Weekly E-News 5786

Feb 13 - Feb 19, 2026

Mazel Tov to Sharon Galin

on her special birthday!

Thank you to Sharon & Murray for sponsoring our kiddush!

Menu

TacoBar

Salmon

Kiddush prepared by Lauren Fins & Tova Javetz.

Friday Night Services & Dinner

With Mickve Israel

Join us & our Friends from Congregation Mickve Israel for Kabalat Shabbat Service & dinner at the JEA, Friday, February 20th, at 6:00 PM. The meal is sponsored by the JEA , so there is no charge. However, a reservation is required so the caterer can prepare a meal for everyone.

Sisterhood Shabbat

Saturday, February 21st, 9:45

Please join us!

Birthdays

Saturday, Feb 14th - Sandy Seligman & Eli Berwitz (17)

Sunday, Feb 15th - Kenneth Sadler

Monday, February 16th - Sherwin Robin

Tuesday, February 17th - Yael Elfassy-Conner

Wednesday, Feb 18th - Robin Buckner

Thursday, Feb 19th - Mindy Hilton & Andrea Mathews

Anniversaries

Monday, February 16th - Sharon & Bill Sand

From the Desk of

Rabbi Cantor

Na'aseh v Nishma — "we will do and we will hear" is generally understood as an unconditional statement of love and fealty by the People Israel for God. It is a statement of absolute trust, that without even knowing what God is demanding, we are willing to be bound.

The problem with this common conception is that it doesn't conform to the context of the words as they are spoken by the people:

He then took the Book of the Covenant, and read it in the ears of the people. They said, “All that Adonoy has spoken, we will do and we will listen.” (Exodus 24:7)

The full phrase, "All that God has spoken, we will do and we will listen" clearly shows that the people have already heard what God has asked them to do. And not only did they hear it when Moses "took the Book of the Covenant and read it" to them, they even heard it the day before, as we are told in Exodus 24:3, and agreed to it then:

Moses went and repeated to the people all GOD’s commands and all the rules; and all the people answered with one voice, saying, “All the things that GOD has commanded we will do!”

The correct interpretation of the phrase Na'aseh v Nishma—according to the Rabbis—is that the people agree to be bound by what has already been said, and to seek deeper understanding going forward. Perhaps this is what drives the Jewish Publication Society's translation of the phrase as “All that GOD has spoken we will faithfully do!” with the footnote "Lit. “we will do and obey.”".

What I love about the common conception of Na'aseh v Nishma as unconditional trust and adherence is that it expresses a higher value: that our ancestors had taken within themselves as a cornerstone of their Jewish Identity a love and trust in the Jewish Tradition, a willingness to give God the benefit of the doubt and take the leap of faith that God would never ask us to commit to something that is against our best interests.




Rabbi David Cantor

In Person Service Times

Tuesday: 7:30 AM

Wednesday: 8:00 AM

Friday: 8:00 AM

Shabbat: 9:45 AM

This Shabbat

Parashat Mishpatim 5786 / פָּרָשַׁת מִשְׁפָּטִים

Shabbat Shekalim · Shabbat Mevarekhim HaHodesh

14 February 2026 / 27 Sh’vat 5786

Candle Lighting 5:51 / Havdalah 6:47

Torah Portion: Exodus 21:1-24:18, 30:11-16

Mishpatim (“Laws”) recounts a series of God’s laws that Moses gives to the Israelites. These include laws about treatment of slaves, damages, loans, returning lost property, the Sabbath, the sabbatical year, holidays, and destroying idolatry. The portion ends as Moses ascends Mount Sinai for 40 days.

1: 21:1-6 · 456

2: 21:7-11 · 458

3: 21:12-19 · 459

4: 21:20-27 · 461

5: 21:28-32 · 463

6: 21:33-36 · 464

7: 21:37-22:3 · 464

M: 30:11-16 · 523

Haftarah: II Kings 12:1-17 · 1277

Service Leader Sign Up

Are you interested in leading services? Reading Torah? You can sign up on our service leader sign up sheet!

Donations

To make a donation to the synagogue in recognition of a birth, birthday, anniversary, bereavement, or yahrzeit, you may use the button below. The message box can be used to tell us who we should notify of your donation.

Yahrzeits 

Thursday night/Friday, Feb 13 - 26 Shevat

Clara Harris - grandmother of Sheryl Kreh & Sidney Karp

Ethel Kamine - mother of Roberta Kamine-Haysman,

aunt of Arthur Haysman, grandmother of Michelle Heyman

Betty Lasky - mother of Jodi Sadler & Jeffrey Lasky

Friday night/Saturday, Feb 14 - 27 Shevat

Rose Weiss - grandmother of Jodi Sadler & Jeffrey Lasky

Elsie Shusterman - mother of Karen Cranman

Max Mally - grandfather of Steven Scheer

Saturday night/Sunday, Feb 15 - 28 Shevat

Irene Kratzer - mother of Janet Benjamin,

grandmother of Lisa Mackowiak

Richard Heck - father of Jennifer Tillinger

Chamke Tenenbaum - grandmother of Susan Slotin

Sunday night/Monday, Feb 16 - 29 Shevat

Stanley sadowsky - father of Elaine Weinberger

Muriel Bonder - mother of Michael Bonder

Monday night/Tuesday, Feb 17 - 30 Shevat

Harold Benjamin - father of Robert Benjamin,

grandfather of Lisa Mackowiak

Samuel Rubin - grandfather of Elise Shernoff

Joseph Schwartz - father of Mark Schwartz

Charles Sussman - brother of Harvey Sussman

Mary Friedman - mother of Stephen Friedman

Tuesday night/Wednesday, Feb 18 - 1 Adar

Abraham Davidson - father of Aaron & Julius Davidson

Wednesday night/Thursday, Feb 19 - 2 Adar

none

Thursday night/Friday, Feb 20 - 3 Adar

Liz Arkin - wife of Steve Arkin

Erwin Friedman - father of Stephen Friedman

Commemoration of the Yahrzeit begins the evening of the first noted date.



Donor Dues

Benefactor

$9,999 - $5000

Melvyn & Eleanor Galin



 Leader

$3,599 - $1,800

Stephen & Annette Friedman

Ed Price

Patron

$1,799 - $720

Aaron & Dayle Levy

Allan & Arlene Ratner

Sherwin & Sara Robin

Sol & Stephanie Zerden

Michael & Linda Zoller

Chai Member

$719 - $360

Michelle & Matthew Allan

Gerald Caplan

Linda & Joe Cooper

AM Goldkrand

Paul & Harriet Kulbersh

Stacy & Jeffrey Lasky

Andrew & Leslie Walcoff



Supporters

 $359 - $100 

Lynn Berkowitz

Adam & Lauren Fins

Ted & Adelle Geffen

Doug & Lisa Goldstein

Seth Grenald

David & Gale Hirsh

Jonathan & Tova Javetz

Harriet Karlin

Michael & Suzanne Konter

Larry & Betsy Lehner

Steve & Linda Sacks

Victor & Elise Shernoff

Judy Todtfeld

Thanks to these donors for going above and beyond by participating in the Donor Dues Program this 2025-2026 fiscal year. If you would like to participate by making this additional commitment, please contact the office. 

Community News

Montag Gallery

February 1 - March 13: Jane Bonady Brackin

Jane Bonady Brackin has been creating art all her life. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in art and art history and studied printmaking and photography at the Memphis College of Art. She pursued painting in oil for several summers at the Chicago Art Institute and studied with the Michelangelo Project in Memphis, a studio recognized for sight-size realism. Her photography and printmaking backgrounds are reflected in her tight compositions reminiscent of the Japanese influence on the Impressionists. She strives for an expressive realism, showing her viewers her love for the natural world.

Since she was diagnosed with macular degeneration in both eyes, her style has changed to what you see now…a more Tonalist approach to the subject, in which the haziness in her vision is reproduced in her haunting, moody, atmospheric paintings. Using a limited palette keeps it simple for her to recreate what she sees. Instead of detail, she emphasizes mood by painting only what she sees and not what the sight-seeing world sees. This has been a breakthrough in her style.



Jane lives in the Arkansas Delta and travels with her husband in their restored 1962 Airstream.

Black and Jewish America: An Interwoven History is a four-part series tracing the rich, complex relationship between Black and Jewish Americans — defined by solidarity and strained by division. Drawn together by racism and antisemitism, they forged civic and cultural bonds, especially during the civil rights era. The series explores both the challenges and enduring promise of that alliance.

GPB, Tuesdays @ 9:00 PM. (The first episode aired on Feb 3rd.)

Savannah Jewish Federation invites you to explore how Hebrew evolved, adapted and reinvented itself over thousands of years. 

Hebrew isn’t just a language—-it’s a time capsule of Jewish history, culture, and humor.



Join us as we welcome Elon Gilad for a fun and thought-provoking talk following the journey of Hebrew words from the Bible to modern Israel. Learn how ancient terms were repurposed, how Israeli slang was born, and why a popsicle is called an artik. Elon explores the global influences that shaped Hebrew-from Persian to Yiddish-and the quirky, powerful stories hiding in everyday words.

This program is free of charge and babysitting is provided. Prior registration required.

Program Registration:https://forms.gle/yUGjzusAsAntBy5q9

Rabbi David Cantor

Morgan McGhie, President

Motti Locker, Executive Director

Congregation Agudath Achim | office@agudath-achim.com | 912-352-4737 | www.agudath-achim.com