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Co-op City Times / May 31, 2014
Reflections by Rabbi Solomon I. Berl Spiritual Leader of Young Israel Synagogue
Shavous, which we celebrate Tuesday evening, June 3rd, and Wednesday and Thursday, June 4 & 5, has basic message to the festival’s celebrants and to humanity. As the Festival of the Giving of the Law, it is dominated by the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Therefore, the message is not for the Jews alone but for those who now share in having received the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, which commands people to be human. Therefore, in the giving, there is the obligation of the taking and accepting. Perhaps the gravest of problems is in the failure to achieve the latter. Human beings have been given a code of laws, a guide for honorable living, to respect human values. The Ten Commandments carry responsibility to make people aware of life’s
values, to respect the dignity of man. They call for a society that abhors terror and murder. It is in such a society that anything responsible for the sacrifice of life, under any circumstances, would be deplored and could not even be atoned for. If the laws had not been broken constantly, there might be a lesser reason for emphasis on Shavous as a major festival for Jews, as a carrier of a message for moral and human values to humanity. In all those aspects, there is the guidance in the sacred text, the Decalogue, that has become the property of mankind. It demands adherence to the human and moral values that retain the respect of mankind. They were ‘given’ and there is the expected ‘acceptance!’ In the ‘taking’ lies as much glory as in the ‘giving.’
Young Israel Shavous Schedule
This Tuesday evening, June 3rd, Young Israel will usher in the Festival of Shavuos, the anniversary of the Divine revelation at Mt. Sinai. It will be commemorated on Wednesday and Thursday, June 4th and 5th, with services held at Young Israel of Co-op City, 147 Dreiser Loop, (lower level of the Dreiser Shopping Center). Young Israel’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Solomon I. Berl, will officiate and deliver the festival sermons.
YISKOR MEMORIAL SERVICES will be held on Thursday morning, June 5th, at 10 a.m. May our commemoration of Shavuos deepen our loyalty to and love of our great heritage. May it bring us closer to the day of fulfillment when mankind will have found its peace through the discovery of the moral law. Rabbi Berl and the officers of Young Israel extend to all best wishes for a joyous and delightful holiday.
Community support for families in need
The Circle of Christ Church, located at 147 Dreiser Loop, patio level, is collecting non-perishable items and supplies in order to provide and support families in need of food. The church also provides counseling and referral services for families in the community. If you need or know someone in need, please call 347-945-1992 and leave a message. Someone will get back to you.
Traditional Synagogue of Co-op City
Traditional Synagogue of Co-op City, Young Israel of Baychester, Section 5 at 120 Erdman Place(behind the Lobby 27B), welcomes you to pray with them. Tel. for the Synagogue, 1718-379-6920. Note: New office hours are on Thursday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Candle Lighting on Friday, May 30th is at 7:59 p.m. Shabbat ends today, Saturday, May 31st at 9:07 p.m. Coming Events: Saturday, May 31st at 9:00 a.m., please join Rabbi Daniel Kronengold and the congregation in prayer. Be part of the Minyon. Wednesday, June 4th, first day of Shavuot starts at 9:10. Thursday, June 5th, Yizkor service will be at 11:00 a.m. Holiday ends at 9:11 p.m. NOTE***Sunday, June 8th, Bingo at 1:00 p.m. Admission: $3. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome in our community. Bring a friend, bring a neighbor. Good and Welfare: Do you need a tree certificate sent “in Honor of” or “in Memory of” a special occasion or a condolence? You can give a living gift
for the cost of $15 per tree. For more information, you can call the office at 1-718-379-6920. We can accommodate you. Synagogue members, we need your donations in order to have a Kiddush at our Shabbot services on Saturdays. Please mail in your contributions or bring it to our office on Sunday. Rabbi Kronengold would greatly appreciate your participation in this endeavor. If you are feeling under the weather, we wish you all a speedy and complete recovery in double quick time. Mimi Berlofsky is home and feeling a lot better. Calls are welcome, 347-427-4526. Mildred Morgenstern has returned to Regeis Care Center. We wish her well. A very happy and healthy birthday with many more to come to Faye Breitbart on June 5th and Marshal Kristcher on June 13th. Dues for 2014 are due NOW!! Thank you. Wishing all our members health, happiness, peace and prosperity. Your support is always appreciated. Thank you. Shalom. —Miriam Berlofsky
Based on the comments from the friends who came with us to Mount Airy Casino, everyone had a good time. We have been asked by many of our friends if we could go to Atlantic City next time. Therefore, the Men’s Club is going to run a trip to the TROPICANA CASINO in Atlantic City on SUNDAY, JUNE 29. The COST: $35 per person with a $25 slot and a $5 food voucher. Player may use any machine or table. I would like to remind you that you need a government photo ID card to get your bonus slot play. Payment is due by June 23. Seat assignments will be made on a first come basis. Please send checks to: The Traditional Synagogue of Co-op City, Attention: Men’s Club, 120 Erdman
Place, Building 27B, Bronx, NY 10475. We provide a free snack going, play games, and on the return trip, we show a movie. FOR RESERVATIONS, CALL: Gary, (718) 671-8424, or Bruce, (718) 320-2234. (PLEASE NOTE: PICK-UP TIMES HAVE CHANGED). Pick-up stops: Einstein Loop, 8:00 a.m.; Asch Loop, 8:15 a.m.; Dreiser Loop, 8:20 a.m. Everyone is invited to all our functions. We hope you will join us. The Men Club is sponsoring a FATHER’S DAY KIDDUSH on June 14. All are welcome. Shalom! —Bruce Gitelson
Men’s Club Traditional Synagogue
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