March 3 - Parashat Terumah

David Bassous - Rabbi
Ray Morris - President

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

Friday

  • Shachrit: 6:30am
  • Shir Hashirim: 5:15pm
  • Mincha and Arvit: 5:33pm
  • Candle Lighting: 5:33pm

Shabbat Day

Shabbat Day Parashat Teruma

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 - Guest Chazan Rabbi Muradi
  • Latest Shema: 8:37am
  • Kiddush: Sponsored by Ari Blinder imo his grandmother
  • Lessons from Megillat Esther-- Rabbi Bassous: 4:20pm
  • Mincha: 5:20pm
  • Seuda Shelishit after Mincha
    • Sponsored by Dr. Richard, Liba Shakarchi and Family in honor of Eliezer's birthday Guest speaker Rabbi Muradi
  • Arvit and Shabbat Ends: 6:25pm

Sunday

  • 8.00 am Class with Rabbi Ben Hakakian
  • Shacharit: 8:30am
  • No Women's class this week
  • Bikur Cholim Breakfast honoring Ray and Gloria Morris & Jack and Sheryl Morris
  • Shulchan Aruch Class: 5:05pm
  • Mincha and Arvit: 5:35 pm

Monday - Wednesday

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

Thursday - Fast of Esther

  • Fast starts 4.58 am
  • Shacharit 6.30 am
  • Mincha 5.30 pm
  • Fast ends 6.30 pm

Next Week - Friday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Shir Hashirim: 5:25pm
  • Mincha: 5:40pm
  • Candle lighting 5:40pm

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
  • New Class: Jewish Meditation: Mondays: 8:00pm
  • Talmud Berachot: Tuesdays: 8:00pm - Chapter Two

Weekly Bulletin

New Class - Jewish Meditation

Rabbi Bassous has started a new class 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 8:00pm at Congregation Etz Ahaim. Everyone is welcome and admission is free.

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

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

  • 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.

  • We realize there are many requests for Tzedaka, all heart wrenching. However, the rules of Tzedaka are to first help your family, then help your community, then outside the community. Here is a campaign started by longtime members of our community, who are presently struggling with the serious issue of having a family member trying to recover in rehab. They need to raise about $6,000 a month and rehab can take about a year. Please search Thechesedfund.com and put in the name of the campaign which is please help us afford rehab to save our son. Please open up your hearts and help this local family keep their son in rehab. They have been generous in the past in supporting our community and never thought they would need to ask for themselves. (Please note: Rabbi Kaufman and Rabbi Kaminetzky have reviewed this issue and the great need of the family and encourage all to help in this extremely worthy and lifesaving effort.)

If you wish to make out a check instead of contributing online, please make it out to Congregation Ohav Emeth, in the memo write Rabbi's Charity Fund. On a separate note (NOT in memo) write that it is for the Rehab

  • Tiferes DVD for women Motzai Shabbos, March 18 at 9:00 PM, at the Siegel houseWeekly teleconferences with topics such as shalom bayis and parenting are available to Tiferes members. Current teleconference: “My Best Self” with Mrs. Chaya Hinda Allen. For more info, please contact Aviva siegelmom@optonline.net. The Highland Park / Edison group of Tiferes is zecher l'nishmas Malka bas Shalom.

  • 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.

  • 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 via PayPal.Me/parkmikvah. For more info, email hpmikvah@gmail.com or www.parkmikvah.org.

  • 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.