congregation shearith israel THe bulletin July – August 2013 Tammuz – Elul 5773 Rabbi Selection Announcement from our Officers, David J. Nathan, Parnas, Michael I. Katz and Louis M. Solomon, Seganim (abbreviated as announced on June 3, 2013)

n behalf of a unanimous Rab- binic Search Committee and a Ounanimous Board of Trustees, it is our great pleasure to announce that the Board has hired Rabbi Meir Y. Soloveichik as the Congregation’s Rabbi. We are also pleased to announce that the Board has established the position of Shearith Israel Distinguished Rabbinic Fellow and that Rabbi Richard Hidary will be our Shearith Israel Distinguished Rab- binic Fellow. Rabbi Soloveichik is considered one of the leading Jewish thinkers and Rabbi Meir Y. Soloveichik Rabbi Richard Hidary intellectuals in the modern Orthodox world, lecturing and speaking widely. We are equally enthusiastic that Rabbi We are thrilled to welcome our Rabbi He obtained his rabbinic ordination Hidary will be our inaugural Shearith and Distinguished Rabbinic Fellow and from Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Israel Distinguished Rabbinic Fellow. eagerly look forward to our community Seminary of and holds Prior to joining us Rabbi Hidary has growing and flourishing. Building on a Ph.D from Princeton University in been Assistant Rabbi at the Sephardic and paying homage to our past, we are Religion. Rabbi Soloveichik is currently Synagogue of Brooklyn, where he served embarking on a new period in our Con- Director of the Straus Center for Torah for eight years under the mentorship of gregation’s illustrious history with zeal and Western Thought at Yeshiva Uni- Rabbi Moshe Shamah and demonstrated and excitement. We look forward to the versity and prior to joining us has been the very qualities and talents most valu- opportunity for every congregant to meet Associate Rabbi at Congregation Kehilath able to us at Shearith Israel. Rabbi Hidary Rabbi Soloveichik and Rabbi Hidary. Jeshurun in . As a scholar in is Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies We will be organizing introductory and residence at Shearith Israel, delivering at Stern College for Women of Yeshiva welcome events over the summer leading a multi-part series over the past year, University and is the author of Dispute for into the High Holiday season. We know Rabbi Soloveichik’s deep appreciation of the Sake of Heaven: Legal Pluralism in the that our membership, the Shearith Israel American Jewish History as well as his Talmud (Brown University, 2010). His family, will welcome them warmly. singular insights into the role of Jews outstanding scholarship has focused in and Jewish thought and of our Congrega- the areas of Talmud and Second Temple tion specifically in shaping the Ameri- Era Jewish History. Rabbi Hidary studied can experience became clear, as did his at Yeshiva University and Yeshivat Har enthusiasm for our living minhag. Rabbi Etzion. He received his rabbinic ordina- Soloveichik is married to Layaliza. They tion from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate at have five children. the Shehebar Sephardic Center in Jerusa- lem and earned his Ph.D in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from New York University. Rabbi Hidary is married to Esther. They have four children.

2 In Memoriam: Edgar J. Nathan, 3rd (z”l) Michael Katz, Segan

hearith Israel mourns the passing of renowned and inured to the benefit of our beloved Parnas Emeritus, Edgar Shearith Israel. He leaves his wife, Ruth SJ. Nathan, 3rd. Edgar’s family was Gottesman Nathan, brother, Frederic S. among the first founders of our Synagogue Nathan, daughter, Sara E. Nathan, son- and has continued to serve our com- in-law, Joel Kazis, son, David, daughter- munity, , and our nation in in-law, Rebecca Chaplan, grandsons, many important and distinguished ways. Joshua and Saul Nathan Kazis, and Aaron, Edgar’s grandfather, Edgar J. Nathan, and Daniel, Jonathan and Benjamin Nathan. father, Edgar J. Nathan, Jr., were important In many ways the names of Congregation members of our community and Board of Shearith Israel and Edgar Nathan 3rd were Trustees and his father and uncle, Henry synonymous. Edgar represented all that is Hendricks, Jr., each served as Parnas for the best of Shearith Israel. The character many years. His cousin, Benjamin Nathan of a synagogue and community reflect the Cardozo, was an Associate Justice of the combined strengths of its members, but Supreme Court and an active member at times it can also exhibit (and even mag- of Shearith Israel. Edgar’s son, David J. Edgar J. Nathan, 3rd nify) errors, vanities, and short sighted- Nathan, is our current Parnas. ness. Edgar, however, was the best among Edgar served as Parnas of Shearith Israel us and urged and taught us by example from 1968 – 1990. He was a wise and how to be more wise, more fair, more capable leader during his 22-year tenure. decent, more dignified, and, of course, Edgar oversaw a quiet but steady and pro- more elegant. He showed us how to be gressive transformation of Shearith Israel proud of our American heritage and Juda- to greater strength and inclusiveness. ism but to do so with humility and without Significantly, it was under his tenure arrogance. Edgar always did it better than that women first became electors of the we could, individually and/or collectively, Congregation and services by and for but he never let us know that and, if he lost women were first held. As an attorney, patience with us, he never scolded or lost Edgar provided a role model of wisdom confidence in us. As a leader, but more as and fairness for his colleagues as well as an individual, he was beloved by every- being a counselor and advisor to his cli- one and Shearith Israel was known by and ents that all lawyers should aspire to. He reflected his goodness, wisdom, leader- was a leader of many organizations, large ship and dignity. We will, of course, carry and small, in the larger Jewish community on and str ive to live up to his standards, and beyond and his reputation for fair- but we will miss his voice, his wisdom, his ness, wisdom and thoughtfulness was walk, his smile and his goodness.

the bulletin July – August 2013 3 The Cemeteries of Shearith Israel Zachary Edinger, Shamash

requently, tour groups and visi- Bueno de Mesquita in the year 1683. Benjamin Mendes Seixas, Simon Nathan, tors to our synagogue learn about Jonas Phillips, and Hayman Levy among Many people working in the financial dis- Four early history while sitting on others. Descendants of these families are trict are familiar with New York’s oldest pews dating back to 1730 in the Little still active in our congregation today and cemetery, the Trinity Churchyard located Synagogue. There one can look at many frequently participate in these special at the end of Wall Street and Broadway. relics of our congregation which are, services. Most people, however, are unaware that quite amazingly, still in daily use. Much the second oldest extant burial ground in The small plot of land currently found at less familiar to visitors and congregants Manhattan is Shearith Israel’s Chatham Chatham Square was once much larger. alike are Shearith Israel’s cemeteries. Square cemetery. Only the most northern Erosion in the topology and the expan- These hidden gems are just as important section of Trinity’s Churchyard predates it. sion of New York City caused several as the relics of the Little Synagogue to instances in which the congregation the preservation and transmission of our At the time of the American Revolution, was forced reduce the size of the cem- congregational story. Three historic and the cemetery was in a strategic loca- etery and, sadly, to disinter many of one active cemetery are maintained by tion on a hill overlooking the East River. the remains buried there. Some of our the congregation and each of them has a Writing in March of 1776, Major General earliest halakhic questions, directed to tale to tell. Charles Lee wrote to the Commander-in- the Bet Din of the Spanish and Portu- Chief of the Continental Army, George In July 1655, less than a year after their guese congregation of London, related Washington, the following: initial arrival, the leaders of our commu- to the permissibility and procedures of nity petitioned Governor Peter Stuyves- The command of the Sound must be ours… re-interment. Unfortunately, the issue ant for the right to purchase a cemetery. The East River, I am persuaded, may be recurred several times in our congrega- The response to this petition was that secured in such a manner that [British] tion’s history. This is probably the source a suitable cemetery location would be ships will scarcely venture into it…A battery for our custom today to declare burials in found for the Jews only when the need for for this purpose is planned at the foot of the our cemetery as merely conditional. The burial arose. The next year, in February Jews’ burying ground. To protect this battery size of the Chatham Square cemetery was 1656, the community again requested from the near approach of ships, guns in bar- severely reduced in the year 1855, when the right to purchase a cemetery. This bet placed on the heights of the Jews’ burying the expansion of the Bowery resulted in petition was granted and “a little hook of ground in correspondence with a battery taking a large portion of the cemetery by land situate outside the city” was granted on an opposite commanding knoll in Long eminent domain. Two hundred and fifty to the Jews as a burial place. This was the Island, will certainly be sufficient. six graves had to be reinterred to accom- very first cemetery of Shearith Israel. modate the city’s expansion. Unfortunately, almost no records of this When the British conquered New York, Well before this major change, a city “little hook of land” exist. We no longer they too made use of this strategic posi- ordinance in the year 1823 prohibited know where it was located or even who tion. It is also said that British soldiers burial below Canal Street. As a result, the was buried there. removed several leaden epitaph plates from headstones in the cemetery in order congregation moved to its second burial Chatham Square Cemetery to produce bullets. ground. Even so, a few burials still took (1682) place at Chatham Square after 1823. A quaint and very special ceremony is The oldest of our extant cemeteries is held at the cemetery each year on the known as the Chatham Square Cemetery. Sunday before Memorial Day. At this It is located in Chinatown at 55 St. James ceremony, we recite memorial prayers Place. The land was originally purchased and plant flags at the graves of patriots in 1682 by Joseph Bueno de Mesquita. of the American Revolution. Included Fittingly, the first interment in this cem- among these patriots are our hazzan, etery was that of his relative Benjamin Reverend Gershom Mendes Seixas,

4 Eleventh Street Twenty First Street Beth Olam – Our Active Cemetery Cemetery Shearith Israel Cemetery Although several locations were initially In August of 1829, Shearith Israel’s third (Ridgewood, Queens) considered for the Congregation’s second cemetery was consecrated. It was located The purchase of a large plot of land in cemetery, the land ultimately selected on Twenty First Street just west of Sixth Queens turned out to be a very prudent was located on Milligan Street in the Avenue. There is an interesting anecdote acquisition. This land has provided for heart of what we know as Greenwich Vil- related to the first interment in the 21st the burials of our congregation since 1851 lage on West 11th Street. Street cemetery which highlights the reli- and will continue to do so for many years gious piety of some of our members. to come. In its initial years, the Eleventh Street Walking through the rows here you cemetery was used primarily to bury According to rules of ritual purity, will find important persons from the victims of communicable diseases like Cohanim are prohibited from coming synagogue’s past as well as recent history. yellow fever and malaria, as well as for into contact with the deceased (except for Emma Lazarus and Benjamin Cardozo those Jews who passed away in New York their immediate family.) This means that are both buried here as are many of our but were not members of the Congrega- ordinarily Cohanim cannot participate in ministers and hazzanim, Jacques Judah tion (until 1825 Shearith Israel was New any of the mitzvoth related to burial. One Lyons, Henry Pereira Mendes, David de York’s only synagogue and therefore particularly commendable priest, Mr. Sola Pool, Louis C. Gerstein, and, Abra- provided for the needs of all of the city’s Lewis I. Cohen, realized that the conse- ham Lopes Cardozo of blessed memory, Jewish residents.) After 1823 it became cration of a new and unused cemetery among many others. the congregation’s only burial ground and afforded him an opportunity to participate was used much more generally. in a mitzvah usually off limits toCohanim . The naval commodore, Uriah Philips So it was Mr. Cohen who volunteered to Levy is also interred here. At his death If you visit the Eleventh Street cemetery dig the first grave for the first burial of the he requested that a life-size statue of today you will find a tiny triangular piece new cemetery in November 1829. his likeness be erected over his grave. of land with well-worn and mostly illeg- This request caused the congregation ible monuments. Among those buried Some of the notable persons laid to rest some discomfort. While it is important st here are the Revolutionary war veteran, in the 21 Street cemetery were Moses to honor the wishes of the deceased, it Ephraim Hart, and the noted painter, Levy Maduro Peixoto and Isaac Seixas, is also prohibited by halakha to erect a Joshua A. Canter. ministers of our congregation, and statue in human form. In denying the Harmon Hendricks, founder of one of By the year 1830, the increasing expan- creation of this monument, the syna- America’s first great industrial com- sion of New York and the development of gogue cited responsa by leading Euro- panies and whose descendants are still the “grid” street system resulted in the pean rabbis of the time, including both members of our congregation today. taking of a large part of the cemetery for Zacharias Frankel and Samson Raphael Perhaps the most influential person to be the creation of 11th Street. This required Hirsch, respectively the founders of the buried in the 21st Street cemetery was the the disinterment and re-interment of “positive-Historical” and “Neo-Ortho- great Jewish diplomat and proto-Zionist, many of those buried in this cemetery. In dox” movements, among others, who had Mordecai Manual Noah. addition, because 11th street was graded written responsa to a similar question significantly higher than the cemetery – it In 1851, the city prohibited burial in about a monument for Judah Touro in also required the filling in of many cubic Manhattan below 86th Street. Rather than New Orleans just a few years earlier. feet of earth in order to keep the cemetery continue to look north (as Trinity Church Another feature of our cemetery in level with the street. Thus the graves in did), the Congregation searched outside Queens is its beautiful chapel, also known the eleventh street cemetery are unusu- of Manhattan for its next burial ground. as the Metaher House. It was designed by ally deep. Yet again the city’s expansion Together with Bnai Jeshurun and Shaarei Calvert Vaux, a designer of Central Park, resulted in the search for a new cemetery. Tefila, the congregation purchased a large plot of land in Ridgewood, Queens.

the bulletin July – August 2013 5 Cemeteries, continued CLASSES, LECTURES, AND PROGRAMS

and is his only known religious building. From time to time, this beautiful chapel Programs and Weekly Classes is still used for small funerals. Events Monday Many lessons can be learned by visiting Literary Lunch Between Tanakh and Hazal: The any one of our cemeteries. Even from its Thursday, July 11 Books of Bayit Sheni earliest days our congregation included a Thursday, August 15 Mondays in July mix of Sephardim and Ashkenazim. This 12:15 – 1:45 pm 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm is evident not only in the names encoun- Join our monthly gathering where we Rabbi Shalom Morris tered, but also through more subtle clues read and discuss a variety of works (fic- such as the freely mixed use of both tion, nonfiction, memoir, personal essay, This 4-part series taught by Rabbi Sha- upright headstones (Ashkenazic) and poetry) from across the ages and around lom Morris will explore the books written flat ledger stones (Sephardic.) We also the world. Led by Shearith Israel’s own between the close of the Biblical period encounter the regular use of Portuguese, poet and member, Janet R. Kirchheimer, and before the writings of our Rab- Hebrew, and English inscriptions (some- each session is an independent class and bis. We will analyze the content of these times together on the same monument!). is accompanied by a delicious lunch and fascinating works, study their historical These stones testify to the various cul- stimulating conversation. Meets in the context, the authors behind them, and tural identities of our forebears. A visit Elias Room. $10 per session. RSVP to why they are essential to Judaic studies. to our cemeteries not only honors our Alana Shultz. This course will serve as an introduction forebears but is also a trip through our to next year’s yearlong course congregational history and the history of Tuesday Morning Run During the Second Temple. No registration Before Morning Services New York City. required. Topics are as follows: Join our Hazzan, Rabbi Ira Rohde and July 1 – Apocrypha & Cemeteries require constant mainte- other serious runners in the congrega- Pseudepigrapha nance. This work is provided for by the tion on a weekly run through Central Park July 8 – Megillat Ta’anit congregation with the assistance of the prior to Tuesday morning minyan and July 22 – Dead Sea Scrolls July 29 – Josephus Hebra Hased vaAmet and the 1654 Society. breakfast. Contact Rabbi Ira Rohde for Our superintendent, John Quinones, details. Thursday keeps the historic cemeteries in good Tai Chi order while our cemetery in Queens is Tuesday Morning Minyan 11:00 am maintained by a professional mainte- and Breakfast Lewis Paleias nance company from a nearby cemetery. Minyan, 7:15 am, Breakfast 7:50 am Our morning minyan crew has been This ancient practice helps balance, We have recently started to plan a major meeting for a weekly breakfast on strength, circulation, mindfulness and project to restore, beautify, and open up Tuesdays, an idea pioneered through more. Tai Chi is a wonderful form of our historic cemeteries. For more infor- the generosity of our member Chaim exercise for all ages, especially seniors. mation, or to help with this important Katzap, who has subsidized it in the past. Our teacher offers individual attention task, please speak with Zachary Edinger Additional sponsors are appreciated. All and adapts the class based on the group. or Alana Shultz. morning minyan attendees are welcome. $10 per class or $50 for 6 classes. Walk- Contact Rabbi Ira Rohde if you would like ins and beginners welcome. to sponsor the minyan breakfast in honor of a special occasion.

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509 CSI Bulletin_Jul-Aug-2013_4_gr1.indd 6 6/13/13 9:37 AM Culinary Corner This edition featuring Gilda Angel

n commemoration of Tisha B’Ab, we present a traditional recipe by Gilda Sopa de Lentejas Boyos de Queso IAngel from her cookbook Sephardic (Turkish Lentil Soup) (Rhodian Cheese Holiday Cooking. The cookbook com- Spirals) Ingredients piles hundreds of recipes from across the Sephardic world and organizes them 1 ½ cups lentils Ingredients 1 cup vegetable oil according Jewish holiday, complete with 2 onions, chopped thorough backgrounds and descriptions 2/3 cup water of the culinary traditions. ¼ cup vegetable oil 1 tsp salt The Shulhan Arukh, the classic code 3 stalks celery, sliced 1/8 tsp pepper of Jewish law compiled by Rabbi Yosef 4 carrots, peeled and sliced Karo, states that with the beginning of 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour the month of Ab, one should refrain from ½ cup chopped fresh parsley 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese, divided joyous pursuits. Accordingly, many Jews 1 bay leaf refrain from eating meat during the eight 1 egg, beaten days prior to Tisha B’Ab except on Shab- 8 cups water bat. Some eat no meat for as long as three Directions 2 tsp salt (or more to taste) weeks, while others only abstain from the Preheat oven to 400 F. first of Ab. Since the custom of abstaining Directions In bowl, combine oil, water, salt, pepper, from meat is widespread, Jewish cooks Rinse lentils several times in cold water. flour, and 2/3 cup of grated cheese. Mix to everywhere created a varied assortment Discard any that are discolored. Cover form soft, pliable dough. Divide in half. of dairy and vegetarian meals for this with cold water and soak several hours or period. For Sephardim, lentils have long overnight. Drain. Roll each half of dough into large rect- been associated with the Nine Days. This angle, about ¼-inch thick. Spring each In a large pot, sauté onions in oil until simple Turkish lentil soup is tradition- rectangle with ½ cup grated cheese. Roll translucent. Add lentils, celery, car- ally served with black Greek olives and dough tightly, jelly-roll fashion. With a rots, parsley, bay leaf, and water. Bring Rhodian cheese spirals (boyos de queso). very sharp knife, cut into ½-inch slices. to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer Place slices on an ungreased baking 3-4 hours. During the last 10 minutes of sheet, cut side up, and flatten slightly cooking, remove bay leaf and add salt. with your hand. Using a pastry brush, brush top of each pinwheel with beaten egg. Sprinkle with remaining grated cheese. Bake in preheated 400 F oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. B’tayavon! Sephardic Holiday Cooking by Gilda Angel is available for purchase at www.jewishideas.org.

the bulletin July – August 2013 7

509 CSI Bulletin_Jul-Aug-2013_4_gr1.indd 7 6/13/13 9:40 AM ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congratulations awarded the National Medical Fellow- George Washington University. We wish mazal tob to: ship’s Humanitarian Award at their Adam Ninyo on his graduation from the Champions of Health Awards Dinner. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik upon his Summit School. He will continue his appointment as Rabbi of Shearith Israel. We wish mazal tob to all our graduates: education at Vassar College. We welcome him, his wife Layaliza, and Jacob Aufzien on his graduation from The Harlan Reiss on his graduation from their children Ahrele (Aharon), PinTan Ramaz Middle School. Abraham Joshua Heschel Middle School. (Pinhas Tanhum), Serach, Daveedy, and He will continue his education at Abra- Juliette Berg on her graduation from New Berel (Yosef Dov). ham Joshua Heschel High School. Thank York University with a Ph.D. in Develop- you to his parents Barbara and Guy Reiss Rabbi Richard Hidary upon his appoint- mental Psychology. ment as Shearith Israel’s Distinguished for co-sponsoring the Graduation Kid- Rabbinic Fellow. We welcome him, his Jessica Cavanagh-Melhado on receiving her dush Luncheon in his honor. M.A. and M.P.A. from New York University. wife Esther, and their children David, Elan M.Sherman on his graduation from Ronnie, Aimee, and Zachary. David Dellal on his graduation from The Rutgers University. He will be starting Rabbi Shalom Morris on becoming a Ramaz Upper School. He will be continu- a career in Construction Management. Ph.D. candidate at the Bernard Revel ing his education at MIT. Thank you to Rev. and Mrs. Philip L. Graduate School of Jewish Studies in Reuben and Matea Frieber on their grad- Sherman for co-sponsoring the Gradua- Early Modern Jewish History with a focus uation from Beit Rabban Kindergarten. tion Kiddush Luncheon in his honor. on New World and Sephardic studies. They will be continuing their education at Benjamin Solis Cohen Park East Day School. Thank you to Laury Daniela and Craig Pottruck on the birth of Emma Solis Cohen a baby boy, Leo Jacob Pottruck. Leo is the Frieber for co-sponsoring the Graduation Joseph Solomon on his graduation from grandson of our members, Barbara and Kiddush Luncheon in their honor. The Ramaz Middle School. He will con- Anwar Suleiman. Sam Freilich on his graduation from The tinue his education at TABC High School. Ramaz Middle School. Thank you to his Rebecca and Adam Waldman on the Thank you the Family Solomon for parents Stephanie and Jonathan Freilich birth of a baby girl, Emmanuelle Dara co-sponsoring the Graduation Kiddush for co-sponsoring the Graduation Kid- Waldman. Luncheon in his honor. dush Luncheon in his honor. Elizabeth Aufzien on becoming a bat Daniel Suckewer on his graduation from Sara J. Guenoun on her graduation from mitzvah. Elizabeth is the daughter of our Vanderbilt University with a B.A. in Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in members Michelle and Jonathan Aufzien. Economics and History. Thank you to Romance Languages. Thank you to her The bat mitzvah took place in New York. the Suckewer Family for co-sponsoring parents Andre and Maggie Guenoun for the Graduation Kiddush Luncheon in his Vivian and Andre Zalcman on their recent co-sponsoring the Graduation Kiddush honor. marriage. Luncheon in her honor. Henry Zuckerberg on his graduation from David E. R. Dangoor, our member and Noah Lang on his graduation from Abra- the Eagle Hill School. He will continue President of the American Sephardi ham Joshua Heschel Middle School. He his education at Westtown School in West Federation, on being honored by the ISEF will continue his education at SAR High Chester, Pennsylvania. Foundation. School. Thank you to his parents Leslie Judge Judith Kaye on being honored at the Cohen and Jeffrey Lang for co-sponsor- Columbia-Barnard Hillel Seixas Dinner. ing the Graduation Kiddush Luncheon in Dinah and Andy Mendes on being his honor. honored at the Drisha Institute of Jewish Benjamin Mendes Mark on his gradu- Education’s 34th Anniversary Dinner. ation from The Ramaz Upper School. Honorary Trustee Jack Rudin on being He will be continuing his education at

8 In Appreciation Vivian and Andre Zalcman in honor of New Members Thank you to the sponsors of our 2012-2013 their recent wedding. We welcome the following individuals to the Scholars-in-Residence Program: Adam and Rebecca Waldman in honor Shearith Israel family: Emma & Joel Blass of their new daughter Emmanuelle Dara Dawn Kronenfeld Waldman. Rachel Brody & Michael Lustig Adina and Philip Wagman and their chil- Susan Wind Nicole and David Cohen dren Sarah and Daniel Thank you to our Shabuot Kiddush luncheon Rebecca L. Chaplan and David J. Nathan In Memoriam sponsors: Karen & Jack Daar We mourn the loss of our members: Anonymous Shmuel Ben Michael Daniel Divekar David Hazan. Condolences to his sister Michelle and Jonathan Aufzien Vanessa Gelman and Mitchell Moss Levana Cohen and niece Dr. Claire The Blass Family Cohen. Michael Katz Yael Cycowicz and Matthew Kaplan Elizabeth Lambert. Condolences to her Ronen Korin Family of Jenna and Daniella Roberts brothers Tom Lambert and Michael Lilliane Marks Lambert. Adele and Ronald Tauber Joshua de Sola Mendes Emilie Nasser. Condolences to her Natasha and Daniel Tauber Barbara and Guy Reiss children Henry Nasser, Marilyn Mugrabi, The Weiss Yohananoff Family Diane Abitbol, and her siblings Jacques Joy and Bruce Roberts Adina, Philip, Sarah and Daniel Wagman Cattan, Sarine Chaki, and Bertha Assin. Lydia Sarfaty Thank you to all those who contributed to a Honorary Parnas, Edgar J. Nathan, 3rd. Seligson Family beautiful Shabuot: Condolences to his wife Ruth G. Nathan, son David J. Nathan, daughter Sara E. Family Solomon The Sisterhood for their transformation Nathan, and brother Frederic S. Nathan. Malka Strasberg of our main sanctuary with breathtaking floral arrangements and greenery. Louise Zakaria. Condolences to her Ralph Sutton nephew Mougahed Darwish and cousin The Sisterhood for sponsoring our Kathy and Daniel Vieyra Jenny Shemesh. celebratory Cheesecake Kiddush on the Adam and Rebecca Waldman second day of Shabuot. Condolences Susan Pleasance Wind The 54 households who studied for the 54 We extend our sincere condolences to: parshiyot for the Shabuot Siyyum Torah. Vivian and Andre Zalcman Alana Shultz, our Program Director, on Ezra and Cecile Zilkha The participants of our Girls’ Book of the loss of her grandfather, Morris Louis Thank you to our Kiddush sponsors (from Ruth reading: Elizabeth Aufzien, Avi- Shultz. gail Freedman, Honor Greenberg, Yaara April 13 through June 1, 2013): The Bergman family on the loss of Jordan Kaplan, Olalla Levi, Daniella Roberts, Bergman, husband of Shoshana and Lewis Bateman in memory of his father. Jenna Roberts, Flora Tauber, Sarah Wag- father of their children Jack and Sally. Michelle and Jonathan Aufzien in honor man, and Gabriella Yohananoff. John Quionones, our Facilities Manager, of their daughter Elizabeth becoming a Thank you to all those who helped us reach on the loss of his brother Johnathan bat mitzvah. our financial goals for the UnGala, this Quinones. Louis and Beth Solomon in honor of their year’s unique spring fundraiser, ensuring a daughter Lia becoming a bat mitzvah. bright future for Shearith Israel. Our bulletin goes to print one month in advance of delivery. Please accept our apolo- Charles Turkie and Family in memory of gies for any errors or omissions. his son David.

the bulletin July – August 2013 9 SERVICES

the beginnings of the books of Jeremiah July 19-20 WEEKDAY SERVICES and Isaiah. Beginning on Rosh Hodesh Ab Shabbat Nahamu and intensifying during the week before Candle Lighting, 8:06 pm MORNINGS (SHAHRIT): Tisha B’Ab, various customs of penitence Friday Evening, 6:45 pm Sunday, 8:00 am and mourning are observed including Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am Monday-Friday, 7:15 am refraining from the consumption of meat Zemirot, Sjimon den Hollander EVENINGS (MINHAH & ARBIT): and wine. Torah Reading, Vaethannan-Nahamu June 9 – July 18, 6:45 pm Rosh Hodesh Elul Haftarah, Dr. Yossi Blum July 21 - September 24, 6:30 pm Tuesday & Wednesday Class, 6:45 pm August 6 & 7 Minhah & Arbit, 8:00 pm Minor Holidays Labor Day Habdalah, 9:05 pm Monday, September 2 Notes about the Shabbatot American Independence Day preceding and following Tisha Thursday, July 4 Morning Service, 8:00 am B’Ab: Morning Service, 8:00 am The three weeks between the Fast of the Rosh Hodesh Ab Shabbat Services Seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha B’Ab Monday, July 8 are a traditional period of contrition Fast of the Ninth of Ab July 5-6 and mourning, and prophetic passages (Tisha B’Ab) Shabbat Shimu of reproof and ominous foreboding are Monday Evening, July 15 Candle Lighting, 8:12 pm* read as the haftarah readings on the three Minhah Service, 5:30 pm Friday Evening, 6:45 pm intervening Shabbatot. Sephardic custom Sunset (cease eating), 8:26 pm Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am is to refer to these Shabbatot by the open- Doors open for Evening Service, 8:15 pm Zemirot, Adam Jackson ing words of the particular haftarah read Evening Service (Arbit), 8:45 pm Torah Reading, Mattoth-Masei-Shimu on that day. Shabbat Dibre is the first of Tuesday, July 16 Haftarah, Jacob Daar these three, and refers to the opening Morning Service, 6:30 am Class, 7:00 pm passage of the Book of Jeremiah, the Minhah & Arbit, 7:30 pm Minhah & Arbit, 8:15 pm most famous of the “prophets of doom.” Sunset, 8:26 pm Habdalah, 9:12 pm This opening passage as well as the two following passages is chanted in a dirge End of Fast, 8:53 pm *On this and subsequent Friday evenings, light before services, if attending. of lament, although each of the three pas- The Fast of the Ninth of Ab sages ends on a note of comfort. Shabbat Tisha B’Ab commemorates the breaching July 12-13 Shimu continues the cycle with a reading of the Temple Mount fortifications and Shabbat Hazon from the second chapter of Jeremiah. the dates of destruction of both the First Candle Lighting, 8:10 pm Shabbat Hazon refers to the parallel and Second Temples. Tisha B’Ab occurs Friday Evening, 6:45 pm opening “vision” of the Book of Isaiah. three weeks after the Fast of Tammuz, Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am This last of the three haftarot which which commemorated the breach of the Zemirot, Rev. Salomon L. Vaz Dias immediately precedes Tisha B’Ab is often city walls of Jerusalem, as well as the Torah Reading, Debarim read by the hazzan or some other scholar destruction of the first tablets of the Ten Haftarah, Rabbi Ira L. Rohde who is “well-versed in lamentation,” as it Commandments following the sin of the Class, 7:00 pm is at Congregation Shearith Israel. Golden Calf. These three weeks are called Bein HaMetzarim. One the three interven- Minhah & Arbit, 8:15 pm ing Shabbatot during this period we read Habdalah, 9:09 pm the three “Prophecies of Doom” from

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509 CSI Bulletin_Jul-Aug-2013_4_gr1.indd 10 6/13/13 9:42 AM The Fast of the Ninth of Ab is followed by August 16-17 Fall 2013 Jewish Holiday seven Shabbatot at which special haftarot Candle Lighting, 7:34 pm Calendar Preview of Consolation from the end of the Book Friday Evening, 6:45 pm Save the Dates! of Isaiah are chanted. Only the first of Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am (Dates listed here indicate the daytime the seven, immediately following Tisha Zemirot, Zachary Edinger dates only, not the Eves of the Holidays) B’Ab, is referred to popularly as Shab- Torah Reading, Ki Tetse Rosh Hashanah, 5774 bat Nahamu, referring to Isaiah Chapter Haftarah Thursday & Friday 40’s famous opening words “Comfort ye, Class, 6:15 pm September 5 & 6 comfort ye, my people.” Minhah & Arbit, 7:30 pm Yom Kippur, 5774 Saturday, September 14 July 26-27 Habdalah, 8:30 pm Succot, 5774 Candle Lighting, 8:00 pm August 23-24 Thursday, September 19 until Wednesday, Candle Lighting, 7:24 pm Friday Evening, 6:45 pm September 25 Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am Friday Evening, 6:45 pm Shemini Atzeret, 5774 Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am Zemirot, Jacob Daar Thursday, September 26 Torah Reading, Ekeb Zemirot, Rev. Philip L. Sherman Simhat Torah, 5774 Torah Reading, Ki Tabo Haftarah, Jesse Epstein Friday, September 27 Class, 6:45 pm Haftarah, Rev. Salomon L. Vaz Dias Minhah & Arbit, 8:00 pm Class, 6:00 pm Minhah & Arbit, 7:15 pm Habdalah, 8:58 pm Habdalah, 8:19 pm August 2-3 Candle Lighting, 7:53 pm August 30-31 Friday Evening, 6:45 pm Consecration Anniversary of the 1860 Nineteenth Street Synagogue Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am Candle Lighting, 7:13 pm Zemirot, Adam Jackson Friday Evening, 6:45 pm Torah Reading, Reeh Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am Haftarah, Yehuda Montrose Zemirot, Jacob Daar Class, 6:30 pm Torah Reading, Nitsabim-Vayelekh Minhah & Arbit, 7:45 pm Haftarah Habdalah, 8:50 pm Class, 6:00 pm August 9-10 Minhah & Arbit, 7:15 pm Candle Lighting, 7:45 pm Habdalah, 8:07 pm Friday Evening Services, 6:45 pm Shabbat Morning, 8:30 am Zemirot, Jacob Daar Torah Reading, Shofetim Haftarah, Dr. Charles Gourgey Class, 6:30 pm Minhah & Arbit, 7:45 pm Habdalah, 8:41 pm

the bulletin July – August 2013 11 Congregation Shearith Israel NON-PROFIT The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue ORGANIZATION 8 West 70th Street U.S. POSTAGE New York, NY 10023 PAID MILFORD, CT PERMIT NO. 80

General Inquiries HONORARY TRUSTEES Zachary Edinger Shamash 212-873-0300 Tel Edgar J. Nathan, 3rd z”l [email protected], (x216) Honorary Parnas 212-724-6165 Fax Alana Shultz Dr. Dennis B. Freilich Program Director Honorary Parnas [email protected] [email protected], (x209) Alvin Deutsch www.shearithisrael.org Mrs. Lisa Rohde Honorary Parnas Coordinator of Women’s Services For funeral arrangements contact Dr. Edgar Altchek [email protected], (212-787-3161) Zachary Edinger, 917-584-3787, Paul J. Beispel Rafi Blumenthal 212-873-0300 (x216) Henri Bengualid Junior Congregation Leader [email protected] Arthur A. Goldberg BOARD OF TRUSTEES Leon Hyman David J. Nathan Eva G. Haberman Choirmaster Parnas Saul Laniado Adam Hyman Michael Katz Stuart Marks Associate Choirmaster Segan Jonathan de Sola Mendes Arnie T. Goldfarb Honorary Sexton Louis M. Solomon Edward Misrahi Segan Arthur Tenenholtz Jack Rudin Peter Neustadter Honorary Shamash Honorary Parnas Ronald P. Stanton Harriet Ainetchi Roy J. Zuckerberg Office staff Dr. Victoria R. Bengualid Maria Caputo professional staff Office Manager Norman S. Benzaquen Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik [email protected], (x230) Esmé E. Berg Rabbi Maia Kane Karen Daar [email protected] Communications Associate Seth Haberman Rabbi Dr. Richard Hidary [email protected], (x225) Diana Landau Michael P. Lustig Distinguished Rabbinic Fellow [email protected] Communications Associate Avery E. Neumark Rabbi Dr. Marc D. Angel [email protected], (x221) L. Gilles Sion Rabbi Emeritus John Quinones Oliver Stanton [email protected], (x205) Facilities Manager [email protected], (x223) Ralph J. Sutton Barbara Reiss Executive Director Ruth Yasky Elliot Freilich [email protected], (x215) Financial Associate Clerk Rabbi Ira L. Rohde [email protected], (x228) Joshua de Sola Mendes Hazzan The Bulletin Treasurer [email protected], (x217) First published in 1922 by Rev. Philip L. Sherman The Shearith Israel League. Associate Hazzan Edited by Maia Kane. [email protected] Rabbi Shalom Morris Design: Aaron Design, Inc. Educational Director [email protected], (x208)