Religious School Students End Year with Pool Party

The students of the Temple Beth Shalom Religious School completed their year-long studies and celebrated with a pool party a the home of Education Director Robyn Shapiro and Rabbi Merrill Shapiro. The celebration of the completion of studies is called a Siyyum.

The origin of the custom is found in the Talmud. Abaye was proud of the fact that whenever a pupil finished a massekta he made it the occasion of a holiday for his students (Shab. 118b); apparently he himself defrayed the expense of the celebration. R. Eleazar said, "One should make a feast on completing the Torah" (Cant. R. i. 9). The fact is specifically mentioned that R. Papa and R. Huna were absent from the siyyum of Raba (B. B. 22a; see Rashi ad loc.). Since the feast is considered "a feast of merit," R. Jacob Mölln (d. 1425) allowed meat and wine at the feast of those who celebrated a siyyum massekta during the first nine days of Ab, although feasting is otherwise prohibited on those days, the mourning period for the destruction of Jerusalem ("Sefer Maharil," p. 32b, Warsaw, 1874). R. Moses Minz (15th cent.) advises (Responsa, ed. Prague, 1827), "One should await an opportune time to prepare a feast for the completion of a massekta."

The siyyum is made by mourners a cause for avoiding fasting on a Jahrzeit. The siyyum exempts also the first-born from fasting on the day preceding Passover (see Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 551, 10; Yoreh De'ah, 246, 26). The siyyum of the massekta is read by the scholar who has just completed its study, except in a yeshibah, when it is read by the principal. A discourse of a haggadic or pilpulistic character is interwoven with the reading, all students present partaking in the discussion.

After this all recite the "Hadran," as follows (the Masseket Berakot being supposed to be the one that has just been completed):
"Many returns ["hadran"] from us to thee and from thee to us, Masseket Berakot. Our thoughts be with thee, and thy thoughts be with us, Masseket Berakot. May we not be forgotten by thee, nor thou be forgotten by us, Masseket Berakot, neither in this world nor in the world to come."
This is repeated three times. The Aramaic language and the peculiar style indicate that the formula is ancient. It dates probably from the geonic period. Then follows: "May it be Thy will, O Lord, our God, and God of our fathers, that Thy Torah be our art in this world, and so be with us in the world to come." The ten sons of R. Papa are then enumerated—Ḥanina, Rami, Naḥman, Aḥai, Abba Mari, Rafram, Rakish, Surḥab, Adda, Daru (their names, if recited, are supposed to help against forget-fulness). Next follows: "Make pleasant for us, O Lord, our God, the word of Thy Law in our mouth and in the mouth of Thy people Israel, so that we, and our children, and the children of the house of Israel, may all know Thy Name and learn Thy Law. [Ps. cxix. 12, 80, 93, 99 are cited here.] Amen, amen, amen, selah, forever. We thank Thee, O Lord, our God, and God of our fathers, for appointing our lots among the scholars of the bet ha-midrash, and not among idlers," etc. (Ber. 28b). The principal celebrant recites: "May it be Thy will, O Lord, my God, that as Thou hast aided me to complete Masseket Berakot, so mayest Thou aid me to commence and complete other treatises and books. Aid me to learn and to teach, to observe, to do, and to keep all the words of the teaching of Thy Law, in love. May the merit of all the Tannaim, and Amoraim, and the scholars [herein mentioned] be with me and with my children; that the Torah shall never depart from my mouth and the mouths of my children and my posterity," etc. This is followed by "Ḳaddish di-Rabanan."

Temple Beth Shalom Religious School students readily admit that their studies have been fun. The joy of learning, of encountering and engaging intellectual challenges is common to Temple Beth Shalom Religious School students.

Beth Shalom School Students follow 2nd Century Rabbi Akiba

Temple Beth Shalom Religious School students, with their educational director Robyn Shapiro, took to the outdoors, just as the students of Rabbi Akiba did around 110 in the Common Era, to celebrate Lag B'Omer, the thirty-third day of the counting of the barley harvest and the days between Pesach and Shavuot.

The explanations begin with the Omer period itself, those forty-nine days that are counted off one by one between the two festivals. This is a time of semi-mourning, when weddings and other celebrations are forbidden, and as a sign of grief, observant Jews do not cut their hair.
Anthropologists say that many peoples have similar periods of restraint in the early spring to symbolize their concerns about the growth of their crops. But the most often cited explanation for the Jewish practice comes from the Talmud, which tells us that during this season a plague killed thousands of Rabbi Akiva's students because they did not treat one another respectfully. The mourning behavior is presumably in memory of those students and their severe punishment.
According to a medieval tradition, the plague ceased on Lag Ba'Omer, the thirty-third day of the Omer. (The Hebrew letters lamed and gimel which make up the acronym "Lag" have the com­bined numerical value of 33.) As a result, Lag Ba'Omer became a happy day, interrupting the sad­ness of the Omer period for twenty-four hours.
The talmudic explanation makes most sense when put into historical context. The outstand­ing sage Rabbi Akiva became an ardent supporter of Simeon bar Koseva, known as Bar Kokhba, who in 132 C.E. led a ferocious but unsuccessful revolt against Roman rule in Judea. Akiva not only pinned his hopes on a political victory over Rome but believed Bar Kokhba to be the long-awaited Messiah. Many of his students joined him in backing the revolt and were killed along with thousands of Judeans when it failed. The talmudic rabbis, still suffering under Roman rule and cautious about referring openly to past rebellions, may have been hinting at those deaths when they spoke of a plague among Akiva's students. Possibly, also, Lag Ba'Omer marked a respite from battle, or a momentary victory.
A completely different reason for the holiday concerns one of Rabbi Akiva's few disciples who survived the Bar Kokhba revolt, Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai. He is said to have died on Lag Ba'Omer.
Rabbi Simeon continued to defy the Roman rulers even after Bar Kokhba's defeat, and was forced to flee for his life and spend years in solitary hiding. Legend places him and his son Eleazar in a cave for twelve years, where a miraculous well and carob tree sustained them while they spent their days studying and praying. When they finally emerged, Simeon denigrated all practical occupations, insisting that people engage only in the study of Torah. For this God confined the two to their cave for another year, accusing Simeon of destroying the world with his rigid asceticism.
But Rabbi Simeon's otherworldliness resonated with mystics in his own time and later, so much so that tradition ascribes to him the Zohar, the key work of the Kabbalah (although critical scholars attribute it to the thirteenth-century Spanish kabbalist Moses de Leon). And in Israel, on Lag Ba'Omer, people flock to the site of his tomb in the village of Meron in the Galilee, near Safed, where they light bonfires and sing kabbalistic hymns. Hasidic Jews follow the custom of bringing their three-year-old sons to Meron to have their hair cut for the first time. (The custom of not cut­ting the child's hair until his third birthday is probably an extension of the law that forbids picking the fruits of a newly planted tree during its first three years.)
Unrelated to Rabbi Simeon, the kabbalists also give a mystical interpretation to the Omer period as a time of spiritual cleansing and preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. The days and weeks of counting, they say, represent various combinations of the sefirot, the divine emanations, whose contemplation ultimately leads to purity of mind and soul. The somberness of this period reflects the seriousness of its spiritual pursuits.
Finally, on yet another tack, some authorities attribute the joy of Lag Ba'Omer to the belief that the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert first appeared on the eighteenth of Iyar.
Though its origins are uncertain, Lag Ba'Omer has become a minor holiday. (For Sephardim, the holiday is the day after Lag Ba'Omer.) Schoolchildren picnic and play outdoors with bows and arrows--a possible reminder of the war battles of Akiva's students--and in Israel plant trees. And every year numerous couples wed at this happy time, oblivious to Rabbi Akiva or Simeon bar Yohai, manna or mysticism.

Religious School Students Choose Beit Frankforter, Doliner Food Bank

The students of the Temple Beth Shalom Religious School convened their plenary session and the debate began. Over the course of the year, the students had collected their Tzedakah monies in the pushke that was passed around at each session. Now the time came to decide on the allocations process. Who would receive a grant from the students, ranging in age from 9 to 13 years old, and who would not?

After counting the final pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and arriving at the year's final tally, many different organizations were considered. The merits and shortcomings of each organization were carefully weighed by the students under the supervision of Temple Beth Shalom Religious School Director Robyn Shapiro before a final decision was made. The two recipients this year were the Doliner Food Bank of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties and Beit Frankforter, a senior center in the south of Jerusalem, Israel.

The Social Service Council of the Jewish Federation maintains a well-stocked crisis food bank which provides emergency food to people who “fall through the cracks” of the system. The food bank provides staples such as cereals, juices, canned vegetables and fruits, canned meats, peanut butter, pasta, canned and dry milk, paper goods, and other items deemed necessary for survival.
Due to the current state of the economy the Jerry Doliner Food Bank is serving an increasing number of clients in Volusia and Flagler County and the students felt that there is still much more we must do to reduce the growing food insecurity in our community.

A walk through the halls of Beit Frankforter, an old house in Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood, tells a beautiful story. It is a story of growing old gracefully, with meaningful activities among good company, hearty food, stimulating programs. Going from floor to floor,you might see an Ulpan in session with many recentlyarrived French olim struggling with their new language.
Or, you may come upon the art workshop where people paint silk, knit, hammer copper or, in the next room, a group might be engaged in a very serious game of cards.
On the way to the next floor you will pass the large aquarium where fish swim in lazy circles and where many an Elder might be mesmerized by the calming effects of the water and its inhabitants. Add aerobics and Feldenkreis, computer lessons, a visiting crew of animals
that stimulate the frail elderly and a dentist to help with dental problems and you see just how busy the Center can be. If you arrive very early in the morning, you will get the best treat of all: A group of savtas (grandmothers) come to the Center daily, long before 7 am, where they
prepare more than 500 sandwiches. These are then delivered to local schools where they are enjoyed by children whose families do not have the means to send them to school with a mid-morning sandwich and fruit. In the past school year alone over 95,000 sandwiches
were made and delivered to hungry school kids. Quite an accomplishment.

The Temple Beth Shalom students were impressed by the fact that just $20 feeds one child for one month with hearty luncheon sandwiches.

Diaper Bank at Beth Shalom Now Open at TBS

Diaper Bank To Open at Area Synagogue
It wasn’t until Gloria Max, the Director of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler County visited Palm Coast’s Temple Beth Shalom and told how sad it was to see a young girl excited about receiving toilet paper from the program’s food bank, that the reality began to set it. Then, synagogue members spoke of a mother who was seen taking a diaper off her infant, emptying the solids and putting it back on! “It was an ‘Aha!‘ moment,“ said Rabbi Merrill Shapiro. “We quickly learned that Food Stamps and associated programs do not cover non-food items such as toilet paper and diapers!“
“How can we go to bed at night in a town where there are parents who are putting their children to bed in a re-used diaper?” a group at Temple Beth Shalom asked themselves and others. After reading about Diaper Banks in Time Magazine, the question became “Why not here?” Following an excited and positive response from a local mother’s group, the collection process began and the Diaper Bank at Beth Shalom began.
Some veteran mothers at Beth Shalom suggested cloth diapers but poor mothers rarely have their own washing machines or access to Laundromats. Further, babies sitting longer in dirty diapers get more rashes and cry. Crying can lead to shorter tempers and child abuse. Day-care centers require parents to provide their own diapers, and without day-care, some mothers can’t work.
The Diaper Bank at Beth Shalom has been established to ensure that families living in poverty have and adequate supply of diapers for their infants and toddlers and to raise community awareness that anti-poverty programs must add diapers under their definitions of “basic human needs.”


Donations of diapers began flowing in to the Diaper Bank in the synagogue’s facility at 40 Wellington Drive in Palm Coast. When nearly 1000 diapers of all sizes were collected, the announcement went out to mother’s groups and others that diapers are available to recipients of food stamps, participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, WIC or similar programs. Other applicants will be reviewed on an individual basis.
Diapers are available for distribution by appointment by calling 386-445-3006 or at the synagogue on Wednesdays from 1 until 3 p.m. Donations of diapers are accepted anytime. Cash donations will be used for the purchase of diapers. The Diaper Bank is run entirely by volunteers. Temple Beth Shalom provides the space for storage and distribution of the diapers and the charitable status under Internal Revenue Code Section 501 c 3. Thus, contributions may be tax-deductible, consultation with a qualified tax advisor is highly recommended!

St. Johns Riverkeeper To Address Temple Annual Spaghetti Dinner May 17

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon will be the featured guest speaker at Temple Beth Shalom Men’s Club Annual Spaghetti Dinner, Sunday, May 17th, 5 p.m. at the Palm Coast Synagogue, 40 Wellington Drive, off Pine Lakes Parkway. Armingeon and Riverkeeper are the full-time advocates and “watchdogs” for the St. John River watershed and the public to whom it belongs. The role of the Riverkeeper organization has become central in the “water wars” that are expanding following a permit issued to Seminole County to withdraw water from the St. Johns for irrigation use. This decision impacts many different areas, but especially the residents of the regions surrounding the St. John, including Flagler County.

Neil Armingeon previously served as the Environmental Director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation in New Orleans. For over 10 years, he galvanized diverse coalitions of citizens in support of a clean, sustainable Lake Pontchartrain Watershed and developed and directed grass-roots campaigns that integrated science, advocacy, and public policy. Prior to his work with the Foundation, Neil was Project Director for the North Carolina Coastal Federation, one of the state's largest environmental groups, where he directed advocacy and hands-on regulatory education programs. Neil has a Bachelor of Science degree from North Carolina State University and a master's degree in Environmental Management from Duke University. He has become a major advocate for the protection of the integrity and the beauty of the St. Johns River.

The group St. Johns Riverkeeper is a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that serves as a full-time advocate and "watchdog" for the St. Johns River, its watershed, and the public to whom it belongs.Riverkeeper works to improve water quality in the St. Johns River and its tributaries, to protect critical habitat in the St. Johns River watershed, to provide meaningful public access to our waterways, and to educate our members and the public about the River and the issues that impact its health.Riverkeeper is a membership-based organization. Riverkeeper does not receive any government funding but must rely on the generous support of businesses and concerned citizens that recognize the value and importance of the St. Johns River and our work to protect it.
The Temple Beth Shalom Men’s Club Spaghetti dinner, Sunday, May 17th at 5 p.m. is open to the public; tickets must be purchased in advance through the synagogue office or at the door. The cost is $10 for adults. Children accompanied by an adult are free! For further information and for tickets contact Temple Beth Shalom at 386-445-3006.