August 11 - Parashat Ekev

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 7:42pm

Shabbat - Parashat Ekev

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.
  • Parasha with Rabbi Ben Hakakian: 8:00am
  • Shacharit: 8:45am
  • Latest Shema: 8:47am
  • Special Kiddush sponsored by Ray & Gloria Morris & Family and Yvonne Levi & Family in honor of Rachel's marriage to Uri.
    Mazal tov to their parents, grandparents and all family members!!!
  • A Tehillim group for women only will be held at Etz Ahaim starting at 5:00pm and every week 45 minutes before the Rabbi's class, coordinator Sherri Degani. The goal will be to divide and complete reading Sefer Tehillim each week.
  • Class with Rabbi Bassous on The Miraculous Survival and RevivaL of the Jewish People - Part 2: 6:00 pm
  • Mincha: 7:15pm
  • Seuda Shelishit after Mincha sponsored by Drs. Ben & Diane Hakakian.
  • Come and learn some classic Shabbat songs for your Shabbat Table with special guest speaker Adin Bodzin.
  • Arvit and Shabbat Ends: 8:42 pm

Sunday

  • Parsha and Halacha with Rabbi Ben Hakakian: 8:00am
  • Shacharit: 8:30am
  • Women's Class: 10:00am -- New topic Rambam Hilchot De'ot. It can be downloaded and printed for free. De'ot - Chapter One New Members Welcome!
  • Mincha and Arvit: 7:30 pm
  • Rav Kook's Orot Teshuvah 9.00 pm

Monday - Thursday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Mishna a Day: 7:30am
  • Halacha a Day: 7:00pm
  • Mincha & Arvit: 7:30pm

Next Week – Friday

  • Shacharit: 6:30am
  • Shir Hashirim: 6:45pm
  • Mincha: 7:00pm
  • Candle lighting 7:33pm

Classes

  • Parasha 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

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.

Save a Child's Heart Fundraiser

Sarah Edery is raising $21,000 in honor of her 21st birthday for Save a Child's Heart Foundation, an Israeli-based non profit, which provides urgently needed lifesaving cardiac surgeries free of charge to children who would not otherwise get it. She created the Birthday Project so others could also take part in this initiative, and she is now almost halfway there!

Please join her in celebrating another year of life by giving the gift of life to others! Please donate.

Traveling in India and the United Arab Emirates

Congregation Etz Ahaim presents: Traveling in India and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, September 10 from 8:00 to 10:0 pm. In this profusely illustrated talk, Dr. Nathan Reiss will discuss a three week trip through southern India and the United Arab Emirates. He is particularly interested in the cultures of the two countries, and for evidence of their Jewish connections, past and present.

  • 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 on Shabbat and Chaggim) make sure all the lights are out

  • If you are celebrating a simcha or want to remember a loved one, sponsoring 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.

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.

The congregation extends get-well wishes to:

  • 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

Park Mikvah

Park Mikvah is now providing towels and robes.

Hours

  • Sunday - Thursday 9:00pm to 11:00pm
  • Friday Nights: By appointment only. Leave a message at 732-249-2411 or via the website.
  • Motzai Shabbos
    • August 5 and 12: 10:00pm to 11:30pm
    • August 19 and 26: 9:30pm to 11:30pm

We appreciate your patience and financial support. Please continue to check our website and hotline at 732-249-2411 for updates

Have you participated in this incredible mitzvah campaign yet? Please go to www.parkmikvah.org/donate to help raise the remaining funds!

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. http://www.ENRV.org

Wilf Campus Family Volunteer Corp

Be a part of the fun and share your talents with Stein residents. Are you a musician, singer or a poet? Do you enjoy gardening or have another hobby? Do you like to play Mah Jongg, canasta, scrabble or other games? Perhaps you would like to lead a current events discussion or a trivia game? The Wilf Campus can always use an extra pair of hands on a trip, or someone to assist the Rabbi on Shabbat or a Holiday. Don’t see your talent on this list but want to get involved? Give them a call!

You can volunteer a few times a year, once a month, every other week, or weekly, whatever fits your schedule. They would love to have you. For more information on how you can enrich the lives of residents, please call 732-568-1155 or email Toby Ehrlich or Jackie Kott.

Netivot Calendar Fundraiser

Netivot is excited to announce that they will be printing a full color school calendar this year, and they would love for you to promote your business! Ads for businesses will be printed on the top half of the month and will be seen by all Netivot parents, grandparents and anyone else who gets a calendar! Purchase your ad today.

Rosh Hashanah Greeting Cards

Rosh Hashanah will be here before you know it. Raritan Valley Hadassah is once again selling Rosh Hashanah greeting cards. Each package holds 25 cards and the cost is $25 per package. Please call or email Marsha Hines at 732-271-2932 and let her know how many packages of cards you would like. If you live in Highland Park, arrangements can be made to hand-deliver the cards to you.

JCC Bereavement Group

The next meeting of the JCC Bereavement Group will be held next Wednesday, August 16 from 3:00-4:00pm. at the Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County, 1775 Oak Tree Road, Edison. The focus of the group is to discover personal models for navigating through the challenges of loss. These sessions are mostly group driven through discussions with the guidance of Rabbi Bryan Kinzbrunner. There is no charge for this group and no need to go it alone. For more information, call 732-494-3232.

Tifere s DVD for Women this Motzei Shabbat

The next Tiferes DVD for women, Is Empathy a Mitzvah? What it is and How to Show it featuring Rabbi Jonathan Rietti and Yael Kaisman, will be shown on Motzei Shabbat, August 12 at 10:00pm prompt at the Siegel house.

Weekly teleconferences with topics such as shalom bayit and parenting are available to Tiferes members. Current teleconferences: Raise-the-Bar Parenting with Simi Yellen; Of Home and Heart with Dr. Jerry Lob; Summer Parenting with Ruth Lynn; Shalom Bayis—The Changing Picture with Debbi Selengut. For more information, please contact Aviva Siegel

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 to 9:30pm. 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.

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 email or call Aviva at 732-572-4408 or visit the Keren Kol Kallah webpage.

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.

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.

Chai Lifeline Fundraiser

Shmuel Weitzner will be raising funds in support of Chai Lifeline by biking 180 miles through 3 states to Camp Simcha in memory of his dear daughter, Chaya Sorah, z"l, and his beloved father, Rabbi Nachum Avigdor Weitzner, z"l.

Camp Simcha, run by Chai Lifeline, is an extraordinary overnight camp that gives children with cancer a vacation from sickness. A summer in camp restores their spirits and renews their determination to fight! The camp is designed to meet the medical and social needs of children and teens with cancer and other serious illnesses.

Camp Simcha and its sister camp, Camp Simcha Special, are Chai Lifeline's flagship programs. Every year these two camps offer 420 children a chance to forget about illness and just be kids again.

Shmuel will be biking to camp on Wednesday and Thursday, August 16 & 17. His objective is to raise at least $5,000 by then and hopes you can help him achieve this goal. All donations are 100% tax-deductible. Donate to this very worthy cause on behalf of Shmuel Weitzner.

Checks, made out to Chai Lifeline, can also be mailed to: 1228 East 13th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230.

Hatzolah Carnival

Join Hatzolah of Middlesex County for their 2nd annual carnival on Sunday, September 10 from 1:00-5:00pm. at 71 West Ethel Road, Piscataway. Bring your family for a fun filled afternoon while supporting Hatzolah. Enjoy raffles, petting zoo, prizes, face painting, delicious BBQ and more! Unlimited ride passes are available. All payment methods accepted. For more information, call 732-993-8654 or email Carnival@hatzolahmc.org.

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 blesses 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.