Letter from the Chairman of the Board
Dear Friends,
If
you were privileged to be with us on Rosh Hashana as well as for
Selichot, I'm certain that you had a most spiritually rewarding
experience. We express our heartfelt thanks to Rav Zalman Druck, Chief
Chazzan Chaim Adler, Maestro Elli Jaffe, Musical Arranger Raymond
Goldstein, all of the members of our Choir, Baal Shacharit Professor
Avraham Steinberg, Baal Tokaya Rene Yitzchak Stein, Baalei Keria Elli
Jaffe and Simon Kresch and Baal Pesukei d'zimra Professor Menachem
Steiner. Special thanks to Dr. Raphi Jospe and Danel Jaffe of our
Emergency Response Committee.
There
are still some seats available for Yom Kippur. Our office will be open
for seat reservations this week thru Thursday from 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
and on Wednesday evening from 6 PM to 7 PM. We look forward to greeting
the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Yaffo, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who will
speak on Kol Nidre evening and on Yom Kippur prior to Yizkor.
Although
we have a supply of Machzorim for Yom Kippur in our Synagogue, we do
not own enough for all of our congregants. If you own your own Ashkenaz
Machzor, we ask that you bring and use it so that those who don't have
their own may use those belonging to The Jerusalem Great Synagogue. If
you bring your own Machzor, please make certain that your name and
telephone number are clearly written in the inside front cover so that
we may return it to you if it is inadvertently misplaced.
Because
of the flu epidemic throughout the world, which unfortunately has also
claimed some lives in Israel, the Health Ministry has issued the
following precautionary steps that we should all follow:
1. Do not come to the Synagogue if you have fever or a bad cold
2. Do not kiss sacred objects (Torah scroll) or machzorim
3. Shake hands as infrequently as possible. Smile and nod to the person instead.
4. Wash your hands frequently.
Please try to observe these rules and thus stay healthy and help others to remain healthy as well.
The
Jerusalem Great Synagogue and the Yeshurun Central Synagogue are
jointly sponsoring a Shabbat Shuva Drasha in English this Shabbat
morning at 11:15 AM by Rabbi Ari Berman, the former Senior Rabbi of The
Jewish Center in Manhattan. Rabbi Berman's topic is: "The Fragility of
History and the Path to Redemption: Understanding the Message and
Meaning of the Shofar." The Drasha will take place in the Yeshurun
Central Synagogue, 44 King George Street.
The
Jerusalem Great Synagogue's caterer will again this year build a sukkah
in the Dr. Maurice Jaffe z"l Plaza. They will be serving meals on the
evenings and days of Yom Tov. The cost per person per meal is $43 plus
VAT. For 10 or more people in a group, there will be a 10%
discount. For further information and reservations, please call the
caterer's office at 02-623-1174 or 02-623-1175.
If
you live outside of Jerusalem and want to spend Sukkot here, we are
delighted to co-operate with Eddie's Travel who will be celebrating the
days of Yom Tov at the nearby Dan Panorama Hotel and joining us for
services and special programs. For further information, please visit
their website www.koshertravelers.com, call Shelley at Eddie's Travel (Israel +972 2 992 9801 in the US +646 240 4118 or e-mail them at info@eddiestravel.com.
As
I noted last week, our first program of the 5770 Motzaei Shabbat
Mevorchim Social Evening and Lecture Program (in English) will take
place on Saturday evening October 17th in the Friedler
Banquet Hall of The Jerusalem Great Synagogue. Our speaker is our good
friend Caroline Glick, Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem
Post. Her Topic is: "Reflections on The Obama Administration and the
Future of Israel-US Relations." Caroline is one of our most popular
speakers and always has a most thought-provoking and masterfully
presented talk. A question-and-answer period follows the formal
presentation. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend as
long as space permits. This series is sponsored in cooperation with The
Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel (AACI); The Orthodox
Union-Israel (0U); Young Israel of Rehavia (Hanassi); American Israeli
Action Coalition, (AIAC), Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel and
Rabbinical Council of America.-Israel.
We
are delighted to announce that our Patron, Dr. Felix Glaubach, the
President of The Jerusalem Great Synagogue, will be honored as our
Chattan Torah on Simchat Torah. Dr. Glaubach and his wife, Dr. Miriam
Glaubach, are very dedicated to our Synagogue and to many other
institutions both here and in the United States. We extend our Mazal
Tov to him and wish him and his wife many more healthy and happy years
together with ever-present nachat from their family and from all of us.
We
congratulate our Major Dedicator, Fran Laufer, on the forthcoming
publication of her autobiography "A Vow Fulfilled: The Fran Laufer
Story, Memories and Miracles" published by Targum Press. Coming from a
Chassidic family in Chrzanow, Poland, she was, at the age of fourteen,
brought to a labor camp and four years later, was battling typhoid in
Bergen-Belson. Fortunately, she survived the horrors of that period
and, together with her late husband Simon, z"l, became noted
philanthropists in the United States and Israel. On Wednesday, October 7th
at 10:30 AM in the sukkah of Bikur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem
(Strauss and Haneviim Streets), there will be a book signing event, to
which you are invited. We extend our blessings to Mrs. Laufer and wish
her much success in transmitting her story to readers throughout the
world.
Our
condolences to our Founder Members, Benjamin and Cheryl Fishoff on the
untimely passing of Mrs. Fishoff's beloved daughter, Cindy Weinberg,
z"l, wife of Dr. Paul Weinberg of Woodmere, New York. May the family be
comforted among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and experience
no further sorrow for many years to come.
We
continue to pray for the good health and immediate release of Gilad ben
Aviva Schalit. Please add prayers for refua sheleima for those who were
injured in terrorist attacks and in the War in Gaza and for Ratza bat
Reesa (Roslyn Lowy), Aryeh ben Sarah Leah (Chazzan Aryeh Goldberg),
Amiram ben Reina (Amiram Benshimol), Zahava bat Rachel (Zahava Meczes),
Channa bat Chaya Devorah (Anna Schlesinger), Bracha Miriam bat Rachel
(Miriam Sheinberg), Chaim Ariel ben Vera Devora (Ariel Sharon),
Shoshana bat Miriam (Susan Shapiro), Chaya bat Chava (Chaya Herstik),
Amit Yehuda ben Malka (Dr.Amit Schwartz), Shimon Elimelech ben Sima
Rivka (Marc Weinberg), Avraham Yeshayahu ben Aviva (Avraham Yeshayahu
Feiner), Shai ben Rachel (Shai Peltz), Miriam Rivkah bat Adina Leah
(Miriam Strasberg), Yissachar Dov ben Peshe (Bud Silver), Moshe Avigdor
ben Rivkah (Martin Herzog), Penina Rivka Yoela bat Mirel (Penny Bowman)
and Gitel Rivka bat Chaya Risa. May they all be blessed with a speedy
and complete recovery and enjoy good health for many more years.
Please
remember that this Motzaei Shabbat, we (in Israel) move our clocks one
hour back to winter time. At 2 AM our clocks become 1 AM.
Please
also note that an error was made in the calendar from which we list our
times for Shabbat and Chag and from which the times are listed on the
tickets for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The correct time for the
sounding of the shofar at the conclusion of Yom Kippur is 5:53 PM.
Guest
Chazzan Moshe Goldberg will officiate this Friday evening (6:20 PM) and
Shabbat morning Parashat Haazinu – Shabbat Shuva (7:55 AM). We are
happy to welcome our Chattan Bar Mitzvah, Aaron Schwartz-Messing from
Queens, New York, his parents, relatives and friends who have come to
Jerusalem to celebrate this simcha. We are delighted that they decided
to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem and at The Jerusalem Great
Synagogue and to remain with us for Yom Kippur. May Aaron continue to
be an ever-present source of nachat to his family and to all Am Yisrael.
Shabbat Shalom and Gmar Chatima Tova.
Asher Schapiro
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