April 28-29, 2017 3 Iyar 5777

Parsha Tazria-Metzora

Torah Reading - Page 608 Haftorah - Page 1172

In the Week Ahead Saturday, April 29 - 18th Day of Omer Shacharit ...... 9:00 a.m. Torah Parade ...... 9:45 a.m. Insights into the Weekly ...... 7:00 p.m. Mincha/ ...... 7:45 p.m. ...... 9:05 p.m.

Sunday, April 30 - 19th Day of Omer Shacharit ...... 9:00 a.m.

Monday, May 1 - 20th Day of Omer Shacharit ...... 7:00 a.m. Reb Nachman Class with Rabbi Shlomo ...... 12:00 noon Yom Ha’Atzmaut Festival @ JCC ...... 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 2 - Wednesday, May 3 21st Day of Omer & 22nd Day of Omer Shacharit ...... 7:00 a.m.

Thursday, May 4 - 23rd Day of Omer Shacharit ...... 7:00 a.m. Ethics Class with Rabbi Ari ...... 7:45 a.m. Women’s Class with Rabbi Ari ...... 9:30 a.m. Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Shlomo @ UNMC ...... 12:00 p.m.

Friday, May 5 - 24th Day of Omer Shacharit ...... 7:00 a.m. Mincha/Maariv & Kabbalat ...... 7:30 p.m. Candle Lighting ...... 8:08 p.m. Shabbat Dinner Celebrates Israel ...... 8:30 p.m.

Rabbi Ari will be out of the office Sunday, April 30 to Monday, May 1, 2017

Baruch Dayan Ha-Emet Harold Abrahamson Shirley Goldstein Joan Kern Yakov Shats The thoughts and prayers of the Beth Israel family is with these families. May they know no other sorrow.

2 Beth Israel Shabbat Dinner Celebrates Israel Friday, May 5 7:30 pm Mincha/Maariv/Kabbalat Shabbat 8:15pm Shabbat Dinner Class by Rabbi Shlomo immediately following dinner “What’s Jewish About the Jewish State” Guest chef Ben Shapiro is planning a delicious, Israel inspired menu. The cost for dinner will be $12 for adults, $6 for ages 4- 12, and is free of charge for those under 4. Register on-line, email [email protected] or call (402) 556-6288. Registrations needed by Wednesday, May 3.

...to David Atri and Josh Polack for being selected as recipients of 2017 Sokolof Merit scholarships!

...Dani Shrago, Jordana Kurtzman, Anna Goldberg and the other volunteers for coordinating Shabbat and Yom Tom and Seudah Shlishit. ..to Jordana Kurtzman and Anna Goldberg for baking sweets this week. ...to Bruce Goldberg for representing Beth Israel at the Young Jewish Giving Shuk event.

Mazel Tov to Those Celebrating This Week Birthdays Almog Zinman Apr 30 Ida Banner May 1 Helen Manheimer May 5 Anniversaries Stacey & Jonathan Rockman May 4

Celebrating a special simcha next month? Be a part of the May Simcha Kiddush on May 20th! Cost is just $25. Contact the synagogue office to sign up.

3 Hebrew - Level II with Rabbi Shlomo Mondays, April 24 - June 5, 7:30pm (No class Monday, May 1, May 29) The focus will on reading the siddur together plus the general improving of Hebrew skills. The class is open anyone who wishes to join. Prior participation not required nor is attendance each week.

Housing Needed for JCC Summer Shlichim Omaha’s JCC summer camp will enhanced again this year with a shaliach. Dana, who turns 22 this summer, arrives between May 19- 22 and departs August 11. Shlichim traditionally spend two to three weeks in one home and then move to a different home. The host family is responsible for transportation, meals and perhaps most important, welcoming them into your family and helping to show- case our great community. Many families say that they love the host family experience and that it broadens their families connection to Israel. It’s a great way to introduce a piece of Israel into your home while welcoming a stranger.

Dana will serve as the song leader and Israeli cultural specialist for camp. She has traveled extensively, including a Maccabi delegation to Vienna. She was the lead singer in the band, has been singing since 6th grade, and plays the guitar. She worked as a Maccabi Coun- selor for three years and works with kids of all ages. She loves hum- mus, pizza and sushi. She can’t wait to explore Omaha and meet eve- ryone. Dana does not keep kosher and loves animals - especially dogs.. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Megan Webb at (402) 334.6409 or [email protected].

Monday, May 1 JCC 5:30-7pm Kid’s Carnival 6-7pm - B’nai B’rith Trivia Contest 7p - Israeli Movie & Street Food Reception

4 – Sienna Francis House Volunteering - Thanks to the NCSYers who will be helping serve breakfast at the Si- enna Francis House on Sunday, May 7. Thanks to Ja- net Kohll for arranging this opportunity - NCSY Beth Israel Memory Project - NCSYers will be taking part a special project with Holocaust survivors, will meeting them, listening to their stories, and learning how they built their life again. Par- ticipants will make a videos of the meetings. A prep session with Liz Feldstern, Executive Director of the Institute for Holocaust Education, will be held Sunday May 21th, 4:30pm-6:pm. Following the discussion, we will divide into groups and contact Holocaust survivors to set-up a time for the interview. This project can be an amazing opportunity for the elderly in our community to tell their story, and most importantly, for our kids to get to know these people, hear their stories, and to learn from them. The project is open to all our 5th -12th graders, and it will be fitted to their ages. Registration is needed by May 7. - Jr. Regional Convention @ Camp Nageela - Thursday night, May 11 through Sunday, May 14. Bonfire, paintball, swimming, raffle, hiking, entertainment and more! - Sr. Spring Regional @ Camp Chi - Thursday night, May 25 through Monday, May 29. Enjoy a great Shabbaton at beautiful Camp Chi in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. The weekend will include a bonfire BBQ, a beautiful Shabbat program, sports, Wisconsin Dells, an awards banquet, a live band, your favorite advisors, and more!

Transportation costs covered by Beth Israel. Scholarship funding may be available through the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Contact Rabbi Shlomo for additional details on any NCSY happenings.

Yaakov and Faige Jeidel are moving to Omaha! The Jeidel’s are a dynamic young couple known by many in the congregation through their visits to Omaha in the past two years. They plan to move to Omaha in June and will be in need of furniture. Please keep them in mind if you have any good condition, unwanted items. Contact the synagogue office for more information.

5 Beth Israel Synagogue Annual Meeting and Election Sunday, May 21, 2017 - 10 a.m. The Nominating Committee is now working on the slate which will be provided to the congregation. A list of nominees will be mailed to the membership units of the congregation no later than fifteen days prior to the Annual Meeting.

YOUTH EDUCATION CLASS SCHEDULE Shabbat - 10:15-11am - times may vary slightly Boys, ages 11 and older Mr. Shrago Social Hall Scholar’s Answer Prep Rabbi Ari Shul Boys & Girls, ages 6-11 Reb Donald Beit Midrash (Chapel) Boys & Girls, ages 6 & under Dr. Gendelman Social Hall Shabbat - 12-12:30pm Teen Class Rabbi Ari Rabbi’s Office

11-11:30am - Kid’s Game Time in the Social Hall Thanks to our great parent volunteers for helping with this new activity!

Baby-sitting is provided for ages 6 months through 6 years, 10am through the end of services. For their safety, children are not allowed to leave the room without a parent or sibling over the age of 12

ADULT EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES Check the schedule on Page 2 for the various learning opportunities for adults each week. Also, don’t miss Torah in Your Home, with Rabbi Shlomo. Meet one-on-one, or with a few friends for this new learning opportunity.

We are currently without a kitchen person and kiddush and Seudah Shlishit duties are being handled by volunteers. Everyone - young and old - is asked to please clean up after themselves before leaving. Additional volunteers are also needed to help with prep, planning and clean-up work in the weeks ahead. Please see Mary Sue for more information.

6 Source: www.torah.org Rabbi Tendler

Note: The Shabbos Torah Reading is divided into 7 sections. Each section is called an Aliya [literally: Go up] since for each Aliya, one person “goes up” to make a bracha [blessing] on the Torah Reading.

Parsha Tazria 1st, 2nd and 3rd Aliya: The laws of purity and impurity as they pertain to childbirth are discussed. The basic laws of Tzaras, its diagnosis by a Kohain, the possibility of a quarantine, and the laws of Tzaras as it relates to healthy and infected skin are discussed. 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th Aliyot: The laws of Tzaras as it relates to a burn, a bald patch, dull white spots, and the presence of a Tzaras blemish on clothing is detailed. Parsha Metzora 1st and 2nd Aliyot: The purification process of the Metzora involving two kosher birds, a piece of cedar, some crimson wool, a hyssop branch, fresh spring water, a clay bowl, a Kohain, the Mikvah, seven days, a haircut and a Korban with its Mincha offering, is detailed. 3rd Aliya: The Korban of a poor Metzora is described. 4th, 5th, 6th, & 7th Aliyot: The laws dealing with blemishes that appear on a house are detailed. Following the laws of Tzaraas, the Torah turns its attention to various laws dealing with bodily discharges that render the individual Tameh. Male discharges, seminal discharges, menstruation, and other female discharges are detailed. Note: The basic laws of Family Purity are stated in verses 15:19-26.

Parsha Questions 1. If a woman gives birth to a boy, how many days is she impure? How many days when she a baby girl? 2. When it appeared that a person might have tzara’as, to whom was he taken to be checked? 3. If it was determined that a person had tzara’as, where were they to dwell? 4. On which type of cloth there might be a tzara’as?

7 WELCOME TO BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE We are delighted to welcome you to Beth Israel Synagogue. A passage from Deuteronomy 30:11-14 inspired the art work in the sanctuary. “For this commandment that I command you today - it is not hidden from you and it is not distant. It is not in heaven, [for you] to say, ‘Who can go to the heaven and take it for us so that we can listen to it and perform it? Nor is it across the seas, [for you] to say, ‘Who can cross to the other side of the sea for us and take it for us, so that we can listen to it and perform it?’ Rather, the matter is very near to you - in your mouth and your heart - to perform it.” Mitzvot are obtainable.  The focal point of the sanctuary is the Menorah Window, which frames the Ark and is shaped in the form of the six branched candelabrum. To the right, brilliantly colored window has forms that reflect the heavens, while the left side depicts the seas.  The message is completed in a frieze, the horizontal painting on wood mounted on the wall. The background of the frieze symbolically and abstractly represents the relationship between G-d and the people of Israel through the Covenant. The perochet, or curtain over the Ark, completes the symbolic composition, with an expression that intertwines the Torah and the letter Aleph, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, of the Ten Commandments, and of G- d’s name in Hebrew.  As is traditional, the sanctuary has 12 windows, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. These windows contain the name of each tribe in flowing, organic letters. The windows are located above the continued frieze, which includes two central texts of the revelation at Sinai - “If you will keep my Covenant, you shall be precious to me,” and “You shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” This composition expresses the unity of Israel as the people stood together at Sinai and accepted the Torah.

Beth Israel Synagogue strives to perpetuate the legacy of Torah Judaism in the modern world. Beth Israel welcomes all persons of the Jewish faith to join and accepts the diversity of practice and thought among its members. Rabbi Ari Dembitzer, Senior Rabbi Toba Cohen-Dunning, President Mary Sue Grossman, Executive Director Rabbi Shlomo Abramovich, Visiting Scholar Leo Fettman, Cantor Emeritus 12604 Pacific Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68154 (402) 556-6288 / www.orthodoxomaha.org