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JEWISH COMMUNITY
CENTER OF
LONG BEACH ISLAND
E-LETTER
November 14, 2025
23 Cheshvan 5785
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A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBI
This week’s Torah portion begins by describing Sarah’s lifetime which is odd, because it is about her death. I think I realize why it describes her life. It does this because, much of what follows in the narrative effectively ensures Sarah’s legacy and the continuation of her life’s work and desires.
It continues because of what Abraham does, after Sarah dies, God bless him. Essentially, in memory of his wife, he ensures the future of the Jewish people.
First, he purchases a land in Hebron (a part of Israel) for purposes of burying his Sarah. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Abraham is ensuring that God’s promise that this land would be for God’s people, would be fulfilled. (Notice that Abraham does not wait for God to do something. Instead, he takes the initiative. By feeling free to do this, Abraham is proving that we are in “partnership” with God). This step is important to the future of the Jewish people. One need only look to the Torah to know that we have been connected to our homeland for thousands of years.
Sarah’s burial in Hebron, on land legally acquired by Abraham, firmly sets Jewish roots in Israel.
The next thing that Abraham does to ensure a future is equally important. God promised Abraham (and Sarah) that their future would go through Isaac and through him they would have many descendants. Abraham does not wait for God to find a wife for Isaac. Instead, he sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant finds Rebecca who agrees to marry Isaac. A future is guaranteed.
Abraham could have simply mourned and focused on the past and his time with his Sarah. Instead, Abraham wastes no time in actively making sure that the future that he, Sarah, and God had been working on would be vibrant and successful.
The lesson is clear. The past must be remembered but not be morbidly dwelled on. Our tradition teaches that there is always a future. Our job is to proactively plan for and nurture that Jewish future that we hope for our children and grandchildren.
Look back, learn, and use what we have learned to ensure the future that we pray for.
Shabbat Shalom – Rabbi Michael Jay
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Candle Lighting Time
(Southern Ocean County)
Shabbat Eve
Friday, November 14, 2025
4:23 PM
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Friday
November 14, 2024
SERVICES
7:30 PM
ON ZOOM ONLY
Here is
your invitation from
Rabbi Jay to join Services
on Zoom
FRIDAY NIGHT
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Saturday
November 15, 2025
9:00 AM
ON ZOOM ONLY
.Here is
your invitation from
Rabbi Jay to join
Zoom services
SATURDAY MORNING
The Kiddish is sponsored by Harris Weisel in memory of his father Isador Weisel
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TORAH READING
Parashat Chayei Sara
Genesis 23:1-25:18
Chayei Sarah (“The Life of Sarah”) opens as Sarah dies and Abraham buys the Cave of Machpelah to bury her. Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac. The servant meets Rebecca at a well, and Rebecca returns with the servant to marry Isaac. Abraham remarries, has more children, and dies at age 175.
Here is the Portion
HAFTORAH
I Kings 1:1-31
This week's haftorah describes an aging King David, echoing this week's Torah reading, which mentions that "Abraham was was old, advanced in days."
Here is the Haftorah
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WEEKDAY SERVICES
Monday - Thursday
Ma'ariv Service
7:30 PM
Here is your invitation from Rabbi Jay to
join Zoom services:
MA'ARIV
Monday - Friday
Shacharit Service
8:15 AM
Sunday at 9:00 AM
Here is your invitation from Rabbi Jay to
join Zoom services:
SHACHARIT
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SUNDAY, November 16
Pickleball
10 AM - 1 PM
******
TUESDAY, November 18
Pickleball
10 AM - 1 PM
WAX Book Review
4:00 PM
******
WEDNESDAY, November 19
Canasta & Mah Jongg
12:30 - 4 PM
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THURSDAY, November 20
Torah Study
11 AM
Pickleball
10 AM - 1 PM
*****
FRIDAY, November 21
Studying the Prophets
following morning minyan
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Friday, November 14
LBI Table
11:00 AM
Wednesday, November 19
WAX Book Review
4:00 PM
Sunday, November 23
PJP Shtetl Series
“A Virtual Tour of the Once
Jewish Towns of Eastern Europe”
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Friday, December 12
WAX Brunch
at Beach Bum
11:00 AM
Sunday, December 14
PJP Shtetl Series
“Exploring the Lives of Jewish Children in Eastern Europe”
Thursday, December 17
WAX Book Club
Alliyah: A Jewish Family Saga
by Harold Emanuel
4:00 PM
Friday, December 19
Hanukah Shabbat Dinner
6:00 PM
Wednesday December 31
New Year's Eve Celebration
8:30 PM
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MAH JONGG & CANASTA
WEDNESDAYS
12:30 PM TO 4:00 PM
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PICKLEBALL
Sundays and Thursdays
10 - 1
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Mah Jongg Isn’t Just a Game — It’s a Way of Life
For Jewish women of a certain age, playing mah jongg is as inevitable as eating Chinese food on Christmas, or complaining that you’re hungry on Yom Kippur.
Read more.....
from kveller.com
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LIST OF
JCC OF LBI EVENTS
TO PUT ON
YOUR REFRIGERATOR
CLICK HERE
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WAX BOOK DISCUSSION
The third Wednesday of each Month
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Wednesday, November 19th at 4:00 pm
Discussion Leader: TBA
ON ZOOM
Beyond the Rivers of Babylon: My Journey of Optimism and Resilience
in a Turbulent Century
By Joseph Samuels and Julie Fax
Growing up on his family’s cattle farm in western Iceland, young Orri has gained an appreciation for the beauty Rowing upon the Tigris River to enjoy a summer campfire on the tiny islands that emerged every summer, teenaged Joseph Samuels never could have imagined that these waters would soon become his only hope for freedom. At the age of 19, he was forced to leave his family behind as he smuggled out of Iraq in the secret hold of a Basra riverboat to escape the violent and repressive anti-Semitism that, over the next few years, would spell the end of the twomillennium old Iraqi Jewish community. Beyond the Rivers of Babylon follows Joe’s remarkable journey, from his colorful childhood in the Old Jewish Quarter of Baghdad, to his life-altering service in the Israeli Navy, to starting a family and building a real estate empire in Montreal and Los Angeles. Blessed with a landscape of a home that is no more, and in the process imparts the lessons of a life lived to its fullest. remarkably vivid memory and a keen ability to look inward, Joe paints a sensoryJoe paints a sensory landscape of a home that is no more, and in the process imparts the lessons of a life lived to the fullest.
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The JCC section at Crescent Memorial Park is available for sales. Please contact Bonni Rubin-Sugarman at 609-417-7148.
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We are very excited to add to the WAX Gift Shop items from local merchants and artisans. Stop in to look and buy one (or more) of these beautiful pieces for your home, as a gift or just for yourself.
The gift shop is open during office hours M-F 10 - 2.
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CALL PAUL LEVINE WITH ANY QUESTIONS
484-802-0586
SEE ORDER FORM BELOW
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The following names will be read by the Rabbi on Friday evening:
Rhea Britz*
Gladys Krechovitz*
Abraham Lazar
Evelyn B. Sholin
Paul Starr
Jerome Szanger*
Harold Eiser
Mildred Greenwald*
Ernst Halpern
Yetta Houzman
Isadore Isaac Levy
Glen Medvin*
Claire Seavey
Irving Shapiro
Eli Starr MD
Sophie Ehrlich
Nisson Ben-Avraham
Ida Koupf
Gail Merson
Julius Rosenthal
Laurence Sherman
Sidney Miller
Dave Rothenberg
Siegfried Brenman
Rebecca Josolowitz
Sol Karpman
Max Kincus
Ellis Levin*
Evelyn Smith
Wilbur Hait
Philip Josolowitz
Helen Pripstein*
Anne Katherine Reiser*
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.
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Eileen Feldgus
November 16
Carole (Cookie) Gomer
November 17
David Hamburger
November 17
Mitchell Frumkin
November 18
Stephen C. Gilbert
November 19
Linda Harowitz
November 20
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Marc & Judith Landis
November 15
27th Anniversary
Arnold & Susan Baskies
November 18
52nd Anniversary
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SHARE YOUR NEWS
AND PICTURES
CONTACT:
rvalen1963@aol.com
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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
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HERE IS A THANKSGIVING BOOKLET
FROM jewbelong
FILLED WITH
SONGS AND READINGS
FOR YOUR THANKSGIVING TABLE.
CLICK HERE
SAMPLE READING
THANKSGIVING PRAYER
Rabbi Naomi Levy
For the laughter of the children,
For my own life breath,
For the abundance of food on this table,
For the ones who prepared this sumptuous feast,
For the roof over our backs.
For our health,
And our wealth of blessings.
For this opportunity to celebrate with family and friends,
For the freedom to pray these words
Without fear,
In any language,
In any faith,
In this great country
Whose landscape is as vast and beautiful as her inhabitants,
Thank You God, for giving us all these.
AMEN
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YOU CAN NOW FILL OUT A GIVING FORM AND PAY ON LINE IN ONE SIMPLE PROCESS.
Go to jccoflbi.org - Giving/Pay
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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:
PAVER 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:
dihoff1@aol.com
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
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.
Since then, three additional individual Endowment Funds have been established. Other members are encouraged to also provide for the future of our JCC by establishing similar funds. Please consider adding to this number.
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:
YAHRZEIT
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
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2025 MEMBERSHIP FORMS
Your support is so important to the continued success of the JCC.
Here is form for renewal:
RENEW NOW
And if you have been reading our Shabbat Reminder and other communications and have not yet joined our congregation, here is the new member form:
JOIN NOW
BE A PART OF THE WOMEN'S AUXILLARY
2025 DUES FORM HERE
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JCC FUNDS
Your gift to the JCC supports 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.
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JCC LEADERSHIP
OFFICERS
President- Phil Rosenzweig
1ST Vice President-Sherry Fruchterman
2ND Vice President-Diane Hoffman
3RD Vice President- Jon Geier
Treasurer- Stu Cofsky
Secretary- Cliff Denker
Immediate Past President -Michael Babst
BOARD MEMBERS
Howard Babbitt
Diane Buskirk
Lorna Klein
Ken Podos
Sondi Pripstein
Terri Robinovitz
David Shatz
Bonni Rubin-Sugarman
Rose Valentine
Ken Yudman
WOMEN'S AUXILIARY
President - Diane Buskirk
Treasurer - Suzy Geier
Secretary - Joanne Babbitt
Lorna Klein
Joyce Levine
Representative to the Board - Sondi Pripstein
Immediate Past President - Irene Babst
Rabbi Michael S. Jay, Spiritual Leader
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