Shabbat Shalom!
Today Is Friday the 13th. Some people are superstitious and consider it unlucky. I, however, am partial to the number 13. I was born on the 13th of July and I came down with chicken pox on November 13, 1987. Of course, like all other Jewish boys, I became a Bar Mitzvah at 13. As luck would have it, 13 years after meeting Andrew, Nora was born. I consider it my lucky number, or at the very least a number I can depend on.
Exactly, one year ago, I was on a men’s trip to Israel with 10 others from the Jewish Federation of Omaha. It was a magical trip for me and one I think about often. This past week I was reading my journal from the trip and here was the entry for November 13, 2019.
“We visited the Kotel tonight and I was amazed how emotional I had become. Upon seeing it, tears filled my eyes and I felt it welcoming me, as if it had been waiting for my return. I stood there in awe for what seemed like an hour, though I am sure it was no more than five minutes. I made my way to the wall to touch it and leave my note. As I put the note in, I could feel Ha’Shem’s presence. I left with the guys and we headed back to the hotel the way we “thought” we were supposed to go when all of a sudden, I looked up and saw The Alabama store right in the middle of the Arab Market. Was this a coincidence or had Ha’Shem wanted me to know that my note was received?”
As I am sure you have figured out by now, the note I put in the wall was my wish to come to Birmingham, Alabama as the CEO of the Federation and here I am! Again, lucky on the 13th! Thirteen is also a pretty significant number in Judaism and while I will leave teaching to the Rabbis I want to share the ways this number appears in our faith.
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Thirteen are the attributes of Hashem - שלושה עשר מידיא
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13 is the age at which a Jewish male becomes obligated to follow Jewish. law, the age at which a Bar Mitzvah is attained
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13 Jewish principles of faith according to Maimonides
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Number of days of Yom Tov in a year (Diaspora)
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Months in a leap year on the Hebrew calendar
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Date in Adar (or Adar II in leap years) of the Fast of Esther
Just a little bit of extra knowledge as you start towards your Shabbat celebrations.
In closing, my sincerest apologies for those names omitted in error on our Veterans Day Tribute. While we try to do our best to ensure our database is up-to-date, we regret that there were brave individuals left off who have served or are currently serving our county including: Max Corenblum, Isadore (Izzy) Eubanks, Sydney Goldstein, Brian Grodner, Paul Grodner, Emil Hess, J. George Mitnick, J. Harold Shevin and Howard Schultz, all of blessed memory as well as David Romanoff. Should you know a member who is presently active or one that was also not listed, please email Florinan@bjf.org.
As always, I wish you a joyous Shabbat and a peaceful week.
B’Shalom,
Danny
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The Jewish Community Relations Council of The Birmingham Jewish Federation Announces
Community Impact Micro-Grant Initiative
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Grants to Promote Transformative and Collaborative Work in
Greater Birmingham
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Exclusive Zoom Event with Dr. Akiva Nachshon on Hadassah's Collaboration with SodaStream |
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Thursday, November 19
at 12:00 pm EST
Please join us for our next exclusive call featuring Dr. Akiva Nachshon, the HMO physician who made headlines this summer for his collaboration with SodaStream, the Israeli company famous for their countertop seltzer machines. Dr. Nachshon collaborated with SodaStream and created StreamO2, a breathing-assistance machine for mild to moderate COVID-19 patients whose do not require a respirator, but who are in respiratory distress.
These machines have been approved by the Israeli Ministry of Health and were pushed through to clinical trial as Israel’s COVID cases surged.
We look forward to Dr. Nachshon sharing the story of how this idea was generated and how the collaboration between two
unlikely partners came to be.
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The link to join the Zoom webinar will be provided when you register.
Important: Please note that Dr. Nachshon cannot offer personal advice on an individual health matter.
We will leave time at the end of the webinar for questions.
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Pathways to Parenthood 101 |
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“Pathways to Parenthood 101” will feature experts in the fertility space and will educate attendees about the many different paths to becoming parents including: IVF, IUI, Sperm Donation, Egg Donation, Embryo Donation, Gestational Surrogacy, and Adoption.
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CALL FOR MATERIALS:
Birmingham Jewish Community History Project
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Did you know Beth El has a graphic display of congregational and community history from 1907-1999?
Each poster contains pictures, newspaper articles, and a lot of other information and memories.
We would like to update the posters, add any missed historical data, add the missing decades, and display them at Beth-El as part of a history, communication and outreach project underway. There is so much that our Jewish Community was an important part of, from the “early days”, through the Depression, the Civil Rights movement and era, politics, improvement, growth, development, more! There is much in our Birmingham and Beth-El history that is and was interesting as well as significant and important. It should be preserved and shared in a good and accessible way.
We are looking for: pictures, flyers, reports, newspaper articles, documents, letters, bulletins, memories, stories, memorabilia, interest. Specific wording for specific events and/or memories that pertain to the years 2000-2020, even suggestions for items to add and include. These can be materials relating to anything in the Birmingham Jewish community from 2000-2020. ANYTHING YOU SHARE CAN BE SCANNED AND RETURNED IF YOU WISH. WE WILL KEEP AND MAINTAIN AN ELECTRONIC VERSION AND WHATEVER GRAPHICS RESULT, and will return the originals to you if you wish
Email digitals materials, questions, and comments about submitting to jbrook359@gmail.com (Julian Brook)
AND/OR if you would like to be more actively involved in the collection
and planning of this project, we would love to have you. Anyone in the community is welcome to join in.
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PJ Library's Hanukkah: It's in the bag! |
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*This program is for families with children 0-8 years old* |
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Sam Lapidus Montclair (Virtual) Run
November 14 - November 29
Join the Levite Jewish Community Center and The Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders for the 44th annual Sam Lapidus Montclair Run. This year’s race will be virtual and the race period will go from November 14 – November 29.
The Sam Lapidus Montclair Run honors the short but very full life of Sam Lapidus, who died of Ewing’s sarcoma, a form of childhood cancer, in November 2008 – just nine days before his 15th birthday. Funds raised from the run will be donated to the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s of Alabama and the Levite Jewish Community Center.
To get registered and learn how to run a virtual race visit SLMR.itsyourrace.com.
YBIB Happy Hour
November 14 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
YBIB will be hosting a happy hour at Cahaba Brewery, November 14th from 5:30-7:30. Happy hour will include one drink ticket and loads of yummy snacks!
Mensch Adventures
November 15 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Sunday afternoon, in-person, socially-distant, outdoor adventures for the sake of building empathy, integrity, kindness, and civic-mindedness. During our monthly adventures, we will focus on building our awareness of contemporary social challenges and Torah’s power to help us be better thinkers, feelers, and doers. Students will need to wear masks at all times and we ask that you bring your own kosher-style snacks and water bottles. This is a program organized out of Beth El for 4th-8th graders. It is open to all children in the community. Contact Margaret if you are interested in participating or would like more information-mnorman@templebet-el.net.
Jewish Summer Camp Q+A Session
Sunday evening, November 15 @ 7:00 pm
Give your child (or grandchild) a gift that will last a lifetime…a summer at URJ Jacobs Camp! URJ Jacobs Camp, the Reform Movement’s camp in Mississippi, offers a unique environment for campers in grades 1-10. Children from URJ congregations across the Deep South join together each summer to experience the fun and magic of Jewish camping. Next Sunday evening, November 15th at 7:00, staff from URJ Jacobs Camp will be hosting a Birmingham Parent Q+A Webinar. They'll share what makes Jacobs great, answer parents’ questions, and fill us in on exciting plans for Summer 2021. We hope to see you there! For more info and to RSVP for the webinar click https://jacobscamp.org/birmingham/
“The New Jewish Canon”: A Conversation about Contemporary Judaism
November 17 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been a period of mass production and proliferation of Jewish ideas, and have witnessed major changes in Jewish life and stimulated major debates. Join this class to talk about the book, “The New Jewish Canon,” which came out this year in July. This book offers a conceptual roadmap to make sense of some of this rapid change. The New Jewish Canon is an entry point for the Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist of the contemporary period and the recent past, canonizing our most important ideas and debates of the past two generations; and just as importantly, stimulating debate and scholarship about what is yet to come. Join Rebbetzin Bethany with your lunch on zoom to talk about some of these debates. Register here for the zoom link.
Collat Jewish Family Services Bereavement Group
The meetings will be led by Gail Schuster, and the group will determine the frequency and meeting times.
For more information and to register for the Zoom meeting, please contact Gail Schuster at gail@cjfs.org or at 205-879-3438.
Financial Assistance Available
for Jewish Community Members
Thanks to a grant from the Greatest Needs Fund of the Birmingham Jewish Federation’s COVID Relief Campaign, Collat Jewish Family Services is offering financial assistance to Jewish community members who are facing financial insecurity because of job loss, caring for family or other issues. Confidential assistance is available to members of the Birmingham Jewish community who need help with rent or mortgage payments, utilities, prescription costs or other needs. To learn more, please email CJFS Clinical Director Marcy Morgenbesser LICSW, marcy@cjfsbham.org or call 205.879.3438.
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The Birmingham Jewish Federation
@jewishbirmingham
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