THE SHMOOZE A Weekly Newsletter for Members and Friends of Bais Abraham Congregation Hyim Shafner, Rabbi Rori Picker Neiss, Maharat Parshat Vayera 8 November 2014 Candle Lighting 4:36 p.m. Shabbat Ends 5:36 p.m. (according to www.myzmanim.com) This Shabbat and Bais Abe Events Contacts Shul Office (314) 721-3030 office@baisabe.com Rabbi Hyim Shafner rabbi@baisabe.com Rori Picker Neiss, Director of Programming, Education and Community Engagement rori@baisabe.com Greg Storch, President president@baisabe.com Kiddush Sponsorship kiddush@baisabe.com Shmooze Submissions shmooze@baisabe.com Davening Schedule Shabbat 4:36 p.m. – Fri. Mincha/Maariv 9:00 a.m. – Sat. Shacharit 4:16 p.m. – Sat. Mincha, Maariv Sunday 8:30 a.m. – Shacharit Monday – Friday 6:30 a.m. – Shacharit Office Hours Mondays: 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Tuesdays: 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Thursdays: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Fridays: 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Shabbat Cholent Kiddush All are invited to a cholent kiddush following services sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Gary and Sandy Novetsky and Mr. and Mrs Tom and Susan Csengody in honor of the aufruf and marriage of Zach Novetsky and Jen Csengody. Mazel Tov! Bais Abe Junior Book Club-This Shabbat The next meeting of the Junior Book Club will be this Shabbat at 11:15 am (following the children's tefillah). The group will discuss “When Life Gives You OJ” by Erica Perl. For more information or to get a copy of the book, please contact: Renee Shpall Wasserman: reneewass@gmail.com or Maharat Rori Picker Neiss: rori@baisabe.com. Donations ($5 to cover one book, $10 to help cover the cost of the program) can be made via the Bais Abe website. Basics of Judaism Class with Rabbi Shafner Rabbi Shafner will be teaching a Basics of Judaism class at Bais Abe. The first class will be Wednesday, November 12th at 7:30pm. Starting December 1st the class will meet on Monday evenings at 7:30pm. Hinenu – Shabbat Study Group Hinenu will meet one hour before the printed mincha time on Shabbat afternoon at the shul (this week at 3:16 p.m.). Hinenu is an informal gathering where the weekly Torah portion or other topics of Jewish interest are discussed and studied. Shalom and Welcome! We at Bais Abe pride ourselves on hospitality and openness to Jews of all backgrounds. We strive to build a community rooted in mutual respect and commitment to Torah values and Halacha (Jewish law). Please feel free to contact Rabbi Shafner at rabbi@baisabe.com for any information that may be helpful to you. If you would like a place for a Shabbat meal, our eager hosts would love to welcome you. Please email hospitality@baisabe.com. Bais Abraham Board of Directors Greg Storch President Gabe Douek Scholar in Residence Weekend – November 21st-22nd Bais Abraham will welcome Drs. Michael and Mona Fishbane as Scholars in Residence November 21st and 22nd. See the flyer in the Shmooze for a schedule of events. Exec. Vice President Lilly Canel-Katz Vice President Daniel Picker Treasurer Dan Weisz Secretary Phyllis Shapiro Immediate Past President Directors: Barbra Danin Larry Friedman Morey Gardner Tessa Gardner Barry Ginsburg Judy Hoffman Daniel Iken Alan Nemes Roz Neuman Michael Novack Michael Richter Oscar Schlafman Dan Scharff Dan Vianello Rob Wasserman Richard Wise Community Service Opportunity – November 23rd Save the date for a community service opportunity with Project SHED on November 23rd. We will be working to help elderly and disabled individuals with home projects. RSVPs are necessary so that we can coordinate the appropriate number of projects. Email Barbra Danin, bdanin@sbcglobal.net and include if you have any particular skills that would be helpful for matching us up with appropriate projects. SHED, Safe Homes for the Elderly and Disabled, collects requests from individuals who are not capable of caring for their own homes on their own and invites members of the community to help them with projects. Volunteers from SHED perform minor building repairs, painting, yard work and other jobs that do not require special tools or skills. They work with various churches to match up people and projects. Shalhevet Women’s Kollel Shalhevet Women’s Kollel will meet on the following dates: November 18, December 2, and December 16. The learning will begin at 7:30 pm at Bais Abe. Women of all backgrounds are invited to participate. Movie Outing – November 20th All are invited to attend the FREE screening of "I'm Not Racist...Am I?" at the Tivoli on Thursday, November 20th at 7pm. Those who are interested in attending should be in touch with Alice, alicebt@alicebt.com. She will go by 6:30pm to save seats which will allow everyone to sit together. There will be a discussion about the film afterwards. "Conversion, Rabbinic Authority, and Power Imbalance in Orthodoxy" JOIN US FOR LIVE STREAMING of a Major Discussion in Modern Orthodoxy: In the light of the recent very tragic news from Washington, D.C., involving mikvah and conversions, three prominent national communal leaders will participate in a panel discussion in New York City entitled, "Conversion, Rabbinic Authority, and Power Imbalance in Orthodoxy" Rabbi Mark Dratch, Executive VP of the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America Dr. Elana Stein Hain, Director of Leadership Education for the Shalom Hartman Institute Rabbi Asher Lopatin, President of Yeshivat Chovivei Torah You can attend a community-wide live streaming of this program Sunday, November 23, 2014 9:50-10:50 a.m. at the home of Ruth Raskas and Nigel Orenstein 7920 Teasdale University City Following the broadcast, there will be an open discussion with facilitators to be announced. Chanukah Fabric Art Workshop Join us on Sunday, December 14th at 1:00 PM at Bais Abraham Congregation for a special Chanukah Fabric Art Workshop. Fabric Art workshop is a fun activity for all ages. Please bring a solid color T-shirt; everything else will be provided for you: fabrics for the applique's, iron, iron board, scissors, etc. everything is from begriming to end. Everybody will take home a beautiful T shirt to use during Chanukah. The price per project is $12.00. Hanukkah Hoopla – Save the Date! Bais Abe and Epstein Hebrew Academy will be co-hosting a Hanukkah Hoopla on Thursday, December 18th. There will be fun for people of all ages. More details coming soon! Our Weekly Shabbat "Tefilat Yeladim" (Children's Service) Our weekly Tefilat Yeladim is a wonderful opportunity to introduce your children (or grandchildren!) to the beauty of praying with a community on Shabbat morning. We use a special colorful children's siddur with illustrations (by Koren publishers) that familiarizes the children with the prayers they will hear in shul as they grow up. Spearheaded by Caley Chill and supported by the Benot Sheirut, services will be at 10:30 every Shabbat in the Bais Abe auditorium. Tefilat Yeladim is sponsored by the Feen family and an anonymous donor. Shul Announcements Artwork Available for Purchase Artist Berta Goldgaber will have her work available on Sundays, 12:00-1:30, at the Shul for viewing and purchase. Find out more about her work at www.judaicafabricart.com. 15% of Sunday morning purchases will go to the program of the buyer’s choice. Support the Shul While Shopping Every time you shop at Schnucks, you can earn money for Bais Abraham. Our shul participates in Schnucks’ "Scrip" program. It's easy. Just show your Bais Abe scrip card when you check out and your purchases create automatic contributions to the shul of up to 3% of your purchase price. Our mathematical consultant ran the numbers and estimates that if we have full participation, the shul can make approximately $6,000 a year. Email or call the office for a scrip wallet or key-chain card and begin earning money for the shul on your next trip to Schnucks. Chesed Committee Opportunity STL Food Rescue’s mission is to alleviate hunger in our community by collecting perishables that would have been discarded from local food retailers and immediately delivering them to the organizations most in need. Volunteers pick up food on Mondays and/or Wednesdays from the Whole Foods in Town & Country, when they close at 10:00 p.m., and deliver the food to either Tomchei Shabbat or the Kollel. To sign up, please use https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ah2z9GUSGE0mdFVUUjJseUF1OGhSZmRVOFdG ZVlMOHc&usp=sharing_eil#gid=16 or contact the shul for more information. Chesed Committee at Bais Abe If you like to help with Bais Abraham's new chesed committee please contact Fawn Chapel or Roberta Gutwein. The chesed committee will help to coordinate meals and assistance for people in the Shul who are ill or need help. Fawn can be reached at fawn.chapel@gmail.com and Roberta can be reached at robertagutwein@gmail.com . Bais Abe Mailing List and Directory We are in the process of updating our mailing lists and our directory. Please send all updates and corrections to office@baisabe.com. We list addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses in the directory. Please let us know if you would prefer not to have us include your email address. Shabbat Retreat – Save the Date Bais Abe will be going on a community retreat in beautiful rural Missouri on March 6-7, 2015. Details to follow. Do you “Like” Bais Abe on Facebook? Find Bais Abe on Facebook at www.tinyurl.com/BaisAbeFacebook. Sponsoring a Kiddush at Bais Abe Sponsoring a Kiddush or "Lunchish" is a wonderful way to mark a simcha or yahrzeit. Or you can honor a loved one by sponsoring one of our monthly Lunch & Learns. Now, you can also sponsor seudah shlishit for just $54! If you would like to sponsor (or co-sponsor) any of the above, please contact Alayne in the office or Kiddush Chair, Judy Hoffman (jshoffman@swbell.net). They will go over costs and help you plan the Kiddush or lunch you want. Please help shul members plan ahead by letting us know about your wish to sponsor at least 10 days in advance. Thank you! Reminder: No perfume/cologne in the synagogue Please refrain from wearing perfume/cologne in the synagogue because some of our members are highly allergic. If you inadvertently arrive at the shul wearing any scents, please wash them off. Attention: people with nut allergies If you have a nut allergy, for your safety please assume that any foods or beverages served at Bais Abe may contain nuts or have been prepared on equipment that processes nuts. Please feel comfortable asking those in charge of food or beverages about their nut content and they will try to provide it if possible. Upcoming Kiddush and Shabbat Calendar November 8 November 15 November 22 Cholent Kiddush in honor of the aufruf and wedding of Zach Novetsky and Jen Csengody Cholent Kiddush in memory of Solomon Sandler’s Yahrzeit, and cake in honor of Zvi Haspel’s Birthday Lunch and Learn with Scholars in Residence Sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Gary and Sandy Novetsky and Mr. and Mrs. Tom and Susan Csengody Sponsored by Rick Sandler and Beth Solowey with cake sponsored by Jeff and Robin Haspel. Sponsors TBD To RSVP for an event email office@baisabe.com or call 721-3030. Halacha Highlight More on Making Fresh Coffee on Shabbat A Halacha Highlight from some weeks ago discussed brewing coffee on Shabbat. The two activities forbidden on Shabbat to be concerned with are borer, sorting, and bishul, cooking. Shabbat. The problem with borer would be sorting a desired element, coffee, from an undesired element, the grounds. The gist of that Halacha Highlight was that using a French press might be a better way to avoid borer than using a filter. In either case, the problem with bishul could be avoided by first putting the hot water into a kli sheni, a second vessel, before using it to brew the coffee. The urn of hot water is considered the kli rishon, the first vessel, and the place the coffee is brewed would be a kli shlishi, a third vessel. It is generally accepted that no cooking takes place in a kli shlishi. Since that time, I came across an interesting article on the issue by Rabbi David Sperling from Israel. Here is an excerpt: “So why do some rabbis allow using the coffee filters that are placed on top of the cup and water is poured through them? This is based on the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Haim, 319.9 and the Mishna Brurah 33) which allows pouring water into a sieve that has grape dregs in it, in order that the water flow though the dregs (absorbing their taste) and out through the sieve. The logic here is that the water is poured into the sieve and not mixed, and it comes out not mixed. Based on this it is permitted to pour water over tea leaves (making sure not to break the laws of cooking on Shabbat) that are in a strainer, as the tea just flows through the strainer, absorbing the tea taste, and out the other side. This is exactly the use of the coffee filter that sits on the top of a cup. The filter cup has coffee in it, and a paper filter on its base. The water is poured into this filter cup and then drips through into the cup below after having absorbed the taste of the coffee beans.” Jack Shapiro Bais Abraham Learning-at-a-Glance Class Instructor Time & Place th Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Mondays, st 7:30 p.m. (starting December 1 ) Periodic Monday at Bais Abenights see Shmooze for exact dates and times Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. Gardner Beit Midrash Wednesday, 1:00 p.m. Location: rotating. Contact Rori for location. Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. in the Bais Abe Auditorium Wednesdays, 7:30 p.m. in the Bais Abe Auditorium Basics of Judaism Rabbi Shafner “Torah on Tap” Rabbi Shafner Women’s Class: Book of Shoftim (Judges) Rabbi Shafner Parshat Hashavua Rori Picker Neiss Beit Midrash Chevruta (Partner) Study You and your chevruta (partner) Beginner’s Gemara Class Jack Shapiro Deepen Your Davening/Explanatory Prayer Class Alternating between Rabbi Shafner and Rori Picker Neiss Each Shabbat, approx. 10:30 a.m. in the Gardner Beit Midrash Shalhevet Women’s Kollel Partnered learning + shiur with Rori Picker Neiss Tuesdays 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 pm (every other Tuesday) at Bais Abe Hinenu Shabbat Study Group Stuart Klamen Each Shabbat, 1 hour before the printed mincha time St. Louis Jewish Community News Stone Unveiling for Norman Sussman – November 12th The stone unveiling for Norman Sussman will be held on Wednesday November 12 at 10:30 am. The ceremony will take place at his grave site at Chevra Kadisha Cemetery (Page and North and South) in Sec. North, Row YY, Grave 40. Challah in the Home The Jewish Federation of St. Louis is launching a new program, Challah in the Home. This program pairs young adults with a host family in St. Louis to share home-cooked meals while celebrating Jewish experiences. For more information, visit the website: http://jewishinstlouis.org/challah-home/ Tomchei Shabbos Cookbook Event Tomchei Shabbos Cookbook Event! Save the Date! Join us for tea, coffee, and dessert recipes from our upcoming cookbook on Sunday, December 14th, 1:30-3:00. More info to follow!! Jewish Social Action Network Outerwear Drive The Jewish Social Action Network, a project of the Jewish Community Relations Council, will hold an outerwear drive October 26-December 5 to benefit immigrants and refugees served by the International Institute. For more information, please see the flyer in the Shmooze. Jewish and Muslim Day of Service Registration and Toiletry Collection Drive The annual Jewish and Muslim Day of Service will be held on Christmas Day 2014. For more information and to register, visit the website: http://www.jewishmuslimdayofservicestl.org. In preparation for the day of social action, there will be a toiletry collection drive. See the flyer in the Shmooze for more information and for a list of drop off locations. Community ListServe The St. Louis Jewish Community has an active ListServe where members can offer items for sale, ask for items or services, read about community events, and more. The ListServ is a perfect place to offer items that you no longer need that someone else may enjoy. Many people benefit from such posts. To become a member of the community ListServe just email STLJCL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Posting is easy! Just email your post to STLJCL@yahoogroups.com. “On the Fringe” – Do a mitzvah and express yourself too! Comfortable, stylish, affordable tzitzit. Colorful, 100% cotton cloth, plaid, polka dot, many solid colors. Reinforced seams, hand-tied for the mitzvah. Small, medium, large, and custom sizes available. Handspun or machine-spun tzitzit available. To order, contact Ben Shafner, 314-308-8324, benshafner@gmail.com. $25. ‫שלום שבת‬ Submit articles and announcements for publication by Thursday morning to shmooze@baisabe.com. Advertise in the Shmooze Classified section and on Bais Abraham’s website for two weeks for $18. For further news and general information about our shul please check out our website at www.baisabe.com. The Shmooze© is a community publication of Bais Abraham Congregation, 6910 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63130. Hyim Shafner, Rabbi.