Shabbat Teruma Feb 8-9, 2008 / 3 Adar 1, 5768
KAY's Torah Study Opportunities
Talmud class
Talmud class resumes - studying in room D106-7 at the SDJA, Tuesday evening, 7:30pm. All are invited.
Workperson's Shiur at Aubrey Meyerowitz's office will be held next on Wednesday, February 13th at 12:45pm. 9863 Pacific Heights, 92121.
KAY Chavurot: Join an informal, social Chavurah study group this year. Meet once a month for social Torah meetings about whatever area of Jewish life you are interested in. Please contact Rav Menashe.
Women's Megillat Esther Reading
If you would like to read for the women only reading, please speak to Donna at 858 605 1111
Community events
SD Jewish Film Festival
Hosted by the Center for Jewish Culture at the LFJCC. Begins February 7th thru February 17th. For more info, go to www.lfjcc.org/sdjff
David Broza in Concert at the KEN
Thursday, Feb 21st, 730 pm, see Israel's greatest folk musician. For further details: http://www.kenjc.org/Events/2008/feb-08-david_broza.html
SCY High's SCY 2unes Concert
Featuring Eitan Katz
March 23, 2008
7:00 p.m. at the
Lyceum Theatre Downtown
Give generously and enjoy!
For tickets contact scyevent@gmail.com
858-658-0857
AIPAC brunch fundraiser - Mar 30
Tickets $50 to March 3, thereafter $65. Please contact Daniella Lewis 858/603-7553.
JCC Maccabi Games
The JCC Maccabi Games are coming to San Diego next summer, August 3-8, 2008. This Olympic-style event provides a unique combination of sports, cultural and social activities and will be the largest Jewish event in San Diego's history. The JCC Maccabi Games offer a transforming and powerful experience to Jewish teens by integrating sports with Jewish identity and values. The Games will welcome over 1,500 Jewish teen athletes, their families and friends, more than 1,000 volunteers and 650 host families. To learn more and to get involved as an athlete, host family, coach or volunteer, visit www.sdmaccabi.org or contact Gill Hoffman at Gillianpt@hotmail.com.
Kef Li San Diego
Connect to Israel from San Diego. Check out this website for Israel-inspired programs for the whole family, year round. www.keflisandiego.org Contact Jennie Starr for more
info 858-245-9375 or jennie@keflisandiego.org.
Refuah Sheleima
Please contact Rav Menashe to let him know of any family or friends who are ill.
Member news
Happy birthday to Jim Esserman (Feb 12) and to Ali Ciechanover (Feb 13)!
Wedding anniversary - mazal tov to Pierre & Susie Lotzof (Feb 14)!
Yahrzeit - we wish a long life to Neil Rabinowitz (for his brother).
Kiddush
Kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by the kehilla to wish all congregants a happy and peaceful Shabbat!
Please contact Barbara Lurie at 858/792-7942 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 Feb 8: Candle lighting 5.09 PM
- Sat Feb 9: Shabbat ends 6.09 PM
Thought for the week
Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik of blessed memory, points out that prayer and prophecy are two sides of the same coin. While both involve dialogue between the human being and God, there is one major difference: In prophecy God initiates the dialogue, while in prayer, the human being is the initiator.
But how can the limited and finite person interface with the unlimited, infinite God when the distance is so great? Furthermore, how can one initiate contact when the chasm is so vast?
The mishkan (tabernacle), constructed by the Jews at God's behest in the desert, plays a crucial role in addressing this very issue.
Clearly God does not command that the tabernacle be built for Himself. God is everywhere and His Being fills the entire world, therefore a specific dwelling is no use for him. No wonder the text in our parsha states: "And they shall build for Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them (betokham)," (Exodus 25:8) rather than saying
"that I may dwell in it (betokho)." Betokho would imply the mishkan can actually contain God.
The formulation of the text stresses that, through the mishkan, people would be able to more profoundly feel the presence of God. From this perspective the mishkan was not built for God but for am Yisrael. The mishkan offers us the potential to bridge the tremendous abyss between the human being, and God.
This makes the character of the mishkan very dependent. Rather than being intrinsically holy, its sanctity very much hinges upon how holy the people make it. A clear example of this is found in Shmuel Alef, the first book of Samuel (4:1-11). After suffering a harsh defeat at the hands of the Philistines, the Jews conclude that the absence of the Ark was what led to this tragic result. They therefore decided to bring the Ark from Shiloh for surely in its presence they would be saved and succeed. However, even with the Ark, the result was the same.
The thinking of the Jews was that the Ark was God and with God present they could not be defeated. Their mistake was that the Ark was not God, it was rather the symbol of God. The symbol is dependent on one thing, the devotion of the people to God.
This is also the case with the everyday contemporary mishkan -- the synagogue itself. If void of spiritual meaning, the synagogue becomes an empty shell, bricks without soul. Our challenge is to lift our houses of worship to the full potential of their spiritual heights to become a place where everyone is embraced -- a place of study and transcendence where we reach beyond ourselves to touch the Divine in the hope that God will dwell betokheinu, among all of us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Avi Weiss
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