Congregation Beth Mordecai
Congregation Beth Mordecai
An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
May 11, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
As you may have heard, Beth Mordecai is hosting a rededication of Safran Hall, our recently-remodeled social hall, on June 7. The hall is named after Rachel Wolff Safran, whose family is intimately intertwined with our congregation’s history. Rabbi Ari Saks had the opportunity to speak with her grandson, Henry Safran, and granddaughter, Susan Hermanos, about their family’s legacy in Perth Amboy.
We hope that you will join us in celebrating the facelift of our amazing hall, named after an amazing woman and amazing family.
***
Perth Amboy has such fascinating Jewish history. Families played, worked, and went to school together. They celebrated life’s ups and downs together. While the lifestyle of late nineteenth century to mid-20th century Judaism cannot be replicated,
Category : Beth Mordecai in the News Blast from the Past Events home Safran Hall Rededication and Silent Auction
January 21, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
November 10, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
TOT SHABBAT -- Celebrate Shabbat!
A FREE program run by an accredited teacher designed for children ages 2-5 years old, with siblings and children of all ages welcome.
Celebrate Shabbat through this fun and interactive service with songs, story time, an activity or craft (Shabbat friendly of course!), and a kiddie kiddush.
This week at Tot Shabbat we will be learning about and celebrating Shabbat itself! We'll read a wonderful children's story about all of the fun and exciting traditions of Shabbat, sing upbeat Shabbat themed songs, create our own Shabbat pretend candles, challah, and spice box, and then enjoy a delicious challah and grape juice mini kiddush.
Kiddush with the congregation to follow!
Sign up with our Facebook event -- click on[...]
Category : Family Shabbat home Kidz Korner Project Jewish Living Tot Shabbat videos-archive Tag : family shabbat kidz korner project jewish living shabbat Tot Shabbat
By bethmordecai no comments.
Join us THURSDAY for the SECOND installment of our Adult Ed Series: A Little Schtickala of Yiddishkeit
HEBREW PRACTICE -- 7:00 - 7:30 PM
Build your reading skills -- beginner to expert!
We will pair you with a partner on your own level!
Siddur Hebrew or Modern Hebrew!
Session 1 -- 7:30 - 8:15 pm
Secrets of the Hebrew Language -- The letter "Bet" with Rabbi Saks
Come and learn the secrets of the Hebrew language in this special class designed to demystify each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This month we do the letter Bet.
FOOD Break – 8:15 – 8:30
Session 2 – 8:30 – 9:15 pm
"Why Do they Hate Us"? A discussion on the origins of Anti-semitism with Rabbi Saks
How old is anti-Semitism really?
When did[...]
Category : Adult Education Hebrew home Jewish Culture and History Tag : adult education anti-semitism hebrew jewish culture and history
By bethmordecai no comments.
Dear Hevreh,
If I were to tell you that this past weekend I went to New York for "Music! Singing! Dancing!," you might have thought that I was going to the latest Broadway show or some other musical performance. But in fact, along with nearly 15 other members of our congregation, we weren't at a show...we were at shul.
To be exact, we were at Congregation B'nai Jeshrun, one of the largest and most thriving Conservative synagogues in the country. It's a synagogue that started in the late 19th century yet rapidly declined after a heyday around the middle of the 20th century. Then in the early 1980s it hired a charismatic rabbi Marshall Meyer, who was an aide to
Category : home Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Tag : B'nai Jeshrun BJ community dancing inspirational music prayer rabbi rabbi's journal services
November 7, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Vayera 2014/5775 (Triennial II) -- Raping Foreigners
In this week's Parashah, we read how the men of Sodom came to Lot's home to demand that he release the men staying in his home so "v'neid-ah otam, so that they can rape them (Genesis 19:5). This trope of raping foreigners is echoed later in the Bible in Judges 19:22. Why are the men in both of these stories doing this to the foreigners in their midst? What can these stories teach us about the power of rape and attitudes to foreigners? Do these stories have anything to teach us today?
Classes from other years:
Parshat Vayera[...]
Category : home Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : foreigners Genesis 19:5 home Judges 19:22 land online learning online parashah class power ramban rape sanhedrin sanhedrin 109a strangers talmud vayera weekly torah portion וירא
September 19, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Please join us for Yom Kippur and the 2nd day of Rosh Hashanah in our MAIN sanctuary. Not in a catering wing with a television or a speaker with a piped in service. You will be in our main service with our own Rabbi Saks and our Canter, Rabbi Bronwen Mullin. It is the custom of this synagogue to offer FREE services for those days to those that wish to attend and cannot afford a ticket. The first day of Rosh Hashanah and Kol Nidre do require a very affordable ticket. Please call our office at 732-442-1373 Monday through Thursday from 10-2. If we are not in please leave a message and we will call you back.
Category : Holidays home Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur Tag : Rosh Hashanah Tickets Yom Kippur
By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Nitzavim/Vayelekh 2014/5774 (Triennial I) -- Stranger Danger
In this week's Torah portion, Moses tells the Israelites that "you stand this day, all of you, before the LORD your God...even the stranger within the camp, from woodchopper to water drawer" (Deuteronomy 29:9-10). The Hebrew text does not intimate a separation between the "strangers" and the "Israelites," but the rabbinic commentator Panim Yafot (18th Century, Poland & Germany) points to how even in this text the strangers the Israelites must be wary of strangers. As we approach the High Holidays and open our communities to all people who seek Jewish wisdom, how does this text help us (and how does it NOT help us) understand how to welcome strangers into our communities?
Join us[...]
Category : home Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : Deuteronomy 29:10-11 high holidays nitzavim online learning online parashah class panim yafot strangers welcoming גרים נצבים פנים יפות
September 16, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
הָיוֹם הָרָת עוֹלָם
Hayom Harat Olam
Today is the birthday of the world
(Rosh Hashanah liturgy)
Dear Hevreh,
According to tradition, Rosh Hashanah is considered to be the "birthday of the world," when God first began the process of creation. Perhaps this tradition teaches us that like our birthdays, the "re-birth" of the year not only gives us a chance to reflect on the year that has gone by, but to be rejuvenated for the year to come with the youthful energy of a newborn who looks at the world and sees the possibilities of what lies before her. In other words, Rosh Hashanah can help us find the kid in ourselves again.
How appropriate then that in this week leading up to Rosh Hashanah we[...]
Category : home Kidz Korner Rabbi Rabbi's Journal Rosh Hashanah Tot Shabbat YJPA Tag : baby naming big tent judaism birthday Jewish Federation kids kidz korner pj library rabbi rabbi's journal Rosh Hashanah Tot Shabbat YJPA youthful energy
September 12, 2014 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Ki Tavo 2014/5774 (Triennial I) -- Having a Positive Outlook
In this week's Torah portion, the Israelites ask God to look upon them positively: "Look down (hashkifah) from Your holy abode, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel" (Deuteronomy 26:15). What gives the Israelites the confidence that God will look upon them positively, and is there a lesson from this on how we can retain a positive outlook even in gloomy moments?
We will explore this question of how to have a positive outlook through an exploration of the hebrew term used in this verse -- "hashkafah."
Please join us for this fascinating class!
Photo taken from -- http://irishbizwoman.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-difference-between-positivity-and.html
Category : home Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : Deuteronomy 26:15 Genesis 18:16 hashkafa Ki Tavo online learning online parashah class Or Hameir outlook positivity weekly torah portion אור המאיר השקפה כי תבוא
