E-KI
April 28, 2005 Vol. II No. 17
Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel
8339 Old York Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027 215.887.8700
Torah Time Online
Shabbat Pesach – Exodus 14:30
II Samuel 22:1
Song of Songs
This week we read a special Torah portion for Passover about the deliverance from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. This Shabbat we do not only read from the Torah and the Haftarah, we also read from one of the five scrolls read on our festivals - The Song of Songs. Each of the five scrolls is associated with a holiday. The Song of Songs, a book of love poetry between God and the people Israel, is associated with Passover because of its themes of spring and rebirth.
I want to take a moment to focus on The Song of Songs because the imagery is so unique. You may be familiar with some of the more famous lines (“ I am my beloved and my beloved is mine” or “Rise up, my love, my fair one”). If you have never read the entire poem, however, you might be shocked by the content. The poetry is, by anyone’s definition, quite erotic. While Israel as well as the maidens of Jerusalem is mentioned, God is only assumed to be the author.
Christians often speak of how God loves us. Jews usually shy away from God talk altogether. I can’t help but wonder how our relationship with God would change if we used words of love. In the Ahavat Olam prayer we state that we can see God’s love for us in the rules and laws we have been given. Like a parent who sets rules for the children to protect them, God gives us the laws for our life. But what if our prayers were more like Song of Songs and the relationship more like lovers? Would we do more because we received more in return? Would we feel obligated in a different way?
There are times when prayer and song can take me to the highest of highs. It is at these moments when I feel a sense of God’s presence that I can understand and feel my love of God in this symbiotic way. As Spring enters all of our hearts may you too be blessed with God’s presence and be open to thinking about God in a new way, to letting God into your heart.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Rabbi Stacy Eskovitz Rigler
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AT KI
Worship & Study Opportunities
This Week – Friday, April 29 – Shabbat Evening Service at 8:00 p.m. in the Chapel. Saturday, April 30 – Torah Study Havurah at 9:00 a.m. in the Library; Junior Congregation at 10:30 a.m. in the Youth Lounge; Shabbat & Passover Festival Service at 10:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary, with Yizkor Memorial Prayers.
In the Week Ahead – Friday, May 6 – Family Shabbat Dinner at 6:00 p.m. $8.75/child and $12.75/adult. To guarantee reservations, payment must be received by Wednesday, May 4. RSVP to Fran Braslow (215) 887-8704. Family Shabbat Service at 7:15 p.m. in the Sanctuary led by the 4th Grade of our Religious School. Saturday, May 7 – Torah Study Havurah at 9:00 a.m. in the Library; Shabbat Havurah Service at 10:30 a.m. in the Library; Shabbat Morning Service at 10:30 a.m. in the Sanctuary, when we will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Robert Nathaniel Rozansky, son of Iris Raylesberg and Robert Rozansky; Havdalah Service at 5:30 p.m. in the Chapel, when we will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Matthew Arthur Monheit, son of Marcy and Michael Monheit.
Coming Up -- Friday, May 13 – Tot Shabbat at 6:00 p.m.; Shabbat Evening Services at 8:00 p.m. with guest speaker, Barbara H. Bergen, of MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Friday, May 22 – Blue Jeans Shabbat at 7:00 p.m.; Sisterhood Shabbat at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 23 – Shabbat at Rydal Park at 2:00 p.m.
Yom HaShoah Observance – on Wednesday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m., at Beth Am. Cantor Lefko and our Adult Choir will participate with representatives from many local synagogues. Sponsored by the Kehillah of Old York Road.
Attention Singers — Cantor Lefko and Adult Choir with Sisterhood members will share a service filled with music composed by Jewish women for Sisterhood Shabbat on May 20.
Listen to Most recent Shabbat evening sermon – click on this link! http://www.kenesethisrael.org/Sermons/ShabbatService.htm
Social Action Opportunities
Mitzvah Day is Here – on Sunday, May 1. Blood Drive in the Rothschild from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. You can register at http://www.pleasegiveblood.org (Sponsor Code: 6N89). Join your fellow KI members in serving our community: visit, feed and walk the greyhounds at Greyhound Rescue (meet at 4800 Wingate Dr, NE Phila at 9 a.m. or 2 p.m.); spring cleanup at Pennypack Ecological Trust (Edge Hill Road, Huntingdon Valley at 10:00 a.m.); or High School Park (meet at the corner of High School Rd and Montgomery Ave at 9:30 a.m.). In addition, each Religious School grade will have its own project. Please note: there will be no dinner at 5:00 p.m. For information or to sign up: Kevin Parker, kpcyclist7@aol.com.
Help the Homeless – KI needs you. We are committed to help displaced families staying at St. John’s Lutheran Church (Old York Road & Melrose Avenue), May 15-22. Are you available to provide assistance with dinner meals, daytime transportation, evening childcare, or laundering linens? We’d like to build on this program and host families ourselves next year. Volunteers are strongly encouraged to attend a training session at St. John’s on Wednesday, May 11. If you are interested in helping with any part of this project, contact Rabbi Peter Rigler (215-887-8702 or prigler@aol.com) or Marjorie Curtis-Cohen (215-884-6169 or margie7610@comcast.net). Sponsored by the Interfaith Housing Alliance and the KI Social Action Committee.
Cook for Sharing Is Caring –Help assemble meals in the K/G kitchen for clients at Newman Senior Center (Klein Branch JCC) from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on May 24 (last Tuesday of the month). Info: Gladys Segal (215) 635-5815.
Pic”KI”nic—on Tuesday, May 24 from 4:30 to 9:00 p.m. Barbecue supper at Alvethorpe Park. Novelty games, activity centers for children, music, and Fun Run/Walk to benefit Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Donation of $10 ($40 for a family of four) includes activities and all you can eat. Donation of $20 also includes a Fun Run/Walk tee shirt. Register by May 15. Information: Janet Luterman (215) 887-8704 x133.
Cultural Opportunities
KI Men’s Softball – KI lost to Shir Ami. We need you to cheer us to victory! Next game on Tuesday, May 3, at 6:00 p.m. at Southampton Field. Everyone is invited to come support our team.
Mother’s Day Brunch – sponsored by the Brotherhood on May 8, at 10:00 a.m. Cantor Amy Lefko is the guest vocalist. $10/men; $5/women. Send checks to KI, Attn: Brotherhood. RSVP by May 3.
Cultural Council 60+ - Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin —" Aharon Appelfeld: The Story of a Life" on Thursday, May 12. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. KI member luncheon fee is $8.00 with a reservation by May 4, $10.00 for guests and member reservations after May 4. Send checks to KI, Attn: Cultural Council. Information: Doris Parker, 215-886-9267.
Kehillah Celebrates Israel at KI — on Thursday, May 12, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to sing, dance, shop and jump (moon bounce) for Israel at the community’s fourth annual celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. Israeli dancing with Rak/Dan. Admission is free with suggested $18 donation. Proceeds go directly Israel. Contributions from last year’s event purchased computers for Netivot, our sister community in Israel.
Movin’ Out at the Merriam Theater on Sunday, May 22. This dance musical, which won a Tony in 2003, is choreographed by Twyla Tharp and features 24 of Billy Joel’s classics. $128/person includes brunch (at KI at 10:30 a.m.), transportation (bus leaves at noon) and a seat in the orchestra for the 1:00 p.m. show. Send checks payable to KI (with WRJ Theater Trip on the memo line and envelope) to KI. Limited space available. Questions: Barbara Bronstein (215) 673-1435.
STAR at KI – Meeting on Thursday, May 26, from noon to 2:00 p.m. at KI. Community educators, nurses and social workers will present a program on sustaining freedom and independence while living in your own home. This month the program focuses on exercise and nutrition. Transportation available. Information: Michele Kramer (215) 673-7741 x. 227.
Ruth G. Kahn Concert: The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia – Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Music Director and Conductor, and Leila Josefowicz, violin soloist –music of Stravinsky, Mendelssohn, Hersch, and Schubert, on Saturday, June 4, at 8:00 p.m. at KI. $30 admission includes dessert reception. Send check (payable to KI) to KI, Family Concert Series. Tickets will be held at the door. Seating is limited. KI Music Arts Committee. Information: (215) 887-8700.
Nashirah, the Jewish Chorale of Greater Philadelphia – Inaugural concert on Sunday, June 5, at 3:00 p.m. at the Gershman Y (Broad & Pine Streets, Philadelphia). From the haunting melodies of Renaissance Italy to the joy of the contemporary Jewish American experience, Nashirah will present the works of Salomone Rossi, Franz Schubert, Samuel Naumbourg, Stephen Glass, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and more. Robert A. M. Ross, Music Director. General Admission Tickets: Orchestra, $36; Center Balcony, $18; Side Balcony, $10. For reservations and ticket information, call Barbara Steinberg (215) 887-8702.
Announcements
Free Tay-Sachs & Canavan Screening – during May at area locations. Information: (215) 887-0877 or ntsad@aol.com or www.tay-sachs.org. Sponsored by National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association of Delaware Valley.
News from the Meyers Library— Library hours are: Sunday 9:30-12:15, Tuesday 4:30-6, Wednesday 10-3:30, and Friday before 8:00 p.m. services. (You can also visit the bookcarts at the Oneg.) For adults: Allegra Goodman, Paradise Park; Kathryn Watterson, Not by the Sword : how the love of a cantor and his family transformed a Klansman; Yaacov Shabtai, Uncle Peretz Takes Off; Cynthia Ozick, Bloodshed and Three Novellas; Herbert Krosney, Deadly Business: the Arming of Iran and Iraq, 1975 to the Present. For children: Ben Aronin, The Secret of the Sabbath Fish; Miriam Bat Ami, Dear Elijah; Fran Manushkin, The Matzah that Papa Brought Home: a nice introduction to Passover, illustrated by Ned Bittinger; David Kossoff, The Voices of Masada; Sidney Taylor, All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown.
Adult Education
Dr. Irene Reiter reviews “The King & I: The uncensored Tale of Luciano Pavarotti’s Rise to Fame. . .“on Monday, May 9, at 7:00 p.m. Free to WRJ members; $4 for guests. Book is available in the KI Library. Refreshments. Sponsored by WRJ. RSVP to Joan Kamen by Monday, May 2 (215) 947-5926.
Aaron Lansky Speaks at KI – on Sunday, May 15, at 7:00 p.m. Lansky, recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Award, is founder and president of the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. The Center has created special programming, translated Yiddish titles into English, enlisted Steven Spielberg to digitize the entire collection of Yiddish books, and helped foster a Yiddish renaissance in this country. He is the author of Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books. Event is co-sponsored by KI’s Library Committee and the Meyers Foundation of Philadelphia.
Book Discussion of Seize the Day – on Wednesday, May 18, at 2:00 p.m. in the Meyers Library. Matt Nesvisky will lead the discussion.
Yale Reisner – “Raising Atlantis: Restoring Jewish Memory in Poland” – on Monday, May 23, 7:45 p.m, at Gratz College (Old York Road & Melrose Avenue in Melrose Park). Reisner is Director of Ronald S. Lauder Foundation Genealogy Project at the Jewish Historical Institute, Warsaw, Poland. $5 at the door. Sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia and Gratz College. Information: (610)363-7956 or JGSGP@comcast.net.
Preschool and Religious School
Preschool Mitzvah Crib - New items (clothing, formula, toys, equipment, diapers) are being collected in the preschool through May 1st for donation to the Tabor Children's Home in Germantown.
Color the KI Discovery Garden—on Sunday, May 15th from 12-2 p.m., children and families of the Religious School are invited to paint a ceramic tile that will become part of a permanent mosaic as well as a memory for children and families as they grow at KI. $20 per tile or 3 tiles for $50. All proceeds benefit the Discovery Garden. Information: Barb Cutler (215) 885-3798
Help the Religious School Reach Accreditation. We need several families who would be willing to answer some questions about their family’s Religious School experience. We also need volunteers of different ages (both kids and adults) to complete the following sentence in any creative or traditional way “My synagogue is like a home because. . .” or “My home is like a synagogue because. . .” If you are willing to be a part of this exciting process please email Rob Staples (rstaples13@comcast.net ) or Rabbi Stacy Rigler (Educator@kenesethisrael.org ).
Do you know someone who might be interested in KI’s Preschool or Religious School? We are enrolling now for next year. Please contact either Kathy Goldenberg at (215) 885-2425 or Rabbi Stacy Rigler at (215) 887-8704. We are always happy to speak with and welcome prospective students and their families.
Ways To Get Involved
Human Resources Expertise? Could you offer limited assistance to our congregation? We are in the process of forming a personnel committee and we would very much appreciate your input and participation. Please contact Evan DuBro at edubro@kenesethisrael.org or Carey Roseman at croseman1@comcast.net.
Shabbat Pulpit Flowers --You can now sponsor the Shabbat pulpit flowers in honor of a birthday, anniversary, baby naming, safe travel, recovery from illness, or any other happy occasion. You can also sponsor the flowers in memory of a recent passing or a Yahrzeit anniversary. An acknowledgement will be listed in the weekly Shabbat folder recognizing your generosity. Please make your check for $45.00 payable to KI, Attn: WRJ Sisterhood.
Do you Love KI?—KI’s Membership Committee is looking for current members to partner with our new members and help them become integrated into the KI family. This is a great chance to discuss with new members all the cultural, religious and social action opportunities available at KI. Or volunteer to come to an event and help recruit new members. Call Andy Brookman at (215) 887-0777.
Sharing Our Simchas – Share your happiness with our congregational family. Consider underwriting our beautiful Oneg Shabbat. Contact the Administrative Office, (215) 887-8700, for further details.
Sisterhood Gift Shop –will be open on Sunday mornings during Religious School hours and by appointment. For more information, call Joan Kamen (215) 947-5926 or Administrative Office (215) 887-8700.