BLUF*: Sign up for Family Shabbat on 6/24. It’s the last chance for Sunday School students to eat for free! And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Rambam/Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah teaches that the highest level of tzedakah/charity is helping somebody become self-sufficient. Commitment to this lofty ideal may be a reason why the third oldest extant non-synagogue/seminary Jewish communal organization is the Hebrew Free Loan Society of New York founded 1892 (B’nai Brith and Hebrew Free Burial Society are the top two). Keeping in mind that the JCC has been as much a networking hub as a synagogue since its inception, the newsletter will now feature job postings in our announcements section. You can find our first below courtesy of longtime JCC member and Yiddish Class teacher Jack Halpern.
*Acronym for Bottom Line Up Front found in Army Regulation 25-50. Happy belated Flag Day and 247th anniversary of the US Army to our JCC Veterans.
Services
Family Shabbat
Friday, June 24th
Services: 6:00pm
Dinner with Reservation: 7:00pm
Shabbat Parshat Shlach
Gala Kiddush sponsored by Ernie Singer in commemoration of his father Robert’s 8th yahrzeit
Saturday, June 25th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, July 8th
Services: 6:30pm
Dinner with Reservation: 7:30pm
Shabbat Parshat Chukat
Kiddush Open for Sponsorship
Saturday, July 9th
Services: 10:00am
Kiddush: 12:00pm
Events
We are in the process of planning a JCC night out at Jingu Stadium to cheer on our beloved Yakult Swallows against the dreaded Chunichi Dragons on Sunday, September 4th at 6:00pm. Continue checking the newsletter and your e-mail for when details are finalized.
Announcements
Mazal Tov to Motoko ‘Tal’ Kawada and Victor Monas on the birth of a baby boy born Tuesday night weighing in at 4094 grams.
Mazal Tov to Rabbi Shari Berman on her ordination by the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute.
Mazal Tov to the Wilhelm and Ugelow Families on Amelia’s Bat Mitzvah this past Shabbat. There was kvelling and shepping of naches all the way from Tokyo to Palm City, FL. Amelia did an excellent job leading services and on the 11(!) verses she read during the first aliyah.
A Groyser Yasher Koach to Jack Halpern for an enlightening lecture on learning languages. If you couldn’t make it, you missed a lively discussion dedicated to the idea that the ability to learn a language is intertwined with the enjoyment of living the language. With Jewish literacy, it’s not all that different.
Condolences to the Yehoshua Family and Klal Yisrael on the loss of one of the greatest Modern Hebrew literary lights, A. B. Yehoshua. An unabashed Zionist and critic of Diaspora Jewry, A. B. (pronounced Alef Bet) Yehoshua famously caused an uproar at the AJC centennial celebration with his remark “….[Diaspora Jews] change [their] nationalities like jackets. Once they were Polish and Russian; now they are British and American. One day they could choose to be Chinese or Singaporean…For me, Avraham Yehoshua, there is no alternative… I cannot keep my identity outside Israel. [Being] Israeli is my skin, not my jacket.” I would like to think A. B. Yehoshua deliberately excluded the idea of Jews becoming Japanese from his remarks since he knew of our community’s steadfast commitment to Jewish identity. May we merit to possess A. B. Yehoshua’s rootedness to Eretz Yisrael.
As promised above, please find Jack Halpern’s job posting on LinkedIn, in Japanese and English.
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Meetings have started monthly in-person at the JCJ. Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested to join. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club enjoys exploring Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Parshat Beha’alotcha
Candle Lighting: 6:41pm
Havdala: 7:45pm