Kiddush is sponsored in honor of Lynn & Bill Jungreis by their friends.
Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by Duke McCarthy
Donuts and Discussion: Saturday, February 11 at 10:30am in the Politz Beit Midrash
Birthdays At the Shul Seudah Shlishit: Celebrating Birthdays for October-February on Saturday, February 11. Sponsored by Duke McCarthy. Birthday sponsorships to be announced on Shabbat. To add your child's name or to sponsor, click here.
A Deep Look at Sefer Bereishit with Rabbi Michael Davies: Mondays at 8:00pm. Final class is February 13.Zoom link Meeting ID: 88211049415
Semichas Chaver Program with Rabbi Davies: Next session will be a review session on Wednesday, February 15 at 8:00pm. For more information please contact rabbi@soicherryhill.org.
Red Cross Blood Drive: Sunday, February 19 from 9:00am-2:00pm at SOI. All donors will receive a $10 amazon gift card & a chance to win a trip to Florida. To sign up click here. For more information contact Jeff Lubin at lubin_jeffrey@yahoo.com
Chesed Opportunity for All Ages: Sunday, Feb. 19 from 10:00 -11:00am at SOI. Package Mishloach Manot bags & decorate cards for our local Holocaust survivors. RSVP tomadispalter@gmail.com
SOI Get Together in Florida: Monday, February 27th from 3-4:30pm in Century Village, Boca Raton. Rabbi Davies will be in Florida and hopes to see/meet our Sons of Israel friends past and present. Click Here for More Details or contact Helen Baker at 856-979-7656.
PURIM is Coming: Check out the SOI Purim Webpage for schedule, events, and relevant Halachot - all the information you need for a Freilichen Purim Sameach!
I am very excited for the opportunity to share words of Torah with you. Each week, in this spot, I look to share an idea I've found that speaks to me and that I think will resonate with you as well. This week, I share an excerpt from an article by Rabbi Noson Weisz entitled ‘Who Says I Have To’ sharing a deep idea about the Jewish people's acceptance of the Mitzvot and its impact on the world.
[...] For whose benefit were we given the Mitzvot? As God, by definition, is already perfect and lacks nothing, the performance of the Mitzvot cannot bring Him any benefit. The beneficiaries of the Mitzvot must therefore be the very people who perform them. But if they are for our benefit, not God's, how can we relate to the idea that God commanded us to perform them? [...]
It turns out [...] that while God created the world for man to enjoy, there are two sorts of enjoyment. If we contrast the enjoyments with each other we find that God offers the enjoyment provided by the Noachide world entirely free of charge without the need of any human response. But the perfect enjoyment made possible by the performance of the Sinaic Mitzvot requires the assistance and active co-operation of human beings. The perfect enjoyment on offer consists of communion with the Perfect Being. Since there is nothing less enjoyable than being compelled to keep company with anyone, the only way to offer this perfect enjoyment is for human beings to choose it freely.
However, in order to be in a position to freely choose whether to keep God company, one must have the alternative of choosing not to be in God's company at all. But wherever God is absent there is a lack of perfection by definition; human beings must therefore live in a less than perfect world. But a less than perfect world is only so because of all the unpleasant things which are a part of it. If this world was entirely free of travail and tragedy, and inundated with perfect joy, it would be perfect, and there would be no getting away from God's company at all.
We now have the answer to the source of all the problems in the world. The Jew cannot live in a perfect world because he must do something with the world, which means he must freely choose to commune with God by doing the Mitzvot. To have this freedom of choice there must be a way of living without communing with God. The Jewish world cannot be perfect, as perfection comes from God and living in a perfect world would necessarily force all its inhabitants into communion with God. As the Jew and the Noachide share a common world, the Noachide human being must also live in this less than perfect world so that the Jew can choose to do Mitzvot freely.
We are finally fully equipped to deal with the apparent inner contradiction of voluntary commandments. The commandments are truly commandments because they are a necessity of existence. God has no interest in a world without Mitzvot because the perfect joy of communion with God does not exist in such a world. But they must be voluntarily accepted because if they were coerced then even communion with God could not possibly provide perfect joy. Enforced relationships cannot be perfect by definition. [...]
Once the Jews voluntarily submitted themselves to the necessity of Torah, the world can exist for everyone to enjoy. [The question is, a]re you willing to do something with the world besides simply enjoy it? [...] If you are, then why don't you find out how to fix the evil? How do you know that that is not the very task you were set? In fact, if you ponder this essay, you will see that that is precisely the definition of the human task. Have a Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Davies Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org
We are excited to be partnering with Mizrachi World Movement to provide their publication of HaMizrachi Parasha Weekly.
Purim is less than a month away. Join Congregation Sons of Israel in their Mishloach Manot Project 2023. This is a major fundraising project and we hope that you will participate generously. We are hoping for 100% participation!
2023 Congregational Survey Earlier this week, we sent out our congregational survey to all members in good standing. This survey is an important way for members to recognize our strengths, provide feedback where we could do better and help us plan strategically for the future. All submissions are completely anonymous. If you have not received your survey, please check your spam folder. If you have not received the survey or would like to complete a paper version please email president@soicherryhill.org.
Automatic Defibrillator Campaign An AED, or automated external defibrillator, is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. SOI is planning to upgrade our current AED, which is more than 20 years old. The cost of a new one is approximately $1,800. Please partner with us by donating towards this goal by February 10th. While we hope to never use it, having an AED on hand could be what saves the life of someone you know and care about. If you have any questions, please reach out to Dr. Ron Zanger.
Thank you to Ilana Weiss, Justin Kaufman, and Tamar Wiener for helping with kiddush last week. Thank you to Heshy Chaitoff for making the chulent.
Thank you to Jeffrey Weiss, Malka Moskowitz, Yaakov & Aaron Zeffren, Yaakov Linder, Jonathan Delman, Rachael Folowoshele & Matti Rosenberg for helping to prepare seudah shlishit last week.
Thank you to Meital Henig, Aliza Sadiky, Yoni Berliant, Ora Davies, and Rabbi Davies for organizing and leading last week's musical havdalah.
Thank you to Debbie Fineberg, Bill Jungreis, Harvey Chaitoff, Jeff Liss, Steve Herzberg, Shlomo Aronoff, Chemmie Sokolic, Ken Panitch, Tony from OPS and Sam Tilonsky for providing security on Shabbos.
It’s Your Shul, Please Help Protect It!
A 30 minute shift approximately once a month. Is that to much to ask? Please volunteer. Thanks! Contact Sam Tilonsky to volunteer.
Florence Axelrod – Fruma bas Sarah Gavriel Yehuda ben Chaya Sarah David Partnow - David Avram ben Tilla Razel Robert Shapiro - Doniel-Avraham ben Hannah Aaron Moshe ben Ruth Gaela bas Pinina Jackie Nussbaum - Eta Ruchmam bas Chaya Golda Chayim Gedalya haLevi ben Henya Joan Solomon Weinberg - Yehudit Sarah bat Esther Chaim Leib HaLevi ben Batya Gittel Tobie Cohen - Tova Lieba bas Esther Chaya Alan Friedman - Avraham Pinchas ben Hudda Kayla Chaya bat Bayla Simcha Avraham Ben Datya Leba Karen Cohen - Esther Chaya bas Sara Chana Inga bat Bella Janet Miller - Devora bat Basha Meir Moskowitz - Meir Yisrael ben Devora Cayla
Click below for a link to the prayers for good health and healing that you can recite for our ailing members
Just go to smile.amazon.com, search for Congregation Sons of Israel Synagogue. Every qualifying purchase will send 0.5% of the total to our Shul. Over time, this will add up. Please note the AmazonSmile will be ending on February 20, so be sure to get in your support while you can.
https://www.kosherwine.com/?rfsn=5940204.12e2a2 SOI members and affiliates can click the link to go to the JCommerce websites and purchase their products. You can support SOI through the commission we earn.
Shoprite Scrip Now Available SOI Office Monday-Friday 10-2 Yaeli Sokolic at ycsgraphix@gmail.com Flo Shulman at florence.shulman@gmail.com
All submissions for the Newslink are due by noon on Wednesday
Reminder: If your mailing information has been changed, please update it on our website by logging on at soicherryhill.org If you know someone who is not receving our weekly email, please let the office know Office hours next week are Monday - Friday 10am-2pm Rabbi Davies' general office hours are Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-5pm
Congregation Sons of Israel 720 Cooper Landing Road Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
