Beth Israel-The West Temple

08/18/2023

https://mealtrain.com/lywlrr

Lesley, who has suffered from low vision for years, due to rheumatoid arthritis, recently underwent two surgeries on her eye, which left her effectively blind. This is obviously quite a shock, and it will take some time for her to adjust. She is looking forward to receiving assistive devices for her computer from the Sight Center, along with training to use them and to perform daily routines, but these are slow in coming. In the meantime, she is very frustrated that she can’t read or write, or prepare meals.

Lesley lives with her mom, Carolyn, who is 89, and doesn’t have the stamina to do household tasks the way she used to. Carolyn likes to do her own grocery shopping, but walking through a big store like Giant Eagle wears her out. Often, at the end of the day, she feels too tired to cook dinner. This is where we, her Beth Israel family and other friends, come in. Please help these ladies cope by signing up to bring them a home-cooked (or carry-out) meal.

Lesley, who has suffered from low vision for years, due to rheumatoid arthritis, recently underwent two surgeries on her eye, which left her effectively blind. This is obviously quite a shock, and it will take some time for her to adjust. She is looking forward to receiving assistive devices for her...

06/26/2023

Recognizing one of our very own

The museum will also display a portrait of pioneering 19th-century Reform Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise.

02/06/2023

Rabbi Enid Lader is retiring! We're celebrating her 40 years with The West Temple at multiple events May 19th and 20th. We'll see you there!

08/04/2022

Thursday, August 4th, 2022

Shalom Beth Israel - The West Temple Members and Friends of our congregation --

Read on for:
This week's and next week's celebration of Shabbat
D'var Torah - A Word of Torah
Tisha b'Av Commemoration - Saturday evening, 8:00 p.m.
Congregational Picnic - RSVP's due in just 2 weeks!
A sweet fund-raiser!
Ira Forman, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism under the Obama Admionistration will speak on August 27th
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Zoom in to join us THIS Friday, August 5th
7:30 p.m.
Family-friendly Shared Shabbat Service
Led by Rabbi Lader --
with Helen Levy, sharing highlights of her trip to Israel*

Join us as we celebrate Shabbat and August birthdays and anniversaries
"For the young... and the young at heart..."

(*We also look forward to hearing from Becky Neumann about her trip to Israel at a future Shabbat service)

Zoom in for our Erev Shabbat service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/92881404833?
pwd=contact office
Meeting ID: 928 8140 4833
Passcode: Contact office
Dial in: 646 876 9923
_________________________

...
THIS Saturday, August 6th -
IN PERSON
Luis Fernandez will lead:
9:30 a.m. - Torah Study
Links to Torah and Haftarah portions
11:00 a.m. - Shabbat Morning Service

If you would like to host a Kiddush, please be in touch with Luis Fernandez ([email protected])
_______________________________

Next week we will celebrate with Garik and Melanie Shmois as their daughter, Lilly, is called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah.
Saturday, August 13th, at 10:30 a.m.
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D’var Torah – A Word of Torah

This week we begin the fifth and concluding book of Torah – Devarim – Deuteronomy. Our portion is Deut. 1:1-3:22. Moses commences with a series of speeches to the Israelites, as they prepare to enter the Promised Land; he has much to teach and share with them – reviewing their past… and setting the stage for their future.

Rabbi Ozer Alport offers a helpful insight on how Moses models the appropriate way to help people do their best based on the following verse from our portion:

“Provide for yourselves distinguished men, who are wise, understanding, and well-known to your tribes, and I shall appoint them as your heads” (Deut. 1:13).

The book of Deuteronomy begins with Moses’ review of the forty-year national history from the time of the Exodus until the present. Rashi (in his commentary on Deut. 1:3) notes that much of the Torah portion this week revolves around Moses’ rebuke to the Jewish nation for sins they committed during this period, in an attempt to ensure that they wouldn’t continue in these mistaken ways.

What is curious to note is that in our verse (Deut. 1:13), Moses seems to digress from his harsh criticism to stress that the Jewish people are distinguished, wise, and understanding. Why did he interrupt his focus on reproaching the people with this point, which is hardly a message of rebuke?

In the book of Proverbs we read: “Do not reprimand a scoffer lest he hate you; reprove a wise man and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8). What is the nature of this advice, i.e. rebuking a person who seemingly shouldn’t need it, and ignoring a scoffer whose ways need correcting?

Rabbi Alport turns to the teaching of Rabbi Yeshaya Horowitz (known as the Shelah Hakadosh), who suggests that the author of this teaching from Proverbs is actually talking about one and the same person. When we see another person engaged in inappropriate activities, we are obligated to rebuke them and attempt to inspire them to change their ways and return to the proper path (Lev. 19:17). In order to do so successfully, a bit of wisdom is required: Talking condescendingly to the scoffer will be useless and cause the sinner to hate the one attempting to reprove them. However, talking to them as if they are wise and respectable will likely move the sinner to accept what they have been told and feel those words are meant for their benefit.

A modern-day application of this lesson is offered by Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, a well-known contemporary psychiatrist and author. He writes that when growing up, he was a typical child who got into his share of trouble. However, his father taught him a priceless lesson in how to raise well-adjusted children by the manner in which he was rebuked. How many times have we heard parents tell their children, “You good-for-nothing bum! How could you have been so foolish and lazy?” A child who grows up repeatedly hearing this message slowly absorbs the belief that they truly are foolish and lazy. Not surprisingly, they will likely go on to make decisions in their life which will reflect this self-image.

Rabbi Twerski’s father, on the other hand, used to scold his children in Yiddish, “Es past nisht” — “What you did isn’t appropriate for somebody as wonderful and special as you!” The message which was constantly driven into him was that he was an amazing child with tremendous potential who simply needed to maintain his focus on channeling his energy properly.

With this introduction, Rabbi Horowitz explains that before fully launching into his criticism of the Jewish people, Moses built them up by emphasizing their many good qualities and tremendous potential, which would in turn allow his message to be well received.

The lesson to us is clear: whenever we may need to correct a family member or even a co-worker, we should do so in the respectful manner taught to us by the teach8ng of Proverbs and the modelling of Moses.

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Erev Tisha b'Av Commemoration
THIS Saturday evening, August 6th
8:00 p.m.

By Zoom


Remembering the Destruction of the Temples
and Jewish Responses to Catastrophe & Exile

Tisha b'Av – the 9th of Av – commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem, traditionally assigned to those same dates in 586 B.C.E. and 72 C.E., respectively. For Spanish Jewry, the day has an additional significance, since it coincides with the accepted date of the 1492 expulsion edict of the Spanish Inquisition.
The collection of readings includes excerpts from a new translation of the book of Eicha/Lamentations, diaries and poetry across time, and words of song and hope in modern times.

Zoom in for our Tisha b'Av commemoration:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85884446904?
pwd=Contact office

Meeting ID: 858 8444 6904
Passcode: Contact office
Dial in - 646 876 9923
_________________________________


LET’S CELEBRATE... AT THE ANNUAL

BETH ISRAEL-THE WEST TEMPLE CONGREGATIONAL PICNIC!

Babies to Bubbes & Zeydes* - and everyone in between!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21ST, 2022

4:00 - 6:30 p.m.

CLAGUE PARK CABIN

WESTLAKE, OHIO

Corner of Clague & Hilliard Roads

4:00-4:30 PM Welcome, shmooze, light munchies

4:30-6:30 PM Dinner served, followed by fun activities for children and adults



Delicious fried chicken, munchies, and beverages provided

Each guest/family with last name A-L please bring a side dish to share

Each guest with last name L-Z please bring a dessert to share

COST $6.00 per person (no charge for age 5 and under)

Pay by cash or check at arrival, or online

RSVP by Thursday, August 18th, 2022 to

Beryl Palnik [email protected]



WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!!

*Bubbes & Zeydes - Yiddish for grandmothers & grandfathers

______________________________

This fall we will be launching a congregational fundraiser called the

“Sweet Honey Fundraiser.”

image.png
The temple will be selling holiday gift bags of honey, beeswax candles and apples. The bags will be sold prior to Rosh Hashanah and will be available for pick up Erev Rosh Hashanah, September 25th (morning or evening, at temple). Orders must be placed by September 2nd. The cost of the bags will be as follows:

Large Bag- 14 oz jar of honey, candles, and apples- $36

Medium Bag- 8 oz jar of honey, candles, apples- $30

Small Bag- 4 oz jar of honey, candles, apples- $25

The orders should be sent via email to Anna Batyreva at [email protected]. Payments may be made using Venmo or by check made payable to Beth Israel-The West Temple, 14308 Triskett Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44111.

:


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Join us on Saturday, August 27th at 10:30 a.m.
for our Shabbat Morning Service
and our special guest speaker -
Ira N. Forman
Formerly Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
U.S. Department of State

Ira Forman is currently the Visiting Professor of
Contemporary Antisemitism at
Georgetown University and Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Jewish
Civilization. He also serves as the Senior Advisor for Combatting Antisemitism at
Human Rights First and a Senior Fellow at the Moment Institute.

Ira grew up in Rocky River - and in our congregation...
and is looking forward to sharing his experiences and current thoughts with us.
Q&A will be welcome.

Festive Kiddush to follow.
__________________________________

Help BI-TWT Fundraise at the Guardians Games

We are fundraising at the Guardians games, and need a few additional volunteers the following days:

Saturday, August 20 – arrive 2:30/3:00 p.m. Game time 6:10 p.m. until approx. 10 p.m.

Sunday, August 21 - arrive 9:00/9:30 a.m. Game time 12:06 p.m. until approx. 4 p.m.

Saturday, September 3 – arrive 3/3:30 p.m. Game time 7:15 p.m. until approx. 11 p.m.

Sunday, September 4 – TBD (likely noon-ish)

Saturday, September 17 – DOUBLE HEADER arrive 9:30/10 a.m. Game time 1:10 p.m. until approx. 5 p.m.

If you’re available, let us know with this survey at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdiTP-HEdqF_2OYyAZvgmncgkYO3U3WL4l3HmpHLRvInze-QQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

All volunteers need to complete two very easy online training courses. Volunteers must be 19 years and older.

Questions, contact Julia DiBaggio at [email protected]

_________________________________________

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Enid


Rabbi Enid C. Lader
Beth Israel - The West Temple
14308 Triskett Road
Cleveland, OH 44111
216-941-8882
https://thewesttemple.com/
Donate – Beth Israel-The West Temple

Previous Next Welcome to Beth Israel – The West Temple We are a full-service synagogue representing those who reside, generally, west of the Cuyahoga River, from Oberlin to the west, […]

07/28/2022

Thursday, July 28th, 2022

Shalom Beth Israel - The West Temple Members and Friends of our congregation --

Read on for:
Our August Bulletin
This week's celebration of Shabbat
D'var Torah - A Word of Torah
Congregational Picnic
Drink Local Drink Tap's Annual Giving Splash Party
_________________________________

Dear friends,

The August Bulletin is ready to be read!

In it you'll find a slew of detailed and helpful information about opportunities to volunteer, the search for a new rabbi, and fundraising efforts. You'll also find information about 2022-23 Religious and Hebrew School programming, ways to celebrate and come together in August, and pictures from June and July.

The deadline for the September bulletin is Monday, August 15th. Please send along ideas, blurbs, photographs, and articles!

You can access the Bulletin here: https://thewesttemple.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/BulletinAugust2022.pdf

Happy August!
Jan Miyake, co-editor
[email protected]
__________________________________

Celebrate Shabbat with us...


Zoom in to join us THIS Friday, July 29th
7:30 p.m.
Erev Shabbat Service
Led by Rabbi Lader

Zoom in for our Erev Shabbat service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/92881404833?
pwd=Please contact office
Meeting ID: 928 8140 4833
Passcode: Contact office
Dial in: 646 876 9923
____________________________________
...
THIS Saturday, July 30th -
IN PERSON
Rabbi Lader will lead:
9:30 a.m. - Torah Study
Links to Torah and Haftarah portions
11:00 a.m. - Shabbat Morning Service
During which time we will call
Jeff Heller and Amber Frankhart Heller up to the bima
for a special aliyah in celebration of their recent wedding.

If you would like to host a Kiddush, please be in touch with Luis Fernandez ([email protected])
_______________________________

D’var Torah – A Word of Torah

Our Torah portion this week is Mattot - Mase'ei – Num. 30:1-32:42/331:1-36:13, and finds the Israelites almost within sight of the Promised Land. They had successfully waged their first battles. They had just won a victory over the Midianites. There is a new tone to the narrative. We no longer hear the quarrelsome complaints that had been a seemingly constant presence so much of the wilderness years.

That undertone was the sound of the generation, born in slavery, that had left Egypt. By now, almost forty years have passed. The second generation, born in freedom and toughened by conditions in the desert, have a more purposeful feel about them. Battle-tried, they no longer doubt their ability, with God’s help, to fight and win.

Yet it is at just this point that a different kind of problem arises. Their destination is within reach: the land west of the river Jordan “flowing with milk and honey” (Num. 13:27).

The members of the tribes of Reuben and Gad begin to have different thoughts. Seeing that the land through which they were travelling was ideal for raising cattle, they decide that they would prefer to stay there, to the east of the Jordan, and propose this to Moses.

Unsurprisingly, Moses is angry at the suggestion:
Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, "Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here? Why would you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them?" (Num. 32:6–7).
He reminds them of the disastrous consequences of the earlier discouragement on the part of the spies [See Shelach Lecha – Num. 13:1-15:41]; this will cause the whole nation to suffer.

Their desire to stay on the western side of the Jordan would show not only that they are ambivalent about God’s gift of the land but also that they have learned nothing from what had happened previously.

They suggest a compromise:
Then they came up to him and said, “We would like to build sheepfolds for our flocks and towns for our children. But we will then arm ourselves and go as an advance guard before the Israelites until we have established them in their home. Meanwhile our children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance. We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.” (Num. 32:16–19)

Basically, they are willing to join the rest of the Israelites in the battles that lie ahead; even prepared to be the advance guard, in the forefront of the battle. They are not afraid of combat, nor are they trying to evade their responsibilities to the community. It is simply that they wish to raise cattle, and for this, the land to the east of the Jordan is ideal. Warning them of the seriousness of their undertaking, Moses agrees. If they keep their word, they will be allowed to settle east of the Jordan. And so, indeed, it happened (Josh. 22:1–5).

That is the story on the surface. But as so often in the Torah, there are subtexts as well as texts.

One in particular was noticed by the Sages, with their sensitivity to nuance and detail. Note carefully what the Reubenites and Gadites said: “Then they came up to him and said, ‘We would like to build sheepfolds for our flocks and towns for our children.’” And carefully note Moses' reply: “Build towns for your children, and sheepfolds for your flocks, but do what you have promised” (Num. 32:24).

The ordering of the nouns here is crucial. The men of Reuben and Gad put property before people: they spoke of their flocks first, their children second. Moses reversed the order, putting special emphasis on the children.

Rashi (French rabbi and commentator, 1040–1105) picks up on Moses’ subtle switch:
“They paid more regard to their property than to their sons and daughters, because they mentioned their cattle before the children. Moses said to them: ‘Not so. Make the main thing primary and the subordinate thing secondary. First build cities for your children, and only then, folds for your flocks.’” (Rashi’s commentary to Num. 32:16)

In his commentary on this Torah portion, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out that “Moses’ implied rebuke to the tribes of Reuben and Gad is not a minor historical detail but a fundamental statement of Jewish priorities. Property is secondary, children primary. Civilizations that value the young stay young. Those that invest in the future have a future. It is not what we own that gives us a share in eternity, but those to whom we give birth and the effort we make to ensure that they carry our faith and way of life into the next generation.”

Indeed, it is so.

And with the full portion's conclusion, we also come to the end of the book of Numbers/Be'midbar... and say:
Chazak, Chazak, V'Nitchazek!
Be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen each other!
image.png
___________________________________

LET’S CELEBRATE...


AT THE ANNUAL

BETH ISRAEL-THE WEST TEMPLE CONGREGATIONAL PICNIC!

Babies to Bubbes & Zeydes* - and everyone in between!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21ST, 2022

CLAGUE PARK CABIN

WESTLAKE, OHIO

CORNER OF CLAGUE RD. AND HILLIARD RD.

4:00-4:30 PM Welcome, shmooze, light munchies

4:30-6:30 PM Dinner served, followed by fun activities for children and adults



Delicious fried chicken, munchies, and beverages provided

Each guest/family with last name A-L please bring a side dish to share

Each guest with last name L-Z please bring a dessert to share

COST $6.00 per person (no charge for age 5 and under)

Pay by cash or check at arrival, or online

RSVP by Thursday, August 18th, 2022 to

Beryl Palnik [email protected]



WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!!

*Bubbes & Zeydes - Yiddish for grandmothers & grandfathers

______________________________

image.png

Drink Local Drink Tap
Annual Giving Splash Party
Thursday, September 15, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio at 6pm.
The event, hosted at the stunning Gordon Green in Gordon Square, will feature food from Spice Hospitality Group, an open bar and an amazing raffle. Money raised will go towards advancing DLDT’s projects and programs, in and around our Great Lakes region and in Uganda.

For over a decade, DLDT has been creating a world where everyone has access to safe, clean, sustainable water.
Erin Huber [BI-TWT member] and her team work to improve water equity through projects, programming,
and partnerships because clean water is a human right.
Watch their 3-minute Be the Drop video here.

Thank you in advance for your generosity. We look forward to seeing you there!
____________________________________

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Enid


Rabbi Enid C. Lader
Beth Israel - The West Temple
14308 Triskett Road
Cleveland, OH 44111
216-941-8882
https://thewesttemple.com/
Donate – Beth Israel-The West Temple

Previous Next Welcome to Beth Israel – The West Temple We are a full-service synagogue representing those who reside, generally, west of the Cuyahoga River, from Oberlin to the west, […]

07/21/2022

Thursday, July 21st, 2022

Shalom Beth Israel - The West Temple Members and Friends of our congregation --
Read on for:
Today's Lunch with the Rabbi and Friends reminder
Join us as we celebrate Shabbat - Shared Shabbat and Shabbat in the Park
D'var Torah - A Word of Torah
Save the Date for our Annual Congregational Picnic - August 21st
July Naturalist Notes: What is your fondest childhood memory of warm summer nights? My fondest memory is of being allowed to stay up until after dark to go outside and catch lightning bugs. read Mary Lou McGuire's Notes attached to this email.
______________________________

TODAY -- Thursday, July 21st -
Lunch with the Rabbi and Friends
Noon at BI-TWT
"10 Movies Showcasing Jewish American Life"
Join us for a tour of films that celebrate the happy, the sad, and the hilarious of American Jewry.
Salad Bar Lunch
$5/person [to cover drinks and desserts]
RSVP to Linda Kramer - 216-533-9496
or [email protected]
to let her know what kind of salad you will bring
____________________________

Zoom in to join us THIS Friday, July 22nd
7:30 p.m.
Family-friendly Shared Shabbat Service
Led by Rabbi Lader
Join us as we celebrate Shabbat and July birthdays and anniversaries
"For the young... and the young at heart..."

Zoom in for our Erev Shabbat service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/92881404833?
pwd=Contact office
Meeting ID: 928 8140 4833
Passcode: Contact office
Dial in: 646 876 9923

Our thanks to Scott Machol, Luis Fernandez, and to Shosh Ault
for leading our Shabbat Services for the past three weeks.
Although technical difficulties prevented Shosh from leading the service,
we appreciate the time and effort she put in to prepare
and apologize to those who were unable to zoom in.
____________________________________

THIS Saturday, July 23rd
Shabbat b'Tevah - Shabbat in the Park
10:00 a.m.
Join Rabbi Lader for a creative Shabbat Morning Service and Shabbat walk at
Bradley Woods in Westlake
4538 Bradley Rd, Westlake, OH 44145
Enter the park at the Bradley Woods sign... and follow the road to the Bunns Lake Wildlife Area; the parking lot is right there.
The weather should be fine; wear comfortable shoes and, just in case, mosquito repellant.
IMG_6385.jpg
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D’var Torah – A Word of Torah

This week’s Torah portion is Pinchas – Num. 25:1-30:1, and relates what happened during the time when the Israelites were camped at Sh*ttim, the last stop along their desert journey. Many of the Israelites got involved with Midianite women, and in the process, followed their idolatrous practices. One Israelite openly flaunts the moral code by bringing a Midianite woman into a tent in front of Moses and the elders. As they stand in disbelief, Pinchas picks up a spear and enters the tent, killing them both… and is subsequently rewarded for his zealous behavior, as God rewards him (and his descendants) with God’s “briti Shalom” – My covenant of peace.

Every time I read this portion I always have a problem with this reward. How strange to respond to violence with the gift of peace [shalom]! What peace, well-being, or wholeness [shalom] can emerge out of religious violence? And as I look at the Hebrew of the text, I think that our tradition had a problem with it as well. Accordingly, the Masoretes (the scribes, responsible for adding vocalization, musical notation and other filigrees to the Torah scroll), mark the Hebrew word shalom—peace, wholeness, well-being—with a severed letter (vav katiyah).

Pinchas' violence is not a model of action; this is not the way of Torah. The end does not justify the means. We do not condone religious violence; no one may lay claim to an unalloyed sense of what is right and wrong. The instruction to us from Torah is to participate in continuing creation without anger and violence. We are called upon to see this as a corrective, not a reward.

Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, the 19th century Polish/Lithuanian rabbi known by his acronym as the Netziv, taught that God gave Pinchas the broken vav in Shalom - the broken wholeness - to teach him, and all of us, that our violent actions infect our very souls; we are harmed as well as others.

But, it is important to remember that although the vav is broken, it is fixable. That is the work that Pinchas – that we – can do to bring about true wholeness, peace, and shalom.

____________________

Link to this week's Torah and Haftarah portions. [This week begins the "Three Weeks" before Tisha b'Av. While the Three Weeks mark the time of the Temple’s destruction, there are signs of hope throughout. The three haftarot read during this period are full of admonitions and prophetic passages that warn about the consequences of sin. Yet each ends in a promise of eventual redemption.]

______________________________________


LET’S CELEBRATE AT THE ANNUAL

BETH ISRAEL-THE WEST TEMPLE CONGREGATIONAL PICNIC!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21ST, 2022

CLAGUE PARK CABIN

WESTLAKE, OHIO

CORNER OF CLAGUE RD. AND HILLIARD RD.

4:00-4:30 PM Welcome, shmooze, light munchies

4:30-6:30 PM Dinner served, followed by fun activities for children and adults



Delicious fried chicken, munchies, and beverages provided

Each guest/family with last name A-L please bring a side dish to share

Each guest with last name L-Z please bring a dessert to share

COST $6.00 per person (no charge for age 5 and under)

Pay by cash or check at arrival, or on the Temple Venmo account

RSVP by Thursday, August 18th, 2022 to

Beryl Palnik [email protected]



WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!!

______________________________

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Enid

Rabbi Enid C. Lader
Beth Israel - The West Temple
14308 Triskett Road
Cleveland, OH 44111
216-941-8882
https://thewesttemple.com/
Donate – Beth Israel-The West Temple

Previous Next Welcome to Beth Israel – The West Temple We are a full-service synagogue representing those who reside, generally, west of the Cuyahoga River, from Oberlin to the west, […]

07/14/2022

Thursday, July 14th, 2022

Shalom Beth Israel - The West Temple Members and Friends of our congregation --
Read on for:
This week's (and next) Shabbat Services
D'var Torah - A Word of Torah
Elton John and a fund-raising opportunity from Julia DiBaggio
Social Justice opportunity from Barbara Feldmar & Ken Dunn - What post-Roe means for Jews, Ohio, and for us
Lunch with the Rabbi & Friends - NEXT Thursday, July 21st
The Indiana Jewish Historical Society is posthumously honoring Abe Silverstein, a Terre Haute native who died in 2001. Silverstein is among seven people chosen for induction into the Society's Hoosier Jewish Legends, and was BI-TWT's founding president and Director of the NASA Glenn Research Center in its early space-mission days.
__________________________________________

Zoom in to join us THIS Friday, July 15th
7:30 p.m.
Erev Shabbat Service
Led by Shosh Ault

Zoom in for our Erev Shabbat service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/92881404833?
pwd=Contact office
Meeting ID: 928 8140 4833
Passcode: Contact office
Dial in: 646 876 9923

NEXT Friday, July 22nd - Zoom in for our Shared Shabbat Service with Rabbi Lader
celebrating Shabbat and July Birthdays & Anniversaries
____________________________________..
THIS Saturday, July 16th -
IN PERSON
Luis Fernandez will lead:
9:30 a.m. - Torah Study
Links to Torah and Haftarah portions
11:00 a.m. - Shabbat Morning Service

If you would like to host a Kiddush,
please be in touch with Luis Fernandez ([email protected])

NEXT Saturday, July 23rd, join Rabbi Lader for our Shabbat in the Park at 10:00 a.m.
Location details TBA
_______________________________

D'var Torah - A Word of Torah

All Cliparts: Shrek Clipart Our Torah portion this week is Balak - Numbers 22:5-25:9. In this Torah portion, Balak, the king of Moab, asks Balaam to curse the Israelites after he sees them defeat various nations in battle. Balaam agrees and sets out on his donkey. (okay, his ass; but that term just is not used very often these days...) God is angered with Balaam, and sets a sword-wielding angel in their path. Balaam’s donkey sees the angel of God and refuses to move any further. Balaam, who sees nothing, beats the donkey. This happens three times and after the third beating, the donkey turns to Balaam and explains to him what is before them... And Ballam finally sees for himself: "Then the Eternal One uncovered Balaam's eyes, and he saw the divine emissary..." (22:31) Balaam continues on his journey to Balak, but instead of cursing the Israelites, Balaam blesses them. It is one thing to look, it is another to see.

Indeed, there is much to see in our world today. We pray that as we look out into our world -- when we look at the people in our world -- we look out through a window, and not at a mirror. Let us look beyond ourselves and our wants, and see the needs and cares of others. Let us truly see those who are invisible -- those who we read about, those who we hear about, those who we too easily forget about... and consider how we can see them for the blessings they are.
____________________________________


Listen to Elton John LIVE while fundraising for BI-TWT!
We have an excellent opportunity to raise money for BI-TWT at Progressive Field working a food/beverage stand. We are trying to commit to 5 weekend Guardian games PLUS the Elton John concert July 30. This is a great way to build community while raising money!

If you’re interested in volunteering, please take the following survey so we can gauge interest and feasibility.

Contact Julia DiBaggio at [email protected] with any questions.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HTKSBZV

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NEXT THursday, July 21st -
Lunch with the Rabbi and Friends
Noon at BI-TWT
"10 Movies Showcasing Jewish American Life"
Join us for a tour of films that celebrate the happy, the sad, and the hilarious of American Jewry.
Salad Bar Lunch
$5/person [to cover drinks and desserts]
RSVP to Linda Kramer - 216-533-9496
or [email protected]
to let her know what kind of salad you will bring
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Ohio Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Join RAC-OH and Wise Temple for an opportunity to be together, learn and contemplate what a post-Roe reality means for Jews, Ohio, and us.

Thursday, July 21 at 8:00 p.m. on Zoom
Register Here

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FOUNDING BI-TWT PRESIDENT AND NASA DIRECTOR ABE SILVERSTEIN IN TERRE HAUTE TRIBUNE-STAR



The Indiana Jewish Historical Society is posthumously honoring Abe Silverstein, a Terre Haute native who died in 2001. Silverstein is among seven people chosen for induction into the Society's Hoosier Jewish Legends — a Hall of Fame celebrating both Jewish and non-Jewish Hoosiers who left a significant impact on their professions.

https://www.tribstar.com/news/news_columns/mark-bennett-hautean-who-guided-quest-for-moon-fought-persecution-too/article_1fb7b104-8e49-5d45-9b54-3e58df345508.html?utm_campaign=blox&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR34N3ExHR6Z27DcFW1DFqCLQz21xn4DDS0VNccp7UoGLkqQjvg1ONYPxxc

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Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Enid

Rabbi Enid C. Lader
Beth Israel - The West Temple
14308 Triskett Road
Cleveland, OH 44111
216-941-8882
https://thewesttemple.com/
Donate – Beth Israel-The West Temple

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