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From our Rabbis:
Letters and numbers
are intertwined in the Hebrew language with every Hebrew
letter having a numerical value. The best-known example
of Gematria is the Hebrew word Chai ("life"),
which is composed of two letters (ç (chet ) and
é (yud)) which add up to 18. This has made 18
a "lucky number" - thus, the fondness for many
of us to give multiples of eighteen when making donations
or gifts.
The number seven in Jewish tradition is also special -
representing wholeness. For example: seven days of creation;
seven days of the week with Shabbat being the seventh;
seven blessings for a bride and groom; and every seventh
year is considered a sabbatical year.
As congregational rabbis, we are blessed with a half-year
sabbatical which follows every six years of intense community
work. This September, Rabbi Shiryon, Kehillat YOZMA's
founding rabbi, will be taking her first sabbatical leave
since YOZMA's start thirteen years ago. Rabbi Shiryon
postponed her sabbatical leave until now in order to help
Kehillat YOZMA navigate the first crucial early years
of its development and to guide the community through
the many challenges that have arisen through the years.
Happily, in this YOZMA's thirteenth Bar/Bat Mitzvah year,
the community has grown and matured to the point where
Rabbi Shiryon may now take her well-deserved sabbatical
leave.
Rabbi Barkin will be leading the rabbinic staff that will
be filling in for Rabbi Shiryon from September 2010 until
the end of March 2011.
Rabbi Shiryon looks forward to re-charging her batteries
and returning to YOZMA in the spring.
With a sense of pride and gladness we wish you all fulfilling
summer.
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Rabbi
Nir Barkin |
Rabbi
Kinneret Shiryon |
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Beit
Eden Bar and Bat Mitzvah Celebration - A right of Passage
For the past eight years Kehillat Yozma has adopted
the Beit Eden Group Home for Developmentally Challenged
Youth in nearby Ramla and organized an annual Bar/ Bat
Mitzvah celebration for the residents. This year YOZMA
brought the five Bnei Mitzvah children, together with
their friends and family, to the Kotel in Jerusalem, where
they participated in a special program.
Rabbi Nir Barkin led the extraordinary service
including an Aliya to the Torah for those children who
were able participate. For those children for whom the
service proved too difficult, Rabbi Barkin imparted unique
blessings to recognize their milestone. This year YOZMA
preschool and elementary school children joined in the
celebration at the Kotel.
The ceremony was followed by a festive party in Modi'in's
City Hall. Modi’in’s mayor, local leaders and local businesses
joined the community and Beit Eden families in marking
this moving occasion. Providing this amazing program for
Beit Eden and the youth who are so challenged is one of
the many ways YOZMA gives back to the community.
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Building
Update - We're Almost Home!
In late May, we began building two pre-school classrooms
alongside our precedent-setting pre-fab Synagogue. These
are the next steps towards realizing our dream of creating
a YOZMA complex on the site.
The construction is coming
along and we are on schedule for completing these classrooms
by the end of August, just in time for the upcoming 5771
school year.
Thanks to our friends in
Israel and abroad, the good news is that we’re moving
along in our capital campaign to build all four classrooms,
and we hope to begin the construction on the two additional
classrooms soon.
The challenge is we’re still not quite there. We need
your support in order to reach our ambitious goal of funding
these four classrooms by December.
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Conversion
Bill Vote Called Off
We are happy to report that the vote on the controversial
conversion bill proposed by MK David Rotem has been temporarily
called off. This success is due in no small part to the
mobilization by IRAC (Israel Religious Action Committee)
and Reform and Conservative Jews around the world.
But
we cannot rest on our laurels. When the Knesset reconvenes
after the High Holidays, the fight will start all over
again, as the bill has only been postponed, not defeated
completely.
Kehillat YOZMA joins the protest against this potentially
damaging bill.
Should
the bill pass it would mark the first time that Israeli
law would give the Chief Rabbinate authority over conversion.
The bill states that conversion will be recognized only
if the convert "accepted the Torah and the commandments
in accordance with halakha." This unprecedented stipulation
excludes the Conservative and Reform communities.
Passing
this bill would effectively overturn a 2002 High Court
of Justice ruling that required the Interior Ministry
to recognize converts of all denominations, whether performed
in Israel or overseas.
Jewish
identity should not be solely determined by the Orthodox
Chief Rabbinate.
We
encourage you to sign the IRAC petition
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