Our fifth anniversary!
Mazal tov on the kehilla's fifth anniversary on Sivan 14th, this coming Tuesday June 17th! We started on Sivan 14, 5763, which was Friday night, June 13, 2003 - coincidentally this week is also Friday June 13th!
Our new Executive Director
Mazal tov to Barbara Berkovich, a board member and now also our new Executive Director. We wish to thank Selwyn and Barbara Lurie for the innumerable hours they have contributed to the establishment and administration of the Kehilla. All finance and administration has now been transferred to Barbara.
New Administrative Office
With the retirement of Selwyn and Barbara Lurie as our finance and administration team and Barbara's appointment as Executive Director, the administrative office has moved to the address below:
KEHILLAT AHAVAT YISRAEL
4653 Carmel Mountain Road, Suite 308-513
San Diego, CA 92130
PH/FAX: 858-633-0181
EMAIL: mail@kaysandiego.org
KAY's Torah Study Opportunities
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
The Annual JCC Book Sale begins on June 5th and runs through June 15th.
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 Edna Novokolsky (Jun 13), Jacob Burland (Jun 14), Tali Maio (Jun 14), Erica Ratner (Jun 16), Rahleen Bloch (Jun 17) and Max Maio (Jun 18)!
Wedding anniversary - mazal tov to James and Shannon Love (Jun 16)!
Yahrzeits - we wish a long life to Len Fishman (for his father), to Claudia Fainman (for her father) and to Chaya Zingerevich (for her father.
Kiddush
Kiddush this Shabbat is sponsored by Dan & Susan Burland on the occasion of Dan's birthday - mazal tov!
Please contact Barbara Berkovich at 858-633-0181 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 Barbara Berkovich at 858-633-0181. All donations are tax deductible and should be made payable to Kehillat Ahavat Yisrael and mailed to 4653 Carmel Mountain Road, Suite 308-513, San Diego, CA 92130. 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 Jun 13: Candle lighting 7.39 PM
- Sat Jun 14: Shabbat ends 8.40 PM
Thought for the week
The Responsibilities of Freedom
This Shabbat's Torah portion, Beha'alotcha, commemorates an anniversary; it relates the completion of Israel's year long cycle from Egypt. We read in this week's Torah portion: "G-d spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert in the second year after the departure from Egypt in the first month…Israel shall offer the Pesach sacrifice in its time" (Numbers 9:1-2) Since the first month of the year is Nisan, this is the first time that the Jewish people are celebrating the holiday of Pesach after their freedom from bondage.
Interestingly, though this first description of the Pesach should offer us insight and meaning into the practice of Pesach, Rashi deems this a blemish to the Jewish people. Rashi focuses his comments on the mention of the Passover; by matter of course the Jews should observe Passover on the fifteenth of Nisan. In a striking statement, Rashi suggests that the people lived for forty years in the desert, yet this is the sole time they offered the Pesach sacrifice. (See Rashi, Numbers 1:9)
The Midrash offers a similar yet different message about the Torah's subtle critique. In the Sifrei, the blemish on the Jewish people is leveled, not because they fail to offer the Pesach sacrifice; rather, the Jewish community has wasted eleven months, sitting at the base of Mount Sinai. (Sifrei, 64)
If Rashi's assertion is true, than it's clear why the Jews are criticized: they fail to perform a foundational religious practice. But what is the sense of the Sifrei's claim?
The holiday of Pesach calls on us to exercise our freedom. As Jews, our covenantal bond with G-d begins to form with the exodus from Egypt and tightens at Sinai. And after receiving the Torah at Sinai, Jewish people became duty bound to live out those covenantal dreams: growing as a Torah observant people in the land of Israel.
Yet, we look at this week's Torah portion and the Jews, nearly a year after arriving at Sinai, have not moved at all. Stasis is antithetical to spiritual, religious life. We have a gift that must be treasured and shared. Each year, month, week, day and moment needs to be a time that we can look at ourselves and take pride in the movement that we've made and the beauty we've shared.
Shabbat shalom Umevorach.
Rav Menashe East
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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