Yom Yerushalayim

Around 1130 C.E. Yehudah Halevi, a Jewish physician, poet and philosopher from Toledo, Spain wrote these beautiful words:

My heart is in the East*

My heart is in the East, and I am at the ends of the West;

How can I taste what I eat and how could it be pleasing to me?

How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet

Zion lies beneath the fetter of Edom, and I am in the chains of Arabia?

It would be easy for me to leave all the bounty of Spain --

As it is precious for me to behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary.

In 1948 Israel became a State and in 1967, Israel recaptured Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Day marks the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem and The Temple Mount under Jewish rule during the Six-Day War almost 1900 years after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

This year, on May 8th, our Jewish community joins together to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, with a great celebration of games, singing, dancing, eating, face painting, craft making and schmoozing at Oak Ledge Park (rain location: Temple Sinai) from 4:30-6:30.

I hope the entire Jewish community will come out and support this event.

*Translation provided by Zionism and Israel On the Web.

Updated Upcoming Events

Note, School is on vacation this week.  Torah Study is at the home of Bev Bettmann; 7 Aspen Drive

1.  May 3^rd – Folk Service and Teacher Appreciation Shabbat; dinner afterwards sponsored by Membership and Marketing Committee

2.    May 5^th – Newtown, CT memorial service; for information on attending or making a donation see:  http://www.templesinaivt.org/our-leadership/rabbis-blog-sp-994

3.    May 5^th – 1-4 p.m. Young Judaea Teens – Lasar Tag

4.     May 8^th – Communitywide Yom Yerushalayim/Jerusalem Day celebration at Oak Ledge Park (rain location, Temple Sinai); 4:30-7.  Activities & BBQ, EVERYONE invited. Last day of school for grades K-5

5.    May 9^th – last day of school for grades 6 & 7

6.   May 11^th – Bat Mitzvah Renee Dauerman

7.   May 14^th – Shavuot/Confirmation services 7:30 p.m. Please join us as we confirm 5 of our Chai School students

8.  May 18^th - Bat Mitzvah Bella Firman

9.   June 1^st  & 2^nd – Kallah/Retreat for 6^th Grade

10.  June 15 – Bar Mitzvah Cooper Birdsall

11.   June 29 - Bat Mitzvah Amy Laskarzewski

Note:  In June Friday night services go on summer time and begin at 6:00 p.m.

Other ongoing:

Cooper Birdsall needs your help for his Bar Mitzvah project:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oaZmn4Gj0CLxIqpsw4xHj_Z6OtzZPk26cmJB4tElCgQ/edit

Have you started your ChaverWeb account?  You should.  It will make things so much easier for you at Temple Sinai.  Need help?  Call Stacie.  862-5125

Friday night oneg sign up:  http://templesinaionegs.wikispaces.com/

Discounted passes to ECHO Science Center – see or call Stacie

Help raise money for Temple Sinai when you order products from Amazon by signing in through the Temple Sinai website-Amazon link. http://www.templesinaivt.org/

Upcoming Events

1.     April 5^th – 5:30 Folk Service

2.     April 6^th – Bat Mitzvah Marissa Needleman

3.     April 7^th – community ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day; 2:00 pm at OZ (Ohavi Zedek Synagogue; 188 North Prospect St.)

4.     April 9 – 7 pm here at Temple: The Humanitarian Crisis in North Korea: A Documentary Film and presentation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O6FdnlOKZNU

5.     April 12^th – 5:30 Tot Shabbat with a special dinner afterwards by our Brotherhood.  I understand they have quite the feast in mind so come and let them know what you think.

6.     April 13^th – Bat Mitzvah Holly Issenberg

7.     April 14^th – Sisterhood Mah Jongg Marathon – 9:30 a.m., everyone welcome

8.     April 14^th – Young Judaea Teens Ice Skating at Cairns 1-4 p.m.

9.     April 18^th – Screening of documentary with discussion:  Losing Our Sons, geared toward teens and adults about the growing presence of fundamentalist Islam in the U.S. and the devastating effects on families and society.  At UVM Billings North Lounge. 7-9 p.m. http://www.chabadvt.org/media/pdf/725/ClSH7255081.pdf

10.    April 21-28 – School vacation

11.  May 3^rd – Folk Service and Teacher Appreciation Shabbat; dinner afterwards sponsored by Membership and Marketing Committee

12.    May 5^th – Newtown, CT memorial service; for information on attending or making a donation see:  http://www.templesinaivt.org/our-leadership/rabbis-blog-sp-994

13.    May 5^th – 1-4 p.m. Young Judaea Teens – Lasar Tag

14.     May 8^th – Communitywide Yom Yerushalayim/Jerusalem Day celebration at Oak Ledge Park (rain location, Temple Sinai); 4:30-7.  Activities & BBQ, EVERYONE invited. Last day of school for grades K-5

15.    May 9^th – last day of school for grades 6 & 7

16.   May 11^th – Bat Mitzvah Renee Dauerman

17.   May 14^th – Shavuot/Confirmation services 7:30 p.m. Please join us as we confirm 5 of our Chai School students

18.  May 18^th - Bat Mitzvah Bella Firman

19.   June 1^st  & 2^nd – Kallah/Retreat for 6^th Grade

20.  June 15 – Bar Mitzvah Cooper Birdsall

21.   June 29 - Bat Mitzvah Amy Laskarzewski

Note:  In June Friday night services go on summer time and begin at 6:00 p.m.

Other ongoing:

Cooper Birdsall needs your help for his Bar Mitzvah project:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oaZmn4Gj0CLxIqpsw4xHj_Z6OtzZPk26cmJB4tElCgQ/edit

Have you started your ChaverWeb account?  You should.  It will make things so much easier for you at Temple Sinai.  Need help?  Call Stacie.  862-5125

Friday night oneg sign up:  http://templesinaionegs.wikispaces.com/

Discounted passes to ECHO Science Center – see or call Stacie

Help raise money for Temple Sinai when you order products from Amazon by signing in through the Temple Sinai website-Amazon link. http://www.templesinaivt.org/

What are you doing this Shabbat?

Why not join us in worship as our Kitah Hey/5th Grade students lead services this Saturday morning?  One of our post-Bnai Mitzvah students, Joshua Kalfus, will be chanting some Torah.  We hope you can join us.

Family Education Workshop

Today the 5th Grade had their Family Education workshop on the theme of Passover.  Here are some students hard at work:

Their plates were just delightful too.  Here are a couple:

Wishing you all a Happy Passover

The Passover Story In Brief

On Passover, we commemorate the Exodus from Egyptian slavery. The following is a brief summary: Jacob's family came to Egypt to escape a famine in Canaan. Joseph, Jacob's son and the Viceroy to Pharaoh, settled his family in the land of Goshen, apart from the Egyptians. Joseph's contribution to Egyptian society was forgotten after his death, and the new Pharaoh, feeling threatened by the success of the Israelites, enslaved them with cruel and bitter labor. Alerted to a prophecy that the Israelites would be led to freedom by a boy yet to be born, Pharaoh ordered all newborn Jewish boys cast into the Nile. Yocheved set her newborn son (Moses) adrift in the Nile in a basket, where he was found by Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him. Years later, Moses came upon an Egyptian beating an Israelite. Outraged, Moses slew the Egyptian and and then fled Egypt fearing that his action had been discovered. He took refuge in Midian with Jethro and married Jethro's daughter, Tziporah. While shepherding Jethro's sheep, Moses came upon a burning bush that was not being consumed by the flame and from which he heard God's voice instructing him to go back and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses, joined by his older brother Aaron, went to Pharaoh and demanded the release of the Israelites. Pharaoh repeatedly said no--nine times. Each time he said no, another plague (blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts and darkness) struck Egypt. Finally, God struck all the Egyptian first born dead. After this tenth and final plague, Pharaoh finally said "yes" and the Jews left Egypt, matzah in hand. Pharaoh changed his mind and chased the Israelites, who were eventually trapped between the Egyptian army and the Sea of Reeds. But the Sea miraculously split and they crossed safely while the Egyptians drowned in the returning waters. Only Pharaoh survived. The Israelites then continued their journey to Mount Sinai, where they received the Torah. And while you're thinking of the story, watch this great video of the Exodus, as told from the viewpoint of if we had Google back then.

Passover

Pesach, known as Passover in English, is a major Jewish spring festival, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt over 3,000 years ago. The ritual observance of this holiday centers around a special home service called the seder (meaning "order") and a festive meal; the prohibition of chametz (leaven); and the eating of matzah (an unleavened bread). On the fifteenth day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, Jews gather with family and friends in the evening to read from a book called the hagaddah, meaning "telling," which contains the order of prayers, rituals, readings and songs for the Passover seder. Today, the holiday is a celebration of freedom and family.
The URJ website has some wonderful resources you can use for Passover.  There's the:

• History
• Customs and Rituals
• Glossary

• Interactive Seder Plate
• Is Passover 7 or 8 Days?

There are activities for the young 'uns and recipes from many different traditions.  Check it out!