Weekly Newsletter
Religious School
Calendar Updates
Wednesday, February, 22nd
Religious School 4:15 pm - 6:15 pm
Sunday, February 26th
Religious School 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Wednesday, February 29th
Religious School 4:15 pm - 6:15 pm
Saturday, March 3rd
Sanctuary Shabbat with Shabbat School
5th grade leading the service
Sunday, March 4th
Teacher and Madrichim In-Service, NO RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
Avodah
Sunday, February, 12th
Beth Am: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Sunday, February 26th
Baltimore Station: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm, serving dinner
Tikkun Olam
Sunday, February 26th
Siyum
HELP DEVELOP BETH AM’S EDUCATIONAL VISION
9:45 am - 12:00 pm SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2012 at Beth Am
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012 at Beth Am
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2012 at a congregant’s home (tbd)
It really and truly does take each one of your voices to make this effort a success and we very much would like to hear what you have to say. Mark your calendars NOW!!
Please RSVP to David Lunken
Torah From the Rabbis Burg
(as seen in the Baltimore Jewish Times)
“Menorah: The Sweetness of Creation”
Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg, Beth Am
Parashat T’rumah, 5772
February 24, 2012
Menorah: The Sweetness of Creation
Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg
This past weekend, my children and I went to the Irvine Nature Center for a lesson on maple syrup production. It was an engaging program, lacking only pancakes! One critical element of the process is knowing which trees to tap. While maple is by far the most popular of the sap-bearing trees, there are a few others as well. The key feature to look for, we learned, is a tree’s branches. Most trees, it seems have alternating, asymmetrical branches, but the ones which flow with sap tend to have opposite, symmetrical branches.
This week we read Parashat Terumah which contains the following description of the menorah: “You shall make a lampstand of pure gold…. Six branches shall issue from its sides, three branches from one side of the lampstand and three branches from the other side of the lampstand” (Ex. 25:21-32). Where might the design of menorah come from? Are the blueprints metaphysical or does it find its inspiration, as with so many aspects of Jewish tradition, in nature? Scholars have observed that descriptions of the menorah are botanical including “leaves” and “petals.” Nahum Sarna says, “The shape of the lampstand – the trunk with its branches extending on either side – unmistakably evokes the image of a tree” (JPS commentary). Sarna points out the cups, calyxes and petals which the Torah says are shaped like “almond blossoms” (Ex. 25:34). The problem is that almond trees, like most trees, have alternating (asymmetrical) buds and branches. Can the almond tree be a model for the menorah?
A more likely possibility is the one raised by Nogah Hareuveni, founder of Neot Kedumim, Israel’s Biblical Gardens. Hareuveni suggests that the menorah is in fact modeled after the Moriah plant (Salvia Palestina), which has a central trunk-stem with three branching stems emerging form each side of a central stem. The Moriah also has knobs (gallnuts) which grow right from the stem similar to the calyxes (kaftorim) of the menorah.
Why might the menorah take its design cue from nature – from plants or trees? Sarna points out that the menorah has seven branches reminding us of the seven days of creation. The menorah, then, may represent the tree of life, the mythical tree that grew at the center of Eden. This fits well with the mission of the mishkon itself, a critical component of which is the menorah. The mishkon was the primary access-point for God, the portable sanctuary which – when assembled by the Levites – served as the prototype for the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. But more than this, the mishkon is creation itself. Our Sages understood that the 39 melachot (forbidden tasks) of Shabbat are derived from the act of constructing the mishkan. The mishkan is the very definition of the creative impulse, the continuation of God’s first great act in forming the world. Shabbat represents a pause from this work.
This Shabbat, how might we harvest the sweetness of the menorah? How might we pause to appreciate the gift of life, the abundant fragrances and flavors of living?
Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Burg
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2012
Topic: Shabbat & the Possibility of Transformation
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
THESE LUNCH SESSIONS WILL CONTINUE ON THE SECOND TUESDAY OF EACH MONTH
All are welcome - Please bring a dairy bag lunch
Location: Tydings & Rosenberg, LLP (Richard Rosenthal’s office)
26th Floor, 100 E. Pratt St.
On-street parking is very limited. Garage parking available for a fee
Please RSVP to office1@bethambaltimore.org.
UPCOMING DATES AND TOPICS:
4/10/2012: Who Knows Four? The Deeper Meaning of Pesah.
5/8/2012: Shavuot
6/12/2012: Tisha B’Av
Volunteer at Our Daily Bread
FEBRUARY 2012
Sundays: 19 & 26
9:00 AM
Volunteers must be 14 or older, with 14-yr-olds accompanied by an adult. For more information, please email Victoria Dorf at: Victoria.dorf@ssa.gov or call her at work: 410-965-9245 or at home: 410-945-0652 on eves/weekends. A meaningful activity for families with teens all year long…
Bookworms Program
Beth Am’s Bookworms program is in its fourth year of operation at our neighborhood school, John Eager Howard Elementary. Volunteers from Beth Am read to a class of twenty-nine kindergarten students one Monday each month from 11:30 am to 12:30 am. Each volunteer brings a book to read to the children and to donate to the classroom lending library. It’s a close question who has more fun–the volunteers or the children! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Cheri Levin at 410-664-2309 or nivelmom@aol.com. The dates for this year are:
March 12
April 16
May 7
BAYITT
BAYITT THIRD THURSDAY HAPPY HOUR
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2012
“Like” BAYITT on Facebook.com/bayitt or RSVP to office3@bethambaltimore.org
2ND FRIDAYS CONGREGATIONAL SHABBAT
FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012
6:00 pm Services
7:00 pm BAYITT Dinner
RSVP to Linda at office3@bethambaltimore.org or (410) 523-2446.
PURIM PANDEMONIUM
SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012
9:00 pm - 1:00 am
Gin & Jews: Speakeasy Style
Enter the speakeasy and go back to Prohibition - 13 years when America was dry, but the parties never stopped. This year’s Purim Pandemonium revives flappers, bootleggers, pleasure-seeking socialites, gansters, and Prohibition agents. Who do YOU want to be? Take your pick and come out to live the Roaring 20’s.
Party-goers over the age of 21 (with ID) can enjoy DJ Matt Statler, DJ Sheeno, an open bar and refreshments. Tickets are $18.00 in advance, $20.00 at the door, and $15.00 each for groups of 10 people or more. Click the link to purchase tickets or contact Jennifer Vess at jvess@jewishmuseummd.org
Connect 1 Taglit-Birthright Israel Registration Now Open
Registration for the first ever Conservative movement Taglit-Birthright Israel trip for 22-26 year olds!
Why Connect-1? This is a unique chance to experience Israel through Conservative Judaism’s pluralistic lens. We won’t give them the answers, but we will encourage them to ask the questions to further explore their Jewish identity, their connection to Israel and to Jewish peers. On Connect-1, participants will spend ten full days with Israeli peers - what better way to connect them to Israel on a personal level?
More information about the trip is available at: http://taglittheisraelexperience.org/trips/general-trips/uscj-connect-1/
Questions? Contact israelexperience@comcast.net and SPREAD THE WORD!