This Shabbat we complete the book of Vayikrah as we read the final portion, Bechukotai; and this Shabbat we observe the 34th day of the Omer count
Keep on Your Calendar
Yom Yerushalayim, Sunday night, June 1st; Tikkun Leil Shavuot meal and study session, Sunday night, June 8th.
KAY's Torah Study Opportunities
Talmud class
Talmud Class Tuesdays at 7:30pm at the Academy, Room D105.
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
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 Joshua Krelstein (May 27)!
Wedding anniversaries - mazal tov to Trevor & Judy Renfield (May 23), to Alex & Ella Novokolsky (May 24), to Steven & Erica Ratner (May 28) and to Rav Menashe & Donna (May 29)!
Yahrzeits - we wish a long life to Brett Matus (for his father) and to Maureen (Minnie) Menachemson (for her father).
Kiddush
Kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by Jacob & Ann Burland 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 May 23: Candle lighting 7.28 PM
- Sat May 24: Shabbat ends 8.28 PM
Thought for the week
The Torah of Life and the Life of Torah
"If you follow my statutes and you observe my commandments and perform them…" (Leviticus 26:3) So begins the Torah portion this Shabbat, Parshat Bechukotai, the last portion in the book of Leviticus. Ibn Ezra views each clause of this verse as part of our responsibility as Torah living Jews: we must study, teach and perform. (See Ibn Ezra, ibid)
In very different form from Ibn Ezra, the Midrash finds a different meaning in the phrasing of this verse, offering two wonderful suggestions to consider as we live a life of observance. The first idea: if you follow and observe the Torah, G-d considers as though you are responsible for creating, for performing, the Torah. This is a powerful image: when we fulfill the Torah, we create the Torah. Torah rests in a state of patient potential, waiting for us to enliven it for our own sake. And, on the other hand, if we are derelict in our commitment, we create a world, we live a life entirely ignorant of Torah living. (Vayikrah Rabba, 35:7)
The Midrash then offers a second, more personal reading of this line: If we follow and observe the Torah, it is as though we create ourselves. We are waiting in a state of potential and without Torah in our lives, we never actualize our truest self. (Vayikrah Rabba, ibid) In the most radical formulation of this concept, the rabbinic tradition equates a teacher to a student as though he or she were the student's parent; without Torah, it's as though the child was unborn.
These two concepts, in fact, are mirror images: on the one hand, the Torah is contingent on our willingness and commitment to observe; without us there is no Torah. On the other hand, our lives are contingent on our commitment to Torah; without Torah, there is no us.
As we near the holiday of Shavuot, the moment of G-d's giving of Torah to the Jews, this is the time for us to consider our relationship to Torah and the blessings we can glean from a life filled with Torah.
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 |
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