Shalom from TBD Religious School

Shabbat newsletter compiled by Gal Kessler Rohs, Education Director
The world commemorated Kristallnacht , the Night of Broken Glass on November 9 th . Our school commemorates Kristallnacht annually, and this Sunday will be this time of the year. Dr. Otto Kahn , survivor of Nazi Lorsch Germany, experienced the Night first hand, as a five year old. He will be recounting his memories, according to his memoir, Beating the Odds , this Sunday.  

Dr. Kahn speaks about his mother pre Kristallnacht in his memoir. She “was smart enough, to try to salvage some of our prized possessions. Before Kristallnacht, she had packed up her sterling silver Shabbat candlesticks, a few special silver spoons, and the silver Kiddush cups belonging to her family. The bank manager told her he would be glad to look after her valuables, and she paid a year’s rent for a safe deposit box.” (p.23)

Then, on Kristallnacht, the SA “entered the synagogue with about a dozen men, and hacked through pews, the Ark, the chandeliers, the bima, everything. They chopped the pointed hand off the silver yad, the pointer used in Torah reading so it would look like a nondescript silver column, rather than a Jewish ritual object, when they stole it and other sacred silver accouterments. (p.17)

When they were done looting, they piled the splintered wood in the center of the sanctuary, and they doused it with 5 liters of gasoline provided by Blust. The roof caught. The windows blew out. The entire sunagogue exploded in flames. The ark caught, an the holy Torah scrolls were consumed by fire. The cloth sashes bearing my name and my brother’s names and generations’ worth of Lorsch baby boys names, dating back to 1729, disintegrated in seconds. (p.18).

It was clear to the Kahn family that it was time to leave Nazi Germany, and immigrate to Toronto. “This is one of those moments where my memory is vivid. I was sitting in the taxi with my mother, my grandmother, Heinz and Fritz. Ernst and Berthold were already in England. I saw Gustine standing at an upstairs window with Aunt Johanna and Regina as they waved goodbye. Again, it is the trauma and tears of the adults around me that has been etched into my memory.” (p.24)

Cold, tired, and soaking wet, the family reached Canada. They “unloaded the furniture and set up a few blankets, so we could sleep on the floor that night. My mother lit a few candles, and we gathered together, taking our first look around our new home. I remember my mother’s voice, a little shaky from her tears, but strong and sure. We are alive and free,” she said. “We are together. We are safe. We are free.” (p.32) This video (password:history) , the Liberator, shows Dr. Kahn's cousin, Herman Cohen, and why he fought to freedom.

Dr. Kahn has since then left Canada. His travels and life adventures post WW2 finally reached our local San Gabriel Valley. Both Irene and Dr. Kahn have attended our TBD services, and are now part of our family. We’ll be looking forward to welcoming them, once again, this Sunday at 10.30pm. 

Wishing you shabbat shalom,
- Gal Kessler Rohs , Education Director
It's a Small Creation After All!
open to the community family performance for Morah Shoshana's class
Join us as we celebrate the six days of creation, the Shabbath, our friends, our  class temple , and world. But... is our world perfect? There’s much to repair, and there’s much Tikkun Olam to do as we’ll learn on November 24th. 

The mid morning musical performance and activity will include a take home Shabbat kit, getting to know our world, our creation, and finding out how we together can bring the creation we dream of!
Torah Portion of the Week
פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ Vayeira, Genesis 18:1-22:24.
The Bible rarely describes emotions and feelings. When Abraham is informed that he will have a son by Sarah, he falls on his face and laughs: “Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, ‘Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?’” (Gen. 17:17). 

We do not see Gd calling him to task in that instance, asking him “Why did you laugh just now?” In contrast, when Sarah laughs about bearing a son at her advanced age, Gd calls her to task, as if defending His honor (Gen. 18:13-14):

Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sara laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?’ Is anything too wondrous for the Lord? I will return to you at the same season next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

So, along those lines, and in the same context, we found a fun video of laughter to illustrate the laughing parts of the portion:
Coming up at Temple Beth David
featured dates to note:
Nov 22 6pm: Dinner for Ulpan Shabbat families, 7.30pm: Shabbat services
followed by Israeli dancing with Ellen Feldman
Nov 24 11-12pm: It's a Small Creation After All, a performance and activity for all who wish to join, put together by Morah Shoshana 's class
Dec 1 9.30am Adult Bagel Breakfast with Scott Davis about Jewish Yiddish Writer Jacob Dinezon,
9.30, 10.30, 11.30am Free Adult Hebrew with Jan Robertson
9:30am Mindfulness Meditation (Call Victor Herzfeld 626-975-5235 for information.)
Dec 6 6pm: Ulpan Shabbat and Family dinner for Ulpan Shabbat families with Cindy Paley
7.30pm Family Shabbat with Cindy Paley
Dec 8 Hanukkah Boutique
Dec 15th Hanukkah at TBD Religious School
Shabbat Reading
and more Jewishly relevant resources

  • Last Friday's Religious School eblast was about the relationship between Immigrating to Israel, Veterans, and the relation to Lech Lecha's Torah portion.
  • We’re on YouTube, and here’s the link to our channel
  • We chose ShalomLearning, an online Judaica and Hebrew online teaching software to cater our 5-7th grade curriculum.
  • Eli Eli, A Walk to Caesarea
  • Shalom, and welcome to Temple Beth David of the San Gabriel Valley! Check out this video and more from our Religious School YouTube channel.
  • Last week’s Torah Portion was Lech Lecha, which, as this video explains, speaks about our country- Israel. It speaks about the grains of sand which will equate to the number of Jews, or the stars in the sky which will in numerate to be the number of Jewish people in Israel.
Out and About
in our community
Throw back Friday
to when our Ulpan kids wished us all Shabat Shalom