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Glen
Rock 4th of July parade
This
year July 4
falls
on Shabbat.
The GRJC will hold Shabbat
services at
7:30a am on 7/4,
allowing congregants time
to view the parade when it begins at
9:30.
As part
of the
Religious Communities of Glen
Rock, GRJC members
have, in past years, pushed grocery
carts and solicited cash donations for
the food banks during the parade.
Since these are not activities we do
on Shabbat, we are asking our members
to drop off non-perishable food items
and/or monetary donations at the GRJC
during the week after the July 4th
weekend. Our Social Action Committee
will deliver your donations to the
pantries, which are sorely in need of
contributions, given the current
economic climate.
A SAFE
AND HAPPY 4TH!
God
Bless America!
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STILL TIME TO
RSVP!
COMMUNITY SHABBAT DINNER AT GRJC
FRIDAY,
JULY 10 6:30 PM
Join us for a Shabbat dinner in the
GRJC social hall at 6:30 pm,
and then we'll participate in the
Friday evening service.
We'll explain and then
perform together all the Friday night
rituals including candle-lighting,
kiddush, hand-washing, blessing
children, and the blessing after the
meal.
Dinner will include: Brisket, Chicken,
Vegetarian
$9 per individual
$18 per family
RSVP DEADLINE
EXTENDED TO
TUES., JULY 7
Call the
GRJC
office
201-652-6624.
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8th
Annual
GRJC BBQ
under the
tent at Rabbi
Tow and Rabbi Schwartz's home
6:00 pm
very
shortly!
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SAVE THE
DATES!
SUNDAY
AUG 30
Family White
Water Rafting in Lehigh, PA
Annual Men's
Club Golf Outing
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Deadline for
submissions
for the
Summer
GRJC Bulletin
is Friday, July 10.
Email all copy, photos,
etc. to
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Shabbat,
July 3-4, 2009
12 Tammuz 5769
1776-2009, Celebrating the 233rd
Anniversary of our Nation's
Independence
"Proclaim liberty throughout the
land, and to all its
inhabitants."-Leviticus 25:10
Torah portion:
Chukat-Balak
Bamidbar
(Numbers) 21:21-22:38
We light our Shabbat candles at
8:14 pm
Shabbat evening
services will begin at 8 pm
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday morning
services will begin at 7:30 am
(And will be
followed by a kiddush-breakfast.)
Shabbat ends at 9:22 pm on Saturday.
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THE ISRAEL TRIP IS ON!
After a successful opening meeting,
we're moving forward with the Israel
trip that's scheduled for February
6-16, 2010. We have the proposed
itinerary available as well as the
costs. Please contact Rabbi Tow
(rabbi@grjc.org) to learn more about
this exciting Israel opportunity!
This trip offers a maximum Israel
experience at the most affordable
price available today--a unique
opportunity!.
*See Tel Aviv, the Golan, the
Galilee, Jerusalem, Masada, the Dead
Sea and more...
*Participate in an archaeological
dig in Jerusalem.
*Dinner with members of a Masorti/Conservative
congregation in Rehovot.
*Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial
*Wine tasting in the Golan Heights
Winery
*See where King David lived
*And so much more...
Join us on our Israel adventure!
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Dear
GRJC family,
It is my goal to be of service to
all congregants and members of our
GRJC family at large.
In order to better serve you, I
would ask for your help and
support:
-
When there is a
family member who is in the
hospital, ill at home, or
elsewhere, and would appreciate
a visit from me, please let me
know. We can also add the
individual's name to the healing
prayers we recite on Shabbat and
holidays. If you have a parent
or relative in independent or
assisted living or in a nursing
home, please let me know so that
I can make a visit.
-
When there is,
God forbid, a death, please
contact me first
before being in touch with the
funeral parlor so that we
can work together to create a
meaningful memorial service and
shivah observance for your loved
one.
Thank you!
-Rabbi Tow
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Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family
Question:
Why do we wash our hands before
eating bread on Shabbat, holidays,
and throughout the year? How do we
do the handwashing ritual?
Answer:
We only do the ritual hand-washing
before eating a meal with bread.
Bread, according to the Talmud, was
the centerpiece of a meal. The
bread was itself used to dip into
other items served on the table,
just as we find in our Passover
Seder.
The challah that we eat on Shabbat,
and holidays as well, serves the
function of the bread for the meal,
and so we engage in a ritual
hand-washing in order to prepare to
eat it. The reason for this ritual
goes back to the days of the ancient
Temple in Jerusalem. The priests (kohanim)
would engage in a ritual
hand-washing both before attending
the offering of sacrifices and
before eating from the sacrifices
that were offered. This washing
made their hands both clean and
ritually pure.
After the destruction of the Temple,
the Rabbis who helped reformulate
Jewish tradition for a post-Temple
world wished to maintain the memory
of the Temple rite within Jewish
life. They taught that our tables
are similar to the Temple altar and
that we stand in the place of the
priests who attended the altar. As
a result, the Rabbis instituted the
hand-washing ritual into all our
more significant meals, that is,
meals served with bread. If there's
no bread being served at a meal,
then hand-washing is not required.
It is also important to note that if
we wash hands and say motzi, then we
need not say a separate blessing
over the other foods served at the
meal. A related issue arises as to
what constitutes bread (e.g. Do we
say motzi over pizza? [Most would
say yes to this question]), but this
is a topic for another discussion.
We do the ritual hand-washing with
what Jewish law refers to as a "kli",
vessel, that holds about one half
pint of water. Special hand-washing
cups often have two handles that
make pouring the water over our
hands easier since we will be
pouring with both the left and right
hand. We wash the right hand first
(left handers do the opposite) by
pouring water over it, then once
over the left. Next, we pour over
right, left and then a third time
right, left.
Why 3 times? The first washing is
supposed to remove the dirt or other
filth from our hands. The second
washing clears away the water from
the first washing that is impure due
to contact with the hands. The
third washing then completes the
purification of the hands. Jewish
law teaches that we should wash the
whole hand up to the wrist.
When do we say the blessing and what
is the blessing? There are two
approaches to when we say the
blessing. The first suggests that
we say the blessing before pouring
any water. The second approach
suggests that we say the blessing as
we dry our hands.
The hand-washing blessing goes like
this:
Baruch Atah Ado--nai Elo--heinu
Melech ha'Olam, asher kidshanu
be'mitzvotav ve'tzivanu, al ne'tilat
ya'da'yim.
After we say this blessing, we do
not talk until we have a taste of
the challah so that there is no
interruption between the blessing
and the action that follows from the
blessing.
On Shabbat and holidays we usually
recite kiddush, then wash our hands,
and then say motzi. Here in the
synagogue on Shabbat morning we
follow the practice, one that is
also based in the Shulchan Aruch
(Code of Jewish Law), of first
washing hands, then saying kiddush
and then reciting the motzi. This
practice is often referred to as the
German custom.
You may wish to consider purchasing
a hand-washing cup for Shabbat and
holidays. There are all types of
cups, from simple plastic to ceramic
and metal.
If you have a
question about Judaism that you
think would be a good subject for
this column, please let me know by
emailing it to me at rabbi@grjc.org.
-- Rabbi Tow
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