24-25
Scholar-in-Residence
Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth
February 26
First of 3-Part Lecture Series with
Rabbi Pesach Sommer
March 7
Sisterhood Book Club Meeting
The Other Einstein
March 15
General Member Meeting at 7:30 pm
(All members welcome)
March 23
Men's Club Pre-Pesach "Man-Seder"
March 26-28
AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington DC
|
|
Mazal Tov
|
|
Mazal Tov to Julie-Ann & Mark Miller on the engagement of their son Andrew to
Leora Kagedan!
|
|
Kiddush Sponsor
|
Kiddush this Shabbat is being sponsored by
Sima and Ben Schall in observance of the Shloshim for Sima's father,
Benjamin Gros, z"l.
|
Message from the Rabbi
Parshat Mishpatim
|
Nobody likes getting THAT phone call. As a rabbi, I am unfortunately quite used to getting THAT phone call. However, when it is your family, you are never quite prepared.
Going in to last Shabbat we knew that the potential existed. During Mincha on Shabbat, the feeling of dread set in as I knew we were in for a tough week. When I came home after Shabbat, we soon got THAT call. "You probably should come to the hospital tonight to say goodbye. Grandma is failing."
There is a certain indescribable beauty of being with someone when they leave this earthly existence. Knowing that your loved one was surrounded by children and beloved grandchildren in her final moments brings a certain feeling of calm and serenity.
Then, on Sunday morning, we lost the matriarch of our family. On Monday the Levaya was held. All week the Shiva is being observed.
No, she was not my grandmother - by blood relation. Oh, but she was my grandmother. I experience her greatest accomplishments daily. In her almost ninety years, she built a business, raised a family and spent her last years enjoying the fruits of her labor. Her oldest grandchild - your Rebbetzin - brought her unbelievable Nachas. The thirty-six who followed did as well.
Our children, the first, fifth, tenth, fourteenth, twenty-fifth and fifty-fourth of the
sixty great-grandchildren were the apple of her eye. They all were.
How do you measure someone's life? Certainly not by how much money was made or by how much "Stuff" was accumulated. When you see nearly one hundred descendants who together with their spouses are following in the path of tradition and Torah, well, to me, that is the biggest success story of them all!
May the soul of Stella Mae Orlofsky Z"L have the utmost Aliyah.
Shabbat Shalom
|
|
This Shabbat
Feb. 24-25!
Scholar-in-Residence
Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth
|
|
This Shabbat, February 24-25,
Etz Chaim welcomes
Rabbi Ronen Neuwirth,
founder and president of Ve'AhavTA - TLV Jewish Experience, a grassroots social movement that is aiming to form a new narrative of unity in Israeli society based on Jewish identity.
Rav Neuwirth will deliver the Shiur on Shabbat morning at 8:30am on the topic:
"Jewish Life in Foreign Lands- Lessons From Megillat Esther for Jews Today".
Rav Neuwirth will speak again at the conclusion of services in the Limmud format.
The topic will be:
"The Spiritual Renaissance in Israeli Society Today"
About Rabbi Neuwirth
Rav Neuwirth served as the Rabbi of Ohel Ari (Minyan Chadash) Congregation in Ra'anana.
He has also served as the head of the overseas department director of Tzohar Rabbinical organization and the director of the "Tzohar Open Communities" project.
Rav Neuwirth served as a captain in the Israeli Navy Special Forces.
He holds Semicha from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and received a B.A. in Mathematics and computer science from Bar Ilan University in Israel.
|
|
Three- Part Lecture Series with
Rabbi Pesach Sommer
Starting this Sunday, February 26
|
|
Please join us for an exciting three-part series lecture by
Rabbi Pesach Sommer:
God or Torah -
Which Comes First?
A Religious, Intellectual, and Psychological Investigation into the Challenges of
Biblical Criticism
The lectures will be given on the following Sunday mornings at 9:15am following
Shacharit:
February 26, March 19, April 2nd.
The class is open to men and women
Breakfast will be served
About Rabbi Sommer
Rabbi Pesach Sommer is a member of the Judaic Studies faculty at the Ramaz Middle School in Manhattan.
He is a veteran educator who has taught for more than 15 years in various schools, including MTA, and Yeshiva of Flatbush. R. Pesach is a graduate of Queens College, where he studied psychology and has semicha from Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg.
He lives with his wife and eight children in Passaic, New Jersey.
|
|
Pre-Passover Shabbat Dinner Survey
|
Please let us know
if you are interested in a
Pre-Passover Shabbat Dinner
Friday, April 7
We are ready to start planning but would like to make sure there is enough interest, so we ask you to drop us a line now.
|
Mishloach Manot Fundraiser
Deadline Extended to March 1
|
With Purim around the corner, the time has come to sign up for our
Mishloach Manot Fundraiser,
and be included in the greetings that go
with the Purim baskets sent to every
Etz Chaim Member
Many thanks to those of you who have participated!
|
Sisterhood Book Club Meeting
Tuesday, March 7
|
Please join us for Sisterhood's next book club meeting.
The Other Einstein
at the home of
Sharon Halpern
8 Stonehenge Terrace, Livingston
dynamic Kushner high school English teacher
to let us know if you are coming.
|
|
General Meeting for
Etz Chaim Members
|
|
A general meeting for members will be held Wednesday night, March 15th, at 7:30 PM
(all members are welcome)
|
|
Etz Chaim Israel Mission
May 22-28
|
|
This coming May,
we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
Congregation Etz Chaim is proud to announce that we will be in Jerusalem to mark this historic event with a Shul mission.
Highlights of the trip include:
The dedication of the new Ammunition Hill Museum with the Prime Minister of Israel;
A march to the Old City of Jerusalem with hundreds of thousands of people;
A guided tour of Mt. Herzl cemetery to pay respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for Jerusalem;
Day trip to the Negev to witness the revitalization and growth in the region;
A unique Shabbat Yerushalayim experience;
Memories to last a lifetime
-and so much more.
We are planning to leave
Monday, May 22nd and return
Sunday morning,
May 28th.
The anticipated cost of the mission per person (including regular airfare and based on double occupancy) is approximately $2500.
This will be an
opportunity
of a lifetime to visit Israel with your friends from Shul to mark this historic Milestone.
For more information, or to sign up,
In light of most recent events at the UN Security Council, it is now more important than ever that we visit Israel,
OUR HOMELAND!
|
|
Purim Through the Ages
A Lecture by Melissa Kapustin
Tuesday, March 7, 8:45 pm
|
 |
|
AIPAC POLICY CONFERENCE 2017
|
Sunday March 26 - 28, 2017
The Washington Convention Center
801 Mount Vernon Place NW
MAP
Act now to join thousands of other pro-Israel activists for three of the most important days impacting Israel's future!
For more information on Policy Conference,
click here.
The AIPAC Policy Conference is the pro-Israel community's preeminent annual gathering. The event attracts more than 16,000 community and student activists from all 50 states, members of Congress, and countless Israeli and American policymakers and thought leaders. Over three jam-packed days, Policy Conference participants choose from hundreds of informative sessions and participate in the pro-Israel community's largest and most important advocacy day.
|
|
|
Mission to Washington
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Come be a part of Etz Chaim's delegation to speak with Members of Congress to advocate for a stronger
U.S.-Israel relationship.
Talking points and training provided.
Register Here
Special Early Bird Discount until March 13.
Contact Eliane Levy at 973-422-1705
for more information.
Mission attendees are bused (or can come on their own) to Washington in the morning, and arrive at the Washington Convention Center where they attend a brief plenary session with presentations by Congressional leadership.
Afterwards, individuals converge to their assigned groups - usually of 4 to 6 people - and meet with Members of Congress and their staff to discuss this year's talking points regarding pressing legislation on U.S.-Israeli concerns.
Transportation home provided.
|
|
|
The History and Meaning of Prayer
Tuesdays, 10:30 am
|
When did the siddur get compiled?
Who chose what
to include?
Why were certain prayers chosen?
What do they mean?
Join us to answer these questions and more
|
|
Updating
Cholim list
Prayer for the Ill
|
|
|
