July 21 - Parashat Matot-Masei

David Bassous - Rabbi
Ray Morris - President

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

Friday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Shir Hashirim: 6:45pm
  • Mincha: 7:00pm
  • Candle lighting 8:04pm

Shabbat

Parashat Matot-Masei

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.

PLEASE JOIN US THIS WEEK AS MANY MEMBERS ARE AWAY!!!

  • Parasha with Rabbi Ben Hakakian: 8:00am
  • Shacharit: 8:45am
  • Latest Shema: 8:34am
  • Kiddush is sponsored by anonymous donors in honor of the Rabbi's safe return from Israel. Welcome back Rabbi!
  • Class with Rabbi Bassous on "The Exile of the Ten Tribes" 6:00 pm
  • Mincha: 7:00pm
  • Seuda Shelishit after Mincha Sponsored by members of the Rabbi's Sunday Women's class in honor of the Torah learning in the class.
  • Come and learn some classic Shabbat songs for your Shabbat Table and brush up on the Laws of the Three Weeks
  • Arvit and Shabbat Ends: 9:03pm

Sunday

  • Parsha and Halacha with Rabbi Ben Hakakian: 8:00am
  • Shacharit: 8:30am
  • Women's Class: 10:00am
  • Mincha and Arvit: 7:30 pm
  • Rav Kook's Orot Teshuvah 9.00 pm

Monday - Thursday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Mincha & Arvit: 7:30pm

Next Week – Friday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Shir Hashirim: 6:45pm
  • Mincha: 7:00pm
  • Candle lighting 8:04pm

Classes

  • Parsha and Halacha with Rabbi Ben Hakakian: Sunday 8:00am
  • Nach: Shabbat: 6:00pm
  • Woman's Class: Hilchot De'ot of Rambam: Sunday 10:00am
  • Mishna-a-Day: Monday to Friday 7:30am
  • Halacha-a-Day: Monday - Thursday 7:00pm
  • Eye to the Infinite: Monday 8:00pm
  • Talmud Berachot - Chapter 3: Tuesday 8:00pm
  • Rav Kook's Orot Teshuvah: Sunday 9.00pm

Weekly Bulletin

Congregation would like to thank Dr. Elisha Russ-Fishbane for giving a Shabbat sermon, Dr. Richard Shakarchi for giving a pre-Mincha class and Rabbi Jacob Krief for speaking during Seuda Shelishit.

  • 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. To sponsor a Shabbat Kiddush, please go to our Kiddush Sponsorship Page on our website and fill out the on line form. We'll get in contact with you as soon as possible. To sponsor a seuda or a Sunday morning breakfast, call the shul at 732-247-3839.

Quilting Club at Etz Ahaim

Etz Ahaim will be hosting a Quilting Club for quilters at all levels from on Tuesdays from 7:00-9:00 p.m. from August 8 through Labor Day. Continuance will depend on level of interest. For more information and RSVP, please contact Chana Bishburg at kbishburg@aol.com.

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:
  • Soroh Rosen
  • Viktorya Koen
  • Avishai ben Esther
  • Galina bat Riva
  • Joey Cenci (Yoseph Michael ben Yael Rut)
  • Linda Balavram (Emuna bat Sarah)
  • Stuart Balavram (Shammai ben Yitzchak)
  • 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

Tiferes DVD for Women this Motzei Shabbat

The next Tiferes DVD for women, The Hand of the Tongue: Live Life Better with Shimiras Haloshon featuring Rabbi Mansour and Tovi Baron, will be shown this Motzei Shabbat, July 22 at 10:00 p.m. prompt at the Siegel house. Weekly teleconferences with topics such as shalom bayit and parenting are available to Tiferes members. Current teleconference: Raise- the-Bar Parenting with Simi Yellen. For more information, contact Aviva Siegel

RPRY Tuition Affordability Program

RPRY is pleased to provide a an opportunity to apply for the new pilot Tuition Affordability Program (TAP) for this coming 2017-18 school year. Applications must be received by next Monday, July 31

Unveiling at Beth Israel Cemetery

Mitchel Saltzman is in need of a minyan in order to say Kaddish at his father-in- law's unveiling at 1:00 p.m. this Sunday, July 23. They are need of 5 or 6 men. If you can help or know of anyone who can, please contact him at 631-682-1816 or yudimeir827@comcast.net. Thank you.

RPRY Pre-Rosh Hashanah Pop-Up Shop

RPRY PLUS invites the community to a PRE-Rosh Hashanah Pop-Up Shop. It will be held at RPRY on Tuesday, September 5 from 6:30–9:30 p.m. Take advantage of this one-stop shopping for all your Yom Tov needs including: tableware, tablecloths, children’s clothing/accessories, women’s apparel, jewelry, hats, The Man with the Truck, children’s gift items, sheitels and more!

Please contact Elana Kurtz or Melissa Feder for more information.

Raritan Valley and L’Dor V’Dor Hadassah Rosh Hashanah Honey Sale

Raritan Valley and L’Dor V’Dor Hadassah are here to help you plan a most sweet New Year! Purchase a jar of Rosh Hashanah Honey and share a sweet New Year with friends and family.

Visit https://rhhoney.com, scroll all way down past the big jar of honey, and click “Add to cart,” then click “View cart.” Enter the number of honey gift packages you want to order. Each gift package can be shipped to a different address. Enter the Coupon Code “Raritan Valley” and click “Apply coupon” to obtain the special price of $9.50 per jar. Scroll down to see your actual cost. Click “Proceed to Checkout” where you’ll submit your shipping addresses and billing information. Online orders must be submitted by Wednesday, September 16.

To order honey the old fashioned way, write... Your name, address, phone, and email address and the name and address of each recipient and the number of honey jars going each recipient’s way. Please enclose a check a check made out to Hadassah for $9.50 for each jar of honey and mail to Sara L. Goodman, 311 Montgomery Street, Highland Park, NJ 08904. Mail orders must be received by Monday, August 28.

Jerusalem City Council Member Arieh King at Young Israel of East Brunswick

Please join Arieh King, Jerusalem City Council Member & Director of Israel Land Fund this Monday, July 24 at 8:45 p.m. at Young Israel of East Brunswick (immediately following Maariv) for an audio/visual presentation: "Obligation to Mourn, Opportunity to Build: The Current Situation in Jerusalem." Q & A to follow; free admission. Light refreshments will be served.

Arieh King, Director & Founder of the Israel Land Fund (ILF), developed the idea for the ILF during the course of 10 years of working in the East Jerusalem area with several organizations & Israeli government bodies.

Arieh realized Diaspora Jewry’s desire to take a more active role in redeeming the land of Israel, especially in Jerusalem. He endeavors to acquire land of strategic national importance & of historical/religious value to the Jewish people. He has become the foremost expert on the Mount of Olives preservation and blocks illegal building on the site.

Arieh is Director of the only entity working, through Israel's own legal system, to identify & restore Jewish- owned 'abandoned' properties to their rightful owners and is credited with having redeemed entire neighborhoods of Jerusalem. He combats what has been dubbed “the Silent Front” of land encroachment in Israel.

Arieh has been featured internationally on various radio/TV broadcasts, as well as in print media publications. He was elected to the Jerusalem City Council, where he works tirelessly for the rights of Jews to live & travel with equal treatment in every part of the Holy City. For further information, email Judy Goldrich

Keren Kol Kallah

Aviva Siegel is collecting used or new custom sheitels for Keren Kol Kallah. The sheitels are sold at very discounted prices at a gala sheitel sale to women who would otherwise not have the funds to buy a quality wig. All the money raised at the sale goes towards a hachnasat kallah fund which helps needy brides in Eretz Yisrael.

Last year's sale profited over $60,000! If you have a sheitel that you've recently (or not so recently) retired, or if you are a sheitel macher and have some unsold stock, please donate the sheitels to Keren Kol Kallah. Sheitels can be dropped off by Aviva, 16 Edgemount Road, Edison.

For more information, please contact Aviva at 732-572-4408 or siegelmom@optonline.net or visit: www.kerenkolkallah.webs.com.

Raritan Valley Hadassah to see the Dale Chihuly Exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden

Join Raritan Valley Hadassah on Wednesday, September 6 at the New York Botanical Gardens. Enjoy a guided tour of the Chihuly exhibit showcasing his signature organic shapes in brilliant colors including a monumental reimagination of his storied 1975 Artpark installation, with three new works enlivening the water features of the Native Plant Garden and the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory Courtyard's Tropical Pool, reflecting the interplay and movement of color and light.

Men, women, Hadassah Members and Non-Members are most welcome. Bus leaves Highland Park at 9:15 a.m. sharp; returns approximately 5:00 p.m. Cost: $95—includes transportation, admission and guided tour. Please bring your own lunch. Space is limited; please register now! For questions and registration, please contact Elaine Rand Fromkin at 732- 257-1525 or memajules1@gmail.com.

Employment Network of Raritan Valley

Looking for work? ENRV can help. They post over 100 jobs each month, and help people with their resume and search strategies. Please help: If you know of any professional, part-time, or temporary job openings, contact Bob Lansey.

A Family's Plea for Help

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 go to the Chesed Fund and open up 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.

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 campaign"

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.

Rabbi Yisroel Weiss Parsha Class for Men and Women: Wednesday night at 8:30pm at the home of Marsha Eiserman, 154 N. 10th Avenue, Highland Park. For more info, please call Marsha at 347-203-7906.

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.

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.

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.