February 24 - Parashat Mishpatim - Shabbat Shekalim

David Bassous - Rabbi
Ray Morris - President

Visit our Website at http://etzahaim.org for the latest news

Friday

  • Shachrit: 6:30am
  • Shir Hashirim: 5:10pm
  • Mincha and Arvit: 5:25pm
  • Candle Lighting: 5:25pm

Shabbat Day

Shabbat Day Parashat Mishpatim Shabbat Shekalim Please make sure to attend to hear this special reading

Full Range of Children's Groups: 9:45am - 11:30am

  • Boys 6 and up in the Library
  • Girls 6 and up upstairs left classroom.
  • Children 3 - 5 upstairs right classroom
  • 8.00 am Parasha Class with Rabbi Ben Hakakian
  • Shacharit: 8:45am
  • Latest Shema: 8:43am

  • Special Kiddush: Sponsored by Julia and Family in honor of the Congregation and Rabbi Bassous

  • The Split of the First Kingdom -- Rabbi Bassous: 4:15pm

  • Mincha: 5:15pm
  • Seuda Shelishit after Mincha
    • Sponsored by Dr. Richard & Liba Shakarchi & Family iho Ayelet's birthday
  • Arvit and Shabbat Ends: 6:25pm

Sunday

  • 8.00 am Class with Rabbi Ben Hakakian
  • Shacharit: 8:30am
  • Women's class: 10:00am: Happiness
  • Shulchan Aruch Class: 4:50pm
  • Mincha and Arvit: 5:20pm

Monday - Thursday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Shulchan Aruch Class: 7:00pm
  • Arvit: 7:30pm

Next Week - Friday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Shir Hashirim: 5:15pm
  • Mincha: 5:33pm
  • Candle lighting 5:33pm

Classes

  • Parsha and Halacha: Shabbat and Sunday: 8:00am
  • Nach: Shabbat: 4:15pm
  • Woman's Class: Happiness: Sunday: 10:00am
  • Mishna-a-Day: Monday to Friday: 7:20am
  • Halacha-a-Day: Monday - Thursday: 7:00pm
  • Jewish Meditation: Mondays: 8:00pm
  • Talmud Berachot: Tuesdays: 8:00pm
  • New Class Jewish Meditation starting this Monday

Weekly Bulletin

New Class - Jewish Meditation

Rabbi Bassous is starting a new class on February 27, 2017 called Jewish Meditation. The class will cover the history of meditation, prophecy, and Ruach Hakodesh. It will explain the why and how to meditate in a Jewish fashion and demonstrate a simple, but powerful meditation technique of the Ben Ish Chai.

Mondays at 8:00 pm at Congregation Etz Ahaim. Everyone is welcome and admission is free.

Help Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of United Jerusalem

The Afikim Foundation in cooperation with the Israel Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has commissioned the writing of this unique and historic Torah and invites Jews across the globe to acquire its 304,805 letters, share via social media, and reveal hundreds of thousands of ways that goodness can elevate lives and give honor to Jerusalem.

Congregation Etz Ahaim has reserved a block of 200 letters for members of the congregation. Select your letter, and make a pledge to do an act of kindness/chesed for this letter. Fulfill your act, and mark your act as complete. That's it.

You can win a trip to Israel in order to attend the special ceremony on Yom Yerushalayim, May 24, 2017.

For more information, visit our webpage.

  • If you have an outstanding balance with Etz Ahaim, please send in your payment to help the Synagogue. Your help is appreciated.

  • If you are the last person to leave the building (except for Shabbat and Chaggim) make sure all the lights are out

  • If you are celebrating a simcha or want to remember a loved one, sponsor a kiddush is one of the best ways to mark the occasion. Please contact Yvonne at 908-227-5194. To sponsor a seuda or a Sunday morning breakfast, call the shul at 732-247-3839.

Bikur Cholim of Congregation Etz Ahaim

  • Our Congregation has its own Bikur Cholim Committee. If you know of a congregant who is in the hospital or a nursing home and would like a visit, please let us know. If there is a Home-bound congregant who is in need of a visit or assistance, we can help. We may also be able to make contact with a Jewish Agency which may be able to provide additional services. Please call Rose Reiss at 732-828-7415.

  • Nursing Home Visitation: Seeking volunteers to visit Mollie Reuben, Esther Tucker, Shirley Cohen, and others at the Regency nursing home on DeMott Lane in Somerset. For more info or an updated list of residents requesting visitors, please call Rahel Baruh at 732-672-4673 or email rbaruh@yahoo.com

  • Transportation Committee: Drivers and coordinators needed. Coordinate rides to and from medical appointments - match requests with an available driver. Each coordinator serves for two weeks at a time. To volunteer to coordinate or to drive, please call Bikur Cholim hotline at 732-572-7181 or fill out the volunteer form on the website bikurcholimrv.com

The congregation extends get-well wishes to:

  • Al Benzilio
  • Soroh Rosen
  • Viktorya Koen
  • Avishai ben Esther
  • Galina bat Riva
  • Joey Cenci (Yoseph Michael ben Yael Rut)
  • Linda Balavram (Emuna bat Sarah)
  • Esther Tucker
  • Nancy Reich
  • Yehudah Reich
  • Benny Mayo
  • Mary Belsky
  • Esther Arouh
  • Lilas Saltiel
  • Donna Bardy
  • Mary Naar
  • Lita Greenberg
  • Bradley Greenberg
  • Marcelo Schor
  • Sarah bat Naava
  • Perla bat Leah

Community News

  • Terror in Black September: The Orthodox Forum of Highland Park/Edison presents: David Raab on Saturday night, March 4, at 8:30pm at Congregation Etz Ahaim. On September 6, 1970, at age 17, en route to the US after a summer in Israel, David Raab was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to Jordan. He was held hostage for three weeks: first on a plane in the desert, then in a Palestinian refugee camp, and then in an apartment in Amman through a civil war. In 2007, he published Terror in Black September. The program is free of charge. The Orthodox Forum gladly accepts season sponsorships, as well as program sponsorships. For more information go online to www.orthodoxjewishforum.org

  • Khal Chassidim Simply Tzfat kumtziz: In the week leading up to its Annual Malva Malka, Khal Chassidim is holding a special (free admission) kumtziz with our friends from Simply Tzfat on Sunday, February 26th at 7:30 at Rabbi Horowitz’s Shteible, Khal Chassidim on 46 North 8th Avenue. This Kumitziz is among the many gatherings – in song, study and community commemoration – held in tribute to Hinda bas Yaakov Peretz, Rabbi Horowitz’s precious wife a”h. We invite your community to ours in sweet song to remember a precious part of Khal Chassidim, who in the tradition of Chassidus, sought to bring comfort and support to everyone she met in the greater Highland Park community and beyond. There will be seating areas for men and women in the Shteible Beit Midrash. Our thanks to you for sharing these words and to Simply Tzfat for making their way to Highland Park/Edison for this special tribute to our Rebbetzin Hinda Horowitz a”h.

  • Highland Park/Edison Connects invites the women of our community to our Winter 2017 Melave Malka featuring a very special guest speaker! A former IDF soldier, who grew up in this community and who served during the recent Operation Protective Edge will be sharing inspiring stories of Achdus and how that CONNECT's to our community! This very special no-charge event will be taking place on Motzai Shabbos, March 4th, 2017 at 8pm at the home of Rachelle and Zev Stern, 474 Lincoln Ave, HP. (Speaker to begin at 8:30 sharp to leave plenty of mingling time afterwards!) Whether you have recently moved in and are looking to meet people, or whether you have been here for years and want to reconnect with old friends and make new ones, we encourage you to come! For more info please email Faygie Lobel at FayMLobel@gmail.com or Elleshlang@gmail.com.

  • Women's Learning Initiative: Mrs. Leah Drillman’s Shimiras Haloshon class will meet on Monday, Feb 27 at 7:30 PM at the home of Janet Rivenson, 19 Price Drive, Edison. For more info, please call Ellen at 201-410-1893 or 732-777-6787.

  • Rebbitzen Eichenstein’s classes for women: Tefillah class on Sunday, Feb 26 at 11:00 AM at the Aguda shule. Please contact Aviva at 732-572-4408 or siegelmom@optonline.net for status of class on Monday, Feb. 27.

  • The Women's AMEN Group meets monthly on the Sundays following the Shabbos in which one bensches Rosh Chodesh, at 9:30 AM in a downstairs classroom at Congregation Ohr Torah. The group meets in the zechus of a refuah shelaimah for Menachem Mordechai ben Ophira and the other Cholim in the community.

  • SemPlus evening shiur for post seminary girls: Please call the hotline to confirm at 732-966-6503.

Tiferes

  • Weekly teleconferences with topics such as shalom bayit and parenting are available to Tiferes members.
  • Current teleconference: Connecting through Challenge
    with Mrs. Chany Feldbrand. For more info, please contact Aviva siegelmom@optonline.net.

The Highland Park / Edison group of Tiferes is zecher l'nishmas Malka bas Shalom.

Highland Park Mikvah

The Highland Park mikvah is ready to be transformed into a most beautiful, inviting facility, one which the entire community can be proud of!

It is now closed. Anticipated reopening before Pesach 2017.

The Young Israel of East Brunswick will be extending their hours throughout the duration of Park Mikvah renovations: Saturday – Thursday: 8:00 – 11:00 PM. Please check their website for more info regarding fees, and for changes in schedule due to inclement weather. YIEB: 193 Dunhams Corner Road, East Brunswick, 732-257-4121 or

The YIEB mikvah strongly encourages women to prepare at home, due to the expected high volume of patrons.

  • Pending volunteer availability, Park Mikvah will endeavor to provide transportation to or from the YIEB mikvah, as a free service. Please email Aviva at to volunteer as a driver, or 2 days prior to your visit, to request a ride to the mikvah.
  • Fundraising campaign to finance the renovations has begun! Dedication opportunities are now available! To make a donation, checks can be mailed to Park Mikvah, 36 Skyview Terrace, Highland Park, NJ 08904 or payment by credit card or PayPal For more info, email hpmikvah@gmail.com or www.parkmikvah.org.
  • Park Mikvah: Cooking demonstration with Miriam Pascal, founder of OvertimeCook.com, author of Something Sweet and Ami Whisk Magazine columnist on February 18th, 2017 at 8:15PM to benefit Park Mikvah. A milchig buffet will be served. The event will be held iyh at the home of Esther Posen, 12 Fairhill Road, Edison. The cost of the event is $36. Space is limited. For women only. To make a reservation, please email [Esther Posen]. For more info, please call Lynn Hanfling at: 732-777-0225. Looking forward to seeing you!

  • Bikur Cholim OWLS (Overnight Women Labor Support): A complimentary service for maternity situations whereby volunteers will come to stay with your kids during the night. For more info on receiving this service or becoming a volunteer, please contact Rikki at 732-249-5116. Thank you.

  • Donations of diapers, pull-ups, and wipes are currently being accepted for the new HP/Edison Diaper Gemach. Please email diapergemach@gmail.com for more information.