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Rabbis' Greetings
The
Chanukah holiday had always been, since the days of the
Mishnah and the Talmud and through the entire period
of the long Diaspora, a minor holiday.
The historical tale of the Maccabi’s victory, based on
accounts by the Book of Hasmoneans and by Yosef Ben Mattityahu,
has evolved from its original religious context of a battle
for the right to worship freely to its current interpretation
as a struggle for national sovereignty.
The Israeli author Chaim Be’er writes that each generation
bestows its own understanding on each holiday. Every holiday
provides a platform for the cultural and social agendas
of the time. Certain holidays and festivals symbolize
a break in the passage of time. In their differentiation
from the day-to-day, holidays create a space that is filled
with relevance.
In the well known conversation between the Little Prince
and the fox in Antuan De Saint Exupery’s delightful book:
“What is a ceremony?”, asks the Little Prince. “This is
also one of the things that has been neglected of late”,
answers the fox. “This is an act that separates one day
from all the other days and one hour from all the rest.”.
It is ritual that gives our folk-historic tale their traditional
meanings, buoyed by cultural legacy on the one hand and
current-day interpretation on the other.
We give meaning to our holidays based on themes that are
familiar to us and with which we identify. Shifting the
emphasis from the miracle of the oil lamp to the miracle
of the Hasmonean uprising was a natural reflection of
the miracle of the establishment of the State of Israel.
This year when we light the Chanukah candles we will add
torches carried by our young members. They are torches
of traditional blessings alongside torches of new ideas
expressed by old and wise words that plant the seeds of
authentic Jewish identity and bestow meaning to our lives
wherever we may be.
Happy
Chanukah!
Rabbi
Kinneret Shiryon |
Rabbi
Nir Barkin |
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Chanukah
5768 |
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Modi’in
Mayor Visits YOZMA
On Erev Simchat Torah this year, Kehillat YOZMA
was honored by the participation of Modi'in's Mayor
Moshe Spector, who not only addressed the congregation
but joined in the holiday spirit and danced with our Torahs!
We are grateful to Mayor Spector for his dedication and
staunch support of YOZMA and were especially moved when
during this address he proclaimed; "YOZMA
should be the most influential center of Reform Judaism
in Israel".
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YOZMA’s
Nir Barkin Ordained in Jerusalem
Kehillat YOZMA's own Nir Barkin
was among the five new rabbis ordained on November 2nd
at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's
Jerusalem campus.
Nir's
many well-wishers (including family, friends, YOZMA members
and a large contingent from Milwaukee where Rabbi
Barkin served as community shaliach for four
years) attended the Friday morning ordination ceremony
held in Mercaz Shimshon - Bet Shmuel's magnificent glass-domed
hall overlooking the Old City.
The
celebration continued as some 250 people attended a special
Kabbalat Shabbat service, followed by a communal pot-luck
dinner held at Kehillat YOZMA that evening. Participants
were treated to speeches and presentations honoring Rabbi
Barkin, including a special performance by the
YOZMA elementary school's 1st and 2nd graders.
While
Nir has been active in Kehillat YOZMA since his
return to Israel from Milwaukee in 2001, Rabbi
Nir Barkin now formally takes his place as YOZMA's
associate Rabbi. He is in charge of the Jewish studies
for the growing YOZMA elementary school. In addition,
Rabbi Barkin runs an adult education Bet Midrash as well
as performing rabbinical duties alongside Rabbi Shiryon.
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(Ground)
Breaking News!
Kehillat
YOZMA is on the brink of realizing our dream of praying
in a dedicated sanctuary on our own plot of land! Last
week, the tractors arrived! Within the coming weeks, the
city of Modiin is scheduled to complete the foundation
to install the prefabricated structure that will accommodate
our praying community until we raise the necessary funds
to build YOZMA's permanent Sanctuary and Community Center
on that very site. This is a landmark moment in
YOZMA's history.
We
invite our friends and supporters at home and overseas
to be partners in our quest as we raise the remaining
funds needed to fully equip, furnish and maintain our
new complex. (We would desperately like to part company
with our plastic chairs!) In addition to encouraging
increased contributions locally, we have initiated
a global capital campaign during this new critical
juncture. As many of you already know YOZMA received
an unexpected gift from the Israeli government for
the New Year! We were given the final signature from
the Ministry of Interior assigning ALL of the land
that was allocated to us seven years ago. Unbelievable!
Thanks to the support of many different donors over
the last ten years, including many of you, we have
raised the necessary funds to go ahead and build three
of our pre-school classrooms. As we have highlighted
above, the Municipality is also placing a pre-fabricated
synagogue complex on the land.
The
newest challenge we have now is to secure the parcel which
has been designated for an infant day care center. In
order to achieve our dream of securing all the land for
our complex we had to raise an additional $450,000 to
place in the escrow fund of the City by the end of November
2007 lest we jeopardize our hold on the new parcel. We
are pleased to update you that we have raised $100,000
towards this goal. We still need another $350,000.
We
have advertised this appeal in previous newsletters and
urge those of you who haven't yet joined us to do so even
today!!
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