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JEWISH COMMUNITY
CENTER OF
LONG BEACH ISLAND
E-LETTER
December 29, 2023
17 Tevet 5784
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FOR THE BEST VIEWING OF THE SHABBAT REMINDER,
CLICK HERE
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A TORAH MESSAGE
Rabbi & Sheri are on a well deserved vacation. We have asked Deborah Miller if we could share with our readers a Torah message she authored. You may remember in the Spring of 2022, Debby spoke about Hagar for one of our Kol Nashim programs. She is the JTS Program Coordinator, Fellowship for Applied Jewish Wisdom.
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Family relationships are often complicated, but the family of Jacob is a particularly jumbled mess. In this week’s parashah, the story has hints and echoes of a decades-long, tangled skein of family dynamics. We see these in two particularly problematic scenes in this parashah. Both scenes illustrate William Faulkner’s truism that “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” And in this story, we see how the past leaks into the future.
Let’s take the two scenes out of order: the first one to consider comes toward the end of the story. After Jacob dies, his sons send a message to their brother, Joseph, whom they had plotted to kill when he was 17 years old, and whom they sold into Egyptian bondage. Joseph subsequently became the second most powerful person in Egypt, and used his power to save his father and brothers and their families from famine and destitution, settling them and their considerable livestock in a good place in Egypt.
And yet, 17 years later, after Jacob dies, the brothers say:
“What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrong that we did him?” So they sent this message to Joseph: “Before his death, your father left this instruction: ‘So shall you say to Joseph, “Forgive, I urge you, the offense and the guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly.’” Therefore, please forgive the offense of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph was in tears as they spoke to him. (Gen. 50 15–17)
There are many ways of understanding these tears. One way is that Joseph is abjectly disappointed in his relationship with his brothers. After all this time, and after all he has done to sustain them, they still don’t trust him.
There is another possible layer. What he really wants is to be accepted by his brothers as a brother—and it is clear from their message that they still see him one-dimensionally: he is the former victim of their murderous intent, who now has the power to take revenge. Where once he was the victim, they are now worried that they will be his victims. There is no way in which they are peers. Their way of relating is entirely hierarchical, and entirely based on power.
And there is yet another dimension. The brothers demonstrate that they have not grown in all the years that have passed. In contrast, Joseph has grown. He long ago stopped being the spoiled child, and even the manipulative vizier. Yet, the brothers are still stuck in their old stories, with their blindered vision.
The other, much more poetic, story is the long section in which Jacob predicts the future of the brothers (Gen 49:1–27). Here, again, many of the harshest predictions are based on the brothers’ previous actions within the family. In Jacob’s view, there is no growing beyond those incidents.
We do not know if, in fact, the brothers have changed their behavior in the years since some of them did truly atrocious things: Reuben bedding one of Jacob’s wives (35:22); Shimon and Levi destroying an entire town (34:25–29). But Jacob does not envision any possibility for future development either. And he seems to be consigning the next generations of these sons, his own grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to the fury of his curses. This helps us understand the brothers. They are like Jacob.
In this family, the Torah provides us with two different ways of seeing the world: we can say, “You were always . . . .” and cut off avenues of growth, the desire for growth, and the perception of growth. That way seems very Greek to me: once the Fates have decided who you are, that is your destiny. There is no way out of it.
I recently asked my grandson, Zeke, if the thought that Jacob’s negative words were predictions or curses. Zeke, who is a first-year in college, said that, had Jacob allowed for reflection and change, these negative predictions could have become blessings.
Zeke’s way is more like Joseph’s way of seeing the world: throughout his interactions with his brothers, Joseph has provided opportunities for his brothers to change; has demonstrated change, himself; and has encouraged others to see the world that way. I believe that is why he is called, “Yosef Hatzadik”—“Joseph, the Righteous One.” Maybe we should aspire to be the Children of Joseph, instead of the Children of Israel!
But there is a bit of consolation in the fact that we carry the name of Jacob/Israel. In spite of all of Jacob’s flaws and failings, God is always with Jacob. At every transition, at every challenge, there is God, encouraging him. I take comfort in this fact. If God can like Jacob, God can also like us! Perhaps we are well-named as “the Children of Israel” after all.
The publication and distribution of the JTS Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee (z”l) and Harold Hassenfeld (z”l).
2017
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SHABBAT SHALOM
Shabbat Candle
Lighting time
Friday evening
December 29, 2023
4:24 PM
JOIN US FOR SERVICES
Friday, December 29, 2023
SERVICES
6:30 PM
ON ZOOM ONLY
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Cantor Sara Geller
will leading services
Here is
your invitation from
Rabbi Jay to join
Zoom services
FRIDAY NIGHT
Saturday,
December 30, 2023
9:00 AM
ON ZOOM ONLY
Here is
your invitation from
Rabbi Jay to join
Zoom services
SHABBAT
TORAH READING
Parashat Vayechi
Genesis 47:28-50:26
Here is the Parshah
Vayechi (“He Lived”) is the final Torah portion in the Book of Genesis. It opens as Jacob prepares for his death, making his son Joseph swear to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah. Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons and his own 12 sons and then dies. Jacob’s sons bury him. The portion ends with Joseph’s death.
HAFTORAH
I Kings 2:1-12
Here is the Haftorah
NO HAVDALLAH THIS WEEK
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.WEEKDAY
SERVICES
NO SERVICES SUNDAY EVENING AND MONDAY MORNING THIS WEEK
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Sunday - 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
| Each year in January, we purge our Mishaberach List. All names will be removed. Please respond to the offfice with your names to be included on our Healing List. Do not respond to this email but contact the office directly with the button below | | |
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THIS WEEK'S ACTIVITIES
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31
NO Pickleball
MONDAY, JANUARY 1
SPECIAL SESSION
2 - 4 PM
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 2
NO Pickleball
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 3
Canasta & Mah Jongg
12:30 PM
Rabbi's Class
"The Case for Israel"
7:30 PM following minyan
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 4
Pickleball
10:00 AM
Torah Study with the Rabbi
11:00 AM
Intermediate Hebrew with Ira
2:00 PM
PJP Program
Jewish Mysticism
8:30 PM
FRIDAY JANUARY 5
Studying the Prophets
9:00 AM
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PICKLEBALL
SUNDAY 10:00 AM
TUESDAY 3:00 PM
THURSDAY 10:00 AM
Reminder: Pickleball for members only!
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MAH JONGG & CANASTA
WEDNESDAYS
12:30 PM TO 4:00 PM
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January Shabbat Dinner
Friday, January 5
6:30 PM
Successful Retirement & Successful Aging with Bernard Hershenberg
Sunday, January 7
12:30 PM
PJP Program
"Jewish Egypt"
Sunday, January 7
1:00 PM
WAX Brunch
Place TBD
Friday, January 12
WAX Book Discussion
Thursday, Jamuary 18
4:00 PM
Learn Signing
Friday, January 19
10:00 AM
Cholentfest
Saturday, January 20
11:30 AM
following services
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MEN AND WOMEN ARE INVITED FOR THIS VERY IMPORTANT DISCUSSION | |
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WAX BOOK GROUP DISCUSSION
THURSDAYS AT 4:00 PM
NEXT BOOK REVIEW MEETING
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Thursday, January 18th at 4:00 pm
Discussion Leader: Rabbi Jay
How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss
On October 27, 2018, eleven Jews were gunned down as they prayed at their synagogue in Pittsburgh. It was the deadliest attack on Jews in American history.
For most Americans, the massacre at Tree of Life, the synagogue where Bari Weiss became a bat mitzvah, came as a shock. But anti-Semitism is the oldest hatred, commonplace across the Middle East and on the rise for years in Europe. So that terrible morning in Pittsburgh, as well as the continued surge of hate crimes against Jews in cities and towns across the country, raise a question Americans cannot avoid: Could it happen here? This book is Weiss’s answer.
Like many, Weiss long believed this country could escape the rising tide of anti-Semitism. With its promise of free speech and religion, its insistence that all people are created equal, its tolerance for difference, and its emphasis on shared ideals rather than bloodlines, America has been, even with all its flaws, a new Jerusalem for the Jewish people. But now the luckiest Jews in history are beginning to face a three-headed dragon known all too well to Jews of other times and places: the physical fear of violent assault, the moral fear of ideological vilification, and the political fear of resurgent fascism and populism.
Bari Weiss is an American journalist, writer, and editor. She was an op-ed and book review editor at The Wall Street Journal (2013–2017)[1] and an op-ed staff editor and writer on culture and politics at The New York Times (2017–2020).[2] Since March 1, 2021, she has worked as a regular columnist for German daily newspaper Die Welt.[3] Weiss founded the media company The Free Press (formerly Common Sense) and hosts the podcast Honestly.
NEXT BOOK
The Enemy Beside Me by Naomi Ragen
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Thanks to our membership in the PJP we are able to enjoy a variety of programs. Here are the new programming lists. No need to register in advance. | |
PJP Series "What Jews Think”
2023-2024
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Thursday, January 4 @8:30 PM
Dr. Eitan Fishbane, Jewish Theological Seminary “Ideas of God in Jewish Mysticism”
In this session, we will explore the varied, fascinating, and inspiring ways in which Jewish mystical thinkers and practitioners have understood and described the nature and character of Divinity. Drawing on lyrical and symbolism-infused texts from the Kabbalah of 13th century Spain (especially that of the Zohar), the Kabbalah of 16th century Tzfat, to that of the spiritual masters of modern eastern European Hasidism, we will study such ideas as: the Ein-Sof (No End or Infinity); the sefirot as the inner luminous dimensions of God‘s self, the emanations of a river of heavenly divine light and breath; God as the ultimate fountain of pure compassion/Rahamim; the monistic and pantheistic — the radically immanent — vision of God as the interconnected life force of all Being.
Dr. Eitan Fishbane is Professor of Jewish Thought at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), where he has taught for 17 years. Among Professor Fishbane’s published books are: The Art of Mystical Narrative: A Poetics of the Zohar (Oxford University Press, 2018); As Light Before Dawn: The Inner World of a Medieval Kabbalist (Stanford University Press, 2009); and, most recently, Embers of Pilgrimage (Panui Poetry Series, 2021). Fishbane received his Ph.D. and B.A., summa cum laude, from Brandeis University.
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PJP Travel Programs
2023-2024
Sunday, January 7 @ 1:00 PM
“Jewish Egypt” with Louise Arwas
Over the course of our virtual tour we will be time travelling: From the time of Moses, through to the Golden Age of Egyptian Jewry, and right up to present day Jewish Egypt. We will visit an Egypt that was tolerant and open, yet indigenous and traditional, where Jews and their Muslim neighbors lived harmoniously, and extended, multigenerational families lived seemingly safe and joyous existences. We will be journeying through world history and Jewish history (and some of my own family history), and along the way we’ll stop at some of the most iconic Jewish sites in Egypt. We will remember what was - and maybe what can be again someday.
Louise Arwas is originally from London. Her father, grandparents and great-grandparents came from Alexandria, Egypt, but were expelled, together with 30,000 Jews, during the Suez Crisis of 1956. She is currently involved in several related education projects, including organizing heritage tours to Cairo and Alexandria with former community members. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87840526057?pwd=UEw3Uy9BVEh1NGhGKy9GTHhpYWg1Zz09
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Join us for our 2nd 3-Part Series on Jewish Hollywood
FUTURE PROGRAMS
Funny Girls Part 2 - Jan 18, 2024 - 8:30 PM
Those Were the Days - Feb 22, 2024 - 8:30 PM
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The following names will be read by the Rabbi on Friday evening:
Paul Sidel
Ruth Albu
Richard Aronson
Sidney Bitton
Ruth Grossman
Julius Rapaport*
Janet Runko
Sophie Silver*
Walter Blumberg
Rose Gerstenblatt
Evelyn Davis Kolsby*
Andrea Lander
Arnold Brasch
Rose Dondershine*
Margie Miller
Katy Poster*
Hilda Rich
Abner Silver*
Sam Beckerman
MaryAnn Blum
William Carey
Laura B. Dicicco
Leo Labran
Shirley Slomovitz
Beatrice Chazin
Jeanne Goldstein
Robert Heller
Edna Katz
William Markowitz*
Edward R. Spencer*
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.
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Samuel Sisenwine
December 30
Joan Blattner
December 31
Stephen Lishnoff
January 1
David Hendler
January 2
Gary Morgenstern
January 3
Eileen Powitz
January 3
Max Scheer
January 3
Joel Rosenberg
January 4
Charles Schleifer
January 4
Howard Treatman
January 5
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Clifford & Jill Denker
December 30
39th Anniversary
Paul & Renie Carniol
January 3
48th Anniversary
Robert & Lynn Levitt
January 5
60th Anniversary
| SHERRY & HOWARD FRUCHTERMAN | |
SHARE YOUR NEWS
AND PICTURES
CONTACT:
rvalen1963@aol.com
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MEET THE SOUP TROOP: Noralyn Carroll, Irene Babst and new member Robin Genna. They made soup in the JCC kitchen to be given to our members who are not feeling well. Contact Irene or Noralyn if you or if you know of a member who needs some Jewish penicillin. Local delivery only! | | |
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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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YOU CAN NOW FILL OUT A GIVING FORM AND PAY ON LINE IN ONE SIMPLE PROCESS.
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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 z"l 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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2023 MEMBERSHIP FORMS
Your support is so important to the continued success of the JCC.
Here is form for renewal:
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:
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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- Rose Valentine
Treasurer- Ira Morgenthal
Secretary- Cliff Denker
Immediate Past President -Michael Babst
BOARD MEMBERS
Howard Babbitt
Diane Buskirk
Mitch Frumkin
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Jon Geier
Paul Levine
Ken Podos
Terri Robinovitz
David Shatz
Bonni Rubin-Sugarman
WOMEN'S AUXILIARY
President - Diane Buskirk
Co-Vice President - Noralyn Carroll
Co-Vice President - Jill Denker
Treasurer - Suzy Geier
Secretary - Joanne Babbitt
Immediate Past President - Irene Babst
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