Friday

6:15 PM

Shabbat Evening Services

In person and live-streamed

Saturday

9:30 AM

Shabbat Morning Services

followed by Kiddush Luncheon

In person and live-streamed

Saturday

10 AM

Babysitting

Sunday

9:15 AM

Minyan with Men's Club

followed by breakfast

In person and available on Zoom

Sunday

3 PM

Christmas Day Mahjong

Sunday

5 PM

Chai-nese Chanukkah Dinner & Movie

Prior registration is required.

Registration is now closed.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Our Health Committee update as of December 7, 2022 is as follows:



'Tis the season for respiratory viruses . . . A "tridemic" of COVID, influenza, and RSV is currently upon us. As a result, we strongly encourage you to stay up to date with your COVID and flu vaccines. Bivalent COVID boosters are available for those ages 5 years and older. Flu vaccine is available for those ages 6 months and older.  Please visit vaccines.gov to find a location near you.  We also encourage frequent handwashing and wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces. And if you are feeling sick, please stay home to help reduce the transmission of virus to others. Zay gezunt! Be well!

Please click HERE to read our guidelines in full.

The Talmudic sages hated anonymity. Individuals who are known to us only in passing – that is, whose names are known to us, but little else– are given a more distinct identity in the midrashic literature. Take, for example, the case of Asenath, daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On (=Heliopolos), who according to this week’s portion Miketz was given to Joseph as a wife by Pharaoh (Genesis 41:45).



Who was Asenath? One possibility was that she was a convert to Judaism. Midrash Tadshe, part of a collection of “small” midrashic collections put together by A. Eisenstein in 1887, numbers her among a host of righteous women who became part of the Jewish people. These include the daughter of Pharaoh, who rescued Moses from the Nile; Rahab, who provided cover for the two spies who performed reconnaissance on the city of Jericho; Shifra and Puah, who refused to throw Hebrew baby boys into the river; and Yael, who killed the general Sisera after his flight from the battle with Barak and Deborah. And of course the quintessential example is Ruth, a Moabite woman who converted to Judaism and became a forebear of King David. 

There is, however, another school of thought – that Asenath was actually part of Joseph’s family. In Pirke Rabbi Eliezer, (7^th century CE, chapter 38), Asenath was conceived by Dinah after she was raped by Shechem. She was spirited down to Egypt, raised by Potiphera as his wife could not conceive, and eventually married off to Joseph. In other words, G-d made certain that there was a way for Joseph to maintain a Jewish family even in the overwhelmingly non-Jewish Egyptian palace. 

Whether Asenath was a righteous convert or a secret daughter, the message is clear – the hand of Divine providence is always at work. Joseph’s sale into Egyptian slavery is a necessary precursor for him rescuing his family from a famine. His marriage to Asenath is a way to maintain his identity as a Jew where his clothing, jewelry, chariot and even name are Egyptian. If all this coincidence seems to be a bit much to accept, the Sages say, that’s because it is – only G-d could have figured out how to make all these pieces fit together.

And that, in turn, is the message of Chanukkah. When it seems impossible for us to prevail in a war in which we are badly outmanned, somehow we emerge victorious. When it seems impossible to complete the restoration of the Temple because of a lack of oil, somehow it lasts long enough to bring the “supply chain” for the Temple up to speed. And in circumstances in which it seems impossible to maintain Jewish family life, somehow G-d gives us a path to do just that.

And all of that can be deduced by rescuing a single Biblical figure from anonymity. 

- Rabbi Scott Hoffman

Parashat Miketz

Rosh Chodesh Tevet

Shabbat Chanukkah

Torah: Genesis 41:1-52; Numbers 28:9-15

Maftir: Numbers 7:42-47

Haftarah: Zechariah 2:14 - 4:7

The Torah reading for this week is in the panel above. If you do not have a Chumash at home, you can find it on the link below. We are reading Triennial Year 1, but you might like to read the full portion (“Full Kriyah”).

Our Shabbat brochure with yahrzeits and simchas for this week is attached. You might wish to take special notice of those who are sick, and take a moment to direct your thoughts towards them.

Thank you to all those listed below who performed the mitzvah of supporting our community this past week.