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Odds & Ends

The Holocaust: Who are the missing million?

The Holocaust: Who are the missing million?

By Raffi Berg – BBC News, Jerusalem

Faces on section of wall in Hall of Names

Two-thirds of European Jewry was murdered by the Nazis

Giselle Cycowicz (born Friedman) remembers her father, Wolf, as a warm, kind and religious man. “He was a scholar,” she says, “he always had a book open, studying Talmud [compendium of Jewish law], but he was also a businessman and he looked after his family.”

Before the war, the Friedmans lived a happy, comfortable life in Khust, a Czechoslovak town with a large Jewish population on the fringes of Hungary. All that changed after 1939, (more…)

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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – February 2022

Israeli Weird Science

When reading or hearing about Israel in the news these days, it seems that there are only two stories repeated over and over again – the latest round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or Israel’s leading edge in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. While aspects of both of these have been addressed here, we at Israel Matters pledged broader coverage of Israel the land and stuff that happens there. (more…)

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Rabbi's Corner

Judith Edidin Scolnic

This is my eulogy for my mother, Judith Edidin Scolnic, given at Beth El of Montgomery County on Jan. 13, 2022

In one of the most popular movies of all time, half the population of the universe disappears in what is called “The Snap.” Thanos, the personification of death, snaps his fingers. The people are there, and then in a flash, they’re gone. (more…)

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President's Message

February 2022: President’s Message

Our religious history is as much of our present as it is our past. As you know, the Torah scroll is the center of our religious beliefs.    The most important fact about our Torah scrolls is that every one is identical in that they all have 304,805 letters in 79,976 words in 5,844 verses. (more…)

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Israel Matters!

Israel Matters! – January 2022

 

New Jersey and Israel: Roads Scholars

The New Jersey-Israel Commission (https://nj.gov/state/njic.shtml) was established to foster a spirit of cooperation between the State of Israel and the State of New Jersey. New Jersey is not the only American state with such an office, but here at Israel Matters we have discovered that New Jersey and Israel do in fact have a lot in common. For starters, Israel and New Jersey take up roughly the same amount of space on a map, that is, they are about the same size! But how do people get around? (more…)

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Rabbi's Corner

Volunteerism

(Sermon given on the 75th Anniversary Shabbat)

It’s a famous story in the Torah. There are two brothers, twins, Esau and Jacob.

Esau goes out hunting and he doesn’t kill anything,

and he’s really tired, and really hungry, and when he comes back to the camp,

he sees his brother Jacob cooking something. He wants what’s in the pot,

and Jacob offers to give it to him in exchange for the birthright. (more…)

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President's Message

Well, we are finally into winter

Well, we are finally into winter. The first small snowfall of the season was not difficult and it has not been bitter cold yet, like it gets up here. But unfortunately, the Pandemic continues to be a big part of our lives. Those safety measures put in place, will continue in the synagogue. Being totally vaccinated, social distancing, mask-wearing, hand sanitizer in several places around the shul are all things to which we still need to adhere. New Air Purifiers are in place in the Sanctuary and Social Hall. They are moved to the classrooms for Sunday school. More will be coming for the classrooms, etc. Keeping everyone SAFE is a priority. (more…)

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