Shabbat Lech Lecha Week of November 7th, 2024 Cheshvan 5785 Wishing You and your family Shabbat Shalom and a good week!
Erev Shabbat Friday November 8th, 2024 (7 BeCheshvan, 5785) Candle Lighting at 4:26 pm Kabbalt Shabbat at 5:15 pm
Shabbat November 2nd, 2024 (8th of Cheshvan, 5785) Shacharit Services in Shul at 9:30 am, followed by a Kiddush that is open to everyone. This week's Kiddush is sponsored by our members Eliza and David Deutsch in honor of Veterans Day. We would like to thank them for their generosity!
Upcoming: November 11th- Veterans Day
NOVEMBER 2024 PARLOR MEETING
Thank you to our members Mona & Stephen Klaber for hosting a Parlor Meeting for our members this past Wednesday. It was a lovely evening of learning from our Rabbi and interesting exchange of ideas on members' visions for our Shul.
In addition to lively conversations, the members also enjoyed delicious deserts.
We would like to thank Brina Chu for her enthusiasm and dedication as our Shul Administrator. Brina put time and care in making sure that the shul is able to run smoothly and put i place many improvements over the years. We wish her lots of luck in her studies! This week we have welcomed Andreea Adereth, our new Administrator. Andreea brings forth over twenty years of experience in administration and education in Jewish communities in NYC. She is a LES long time resident and is very excited about making sure the shul continues to run smoothly.
** Membership Invoices have been sent out to all who held Memberships last year (2023-2024) and have not yet paid for the 2024-2025 year. Please reach out with any questions about renewing your membership or beginning a new membership.**
At the end of last week’s parsha, we were introduced, briefly, to Abraham and Sarah. This week starts a series of parshiyot in which we learn about these, our forebears, in depth, and are introduced to the relationship they forged with HaShem that we carry on all these years later. How did this relationship start? The Torah does not say but rather starts off with God’s initial command to Abraham to leave his ancestral home and head out to a new land. But we are in luck because, as is often the case, the midrash fills in the gaps. In Breishit Rabbah, at the beginning of our parsha, R’ Yitzchak provides a parable for Abraham’s first encounter with God. He says that Abraham was akin to someone who was wandering from place to place and saw a palace that was on fire. When he saw it he thought “could it be that this palace has no owner?” and it was then that the owner appeared and said “this is my palace”. The commentaries elaborate that a beautiful and well-maintained palace would certainly have an owner but when that palace is on fire, one might think that the owner has abandoned it. So too Abraham wandered the world and saw the beauty and wisdom inherent in it. But when he saw that it was on fire, that it was filled with sorrow, pain, and evil, he was confused and he grappled with the possibility that this world was ownerless. God then spoke to Abraham to quell any doubts and to set into motion the relationship that will ultimately quell the fires of God’s burning world. What is striking to me this year, as I’m looking at this midrash, is the fact that Abraham, though he may have entertained doubts, never lost sight of the fact that the world must in fact have a Master. When confronted with the trials and horrors that are real in this world, I think it is understandable to conclude that there is no master or that the master has left. Abraham did not reach this conclusion. The language used in the midrash is language of incredulity. “Could it be that this world has no master?” As explained in the commentaries, he saw all that was good and right in the world despite all that was wrong and bad and he faced it all with the conviction that someone has to be there that cares. This is perhaps why God appeared to Abraham specifically. God was looking for someone who could recognize that the world is burning but who could also recognize that it is a palace and, in turn, demand to know whose it is. Only such a person would be fitting to leave all that they knew to start on a new path of spreading God’s light, fixing the broken, doing what is just and good, and working against all that is so wrong in this world, polishing it into the palace that it is and is meant to be. Is that not who we strive to be? Is that not what we’re here to do? “And so God said to Abram ‘Lech lecha’”... Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Birkeland
COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Anniversary We wish Mazal Tov to Zipporah & Jason Nagel on their Anniversary on November 9th, 2024.
Misheberach Rachel Devorah bat Elke Cecile Cohen זיאסל מלכה בת אסתר Manny Kaplan מאיר ראובן בן לאה Chana Mera bat Fruma Henna Gitche bat Honcha Ella bat Leah Chaya Malka bat Esther Leia Nolan Rhodes נתן צבי בן פרידה Ashlynn Elizabeth Helen Coffman Moshe Asher Ben Esther Sarah Chaim Yechezkel Ben Leah Reuven ben Rochel Rivka bat Miriam Sara Eliyahu Natan ben Shayndel Shayna bat Chana Kayla Yitzhak Calev ben Leetza Tzvia Ashira bat Yosef Chaim Yonah ben Dubrah Efraim Ben Sore Shimon Sumer HaLevi Ben Malka Jim Lee Leah Zahava Bat Elka Barry Feldman Yaacov Ben Chaya Gitza Rochel Ben Chaya Gitza
We pray that all who are sick may have a full recovery. We are especially sending prayers to those who are wounded and in need of healing in Israel and Gaza, and daven for the safe return of those who are still unaccounted for. To add a name to our communal misheberach prayer list,email us.
If you have a Yahrtzeit, birthday, anniversary or other milestone coming up, please reach out! We'd like to update our Yahrtzeit database. Please send us your yahrzeit details. If you don't know the exact Hebrew date, just let us know the date of passing, and we will figure it out and add it to the Shul Cloud calendar.
Dear Stanton Community,
We are shaking from the ongoing war in Israel. 101 Israeli citizens, among them 7 Americans, are still hostages in Gaza. You can find information on them and on their families' efforts to release them here. Over 1,200 Israelis are dead with thousands more wounded. There are also innocent civilians caught in the line of fire in Gaza and Lebanon.
This is unprecedented and the most deadly attack on Israel in a generation. We must take action. In addition to our prayers, we ask you to consider making a generous donation to one of the listed causes.
The One who makes peace on high, may He bring peace down below to us. Amen
StantonKIDS Shabbat Programming for 5785
Shabbat Program November 16: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program December 7: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program December 21: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program January 11: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program January 25: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program February 1: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program February 15: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program March 1: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program March 15: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program April 5: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program April 26: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program May 3: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program May 31: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program June 14: 10:30am-12pm Shabbat Program June 21: 10:30am-12pm
Women's Tefillah Group Thank you to all who have joined us for services this year! Our schedule for 5785 is below: Shabbat Parshat Chayei Sarah - November 23 Shabbat Parshat Beshalach - February 8 Megillat Esther Reading - March 13 Shabbat Parshat Emor - May 17 Shabbat Parshat Nasso - June 7 Shabbat Parshat Korach - June 28 If you would like to layn, lead services, or give a d'var Torah with us, or if you have questions, please be in touch!
ONLINE ARCHIVES
If you missed services this past shabbes, or arrived too late to hear the drasha, you can go to our archives and read a copy! Click here for an archive of shiurim Clickherefor an archive of drashot Clickhere to go to our YouTube Channel for an archive of all of our ZOOM classes
