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Friday LetterFriday Letter Archive | Friday Letter AlertsMIDDLE SCHOOL NEWS Candle Lighting - 8:04 pm UPCOMING EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS Monday, June 16
Tuesday, June 17
Wednesday, June 18
**** DVDs of the SSDS/SSHS Gala Production of Israel at 60 Are Now Available for Purchase (please see link to order form below) **** BAR AND BAT MITZVAH TZEDAKAH PROJECTS Jordan Liebman is conducting a mitzvah project to mark the celebration of his bar mitzvah. Jordan will be raising funds to benefit St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Please see attachment for details of Jordan's mitzvah project. Joshua Weinstein is involved in an organization called Spectacular Birthdays. Once a month they visit a homeless shelter right here in Long Island for young women and their children and celebrate the birthdays of all of those living there at the time for that particular month. They bring cake and pizza along with laundry baskets full of items that are necessary for daily living, which are theme-based. Joshua will not only be collecting items to make his own themed baskets from family, friends and neighbors, but would also like to include his classmates as part of this Mitzvah. Once a month Joshua will participate in celebrating their birthdays and donate his own baskets along with the other members of this organization. Themed baskets are to include:
Please join Jamie Zimmerman in raising funds for HorseAbility. HorseAbility's mission is to offer a wide range of horse-related programs to children, adults, and families with special needs to promote the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and spiritual well being of its participants. Please send in $1 for the purchase of a chocolate bar. All proceeds will benefit HorseAbility. Please see informational flier below. MID-ISLAND Y JCC IS SEEKING HOSTS TO ACCOMMODATE THEIR ISRAEL SHLICHIM FOR TWO WEEKS DURING THE SUMMER - Please see link to informational flier below THE ISRAEL PROJECT LAUNCHES CONTEST AND MULTI-LINGUAL WEBSITE TO LEVEL INTERNET PLAYING FIELD AGAINST TERRORISTS Contest Celebrates Israel@60 with $20K in Prizes in Six Languages As popular Internet social networks and other Web sites provide dangerous new outlets to glorify murder, ‘martyrdom' and Iran-backed terrorist agendas, The Israel Project (TIP) is fighting back with an online contest that showcases Israel's constant commitments to freedom, democratic values and peace.
Winning entries in the TV and video categories will be posted on youtube.com, allowing viewers worldwide to see and hear Israel's 60-year struggle to serve as a model for democratic values and a safe haven for minorities persecuted by its neighbors in the Middle East. Entry deadline is Monday, June 30, 2008. DATES OF REGENTS EXAMS Earth Science - Friday afternoon - June 20 Hebrew - Tuesday afternoon - June 24 FRIDAY LETTER Parashat Beha'alotcha By: Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, Director of Jewish Life Numbers chapter 11:24-29 (This is a summary) Moses left...and he gathered 70 men from among the elders of the people....Adonai descended in a cloud and spoke to him and He increased some of the spirit that was upon him and gave it to the 70 men, the elders; when the spirit had rested upon them, they prophesied, but did not do so again. Two men remained behind in the camp, the name of one was Eldad and the name of the second was Medad. And the spirit rested upon them; they had been among the recorded ones, but they had not gone out to the tent and they prophesied in the camp... In our Torah portion, God instructs Moses to call together 70 elders and place some of God's spirit on them. A beautiful Midrash is written on this verse. [you can read a full exegesis of the Midrash in a wonderful Award Winning book written by my father z"l and Rabbi Michael Katz from Temple Beth Torah in Westbury. The book is called Searching for Meaning in Midrash published by JPS and available on all major websites] The Midrash states "when a person lights one candle from another, the candle kindles while the other is not diminished." In other words, Moses did not lose anything by sharing. But when the two men, Eldad and Medad, stay in the camp and continue to prophesize, Joshua becomes jealous on Moses' behalf. Joshua (11:28) "spoke up" and said "My lord Moses, incarcerate them." Yet, Moses remained his usual humble self. He responds "Are you being zealous for my sake? Would that the entire people of Hashem could be prophets, if Adonai would but place His spirit upon them" This phrasing is critical to understanding this difficult story. Moses does not use the negative Hebrew phrase Mitnabeem, they were prophesying, but instead states that these two men are Neviim, prophets, spreading the message of God. There are 2 messages we can learn from the response of Moses. We should not be jealous when others get turned on to God, Torah or Judaism. We do not lose when others gain. Judaism is not a savings account with limited draw. It is a bank with whose assets are endless and who can never run out of wealth to share. There is no limit to the amount of Torah, of Jewish living, of sharing. If only more people were turned on to Torah. The second lesson is about the euphoria surrounding these two men. Eldad and Medad are in a temporary ecstatic state, which ultimately passes. Their prophecy is short lived. It lasted beyond the investiture ceremony of the 70 elders, but not much longer. Their prophecy was important and Joshua and Moses took note. But they did not remain committed long-term and there is no mention of them again in our Torah. This presents us with a two-fold challenge. 1) First, not to be jealous when others get involved or when others find "Torah." It doesn't matter if others share the limelight. On the contrary: It should make things better. 2) Second, is to keep our involvement strong over the long haul. Temporary excitement and momentary involvement just do not cut it. It is unacceptable for our children's education and it should be unacceptable for all aspects of life. My father z"l taught me that the greatest compliment I could pay him was to keep my Jewishness expanding beyond what he could ever teach me; to grow on my own and take all the lessons I had learned from him and add to them. This is my wish for our graduates and for those who will not return to our Schechter community next fall. I hope and pray that you will take these lessons with you and that you too will see that Judaism exists beyond any specific teacher, leader or Rabbi (but I never implied that you should forget those specific teachers either!). For all of us who are taking a summer vacation and returning in the fall, we too can take Judaism with us wherever we go. After all, Judaism is too rewarding and far too important for the type of temporary hype experienced by Eldad and Medad. Our Judaism, (and I add, our school), must be something we can be enthusiastic about all the time, even when we are on vacation! Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Moshe Have a Shabbat shalom!!! Allan Dalfen Upper School Principal PDF filesSSDS/SSHS Production of Israel at 60: DVD Order FormJordan Liebman's Mitzvah Project Jamie Zimmerman's Mitzvah Project Israel Shlichim Hosting Opportunity |
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