SHABBAT SHALOM, GESHER SHALOM!


 
January 11th, 2018
 
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Shabbat Times: 
Candle Lighting
Evening Service
Morning Service
Minha
4:30 pm
7:00pm
9:30am
4:00pm
 
  Forecast: 32/cloudy

IN THIS ISSUE...
Shabbat Kiddush
Join us for Kiddush on Shabbat. This is the perfect opportunity for us to experience community and get to know each other better.

Birthdays and Anniversaries 

Allan Ginsburg
Janet Chertkoff
Lore Benario
Anne Hall
Yakov Kishinevsky
Marjorie Berger
Hilde Straus
Karen Halpern
Beth Schefflan

Rose & Alex Jakoby
Suzette & Marvin Josif
 
   UPCOMING EVENTS
                           
Saturday 1/12
Morning Service 9:30 am
Minha , S'uda Shlishit (3rd Shabbat Meal), timely topic, Maariv and Havdalah 4:00 pm
Thursday 1/17
Rabbi's Class "Talmud and Tangents" 10:30 am
Visiting Scholar Rabbi David J. Fine-Lecture series "The Jews in Germany: A Complicated Legacy" 12:45 pm
Friday 1/18
Bible Class 11:30 am
Tu B'Shevat Shabbat: Seder, Dinner and Musical Service 6:00 pm Service at 7:15 pm. RSVP required for the dinner

Torah Reading   387               Haftarah 395
BO
Moses insists that all the Israelites and their flocks and herds be allowed to leave Egypt, but Pharaoh will only permit the men to leave. So Moses brings on the eighth plague, locusts. Pharaoh pleads with Moses for their removal, but once this is accomplished he becomes obstinate once again.
The ninth plague, darkness, creates chaos and confusion in Egypt, and Pharaoh is now willing to let all the Israelites leave - but not their animals. Moses now warns Pharaoh of the dire consequences of the tenth plague: all firstborn in Egypt - men and cattle - would die at midnight.
God gives Moses instructions to the Israelites in preparation for the Exodus. The ritual they perform will serve as a commemoration for generations to come. A lamb or a year-old kid is to be sacrificed, roasted and consumed in haste. Its blood is to be sprinkled on the lintel and the doorposts. God will permit no harm to come to those whose doors are sprinkled with blood while He smites the firstborn of Egypt. Matzah is to be eaten for seven days. The significance of these rituals is to be explained each year.
At midnight, all in Egypt are affected by the death of firstborn males, and the Israelites are urged to depart in great haste. The Israelites' bread has no time to rise, and it hardens into unleavened cakes. Upon request, the Egyptian population supplies them with gold, silver, and garments.
The Israelites begin their march from Egypt on the fifteenth day of what will become the first month of the year. In further commemoration of the Exodus, the first born of all animals are to be consecrated to God, firstborn male children are to be redeemed, and tefillin are to be worn on the arm and head.





The Newbies in Congress
I know that a good number of you are concerned about the presence in the new United States Congress, especially on the Democratic side, of members who support BDS and the Palestinian cause.
I would tell you that the best way for you to channel your concern - the most productive thing you can do - is to redouble your support for Israel (may I suggest through AIPAC??) and Jewish causes.
Secondly, I would tell you to relax: there have always been Israel-detractors in Congress, but bipartisan support for Israel still carries the day - overwhelmingly! Do you think the late Sen. Fulbright, who chaired the powerful Foreign Relations Committee (for what seemed to me like decades) was a friend of Israel? Do you think Sen. Rand Paul, who, in recent days, and all by himself, put a hold on the $38 billion assistance package to Israel until CUFI exerted their pressure on him, is a friend of Israel?
Thirdly, I would tell you again to relax: your concerns are probably about three newly elected, media-savvy members of the House of Representatives who have attracted a lot of attention, and they are also pretty darn good at drawing attention to themselves.
Let's take them one-by-one... It is my impression that Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the most sophisticated and intelligent of the three (and she supposedly also has Jewish ancestry). After shooting off her mouth about BDS, and then saying she doesn't really know all that much about it, she has kept quiet on this issue. Be assured that one or more of her pro-Israel colleagues - and AIPAC - will do their best to make overtures to her and give her a different impression from the one she has been holding.
Representative Rashida Tlaib shot off her mouth about the President at her inauguration, possibly using a 4-syllable expletive in front of her 5-year-old son. What a great way to begin your congressional career and to win friends and influence people to your positions. While this made her a hero to some, I think it made her toxic to many more-especisally to moderate colleagues with whom she will have to work and convince if she wants to to ever pass any legislation that is part of her agenda. Her accusations of dual loyalty regarding those who support Israel is a lot like the pot calling the kettle black. See any number of the articles below...
Representative Ilhan Omar requested that the House rules be changed to allow to wear a hijab on the floor of Congress. I think that's great - and no different from being allowed to wear a kippa. She has hopefully learned from her first misstep that her statements need to be meticulously researched. Her credibility was shot with me when she claimed to be the first refugee elected to Congress; I immediately thought of the late Representative Tom Lantos from California who was a Hungarian survivor of the Holocaust.
And finally, let me remind you of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's words of reassurance to the annual Israeli-American Council conference, after listing planned committee assignments: "We have people very well placed who share our values." And don't pay "attention to a few people who may want to go their own way."
Relax...
kas

As you usual, Dershowitz asks excellent questions and makes what should be obvious points:
Dershowitz: Is Rashida Tlaib Guilty of Bigotry?                                                                  
Ilhan Omar Said She Was the First Refugee Elected to Congress. These Jewish Refugees-and Others- Came First                   
U.S. Jewish Groups Denounce Palestinian-American Congresswoman  
I beg to differ:   

Michelle Goldberg, NYT: Rashida Tlaib Said Nothing Wrong      
But the reaction was obscene.  

Democratic Newcomers Herald "New Reality" For Israel  
and here.
Rashida Tlaib Should at Least Learn the History Behind the Dual Loyalty Canard
A great Zionist leader once made the case why Jewish and Palestinian Americans should be able to support their homelands                   


Sign up for the Tu B'Shevat Shabbat Seder and Supper next Friday night! 
    



Tonight at 7:00 p.m.
Tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.
Tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.:
Minha, Seudah Shlishit, Ma'ariv & Havdalah
During Seudah Shlishit we will readWhy are Palestinian Refugees Different from All Other Refugees?

This Week's Yahrzeit Observances
We hope that our weekly listing of yahrzeit observances will serve 2 purposes:
1)     To remind those who ha ve the yahrzeit for a second time, much closer to the date of the actual observance
2)     To alert friends and acquaintances that someone they know is observing a yahrzeit. We hope that you will show them your support by joining them at our minyanim, and helping to assure that Kaddish can be recited with a minyan 
Terry Gottlieb will be observing yahrzeit for her mother , Jeanne Dorn on Friday evening, January 11th
Vera Kishinevsky will be observing yahrzeit for her father , Grigory Feldman on Friday evening, January 11th
Herbert Feuerstein will be observing yahrzeit for his father, David Feuerstein on Friday evening, January 11th
Lisa Maier will be observing yahrzeit for her grandfather, David Feuerstein on Friday evening, January 11th
Naomi Altschul will be observing yahrzeit for her mother-in-law, Estelle Altschul on Saturday evening, January 12th
Mark Altschul will be observing yahrzeit for his grandmother , Estelle Altschul on Saturday evening, January 12th
Jerome Goldfischer will be observing yahrzeit for his grandmother, Pessia Bernstein on Sunday evening, January 13th
Stephanie Stern-Protz will be observing yahrzeit for her great aunt, Sally Gmora on Sunday evening, January 13th
Iris Coleman will be observing yahrzeit for her father, Joseph Coleman on Monday evening, January 14th
Joseph Lempel will be observing yahrzeit for his father-in-law , Morris Katz on Monday evening, January 14th
Sharon Berman will be observing yahrzeit for her father , Paul Arthur Berman on Tuesday evening, January 15th
Mary Rettig will be observing yahrzeit for her mother, Reine Sendik on Wednesday evening, January 16th
Matis Fermaglich will be observing yahrzeit for his father, Harry Fermaglich on Wednesday evening, January 16th
Michael Seymour will be observing yahrzeit for his mother, Martha Seymour on Thursday evening, January 17th




Important or Interesting Reads      
Christian Zionist Lobby Makes Its Case to Washington's Liberal Jews  
CUFI, like AIPAC, finds that Israel is a bi-partisan issue. Their ads and phonecalls pushed Ron Paul to forgo his hold and advance $38 billion aid bill.

Announcing the Winners of the 2018 eNational Jewish Book Awards   
Top awards go to Hunting the Truth by Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas, and Alice Shalvi's Never a Native

Nationalists of the World, Unite! 

Yoram Hazony's work provides a global scaffolding for the new far-right 

Colorado's Got a Jewish, Gay Governor. Who Cares?                                                                        

How a Team of Future NHL Stars Smuggled Judaica into the USSR               
The Secret Jewish History Of Teddy Roosevelt              
The Real Racism Against the Palestinians                                                                                                                                                We in the West Expect Almost Nothing of the Palestinians

Following Protests, London Mosque Cancels Planned Holocaust Exhibition  
A British Muslim journalist said the Golders Green mosque shouldn't collaborate with "oppressors."         

 Palm Tree (as in Satmar Rebbe Teitelbaum), NY, Becomes First Official US Haredi Orthodox Town  
In Myanmar, a Tiny Jewish Community Hangs on to the Past                                                             





Israel
Israel Blocks PA Effort at UN for Recognition as a State  
The PA does not meet the fundamental conditions of permanent membership in the UN because of its clear policy of paying salaries to terrorists and the public incitement campaign it leads against Israel in textbook and social networks.      
The Inevitable, Necessary Death of Israel's Labor Party      
Sometimes a political party outlives its usefulness as the mianstream embraces a culture whose pillars are ancient Judaism and modern Israelism                                                                                      




BDS / Anti-Semitism / Women's March
Bill in British Parliament Targets Aid to Palestinians over Incitement in Textbooks                                          

Erdogan's Anti-Semitism Will Sink Turkey's Economy
The Turkish president's racist conspiracy theories are a threat to economic stability           
Extreme Anti-Semitism at Berlin Schools                        
Bon Jovi Will End Tour in Israel Next Summer                                                                  
בון גובי מזמין אתכם להופעה
בון גובי מזמין אתכם להופעה


NYT Editorial: When Animal Welfare and Religious Practice Collide    
BDS Bill Debate Is about Anti-Semitism, Not Speech
Anti-BDS Bill Battles Up Senate Hill 
The delay of a proposed vote on an anti-BDS bill sparks rumors of a rift among Senate Democrats and dirty tricks from Republicans   

Lawsuits Seek to Stop Censure of Israel Boycott Movement  
The ACLU is fighting efforts by state legislatures to force contractors to pledge they won't back BDS                               

BDS Is Anti-Semitic, Aids Terrorists, Says Arizona Attorney General
 "The First Amendment does not leave the state powerless to prevent its commerce from furthering such unsavory - and frequently murderous - ends."    

North Carolina Hillel Calls Out Asheville Campus for Inviting Tamika Mallory as Martin Luther King Week Speaker
Big Sister Is Watching                                                                                                                                                                 
The dangers of being perceived as pro-Israel in online feminist         

Absurd!
                                                 


Pop Culture
Golden Globes 2019: All the Jewish Moments                                                                        
 (and while you are at it check out Shtisel another Netflix series from Israel-with subtitles--about a Haredi family)

Celebs You Thought Were Jewish - But Aren't  
  The billionaire will use the Genesis Prize money to fight anti-Semitism, other forms of prejudice and attempts to delegitimize Israel.                                                                                         


Around the Arab/Muslim World
 
I have no idea how to interpret this! Iraq is a Shia nation, increasingly under the influence of Iran - and three delegations from Iraq have visited Israel???? To quote the King of Siam: A puzzlement!
Malaysia Denies Entry to Israeli Swimmers for World Championship   
Iran: Hizbullah, Palestinian Terror Groups Ready to Annihilate Israel                                                     
Dutch Government Says Iran Assassinated Dissidents in the Netherlands 
New Iranian Draft Budget Slashes Military Spending
The new figures suggest that reimposed U.S. sanctions have forced Tehran to prioritize its stability over its expansionary ambitions.   
Iran Enters Deep Recession after U.S. Sanctions Restored 


Hamas-Gaza / PA-West Bank
The New York Times Incentivizes Hamas Violence                                                                  
Palestinian Authority Withdraws from Gaza-Egypt Crossing                                                                
Gaza's Public Servants Outraged at Hamas' Recent Spending
PA Halts Payments to Hundreds of Gazans  
 
Holy Land for Sale
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is selling church land that's ending up in the hands of Israeli settler groups. Its Palestinian Christian congregants are furious  
 
EGYPT DESTROYS 37 TUNNELS WHICH INFILTRATED FROM GAZA IN 2018
IDF destroyed 15 last year                                                                                        











January 7, 2019 / 1 Shevat 5779

Dear Friends of Ramah,
 
We are excited to announce that this year, Ramah will begin its first-ever immersive Israel experience for college graduates! Ramah Israel has been selected to run the Masa Israel Teaching Fellows (MITF) program in Jerusalem, starting in August 2019. The MITF invites English-speaking college graduates ages 21-35 to come to Israel for 10 months as English teachers and teachers' aides in schools across the country. 
 
At Ramah, we celebrate our bond with and love for Israel. MITF is an innovative way to engage Ramah alumni and other young professionals in creating a new community, offering them the opportunity to impact the future of Israeli society, experience day-to-day life in Israel, and build their own Ramah kehillah in Jerusalem. 
 
MITF is a partnership between Masa Israel Journey and the Ministry of Education. As the program is highly subsidized, the cost to participate in MITF Jerusalem is only $1,000 for the entire 10-month program.

Beyond the teaching experience itself, the MITF program provides extensive opportunities for personal and professional growth and enrichment. Fellows receive training before and during their teaching assignments. In addition, Fellows participate in organized tours and travel, learn in a Hebrew ulpan, and volunteer in a variety of settings. The program provides housing, a monthly living stipend, and medical insurance. 
 
Aliza Grabin, former associate director and guidance counselor for Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim (TRY), the Ramah Jerusalem High School, will be directing this program. With her vast experience and expertise in the world of Ramah and Israel programs, Aliza will certainly be an exceptional asset to the MITF program.
 
If you are between the ages of 21-35, or if you know someone who might be interested in this exciting opportunity, please visit our MITF Jerusalem website or contact us at mitf@ramah.co.il. All are welcome to apply for the program; Ramah experience is not required.
 
B'vracha,
 
 
Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, Director
National Ramah Commission, Inc. of The Jewish Theological Seminary
 
Meir Hoyzman, Executive Director 
Ramah Israel 

Object' + 'Terrorist of Love'
Artist Keren Cytter
January 10, 2019 | 7:00 pm

Bar Laika by E - Flux Brooklyn, NY
'Object' (27min, 2016)
'Terrorist of Love' (3min, 2016)

The benefit party for Arts Projects Era (A.P.E.) will feature two screenings by Israeli visual artist, Keren Cytter, who creates films, video installations, and drawings that represent social realities through experimental modes of storytelling. Characterized by a non-linear, cyclical logic Cytter's films consist of multiple layers of images; conversation; monologue, and narration systematically composed to undermine linguistic conventions and traditional interpretation schemata.


Film
Echo
NYJFF 2019
Directors Amikam Kovner, Assaf Snir
Israel | 98 min.| 2018
Hebrew with English subtitles
Saturday, January 12th | 9:30 pm
Walter Reade Theater
In this tenderly acted drama starring Yael Abecassis and Yoram Toledano (who both starred in the enormously popular Prisoners of War, the Israeli forerunner to Homeland), an engineer named Avner suspects his wife, Ella, is having an affair and begins recording her phone conversations. While he obsessively listens and tries to learn the lover's identity, Ella tragically dies in a car crash. As Avner sinks deeper and deeper into his investigation, he grows more isolated from his friends and family, and his life begins to unravel. In the process, his attention is redirected from the mystery lover to his late wife; he realizes there were parts of her personality he never knew in her life, and the search turns into a reflection on himself and their relationship. New York Premiere


Film
A Tramway in Jerusalem
NYJFF 2019
Director, Amos Gitai
Israel/ France | 2018| 94 min.
Saturday, January 12 | 7:00 pm
Sunday, January 13 | 3:45 pm
Walter Reade Theater
The Light Rail Red Line of Jerusalem's tramway connects the city from east to west, from the Palestinian neighborhoods of Shuafat and Beit Hanina to Mount Herzl-a journey that comprises the culturally complex makeup of the city. This humorous and touching film, whose cast includes Mathieu Amalric and Hana Laslo, hinges on a series of encounters along the line: simple, mundane interactions that reveal the diverse mosaic of humanity that exists in the spiritual center of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Beneath the clashes and grievances among its population that the world sees, Jerusalem is a city teeming with everyday life; the small conflicts and reconciliations depicted in A Tramway in Jerusalem offer a kernel of hope in a society torn by political strife.
* Q + A with Amos Gitai--Hebrew, Arabic, French, English, and German with English subtitles


Film
Redemption
NYJFF 2019
Israel/ France | 2018 | 104 min.
Sunday, January 13 | 6:15 pm
Monday, January 14 | 1:00 pm
Walter Reade Theater--Directors Yoseph Madmony, Boaz Yehonatan Yacov
Menachem used to be the front man of a popular rock band, but now he is deeply religious and the father of a six-year-old girl. When she is diagnosed with cancer, the treatments are too expensive for the poor widower, and he decides to get the band back together for a reunion tour. What he initially thought would be a practical solution turns into a soul-searching journey as he reopens old wounds and reconnects with his secular past. The title alludes to Menachem's confrontation with these two major chapters and identities-only a renewed connection to his music will allow him to redeem himself, save his daughter, and move forward with a new life. New York Premiere
* Q + A with Boaz Yehonatan Yacov--French with English subtitles


Film
Chasing Portraits (2018)
NYJFF 2019
USA/ Canada/ Israel/ Poland | 104 min.|
Monday, January 14 | 6:00 pm
Wednesday, January 16 | 1:00 pm
Walter Reade Theater-Director Elizabeth Rynecki
After the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, artist Moshe Rynecki left his collection of more than 800 paintings and sculptures notable for portraying the everyday life of Polish Jews with friends around Warsaw for safekeeping. But after he was killed in Majdanek, the Rynecki family lost track of the vast majority of them, and they were dispersed among collections around the world. Decades later, his great-granddaughter Elizabeth enlists the help of historians, curators, and private collectors to uncover the extraordinary path of Moshe's collection. Chasing Portraits is a rich and compelling documentary about one woman coming to terms with her family's legacy and her place within it. New York Premiere
English and Polish with English subtitles


Film
Black Honey: The Life and Poetry of Avraham Sutzkever
NYJFF 2019
Israel | 2018 | 76 min.
January 15 | 1:00 pm, 6:00 pm
Walter Reade Theater-Director Uri Barbash
Russian-born poet Avraham Sutzkever is, by many accounts, the greatest Yiddish writer of modern times. He wrote with wit, passion, and vitality through the darkness of the Holocaust, and led the Paper Brigade, an underground resistance group that hid a cache of Jewish cultural items to protect them from destruction at the hands of the Nazis. Sutzkever was saved by a special rescue plane sent for him by Stalin, and later testified in the Nuremberg trials against the Nazi who murdered his mother and son. Black Honey uncovers this extraordinary life through Sutzkever's poetry and revealing how, amidst the darkest times, his poetry became a life-saving source of vitality and strength. New York Premiere
Introduction by Triptych director Katia Lom and Q&As with Black Honey director Uri Barbash
Hebrew, English and Yiddish with English subtitles


Film
Life According to Agfa
NYJFF 2019
Israel | 1992 |100 min.
Saturday, January 19 | 9:15 pm
Walter Reade Theater-Director Assi Dayan
In a small, all-night bar owned by two women (played by Irit Frank and the legendary Gila Almagor), a colorful assortment of Tel Aviv citizenry gathers-men and women, Jews and Arabs, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, kibbutzniks and city-dwellers, drug dealers and soldiers. As dramas among the patrons unfold over the course of the evening, tension mounts, culminating in a tragic denouement. Life According to Agfa was released to universal acclaim almost three decades ago and has since become a touchstone of Israeli cinema-a film of fully realized characters whose personal dramas reflect and then give way, in the bitter outcomes of small and increasingly large conflicts, to a broader national story about the fractures in Israeli society and the isolation and emotional devastation of modern life. U.S. Premiere of the restoration.
Hebrew with English subtitles


Film
Dear Fredy
Israel | 2017 | 74 min.
Saturday, January 19 | 9:15 pm
Walter Reade Theater
Director Rubi Gat
Fredy Hirsch was a German Jew and openly gay man in Nazi Germany. The Nuremberg Laws were passed when he was 19 years old, and he fled to the Czech Republic where he became a sports teacher in a Jewish youth club. Upon his deportation to Ghetto Terezin, he was appointed head of the youth department, teaching and working with over 4,000 children. In his final days at Auschwitz, he set up a daycare center, where he was much admired and his sexuality was fully public in the community. Dear Fredy excavates this remarkable story and seeks to reveal the mystery of his death, which happened on the eve of a revolt that never came to pass. New York Premiere. Introduction by Columbia University Film Professor Annette Insdorf. Hebrew, Czech, and English with English subtitles


Dance
Should We Keep The Head
Malpaso Dance Company
with Ohad Naharin's Tabula Rasa
January 9 - January 13, 2019
The Joyce Theater
Fielding Sixes by Merce Cunningham--Carrying My Own Floor by Abel Rojo--Ser by Beatriz Garcia Diaz--Tabula Rasa by Ohad Naharin
Malpaso Dance Company comes back to The Joyce with its dazzling, classically trained dancers in Tabula Rasa, a hard-driving work by choreographer Ohad Naharin, who recently traveled to Cuba to restage this rarely performed dance. Additional works from the company's growing repertory-which includes pieces by internationally recognized choreographers and promising Cuban talent-will round out the program.


Dance
ZviDance-Choreographer Zvi Gotheiner
Saturday, January 26 | 7:00 pm
Sunday, January 27 | 2:00 pm
Lumberyard Catskill, NY
ZviDance explores our relationship with technology in Like, and our historic relationship with water in the new work, Maim. Zvi Gotheiner draws on his experience growing up in kibbutz in Israel in creating the work. Showing January 25 and 26 only.


Music
Glamour in the Dark
Yael Rasooly and Iliya Magalnyk
Sunday, January 13 | 7:00 pm
The Laurie Beechman Theatre
In a meeting of two world renowned artists, Singer Yael Rasooly and Accordeonist Iliya Magalnyk invite audiences on a journey back in time to the music of the 1920's-1950's. Timeless classics, some known and loved and some waiting for audiences to be rediscovered, are presented in creative virtuous adaptations, and delivered in an enchanted collection of languages: French, English,Russian, Italian and even Yiddish.


Exhibition
Shony Rivnay - The Yard New York
Opening January 23 | 5:30 - 7:30
Exhibition January 23, 2019 thru April 20, 2019
SARAHCROWN is pleased to present Unfolding, a solo exhibition of Israeli-American artist Shony Rivany. The project is conceived for the public spaces at The Yard - Columbus Circle as part of the Art In Lobbies program. The installation, spanning three floors, will feature a selection of recent paintings shown for the first time in New York.


Exhibition
My DNY Male Princesses Collection
Photographer Noam Atia
January 25 | 6:00 - 8:00 pm
January 26 | 4:00 - 8:00 pm




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