new logo - weeklly cc
Chag Sukkot Sameach!
Rabbi Rachel Marder: Sheltering Presence

Rabbi Marder discusses a debate between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Akiva over whether our Israelite ancestors' sukkot were physical structures or God's clouds of glory.
Alan Cooper
Personal Reflection: In the Wilderness
By Dr. Alan Cooper

Last month, an op-ed appeared in the New York Times under the title "Aw, Wilderness!"—an obvious play on Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" While O'Neill's "wilderness" was a town in Connecticut, the op-ed was about the real thing, recalling the sad incident of a skier who got lost on a trail in northern Minnesota and died of exposure. In response, the Forest Service installed markers along the trail, but when the time came to replace them the agency refused to do so, claiming that the signs violated the 1964 Wilderness Act. Click here to read more.

Cantor Azi Schwartz of Park Avenue Synagogue sings the Hashkiveinu prayer in which we ask God, "ufros aleinu sukkat sh'lomecha -- cover us with a shelter of your peace."
How Do I Shake the Lulav & Etrog?
It is a positive commandment from the Torah [Leviticus 23:40] to gather together the Four Species during Sukkot:
"On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before Adonai your God seven days."
Congregation Beth El is an inclusive, egalitarian synagogue affiliated with United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, serving Essex, Union, and Morris counties. We can be reached by calling 
973-763-0111.

Jesse M. Olitzky, Rabbi
Rachel A. Marder, Rabbi
Jason Silberfein, Executive Director
Danielle Weitz, Director, Thelma K. Reisman Preschool  
Rivka Nelson, Director of Religious Education
Karen Freeman-Pettis, Assistant Director
Molly Gimbel, Youth Program Director
Terry Pridgen, Coordinator of Maintenance Services

Jehiel Orenstein z"l, Rabbi Emeritus
 
For more information about Beth El membership, please contact
Membership Chairs, Yuval Brokman and Lisa Buber.