An initiative of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), with the support of the Government of Israel, Holocaust Era Asset Restitution Taskforce Project HEART — aims to provide the tools, strategy, and information to enable the Government of Israel, the project, and its partners to bring about a small measure of justice to eligible heirs of Jewish victims, the victims themselves, and the Jewish people. Please go to www.heartwebsite.org for more information. Deadline to apply is December 1, 2011 The PRIDE OF ISRAEL KOSHER FOOD BANK helps 100 Jewish Welfare families per week. They desperately need non-perishables such as canned goods, pasta, peanut butter and powdered milk. These items should be marked kosher. Or send a cheque to: PRIDE OF ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE KOSHER FOOD BANK OF PRIDE OF ISRAEL 59 Lissom Crescent, Toronto, ON M2R 2P2 Founding Rabbi Rabbi Sol Tanenzapf, z”l Clergy Cantor Eli Bard President Larry Miller Immediate Past President Irv Siegel Chairman of the Board of Directors Shelley Isenberg 209 - 1118 Centre Street, Thornhill, ON L4J 7R9 t. (905) 889-0276 x31 shalom@beitrayim.org www.beitrayim.org www.facebook.com/beitrayimshul
Gilad Shalit
Enjoyed our services? Want to find out more about us? Speak to one of our Board members following services or contact our office 905-889-0276 x31 or shalom@beitrayim.org www.beitrayim.org
July 30, 2011 ~ 28 TAMMUZ 5771 Birkat HaChodesh Parashat Masei
פרשת מסעי The Congregational Kiddush will be held on Main Street following services.
2011 Judy Stein Volunteer of the Year Award
With more than 11 million people across East Africa devastated by drought and famine, United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto has established the African Famine Relief Fund to help relieve their suffering. Fund donations will be sent to IsraAID: The Israeli-based Forum for International Humanitarian Aid which, with the cooperation of the Government of Israel, has already deployed a team of specialists to Kenya, to which 1300 refugees a day are escaping from Somalia. In Kenya, IsraAID will ensure that food and medical relief is deployed as quickly as possible. In addition, the Government of Canada has announced that it will match an equivalent amount to drought relief, for every dollar an individual Canadian donates to eligible registered Canadian charities. The Government of Israel has also been providing ongoing humanitarian assistance to Africa for many years. The United Jewish Appeal African Famine Relief Fund is not part of the annual UJA Federation campaign. 100% of proceeds raised will be designated for IsraAID.
ujadonations.com/AfricanFamine or by calling 416-631-5705.
Do you know someone from our synagogue who has been an outstanding volunteer this past year? Someone who has devoted much of their time and energy to the growth, development and day to day, week to week functioning of Beit Rayim? Please submit your nomination to the Synagogue office by e-mail to admin@beitrayim.org and tell us why this person deserves to be recognized for this prestigious award, which will be presented on Saturday, September 24 at Shabbat services. Deadline for nominations is August 19, 2011
Calling All High School Students If you would like to earn volunteer hours during the High Holy Days, please contact Tracy Handler, Youth Team Leader at mt_handler@sympatico.ca by August 15. Spaces are limited. Preference will be given to Beit Rayim Member Families in good standing, and who have children's programming experience. Coming Soon. Our exciting initiative to help grow our Congregation. Everyone can participate and we will all benefit from this program. Can’t wait? Email Larry at president@beitrayim.org
שבת שלום Special Educational Series in August “The Month of Av: Reproach, Lamentation, and Comfort”. A series of talks presented by Michael Cole Begins next shabbat
Schedule: Saturday, August 6 during services
Monday, August 8 (Erev Tisha B’Av) – 7:30-10 PM (includes Maariv and reading of Eicha) Shabbat – Saturday, August 13 during services (All of the above will occur in the Beit Midrash in TanenbaumCHAT).
Membership Renewal Information was mailed to you on July 4. If you have not yet received your package please contact the syngaogue office. Watch for the names of our Early Bird Draw Winners next week.
Annual Torah reading: Numbers 33:1 – 36:13 (Etz Hayim, p. 954, Hertz, p. 714) Beit Rayim Triennial Reading: Numbers 31:33 – 31:12 (Etz Hayim, p. 954, Hertz, p. 714) Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4 – 28;3:4 (Etz Hayim, p. 973, Hertz, p. 725)
ANNOUNCEMENTS/הודעות The Congregation thanks Stephen Reisch for sponsoring today’s kiddush in honour of his chanting Torah and Haftarah on the anniversary of his becoming a Bar Mitzvah. A donation has been made to the Kiddus fund in honour of Stephen Reisch, by Larry and Amy Miller. Please wish our July birthday cake sponsors a Happy Birthday: Elan Beer, Julian Binder, Stephen Cohen, Betty Ruth Reisch, Stephen Reisch, Allan and Elana Steingart. If you are receiving an Honour/Aliyah, please make sure to arrive at the beginning of the service and introduce yourself to the Gabbai at the door. This week: July 29, 2011– August 5, 2011 we remember
Gertrude Berger, z”l, mother of Irving Berger Boris Gelgor, z”l, father of Helen Smolkin Stan Goldberg, z”l, uncle of Arthur Standil Bernard Posel, z”l, uncle of Arlene Garfinkle Jack Wulf, z”l, father of Marian Simon and father of Louis Wulf May their souls be bound up in the bonds of eternal life, Amen.
Please mark your calendars . Saturday, September 24, 2011 Special Shabbat to Honour our 2011 Judy Stein Volunteer of the Year Award winner, Volunteers and Chidon Hatanach Participants Looking for a few good “Shabbat Buddies” We are looking to create a roster of drivers who would be willing to pick up and take home some of our members who can no longer drive to services. If you would be willing to “Buddy” up with a member, please contact Fran at the synagogue office: admin@beitrayim.org / t.905-889-0276 x31
Ushers and Set-up Volunteers needed for the High Holy Days. Please contact the synagogue office: dmin@beitrayim.org or 905-889-0276 x31
Please circle your calendars Saturday, August 6, 2011 Monday, August 8, 2011 Saturday, August 13, 2011 3 Part -August Educational Series August 19, 2011 Last date for nominations for the Judy Stein Volunteer of the Year Award Friday, August 15 Deadline to apply for Youth Volunteer hours during High Holy Days September 1, 2011 Renewal Deadline to have tickets Mailed Thursday, September 8, 2011 First Day of Beit Rayim Hebrew School (Grades 2-7) Sunday, September 11, 2011 First Day of Beit Rayim Hebrew School (JK-Grade 1) Saturday, September 24 Volunteer and Chidon Participants Honouring Shabbat Wednesday, September 28 Erev Rosh Hashanah
Excerpted from PARASHAT Masei- Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser (Courtesy of USCJ) Parashat Masei begins with an extensive list detailing the Israelites’ journeys – the various stops and encampments they made as they traversed the wilderness, beginning with Ramses in Egypt and concluding at the steppes of Moab, perhaps five miles from the Jordan. The next stage of this long journey is to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. On the cusp of entering Canaan, a number of critical matters are addressed. God commands Israel to expel the inhabitants of Canaan from the land and to destroy their idols and places of worship. Failure to do so, Israel is told, will result in dire consequences. The indigenous idolaters will be “stings in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you.” Additional instructions are provided to effect equitable allotment of the land among the tribes and their members. The boundaries of the Promised Land are detailed, providing geographical features by which the frontiers are to be defined. Within the Land, both towns and pasturage are to be provided the Levites, who are not otherwise granted a tribal allotment. Forty-eight such towns are to be designated, among them the six cities of refuge. These cities function to provide asylum to Israelites who unintentionally take a life, committing manslaughter. Once such a perpetrator of accidental homicide enters a city of refuge, he is safe from relatives of his victim, who might otherwise exercise the right of blood vengeance – lawfully taking the life of their loved one’s killer. The perpetrator of the manslaughter is given asylum until his lack of malice and intent is established by trial. Should he leave the city of refuge, he is vulnerable to those seeking vengeance. No monetary compensation is permitted the unintentional killer to effect release from his penal status. The “man-slayer” can be released from the city of refuge and is no longer liable to lawful vengeance only upon the death of the high priest. This of course is a period of indeterminate and unpredictable duration, perhaps dramatizing (to both society and the perpetrator) the unpredictable vagaries of the human condition that led to the accidental homicide that occasioned his legal predicament. In addition to establishing the legal norm of trial and due process, parashat Masei also distinguishes carefully between unintended manslaughter and the heinous crime of murder, which is established by the intent, conscious action, or malice of the perpetrator. Such a criminal is not entitled to asylum and is subject to the institution of family avengers or execution. Such execution, however, can be imposed only on the strength of the testimony of two witnesses to the crime. The parashah concludes by revisiting the case of the five daughters of Zelophehad, who, earlier, were granted inheritance rights to their father’s estate because their father left no male heirs. This precedent established this legal enfranchisement for all Israelite women in similar circumstances. Clan leaders within the tribe of Manasseh now object that the sisters, as property owners, will diminish their tribal allotment should they marry members of other Israelite tribes. At God’s instruction, Moses rules that such heiresses must marry only within their own tribe, in order to safeguard the integrity of the tribal allotments within the land of Israel. The five sisters, accordingly, marry first cousins. The Torah is made of five books, but many scholars recognize the first four as a distinctive literary unit, even referring to this subset of the Torah as the “Tetrateuch.” By marking yet another dramatic innovation in Israelite law, the second case of Zelophehad’s daughters, with which Numbers, the fourth book, concludes, serves as an apt transition to Deuteronomy, with its sustained pattern of legal evolution and reinterpretation. Celebrate your birthday, anniversary or other simcha with your Beit Rayim Family. Receive a special blessing at Shabbat services. “Sponsor” a Congregational Kiddush for $360. or “Co-Sponsor” the Kiddush for $180. (This rate does not apply to the added cost for guests who you invite to attend that week and does not apply to Bar or Bat Mitzvah Kiddushim). “Donate” to the Kiddush is still at a variable rate of your choice. Donations are tax receiptable. Beit Rayim Synagogue office: 905.889.0276 ext. 31or admin@beitrayim.org
We want to stay in touch with you. Please make sure we have a current email address on file. Donate a Chumash or Siddur in honour or memory of a person or a special event. Contact the office for details: shalom@beitrayim.org or 905-889-0276 x31