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April 2008
April 1st IMPORTANT!!! LAST ISRAEL TRIVIA OF THE YEAR!!Hagesher, As the title shows, this issue of Israel trivia will be the last before the winner is announced next weekend at spring convention...Therefore, it is CRUCIAL for everyone that receives this email to answer it with the correct trivia answers! This weeks trivia questions are: 1. What does the Hebrew term "Ramatkal" (רמטכ"ל‎) mean in English? Who is the current Ramatkal of the IDF? 2. What group of Muslims are well known in Israel for great food, and also serve in the Israeli Army? 3. What Israeli political party in Ehud Olmert's coalition represents ultra-orthodox sephardim and mizrachi Jews? Remember, this competition does not begin until 8 pm tonight (Tuesday), and ends before Shabbat on Friday. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you answer this trivia to get some final points for your chapter before spring! Now, an Israeli News Update: Israel to consider opening Gaza: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080401/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_8 Euroleague Basketball: Mac attack too much for Barcelona: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1206632388583&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull That's all for this week. Good luck on the trivia!, Daniel Berdugo (Ogudreb Leafar Leinad) Hagesher Israel Affairs Vice President 2007-2008 |
April 3rd JSERVE Bus from Spring Convention!Hey Everyone, As many of you know, there is a JServe event on Sunday April 13 at the Share Food Bank in Philly from 1:30 to 4:00. As of now, there has been some interest from USYers in going, but in order for a bus to be ordered to go directly from Spring Convention, those of you who are interested need to contact me at Flaash2k1@hotmail.com or Andrea Golden at golden@uscj.org within the next couple of days! You can also contribute to the day by bringing cans of tuna to Spring Convention for the Tower Of Tuna being gathered by JServe! If you would like to participate in the service event nonetheless, you can find more information at www.jewishphilly.org/jserve. All the Best, Jonah Cohen |
April 4th leopards? nooo...LEPROSYSHABBAT SHALOM HAGESHER!!! Candle lighting: 7:10pm Havdalah: 8:11pm This week we read parashat Tazria, and this week's d'var was written by the lovely and amazing Rel/Ed RGB member, Tyler Dratch! Leprosy…..Parsha Tazira mainly explains what a person should do if he or she discovers they have leprosy. I know what most of you are thinking. “No one has ever had Leprosy on Grey’s Anatomy!?!” Well you’re right. No one recently has had to deal with the brutal effects of leprosy, but in biblical times it was a very legitimate disease. The main idea of the parsha is that when someone has a disease such as Leprosy they will be quarantined and removed from the group for a set amount of time. After that period the person would be “pure” and can once again interact with others. Think how many Jews would not be around today if one Jew died during the time of Moses! Surprisingly, there is a deeper level on which we can examine the disease. Rabbis have explained that a person got Leprosy because he or she spoke “Lashon Harah", the evil tongue, about another person. Rabbis tell us that in many cases speaking Lashon Harah is worse than killing a person. This makes much sense because if you publicly humiliate someone, they must live with the effects their entire life. Why is the concept of “Lashon Harah” so important? Well, have you ever worked in a group where two of your group mates our fighting? It is clear that this argument severely affects the dynamic of the group. If members of our Jewish community started spreading rumors about others, the community would fall apart. This would not be good considering we continue to survive because we stick together. This Shabbat, think about the groups you participate in. A group of friends, a sports team, your USY chapter, or your family. If we all treated each other a little better and never talked about others behind their backs, our groups would not only be more effective, but they would be much better places to be. You won't get Leprosy if you don't, but if you do, you will be changing the world in a huge way! Questions: 1. How long is a woman considered unclean after giving birth to a boy? (3 points) 2. Who is in charge of declaring a person unclean? (3 points) 3. How ridiculous would it be to see leprosy on Grey's Anatomy? (5 points) Have a wonderful shabbat!! SEE YOU ALL NEXT SHABBOS AT SPRING CONVENTION!! (CREATE AT SPRING 08!!!! GET EXCITED) B'vracha, Sarah Richman Religion/Education VP |
| April 17th Regional General Board Application 2008-2009 2008-2009_RGB_Application-1.doc
The RGB or Regional General Board is a very distinguished position in Hagesher USY. If you receive the RGB position, you will have to be dedicated to the work that you receive for the entire year. We, the 2008-2009 Regional Executive Board hope that many of you will take the time out of your busy schedules and apply for the 2008-2009 RGB. Thank you for listening and Good Luck with your applications! If
you have any questions or concerns, my contact information is at the bottom
of this page.
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| April 17th Who are these ALIENS?!?
Shabbat Shalom Hagesher!
Candle Lighting: 7:25pm
Havdalah: Monday Night, 8:58pm
Parsha HaShavuah: Achrei Mot
This week, we read Achrei Mot for Shabbat HaGadol (because
Passover starts as soon as Shabbat ends on Saturday night!) This
parsha is so important that it is also read on
Yom Kippur morning.
Now that the Beit HaMikdash is complete, God creates new rules for the
holy temple. Only a Kohen Gadol may enter the inner chamber of the
synagogue, and only on one day of the year:
Yom Kippur. On this day, the High Priest is sent into the chamber
to repent for the entire community's sins. At the time of this story, the
Kohen Gadol is Aaron, Moses' brother.
God then tells the Israelites how to repent for there sins. First, two
azazelim, goats, must be brought to the alter for sacrifice. One will
eventually be slaughtered, while the other be sent out to the wilderness.
Also, the alter must be covered in glowing coals and incense. Then, Aaron
must sprinkle the blood of a bull to the east side of the goats and 7
times in front. It's a lot of rules, but it's for the repentance of a lot
of people's sins!
Once God has finished telling the laws of
Yom Kippur sacrifice, he lays down the law for sexual relations. No
beastiality, no homosexuality, no incest, no funky stuff. We can also
not drink the blood of another human being.
Finally, in accordance in the
Yom Kippur, God commands us to recognize and share with the "aliens
who reside among you." Who are these aliens? Certainly there were no
UFO sightings back in the age of the torah!?
These "aliens" are not actually beings from other planets, but members of
our communities that may not be Jewish, or a practicing Jew. As part of
Passover, we are supposed to invite at least one "alien" to our
seder and introduce them to our wonderful traditions. The beauty of the
Jewish religion is that we are not closed to people of other faiths, we
want to share our Judaism with everyone! We're just that awesome!!
Questions:
1. What other Jewish practice does the Azazel (goat) remind you of?
2. Why was Aaron forbidden to mourn his two dead sons, Nadav and Avihu?
3. What "aliens" will you share
Passover with?
Email your responses back to me at
rrl90@yahoo.com. I'll look forward to
reading your answers!!
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Pesach!
Becka Lefkoe
2008-2009 Hagesher Religion/Education V.P.
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| April 22nd Hagesher USY Website
Dear Hagesher,
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| April 22nd Corrections Dear
Hagesher,
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| April 24th I'm not in elementary school anymore, Come on!
Good Shabbos HaGesher!!
Candle
Lighting:
Friday Night,
Havdalah:
Saturday Night,
Havdalah
for Pesach:
Sunday Night,
Parsha
HaShavuah:
Kedoshim
This week, in parsha Kedoshim, God lays out the major commandments for the
Israelites. You may recognize some of these from the Ten Commandments,
while others you might remember from daily practice.
It may be a little hard to write out all the commandments without
completely confusing the order, so I’ve taken the time to separate them by
aliyot and subject:
First Aliyah—Ten
Commandments and major laws, including respecting your parents,
observing Shabbat, leaving a section of the harvest for the poor and no
lying or cheating.
Second Aliyah—Relationships
with others, including not gossiping, loving fellow Jews and
absolutely no adultery.
Third Aliyah—Refrain
of activites, including Orlah (the abstaining of eating a tree’s fruit
in the first three years of planting), no witchcraft or prostitution, not
tattooing our bodies.
Fourth Aliyah—Converts,
we are told to love and respect Jewish Converts as much as a hereditary
Jew.
Fifth Aliyah—Sacrifices
and Punishment, including the absolute avoidance of Molech (a type of
idyllic worship using human sacrifices) and the punishment one would
receive if Molech is done.
Sixth Aliyah—Major
Punishments, mostly for those who curse their parents or have weird
sexual relations.
Seventh Aliyah—Conclusion,
we are commanded to keep Kashrut and be holy (note the name of the parsha).
So now that you have a brief overview of Kedoshim, I have a few questions
for you to think about:
Do you think the laws are separated into aliyot by importance? Why are
there repeatedly so many prohibitions on sexual relations? And why, twice,
does God command us to be “holy”? And why are there so many rules?
Shouldn't the Israelites be mature enough to govern themselves? Why do we
need someone to tell us exactly how to act?
Think about these this weekend as we conclude the fantastic holiday of
Passover. Stay in there, I know it can be tough to observe the rules of
Passover during a school week, but remember how lucky you are to be apart
of that Jewish tradition! While other kids chow down on their gross ham
and cheese and baloney sandwiches, you get to eat matzah and cream cheese!
It probably tastes a whole lot better anyway.
Questions:
1. Which law do you still follow today? Which is your favorite? (1 point)
2. Do you think any of these laws are impractical or unnecessary our
current lives? (2 point)
3. If you could add one more law to Kedoshim, what would it be? (3 points)
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!
Becka Lefkoe
2008-2009 Hagesher Religion/Education V.P.
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April 28th Israel Aliyah-Date (Get it, UP-date????)Shalom Hagesher!!! I hope that everyone had a wonderful (and easy) Pesach. I know that life in Hagesher has been a little down since Spring Convention, so here is the first Israel Update on of the "Year!!!!!!!!" The goal of the Israel Update is to bring up uncommon news articles from Israel. These articles will most likely be about things average Jewish teens haven't heard of. If you are interested in the topics, click on the links to read the official article. Also, please send me e-mails on topics on which you want to hear about. (My e-mail is rsoccer11@yahoo.com) Usually there will be more in one e-mail, including trivia, but that will be starting in September along with the International Israel Challenge. Without further ado, here are this weeks articles: One major problem in Israel is that the level of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) keeps dropping. At this pace, there will be a national shortage of fresh water. Over Pesach, the Kinneret dropped 6cm (2.36 inches), which may not seem a lot, but it actually is because the water recedes inward. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870499312&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull An Israeli Company, Bagir, has teamed up with Sears to make the first ever male suit made from recycled plastic bottles. The "EcoGIR" suit is made by using wool and recycled bottles from China. The first suit is coming out in America on Fathers Day. http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El2087&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Culture& Many times, security guards are still needed even when there are security cameras. There's gotta be someone to watch the cameras, Right? WRONG. Israeli Company MATE has created security cameras that can detect unauthorized people entering an area. http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El2076&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Technology& A new exhibit just opened at Yad Vashem, the memorial for the Holocaust. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870497189&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull An officer (Yossi Harel, z"l) of one of the largest boats that brought unauthorized immigrants into Palestine (During the British Mandate) recently passed away. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870497183&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Hebrew Words of the week: Yad - Hand Shem - Name By having the name of the Memorial Yad VaShem, the creators wanted a Memorial that not just remember the 6 million as a number and the concentration camps (Hand), but also to remember individuals that were lost (Name). This Week - Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Rememberance Day) starts Wednesday Night. Have a great week. B'Shalom, Ron Shapiro 2008-2009 Hagesher Israeli Affairs Vice President IA IGB 2008, Israel Challenge Chairperson |
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April 29th Regional General Board Applications
Hey Hagesher,
I hope that everyone enjoyed their Passovers and is
excited to have as much bread as possible! Speaking of bread, in just one
week and a few days, the Regional General Board Applications is due!.
That is right, on Thursday
May 8th at 9 PM the RGB Applications should be emailed to me, Jacob Beck,
at JacobFBeck@gmail.com.
I hope that everyone considers applying and
that everyone eventually does apply. I, along with the REB cannot wait to
read your applications, we are just so excited. I
hope everyone is enjoying themselves and I can't wait to see you all at
Seashore on May 25th!
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