Week of January 22nd, 2021
9 Shevat 5781 Shabbat Bo
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Erev Shabbat January 22nd (9 Shevat)
4:43p Candle Lighting
Shabbat Vaera, January 23rd (10 Shevat)
9:30a Shabbat Services IN SHUL Register Here
5:46p Shabbat Ends. Gut Vuch and Shavua Tov!
6:15p Havdalah FROM YOUR HOME TO OURS via ZOOM
Sunday, January 24th (11 Shevat)
10a - 10:30a StantonKids Tu B'Shvat Seder via ZOOM
4:30p Cooking with Rabbi Leead & Shoshana for Tu B'Shvat via ZOOM
Monday, January 25th (12 Shevat)
7p Part One of David Deutch's Lecture Series via ZOOM
Tuesday, January 26th (13 Shevat)
7p - 8p Parshat haShavuah with Rabbi Leead Staller via ZOOM
Wednesday, January 27th (14 Shevat)
7p - 8:15p Rabbi Leead Staller's Tefillah shiur via ZOOM
Thursday, January 28th (15 Shevat)
Tu B'Shvat!
Scroll down for class and event details.
Thank you to this week's DONOR We are grateful to have such a committed community
Elizabeth Millerfor StantonKids Tu B'Shvat Seder in memory of Rochelle Miller
COVID Protocols
As cases rise nationally, and New York City tightens restrictions, we reemphasize the need to abide by the CDC guidelines. If you feel sick, please stay at home. If you attend in-person services, please wear a mask and register for services in advance. Thank you everyone for your cooperation as we all work together to ensure a safe service.
From Your Home to Ours Stanton's ZOOMing Havdallah
Let's celebrate the end of Shabbat and the beginning of the work week together! ZOOM INat 6:15pm on Saturday night
Please invite your friends and neighbors, and volunteer to lead us next week!
THE RABBI'S DRASHAH
Because many of us are not able to attend shul in person, the Rabbi has agreed to share his shabbat morning drashah in advance. Here is the first half of it. To read the full drashah, click here and it will take you to what will become a rich archive of all of Rabbi Staller's drashot.
An age old trope of media misunderstanding other cultures is the depiction of Kosher food as needing to be blessed by a rabbi. While nowadays– at least in New York– any talk of rabbinic blessings would likely be tongue in cheek, the myth of magical rabbinic approbation lives on in broader society. Personally, this misconception always struck me as particularly grating. While I don’t begrudge those who have made this mistake, the general pervasiveness of the myth speaks to a popular perspective on Halakha and Jewish practice that focuses on the magical or irrational elements. Rather than viewing Halakha as a detailed law code that can exist by power of its own inertia and internal logic, religious practice is reduced to a cultic practice of magic that requires constant intervention by rabbinic shamans to carry on.
Of course, anyone who lives a life filled with Torah and Mitzvot knows that that’s not how Kashrut works, and that magically sanctifying things through incantations and blessings is not a part of Judaism. If something is kosher it is kosher, and if it isn’t, it isn’t. And yet, while that might be true of the laws of Kashrut, our Parashah surprises us with a seemingly different take elsewhere in the Torah. After bringing about the plague of the first born and instructing the Jews on how to celebrate history’s first ever Passover, God abruptly pivots and tells Moshe (Exodus 13:2):
Misheberach: We pray that all who are sick may have a full recovery. To add a name to our communal misheberach prayer list, email us.
Happy Birthday to Melinda Zalma!
VIRTUAL LEARNING
SPONSOR A CLASS
Please sponsor a virtual class in honor of oneself, the Shul, a yahrzeit, an anniversary, a birthday, or in the name of a friend or someone who sustains the Shul with their hard work. Sponsorships begin at $36, but there is no maximum. All sponsorships benefit the Shul and are very much appreciated.
Rabbi Leead Staller hosts Parshat haShavuah Bo Tuesday, January 26th, 7:00 - 8:00pm via ZOOM To join by phone, dial 1-(929) 205 6099 and enter Member ID: 847 9509 7605
AND Tefillah Shiur Wednesday, January 27th, 7:00-8:15pm via ZOOM To join by phone, dial 1-(929) 205 6099 and enter Member ID: 894 9535 0094
Tu B'Shvat Programs
StantonKids Tu B'Shvat Seder
Sunday, January 24th at 10am via ZOOM Morah Leslie and Morah Aliza will lead children in traditions, rituals, and song for this environmentally-focused holiday. Sponsored by Liz & Jon Miller in memory of Rochelle Miller.
Cook with Rabbi Leead & Shoshana for Tu B'Shvat Sunday, January 24th at 4:30pmvia ZOOM
Join Rabbi Leead and his sous chef Shoshana for a special Tu B'Shvat cooking class! They will be preparing dishes that feature the produce of Israel and the world in celebration of the holiday! Here is a link with the ingredients you'll need for this fun event.
Tune in to the class to cook together or just hang out and celebrate Tu B'Shvat! Donations or sponsorships for the class are welcome.
David Deutsch's Three-Part Lecture Series: From Antisemitism to Extermination - the Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy
Although it is believed by many that the Final Solution was the culmination of a decades-long plan on the part of the Nazi leadership, the consensus of modern historians is that it arose out of wartime circumstances.
January 25th Germany and Hitler's Antisemitism: The Place of Jews in Weimar Germany and the Nazi Consciousness
February 1st Judenfrei: Nazi Jewish Policy in the 1930's
February 8th German Military Ambitions, Failures, and the Adoption of the Final Solution
To participate by phone, dial 1 929 205 6099 and enter Meeting ID: 845 3085 7476
PRE-PURIM PROGRAMS
Solving Mysteries in Megillat Esther:
Whatever Happened to Vashti?
February 18th at 8pm
Sandra Rapoport will explore Biblical storytelling, the historical context of the Megillah, and the different approaches of the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds to Vashti and the legends surrounding her fate. Ms. Rapoport will then read from her latest novel, The Queen & The Spymaster which tells the story of Vashti, and solves the biblical mystery. Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, an award-winning author of four books, Resident Scholar in Law and Bible at Harvard.
Click here to order your copy of The Queen & The Spymaster at a special 20% discount.
Artemisia: Esther and Women Richard McBee's Art Talk
February 22nd at 7pm
Richard McBee discusses Artemisia Gentileschi's Esther Before Ahasuerus in the Metropolitan Museum of Art--a paradigmatic example of this 17th century female artist’s oeuvre. More than a quarter of her paintings aggressively depict Jewish heroines in a Baroque era rock-star career. We shall explore her feminist Jewish treasures.
CHESED OPPORTUNITIES
The Weekly Chesed Roundup
Looking for a local or remote chesed opportunity this week?
Here are some ways you can help individuals in need:
Create handmade cards for homebound seniors with DOROT Sign up for volunteer opportunities with Repair The World Participatein a volunteer project with New York Cares Donate food or clothes to The Bowery Mission Feed the hungrywith City Harvest (for folks under 65) Volunteer at a food bank with Food Bank for NYC Take care of the earth by volunteering with GrowNYC Take actionfor NYC refugees and asylum seekers with HIAS
Knit and send a winter hatto an IDF soldier --brought to you by our Chesed/Social Action Committee
ONLINE ARCHIVES Click HERE for an archive of shiurim by Rabbi Staller
ClickHERE for an archive of drashot by Rabbi Staller
Click HERE to go to our YouTube Channel for an archive of our ZOOM classes
Rabbi Staller Encourages and Welcomes Your Feedback and can be reached by email or by phone/text at (917) 282-7643. Alternatively, you may reach out, confiedentially, to our Rabbinic Advisory Committee. Contact committee chair Jeff Katzor committee members Paul Ruffer, Margie Segal, Marc Schwartzberg, and Ellen Silverstein. We welcome your input.
COMMUNITY ONLINE EVENTS & RESOURCES
Virtual Travel: Inside Destroyed Historic Jewish Sites
Diarna, a new digital platform, uses photography, satellite imaging, archival materials and oral histories to explore Jewish heritage sites worldwide. Click here.
B’Yachad Together: Spirited by American Jewish University
AJU has been working on ways for to stay connected
Seder Night Sugiyot- Basic Gemara Tools
Mondays, 1:30 pm, for 10 weeks (Jan. 11-March 15)
The live Zoom class is for women, but anyone can register and use the recorded materials. Click for more information and to register
