Vayikra. This Shabbat we begin the third book of the Torah. In rabbinic times, the first centuries of the Common Era, children began their Torah study with Leviticus. Rabbi Issi explained: “Sacrifices are pure and children are pure; let the pure come and engage in the pure” (Vayikra Rabbah 7:3). A couple of readings from my classmates…
This coming Shabbat morning we will celebrate our new Shabbat siddur. This prayer book contains hundreds of insightful and uplifting commentaries and transliterations. This siddur is similar in format to our High Holyday prayer book, which has received rave reviews. We are grateful for this most recent gift to our community from Barbara and Joe…
We are down to the final months of our significant transition of passing the torch from our treasured Preschool Director Lisa Heller to our incoming Director Sharon Alkin. Lisa Heller has been the beacon and driving force of the Preschool at Congregation B’nai Israel for twenty years. Lisa, with the help of many of our…
As many of you know, I have been the Child Development Center Preschool Director for 20 years. Those years have been filled with amazing memories and experiences with the children, staff and synagogue. During those years, I have developed lifetime relationships with other Jewish early childhood community leaders and I have applied my skills to…
Linda and I spent twelve days in Israel. We combined participation on a biennial Rabbinic Mission of Israel Bonds and visits with our daughter, Anna, who is spending a semester at Tel Aviv University. The following are some brief observations. Daily life: In the NYTimes this morning, there is only one report on Israel: two…
The fourth grade class and their parents gathered to learn about Torah and to make Yadi’im, the special pointers used to read from the Torah scroll. With support from the Daniel Zembrosky Youth in Art Fund, we worked with Gary Rosenthal’s Hiddur Mitzvah program to make Yadi’im from glass tiles that will be fused together to…
Congratulations to Rabbi Robin (Hoffman) Foonberg, our Director of Education, for being awarded the prestigious CJE award. To be considered for this title, “Conservative Jewish Educator”, Robin demonstrated her leadership in the field of Jewish Education as well as outstanding education credentials. This award is given by the Jewish Educators Assembly, the national body of…
Congratulations to our USY for winning the Chapter of Excellence award!