- Congregation Beth El–Keser Israel
85 Harrison Street, New Haven, CT 06515-1724 | P: 203.389.2108 | office@beki.org
85 Harrison Street, New Haven, CT 06515-1724 | P: 203.389.2108 | office@beki.org
…angements are required. Active-duty military and police personnel, and full-time students, may enter with valid official ID. Children are always welcome to join us accompanied by their adults. All adults require tickets or reservations for most services. Adults from member households in good standing are sent tickets in advance; members lacking tickets are asked to inquire. Please contact our office 203.389.2108 x114 office@beki.org or download do…
…works in some non-Conservative communities) — where Gay rabbis “hide” — no longer works in our Conservative world. This question, which is somewhat trivial if we are considering only rabbis or cantors, is very significant once we look at the same issue in other areas of communal Jewish life. What are we supposed to do with our devoted Jews who are openly Gay and Lesbian, where most of us don’t see any moral or other debility in homosexuality, and…
…known each other and played together since infancy. Several of your other close friends, Ben, David, Josh, to mention a few, have been close friends since kindergarten and first grade. These special bonds have endured and undoubtedly will continue. You have also been very fortunate to be in a school with a wonderful group of boys and girls who cheer each other on and appreciate each other’s strengths. Being so peer-oriented, however, created one s…
…he functions of the priests; that is to say, it deals with the tangible day-to-day reality of the Jewish religion while the Temple stood. The rest of the Torah has historical, philosophical, and legal interest to Jews of the Temple period, but VaYiqra, as a guidebook to sacrifice and the atonement of sin, contained an immediate, practical, concrete blueprint for how to get right with God. This was the owner’s manual of the Jewish way of being in t…
…t of it. It’s actually also another motion to overthrow the custom at that time of the first-born getting the better blessing and inheritance. This is taking off from Isaac’s switched blessings, when he is tricked into giving the younger son, Jacob, the first-born’s, Esav’s, greater blessing. As Jews, we stick to the idea that if there’s a custom, social institution, or law we think is wrong, it’s our divine duty to whine about it, or in this case…
…hat portion, in Genesis 12:1, God tells Abraham, “lekh lekha me-artsekha, u-mi-moladetekha, u-me-bet avikha, go forth from your land, your birthplace, and your father’s house.” As I found out from a sermon given by Rabbi Michael Whitman, these are the only two times that the phrase “lekh lekha” is used in the entire Torah. I saw a connection between the two instances of lekh lekha: in both, there are lists of what exactly Abraham has to leave and…
…estivals (San Francisco, Boston) and other venues around the world. A three-time recipient of grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, Rubin has been awarded international artist residencies and grants from sources as diverse as Vidéochroniques (Marseilles) and the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. For this special exhibition, the artist, who is also a BEKI member, will donate 100% of the sales to BEKI for many of the works in the…
…mmunity and fellowship every day of the year. Captains are needed to help organize daily services. Master Chefs, Vegetable Choppers & Shoppers – Cooks, cleaners, shoppers and organizers are needed to participate in the four Kiddush Preparation Teams managed by the Kiddush Committee, and the same is needed for the Benei Mitzva Kiddush Committee. On most Shabbatot and festivals, the Congregation provides an extended Kiddush presentation following t…
…hips of life in modern Israel. “Four weeks a year in the Army Reserves, sky-high taxes, rock-bottom salaries, meshuga drivers, terrorists, corrupt politicians, rampant sexism, poor postal service, rude and lazy bureaucrats — who can stand it?” “You’re right,” said the other, “it’s terrible. As soon as they open another Jewish State, I’m moving!” While we must recognize that there are certain aspects of Jewish culture and Synagogue culture that oug…
…look through the make-up and clothes and dye and see a naked, shivering run-of-the-mill girl who’s trapped in her mind, trying to get out of a contradiction in itself. Beverly Sills, an opera singer, once said, “A happy woman is one who has no cares at all; a cheerful woman is one who has cares but doesn’t let them get her down.” I guess that’s why some people identify me as a pessimist and others consider me odd. I can swear and curse and disresp…
