Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Parshat Vayera 2008

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

We light our Shabbat candles this week at 4:20 pm.  Friday evening services will begin at 8 pm.  Saturday morning services will begin at 9 am.  Janice Leibman will become a Bat Mitzvah this Shabbat, and the Leibman family invites the entire congregation to participate in services.

Also this Shabbat, Junior Congregation with Cantor Michelle Freedman in the Youth Lounge from 10-11 am. Parents and students invited!

This week we observed Veterans Day, and this Saturday morning we will recognize veterans of the United States military and the veterans of the Israel Defense Forces.  Please join us for recognition and thanks as part of our Shabbat morning service.  We will also share a prayer for our soldiers who are currently serving in the US armed forces.

We read this week from parshat Vayera in Sefer Braysheet, the Book of Genesis.  There is a parallel here between the flood with which God destroyed the entire planet and the “sulfurous fire” that God rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah.  In the case of the flood, the entire world was a wicked place.  Here in our parasha this week, we have two particular cities that appear to be wicked.

Abraham tried to bargain with God on behalf of these cities.  Perhaps there were at least ten righteous people in these communities.  Unlike the flood story, there is an effort to differentiate between those who are wicked and those who are good, or perhaps even less evil than others.

This story raises ethical questions.  For example, can an entire city be considered wicked?  There is the dramatic moment in Sodom when the entire town gathers outside Lot’s house to demand that Lot’s visitors come outside.  The town plans to mistreat the guests.  From the account, it appears that an entire city can be wicked.  Such a situation recalls the terrible events of July 10, 1941 in the Polish city Jedwabne in which the townspeople, with the mayor in the lead, massacred all the Jews of that small town.  This massacre came to light in Jan Gross’s 2001 book “Neighbors”.  It appears that the entire town was, indeed, an evil place.

And yet, as far as Poland as a whole, Professor Israel Gutman of the International Institute for Holocaust Research writes, “A relatively large number of Poles occupy an honorable place among the Righteous Among the Nations for helping hunted Jews at the risk, and sometimes with the loss, of their lives and the lives of their families. They did so selflessly, and with ceaseless effort, for people whom they did not know, and consequently lived in constant fear, for as is generally acknowledged, the task of rescuing Jews was especially difficult and dangerous in Poland.”

Therefore, we can see the juxtaposition of those who would hurt with those who would help.  From one area of this world we find great evil and also great courage.  May we have the courage to act on behalf of those whom we can help, and may we never lose hope even in the face of trials and suffering here and abroad.

With blessings,
Rabbi Tow

ANNOUNCEMENTS
ATTENTION ALL FAMILIES WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS!
The GRJC is seeking campus (“snail mail”) and email addresses for your youths.
We want to keep in touch by sending them the GRJC Bulletin, Chanukah and Purim “care packages” and other appropriate news and items throughout the year.  Please email this information to admin@grjc.org.  Congregant Robin Rubinstein has stepped forward to chair our College Outreach committee.  If you would like to help her, please mention so in your email.

SUNDAY, NOV. 16
9:00 am – 1:00 pm - Religious School Open House and Book Festival…all GRJC members are invited to sit in on our 1st through 6th grade classes and to enjoy the book projects our students have on display in the Social Hall, in celebration of November being Jewish Book Month.

ADULT ED WITH RABBI TOW …SUNDAY MORNINGS IN THE ALCOVE
10:00 – 11:00 am Haftarah chanting class
11:00 – noon Adult Bar/Bat Mtizvah class. Open to all and will culminate in students leading a Shabbat service in June.

MONDAY, NOV. 17
9 am – 12:30 pm Nursery School Picture Day, Youth Lounge
6:30-7:45 pm Bogrim Movie Night (post Bnai Mitzvah teens) Social Hall
7:30-9:45 pm Melton II Class, Youth Lounge

TUESDAY, NOV.18
7:30-9:00 pm Single Parents Support Group…free babysitting, GRJC Library.  Please join us for this ongoing support group that reaches out to those who have experienced divorce or death of a spouse.  Social worker Sheila Steinback from Jewish Family Services and Rabbi Tow facilitate the group.

FRIDAY, NOV 21
6:30 pm Tot Shabbat and Shabbat Sheli services with Jill Gurian and Rabbi Tow in the Social Hall and Sanctuary.

Mommy & Me holds fall sessions Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 18 and 19 in the Social Hall from 9:30-10:45 am.

Thursday, Nov. 20: 50+ Club Senior Aerobics,9:45-10:30am, Social Hall.

SAVE THE DATES –
SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 23, 9:00 AM
MEN’S CLUB BREAKFAST WITH GRJC MEMBER AL “You Know the Voice”  FREDEL performing.  ALL Men’s Club members AND their spouses are invited!

WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 26, 8:00 PM
INTERFAITH THANKSGIVING EVE SERVICE (this year at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church).  Join the GRJC community attending this annual event. All GRJC members (not just Glen Rock residents), extended families and friends welcome.

SATURDAY NIGHT, DECEMBER 6, 7:30 PM
SPORTS, MUSIC, POP CULTURE, ART AUCTION
Major fundraiser for the GRJC.  $10 per person; $18 per couple for GRJC members.  Reserve your seats and paddles now!  Contact Rob Weiss at 201-612-0674 or at rweiss@mclaughlinstern.com.


GRJC PRAYERS NOW ONLINE FOR BAR/BAT MITZVAH STUDENTS AND THE CONGREGATION -
The prayers (tefillot) are now recorded as MP3s on the GRJC website www.grjc.org.  On the main page, click on "Hear Rabbi Tow's Tefillot Recordings."



 

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