Shabbat Pesach Apr 25-26, 2008 / Nisan 21-22, 5768
Pesach 5768
Friday, April 25th
Services 6:15pm; Abbreviated Kabbalat Shabbat; 7th day of Pesach
Shabbat, April 26th
Services 9:30am; Candle light from existing flame 8:08 pm
Services at 6.30 pm
Sunday, April 27th
Services 9:30am; Yizkor; Yom Tov ends at 8:09 pm
KAY's Torah Study Opportunities
Talmud class
There will be no tuesday night talmud class next week.
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.
Community events
Yom Ha'atzmaut Festival
Join the Yom Ha'atzmaut Festival on Sunday May 18, 2008 from 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. …celebrating Israel's 60th birthday. Over 6,000 members from the community will attend this FREE event and enjoy entertainment, a special Israel@60 performance, an Israel photo exhibition, Walk the Land Program, a visit from Mayor Jerry Sanders, delicious kosher food, children's activities and more! To learn more visit http://israelat60sandiego.com/event/31 or call 858-571-3444.
Walk the Land - Sunday, May 18, 2008 at the Lawrence Family JCC (4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla 92037)
Kick off the Yom Ha'atzmaut Independence Day Festival with a one-mile walk in support of Israel! Join local San Diegans as you pass by beautiful murals of Israeli cities in this first-time-ever global event! Each participant will receive a unique Israeli "passport" to be stamped along the path. The General Walk begins at 11:00 a.m. and an alternative Youth Walk begins at 2:00 p.m. departing from the JCC's baseball diamond. Register in advance: $5/person includes an official hat, water and original passport. Proceeds benefit the building of a new safe Regional High School in Sha'ar Ha'Negev, San Diego's partnership region in Israel. To register for "Walk the Land" go to http://israelat60sandiego.com/event/56
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
Engagement - mazal tov to the Meyerowitz family on the engagement of Lawrence to Sarah Moos!
Happy birthday to Rikki Sher (Apr 25), Ilana Engel (Apr 28) and Jeanine Patz (Apr 30)!
Wedding anniversary - mazal tov to Sam and Anna (Gillian) Sher!
Kiddush
Kiddush this Shabbat (7th day Pesach) and 8th day Pesach are sponsored by the kehilla with best wishes to all congregants.
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 Apr 25: Candle lighting 7.08 PM
- Sat Apr 26: Candle lighting after 8.08 PM
- Sun apr 27: Yom Tov ends 8.09 PM
Thought for the week
Pesach: A Different Joy
In direct contrast to our other week long pilgrimage festival, Sukkot, Pesach bursts out of the blocks, but crawls to the finish. In fact, our liturgy reflects this more modest, more sober celebration over the last days of Pesach.
On Sukkot, we recite the full, joyous Hallel service daily, suggesting that every day is a distinct holiday; every day brings a unique spirit. Yet during the last days of Pesach, we recite the abridged Hallel prayer. Has all the Matzah gotten us down? Are we less joyous over the last days of Pesach?
Rather than thinking of the last days of Pesach as diminished joy, these last days of the "time of our freedom" teach us about another type of celebration. Our customs offer insight as to how we think about and celebrate these last days of Pesach.
Each of the pilgrimage festivals is marked by the reading of a particular megillah scroll. On Sukkot, the holiday of renewed daily joy, we read the megillah, Kohelet. An interesting choice given its morose nature: "Vanity of vanities, all is vain." Or "There is nothing new under the sun." These sentiments do not resonate with the same happiness that the rest of the holiday encourages. On the other hand, we read Shir Hashirim on Pesach, a story of longing and passion between two young lovers: "On my bed in nighttime, I seek my soul's love…but do not find him." Given the other themes of Pesach, this too seems an odd choice of megillah scroll. We should swap the megillah scrolls: for Pesach the sober text and Sukkot the text of passion and excitement.
Herein lies the nature of Pesach and how we can celebrate these last days of this special holiday. Sukkot commemorates the forty year trek through the desert. In our times, Sukkot teaches us to enliven the day to day; every day, though we head closer toward inevitable mortality, as expressed in Kohelet, we must invigorate each moment as though our first and possibly our last. On Sukkot we celebrate in spite of time.
On Pesach, we commemorate our exodus from Egypt, the birth of the Jewish people. So the celebration we craft is one of an evolving, maturing relationship, as Shir Hashirim expresses: "I adjure you…do not awaken love until it is ready." On Pesach we celebrate because of the passing of time.
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach and Moadim L'Simcha,
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