Monthly Archives: 11 Iyyar 5770 (April 25, 2010)

PJ Library Parents are invited to enjoy a presentation hosted by Temple Ahavat Achim about the power of family meals and the love of Jewish food by author, Miriam Weinstein.  All attendees will receive a lovely recipe box and cards!  The PJ Library is a free program of the Robert I. Lappin Charitable Foundation, made possible with generous funding from Cohen Hillel Academy and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Date:  Wednesday, May 5 Time:  7:30 p.m. Place:  Temple Ahavat Achim, 33 Commercial Street, Gloucester To Register:  Contact Phyllis Osher at 978-740-4404 or e-mail posher@rilcf.org.

Join us for great contemporary acoustic blues, jazz, folk, & indie alternative music on Saturday, April 24. Doors open at 8 pm, with music until 10:30 pm. Hot beverages and snacks. All are welcome; no dress or age requirement. Admission is $7 ($20 per family) at the door. The evening features the Blue Hotel (formerly Beverly-based Patch of Blue) with Norm Parker, percussion; Ben Ferrini, bass; Carl Zukroff, piano; and Mimi McCaffrey, vocals. Also, the “rootsy, rockin’ & blue” Bob Kramer Trio and Sophie and Robbie a High school duo Sophie Israelsohn & Robbie Auld delight North Shore audiences with Indie Alternative songs and fine ukulele accompaniment. Don’t miss this relaxing night out. For information, call Deb at 978-927-3211, ext. 14. When & Where? Date: Saturday, April 24 Time: 8:00-10:30p.m. Place: Temple B’nai Abraham Cost: $7 per person/$20 per family

A View From the Bima Creating Meaning Out of the Counting of the Omer As a Spiritual Practice Beginning with the second night of Passover we are instructed by the sages to begin the annual pilgrimage from the festival of Pesach to Shavuot, which occurs fifty days later. In the time of the Temple this practice was widely celebrated and was considered to be an essential part of their lives. Each day was recognized by the bringing of a sheaf of the finest barley to the Temple as an expression of gratitude for the bounty of the land, while the farmers waited for the winter wheat to ripen in time for Shavuot, when the first fruits and grains were harvested, marking the beginning of summer. Not only were the farmers grateful for the bounty of the barley, they were assuring that the fate of the wheat would not be neglected, hoping that God would be just as generous to this new crop. Seven weeks they counted, waiting in anticipation of another communal celebration in Jerusalem. As our ties to the physical land diminished, a new objective was introduced by the sages to keep our interest in the significance of fulfilling … Continue reading →

Memorial Day, 2010 By Naomi Ragen I have just sat down after the fading notes of the siren have finally disappeared.  It is another  Memorial Day for Israel’s Fallen.  We have lost 22, 684 sons and daughters.  For a little country like Israel, that is an enormous and incalculable loss.  Over the years, I have told all those ready to listen Israel’s well-kept secret: there is no Israeli army.  There is only my son and your daughter, and the neighbor’s kids.  Every loss is the loss of not only an individual, but of  generations: the children who will never be born, the grandchildren that will never snuggle in the laps of grandparents.  It is the destruction of not only young lives full of promise, but of their families: mothers and fathers whose lives are forever shattered, grandparents who must bear the unthinkable, young girls who lost their boyfriends, wives who lost their husbands, children who lost their fathers.  Young women who died before they could experience anything of life’s promises. After the words and ceremonies and sad music and films of remembrance, one comes to the conclusion that Israel itself is bereaved, and does not know how to comfort itself. … Continue reading →