Rabbis' Greetings

"During the months of Tevet, Shevat and Adar the sun shines brightly in the desert and not in the settled land, so as not to dry out the seeds” (Talmud Bavli, Tractate Pesachim).

The name “Adar” brings a smile to our lips. As the days of Adar pass, smiles become hearty laughter as the melancholy of winter melts into spring joy (During leap years such as the current year, when we have Adar A and Adar B to synchronize the lunar and solar calendars - our happiness doubles!).

The word “Adar” comes from the Aramaic word “Adaro” meaning “granary”, a reference to the preparation of the granaries for spring. A different interpretation teaches us that “Adar” signals that the cold and cloudiness of winter shall soon pass, changing into the brightness and purity of spring and summer. The meaning of the expression “when the month of Adar arrives our joy increases” has great psychological significance. Adar is like an open window on the threshold of summer, turning our wintry introverted selves into extroverted beings. The similarity between the sound of “Adar” and the Hebrew word “Hadar” [splendor] hints of the excitement of preparing for Purim and the promise of the biblical new year, that begins in Nisan.

Rabbi Ofek Meir, of the Leo Beack Educational Center in Haifa, wrote that Judaism, like the various expressions of the month of Adar, draws on two ancient cultures: the nomadic-desert culture (based upon the lunar calendar); and the later agronomical culture of the permanent settlers (based upon the solar calendar).

Judaism connects the two calendars and reaps the benefits of both cultures. Seven out of nineteen annual cycles we have a leap year and add another month, which is always the month of Adar. Our connection to the moon reminds us that we are residents of the Mediterranean Region, deeply rooted in the desert and connected to the dimension of time, without location. Our connection to the sun reminds us of our ties to the more developed cultures of the world. The sun is actually the source of our connection to the land, to the agronomical holidays and to the Land of Israel.

At YOZMA we are partners in renewing traditions and finding meaning in our modern time and in our ancient location. We also adopt the beauty of the natural world around us and incorporate it into our heritage and into our lives.

We rejoice in our desert roots and in all of their spiritual attributes, while we remember that we are also part of an entire culture, locally and globally.

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YOZMA's growing Elementary School

The development of the YOZMA Elementary school has been growing in leaps and bounds. Registration for next year’s first grade classes has been completed, and YOZMA will start the new school year with two first grade classes, two second grades and a third grade. Due to the popularity and the fast growth of the school, the YOZMA classes need to find a new location for the upcoming school year. Both the YOZMA professional staff and the Modi’in Department of Education are actively searching for an appropriate school building, investigating options to either take over an existing school building, or for a new planned structure that is due to be completed before the new school year.

YOZMA’s educational platform has already developed a nationwide reputation as a shining example of a pluralistic and egalitarian Reform religious program that works successfully within the framework of the Israeli secular school system. The YOZMA approach is being discussed in teachers’ forums and educational conferences, and its success is already being copied in other towns and school districts.

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Purim Celebrations at YOZMA

Over the years, Kehillat YOZMA has become synonymous around Modi'in as the place to be for the best Purim celebration in town! And this year, the reputation continues to stand!

Kudos to our Telem Youth members for running fun and exciting activities and stalls for children of all ages! These included tests of skill, face painting and games.

The Family Megillah reading, led by our Rabbi Kinneret and Rabbi Nir and congregation members, was accompanied by a theater performance depicting the Purim story with all of the main characters live on stage! The audience was mesmerized and participated enthusiastically.

The celebrations continued into the evening with an additional Megillah Reading for the adults by known Sephardic Jerusalemite cantor Rani Ish-Ran who sang the traditional tunes and melodies beautifully.

Afterwards the dancing began and a rockin' party with games, music, food and drink was enjoyed well past midnight.

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Update on YOZMA's new temporary Synagogue structure

We are hopeful that within the next few weeks we will begin welcoming Shabbat and holidays in prayer at the new YOZMA synagogue building. There are a number of bureaucratic hurdles that have to be overcome (hook up to infrastructure, electricity, etc) but we are optimistic that we will be celebrating Pesach in the new building.

Located on land allocated to YOZMA by the city of Modi’in, the synagogue structure will be the first building of many that will eventually serve as Modi’in’s center for Progressive Judaism and will include a synagogue, a community center, nursery school classes and a day care center. Up to this point, we have successfully raised money in Israel and overseas for the nursery school complex, but still need to raise additional funding to build the remaining planned areas of the complex.

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Kehillat YOZMA twins with Sderot!

In an effort to support and strengthen the families of Sderot, Kehillat YOZMA's educational programs have launched a special, ongoing "adoption" project.

• Each YOZMA preschool class and each YOZMA-TALI elementary school class is paired with a parallel class in Sderot.
  
  
• Each YOZMA child is paired with a Sderot child in the parallel class.
  
  
• Each YOZMA educational staff member (preschool teacher, kindergarten teacher, elementary school teacher, principal etc) is paired with a parallel Sderot staff member.
  
  
• YOZMA school parents are paired with Sderot school parents

The long-term initiative was officially launched on March 12th when YOZMA staff and volunteers set out in private cars for Sderot to personally bring Purim Mishlochei Manot to the twinned classrooms there. Modi'in's Mayor Moshe Spector and Head of Education Chaya Shitai were there to congratulate

YOZMA on the initiative and to wish the participants well. YOZMA's Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon blessed the gathering – which included all the YOZMA pre-school children as well.

Participants reported an emotional day where appreciative Sderot children and their teachers happily received the YOZMA visitors. The groups shared songs and stories and created a real, personal connection. The YOZMA entourage returned with a new understanding of the suffering of the Sderot residents as each Sderot child had first-hand knowledge of the damage the rockets have caused to residents and their property.

The pictures in some small part convey the emotions of the special day.