THIS WEEK'S SHABBAT TOPICS AT CBS

Dear Friends,

     In an effort to lure you to Shabbat services this Friday night at 6:30 pm and Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., I present:

     THIS WEEK'S SHABBAT TOPICS:

 

*Friday Night, (preceded by Welcoming New Members Happy Hour 5:30-6:30 pm with appetizers good enough for Dinner and followed by Oneg Dessert)

    HYPOCRISY: Following the Death of Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi and In our Own Lives

*Saturday Morning: UNITY AND DISUNITY: In the Tower of Babel and In our OWN Jewish Community

 

    Come for the food. Come for the friends.  Or come for the sermons -- at Congregation Beth Shalom, where we are always striving to be relevant.

    Shabbat Shalom,

    Rabbi Michael Beals

Get your planning calendars out now

Chag sameach and shalom from Congregation Beth Shalom. I want you to get your planning calendars out now and start writing.

Tomorrow morning, Thurday, 9 a.m., join us for Shemini Atzeret services including a morning Yizkor service.

Tomorrow evening, 7:30 pm., find yourself a child and join us for a family-friendly Simchat Torah service, with candy apples, flags, rolling out the Torah and lots of dancing with our homegrown Simcha Band.

On Friday morning, join us for 9 a.m. services as we honor our very own Elaine Schmerling Butt and Mell Pell with the special Sinchat Torah honors of Kallat Torah and Hattan Bereshit, followed by a festive lunch. Shabbat services at 6:30 p.m.

Following Shabbat morning services, on Saturday night, at 7 p.m. join us for Monte Carlo night. Dress is casual. Prepare to recreate in Vegas in Wilmington as we raise funds and fun for our synagogue.

Finally, on Sunday night, also at 7 p.m., join for our Kraft Lecture series, featuring my own JTS history professor, Dr Benjamin Gampel, on Jews and Moslems: Centuries of Conflict and Cooperation. We will be joined by members of the Islamic Society of Delaware.

Did you get that: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – we have something for you.  In fact you can just come to Beth Shalom and never leave!

--Rabbi Michael

Gilad Shalit Prayer Written by Masorti Movement's Rabbinical Assembly

תפילת הודיה

על שחרורו של גלעד בן אביבה ונעם שליט

אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְאִ﬽וֹתֵינוּ, בְּיוֹם גָּדוֹל וְקָדוֹשׁ זֶה, זְמַן שִׂמְחָתֵנוּ, אָנוּ נוֹשְׂאִים

לְבָבֵנוּ אֶל כַּפַּיִם אֶל אֵל בַּשָּׁמַיִם בְּגִילָה וּבְשִׂמְחָה בִּרְעָדָה וּבְהוֹדָיָה עַל חַסְדְךָ הַגָּדוֹל

שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ עִם גִּלְעַד בֶּן אֲ בִיבָה וְנעַֹם שֶׁהֲשִׁיבוֹתוֹ בְּשָׁלוֹם מִשִׁבְיוֹ לְמִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ וּלְאַרְצוֹ וּלְעַ﬽וֹ

בִּדְּמֵי חַיָּיו.

יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ, יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ וְאִ﬽וֹתֵינוּ, שֶׁבְּיוֹם זֶה וּבְכָל הַיָּמִים

הַבָּאִים יֵדַע הַשָׁבוּי שֶׁמִּפְדָה שִׂמְחָה בַּלֵּב וְשַׁלְוָה בַּמֶּפֶשׁ וְהַצְלָחָה בְּכָל מַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו, יַחַד

עִם אִ﬽וֹ וְאָבִיו, עִם אֶחָיו וְעִם כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל.

רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָמִים, אֵל שִׂמְחַת גִּילֵנוּ, יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ שֶׁעֵקֶב פִּדְיוֹנוֹ לֹא יְאֺמֶּה כָּל פֶּגַע אוֹ

רָעָה לִבְ נֵי עַ﬽ֶך לֹא בַּשָּׁנָה הַזּאֹת וְלֹא בְּכָל הַשָּׁנִים הַבָּאוֹת עָלֵינוּ לְטוֹבָה, אֶלָּא בְּרַחֲמֶיךָ

הָרַבִּים פְּרוֹשׂ עָלֵינוּ סֺכַּת רַחֲמִים וְחַיִּים וְשָׁלוֹם.

וְכֵן יְהִי רָצוֹן וְנאֹמַר אָמֵן.

Our God and God of our ancestors, on this great and holy day, the season of our rejoicing, we raise our hearts to God in heaven in joy, happiness, trembling and thanksgiving for the great kindness that You have shown Gilad the son of Aviva and Noam Schalit that You have restored him safely from his place of capture to his family, his country and his people. May it be Your pleasure, God and God of our ancestors, that this day and in the future the redeemed prisoner may know joy in his heart, peace of mind and success in all his endeavors together with all his family and all Israel his brethren. Sovereign of the Universe, God of our exultation, may it be Your pleasure that this redemption not bring in its wake any harm or mishap to Your people, neither this year not in years to come; but in Your great compassion spread over us the sukkah of compassion, life and peace. May this be Your pleasure and let us respond Amen

Gilad Shalit Home: Hodu l'Adonai Ki Tov

      I write to you with tears in my eyes.  At 5:03 a.m. Wilmington time, Gilad Shalit, 25, returned to Israel's soil after  5 years and 4 months of capitivity in the Gaza Strip.  He will return to his family in Mitzpe Hila, a small village of not more than 600 people, in the Western Galilee, directly across from Nahariya and the Mediterranean, and just south of the border with Lebanon (and the Iranian-made missiles of Hezbollah). 
      For this entire time, Congregation Beth Shalom of Wilmington, Delaware, has never stopped praying for his release.  At the top of every prayer for the ill, our Misheberach list, recited three times weekly every time we take out the Torah to read, we ALWAYS began with the name Gilad ben Aviva Shalit.  We thought, also, of his mother and his father, and his grandfather and Holocaust survivor, Zev.
      Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, is referred to in the Torah as z'man simchateynu, the time of our joy.  Jews are commanded by God to be joyous during this seven/eight day holiday.  With the return of Gilad we can now be truly happy.  In prophetic texts read later in the week, Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who worked tirelessly for this release, reminds us of Isaiah's command of ransoming the captive.  For this release, Israel paid a very high price, 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, many responsible for the most bloody terrorist bombings in Israel, have been or will be set free.  And in keeping with the text we chanted last week from Kohellet (Ecclesiastes), this holiday is joyous but tempered with reality.  So, too, with Gilad's release, we share his hope that these Palestinian prisoners will usher in a new era of peace in the region and that they will not return to terror.
      In Beth Shalom's Hebrew School this afternoon, we will begin the afternoon Mincha service by reciting the words from Psalm 100: Hodu l'Adonai ki tov, ki l'olam hasdo -- "Give thanks to God because the Holy One's kindness is eternal."

OCCUPY NORTH WILMINGTON: TONIGHT!

In an effort to stay relevant, please join me for OCCUPY NORTH WILMINGTON, tonight, 7 pm, at 611 Berwick Rd..  I have set up a ritually-appropriate encampment on our driveway, complete with an organic roof.  We can protest corporate greed as well celebrate Sukkot, with desserts and hot apple cider.  Note: I will be taking down the ritually-appropriate encampment two days after Simchat Torah (to accomodate Shabbat), and the private company that might want to clean the driveway.

COME CELEBRATE AT CBS OR IN A SUKKAH NEAR YOU!

Come celebrate Dessert Sukkot in a Sukkah near you!

When: TONIGHT Monday, October 17, 7 p.m.

Where: The Sukkot of: *Rabbi Michael & Elissa Beals, 611 Berwick Rd., Edenridge 19803 tel. 302-478-1127

                                                     *Diane Wolf & Lew Bennett, 1305 Sanford Rd., Green Acres 19803 tel. 302-4705

                           *Seth & Kathy Bloom, 2812 Landon Dr., Chalfonte 19810 tel. 302-478-4564

                                                     *Meryl Gardner, 18 West Ridge Ct., Newark 19711 tel. 302-738-6327

                                                     *Alan & Dina Lipschultz, 116 Weldin Park Drive, Weldin Park 19803 tel. 302-762-4341

Note: If you did not RSVP and would still like to visit one of these sukkot in your neighborhood, please do so, but if you could possibly find time to give a call in the morning it would really help each host family know how many to prepare for in their respective sukkot.  You are welcome to bring a dairy dessert with you, or just yourself. (Thank you to those who did call in their RSVP's).

 

And please remember to join us at Congregation Beth Shalom for the continuation of the holy day season with

* Shemini Atzeret, Thursday, October 20, 9 a.m. (including Yizkor Services)

* Simchat Torah, Thursday night, October 20, 7:30 p.m. (kid friendly service including dancing with the Torahs) &

* Simchat Torah morning service, Friday, October 21, 9 a.m., where we will honor Elaine Schmerling Butt and Mell Pell for their incredible volunteerism at CBS.  Lunch in their honor to follow services. Must RSVP by today, 302-654-4462.

 

and if you have your calendars handy, remember to add:

* Monte Carlo Night, Saturday night, October 22, 7 p.m. &

* Kraft Lecture Series featuring JTS Prof. Benjamin Gampel speaking on Centuries of Jewish-Moslem Cooperation and Conflict,

                        Sunday night, October 23, 7 p.m.

Wishing You an UPLIFTING Yom Kippur

Courtesy of Wilmingotn, Delaware's too-hip Cantor Ruth Ross, of Congregation Beth Shalom, I present to you, for your Yom Kippur inspiration, Kol Nidrei presented by Jew Man Group.  Tsom kal -- have a meaningful and easy fast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Pz-ZD_eRI
Be sure to check out the video clips vintage Eddie Cantor, from the original Jazz Singer, Neil Diamond, from the new Jazz Singer, lots of Mr. Spock, and even a quickie from the silent classic, The Dybbuk.

Now Inaddition for Rooting for the Phillies - ANOTHER REASON TO ROOT FOR ISRAEL

Very inspirational that such a small country, housing the remnant of European Jewry after the Holocaust, plus the ingathered Jewish communities from the Arab world, Africa, North and South America, a tiny country, the size of New Jersey, with a small population, can continally pull off feats like today's frontpage article in the New York Times. Read on (and have a meaningful Yom Kippur)....

Daniel Shechtman of Israel Is Awarded Nobel Prize in ChemistrySTOCKHOLM (AP) — Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman won the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for his discovery of quasicrystals.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said his discovery in 1982 fundamentally changed the way chemists look at solid matter.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/05/science/AP-EU-SCI-Nobel-Chemistry.html?emc=na