Dear Friends,
Shavua Tov! (Good Week!)
The last two weeks were very busy for Or Hadash. We are so fortunate to have so many wonderful activities.
1. The recent festival of Shavuot, June 9th, was fun and educational. Our preschoolers visited a nearby kibbutz, to get a true sense of connection to the earth in Israel. They saw the growth of various crops and tried their hands at milking cows. They even got to try the milk (after pasteurization, of course!). While the children of the moadonit did not leave the premises, they certainly didn't suffer. Instead they celebrated the dairy holiday by having a daily ice cream party. Thanks again to Sandy and Don Perrin for their generosity. And for the whole family, there were congregational services and a dairy pot luck dinner. This was followed by a study session about the Scroll of Ruth. Later, we went to our neighboring Conservative synagogue and together studied until midnight.
2. On Sunday, June 1st, we celebrated Dagmawit's third birthday. As you may recall, Dagmawit and her family are refugees from Sudan who were adopted by our congregation. Since we feel like Dagmawit's family, and since her immediate family will most likely not have the means to arrange a birthday celebration for her, we thought she would enjoy having her very own birthday celebration at Or Hadash- her first in Israel. We prepared many gifts for her: two dresses (one is white and wonderful for holidays), a pair of jeans, candy, a birthday cake and many toys.
Dagmawit and her mother, Fremweini, joined our Moadonit children for the birthday celebration. We began by lighting birthday candles, not just ordinary candles but a live fire show! We lit the candle and music started playing. The candle split into many smaller candles and then sparks came out of it.
Then each one of the Moadonit children and staff members congratulated Dagmawit on her birthday. The children said that they hope she will celebrate many more birthdays at Or Hadash and that she will grow up just like any other girl her age. One of our staff members, Babi Baze, translated what was said into Amharic for Fremweini who still does not know Hebrew very well. We also had a letter from our congregation translated into Amharic so I read the Hebrew version and Fremweini read the Amharic version.
Dagmawit and her mother seemed to enjoy the celebrations, and that was the most important thing for us.
3. On June 2nd, students from the Boston University Birthright/Taglit program visited Or Hadash. A representative from the Haifa-Boston Partnership was also present during their visit. We took the teens on a tour of our building. When we went downstairs to our preschools the group joined our preschoolers' birthday celebration for Ami Perelman, our Temple Administrator. All the children sat in a half-circle and cheered and a very special and pretty cake was made for the celebration. Ami was very surprised.
4. Previously, on Friday, May 30th, Rabbi Alan Greenbaum and visitors from Congregation B'nai Harim in Grass Valley, CA joined us for Kabalat Shabbat "Bamidbar". A group of youngsters participating in the Leo Baeck High School's Young Ambassadors program also joined us for services together with a class of students from the Chugim junior high school, as part of a class that teaches them about Reform Judaism.
The highlight of the evening though was Ami Perelman's birthday celebration. Or Hadash staff members, board members, congregants and members of Ami's family came to the bimah to read what they had written for Ami's birthday. We are all very lucky that Ami is part of our family- he is a hard worker and truly dedicated to his family and to Or Hadash.
5. On Shabbat, May 31st, Hila Hadassin-Luria, our Conversion Coordinator for the past seven years, held a Simchat Bat, a celebration for her newborn daughter, Gaya, at Or Hadash. Mazel Tov!
6. On June 4-5 we welcomed two new friends to the Or Hadash family: Lois and Rudy Horn Zeidler. Lois is a distinguished leader in both the WRJ and the WUPJ. We were extremely impressed by her (and her husband's) commitment to Israel, to Reform Judaism and to the Jewish people. We are grateful to Rabbi Uri Regev for making this "shidduch" for us so successfully.
7. On Friday evening, June 6th, parashat "Naso", the daughter of our secretary, Mor Shofet, Shachar, came up to the Torah to celebrate her bat mitzvah. She is a poised and intelligent 12 year old. We are so fortunate to be able to have so many "Or Hadash Family" celebrations together.
8. On Thursday June 12th, Rabbi Rony Keller visited Or Hadash with a group from Congregation Beth Israel of Scottsdale, AZ.
9. Last weekend, we had two groups join us on Friday, June 13th, parashat "Behaltchah": Rabbi Bob Silvers joined us with a group of teenagers from the Confirmation Class of Congregation Bnai Israel in Boca Raton, FL. Senior Pastor Dr. Dino Pedrone with a group of Evangelist Christians also joined us on Friday. This visit was organized by Moshe Zurich, Director of Haifa's Tourist Association. We welcome this group as part of our ongoing interfaith dialogue.
10. Yesterday, June 14th, Rabbi Mark Goldsmith from North Western Reform Synagogue in Alyth Gardens, London joined us for Shacharit LeShabbat services.
11. This evening, June 15th, in a few more hours, Rabbi Richard Agler, also from Bnai Israel in Boca Raton joins us with a group of 25 congregants for dinner.
12. We just had a lovely lunch with Prof. Russ Pearce from the Fordham University School of Law in NY, NY. He arrived with his family: his wife, his two sons and the girlfriend of one of his sons. It was wonderful to meet the whole family. We appreciate them taking the time to visit our congregation and their commitment to support our project helping the family of refugees from Darfur.
Wishing you all a week of health and peace.
Edgar