Weekly E-News 5784

September 13 - September 19, 2024

Bat Mitzvah of

Sophie Schwartz

Mazel Tov to Sophie Schwartz on her bat mitzvah! Sophie will be recognized during the 9:45 AM on September 14th, followed by a kiddush in her honor. Please join us as we celebrate with Sophie and her family.

Rabbi Search Committee

& Town Hall Meetings

Fellow congregants,

Thank you to all those who expressed interest in joining the Rabbi Search Committee. As expected, we had more offers than we did spots, which shows how much y'all care about the synagogue. If you were not selected, please understand that we wish we could have taken everybody, but it simply wasn't possible. We'd love for you to carry that enthusiasm into our upcoming Town Halls (details below), and to any candidate visits that we may have.

Our strategy in forming this committee was shaped by prior experiences and best practices, both within our synagogue and from external sources. We wanted to form a committee that reflected who we are as a congregation; as a result, we believe that our committee covers a range of observance level, length of membership, ways that they interact with the synagogue, ages, and more.

Your Committee Members are:

Phyllis Aaron

Steven Arkin

Charna Cweibel

AJ Haysman

Tova Javetz

Morgan McGhie

Lynn Reeves

Bruce Strugatch

Please do not hesitate to speak with these members during the process. Your input is invaluable to our goal of matching with the right candidate for us.

If you haven't attended a Town Hall yet, you still have one opportunity!

Sunday, 9/15, 1pm - home of Marvin and Charna Cweibel (S Carolina)

Please RSVP to the office, so that our gracious hosts will know how many people to expect. If you live outside Sun City, you will also need a pass. 

Once the Town Halls have been completed, there will be a survey sent out. Please make sure to fill out that survey ASAP - the data is critical to our finishing and posting the application in a timely manner.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

Thank you for your trust in us.

Adam Fins, Committee Chair

It's time to order Estrog & Lulav !

Children's Set $41.00

Standard Set $45.00

Prime Set $55.00

Please call or email the synagogue office to place your order.

Origins of Antisemitism: Anti-Judaism in the New Testament and Early Christianity

Where does antisemitism come from? What separates out anti-Jewish stereotypes and hatreds in antiquity from more modern forms of anti-Judaism? In this class, we will be looking at how early Christian texts and teachers paved the way, intentionally or not, for modern antisemitism. We will look at the pre-Christian context of Roman Judea and Judaism, at the rise of Christianity, at the earliest Christian writings of Paul of Tarsus, at the Gospels and the New Testament, and at the writings of the early Church Fathers. We will discover how a religion that started as a messianic sect of Judaism ended up birthing some of the philosophical underpinnings of modern antisemitism.

Classes begin September 10^th, and will be every Tuesday at 4 PM on Zoom, and Thursday at 10 AM in person.  Please email rabbi@agudath-achim.com for more information!

Calling all parents! It doesn’t just have to be your kid that learns during Shalom School. Every other week of Shalom School, when Rabbi Gelman is not teaching 7^th grade, he will be walking over from Congregation Mickve Israel at 9:45 to the Sentient Bean south of Forsyth Park, to grab some coffee and have an open conversation with anyone who wants to join! Topics will include Jewish parenting, Torah portion of the week, ethics, and more! The study group will begin this Sunday, and will also meet 9/8, 9/22, 10/6, and 10/20. Future dates to be announced! For more information, please email Rabbi Gelman at rabbi@agudath-achim.com

Rabbi's Message

One of my good friends at the Jewish Theological Seminary, now-Cantor Jacob Sandler, was fascinated by what he called “poop Torah.” That is to say, laws in the Torah, stories in the Talmud, and prayers that we say, all dealing around going to the bathroom. And believe it or not, there are quite a few good examples of “poop Torah.” There’s a pray that we say after reliving ourselves, for instance. There’s an injunction in the Talmud not to bring one’s Tefillin into a bathroom. And then there are some fun statements in the Talmud, that he who is truly happy has a bathroom near where he eats, and that a good bowel movement is like a taste of the world to come. Yes, there’s quite a lot of “poop Torah” in our tradition (which I may be natural that I, the son of a gastroenterologist, have picked up on). And we have one such great example in this week’s Torah portion.

In the midst of a series of laws dealing with holiness, God commands the Israelites that they should make an established area outside of camp to relive themselves-advice still followed by campers today. But God goes further than that. “וְיָתֵד תִּהְיֶה לְךָ עַל־אֲזֵנֶךָ וְהָיָה בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ חוּץ וְחָפַרְתָּה בָהּ וְשַׁבְתָּ וְכִסִּיתָ אֶת־צֵאָתֶךָ” He tells Moshe. “With your gear you shall have a spike, and when you have squatted you shall dig a hole with it and cover up your excrement.” Sometimes, people see this verse and are slightly aghast. Is this the sort of thing that the Torah should be dealing with? Covering up excrement? How can this be holy?

But the beauty of the Torah is that it believes that everything can teach us a lesson—and furthermore, that everything on earth can be a conduit for holiness. Commenting on this verse, Ibn Ezra writes “All disgusting things that are visible to the eye can give birth to a defect in the soul.” Surround yourself with excrement—or its moral equivalent—and you start to get to used to it. You start to think this is how things should be. You get used to—pardon the expression—the smell. And so the Torah has the care to teach us, cover it up. Put it outside of camp. Don’t let it be part of your everyday life.

We’re not just talking about “excrement” anymore. There are things in life we tell ourselves aren’t good, aren’t sanitary for the soul, but we just let them stay in our view. A little dishonesty here. A little cheating or plagiarism there. We tell ourselves it’s just for now, but the longer we live with it, the more we get used to it. And so the Torah says, put it outside of camp. Cover it up. Have nothing to do with it. If you tolerate these sort of behaviors, eventually you move past tolerance into thinking they may actually be the right thing. Ibn Ezra may have been dramatic when he called it giving birth to a “defect on the soul.” But exposure to noxious behaviors can breed those defects. Better to self-correct quickly, and not let those behaviors take root.

So you see, “poop Torah” does have a lot to teach us, and not only about our bodily functions! Everything in our world can be used to create holiness, and everything can teach us Torah. Even “excrement.”

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Gelman

This Shabbat: 

2024 | 5784

Ki Tetzei

Candle Lighting: 7:14 pm

Havdalah: 8:07 pm

(all times are for Savannah)

Annual Torah reading: Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

(Etz Hayim pp 1112-1136)

Triennial Torah reading: Deuteronomy 23:8-24:13

(Etz Hayim pp 1123-1130)

Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1-10

(Etz Hayim pp 1138-1139)

Week-at-a-Glance

Ghinzah Burial

In preparation for the burial of Jewish religious texts and objects, we need volunteers to help box these items. Please call the office if you can help!

SHABBAT PRAYER STUDY @ 10 AM SATURDAYS

Ever wanted to learn a little bit more about what we say and do during our prayers? Wanted to know what prayer is in Judaism, or why we say the Mourner’s Kaddish at the end of the service, or why we stand during the Amidah? Do you have questions about our prayers, but never wanted to take a full class? Rabbi Gelman is here to help! Starting this week, after our normal Psukei Dzimrei at 9:45, every Shabbat service from 10-10:10 will be dedicated to going over a little piece of prayer knowledge. Learn the meaning of the prayers, the order of the service, and more! The Shacharit morning service will always start at 10:10 to make sure we end on time, so make sure you get to services by 10 AM to learn a little more about our prayers!

Service Leader Sign Up

Are you interested in leading services? Reading Torah? You can sign up on our service leader sign up sheet! If you are interested in learning how to read Torah or lead services, contact Rabbi Gelman at rabbi@agudath-achim.com.

In Person Service Times:

Tuesday: 7:30 AM

Wednesday: 8:00 AM

Every Friday: 8:00 AM

1st Friday: 6:00 PM at Synagogue

2nd, 3rd & 4th Friday: 8PM at Synagogue

Shabbat: 9:45 AM

Note: The Friday, Sept 13th Service will be at 6:00 PM at Synagogue and will recognize Sophie Schwartz

Birthdays

September 17th

Adelle Burnsed-Geffen

September 18th

Rachael Currie

Anniversaries

September 14th

Vivian & Elliot Palefsky

September 17th

Yael Elfassy-Conner & Brad Conner

Yahrzeits

September 13 - September 20, 2024

Thursday night/Friday, September 13 - 10 Elul

Herbert Kahan - father of Linda Meier

Friday night/Saturday, September 14 - 11 Elul

Jeane Cranman - grandmother of Lynn Reeves & Paul Cranman,

great-grandmother of Kasey Berman & Morgan McGhie

Joseph Greenberg - grandfather of Joan Moore

Saturday night/Sunday, September 15 - 12 Elul

Dorothy Bosman - daughter-in-law of Beth Bosman

Harold Faust - father of Stacy Lasky

Louis Ginsberg - father of Ron Ginsberg

Lois Reeves - mother of David Reeves,

grandmother of Kasey Berman & Morgan McGhie

Sunday night/Monday, September 16 - 13 Elul

Belle Ruth Faust - mother of Stacy Lasky

Rose Rudikoff - grandmother of Lynn Berkowitz

Meyer Tenenbaum - father of Cookie Gale

Monday night/Tuesday, September 17 - 14 Elul

Bertha Blumenthal - mother of Michael Blumenthal

Tuesday night/Wednesday, September 18 - 15 Elul

Bonnie Feiler - mother of Preston Feiler

Wednesday night/Thursday, September 19 - 16 Elul

Sylvia Cohen - mother of Edward Cohen

Thursday night/Friday, September 19 - 17 Elul

Bertha Director - grandmother of Simone Wilker

Sam Kamine - uncle of Roberta Kamine-Haysman

Joseph Waldman - grandfather of Marsha Kessler, Barbara Hacken,

Bert Tenenbaum, Sheldon Tenenbaum

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

Community Announcements

Congregation Agudath Achim

Donor Dues Program

                                               Benefactor                                                $9,999 - $5000

Melvyn & Eleanor Galin

Leader

$3,599 - $1,800

Stephen & Annette Friedman

Patron

$1,799 - $720

Aaron & Dayle Levy

Allan & Arlene Ratner

Sherwin & Sara Robin

Sol & Stephanie Zerden

Chai Member

$719 - $360

Michelle & Matthew Allan

AM Goldkrand

Paul & Harriet Kulbersh

Andrew & Leslie Walcoff

Michael & Linda Zoller

Supporters

 $359 - $100 

Richard & Lynn Berkowitz

Adam & Lauren Fins

Ted & Adelle Geffen

Doug & Lisa Goldstein

Lynn Goodman

Seth Grenald

Steve Herman

David & Gale Hirsh

Jonathan & Tova Javetz

Harriet Karlin

Michael & Suzanne Konter

Larry & Betsy Lehner

Rene Lehrberger

Motti & Eva Locker

Steve & Linda Sacks

Victor & Elise Shernoff

Judy Todtfeld

Ed Wexler

Thanks to these donors for going above and beyond by participating in the Donor Dues Program this 2024-2025 fiscal year.

If you would like to participate by making this additional commitment, please contact the office. 

Rabbi Samuel Gelman

Morgan McGhie, President

Motti Locker, Executive Director

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