Shabbat Chayei Sara Nov 2 - 3, 2007 / Cheshvan 22, 5768
KAY's Torah Study Opportunities
Advanced Talmud Class: Men and Women are invited to study high level Talmud. We will be starting this Class after the High Holiday Season. Please speak to Rav Menashe to inquire further and to vote on what will be this year's Talmud tractate for the Kehilla.
KAY Chavurot: Join an informal, social Chavurah study group this year. We are looking for 4 families to volunteer, to make a guest list and to form a rotation of hosts for once a month social Torah meetings about whatever area of Jewish life you are interested in. Please contact Rav Menashe to volunteer.
Work Person's Shiur: Join us every third week for a lunchtime Torah class at Aubrey Meyerowitz's office. 9863 Pacifc Heights Blvd. Suite E SD 92121
Virtual Beit Midrash
Join Jewish communities from all over America for a
monthly study seminar in conjunction with The Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Please contact Rav Menashe for this very special learning opportunity.
Community events
Plugged in Parenting – An exciting new program for Parents to learn how to more effectively parent. There is still time to sign up. Register online at www.lfjcc.org or contact Glenda Jaffe at Glenda@ajesd.org
JCC Jewish Book Fair. November 1-10 and the 27th
The Museum of Man – Copper Age Exhibit, featuring Archeology in Israel, runs through February.
Museum of Natural History- Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit- runs through December.
Refuah Sheleima
Please contact Rav Menashe to let him know of any family or friends who are ill.
Member news
Happy birthday to Dana Katzenellenbogen (Nov 2), Lawrence Lotzof (Nov 4), Gabriel Bloch (Nov 6) and Debbie Rappoport (Nov 6)!
Yahrzeits - we wish a long life to Aubrey Meyerowitz (for his father) and to Brad Zlotnick (for his grandfather).
Nesiya tova to Barbara and Selwyn Lurie, our hardworking office team, who are off to Israel for a month!
Kiddush
Kiddush is sponsored by Selwyn & Barbara Lurie on the occasion of their vacation in Israel!
Please contact Daniella Lewis at 858/603-7553 if you would like to sponsor kiddush on Shabbat morning.
Membership registration
Your support is vital! Please complete and send in your membership form as soon as possible. To discuss your monthly contribution in strict confidence, please contact Geoff Patz at 858/733-3777. All donations are tax deductible and should be made payable to Kehillat Ahavat Yisrael and mailed to 13030 Brixton Place, San Diego CA 92130-1325. Thank you for your support!
Shabbat services
Friday night services: 6.15 pm. Shabbat morning: 9.30 am. Children's service 10.30 am. Services are held every week in the Bet Midrash of the San Diego Jewish Academy's Carmel Valley campus. Please see our web site for more information and directions.
Shabbat times
- Fri Nov 2: Candle lighting 5.39 PM
- Sat Nov 3: Shabbat ends 6.39 PM
Thought for the week
A Modest Land
This Shabbat, our Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, relates to us Abraham's mission to find a mate for his son, Isaac. Abraham's chief steward leads the search, with orders that seem strange. Abraham makes a request that the match for his son must come from Abraham's old home land, Ur Kasdim. Abraham, also, instructs his steward not to allow the match to move Isaac back to that land. Isaac must never leave Canaan (Genesis 24:3-9)
But, the conditions that Abraham puts to his steward ask for trouble. If it is so vital that Isaac stay in Canaan, why find a match from the one place in which Isaac could absolutely not live? The entire region, outside of Canaan and Ur, must have been filled with fine would-be wives, why go back to a place where the threat of permanent resettlement looms?
Abraham sends a message through his steward to Isaac and, by extension, to us. Nearing his death, Abraham must teach a value that Isaac and Jewish nationhood will hold dear. Isaac's ties to the soil, to the land of Israel, are tenuous. At any moment big brother Lavan and Bitu'el, the family from abroad, can call and demand for Rebecca's return. Isaac will be tempted to follow. The hold of the soil is very tenuous.
But what can Isaac do to ensure that his conviction to remain on the land stays stronger than the reality of his physical vulnerability? Abraham teaches humility. If Isaac can live with the vigilance that at any moment the ideals and the dreams that brought his family to this unknown land can vanish, he will cherish the soil all the more.
With G-d's help, we reside in our homeland, in Israel, with a state approaching its sixtieth year, a functioning democracy and thriving economy. But complacency and, worse, arrogance from entitlement will not guarantee us an eternal home on our soil. Living with humility, though, will cement an enduring relationship to the land and to our highest ideals. When our fathers, mothers and heroes are no longer here, we carry the values that they prayed we would grow to embody. Abraham teaches Yitzchak and all his children this important message.
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach,
Rav Menashe
Kehillat Ahavat Yisrael (Love of Israel - the nation and the land) is a warm, caring Orthodox community welcoming Jews of all backgrounds to personal exploration and growth within Judaism. Our name symbolizes our passionate love for both fellow Jews and the State of Israel. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone who you think might be interested. Let us know at any time if you'd like to be removed from this email list.
Contact information:
Rabbi: Rav Menashe and Donna East 858/605-1111
Board:
- President: Michael Lurie 858/794-8278
- Marketing: Ian Aires 858/481-2706
- At large: Barbara Berkovich 858/353-1420
- Programs: Gary Lewis 858/538-2330
- Programs: Jeff Max 858/481-7627
- Finance: Selwyn Lurie 858/792-7942
- Ladies: Barbara Lurie 858/792-7942
- Membership: Geoff Patz 858/733-3777