Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh – Your Small Local Shul in Portland, Maine
Shaarey Tphiloh Prayers, by Caryl Herzfeld
Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh
Welcome to Shabbat Services
Balak
July 23, 2016 – 17 Tammuz 5776
Numbers 22:2-25:9
Haftarah: Micah 5:6-6:8
Candle lighting 7:55 p.m.
Shabbat Services
Saturday, July 23, 2016 9:30 a.m.
Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh, 76 Noyes St. Portland, ME 04103
President: Dr. Natan Kahn
Administrative Director: Susan C. Lawrence
www.mainesynagogue.org/wp 207-773-0693
maineshul@nullgmail.com cstexec@nullgmail.com
Shaarey Tphiloh Office Hours: T, Th, F 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Ner Lamaore
Evan Lelansky in memory of mother, Marion Lelansky
Wendy Sims in memory of mother, Jean Meyer
Parshat Balak
The Gift of Speech
“After the Israelites successfully defended themselves against the attacking Amorites, the Moabite king, Balak, asked Balaam to curse the Israelites in order to weaken them. Following several rounds of negotiations with Balak’s representatives and with God, Balaam accepted Balak’s charge on the condition that he would only say what God told him to.
On the journey, Balaam’s donkey suddenly swerved off the road, pressed Balaam’s foot against a wall alongside the path, and finally, simply sat down in the middle of the road. After each incident, Balaam beat the donkey, not seeing the angel of God that had blocked the donkey’s path.
After the third beating, God “opened the donkey’s mouth” and she asked Balaam: “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” God then revealed the angel to Balaam, and the angel reprimanded Balaam, who admitted his mistake. Bilaam then continued on towards Moab, where, much to Balak’s chagrin, he repeatedly blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them.
Why the talking donkey? The story would not have been substantially different without it, and, at first read, it is difficult to see what it adds. This anomalous talking donkey did not escape Jewish commentators. Midrash Numbers Rabbah (20:14) explains that God “closed the mouth of the animal [all animals], for if she spoke, they [people] could not subject her and stand over her. For this [donkey] was the stupidest of creatures and this [Bilaam] was the wisest of the wise, and as soon as she spoke he could not stand before her.”
Subjugation, in the rabbinic view, is made possible merely by the inability to speak. The donkey’s sudden, surprising voice in this story flips the power dynamic, rendering Balaam powerless in the face of her newfound authority…”
To read more, go to www.myjewishlearning.com
Adina Gerver – American Jewish World Service
Melton: I am delighted to welcome you to our 7th year of course offerings through the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning with a few additional treats from local faculty members. Molly Curren Rowles, our Assistant Director, will be the contact person for classes until a new Programming Director is hired. I will be returning mid-January and look forward to catching up more with you then. Registration is currently open; I encourage you to sign up early and to support the scholarship fund. Deposits are $75/class and scholarship applications are due by August 8. ~ Fae Silverman
Call the JCA, 207-772-1959 to register
JCA Adult Ed Classes
Mondays @ JCA 5:30pm-7:00pm
Sept 12-May 8
Rhythms of Jewish Living w/ babysitting & dinner
Tuesdays @ BH 9:00am-10:30am
Nov 1-Apr 4
BeMidbar: Leadership Defined & Defended
Wednesdays @ JCA 6:00pm-9:00pm
Oct 26 – Mar 8
Holocaust Studies: Primo Levi Book Club and Cinema
Wednesdays @ JCA 7:00pm-8:30pm Mar
15-May 23
Jewish Humor
Thursday @ Brunswick 6:30pm-8:30pm
Sept 15-May 11
Rhythms of Jewish Living
Wednesdays @ JCA 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Sept 21-Oct 5
Siamese Mah Jongg
Josh Pernick
Rabbinic Intern from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
More About Josh
Josh Pernick is currently a rabbinical student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in NY. A graduate of Brandeis University, he worked in the field of Jewish education for a number of years before beginning his rabbinic training at YCT, obtaining a Master of Arts in Teaching in Jewish Day School Elementary Education through the DeLeT program at Brandeis University as well as completing a post-graduate fellowship in Jewish education through the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators in Jerusalem.
He spent the past few years teaching Judaic studies at Jewish day schools in Charleston, SC, Watertown, MA and Atlanta GA, and currently teaches in a community education program at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in NY. Josh also serves on the Judaic Studies teaching staff during the summer at Camp Yavneh in Northwood, NH. The son of a pulpit rabbi, Josh is looking forward to beginning his rabbinic career at Shaarey Tphiloh, learning from all of you who have been part of this community for so many years about all of the unique qualities that make Shaarey Tphiloh such a warm and special place
Fall Community Festival
Center Day Camp, 74 Hackett Road, Windham, ME 04062
Sunday, September 18, 2016
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
1:15 pm – 2:00 pm
- Maine Attorney General Janet Mills and other speakers
- There will be guided activities for children during this time.
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
- Community organizations share information about themselves to the public
- We will have tables setup in the Schwartz building for organizations to display materials and invite community members to ask questions.
- Each organization that participates must have a representative from the organization present during this time to talk to community members.
- Face painting and food will be available during this time
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Adult and Family Enrichment such as Yoga.
How to participate:
Please mail us the name of your organization, the organizational representative who will attend and a description of what materials you will display. Along with contact information.
Deadline for participation: August 1st
Email to: Alexandra Sax
Jewish Community Alliance
asax@nullmainejewish.org
Kosher Food at Back Cove Hannaford
Hannaford at Back Cove is now carrying more items in its Kosher food freezer located at back of store. Ask an employee for more information.
FALLEN HEROES: Maine’s Jewish Sailors and Soldier Boys
by Susan Cummings-Lawrence
Thirty-four young Maine Jewish men died in the service of their country in the two World Wars. This project is meant to say a little something about some of them. More than just names on a public memorial marker or grave stone, these men were getting started in adult life. They had newly acquired high school and college diplomas. They had friends, families and communities who loved and valued them. They had goals and dreams. (SC-L)
Go to the online museum of Maine Historical Society― Maine Memory Network.
www.mainememory.net
Find four exhibits and two audio interviews with WWII veterans Mel Stone and Jim Friedlander. Also learn about the origins of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA, the founding of the Jacob Cousins Post #99 and the anti-Semitism and other social forces that made their development necessary and productive.
– Find former Shaarey Tphiloh members who were Fallen Heroes –
DONATIONS NEEDED FOR JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES ALL YEAR ROUND
Wish List:
Diapers and wipes
RICE!!
Baked Beans
Pasta Sauce & Pasta
Kid Friendly Snacks-granola bars, etc.
Cereal
Juice Boxes
Learning Opportunity at Chabad House
On Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m., Dr. Shimon Simons will teach Maimonides’ Hilchot Deot, “laws of character development,” at Chabad House, 11 Pomeroy Street, Portland. The next class meeting is Tuesday, January 19. Texts will be provided. Call Chabad House at 871-8947 for more details or check the December issue of the Jewish Journal.
GREAT JEWISH BOOKS AT THE YIDDISH BOOK CENTER THIS SUMMER
Every year, the Yiddish Book Center welcomes a group of enthusiastic, engaged high school students for our Great Jewish Books Summer Program. Applications for the 2016 program are due April 1.
Now in its fifth year, Great Jewish Books brings together a diverse group of rising high school juniors and seniors to spend a week reading important works of modern Jewish literature and discussing them in seminar-style classes led by college professors. Outside of class, they meet renowned visiting authors, enjoy group recreational activities in the Amherst area, and get a taste of college life while staying (with staff RAs) in dorms on the Hampshire College campus, adjacent to the Yiddish Book Center.
All students admitted to the program receive scholarships covering the full cost of tuition, room and board, books, and special events.
Because the program has proven so popular in the past, this year we’re offering two sessions of Great Jewish Books: July 24-29 and July 31-August 7.
You can learn more about the program at yiddishbookcenter.org/great-jewish-books or by calling or e-mailing us at 413-256-4900, ext. 143, orgreatjewishbooks@nullyiddishbookcenter.org. I’m also including a flyer about the program that can be downloaded here, which I hope you will post and share with others.
As we look forward to another exciting summer of Great Jewish Books, we appreciate your sharing this information with any prospective applicants you know.
No electronic devices are permitted. No electronic children’s toys or cell phones or cameras are permitted in the synagogue on the Sabbath.
Please consider making a gift to one of our many funds. Call the office at 773-0693 for details. Thank you for your support of Shaarey Tphiloh. Contributions are tax-deductible.
Yahrzeits This Week
Yahrzeits This Week
18 Tammuz Samuel Agger, Hyman Erlick, Bennett Goffin
19 Tammuz Max Bornstein, Pincus Kaufman, Samuel Novick
20 Tammuz Abraham Mirochnick, Abraham Slotsky
21 Tammuz Abraham Lazarovich, Bella Mack, Bertram Silverman, Samuel Zimelman
22 Tammuz Fannie Albling, Lifshe Davidson, Herman Gershenson, Morris Levine, Goldie Levinsky, Goldie Millman, Arye Nemon, Edward Woolf
23 Tammuz Ann Goldberg, Bertha Mandoff, Lillian Mofenson, Ida Pachowsky
24 Tammuz Isaac Feinstein, Faigie Feinstein, Myles Goodman, Gertrude Lerman, Rebecca Seavey, Abraham Seigal, Morris Silverman, Anne Wine
Shaarey Tphiloh is now celebrating 112 years as a traditional Jewish spiritual home in Maine!
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