- 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
…’s HaMishpat HaIvri. 5. Sefer Shut Binyamin Zev, Ya`aqov Glis edition, Jerusalem, 1959, sec. 78 116 (Hebrew University Mount Scopus Catalog no. BM 522.2/B454 vol. 1). 6. Sefer Nashim Hilkhot Ishut, 15:19, Shabtai Frankel Edition, Jerusalem 1982. Emphasis added. Cf. Magid Mishna there. In Binyamin Zev these statements of the Sages become a Rabbinic Decree (Taqanat Hazal) (Cited above p. 248 bottom). 7. Mitzvot ase 70, p. 147:3. 8. On Even HaEzer, 1…
…the violations of halakha associated with automobiles or even bicycles. As long as it is understood that the device will be used within the eruv (Shabbat boundary) and operated in an especially safe manner, there may not be any specific barrier to their use. We live in a mixed community, and in general, I would not want to deprive my children or myself of available pleasures on Shabbat unless there is a good reason to do so. Especially if riding a…
…nexpectedly, he is confronted with his brothers, the memory of whom he had long swept into the dark recesses of his mind. He had cut himself off not only from them but from his father as well, even though he knew how deeply this would hurt him. He had even named one of his sons Menashe, which means “God has made me forget my father’s house.” As he stares down at the men bowed before him, Joseph has certainly has not forgiven them. Quite likely, he…
…doing a d’rabanan (or takanah-level) action on Shabbat can be performed as long as one does it “kil’achar yad,” which means, in a way that you don’t normally do it. Try using your non-dominant hand to click refresh; try sitting in a different position. This would render it halakhically acceptable. If the halakhic language seems abstruse to you, the value that we are going for is this: even if opening the livestream is not a problem on Shabbat, we…
…al home. They had been stunned by the destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and were suffering from what many believed to be the abandonment by God. They struggled with strong pressures to assimilate with the culture and religion of the Babylonians in whose city they lived. They wondered, was their fate a punishment for their sins? Were the curses of today’s Torah portion meant for them? Would their punishment continue to t…
…eturn to their own people. She has nothing to offer them, since she can no longer bear sons who could marry them and take care of them. And an unwed woman at that time was at great risk. Orpah, although tearful, turns back. Naomi says, “See, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and her gods. Go follow your sister-in-law.” But Ruth perseveres: “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wh…
…ve and support. Thank you all. Please help us again, this time by passing along our thanks to the number of congregants who are away this weekend of Thanksgiving, giving thanks of their own elsewhere. The morning of the surgery I prayed and learned another prayerbook lesson, this time explicit. At my request, Marsha had brought me a copy of our Siddur, Sim Shalom. Uncharacteristically, I admit, I started from the beginning of the Shaharit, or morn…
…ontraction of Hebrew words meaning “they loosened their grip on Torah.” As long as Jews are diligent in study of Torah, Amaleq can have no dominion upon us. So, when Moses raised his hand, Israel was stronger. And when Moses lowered his hand, Amaleq was stronger and this symbolized to the sages that when our people raise their hands to God, when we live a Torah life, then doubt and chaos lose their power over us, but when we turn away from Torah,…
…count of this G‐d, the community whose text this great work of scripture belongs and consider what in their experience would lead them to such a theology. The psychoanalyst Greg Mogenson, in his work G-d Is a Trauma, insists that a “traumatized soul is a theologizing soul,” a statement to which I can personally attest. And it cannot be denied that the Israelites fleeing the harsh slavery of Egypt were indeed traumatized by their experience. Moreo…
…roup of Jewish families settled in the Dixwell Avenue neighborhood. Before long, united by their faith in God, they laid aside differences in religious usage and established a small congregation which met at different homes for daily and Sabbath Services. Eventually they collected the funds wherewith they purchased the Synagogue on Foote Street. With the Synagogue building also came the Hebrew School. For many years the Keser Israel Family worship…
