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Whenever Dr. Murray H. Lichtenstein delivers a dersasha, you know you’re in for an informative, inspiring, insightful, thought-provoking learning and listening experience, delivered always with  scholarly and oratorial authority, combined with heartfelt sincerity, good humor, and compassion.  This was the case on August 3, when Murray spoke on Parashat Va-etchannan, but this time with a special personal perspective on long-term loving partnerships.  Murray spoke of his own 38th anniversary with his partner, Paul, and the 38th anniversary of Congregation Etz Chaim.  Read Murray’s Moving Derasha Here

The High Holidays will be here before you know it, and Congregation Etz Chaim is in full swing preparing for them. Here are some information links that will help keep you abreast of what’s happening and will tell you how you can participate in our High Holiday observances and celebrations.

You can view the holiday schedule, purchase tickets and memberships on Our Special High Holiday Page. You can also access all the following forms to print out and send in or deliver in person. HIGH HOLIDAY INFORMATION  will show you the Holiday Schedule and a form to order tickets.

ROSH HASHANAH LUNCH and YOM KIPPUR BREAK-THE-FAST tells you about our Holiday meals and how to sign up for one or both of them.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION  -  Please note that the cost of High Holiday tickets in included in your membership dues.

YIZKOR BOOK of REMEMBRANCE 5773 FORM  – Our tradition teaches that there is not a wall a between the living and the dead, but a window that allows us to continue to see the impact our loved ones have had on us. The Yizkor service, especially as it is experienced on the afternoon of Yom Kippur, creates a sacred time and space that encourages the opening of our hearts and minds to the memories of loved ones who have passed over to a place beyond our world.

This year as part of our Yizkor service, we will continue our special practice of reciting out loud all of the names that have been placed in our Book of Remembrance.  We believe that hearing the names of those now departed from our lives can revive and refresh our memories of them, a source of blessing for us.

We invite you to include the name or names of your loved ones in this special service.  Click Here to include names online, or on the link above, Yizkor Book of Remembrance 5773 form.  Please return this form by Tuesday, September 4, 2012.  Please call the office at (954) 564-9232 if you have any questions or concerns about the deadline for inclusion.

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