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Getting Closer

And now our news but before that, a moment of prayer:

Congregation Or Hadash along with all of Beit Israel are saying Kadish in memory of 5 members of the Fogel family who were brutally murdered in Itamar last week. We all mourn the loss of innocent lives and we pray we can all live in peace in Israel and through out the whole world.

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Tomorrow, once again we will be honored celebrating a double Bar Mitzvah ceremony. As we told you last week, since the beginning of 2011 we have been blessed with dozens of B’nai and B’not Mitzvah celebrations. We would like to wish a big Mazal Tov to Joshua Gottlieb who came to Israel with his family from Florida, to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah at the Wall yesterday, March 17^th.

Now we will tell you what happened at Or Hadash this week:

1. On Sunday, March 13^th, I had a day filled with individual B’nai Mitzvah lessons since I’m going to be away for a couple of weeks and they all need to be prepared. Sunday evening I had a class filled with 35 B’nai Mitzvah kids and parents.

2. On Monday I had the pleasure of spending the day with Rabbi Joel Soffin, his wife Sandy, Michael Friedman - President of EcolSciences and his wife Brynn, from Temple Shalom in Succasunna, NJ. It was so wonderful to have them here! Rabbi Soffin’s Helping Hand Organization donated a personal computer to a needy boy in Haifa. We visited some of our Tikun Olam projects and ended the day visiting Kibbutz Beit Oren where we are still helping Family Ronen who has lost their home and livelihood to the devastating Carmel fire last Dec.

In the picture:

The group visiting Emee’s ruined ceramic studio in Kibbutz Beit Oren

3. On Tuesday, March 15^th, our very good friend Rabbi Andy Busch and 50 Baltimore Hebrew congregants visited us and we all had lunch together at Or Hadash. Rabbi Busch has been my friend for over 10 years. He was the senior Rabbi of Beth David in Gladwyn, PA, when I became senior Rabbi at Or Hadash 11 years ago. Rabbi Busch and his congregants visited Or Hadash shelter and received explanation about the air purifying machine that was donated to us in great urgency during the 2^nd Lebanon war by Temple Beth David while Rabbi Andy Busch was senior Rabbi.

These days we are establishing great new connections with Main Line congregation in PA and with Baltimore.

In the picture: Rabbi Andy Busch and Baltimore Hebrew congregants in Or Hadash sanctuary.

4. On Wednesday, March 16^th we celebrated Purim with our preschools. In the evening, we had an historic even at Or Hadash: Around 100 women from 25 Reform congregations in Israel came to Or Hadash for a very special evening dedicated to the work of sisterhoods. Representative from many sisterhoods in Israel and the world participated and made the evening an unforgettable success. Israel Sisterhood President, Risa Davis honored us with her presence, as well as Lynn Magid Lazar, Colette Avital-former MK and today Israel ambassador, and many more. WRJ gathers under its wings some 65,000 women in America, in around 500 Reform congregations.

I had the privilege of joining the table of Risa Davis, Lynn Magid-Lazar and our very own sisterhood President who organized this special evening- Anat Perelman. Many Israeli Reform congregations were honored with WRJ charter and gavels, and had the opportunity to present their projects.

Anat Perlman presented Tikun Olam projects that Or Hadash is involved with.

Many Rabbis came to support their congregation’s sisterhoods among them Rabbi Miri Gold from Gezer, Rabbi Ilana Baird from Carmel Shirat Hayam, Rabbi Gadi Dagan from Ohel Avraham, Rabbinic student Gadi Raviv from Karmiel, rabbinic student Niko Sokolovsky who is making his practicum in Or Hadash and works for Rabbis for Human Rights, Rabbi Kori Zeildler from Tivon, and of course Rabbi Stanley Davis who is former ARZA president, a good friend of ours and the master photographer for the evening, Ami Perlman and I took quit a bit of pictures as well J

In the picture: Anat Perelman, Collet Avital and Lynn Magid-Lazar

5. On Thursday, March 17^th, I drove to Jerusalem to celebrate and officiate a Bar Mitzvah ceremony for Joshua Gottlieb at the wall. Family Gottlieb came to Israel from Florida for the happy occasion. Also were present our good friends Isaac and Amparo Dargoltz, Joshua’s uncle and aunt. Later that evening I came back to teach a class of Ethics of our Fathers in English – a class held specifically for our English speaking congregants, and a later class of Torah Tropes.

6. Today, Friday morning we celebrated Kabalat Shabbat and Purim festival with our preschools that came in with beautiful costumes and lots of joy!! We will send you pictures soon.

7. Tomorrow, on Shabbat we will read Megillat Esther between 5:30-7.30 PM. We are hoping to host some 300 guests, half of which will be children under the age of 10 years old.

8. I`m getting more and more excited by the moment towards my visit to many sister congregations in the Boston area, between March 22^nd and April 3^rd.

My hosts for the visit will be my very good friends and family-like: Don and Sandy Perrin. Among many cherished friends I plan to visit Rabbi Ronne Friedman and his wife Irene, Helen Cohen and Rabbi Bernard Mehlman from Temple Israel in Boston, Rabbi Greg Litcofsky, Deenah Bloomstone, Diane and Chester Black and friends from Temple Shir Tikvah, where I will give Shabbat sermon while Rabbi Neal Gold will do the same at Or Hadash. I will also visit Rabbi David Kudan at Temple Tiferet Israel in Malden, Rabbi Joel Sisenwine, Rabbi Rachel Saphire, Cantor Jodi Suffrin, Jeff and Naomi Stonberg, Al and Judy Bernstein from Temple Beth Elohim, Rabbi Howard Jaffe and many friends in Temple Isaiah in Lexington, including Neil and Diane Exter. Rabbi Jonathan Krauss fromBeth El Temple Center in Belmont, Rabbi Joseph Meszler at Temple Sinai in Sharon, Rabbi Eric Gurvis, Dr. Phyllis Scherr, Fred Cohen and other members from Temple Shalom in Newton

Anyone reading our newsletters and would like to meet me or come listen to my lecture in one of the congregations I will be visiting, is welcome to email me and let me know. This visit is dedicated to spending quality time with our friends in the Boston area – Rabbis, educators, cantors and leaders.

Wishing you a very happy Purim and Shabbat Shalom,

In Friendship,

Edgar

posted @ Tuesday, March 29, 2011 8:00 AM by nofibarak

Getting Closer

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