Celebrating Channukah at Beth Shalom

Celebrating Channukah at Beth Shalom

Chanukah comes from the Jewish word chinuch, meaning education. The story of Chanukah is the story of the struggle for Jewish chinuch versus Greek education. The outcome was victory for the Jews against a foreign enemy and a foreign education.
We might think that since we won, we have continued with our educational successes. But unfortunately today we see many examples of educational failures throughout the Jewish community. As children reach their late teens, they sometimes opt to leave their parents' heritage and instead abandon themselves to the prevalent pop culture of the streets. Many fall into drugs, ruining their lives and grieving their parents.
Much of this could have been avoided if the parents had given their children correct roadmaps for mapping out their lives. Temple Beth Shalom and its substantial investment in its Religious School works to create and make accessible those roadmaps that help children and their parents find their way.
A road map is something we are all familiar with. Before starting out on a long journey into an area that we are unfamiliar with, we get a map. As we drive we compare the real roads that we are on to the lines on the road map.
Generally road maps are correct and by following the various lines on the map we safely arrive at our destination. However it does happen that even though we are following the map, we still get lost. The information on the map is not correct because it does not correctly reflect the reality of the land. Either new roads have been built or old ones have been moved. If we are using a map and we see that it does not help us, but it only confuses us, we will abandon it and find a different way of getting to our destination.
Also a particular road map may be correct for certain modes of transportation, but not for others. The standard roadmap may be fine for a passenger car, but not for a hiker. For a hiker, it may be very dangerous to assume that walking from one place to another will be across flat land. He may in reality jeopardize his hike by walking through dangerous rivers and canyons.
Likewise as roadmap for a passenger car may not be accurate for a helicopter that must go from one location to another. It does not show mountain peaks and airports.
Similarly, when parents try to educate their children, they must realize that the child knows nothing about the reality of life. Children at an early age look to the parents to guide them. If the parent provides proper guidance for the child, then the chances of the child leaving the parents heritage and going into bad and dangerous directions is minimal. But there are several factors that must be taken into consideration.
First, is the direction set forth by the parent for the child proper for that particular child? Children are individuals; even in one family one child may have a personality that will lead him in a direction different from his siblings. He may have strengths and advantages are quite different from his peers. Has the parent taken this into consideration before setting out the roadmap for the child?
The parent must relate to the child as an individual and not as someone that must be molded to a group. Groups may be fine for various social and educational opportunities, but the child's individuality should not be subjugated to a group identity that is not in keeping with the child's unique personality.
Secondly, are the goals and direction in which the child is pointed correct for this particular child? Each child is a unique being and requires being guided in a direction that is proper for him. To send a child in a direction that is not fitting for his personality, is asking for the child to rebel.
In addition, a warm and concerned parent who listens to the child and tries to understand the child's problems is a prerequisite for all parents. Parents must have their child's future and needs in their hearts and not those of the various peer groups.
When parents provide a viable roadmap individually tailored for each particular child, they not only will be doing their child a great service, but their child will always love and respect the parents for it. This is the meaning of (Proverbs 22:6) "Educate the youth in accordance to his manner, and even when he grows old he will not abandon it."
Those gains that we made on Chanukah should not be lost, whether we speak of a group or of an individual. Celebrating Chanukah at Temple Beth Shalom is a sacred task arming and empowering families to convey their precious Jewish heritage, generation after generation.

Beth Shalom Students Rise to a New Level Celebrating Siyum

Beth Shalom Students Rise to a New Level Celebrating a Siyum

As Temple Beth Shalom students complete a thorough review of the strategies and methodologies of Hebrew reading, they have celebrated a Siyum, a completion and prepare to move on to access ancient Biblical texts, far older than the English language! Under the guidance of Religious School Principal Robyn Shapiro, students have been studying and submitted to rigorous testing. All of the students passed their oral comprehensive Hebrew reading tests with flying colors and are working on the reading of Biblical texts, especially those from the Books of Exodus and Psalms. Thus, they have acquired and are putting to use skills to delve into literature written some 2,700 years ago!

Technically speaking, a siyum (“completion”) means the completion of any unit of Torah study, or book of the Mishnah or Talmud in Judaism. A siyum is usually followed by a celebratory meal, or seudat mitzvah, a meal in honor of a mitzvah, or commandment. Siyum also refers to the celebration.

It has become customary for synagogues to arrange a siyum on the morning before Passover to allow those fasting for Ta’anit Bechorim (Fast of the Firstborn to break their fast, taking advantage of the halachic principle that prioritizes Torah study. A siyum ha-sefer, meaning “completion of the book,” is also held as a ceremonial completion and dedication of a sefer Torah, a handwritten copy of the Torah, the most important Jewish ritual object, which is kept in the Ark of a synagogue. Usually, when an individual or a group conclude the study of any tractate of the Talmud, or even of the Mishnah, a siyum is celebrated. At the end of every volume of the Talmud a special hadran prayer is printed with a set order of prayers and a special kaddish in honor of the completion of that volume, which Judaism considers to be an important achievement and a milestone worth celebrating.

In the merit and honor of a deceased individual, it is customary to undertake Mishnah study with the goal of holding a siyum. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, based on the Nemukei Yosef, the Ran (Rabbeinu Nissim), the Rashbam, and the Eliyah Rabbah, extends the concept of a siyum to include even a festive meal celebrating the completion of any mitzvah (commandment) that has taken a significant duration of time (such as a number of weeks or months). Thus the applicablity to the students of Temple Beth Shalom, the synagogue and Jewish educational institution of Flagler County, Florida.

Violet Drexler, Flagler County Delegate to Republican National Conventio to Meet with Temple Beth Shalom Teens

Dr. Drexler, Flagler County Delegate to Republican National Convention, to Meet With Temple Beth Shalom Teens

Violet Drexler, Ph.D. one of the two longest serving members of the Flagler County Republican Executive Committee will meet with area teenagers at Temple Beth Shalom on Tuesday evening, December 4th from 7 until 8 p.m. Community teens, parents and friends are welcome to attend. There is no charge, no advance reservations are necessary and refreshments will be available for sale to benefit the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

Drexler who was a Graduate Professor of Education at New York University, will represent area Republicans at the Republican National Convention from September 1 through September 4 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She represented county Republicans at their national convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2000 and has served the local and Florida Republican parties in a variety of capacities since 1989. She taught at both Hunter College and Manhattan Community College in New York City before her retirement.

Temple Beth Shalom teens, still reeling from the murder of a fellow student at Flagler Palm Coast High School have been interested in issues relating to gun control and sought to get some answers from local political leaders. They also are looking forward to asking questions about the War in Iraq, immigration and health care. The teens, through their youth group, called Yad B’Yad--Hebrew for “Hand in Hand,” are learning that, despite their youth, they can have great influence over the upcoming election. The group is sponsored by Temple Beth Shalom and oversight comes from synagogue educator Robyn Shapiro.

Palm Coast Rabbi Heads to Washington to Lobby

Palm Coast Rabbi Heads to Washington to Lobby for

Workplace Religious Freedom Act

Should police officers be sued if they refuse, on religious grounds, to guard a women’s health clinic where abortions are performed? Must a hospital continue to employ a nurse who tells patients AIDS is contracted because God “doesn’t like the homosexual?” Can a drugstore fire a pharmacist who refuses, because of his religious beliefs, to fill prescriptions for the “morning after” pill?

As the Workplace Religious Freedom Act comes before the United States House of Representatives, Palm Coast’s Rabbi Merrill Shapiro and his wife Robyn, headed for Capitol Hill to lobby, under the auspices and arrangements of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, in the office of Congressman John Mica. In a meeting in the Congressman’s office, the Shapiros spoke of the cornerstones of American society, religious freedom and religious pluralism. “Because of this freedom, each of us has the right to practice, or not practice, the religion of our choice or no religion at all,” Robyn Shapiro, told Brian Waldrip, the eight-term congressman’s Legislative Director, “Yet each of us also should have a right to be able to work!”

The Shapiros and Americans United for Separation of State, feel that the current language of the Workplace Religious Freedom Act is much too broad and will unduly restrain employers who find themselves with employees who refuse to perform their jobs by virtue of their claim of religious freedom. “The law should be written to protect those who wear certain religious garb, such as turbans or burkas and to protect those who need reasonable time off for the celebration of religious holy days, “ Rabbi Shapiro maintains, “but not to protect practices that would harm fellow employees, clients, customers and patients.”

The Shapiros were pleased with the response to their arguments, but remain concerned about the legislation and its potential impact. “All in all, weighing in with our representative in the Congress of the United States, is an especially satisfying practice of the democratic principles that make this country great!” the Shapiros agreed.

Flagler Democratic Chairman Courtney to Teens: "There are plenty of roles for you to play!"

Flagler County Democratic Party Chairman Doug Courtney told a group of teens gathered with their parents at Palm Coast's Temple Beth Shalom that there are plenty of roles for young people, including those not yet old enough to vote, to play in the electoral process. "Most successful ideas come from one person in whom a fire burns to get something done," Courtney, who also heads the campaign to elect a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's Seventh Congressional District, told those gathered under the auspices of Yad B'Yad, the Jewish teen group of Flagler County. "If you wish to get something done, just get involved!" he added.

The teens raised issues about gun control, same-sex marriage, child support laws, the Iraq War and the issue of the January 29th Presidential Primary at the hour-long session.

Flagler Teens Petition UN Secretary General, Lebanese Ambassador

A group of Flagler County teenagers, concerned about Israeli soldiers kidnapped by U. S. designated terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, have petitioned both United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the Ambassador of Lebanon to the United Nations, Nouhad Mahmoud for action on Israeli soldiers kidnapped and held captive by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the autonomous Palestinian territories. The teens, part of Yad B’Yad, the youth group of Temple Beth Shalom, “respectfully ask that the officials do everything possible to effect the release of three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah and Hamas.” The Yad B’Yad members, all students in Flagler County Public Schools, also urged the leaders “to do everything in your power to help secure their release by implementing U.N. Security Counsel Resolution 1701 which requires Hezbollah and the Lebanese government to release Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev” and asked the diplomats to use their offices to “demand that Hamas unconditionally release Gilad Shalit.”According to the United Nations, Goldwasser and Regev were kidnapped in a battle that began at around 9 a.m. , July 12, 2006 when Hezbollah launched rockets on Israeli military positions along the Lebanese border, apparently as a diversion. A force then attacked two armored IDF Humvees patrolling the border near the Israeli village of Zar'it with anti-tank rockets, and captured the two soldiers. An Israeli Merkava Mk. II tank was damaged by a 200 kg improvised explosive device while attempting to give pursuit, killing all four crewmembers. "Fulfilling its pledge to liberate the Arab prisoners and detainees, the Islamic Resistance... captured two Israeli soldiers (Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev) at the border with occupied Palestine," Hezbollah said in a statement on the 14th of July, 2006.

Twenty year old Gilad Shalit was abducted on Sunday morning, June 25, 2006 by Palestinian terrorists who attacked an Israeli army post on the Israeli side of the southern Gaza Strip border after having crossed through an underground tunnel near the Kerem Shalom border crossing. During the morning attack, two Israeli soldiers were killed and three others wounded, aside from Shalit, who himself suffered a broken left hand and a light shoulder wound after his tank was hit with a rocket propelled grenade.

Shalit’s captors issued a statement on Monday, June 26, 2006, offering information on Shalit if Israel agreed to release all female Palestinian prisoners and all Palestinian prisoners under the age of 18. The statement came from the Izz ad-Din al Qassam Brigades (the military wing of the Palestinian governing party Hamas), the Popular Resistance Commitees (which includes members of Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and Hamas), and a previously unknown group calling itself the Army of Islam

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Yad B’Yad members are circulating similar petitions to all who wish to be heard on behalf of the missing soldiers. Postcards are available asking simply for “a sign of life” from the three missing soldiers. The young Flagler County students have also taken to wearing “dog tags” with the names of the missing soldiers until they are released.

Beth Shalom to Honor Jewish War Veterans , Friday, November 9th

Seymour Karns, Commander, Jewish War Veterans Post 300

Temple Beth Shalom, the center of Jewish life in Flagler County, will honor the members of Jewish War Veterans Post 300 and all veterans at regular Friday evening services, 8 p.m. on November 9th, the Sabbath that immediately precedes the traditional Veterans Day, November 11th. All are welcome to attend and recognize the sacrifices made by Veterans as well as those currently serving in the armed forces abroad and at home. The customary Oneg Shabbat refreshments follow the service. There is no charge and no advance arrangements are necessary.

Seymour Karns, Commander of the local Jewish War Veterans Post 300 will explain to those gathered tat the Jewish War Veterans, established in 1896 is compromised of citizens of the United States of America, of the Jewish faith, who served in the Wars of the United States of America, committed to being of greater service to country and to each other. For over a century, members have associated themselves together to maintain true allegiance to the United States of America; to foster and perpetuate true Americanism; to combat whatever tends to impair the efficiency and permanency of America’s free institutions; to uphold the fair name of the Jew and fight his or her battles wherever unjustly assailed; to encourage the doctrine of universal liberty, equal rights, and full justice to all men and women; to combat the powers of bigotry and darkness wherever originating and whatever their target; to preserve the spirit of comradeship by mutual helpfulness to comrades and their families; to cooperate with and support existing educational institutions and establish educational institutions, and to foster the education of ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen, and our members in the ideals and principles of Americanism; to instill love of country and flag, and to promote sound minds and bodies in JWV members and our country’s youth; to preserve the memories and records of patriotic service performed by Jewish men and women and to honor their memory and shield from neglect the graves of our heroic dead.

The Jewish Community of Flagler County is especially proud of American servicemen and servicewomen past and present. The community regularly gathers at Temple Beth Shalom on Wellington Drive in Palm Coast to ask the Almighty to give those serving in the Armed Forces of the United States the courage to meet the chilling stare of death, to show compassion to them as they seek to make the world safer for all humankind.
The congregation asks Providence to ease the pain of our soldiers’ loneliness as they face the darkness of their daunting task and to let them feel the Divine presence as letting that presence warm the chill of their souls with the blanket of the sacred light.
Each Sabbath Beth Shalom’s worshippers as that those far from the comfort of home be helped to find value and meaning in their mission; that their sacrifice not be an empty act.Worshippers pray that those bearing arms sense the yearning of those who await their return and long for their presence –their loved ones, their parents, their children, that they be protected when they find themselves in harm's way and that the Almighty salve their wounds with Providence’s healing balm.
Finally, those assembled ask of Heaven above that the efforts of the men and women of our armed services further the cause of peace throughout the world and bring humanity closer to the day when "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn of war anymore."