Yearly Archives: 2012

CONGREGATION ETZ CHAIM
שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם!
Shabbat Shalom!

  TORAH Service 8:00 PM

Service Leader:   Rabbi Noah Kitty
Hazzan:   Jerry Berkowitz
Torah Leyner:  Charlie Rube
Darshanit:   Rabbi Noah Kitty

Friday, April 27, 2012 – 6 Iyyar, 5772

 This week’s Torah portion:
Tazria/Metzora:  Leviticus 12:1-15:33
Haftarah:  2 Kings 7:3-20

TWILIGHT  PEOPLE
As the sun sinks and the colors of the day turn,
we offer a blessing for the twilight, for twilight is
neither day nor night, but in-between.  We are
all twilight people.  We can never be fully labeled or
defined.  We are many identities and loves, many
genders and none.  We are in between roles, at the
intersection of histories, or between place and
place.  We are crisscrossed paths of memory and
destination, streaks of light swirled together.
We are neither day nor night.  We are both, neither,
and all.

May the sacred in-between of this evening suspend
our certainties, soften our judgments, and widen
our vision. May this in-between light illuminate our
way to the God who transcends all categories and
definitions.  May the in-between people who have
come to pray be lifted up into this twilight.  We
cannot always define; we can always say a blessing.
Blessed are You, God of all, who brings on the
twilight.                             Siddur Sha’ar Zahav – p. 149

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Sunday, May 20, 2012
5:00 PM
at the Synagogue

It’s important for all members to attend this annual Congregational Meeting, at which we will vote for next year’s Board of Directors, and for our affiliation with another synagogue.  Please plan to attend.  Refreshments will be served.
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Telling the Tale: Tuesday, May 1st, 7:30pm
Holocaust survivor and author
Jacques Weisel to speak

Jacques Weisel escaped to Casablanca with his family when the Nazis entered their Belgium homeland, only to be interred there. On Tuesday, May 1st he will speak of his life as a child, and how he was able to overcome the brutality with which he was treated to become a world-renowned motivational speaker and author. His most important message is not only that the Holocaust happened, but how he refused to allow it to define his future. The event is free and open to the public.
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Tonight’s Oneg Shabbat is sponsored by David Yalen, in honor of all CEC volunteers, past and present.  Volunteers are always needed and appreciated.

Our Mission:  To provide a nurturing environment for Gay and Lesbian Jews, inclusive of Bi-sexual, Transgender, and Heterosexuals in South Florida, We are dedicated to the spiritual, social, educational and emotional support that empowers and enhances the quality of members’ lives and the community as a whole.
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The Board of Directors welcomes any member who wishes to address the Board.  You must call the office at least two days prior to the meeting so your name can be put on the Agenda.  Board Meetings will be the 2nd Tuesday of each month. The next is May 8, at 6:30pm, at the synagogue.
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Bikkur Cholim:  Our Bikkur Cholim committee wants to know when our members and friends are sick – either in hospital or at home – so we may call or visit.  Please call the office and let us know.
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KADDISH  LIST
Shiela T. Goldman                                 05/04/11
Eric Kreisler                                            05/29/11
Ruth Joan Tenzer                                   07/05/11
Edith Hirshhorn                                     07/08/11
Dorothy Belinsky                                    07/18/11
Sandra Pasternak                                   09/28/11
Paul (Gregory) Harris                            12/31/11
Frieda Weisberg Greenberg                 01/10/12
Hillard Shurdut                                      02/08/12
Felicia Mintzer                                        02/29/12
Melvin Singer                                          02/04/12
Toby R. Goldstein                                   03/07/12
Stephen Jerome                                      03/08/12
Jeph Epstein                                             03/31/12
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Office/Mailing Address:
1881 NE 26th St Suite 100  Wilton Manors, FL 33305
Tel: (954) 564-9232     e-mail: congregation@etz-chaim.com or info@etzchaimflorida.org
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Men’s Club: – Volunteers needed to serve on the Board!  The Men’s Club can’t offer its current services and activities without willing Board members.
May 4:  First Friday resumes!
Dinner at Zuckerello’s     6:15 PM
3017 East Commercial Boulevard, Ft Lauderdale 33308 Contact Ken at ktewel@aol.com
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AIDS Walk 2012
Congregation Etz Chaim is again sponsoring a team in this year’s awareness and fundraising event.  Visit the following link for more info, or contact Team Captain, Alex Rosenberg, for more details.
http://takeaction.aidshealth.org/site/TR/Events/General/1380823844?pg=team&fr_id=1120&team_id=10140
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Interested in being a singer in a choir group at our Shabbat services?  —   Jerry will teach you all you need to know, so if you have an urge or talent to sing, just show up at the synagogue by 7 pm on Fridays.
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Scrip Program is Here!
Here is the opportunity to support Etz Chaim at no  additional cost to you.  Joining the Scrip program provides additional funds to the Congregation, and all you need to do is sign up!
For more  information contact Scrip Coordinator Alan Hait at 954-568-5585, or scrip@etzchaimflorida.org.

In the LGBT community an unusual custom of placing an Orange on the Seder Plate has become a tradition. Here is the TRUE story of the “Orange on the Seder Plate”, told directly by Susannah Heschel, who initiated the ritual. A member of our Congregation knows her quite well and remembered her saying that most of the widely circulated origins of the tradition are totally inaccurate. He sent her an email asking if she would set the record straight for him, and she forwarded this piece in which she describes her creation of the tradition, what she was trying to achieve, and how it has been completely misconstrued over the years.

Click for the full essay Orange on the Seder Plate

Congregation Etz Chaim is delighted to invite you to our Community Passover Seder which will be held at the synagogue on the second night of Passover, Saturday, April 7, 2012.

Led by Rabbi Noah Kitty, we will read the Haggadah, sing familiar songs of freedom and redemption, and share a delicious meal catered by Toojays.

We will gather at the synagogue at 6:30pm for appetizers. Our Seder will begin at 7pm, and we will serve dinner at 8pm. Everyone is Welcome. Even those not Jewish often find attending a seder an enriching and enjoyable experience.

Our Journey from Bondage to Freedom Will be More Special With You Here

The deadline for reservations has passed, please call 954-564-9232 for more information.

We Wish the entire community A Happy and Healthy Passover!

The third Tuesday of each month is Movie Mogul at Congregation Etz Chaim, where at 7:30 PM we feature free screenings of acclaimed films relevent to the Jewish LGBT experience.  This month’s film is a real belly-laugh inducer that features four of the funniest people ever to appear together on one stage.  Join Us!

Certain Orthodox Jews in Israel have been in the news lately for their belligerent treatment of women and children. Fundamentalist views of religious propriety have led to illegal segregation of women in public spaces, and even spitting on an 8-year-old girl for not dressing modestly enough. It is this type of behavior that gave Israel a score of zero on the International Religious Freedom Index, compiled by the CIRI Human Rights Data Project and published on December 10 in honor of Human Rights Day. The score of “0″ was received by a total of 53 countries out of the 195 analyzed. Israel is the only Western democracy that received this score. It shares this sorry and embarrassing grade with such countries as Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, China, North Korea, Russia, and Romania.

Facing increasing criticism for their efforts to separate men and women in public spaces, thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered last Saturday night in Jerusalem to protest what they say is a nationwide campaign directed against their lifestyle. The protesters called Israeli policemen Nazis, and dressed their children up as concentration camp inmates. Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial denounced the use of Nazi imagery as “disgraceful,” and several other survivors’ groups and politicians, and individuals such as Nobel Peace laureate, Elie Wiesel, condemned the acts.