SHABBAT SHALOM, GESHER SHALOM!


 
April 21st, 2017
 
  [  HOME ] [ MESSENGER ]  [  CONTACT RABBI STERN]
Shabbat Times: 
Candle Lighting
 Morning Service 
Mincha 
7:25pm
9:30am
7:15pm 
 
  Forecast: 61/Rainy    

IN THIS ISSUE...
Our Minyan Needs Your Help! 
Click here  to find out how you can help. 
KIDDUSH
Join us for Kiddush on Shabbat. This is the perfect opportunity for us to experience community and get to know each other better.

Mazal Tov! 
Birthdays & Anniversaries 
April 22 - 28 
Judy Geller
William Lowe
Frances Aguilar
Vera Kishinevsky
Casey Danoff
Jeffrey Gordon
 
   UPCOMING EVENTS
 4/22
Morning Service 9:30 am
Evening Service 7:15 pm
 4/23
Yom Hashoah Program at the Jewish Center of Paramus/CBT 4:00 pm (in conjunction with JFNNJ)
 4/24
Congregational Meeting 8:00 pm
 4/25
Sisterhood Book Club 1:00 pm
 4/26
SIR Lecture Series "A Lens on Israel" 1:00 pm
 4/27
Rabbi's Class Cancelled
On the Rivers with the Rabbi: Limited space available, RSVP Required
 4/28
Bible Study 11:30 pm
 
Tomorrow Morning
Before joining in the communal commemoration of Yom haShoah on Sunday, please join me in shul tomorrow morning when, in lieu of the sermon, I will interview our member, Alfred Strauss, a child survivor of the Holocaust, who recently returned from a trip to Holland, where he and his younger sister survived in hiding and his older sister perished. A portion of an exhibit he visited is dedicated to the memory and to the young life of his sister, Emilie Strauss. Alfred was also present at the dedication of a monument honoring those who risked their lives to hide/save others.
On Sunday we will wrap our Holocaust Torah in its dramatic mantle: the word Zachor (Remember) emblazoned in a flame of yellow and orange against a solid black background. Our Torah will be carried in procession and held during the chanting of the Memorial Prayer ( El Maleh Rachamim).
I met Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, the featured speaker at Sunday's proceedings, well over a decade ago when he was the Director of the Department of the Righteous at Yad Vashem.

 
 



Tomorrow at Minha
You may have heard that Richard Gere visited Hebron in recent weeks, and declared, "It's exactly what the Old South was in America. Blacks knew where they could go... It was well understood. You didn't cross over if you didn't want to get your head bashed in, or you got lynched."
Well, tomorrow will refute and demolish Richard Gere's assertion. And in subsequent weeks will be reading about why CNN correspondent Reza Aslan worries about Israel, why Israel is nothing like apartheid South Africa, does feminism have room for Zionists (unfortunately, this is another intersectionality installment), and BDS at Tufts University.
 
Today's Shab Sha!
Most of today's issue is devoted to Yom haShoah, but there are a few other things that I want to bring to your attention, and, as you will see, Marwan Barghouti's New York Times' op Ed and his (and the Times' complicity in the) whitewash of his reputation, really ticked me off!
Speaking of Israel: we salute our Volunteers for Israel, Iris Coleman, Hilda Froelke and Tobey Lyden, who are leaving today!


Gaza
Being a humanitarian can get you killed:
The great thing about this next article is that Israel is not blamed for this internal Fatah versus Hamas dispute. Well... Almost... And then a UN official blames Israel as "the primary cause" of Gaza's problems. That conveniently omits the fact that when Israel withdrew from Gaza it left behind the tools to help Gaza grow and build its own economy...until it chose Hamas and rockets.                                        
Gaza Crippled by Electricity Crisis as Power Plant Runs Out of Fuel 
 
Gaza's only power plant has run out of fuel, leaving 2 million residents of the coastal enclave with only four hours of electricity a day in what the UN cautions could be the tipping point to making Gaza "unlivable." 


 
Barghouti
You don't get to be the head of Tanzim because you're a man of peace and because you refuse, on principle, to plan the murder of innocent civilians. How dare you imply that you're in the mold of Nelson Mandela!
The Barghouti op-ed:
From the Times' ombudsman/public editor:
New York Times Slammed for Whitewashing Fatah Leader's Terrorist Past                                                      
What's really behind the Bargouti op-ed? And why now? (Next two articles)
Barghouti's Gamble                       

\


 
 
YOM haSHOAH
Commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
 
Poland marks the 74th anniversary of the Jewish revolt against the Nazis.
What Ukraine's Jews Fear
Ukraine's government is whitewashing Nazi history to keep the far right happy.
Watch the Powerful Graduation Address of the First Jewish Woman to Serve on Canada's Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella offered a tearful account of how American ideals inspired her and her father, a Holocaust survivor and refugee.  


 
While it may be jarring for some of you to hear German being spoken (even if you don't understand it), please watch this important video in which descendants of fervent Nazis disavow their families' actions and beliefs, and vow to oppose modern anti-Semitism and to stand with the State of Israel:
Descendants of Nazi Perpetrators Singing the Hatikvah (and more!)
 
 
Watch this presentation: We say people must remember the Holocaust in the future, but we're ignoring its victims today.
 
This article is from last June, but I archived it for this year's Yom haShoah2017


 
Rabbi Lau (former Israeli Chief Rabbi and Youngest Survivor of Buchenwald) 
 
 
The Holocaust Should Never Be Minimized
A bit review in 'The New Yorker' provides an unfortunate master class in how to relativize and de-emphasize the Holocaust's unparalleled horrors.
Here is the New Yorker piece referred to above:
Briefly Noted
The Genius of Judaism, by Bernard-Henri Lévy, translated from the French by Steven B. Kennedy (Random House). The French philosopher and telegenic celebrity offers a meditation on the "inner work on Judaism," which he says has guided his adventures in revolutionary politics, in an eclectic treatise that includes a long examination of resurgent anti-Semitism. His arguments tend to be wayward; a defense of his support for intervention in Libya takes the form of an interpretation of the Book of Jonah. And there are moments of real contradiction, as when he calls the Holocaust a "crime without parallel" but then professes befuddlement at the phenomenon of "competitive victimhood." Still, Lévy writes with passion. When people stop reading Judaism's great texts, "to challenge and oppose them no more," he declares, "the genius dies."
Are We Allowed to Joke About the Holocaust? 
A new documentary looks at 'the ultimate taboo'
 
In his memoir 'A World Erased,' Noah Lederman travels to Poland, hoping to find the home where his grandfather-a Holocaust survivor-once lived.
 
My Father's Holocaust Secret
A yellowed photo hidden with an heirloom watch led me to discover a prewar life I never knew existed
 
Residents of the Ukrainian city of Lviv are learning about and coming to terms with one of their most painful chapters: the annihilation of their Jewish community during World War II.
Watch 30 Minutes of Jerry Lewis's Unreleased Holocaust Film
Was 'The Day the Clown Cried' really all that 'bad, bad, bad,' or was it just ahead of its time? 
Archeology Determines Site of Treblinka II Gas Chamber

Written by my friend, Menachem Rosensaft, both of whose parents were heroes:
My Mother Was A Jewish Heroine Of The Shoah
 

Nazi Death Camp Heroine Known as the 'Mother of Belsen' Gave Orphans Hope After Her Own Family Were Murdered
After her own relatives died in the gas chambers of Auschwitz, Hadassah Bimko could have easily given up hope, yet she found the strength to love and care again

Whatever you think of Glenn Beck...

The Righteous Among the Nations
 
Auschwitz Really Happened - and this artsy architecture exhibit proves it

A new documentary aims to bring the untold story of Curious George's creators-and their daring escape from Nazi-occupied France-to life.

Watch the Curious George Video:

Joseph Goebbels' 105-year-old Secretary: "No one believes me now, but I knew nothing"
Brunhilde Pomsel worked at the heart of the Nazis' propaganda machine. As a film about her life is released, she discusses her lack of remorse and the private side of her monstrous boss.

From Auschwitz to the White House: Meet Martin Greenfield (Maximillian Grunfeld) 

The Story of Twins Who Endured Josef Mengele, the Nazi "Angel of Death" 

The Manila Poker Group That Rescued German Jews
Little-known efforts led to the Philippines saving over 1,300 German and Austrian Jews from 1938 to 1939
The WWII Massacres at Drobitsky Yar Were the Result of Years of Scapegoating Jews      
Silence obscured the truth in Ukraine for decades, but 75 years later the details of the genocide have emerged Read more here.

Foreword to newly published book: Greek Righteous Among the Nations


 











Register here


JFCSNNJ's Re-Launch Career Services continues its workshop series with: Eli Amdur -
Wed, 4/26, 6:30PM
Hosted at the Fair Lawn Jewish Center 10-10 Norma Avenue, Fair Lawn, NJ
Wednesday, April 26 @6:30 PM
Eli Amdur, a Career Coach, columnist & author with 40+ years corporate & academic, National & International experience will give a presentation titled:
Where do you fit into the job market as its direction changes?
Re-focus, Re-new, Re-train for your next opportunity
 To attend, please contact Sandra Leshaw at JFCSNNJ:
201-837-9090, ext 225 or SandraL@JFCSNNJ.org
Thank you.
www.jfsbergen.org
 





Birthright Registration is Open! Sign up Today

1. Sign Up now at nnj2israel.com
2. Make sure to choose the correct date and age range for your Tlalim-Israel Outdoors trip organizer in the Primary Application.
3. When asked to select a trip in the Primary Application, choose one of theNorthern NJ Community trips
4. Don't forget to submit your deposit!
5. Once you submit your deposit, within 24 hours Israel Outdoors will email you a link to the Secondary Application. Log in and choose one or both of the Northern NJ Community trips:  
May 20 - May 30
NYC / Northern New Jersey Community / Ages 18 - 22 / [TL-36-376]
June 18 - June 28
NYC / Northern New Jersey Community / Ages 22 - 26 / [TL-36-405]
 
6. Wait for a "Trip Offer Email" from Israel Outdoors. Once you receive it, accept the spot!
Click here for more information. 








Mr. Gaga
On going film -- Various Venues
MR. GAGA
follows choreographer Ohad Naharin at a critical turning point in his personal life. This spirited and insightful documentary will introduce you to a man with great artistic integrity and an extraordinary vision. Mr. Gaga tells Naharin's personal story of this controversial, political, and always entertaining figure, and his constant battle for artistic perfection. Eight years in the making, Mr. Gaga traces Ohad Naharin's artistic roots using personal family footage, intimate rehearsal footage, extensive unseen archive material and stunning dance sequences. Heymann weaves a marvelous tale of what it takes to be a genius, the exhausting toll dance can take on its performers, and finally, the beauty that art can bring to this world.
     
My Hero Brother
Various Venues 
A group of young adults with Down syndrome embark on a demanding trip through the Himalayas accompanied by their typically abled siblings, bringing unresolved challenges to the surface. Winner, Best Documentary, Jerusalem Film Festival. 
as part of  Reelabilities  - the largest festival in the country dedicated to awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities. 
 
Creative Action Network
Creative Action Network and the Anti-Defamation League are teaming up to invite artists to illustrate refugee stories from across time and geography. Maybe your family fled pogroms in Eastern Europe, from Nazism, from political oppression in Iran or the Soviet Union. Maybe you know someone who fled Uganda or other countries that persecute members of the LGBT community, maybe you are concerned about how many today have to flee extreme violence and persecution. No matter where refugees came from or their reason for fleeing, each story is unique--but connected. We hope to build a collection of pieces that rise above the noise and hateful rhetoric by humanizing the refugee experience. 
Crowdsourced, creative campaigns that enlist artist and designers to create work around different ideas and causes. All designs that meet the requirements in their respective creative briefs will be published and made available for sale as prints and other merchandise. Artists retain ownership of their work but grant us permission to promote, license and sell it in exchange for 40% of the proceeds.



 
Join Masorti at
the Jerusalem Post's Annual Conference
Get Special Discounted Tickets to the Event
May 7th, 2017


What?
 Masorti is a sponsor of  the   Jerusalem Post's Annual Conference.  This year it's all about Israel-U.S. Relations in the Trump Era.  It's an all-day event with an amazing roster of speakers including: 
  • Israeli Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked 
  • Consul General of Israel in New York, Ambassador Dani Dayan
  • Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress & former U.S. Ambassador to Austria
  • U.S. Senators Tom Cotton and Deb Fischer
  • U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, the ranking member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
  • Harvard professor, Alan Dershowitz and many more!
This is your special opportunity to attend at a discounted ticket price. The event is regularly $249.  Because Masorti is a sponsor, we can make tickets available at only $179--a nearly 30% discount! 
Just be sure to get your ticket through this registration link, to get  the discount.
Where?
  At the Marriott Marquis hotel in Times Square.  1535 Broadway or click the interactive map.
When: Last Session 5:10 pm
(It's Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post Senior Contributing Editor and a riveting speaker.)
 
Cost?
Masorti's sponsorship entitles you to a $70 discount off the regular price of $249.  You'll pay only $179--a discount of nearly 30%!  
  The Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel
info@masorti.org
www.masorti.org 





Torah Portion 
TORAH Page 630         HAFTARAH Page 645
SH'MINI
   
After seven days of investiture into the Priesthood, Aaron and his sons assume their offices and offer communal sacrifices on the EIGHTH day (Shemini). A fire from God, symbolizing Divine blessing, consumed their offerings.
 
Two of Aaron's sons, Nadav and Avihu, brought an incense offering on their own initiative, and are struck down by God for their actions. Instructions from God and Moses to Aaron and his remaining sons with respect to public displays of grief make it amply clear that the priests hold a consecrated and elevated position, which takes priority over their personal needs. To prevent a recurrence of priestly error, the priests were warned to refrain from imbibing any intoxicant.
 
The Sidra concludes with a thorough exposition of the laws of Kashrut: a listing of the permissible and prohibited animals and certain physical features establish these criteria.