A MESSAGE FROM THE RABBI

At the end of this message, I have an important assignment for you.

In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, Moses tells the people that when they enter the Promised Land, they are to bring their first fruits to the Kohen (as a tithe) in the place that God chooses (Jerusalem), and make the following proclamation:

My father was a fugitive Aramean. He went down to Egypt with meager numbers and sojourned there; but there he became a great and very populous nation. The Egyptians dealt harshly with us and oppressed us; they imposed heavy labor upon us. We cried to God, the God of our ancestors, and God heard our plea and saw our plight, our misery, and our oppression.  God freed us from Egypt by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm and awesome power, and by signs and portents, bringing us to this place and giving us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, God, have given me.

If it sounds familiar, it is because we recite it near the beginning of our Seders every year. It is a summary of the story of our people up until that point. 

The requirement to recite the story ensures that we will not forget it. The system works. Some Three thousand years later, the story is as clear to us as if it happened yesterday.

The genius of Moses’ requirement cannot be overestimated. By openly, orally, and publicly, recalling our story we continually connect ourselves to the past, even as we look toward the future.

We are a people of storytellers. Every week we read a piece of our story in the Torah. Three times a day our prayers remind us of our history. The tales are our life breath. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Z”L, said that as a “covenantal people”, we exist to honor a bond, pledge, or moral undertaking. For the Jewish people, God made a promise and God kept it. We recite the story to remind ourselves how, and why, we got here. The story is who we are, and we are the story.

Shortly we will be getting together as families and communities for Rosh Hashanah. This year, as we sit around our tables, or walk to shul, or walk on the beach, or watch the sunset, make sure to recall the story(ies) of our people, but also share your own, more personal, stories.

On some level, I am convinced that the sound of the shofar is designed to be a remote control that hits the play button of our communal and personal stories. We are here because of events that happened before. Our present becomes richer when we share our stories. And the future we hope for, becomes possible because we do not forget tales.

ASSIGNMENT: This is unrelated to the preceding Shabbat Message (which I hope you enjoyed.). I want to you to tell me how you define “hope”. Email me at Mjayrab@gmail.com. Many thanks.

Shabbat Shalom – Rabbi Michael S. Jay



Thank you to the Membership Committee for hosting a wonderfully traditional Shabbat Dinner last Friday evening. New and potential members were introduced and a delicious dessert table was sponsored by Sherry & Howard Fruchterman in memory of Howard's father Seymour.

Special yasher koah to Stu Lehrer for conducting a meaningful Shabbat service followed the dinner.

SHOWING OF THE DOCUMENTARY "SCREAMS BEFORE SILENCE."

A full house of 70 plus watched this important film last Sunday morning. Thank you to Phyllis Cohen who debriefed the group and to Allison Nagelberg who shared what JNF is doing in Israel. We hope folks will reach out to their other congregations and organizations to encourage them to show the film.

The film can be viewed on youtube with this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAr9oGSXgak. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Shabbat Candle

Lighting time

Friday evening

September 20, 2024

6:49 PM

JOIN US FOR

SERVICES

September 20, 2024

6:00 PM

SERVICES

7:30 PM

IN PERSON AND ON ZOOM

Here is 

your invitation from 

Rabbi Jay to join Services

on Zoom

FRIDAY NIGHT

Saturday,

September 21, 2024

9:00 AM

ZOOM ONLY

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your invitation from 

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Zoom services

SHABBAT

TORAH READING

Parashat Ki Tavo

Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8

Ki Tavo (“When You Come”) opens by describing the ceremony of the first fruit offering (bikkurim) and the declaration made upon the completion of tithing. It concludes with a detailed description of blessings that follow obedience to God's laws and curses that come with their desecration.

Here is Parshah

HAFTORAH

Isaiah 60:1-22

Here is the Haftorah

.HAVDALLAH

8:00 PM

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your invitation from 

Rabbi Jay to join

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HAVDALLAH

WEEKDAY SERVICES

Monday - Thursday

Ma'ariv Service

7:30 PM

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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

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

Pickleball

See times below

PJP Program

Jewish Copenhagen

12:30 PM

*****

MONDAY, September 23

Rabbi's Class

10:00 PM

Canasta & Mah Jongg

12:30 - 3:00 PM

******

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Pickleball

See times below

******

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25

Canasta & Mah Jongg

12:30 PM

Study with Cantor Geller

7:45 PM

*********

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

Pickleball

SEE TIMES BELOW

Torah Study with Rabbi

11:00 AM

Intermediate Hebrew with Ira

2:00 PM

***********

FRIDAY,

SEPTEMBER 27

Studying the Prophets

with Rabbi Jay

9:00 AM

WAX Brunch

Jersey Girls, Beach Haven

11:00 PM

Sunday, September 22

PJP Program

Travel the Jewish World

Jewish Copenhagen

12:30 PM

Friday,

September 27

WAX Brunch before High Holidays

Jersey Girls, Beach Haven

11:00 PM

Sunday, September 29

Federation Film Festival

Film: "No Name Restaurant"

7:00 PM

CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE CALENDAR OF EVENTS

COUNT DOWN TO THE HIGH HOLIDAYS

Rosh Hashanah

Wednesday evening, October 2, 2024

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Friday, October 4, 20024

Yom Kippur

Friday evening, October 11, 2024

Saturday October 12, 2024

CLICK FOR THE JCC HIGH HOLIDAY BROCHURE

Ushers are needed for the High Holidays. Please contact Harold Farin if you can help. 732-546-2767

Cantor Geller sang in a quartet which is included in this free virtual concert next Tuesday evening at 8:00 pm. The piece is "Lcha Adonay" by Louis Lewandoski 

Click here to register: HIGH HOLIDAY CONCERT

It isn't Rosh Hashanah without duvshaniyot.

By Vered Guttman | September 11, 2024

Apples dipped in honey and honey cakes are popular across the Jewish world around Rosh Hashanah. But if you grew up in Israel, you most likely came across a unique variation of honey treats: duvshaniyot. These dense, dark, round honey cookies are a must in many families’ High Holidays nosh rotation.

READ MORE ABOUT THE FACINATING HISTORY OF THESE ICONIC COOKIES BY CLICKING HERE.

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• ¾ cup honey
• ¼ cup light or dark brown sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp each cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, allspice
• ⅛ tsp black pepper
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp lemon or orange zest
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute half with rye flour)

For the sugar glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2–3 Tbsp water

Instructions

1. Place a saucepan with ½ inch water on a burner and turn to medium heat. Put a large metal or glass bowl over the saucepan and bring water to simmer. Once the water boils. Add honey, sugar, butter and spices to the bowl and mix until butter melts and all the ingredients incorporate. Remove bowl from the heat and let cool for about 30 minutes.
2. Add eggs and lemon zest to the bowl and mix. 
3. Add baking powder, baking soda and flour to the mixture and mix with a wooden spoon or a spatula until smooth. Cover bowl and place in the fridge for 4 hours and up to overnight.
4. When you‘re ready to bake, turn the oven to 350F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Use your hands to roll 1-inch-round cookies and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheet.
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes, switching between baking sheets after 7 minutes, until cookies are just golden at the bottom. Do not over-bake, as the cookies will become too hard. Transfer to a cooling rack until completely cold.
7. To make the sugar glaze, mix powdered sugar, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp water with a spoon in a medium bowl. If the mixture seems too dry, add up to 1 Tbsp more water and keep on mixing until a smooth glaze is formed.
8. Dip the cookie tops in the glaze and put back on the cooling rack to set.

The cookie dough needs to chill in the refrigerator, or up to overnight.

The cookies will improve with time, bake them at least two days before serving, though you can keep them in a sealed container at room temperature up to a month.

WAX BOOK GROUP

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS EACH MONTH

NEXT BOOK REVIEW MEETING

NO BOOK FOR OCTOBER

Wednesday, November 20th at 4:00 pm

Discussion Leader: TBA

The Little Liar

By: Mitch Albom

Eleven-year-old Nico Krispis has never told a lie. His schoolmate, Fannie, loves him because of it. Nico’s older brother Sebastian resents him for both these facts.When their young lives are torn apart during the war, it will take them decades to find each other again. Nico’s innocence and goodness is used against his tightly knit community when a German officer

barters Nico’s reputation for honesty into a promise to save his loved ones. When Nico realizes the

consequences of the betrayal, he can never tell the truth again. He will spend the rest of this life changing

names, changing locations and identities, desperate to find a way to forgiveness—for himself and from the

people he loves most. Albom’s extraordinary storytelling is at its powerful best in his first novel to confront

the destruction that lying can wreak both on the world stage as well as on the individual lives that get

caught up in it. As The Stranger in the Lifeboat spoke to belief, The Little Liar speaks to hope, in a breathless page-turner that will break your heart open and fill it with the power of the human spirit and the goodness

that lies within us all. Narrated by the voice of Truth itself, The Little Liar is a timeless story about the power

of love to ultimately redeem us, no matter how deeply we blame ourselves for our mistakes.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13 TO GIVE OUT WATER AND CHEER THE RUNNERS PARTICIPATING IN THE 18-MILE RUN

Come to the front of the JCC building at 10:00 AM. Let the office know you will be volunteering.

The run is dedicated to the Israeli Olympic Athletes murdered in Munich 52 years ago.

"May their memory be a blessing"

Again this year with our participationn

in the PJP Consortium,

you can visit Jewish communities around the world virtually.

CONGREGATION NEWS

SHARE YOUR NEWS

AND PICTURES

CONTACT: 

rvalen1963@aol.com

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 

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

2024 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:

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