Services Friday night at 7 PM.

Shabbat morning services are this Saturday May 11, and we will be celebrating Sylvia Wilke’s bat mitzvah. We wish Min Rice and her family a hearty mazal tov. Please plan to join us. Yosef will be doing the Haftarah. There will be a yummy dairy kidush right after, smoked salmon and the works, generously sponsored by Sylvia and her family.

Cantor Ben-Moshe’s Weekly Message:

This week’s parshah is K’doshim-which states “You shall be holy people (k’doshim) for I, HaShem, am Holy”. The book of Vayyikra, Leviticus, is of course full of laws concerning rituals, purity and impurity, and proper diet. But the focus of this parshah specifically dealing with holiness is ethical behavior. Fairness in our interpersonal relationships figures heavily, as well as making sure that we hold ourselves and our society to the highest standards. The Sages teach that we are to act like the Holy One. And how are we to do so? By clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, comforting mourners. Acts of hessed, loving kindness, are the ways in which we make ourselves holy, much more so than any rituals we might perform. May we always be a k’hillah k’doshah, a holy community, bringing out the best from ourselves and from each other. Shabbat Shalom.

Candle lighting at 7:57 PM

Grandpa Abe and THE SPECIAL WEDDING GIFT

This story that I’m about to write has been told to me by a very dear friend. I don’t wish to take complete credit for it, but it has been changed and took some turns in composing it.

It was a nice bright and sunny day in June that Bunny and Paul got married. It had taken many months of planning and finally the day had come. It was a very large wedding which numbered approximately 200 people. You could just feel the love in the air. It was one of the most delightful weddings that had taken place in Boston in some time. After the wedding, the numerous gifts were gathered up and taken to the new apartment. After a three-day honeymoon, the new couple was off to work. I need to share with you that all the gifts were opened but one and listed on a piece of paper who to send thank you notes to and what they sent. Now, let’s talk about the gift that was not opened. It was a very special gift. All we know is that it came from Paul’s aunt. There was a note on it that said to be opened upon your first argument/disagreement. As time went on, there were two different moves, three children and, need I tell you what else happens in that time. That time consisted of seven years. Yes, the gift was still unopened. It had a special place in the kitchen cabinet on top. I am sure there was some slight bumps in the road along the way, but for the most part it was a fairly smooth marriage. As the kids grew and their life was settling down, they thought many times about the gift. They would see the aunt every now and then and tell her that the gift has yet to be opened. It’s been so long the aunt forgot all about the gift or what was in it, but she never said anything about it. Well, today they decided they were going to open the gift. Not because of it’s original instructions, but they wanted to open the gift while the aunt was still alive and their curiosity was going really wild by now. The ribbon was carefully undone and the pretty paper, which now was showing some wear, taken off. The gift was opened. After all these years of guessing what could be in there, they had no idea what it could be. There was a set of toasting goblets and two little envelopes. One envelope had Bunny’s name on it. Inside it said go get some real nice bath salts and take a nice bath and have a glass of wine with it. There was also a $20 wrapped around the note. Paul’s envelope said go get Bunny a bouquet of flowers and some chocolate covered strawberries. It’s funny how a little box held a family together all these years. As I said the road was not smooth all the way, but every time there was a bump, they both remembered the gift on the shelf and they didn’t want to open it because that would indicate that they were defeated. The gift on the shelf kind of bonded them together. They then placed the three children in the station wagon and headed to the aunt’s house. They wanted to personally thank her for the best wedding gift anyone could receive. It’s funny how with age comes wisdom as I said before. Wisdom doesn’t come with a 20 year old.

L dor V dor, Grandpa Abe

May 11 Bat Mitzvah celebration of Sylvia Wilke

May 16 Chai Mitzvah Class at 7 PM

May 19 BERS Graduation Day & Congregational Picnic

June 25 Sisterhood Book Night at Gail Ellenbogen’s home at 7 PM

Look for more information about summer yoga series with Rachel at Beth El! More details to follow.

No Sunday school this weekend, but PLEASE give your Moms a huge hug and make her day super special. Enjoy a photo of Morah Meital and our wonderful children and Ms Carol! Huge thank you to Ms. Carol for coming to sing Israeli songs with our yeladim!