Jewish Community Center of Long Beach Island E-Letter



July 23, 2021
14 Av 5781



LOOK FOR THE 2021 HIGH HOLIDAY ORDER FORM
IN THE MAIL AND ON OUR WEBSITE
A TORAH MESSAGE FROM THE RABBI

In Parashat Va-Etkhannan Moses re-recites the Ten Commandments and shortly thereafter says the Shema. Near the end of the Parasha Moses says the following:

The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you are the fewest of all peoples. (Deut. 7:7).

It is an odd thing for Moses to say but, in context, it makes sense.  What it highlights is that God’s attraction to the Children of Israel is not based on the gold they can provide, or the armies they can muster, or the cities they can build. Instead what is going to nurture God’s love will be the Israelites observance of the laws that Moses is giving them. 

Moses is acknowledging that they do not need to be the biggest, brightest, and richest. The Israelites merely need to follow the commandments. It is always what we do and how we do it that sets the Jewish people apart.

The ultimate lesson of all of this is that after God provides the Torah through Moses. The Israelites could either follow the commandments or not follow them. It is a choice. Ultimately, it is their choice to be bound by Torah, and to live by its precepts. It is this decision that attracted God to our ancestors. 

We have just passed Tisha B’Av and are getting closer to our countdown to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is time to reflect upon and consider the choices we make in our lives, how we live our lives, and how we relate to others.

Choose to be thoughtful, choose to be honest, choose to be kind.

Shabbat Shalom – Rabbi Michael S. Jay

GUIDELINES FOR INDOOR SERVICES
 
  • All attendees 18 years old and over must be fully vaccinated.
  • Attendees must show proof of vaccination (card or on their phone).
  • Masks must be worn indoors.
  • Children under 18 who are not vaccinated need to wear a mask.
  • Singing and participating in service is allowed.
  • Social distancing of one chair between each group will be observed.
 
Please use the front door Saturday morning to enter. The handicapped door is also available.

TU B'AV

(sundown Friday - Saturday nightfall)
is a minor Jewish holiday. In modern-day Israel, it is celebrated as a holiday of love
similar to Valentine's Day. It has been said to be a "great day for weddings".

SHABBAT SHALOM

Candle Lighting Time
Friday evening,
July 23, 2021
7:59 PM
So. Ocean County

JOIN US FOR SERVICES

SHABBAT NACHAMU

("Sabbath of comfort/ing) takes its name from the haftarah from Isaiah in the Book of Isaiah 40:1-26 that speaks of "comforting" the Jewish people for their suffering. It the first of seven Haftarahs of consolation leading up to the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Friday evening
July 23, 2021
6:00 PM
SHABBAT IN THE LOT
in the north parking lot.
Bring a chair
and
on Zoom

IN CASE OF RAIN THE SERVICE WILL BE ON
ZOOM ONLY.
LOOK FOR AN EMAIL.

Here is 
your invitation from 
Rabbi Jay to Join
Zoom Services


Saturday morning
July 17, 2021
Services
9:00 AM
In Person Services
and
Zoom Service

Here is
your invitation from 
Rabbi Jay to Join
Zoom Services

Torah Reading
Parashat Vaetchanan
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Here is the Parshah


Please respond to this email if you wish to have an aliyah this Shabbat.

Haftorah
Isaiah 40:1 - 40:26 
Here is the Haftorah
Saturday evening
9:00 PM
Havdallah followed by

Here is 
your invitation from 
Rabbi Jay to
Join Zoom Services


 Sunday - Thursday
Ma'ariv Service
7:30 PM
Here is 
your invitation from 
Rabbi Jay to
Join Zoom Services:

Sunday - Friday
Shacharit Service
8:15 AM
Here is 
your invitation from 
Rabbi Jay to
Join Zoom Services:

.THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

MONDAY 7/26
10:00 AM Chumash Class

TUESDAY 7/27
Open Mah jongg/Canasta
12:30 - 4 PM
Susan & Friends
7:45 PM

WEDNESDAY 7/28
WAX Book Club
4:00 PM

THURSDAY 7/29
11:00 AM Torah Study with the Rabbi
2:00 PM Beginning Hebrew with Ira

.
HERE ARE THE LINKS FOR THE CLASSES FOR THIS WEEK


JULY/AUGUST FRIDAY NIGHT SCHEDULE

July 23 – Shabbat in the Lot
July 30 – Shabbat on the Beach – Spray Beach
August 6 - Shabbat in the Lot
August 13 - Zoom with Chazzan Sara Geller
August 20 - Shabbat on the Beach - Loveladies
August 27 - Shabbat in the Sanctuary

 
YOU CAN JOIN ALL SERVICES ON ZOOM
THE WEEK THAT WAS...
Thank you to David Shatz for organizing the most informative program
by Dr. Eric Mandel regarding Israel.
To pay for this event by credit card, either use your account with Rakefet OR please go to our website, www.jccoflbi.org.
 At the top of the 1st page:
Click "Community" 
Click "Giving"
Scroll down to "Pay Here" - click on it and it will take you to the credit card site. 
There will be a place where you indicate the purpose of your donation. If it is not "In Honor or In Memory Of', then indicate the purpose under "Other".
THE WOMEN'S AUXILIARY
OF THE
JCC OF LBI
and click on the honey link.


JCC WOMENS AUXILIARY: BOOK GROUP DISCUSSION
THE 4th WEDNESDAY, AT 4:00 PM

Discussion Leader to be Determined

Chava is a golem, a woman made of clay, who can hear the thoughts and longings of those around her and feels compelled by her nature to help them. Ahmad is a jinni, a restless creature of fire, once free to roam the desert but now imprisoned in the shape of a man. Fearing they’ll be exposed as monsters, these magical beings hide their true selves and try to pass as human - just two more immigrants in the bustling world of 1900s Manhattan. Brought together under calamitous circumstances, their lives are now entwined - but they’re not yet certain of what they mean to each other.
Both Chava and Ahmad have changed the lives of the people around them. Park Avenue heiress Sophia Winston, whose brief encounter with Ahmad left her with a strange illness that makes her shiver with cold, travels to the Middle East to seek a cure. There she meets Dima, a tempestuous female jinni who’s been banished from her tribe. Back in New York, in a tenement on the Lower East Side, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father build a golem they name Yossele - not knowing that she’s about to be sent to an orphanage uptown, where the hulking Yossele will become her only friend and protector.

Spanning the tumultuous years from the turn of the 20th century to the beginning of World War I, The Hidden Palace follows these lives and others as they collide and interleave. Can Chava and Ahmad find their places in the human world while remaining true to each other? Or will their opposing natures and desires eventually tear them apart - especially once they encounter, thrillingly, other beings like themselves?

Discussion Leader to be Determined
Apeirogon by Colum McCann
Bassam Aramin is Palestinian. Rami Elhanan is Israeli. They inhabit a world of conflict that colors every aspect of their lives, from the roads they are allowed to drive on to the schools their children attend to the checkpoints, both physical and emotional, they must negotiate.
 
But their lives, however circumscribed, are upended one after the other: first, Rami’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Smadar, becomes the victim of suicide bombers; a decade later, Bassam’s ten-year-old daughter, Abir, is killed by a rubber bullet. Rami and Bassam had been raised to hate one another. And yet, when they learn of each other’s stories, they recognize the loss that connects them. Together they attempt to use their grief as a weapon for peace—and with their one small act, start to permeate what has for generations seemed an impermeable conflict.
 
This extraordinary novel is the fruit of a seed planted when the novelist Colum McCann met the real Bassam and Rami on a trip with the non-profit organization Narrative 4. McCann was moved by their willingness to share their stories with the world, by their hope that if they could see themselves in one another, perhaps others could too.
With their blessing, and unprecedented access to their families, lives, and personal recollections, McCann began to craft Apeirogon, which uses their real-life stories to begin another—one that crosses centuries and continents, stitching together time, art, history, nature, and politics in a tale both heartbreaking and hopeful. The result is an ambitious novel, crafted out of a universe of fictional and nonfictional material, with these fathers’ moving story at its heart.

ORDER YOUR BOOK NOW AND START READING TODAY!
Click here to order The Hidden Palace from Amazon. 

Click here to order Apeirogon from Amazon.

Click here to borrow book from the Ocean County Library. 

If you can lead our book discussion on Wednesday, July 28th or Wednesday, August 25th, please email [email protected]

RSVP to Debby Schweighardt, Book Group Coordinator at: [email protected]

A Zoom link will be sent shortly before the event.
Tuesday, July 27 at 7:45 pm
"Susan and Friends - The Men Speak Out'
An Interview with Donald Cohen author of
"The Inside Ride: A Journey into Manhood"

Wednesday, July 28 at 4:00 PM
WAX Book Club
"The Hidden Palace" by Helene Wecker

August Bazaar - August 11 from 8 AM - 3 PM

August 22 at 7:00 PM
Summer Concert II
Vocalist Ryan Kelly with comedian Larry Donsky

Wednesday, August 25 at 4:00 PM
WAX Book Club
"Apeirogon" by Colum McCann


Mah jongg every Tuesday at 12:30 PM beginning 7/6

"SUSAN AND FRIENDS: THE MEN SPEAK UP"
PART II

Tuesday, July 27 at 7:45 - "Susan and Friends - The Men Speak Out' - An Interview by Don Pripstein with Donald Cohen author of "The Inside Ride: A Journey into Manhood"


An extended and fearless exploration on the meaning of manhood in contemporary Western culture—at a moment in time in which both Fatherhood and Manhood have become endangered concepts. Pointing out the need for strong male relationships and guidance, this book offers an essential prescription for the psychological health of modern Western societies, which have lost the thread of traditional cultures and their time-honored rites of passage. The extensive letter exchange between father and son demonstrates intimacy and honesty in analyzing and exploring the often tumultuous events of their lives. Trained in two different psychological disciplines, their interaction provides the reader a look at the complexity of growing up in America's fast-changing culture, offering invaluable insights for both children and parents.
THIS WEEK'S YAHRZEITS

The following names will be read at Friday night services.

Louis Alexander
Deborah H. Barsh
Leon Isanuk*
Barbara Carey
Dr. Jerome Cohen
Sophie Cohen
Benjamin Parker
Burt Schwait
Molly Young*
Angela Dicicco
Betty Jonas
Rosalind Mularz
Gertrude Serepca*
Yetta Elman
Martin Ferber*
Cecile E. Kessler
Arnold Rifkin
Barton Bloom
Louis Katz
Robert Warren*
Jack Blecher
Myer Elgart*
Joseph Friedland
Sophie Neustadt*
Leslie Kaufman
In this Zoom era, we have been able to have a daily minyan at 8:15 AM and at 7:30 PM and on Shabbat. We encourage you to join us on the day of your loved one’s yahrzeit. In the morning, the service is about ½ hour beginning at 8:15 and in the evening at 7:30 until about 7:45. Rabbi will be glad to say the traditional El Malei Rachamim prayer for you, which is recited during the funeral, going up to the grave of the departed, Yizkor remembrance day and other occasions on which the memory of the dead is recalled. You are also welcome to share with the minyan some special memories of your loved one.
MARCIE DEUTSCH
on the birth of her granddaughter
Blakely Sophia Deutsch
SHARE YOUR NEWS
AND PICTURES
CONTACT: 


CARING COMMITTEE
  This committee acts as a support system for congregation members facing illness and other personal situations that need to be addressed.
Please contact Chairperson,
Debby Schweighardt
if you are in need of assistance or if you know of a JCC member
that needs our help.
973-634-5349 
Cake
Susan Davis
July 24
Lewis Deutsch
July 24
Jodi Stephani Rothman
July 24
Debra Schweighardt
July 25
Toby Meyer
July 27
Stacie Podos
July 27
Pamela Scheer
July 27
Roger G. Rosenstein
July 28
Deborah Smith
July 28
Robert Block
July 29
Shirley Anne Scharf
July 30
Elayne Simandl
July 30

GIVING OPPORTUNITIES

PAVERS
Inscribe a paver at the front entrance to the building
8" X 4", 8" X 8" and 12" X 12"

SEE UPDATED ORDER FORM:
Become a permanent part of the JCC landscape.
Purchase a personalized paving stone
in honor of your family or in memory of a loved one.

Please contact Diane Hoffman
with your order or with any questions:


PRAYER BOOKS
There are still High Holiday Prayer Books and Chumashim available to be purchased in memory or honor of someone or something. The cost of a Prayer Book is $72 each and $120 for an Eitz Hayim Chumash. The donation includes an affirmation sticker in the book and an acknowledgement letter or letters.
See Order form here: Prayer Book


TRIBUTES
SEND ONE OF OUR TRIBUTES IN HONOR OR IN MEMORY OF
See order form here: TRIBUTES


TREE OF LIFE
Add a leaf (leaves) to our beautiful Tree of Life located in the Social Hall. See the order form here: TREE OF LIFE
Bronze Leaf $90
Silver Leaf $126
Gold :Leaf $180


ENDOWMENT FUND - NEW INFORMATION !!!!!!!

Herb and Selma z”l Shapiro established the first individual Endowment Fund in memory of his father, as part of the JCC’s Endowment Fund portfolio. Judith z”l & Donald Pripstein joined the Shapiros and established The Pripstein Family Endowment Fund. 

As recently reported, Don Pripstein pledged another $50,000 to establish The Judith & Donald Pripstein Endowment Fund.

As a result of Don’s letter, Harold Farin has stepped forward and has established “The Farin Family Endowment Fund”. This Fund will join with the three others as part of the JCC Endowment Fund portfolio. Other members are encouraged to also provide for the future of our JCC by establishing similar funds.

A donation of at least $50,000 to the endowment fund will allow the donor to name one of the funds as the donor wishes. All such named funds will be joined together to be part of the Endowment Fund portfolio.
 
Endowment funds are necessary to ensure the continuation and well being of our congregation. All members are encouraged to help this important effort by contributing to this portfolio, whether as a specific named individual fund, or as a general donation. The donation can be spread over one, two, or three years, and can be paid via check, donation of appreciated stock, wills, or from the RMD of your IRA or 401K account. Your gift to the fund can be sent to the JCC Office. Please mark your check accordingly. 


YAHRZEIT PLAQUES
Space is available for memorial plaques on the yahrzeit boards in the Sanctuary. 
Here is the order form: 


KOL HAKAVOD

Please consider being a part of this campaign to supplement the clergy needs of our congregation. This is a separate, voluntary commitment and is additional to our low annual dues obligation. HERE IS THE LINK TO BRING UP THE DONATION FORM KOL HAKAVOD

JCC FUNDS

Your gift to the JCC support our Clergy, our Congregation and the Community.

ENDOWMENT FUND
This fund was established to assure the continuity of our JCC, and our ability to continue providing a full-service congregation to serve the Jewish people of the area. While a donation of any amount is encouraged, a donation of at least $50,000 allows the donor to name a special or specific Endowment Fund in memory or honor of a specific person event, or family.

GENERAL FUND
Donations to this fund are not earmarked but placed in the general administrative account. Donations to this fund can be in honor or memory of a person, event, or family.

KOL HAKAVOD FUND
Donations to this campaign supplement the clergy needs of our congregation.

RABBI’S DISCRETIONARY FUND
This fund, managed by the rabbi, allows donors to enable the rabbi to do the work of tzedakah in response to the needs of individuals, organizations and the community.

ZENA & JERRY JAY KIDDISH FUND
The Zena and Jerry Jay Kiddush Fund was established in memory of Rabbi Jay's parents to help provide funds for our Saturday morning kiddushes.
JCC INFORMATION
THE JCC OF LBI IS LOCATED AT
2411 Long Beach Boulevard (24th Street)
Spray Beach, NJ 08008
Telephone: 609-492-4090 FAX: 609-492-7550
web site: www.jccoflbi.org  
  
THE OFFICE IS OPEN TUESDAY AD THURSDAYS
FROM 10 - 2
CONTINUE TO USE THE PHONE OR EMAIL WITH REQUESTS.
OUR OFFICE STAFF WILL BE CHECKING IN REGULARLY.
  Staff:
 Leslie Dinkfelt, Office Manager
  Mary Beth Krieger, Staff Member
Kitchen Manager: Susan Berube

USEFUL LINKS
LATEST
BULLETIN:

PRAYER BOOK:
 
WEB SITE:

PAVERS:

TREE OF LIFE
  
YAHRZEIT PLAQUE FORM:

KOL HAKAVOD DONATION FORM
KOL HAKAVOD

TRIBUTES:


CONTACT INFORMATION:
  Rabbi Michael S. Jay

Michael Babst, President

 
E-mail Editor: Rose Valentine 
Graphics by
Irene Babst