How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together > OrHadashEn

How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together

Now I would like to tell you a bit about events of the last couple of weeks at Or Hadash:

1. That evening, I had the pleasure of accompanying Or Hadash’s sisterhood members to the Annual Symposium of WRJ - Israel, which took place in the city of Ra’anana. I`m happy to share with you that Or Hadash’s sisterhood delegation was one of the largest among our Israeli Reform Movement and included Dr. Anat Freund, Shlomit Becker, Jacqueline Zohar, Pnina Kapon-Sohetzky and my wife Deborah. WRJ Annual Symposium, organized by Resa Davis was outstanding! I had the privilege of having a long and very interesting conversation with Resa’s husband, Rabbi Stanley Davis. It was wonderful visiting Congregation Ra’anan which is led by my friend Rabbi Tamar Kolberg.

In the picture: Resa Davis and Anat Freund, who won the WRJ-Israel ruffle and received the Women Torah Commentary.

2. On Friday evening, Feb. 3^rd, we held a special service called Shabbat Shira, meaning “Singing Shabbat”. The Shabbat is special since the relevant Torah portion we read that week spoke about the singing of Moses, Miriam and Deborah.

Many overseas guests and friends participated in the service, including a small group of German teens from the city of Falkensee, who spontaneously organized a visit to their Haifa teen friends, our Or Hadash Youth.

Cantor Hollis Schachner, her husband Jeff and two adorable children, from our sister congregation Temple Shir Tikvah of Wayland, MA, also participated in services and then joined with frimy family for Shabbat dinner at our home. Dr. Jesse Lachter hosted Mary Jacobs, a friend from our sister congregation, Temple Beth Elohim of Wellesley, MA. The warm and joyous atmosphere in the synagogue was captivating and we all enjoyed it very much. Close to 180 congregants filled the synagogue. In the sermon I spoke about the seven prophetesses, especially praising Miriam and Deborah.

In the picture: volunteer soloist Vered Ivtsan and Cantor Hollis Schachner from Temple Shir Tikvah of Wayland, MA, at Or Hadash.

During Kabalat Shabbat I was pleasantly surprised to receive a beautiful souvenir from a group of congregants who celebrated their adult Bat Mitzvah ceremony back in June. Masha Goren, Laura Cohen, Eti Rosenberg, Mor Shofet, Zohar Kisler, Edna Kfir, Vered Ivtsan, Shulamit Shachaf, Tal Waxman, Bella Hirsch and Fanny Timor gifted me with a beautifully embroidered art piece to hang in my office. Thank you all for this very touching gift.

3. On Shabbat eve. Feb.4^th, after the Havdalah ceremony we held a congregational Tu B’Shavat Seder. Or Hadash’s President, Prof. Yoram Bar-Gal welcomed us and we all read the Tu B’Shvat Hagadah which was thoughtfully created by a group of volunteers, among them Shlomo Kfir, Vered Ivtsan, Zohar Kisler and Dr. Marina Firer. The evening was organized by Dr. Bruria Bar-Gal. Or Hadash’s choir – Shir Hadash opened with Tu B’Shvat songs and ended the celebratory evening singing “Am Israel Chai”.

In the picture: Tu B’Shvat Seder at Or Hadash.

4. On Sunday, Feb. 5^th, I visited the David Yelin Elementary School where I`ve been diligently working with 2 groups of 6^th grade girls to prepare them for a group Bat Mitzvah ceremony. The girls in the school’s gifted program will celebrate their special day at Or Hadash on March 1^st. Needless to say their excitement is quickly picking up, as well as contagious... we are expecting a beautiful ceremony.

On March 4^th I will celebrate the second group Bat Mitzvah ceremony, this time with the David Yelin’s other 6^th grade girls, at their school.

On Thursday, Feb. 9^th, I drove to Ma’Aganim Regional School where I prepare another group of girls for their Bat Mitzvah ceremony which will take place on March 2^nd at Or Hadash.

All together we are about to celebrate a B’not Mitzvah ceremony for up to 50 girls in one week! Anyone who is aware of how rare it is to celebrate Bat Mitzvah in Israel knows this is an extremely significant achievement which takes months of hard work and intense preparation.

5. On Tuesday, Feb. 7^th at 8 PM Israel time I had the honor and pleasure to skype our good friends in Temple Judea of Palm Beach Gardens in FL, about the current situation in Israel. I was glad to have the opportunity to speak with Rabbi Joel Levine, Ted Hoffman, Peter Hoffman and many other friends. I think skype is a brilliant way to communicate with friends and relatives as well as professionals overseas.

6. OnWednesday, Feb. 8^th, we celebrated Tu B’Shvat which is the New Year for the trees. Each of our preschool classes celebrated with songs and eating dried fruit, followed by planting flowers in Don and Sandy Perrin’s biblical garden at Or Hadash’s entrance.

7. On Friday Morning I was invited to a Kabalat Shabbat and Tu B’Shavat Seder for the 2^nd grades in the Open School in Haifa. It was fun celebrating with 50 children including a special class for deaf children. I have a set of Shabbat puppets I use with Or Hadash children in celebrations which brought much joy to the kids. We will share some photos with you in our next publication.

8. Last Friday, Feb. 10^th, at Kabalat Shabbat services we enjoyed an interesting sermon by our board member Dr. Marina Firer, who spoke about the importance of leadership within the Jewish People. Marina’s sermon comes as part of a series of sermons given by Or Hadash’s congregants. During the services we had the honor of celebrating a very special 99^th birthday for Gretel Marom (great granddaughter of Rabbi Abraham Geiger). Ms. Marom was congratulated by our founding member Chava Meir, and by Prof. Roy Wichn who is chairman of the Reform Jewish Cong. In Kranzlingen, Switzerland. We look forward to celebrating Gretel’s 100^th birthday next year. I have already promised to bake her a special cake.

At the end of the service we all said a special Kaddish in memory of Rabbi Gunther Plaut z”l, who passed away last week at the age of 99. One of his nieces lives in Haifa and is a member of Or Hadash. We also said Kaddish in memory of Tali Agler z”l, our good friend Rabbi Richard and Mindy Agler’s daughter. Every week and in every service we continue saying Kaddish in memory of our beloved friend Daniel Lyons z”l. May their memory be blessed.

9. On Feb. 13^th, along with many local rabbis I attended a very interesting conference about Changing the Mindscape of Jewish Peoplehood: New Paradigms for Educational Leaders.

10. We are all carefully following the latest developments regarding Iran. We pray the conflict will be resolved diplomatically. However, there is a general concern that the 2006 scenario will repeat itself, manifesting in another war. We prepare for the worse and pray for the best. We are getting our shelter ready for any possibility and we pray. We like to be optimistic.

Wishing you a wonderful week,

In Friendship,

Edgar

posted @ Wednesday, February 15, 2012 2:48 AM by nofibarak

How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together

COMMENTS