Congregation B’nai Harim Children of the Mountains Congregation B’nai Harim, P.O. Box 757, Pocono Pines, PA 18350/ (570) 646-0100 http://www.bnaiharimpoconos.org NEWSLETTER MARCH 2019/ VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 RABBI’S MESSAGE - MARCH 2019 Because of our Temple calendar, we rarely get to sing L’cha Dodi together. We will, heaven willing, get to do that when Rabbi Price comes once again to enhance our Shabbat Across America service on March 1. There is a mysterious verse in that hymn that goes, “Shamor v’zachor b’dibur echad.” Literally it means, “Keep and Remember in one utterance;” that is, God somehow said Rabbi Peg Kershenbaum two things at once about celebrating Shabbat! Did God speak in stereo while we heard in mono? Or was it the other way around? And what does it mean? Many commentators think that the two words refer to the two different ways that God describes celebrating Shabbat in the two different versions of the 10 Commandments, one in Exodus that says, “Remember” and one in Deuteronomy that says, “Keep.” In the first Deuteronomy version, we are told to remember to rest on Shabbat because God took us out of slavery. Slaves never rest, so as free people we are to make sure that we do no work and that we make sure our workers and even our animals (or our cars, computers or cell phones!) get a break. In the second Exodus version, we are told to keep the day of rest because God rested on the seventh day at the end of creation. The idea is that we are to consider the world complete and that we are to spend the day acknowledging this fact and marveling at nature’s perfection. We are even to accept ourselves as we are and try to see that we are “good enough” despite any flaws we may see. Shabbat is a day when we set aside our striv- ing, our planning, our need to put our signature on the world (or on the clutter, the bills, the shop- ping, even the hobbies!) The type of work that we set aside differs according to the two commands. Remember says, “Set aside all the usual labor. If you are a builder, stop building. If you generally find yourself carry- ing packages or columns of numbers; filing papers or grading them; if your work involves or in- volved accounting, or keeping house, writing briefs or laundering them: give it a rest.” Keep says, “all that you do that is like what God did to create the world—giving orders, planting, making order out of chaos—cease to do. The work week is over. Turn in your tools and smell the roses!” When taken together, Shamor v’Zachor cover all types of work: backbreaking work and crea- tive work. Shabbat is for refreshment of our lives, for appreciation of the world and the creatures that inhabit it. It’s time for family, for friends, for being thankful for the freedom to take it all in with our heads held high. It’s time to sing, to eat something delicious, to wear something special, to read, to play, to acknowledge God’s gifts. This Shabbat, why not try to remember to celebrate your freedom and keep your eye out for the beauty around you? As for the rest? Give it a rest! SAVE THE DATES Fri., March 1st - 6:00 PM - Shabbat Across America Sat., March 2nd - 10:30 AM Choir Practice Thurs. April 11th - Ladies’ Luncheon 12:30 AM Women’s Torah Study Sat., April 13th - 9:00 AM Religious School Sat., March 9th - 5:00 PM - Soup’s On at Stolzenbergs’ 9:30 AM Choir Warm-up Sat., March 16th - 9:00 AM Religious Sch. 10:15 AM Services followed by Book Club 9:30 AM Choir Warm-up And “Clean Out the Kitchen Shabbat” 10:15 AM Services Sun., April 14th - 9:30 AM Kasher kitchen Book Club Fri., April 19th - Passover begins Sun., March 17th - 9:30 AM - Board Meeting Sat., April 20th - Pesach Across America Congregational seder Thurs., March 21st - Ladies’ Luncheon at B’nai Harim Sat. March 23rd - Purim Shpiel - Fiddler Spoof Sat., April 27th - 10:15 AM Shabbat Services and Yiskor. - Megillah reading - 6:00 PM PAGE ONE/B’NAI HARIM PRESIDENT’S2 MESSAGE - MARCH 2019 by Meredith Stempel A famous writer once said that if you put people in a situation they will act accordingly. Bertolt Brecht in his play, The Good Woman Of Szechwan, portrays the main character who wishes to do good but also wants to survive in the societal jungle as two separate individuals/ personalities, a kindhearted altruistic woman and a cold-hearted calculated cut-throat businessman. I am sure many of you are familiar with the notorious Stanford Prison Study conducted by the psychology department in 1971 at Stanford University. For those not familiar it is an eye-opener and for all others I think it is worth revisiting. The psychology department at Stanford created a prison setting in the basement of a building on campus where the students were randomly divided into two groups, prisoners and guards. The psychology professor assumed the role of warden. The guards were so wrapped up in their roles that it was forgotten that the prisoners were all innocent students. They became sadistic and abusive towards the prisoners. The professor/warden completely embraced his role and began to forget who he really was. His primary goal became the maintenance of the security of the prison. He stopped the experiment which was to have lasted two weeks after six days. All participants were so immersed in their roles that they forgot about basic ideals of freedom and justice. KIDDUSH HOSTS Kiddushes are such a delightful part of socializing after a Saturday Morning service. We always welcome hosts for our Kiddushes. The cost of sponsoring is $65.00 and in- cludes bagels, cream cheese, coffee, tea, orange juice, milk and all needed paper goods. Sponsors are welcome to supplement the Kiddush. To host a Kiddush, call Roberta Pineiro (570) 839-0107. March 16th - From the Kiddush Fund NO ONE SAID HAPPY BIRTHDAY OR ANNIVERSARY TO YOU? If you want good wishes and have not seen your name up in lights, please provide Honi Gruenberg with your birthday(s) and anniversary(s). She will update the list and make sure you get recognized on your special day. Please send to [email protected] or call (570) 620-9315. SOUP’S ON AT THE STOLZENBERG’S - SATURDAY, MARCH 9TH Join us on March 9 at 5:30 PM for some deliciously good hot soup and crusty breads at the Stolzenberg’s home 3143 Paul Bunyan Trail (Timber Trails) Pocono Pines. If you have a friend or acquaintance that you think may be interested in knowing more about our congregation or in simply spending an enjoyable evening with us as a way of getting to know our members, please bring them along. Kindly do not bring a host gift. Do bring a kosher unexpired item for the JFS kosher food pantry or an item for our temple kitchen such as coffee, tea, napkins, recyclable hot cups, sugar, sweetener or other items we use at our Kiddush. Directions: Rte. 940 or Pocono Crest Road to RTE 423N.to Timber Trails’ entrance on right. (Blockhouse Road). Turn Right onto Blockhouse Road. Stop at ranger’s gate house then go straight to T at end of Blockhouse Road. At the T turn left onto Conestoga. Paul Bunyan is the 5th left off Conestoga. Stolzenberg home is the 7th house on the left. Driveway is curvy so if you have no diffi- culty walking bring a flashlight and park on road. Or call 570 643 1131 or 347 672 6643 or 732 735 0983 for help. Please RSVP at any of the numbers listed. PAGE TWO/B’NAI HARIM DNA by George Novick My daughter had given me a gift of a DNA kit. I did the test and sent it away. The result came back and there were no surprises. I am 99%+ Ashkenazi and about 3/10 of a percent Ital- ian (southern European). About a month later I received a list of about 1000 possible relatives from 2nd cousins down. I perused the list, which has very few last names and found one that did have a last name listed as Novack. So I took a chance and contacted her. She responded and after a lengthy discussion we realized that we were related on my father’s side. I learned that she is 45 years old, her father is close to me in age and that she lives in NYC. I also found out that my grandfather and her great grandfather were brothers. I never knew that my grandfather had more than one brother. It seems that there were more brothers and sisters too. I now have a new side of the family I never knew about and am puzzled why I didn’t know that it existed. We are going to meet soon and I hope to get more information on my father’s family the Nova- kovskys. Oh by the way, she has a daughter who goes to the same school as my grandson where she is an 8th grader and he is a 9th. Will wonders and connections never cease. A PLEA FOR PLARN by Norma Krasne-Levine & Steven Levine Dear Fellow Congregants, Thank you so very much for your collections of plastic bags. However, we are in desperate need of readymade Plarn (plastic yarn).