Pesach Prep Series with Rabbi Davies - Monday night at 8:00pm between Purim and Pesach.The next class is Monday, March 20 at 8:00pm entitled "To Clean or Not to Clean?" Join in person in the SOI Kiddush Room or on Zoom (Meeting ID: 882 1104 9415).
Semichas Chaver Program with Rabbi Davies: Next session will be on Wednesday, March 22 at 8:00pm. For more information or to sign up for the next semester please contact rabbi@soicherryhill.org
PESACH is Coming: Here are a few ways to start getting ready - - We are collecting forMa'ot Chitim so Donate Today & support those in need in our community. For more information contact Rabbi Davies. - Sale of Chametz Forms are available for download here or in the Shul lobby. Rabbi Davies will be available before and after Mincha/Maariv (6:55pm) for sale of Chametz. If you are not available at that time, please reach out to the rabbi to schedule another time to meet. All forms must be given to Rabbi Davies no later than 9:00am on Wednesday, April 5th. - Find all the info on our dedicated Pesach Page on the SOI website HERE.
Parshat HaChodesh, Vayakhel-Pekudei (Adar 25) 8:00am 8AM Minyan This week in the Politz Beit Midrash 8:30am Sephardic Minyan 9:00am Main Sanctuary Minyan 10:00am Youth Groups 10:08am Latest Shema 10:30am Tot Shabbat 11:00am Kiddush is sponsored by Rachel & Eric Klein 5:00pm Gemara Shiur 6:20pm Mincha 6:50pm Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by Penny, Aaron and Johnny Zeffren 6:50pm Guest speaker Mark Trencher at Seudah Shlishit 7:45pm Maariv 7:50pm Havdalah
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 Lord Jonathan Sacks Z"L entitled ‘The Beauty of Holiness or the Holiness of Beauty’ about the Jewish perspective on art in the Mishkan and today.
In Ki Tissa and in Vayakhel we encounter the figure of Betzalel, a rare type in the Hebrew Bible - the artist, the craftsman, the shaper of beauty in the service of God, the man who, together with Oholiab, fashioned the articles associated with the Tabernacle. Judaism - in sharp contrast to ancient Greece - did not cherish the visual arts. The reason is clear. The biblical prohibition against graven images associates them with idolatry. Historically, images, fetishes, icons and statues were linked in the ancient world with pagan religious practices. The idea that one might worship "the work of men's hands" was anathema to biblical faith.
More generally, Judaism is a culture of the ear, not the eye. As a religion of the invisible God, it attaches sanctity to words heard, rather than objects seen. Hence there is a generally negative attitude within Judaism towards representational art.
[...] Yet as we see from the case of Betzalel, Judaism is not indifferent to aesthetics. The concept of hiddur mitzva, "beautifying the commandment," meant, for the sages, that we should strive to fulfil the commands in the most aesthetically pleasing way. The priestly garments were meant to be "for honour and adornment" (Exodus 28:2). [...]
The key to Betzalel lies in his name. It means "In the shadow of God." Betzalel's gift lay in his ability to communicate, through his work, that art is the shadow cast by God. Religious art is never "art for art's sake." Unlike secular art, it points to something beyond itself. The Tabernacle itself was a kind of microcosm of the universe, with one overriding particularity: that in it you felt the presence of something beyond - what the Torah calls "the glory of God" which "filled the Tabernacle" (Exodus 40:35).
The Greeks, and many in the Western world who inherited their tradition, believed in the holiness of beauty (Keats' "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know"). Jews believed in the opposite: hadrat kodesh, the beauty of holiness: "Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness" (Psalms 29:2). Art in Judaism always has a spiritual purpose: to make us aware of the universe as a work of art, testifying to the supreme Artist, God Himself. 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.
Pesach is coming, its right around the corner, how do I get rid of my Chametz? Let me count the ways… on our Pesach webpage
Download the Sale of Chametz Form here or pick up a copy at the Shul Rabbi Davies will be available before and after Mincha/Maariv (7:00) for sale of Chametz. If you are not available at that time, please reach out to the rabbi to schedule another time to meet. (all forms must be given to Rabbi Davies no later than 9:00am on Wednesday, April 5th)
QUESTIONS? Feel free to email Rabbi Davies – Rabbi@SOICherryHill.org or text or call 609-301-0131.
Join the SOI Updates Whatsapp group! "Updated Link for the SOI Updates Whatsapp"
For all the news and announcements you don't want to miss.
https://chat.whatsapp.com/BvaEbQ1h1eSEz1fSlUUa3T
Mazal tov to Rachel & Eric Klein on the Bar Mitzvah of their son, Yair.
Thank you to Neely Elisha, Suzie Lubin, Suzie Mindel, Debbie Friedner, Alise, Panitch for helping with kiddush last week & Tamar Wiener for making chulent.
Thank you to Malka Moskowitz, Yaacov Zeffren, Matti Rosenberg, Yair Klein & Jonathan Delman for helping with seudah shlishit last week.
SOI friends in Florida enjoyed a visit together with Rabbi Davies.
Thank you to Debbie Fineberg, Ken Panitch, Avi Rynderman, Harvey Chaitoff, Jeff Liss, Steve Koloski, Chemmie Sokolic, Ilana Yares, Hector from OPS and Sam Tilonsky for providing security on Shabbos.
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 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 Shaindel bas Gruna Leah
Please help us keep this list up to date. If you have names to add or would like to have a name removed from this list, please email memberhotline@soicherryhill.org.
Click below for a link to the prayers for good health and healing that you can recite for our ailing members
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
