SIVAN / TAMMUZ 5774 JUNE / JULY 2014 www.KesserMaariv.org UPCOMING EVENTS & DATES TO REMEMBER Shavuot Mishmar Shavuot begins Tuesday night, June 3. Please join us at Mishmar, which begins at Midnight, and will feature shiurim by Rabbi Louis Lazovsky, Rabbi Eli and Rabbi Benzie . The Women's Mishmar will start at 11:30 pm. Dr. Steve Steinberg will speak on "Kiddushah; What a Concept!" and Rebbetzin Saretta Lazovsky will present Rosh Chodesh. On Wednesday the first minyan will begin at 4:40 am. There will also be a Shacharit minyan at the regular 8:45 am time. Shavuot Yizkor On Thursday, June 5, the second day of Shavuot, we will recite Yizkor at about 10:30 am. For information about ordering Yahrzeit plaques, please call the office at (847) 679-9800. Early Shabbat Starting June 6th, we will begin "Early Shabbat." We will daven mincha every Friday at 7:00 pm throughout the summer. If you will be starting Shabbat early with us, you should light candles at about 7:20 pm, and repeat Kriat Sh'ma after nightfall. Gemara Brachos Shiur Wednesdays before Mincha - Rabbi Ben Zion Lazovsky's Gemara Brachos Shiur (open to all) is covering ground, and is halfway through the first chapter! We will soon discuss the laws of morning Shema. During June we will meet at about 7:15 pm (before Mincha). Misheberach List If you have names for a misheberach, please send them to the shul office or e-mail to bhhkmal@yahoo.com. Weekday Minyanim Please join us for daily minyanim. Shacharit is at 6:00 am Monday through Friday, and 8:00 am on Sunday. Mincha-Maariv on Sunday through Thursday is 10 minutes before sunset. E-mail List If you would like to be added to our email list, please send an email to bhhkmal@yahoo.com. Rent the Shul for Your Simcha For information regarding renting the Social Hall for your event, please call Ben Zion Lazovsky at the Shul office at (847) 679-9800. Also, book you childs Bar/Bat Mitzvah in the Shul calendar! Please call Judy Whisler at (847) 677-2281. Annual Banquet & Ad Journal We are proud to announce that our Annual Banquet and Ad Journal will take place on Sunday, August 10 at the th Shul. We will honor Rabbi Neil and Deborah Brill, and celebrate 30 years of leadership of the Lazovsky family. Tisha BAv Tisha BAv, the day when we mourn the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem, is on Monday night August 4, when we will read Eicha, and Tuesday August 5. On Tuesday afternoon we will have at least one video presentation. Details wil be announced closer to Tisha BAv. Cards All-Occasion Cards are available for purchase from the office for $1.50 each or 13 cards for $18. If you would like us to send a card for you for $2, or to join the Standings, please contact Wendy Hartz at (708) 205- 5109. Parsha Podcasts Rabbi Louis Lazovsky's morning Vorts on the Parsha are now avai l abl e as podcast s onl i ne at KMvort.podomatic.com (a link is on our homepage, www.KesserMaariv.org). On the Podomatic page you can subscribe via iTunes. Rabbi Juzint Books Rabbi Meyer Juzints The Chain of Miracles is available from our office & website, Rosenblums and Kesher Stam. Past Events Pesach - we were excited to have so many of our Kesser Maariv family members in Skokie from out of town for Pesach. Before Pesach we were again privileged to host Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik's Hagaddah Shiur. Many of these shiurim along with other hundreds of shiurim are available from our Tape Library some on audio tape, and some digitally Graduation and Yom Yerushalayim Kiddush Luncheon - Mazal tov to our graduates: Talia Harris D.Sc., Kyle Newfeld MSW, Shira Makowsky, Cara Frazin MA, Breana Brill, Ezra Pomper, Tova Gates Dvorin MA, Natalie Bloom, Noam Lowenstern, Yakir Lowenstern MEE, Noa Goldrich. And thanks to additional sponsors: Susan and Steven Goldrich, Saretta and Rabbi Louis Lazovsky, Gilda Allswang, Tehiya and Michael Benezra and Natalie and Oleg Meerovich. Adele Goldblum Women's Council Upcoming Events The next Women's shalashudos will be on June 15. Speaker to be announced. There will be a women's luncheon, following Kiddush on Shabbat June 21st with the women of the Leebeynu home, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous sponsor. Please let Saretta know by June 15 if you plan on attending. The next Womens Council program will take place on Monday, June 23 at 7:00 pm at the Shul. rd Hannah Hartz, licensed esthetician will present Facial Fun a demonstration of proper skin care to be followed by a facial demonstration. Q&A to follow. The annual Womens Bonfire at Emily Oaks Nature Center (4650 Brummel St, Skokie) is tentatively scheduled for a night during the week of July 7 . Details will follow.... th Serve Dinner at Caf ARK Wednesday July 16 and Wednesday September 10 . Call Cookie th th Goldrich at (847) 673-8149 to volunteer and for more information. Attention all women: Please send your email addresses to Saretta at lazovsky@juno.com. Sometimes we have last minute exciting programs. With your email address, we can notify you quickly. If you don't have an email address, please call Saretta to let her know you would like a phone call instead. Past Events Women's Seudat Shlisheet - In May, Tehiya BenEzra and Ronit Flesch recalled their Reflections and Memories of 1967 and 1973. Thank you to everyone who sponsored plants for the Shavuot Plant Sale, which are delivered to residents of the Robineau or Lieberman Geriatric Center to brighten up their Shavuot. Thank you to Evelyne Sternfeld and Brenda Kahn for all their hard work, and to Natalie Meerovich and Cookie Goldrich who joined in to deliver the plants. Sarah Kramer completed a series of Shiurim on Megillat Ruth. GOOD & WELFARE Mazal Tov to: Dr. Joel Feder on the birth of a grandson, Jackson Thomas Feder, born to Nathan & Rebecca Feder...Kyle & Daria Newfeld on the birth of a daughter, Orliana...Shalom & Dafna Menora on the birth of a granddaughter...Cookie & Art Goldrich on the birth of twin great-granddaughters, Tzipora and Mindel, in Israel...Dr. David & Guila Zuckerman on the birth of a daughter...Ellen & Arkady Kats on the birth of a granddaughter, Aviva Raizel Gordon...Samuel & Sophia Gabay on the marriage of their son Sason to Aliza...Evelyne Sternfeld on the birth of a great-grandson. Celebrate your simcha on the Etty Rubinow Tree of Life! Leaves are $100, Acorns are $500 and Foundation Stones are $1,000. Call Ben Zion at (847) 679-9800 to order, or print the order form off of our website. Welcome to the Neighborhood: Mary, Holden and Sam Hirsch...Ed Landesman & Laura Dopkin...Jeff & Lydia Karp. Do you have a new neighbor who might enjoy davening at Kesser Maariv? Please call the office so we can welcome them. Refua Shleima to: Abigail Berman (granddaughter of Drs. Steve & Teri Steinberg), Avigayil Rachel Zelda bat Zahava Sara. Condolences to Sally Aaron on the loss of her sister, Lila Grossman...Dan Harris on the loss of his father, Irving Harris...Shalom Menora on the loss of his mother, Sima Menora...Levi Asher Sidel on the loss of his brother-in-law. Thanks to our Recent Kiddush Sponsors: Sue and Steve Goldrich; Sandy & Marty Miretzky; the Lazovsky Family; Noam & Tehilla Ben-Ari; Avi Lowenstein; Debbie & Eric Schames; Robert & Eileen Wishner; Jeff & Mila Zaretsky; Ellen & Arkady Kats; Joe & Iris Fagan; Sanford & Shelley Schwartz; Barbara & Howard Pomper; and anonymous sponsors. Thanks to our Recent Seudat Shlisheet Sponsors: Sandy & Marty Miretzky; Herb & Rita Lowenstein; Lazovsky family; and anonymous sponsors. DVAR TORAH Shavuot Shavuot is a unique holiday on the Jewish calendar: it has no symbol such as the Lulav, Shofar or Matza, nor does it have a set day on the calendar it begins 50 days after Pesach begins. It commemorates the Jewish people's coming face-to-face with G-d's Divine Presence at Mt. Sinai and receiving the Torah, including both the Written Law and Oral Law. On Shavuot we read the book of Ruth. There are several reasons given for this custom. One is that it tells of Ruth converting to Judaism, and the Jewish people as a whole had some sort of a conversion at Mt. Sinai. The second reason is that Shavuot is the birthday of King David, who was the great-grandson of Ruth. Another reason is because the events of Ruth happened in the "time of the wheat harvest" which in Israel begins around Shavuot time. There are two other well-known customs related to Shavuot. The first is the custom to eat dairy foods. The reason is that when the Jewish people received the Torah, the laws included the laws of slaughtering animals, soaking and salting. Because the Jewish people did not want to inadvertently eat something which was not prepared properly - because of their lack of experience with these new laws - they ate dairy products until they fully understood the details of slaughtering and kashering meat. (This is only a custom; it is permissible to eat meat on Shavuot.) The second custom is to stay awake the first night of Shavuot studying Torah subjects. The Midrash teaches that G-d made the weather at Mt. Sinai perfect, but that resulted in the Jewish people oversleeping and being late to accept the Torah. To show that in our generation we are excited to receive the Torah, we stay up all night with eager anticipation.
THE THREE WEEKS AND THE NINE DAYS Bain Hametzariim - Between the Narrows, is how our sages refer to the three week period between the fast of Shiva Asar BTamuz - The seventeenth of Tammuz, and between the fast of Tisha Bav - The ninth day of Av. This year the fast of the seventeenth day of Tammuz is on Tuesday, July 15. The period is one of profound sadness and bad luck when the Jewish people commemorate the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem which eventually led to the destruction of the second Temple. In fact, both Temples were destroyed on Tisha Bav. As this is a period of bad luck and mourning, we avoid going to civil court or entering into business deals that are other than routine. We also refrain from pleasurable activities such as live performances, plays, operas, musicals, movies or listening to music. We also do not cut our hair or nails. While some do not eat meat, drink wine, swim or bathe in hot water for the entire three week period, most Ashkenazic Jews are lenient until the nine days between Rosh Chodesh Av and Tisha Bav. This year, Rosh Chodesh Av is on Monday, July 28. As we do not have public displays of mourning on Shabbat, we eat meat and drink wine on Shabbat even during the nine days. Tisha Bav is Monday night August 4 and Tuesday August 5. Congregation B.H.H. Kesser Maariv A.L. 4341 W. Golf Skokie, IL 60076 (847) 679-9800 fax (847) 679-5041 e-mail: bhhkmal@yahoo.com www.KesserMaariv.org Rabbi Louis A. Lazovsky Steven D. Goldrich, President Rabbi Ben Zion Lazovsky, Associate Rabbi & Executive Director Sandy Miretzky, Nasrin Kheradyar & Saretta Lazovsky, Co-Presidents, Adele Goldblum Womens Council Committee Contact Information: Bricks Saretta Lazovsky (847) 676-0556 or lazovsky@juno.com Chesed Fund Anne Elovic (847) 673-2904 Donate Books & Siddurim Office (847) 679-9800 or bhhkmal@yahoo.com Endowment Michael Hartz (708) 366-7662 Happy Day Cards Wendy Hartz (708) 205-5109 Kiddush & Seudat Shlisheet Judy Whisler (847) 677-2281 or j5awhisler@aol.com Membership Bob Greenstein (847) 967-7408 Judy Whisler (847) 677-2281 SHABBAT & HOLIDAY SCHEDULE Please Note: Beginning June 6, we will be welcoming Shabbat early and will begin davening Mincha on Friday nights at 7:00 pm. Therefore, for the next few months, it is important that you remember to: 1) light Shabbat candles early, at about 7:20 pm, and 2) repeat Kriat Sh'ma of Maariv after nightfall. Date Candle Lighting Erev Mincha Shacharit Pirkei Avot Shiur Mincha 1 Day Shavuot 6/3-6/4 8:02 pm 8:05pm 4:40 am & st 8:45 am no shiur 8:05 pm 2 Day Shavuot 6/4-6/5 9:05 pm 8:05 pm 8:45 am nd Yizkor 10:30 no shiur 8:05 pm Behaalotcha 6/6-6/7 8:04 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 6:55 pm 7:55 pm Shelach 6/13-6/14 8:08 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Korach 6/20-6/21 8:10 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Chukat 6/27-6/28 8:11 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Balak 7/4-7/5 8:10 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Pinchas 7/11-7/12 8:07 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 7:00 pm 8:00 pm Matot 7/18-7/19 8:03 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 6:55 pm 7:55 pm Masei 7/25-7/26 7:57 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 6:45 pm 7:45 pm Devarim - Chazon 8/1-8/2 7:50 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 6:40 pm 7:40 pm Vaetchanan - Nachamu 8/8-8/9 7:41 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 6:30 pm 7:30 pm Eikev 8/15-8/16 7:31 pm 7:00 pm 8:45 am 6:20 pm 7:20 pm If you have a chiyuv (to daven or for an aliya), please inform Rabbis Benzie or Eli Lazovsky in person or at (847) 676- 0556 before Shabbat. To sponsor a kiddush or shalashudos, please call Judy Whisler at (847) 677-2281. WEEKDAY SCHEDULE Minyan Times Minyanim meet in the Kaufman Bais Midrash Shacharit Sunday: 8:00 am Monday-Friday: 6:00 am Mincha-Maariv Sunday-Thursday: 10 minutes before sundown Classes Sunday Morning at 9:45 am: Parsha Class Given by Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik Wednesday evenings before Mincha - Gemara Brachos Given by Rabbi Ben Zion Lazovsky Shabbat Afternoon 1 hour before Mincha: Pirkei Avot Given by Rabbi Louis Lazovsky Malamud Reference Library Come and Learn from any of the hundreds of titles in our library, located in the Kaufman Bais Midrash. Lending Library Members may borrow books from our Lending Library, located on the south side of the Social Hall. For hours of operation, more details or to donate books, please call the office. Tape Lending Library We have tapes and digital audio files on many topics including Chumash, Talmud and Mussar.