6 — THE BULLETIN — Thursday, November 12, 1992
SYNAGOGUE CALEN^
Fourth Commandment. Exodus, 20:8
Memorial park um^
Candlelightihg:
Friday, November 13, 4:15 p.m.
. Sedra Vayera ~
Havdala Shabbat ends ~ November 14, 5:16 p.m.
Friday, November 20, 4:07 p.m.
V Sedra Chaye Sarah Havdala Shabbat ends
November 21,5:09 p.m.
Beth Hamldrash (Seph-ardic Orthodox), 3231 Heather St. Rabbi Y. Benar-rbch. Dai ly 7 a. m .■Shabbat, Sun. and public holidays 9 a.m.; FrI. 6 p.m.; Sat. sunset. 872-4222 or 873-2371.
Beth Israel (Conserva-tiveji 4350 Oak St: Rabbi W. Solomon, Cantor M.Nixon. Torah reader D. Rubin. Choir S. Pelman. Daily 8 a.m. (public holidays, 9 a.m,) and 6 p.m.; Fri. 8;i5 p.m.; Sat. 9:15 a.m. and 6 p.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. 731-4161.
Beth Shalom Sanctuary
(Traditional), OJGC, 108 North Glen mo re Rd., Ke\-bwna. Sat. 9:30 a.m. 862-2312.
Beth Tikvah (Conservative), 9711 Geal Rd., Richmond. Rabbi M: Cohen, Torah reader T. Wolinsky: Fri: 8 p.m.; Sat. 9:30 a.m.
271^6262.
Burquest Jewish Community (traditional). Oneg Shabbat services second Friday of each month, 8 p.m.: 941-3486.
Chabad House Kabbalah Centre (Chassidic), 3673 W. Broadway. Rabbi L. Dubrawsky. Sun. 10 a.m. 737-1574/
Chabad-Lubavitch (Chassidic), 5750 Oak St. Rabbi Y: Wineberg. Dairiy 7 a.m. and sunset; Fri. sunset; Sat. 10 a.m.; Sun. 9 a.m. and sunset. 266-1313.
Chabad of Surrey Community Centre (Chassidic), 210-6950 Nicholson Rd., Delta. Rabbi M. Alteln. Sat. 10 a.m. 596-9030.
Eitz-Chalm (Orthodox), 8080 Frances Rd;, Richmond. Rabbi A. Feigel-stock. Daily minyan 7 a.nf).; Fri. 6 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m: aiicJ" sunset; Sun. 9 a.m. 275-0007.
Har El (Conservative), North Shore JCC, 1735 fnglewood Ave., West Van, Rabbi I. Balta, cantorial leader R. Edel. Fri. 7 p.m:; Sat. 10 a.m. 922-8245 Or 922-9133.
Or Shalom (Traditional Egalitarian), 561 W. 28th Aye. Rabbi I. Marmorstein: Sat. 10 a:m.; monthly Fri. Oneg Shabbat, 872-1614. ■■'^■■■ ■ ♦ . .'
Schara Tzedeck (Orthodox), 3476 Oak St. Rabbi M. Feuerstein. Rabbi S. Cran-dall, Cantor A. Katzir, torah reader Rev. J. Marci-ano. Daily 7:15 a:m. and sunset; Fri. 7:30 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m. and sunset; Sun> 8:30 a.m. and sunset. 736-7607.
Shaarey TefiIah/Louis Brier Home (Traditional), 1055 W. 41 St Aye. C. Korn-feld, p. Kornfeid, M. Frum-kin, R. Rosenberg. Daily 8 a.nri arid 4:15 p.m.; Sat,/ Sun. 9 a.m. 261-9376.
.........*
Emanu-EI (Conservative) . 1461 Blahshard, Victoria. Rabbi V. Reinstein. Sat. 9:15^.m. 382-0615.
Temple Sholom (Re-
form), 7190 Oak St; Rabbi P. Bregman, cantorial soloist A. Guttman. Morning minyans; Sun. 9:30 a.m.; Mon. and Wed. 7:15 a.m.; Fri. 8:15 p.m.; Sat. 10:30 a.m. 266-7190.
By CHARNA PLOTTEL
On Oct. 4, exactly 16 years after the dedication of the Bella and Albert Koch Memorial Chapel, on the Beth Israel Cemetery grounds, a rededication of the cemetery itself was held.
Speakers at the ceremony, prior to the ribbon cutting by congregation president Sharon Kates, were Rabbi Solomon, Kates and Dr. David Zack, chairman of the cemetery committee. .
Drr- Zack outlined the situation leading to the need for upgrading the grounds and acknowledged the assistance of many key indiyidu-als without whom the pro-
'—jeet would not have come to fruition.
Because the cemetery, like most of Burnaby, is situated on a network of. under-
. ground springs, there was an inordinate accumulation of subsurface water, resulting in diseased grass, deterioration of walkways and the sinkingof many headstones.
In 1991; the cemetery committee was authorized to find a solution to these problems and to consider upgrading the property.
The committee, through its chairman^ Dr. Zack, met this mandated challenge as was seen by over 200 people who attended the rededica-tion ceremony. ;
Irving Grad
BETH ISRAELpresldent Sharon Kates and cemetery committee chairman Dr. David Zack preside at the rIbbon-cuttIng ceremony.
HERITAGE
Why was man created on the sixth day, after the creation of all other creatures? So. that, should he become overbearing, he can be told: "The gnat was created before you were." .'\
Talmud
BySHLOMORISKIN
— DEATHS—
RACHEL ZIONI Oct. 30
As another Bulletin community service,. Deaths will be published as they are received. .
iReiatives and Friends are advised that the
UNVEILINGOF HEAPSTONE
in loving memory of the late
Will take place luniday, November 15 at1T:P0a.m.
at the
ISchara Tzedeck
Rabbi A. Feigelstock will officiate
J.B. Nev/all Mbriumerils
Hebrew Inscriptions
Our Specialty ... Established J909 . Personal atteniion paid to ALL ORDERS Fraser and 35th 327-1312
VAYERA
EFRAT,lsraer--OF ALL THE PERPLEXITIES inthe Torah, the paradoxical nature of Abraham's binding pf Isaac has engaged more thinkers and artists than any other in the Bible — from Rembrandt to Kierkegaard to the STat /, Emet of Guf.
[■h G-d promises Abraham that he will father a great nation, and after devoting his entire life to spreadingthis idea of one G-td, Abraham and Sarah are still without child. Then, when Sarah miraculously gives birth ^t the age of eighty-nine to a son who looks exactly like Abraham^ the whole world can finally see the absolute truth of the word of the One G-d of •: Abraham!
But the joy of the parents seems to come to a premature and tragic end when, as we read in this week's Torah portion of Vayera, how The Almighty command s Abrahamto lift up his beloved son Isaac to the altar as a whole burnt offering. Did Abraham struggle his entire life only to end uphavingto carry his sacrificed son's ashes down Mt. Moriah?
Abraham is most assuredly completely shattered: How could a mercifulG-d demand the sacri of a human being? Wasn't part of Abraham's monotheistic mission to rid the world of-the idol Mploch's madness?
Furtherniore, dpestft^the^ command to sacrifice Abra-ham's son violate the Divine guarantee that "through Isaac shall your progeny be called"?
But most perplexing of all and defying all human logic, how could G-d have possibly required Abraham to sacrifice the very child by which the plan of carrying the name of G-d into the world was to be put into effect?
If the;se were the only problems generated by the Akedah it would be enough to grant it the-status of the imponderable. Beyond all questions however, we must-humbly take note of the indisp;Utable fact that no Biblical story has had greater influence on the subseqiient history of the Jewish nation — even until: this very day!
In general the Torah's important messages are to be found not only in terms of the literal interpretation of the text, but also by the way in which the eternal Biblical world has been perceived, understood, interpreted and internalized by the generations which studied Torah and lived by its dictates.
Ironically, the very perplexity of G-d'scpmmand to sacrifice Isaac may actually shed light on one of the major enig- , mas of Jewish history: where does a people prornised great- ! ness, wealth, and innumerable progeny comparable to the stars find the courage ajjd the faith to endure the suffering and iTiartyrdom mercilessly influenced upon them by virtually every Christian or Islamic society with whom they came into contact? Unless the Jew would bow before his host-
A complete jigw drainage system for the whole property has been in«talled, new grass has been seeded, headstones have been raised and realigned and the cracked and sinking pathways have been replaced by brick pavement.
Additional walkways have
Israel) now proudly flank the driveway,
: The cenotaph area has been redesigned as a miniature Italian piazza, where memorial services can be held in a beautiful, natural setting in good weather.
Israeli slate has been used to good advantage todefine
Charnd Plottel is secretary of the Beth Israel board and editor of the congregation's newsletter
also been installed, including a formal central "Gedar Lane" which leads to every part of the; cemetery.
The ceinetery entrance has also been revamped. Two imposing black granite pillars inscribed Bet HaHayim (House of Life) ditid Bet YisrpeI {Housn of
masters, kiss the cross, accept the founder of Christianity, shout Allah*s praise, declare the Korah divine, death was inevitable, ".. '.::^-,[-'':^ - - \..:a-^__
Not only did many choose martyrdom, but rather than allow their children to be raped, tortured and baptized by the ravenous hordes, the fathers and mothers themselves brought down the knife against the necks of their own children.
In the city of Worms, in 1096, some 800 people were killed
in the course of two days at the end of the month of lyar.
Professor Shalom Spiegel, in his study oitht A kedah csLlUd
The Last Fria/, cites a chronicle of that period which cites a
declaration of one of the community's leaders. Rabbi
Meshulam bar Isaac: "All you greatand small, hearken unto
me. Here is myson that G-d gave me and to whom my wife
Tziporah gave birth in her Old age, Isaac is this child's name.
And now I shall offer him up as father Abiraham offered up
his son Isaac" The chronicle concludes with the father himself slaying
the boy, then taking his wife put of the room where they are both cruelly slaughtered by the murdering Christians. Spiegel quotes from ia dirge of the time: "Compassionate women in tears with their own hands slaughtered asat the A kedah at Moriah. Innocent souls withdrew to eternal life to their station 6n high ■ . ."
of
the entry of the memorial chapel as well as the borders of the landscape design^
Three strategically placed memorial gardens have been added to the cemetery to allow mourners privacy for meditation and contemplation.
Each of these beautifully planted gardens ehcom-passes a computer-crafted oak bench, designed and constructed by students of the technical studies de-partnient at John Oliver Secondary School, ^
To visit the cemetery today is to be surrounded by beauty in a "merhprial park'' where even inthe face of loss and bereavement, peace and consolation can be found.
to
Clearly, the Biblical story of the binding of Isaap imprinted a powerful message upon all future generations. From the Talmudic invocation of the ram's horn ph the Rosh Hashana Day of Judgment ("m order that / may remember you for your benefit the binding of Isaac the son of Abraham, and I shall account itforyouasifypuyouirr selves bound yourselves up before Me ^ ^.T. Rosh HashanaI6a'\ Jews rose to the challenge of martyrdom as they felt themselves inspirited by G-d and and transformed into Abrahams and Sarahs, placing their precious children on the altar of "kiddush hashem," sanctification of the Divine Narpe. Indeed, they often found even greater inspiration for their martyrdom on the basisbf a stark and startling deletion of an expected name from the Biblical account of the Akedah itself. :-j.". ■ Upon approaching Mt. Moriah, the appointed place of the sacrifice, Abraham tells the young men accompanying him to wait down below: " . . . / and the boy will go yonder;
Congregation Or Shalom wiir host a weekend Shab-baton with Rabbi Hanan Sills, Hillel House rabbi at ^the University of Oregon in Eugene.
The Nov. 20-22 event will include a Friday evening service at 6 p.in., Kabbalat Shabbat and a teaching on Shabbosing.
Shabbat morning services at 10 a.m; will feature a D'var Torah by Rabbi Sills on the topic "Prayer From the Inside Out." Sunday's 10:30 a.m. teaching will fpcuspn the Jewish year as a gestalt. DaveningmW begin at 9:45 a.m.
Rabbi Sills has worked within the Jewish renewal movement, founding
and we will worship and we will come back to you " (Gen. _joys of Je wishing,"
22:5).
But when the 'test' is over and Abraham and Isaac can now return to where they had left the youths, the text explicitly tells us that ''Abraham returned to his young men*' (22:19), strangely neglecting to mention Isaac. :
the Midrash Hagadol cites R'Eleazer ben Pedat: "Although Isaac did not die, 5mp/i/r£ regards him as though he had died And his ashes lay piled on the altar. That's why it is said, Abraham and not Isaac " {Margulies edition, P. 360).
Perhaps one might argue that Isaac was so traumatized by the Akedah that a specific aspect of him, the part of his personality which would always remain on the altar, did die. SHABBAT SHALOM — Page 12
summer retreat program, and helping to found Shiveit-Shalom; a moshav in Oregon. ■
A former professor of Judaic studies and the psychology of religion, the rabbi has been involved; in civil rights, environmental and anti-nuclear activism and feminist concerns^
To pre-register or for more information, call Or Shalom at 872-1614.
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