KAY's Torah Study Opportunities

Talmud class
Talmud class in room D106-7 at the SDJA, Tuesday evening, 7:30pm. All are invited.

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.

Purim

Purim Night - Megillah Reading and Party, Thursday night, March 20th, 7:00 pm; Meal at 8pm (approx.)
The whole community is invited to come to KAY to hear the Megillah reading at the Shul.

Dinner: $15 (lasagne dinner); $10 (mac/cheese dinner); $5 (kids 5 and under). Please RSVP by Thursday March 13 to Barbara Lurie at barblurie@san.rr.com or 858/792-7942. Checks in advance to 13030 Brixton Place, San Diego CA 92130-1325 will be appreciated.

Purim Morning – Morning Service and Megillah Reading, Friday, March 21st, 7:00 am
Men, women and children are invited to hear the Megillah reading, held at the Academy. Women's Megillah Reading, Friday, March 21st, 8.30 am at the Max's home for women who cannot make the earlier time.

Community events

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.
The JCC MAccabi games website is now open for registration for all volunteers and/host families. Go to www.jccmacreg.org to register.

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 Daniel Fainman (Mar 7), Susan Burland (Mar 9), Isaac Ciechanover (Mar 9) and Elan Lotzof (Mar 12)!

Wedding anniversary - mazal tov to Jeff and Joanne Max (Mar 11)!

Kiddush
Kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by Jeff and Joanne Max on the occasion of their wedding anniversary - mazal tov!
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 Mar 7: Candle lighting 5.32 PM
- Sat Mar 8: Shabbat ends 6.33 PM

Thought for the week

Being a Team Player

The matter of fact, descriptive sections of the Torah often teach us messages that enhance the way we live our lives. In this final portion of the book of Exodus, Parshat Pikudei, when construction of the Tabernacle is finally completed, we read of the next steps taken to assemble and order the vessels in the great temple.

The procession of the placing of the articles in the Temple followed an important form. After the skeletal structure is raised, the first vessel brought into the Temple is its most sacred: the Ark, containing the tablets of the covenant. Following the ark, all the other vessels, the table, menorah, altars, are brought inside in succession. (See Exodus, 40)

Why is the order of the items significant and what message does it teach us?
Hypothetically, another possible time to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the tent could have been at the very end of the construction process. G-d could have commanded Moses to bring the Ark in last as a final stroke that the Temple was complete. In that fictional model, the Ark would come in at the end in order to give meaning to the other objects in the Temple. Without the Ark, the menorah is simply a candelabrum; the altars are simply grills. But with the Ark as the pinnacle of the temple design, those objects transform to become sacred.

However, in the Torah's description, the Ark is brought in first, and then the rest of the vessels fill in the temple, surrounding the Ark. Though the most sacred is settled into the temple, the other objects become essential compliments to the Ark of the Covenant. The team of one is no team at all.
Even though the Ark of the Covenant contained the holy tablets, the incense pans, basins and cloth covers are essential for the temple to function.

To humanize the message of the Temple design: The healthiest institution can see, even with great leadership, that without the supporting staff and role players, the endeavor will never fully succeed. And this is true on the micro level too: when the family centers around a great figure to such an extent that the other members are neglected the family's bonds are in danger of loosening. Let us strengthen the weakest links and tighten the loosest bonds.

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