Tag: Rabbi Nat Benjamin

Bergen County Rabbi, Jewish Education, Jewish Survival

Yom Hazikaron

This evening will begin Yom Hazikaron, a day we honor the fallen soldiers of Israel.
To allow us all to understand the importance of this day, we share with you the words of Ryan Greiss, originally from Cresskill, NJ. and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces’ Golani Brigade. I was honored to perform Ryan’s Bar Mitzvah many years ago and his family were members of our Chavurah for many many years. Thank you Ryan for allowing your moving words to be shared with our Chavurah.

  • A lot of Americans think of Yom HaZikaron as Israel’s Memorial Day, but it’s really so much more than that.
    How many of you are soldiers?
    How many of your children have you worried would fall on the field of battle?
    How many people do you know who have served in the military?
    Could you count them on one hand? In Israel, everybody serves. In Israel, everybody has lost friends and family to acts of war or terror. So in Israel, Yom HaZikaron isn’t just a state holiday; it’s a national day of mourning.

It’s a metaphorical yahrzeit that every single person commemorates together, all at once. When the sirens sound, one at 8 p.m., Tuesday night and the other at 11 a.m.,Wednesday morning, the entire country will literally stand still:
Cars on the highways will grind to a halt and remember all the people who laid down their lives so that they could live free in the Jewish state.

When the siren sounds:
I remember Max Steinberg, usually over a glass of bourbon. Originally from Los Angeles, Max struggled to learn Hebrew but was strong as an ox and never stopped smiling until he was blown up in an armored personnel carrier during Israel’s 2014 war with Gaza.
I remember Oron Shaul, another soldier from Golani’s 13th Battalion, who was riding with Max and whose body is still being held for ransom by Hamas.
I grieve with my friend Shai Amichai, whose little brother took his own life with his service weapon, and with Mikhael Precel, who’d just walked out of the Sbarro in Jerusalem when it exploded, killing 15 people — including his friend — and wounding 130 — including Mikhael. He was only 16 years old.

After a day full of grief, in a uniquely Israeli way, Yom HaZikaron flows right into Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day.

It’s a doubleheader: Memorial Day and July 4th, one after the other.
We remember the price and then we celebrate the rewards.

This Yom HaZikaron I ask you to remember my friends and all the heroes who paid the ultimate price to preserve the only Jewish state, and I wish you a very happy Yom Ha’atzmaut. –

Thank you Ryan
Rabbi Nat Benjamin
Chavurah Beth Shalom

Bergen County Rabbi, High Holy Days, Jewish Education, Jewish Survival, Judaism, Rosh Hashanah, Tenafly, Yom Kippur

High Holy Days at Chavurah Beth Shalom

Chavurah Beth Shalom Yom Kippur ServiceRosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur — days of sweetness and atonement – are the culmination of a month-long process of coming back to God. During the High Holidays, we embrace the study and beauty of the Torah and rejoice with prayer and song.

2019 / 5780 HIGH HOLY DAYS INFORMATION

We are pleased to announce that our 2019 High Holy Days Services will be held at the Clinton Inn Hotel and Conference Center, 145 Dean Drive, Tenafly, NJ. 07670 on the following dates and times:

Sunday, September 29, 2019:  Clinton Inn & Conference Center
Erev Rosh Hashanah, 7:30 pm
Monday, September 30, 2019:  Clinton Inn & Conference Center
Rosh Hashanah, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Children’s Services, 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
Tuesday, October 1, 2019:  Alpine, NJ. Community House
Rosh Hashanah 2nd Day, 10:30 am
Tuesday, October 8, 2019:     Clinton Inn & Conference Center
Kol Nidre – Erev Yom Kippur, 7:30 pm
Wednesday, October 9, 2019:  Clinton Inn & Conference Center
Yom Kippur Morning Service, 10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Children’s Service: 2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
Afternoon & Yizkor Service : 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm

We request that you send in your ticket requests early. Your membership dues include tickets for you and your children through college age.

For more information, contact the Chavurah at 201.567.7806 or email ChavurahBethShalom@gmail.com or see our home page under what’s new for all of our High Holy Day information.

Rosh HaShanah History
The origin of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, is Biblical (Lev. 23:23-25): “a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts (of the Shofar, the ram’s horn).” The Bible refers to the holiday as Yom Teruah.
(the day of the sounding of the Shofar) and Yom Zikaron Teruah (the day of remembering the sounding of the Shofar).

In Talmudic times, Rosh HaShanah became a celebration of the anniversary of the world’s creation and a day of self-examination, repentance and judgment. While the day was called Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance) and Yom HaDin (Judgment Day), the name Rosh HaShanah (Head of the Year) was first used in the Mishnah has become the most prevalent.

Rosh HaShanah is both a solemn and happy day.
It is a time for introspection, asking for forgiveness, giving forgiveness, resolving to do better, remembering God is our King and Judge, and praying for a healthy and happy year to come. We are solemn in our repentance, but happy in our confidence that God is merciful and good.

Yom Kippur History
Repentance (Teshuva) is the theme of Yom Kippur.
While our sins alienate us from God, our repentance reconciles us with God.
On Yom Kippur, we ask for God to forgive us for our sins.

The first Yom Kippur occurred when Moses descended Mount Sinai with the second set of Tablets, a symbol of the renegotiated covenant between God and the Jewish People.
The Israelites alienated God by worshiping the golden calf. Moses ascended Mount Sinai to ask God for forgiveness. The Israelites repented by fasting during the day while Moses was on the mountain. On the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei (Yom Kippur), Moses descended Mount Sinai with the second Tablets.

God decreed the tenth day of the month of Tishrei as a day of atonement:

“Let it be a statute for you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall starve your vital energies and do no manner of work…. For on this day it shall bring atonement upon you, to purify you, before God shall you become pure of all your aberrations.” (Vayikra/Leviticus 16: 29-30)
Just as the Israelites alienated God with their unfaithful behavior, some of our behavior during the year has also alienated us from God.
Just as the Israelites repented for their sins, we also repent for our sins.
Praying and fasting enables us to envision the divine image that lives in each of us.
Just as God forgave the Israelites on the tenth of Tishrei, it is our hope that God will forgive us on Yom Kippur.

High Holy Days, Jewish Survival, Judaic Studies, New Jersey Rabbi, New York Rabbi

Shabbat Morning at Chavurah Beth Shalom

Chavurah Beth ShalomPlease join us for Shabbat Morning In Alpine, tomorrow, Saturday, June 15, 2019 (12 Sivan 5779) 10:30 AM

Morning Shabbat Service followed by our Chavurah Beth Shalom Weekly Torah Discussion Group.

This Shabbat we will discuss the Threefold Benediction from Chapter 6 verses 24-27 which is recited at every prayer service on Shabbat, Festivals and the High Holy Days.

In our tradition we include this blessing at life cycle events and simchas as well. Although the Birkat Shalom consists of only 15 words, it is pronounced and chanted in many different ways at different services at various times of the day according to the Jewish communities.reciting it.

“The Eternal One spoke to Moses: Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them:

The Eternal bless you and protect you!

The Eternal deal kindly and graciously with you!

The Eternal bestow [divine] favor upon you and grant you peace! (6:22-27).

A light brunch, great bagels, hot coffee and tea will be served to all members, their guests and friends.

Chavurah Beth Shalom in Alpine, NJ. 07620

Bergen County, Bergen County Rabbi, Memorial Day

2019 Memorial Day Invocation, Alpine, NJ

On this National Day of Remembrance, so very honored to have been a part of Memorial Day in the Borough of Alpine (NJ). 

— 2019 Memorial Day Invocation

May 27, 2019, Alpine, NJ. 07620

Rabbi Nat Benjamin, Chavurah Beth Shalom

 

Almighty God,

We pause on this Day of Memorial to honor the memories of the heroic sons and daughters of our country who rendered their full measure of devotion on all the far-flung battlefields of the world in the defense of these United States. We honor our deceased brothers and sisters who willingly laid down their lives so that we might live in peace and tranquility and celebrate this Memorial Day of 2019 with our families, neighbors and our children. They fought valiantly and courageously in storms of fire and blood so that we, the living, may enjoy the blessings of liberty, democracy and freedom. We need to remember that God created this vast and glorious world for us to live in, freely, but also at great sacrifice

Memorial Day is a day when we pause in prayer to give thanks to the people who even now, as together we pray, are sacrificing their very lives and dreams for the way of life we, as Americans, hold sacred and dear.

We are proud of our military heroes whom we recognize and honor on this day, serving our country in far flung locations throughout the world and here at home. We are proud of the United States Navy Seals, The United States Navy, The United States Marines, The United States Army, The United States Air Force, The United States Coast Guard, The National Guard, our heroes who are still missing in action, prisoners of war and those in our military hospitals suffering the ravages of war.

Let us never forget from the Revolutionary War to the current War on Terrorism and all the wars in between that sacrifice was made for our freedom. May the deeds of our fallen heroes be an inspiration to us and to all our fellow Americans. Grant that their supreme sacrifices shall not have been in vain and may we prove ourselves worthy of their sacrifices.

Let this Memorial Day stimulate us to be mindful of our responsibilities and duties as conscientious citizens of this great Republic.

We pray thee, Merciful God, sustain the leaders of the World’s Nations in their efforts to remove the dark shadow of fear which lurks over the abode of peace-loving people.

Help all nations of our 21st century world realize the cruelty of bloodshed and the futility of warfare and terrorism. Inspire them to labor with all their might to banish conflict and strife and establish world peace. May it be your will that the prophetic vision of enduring universal peace be speedily realized in our time; ushering in a new birth of freedom for all the inhabitants of the earth.

Amen.

Rabbi Nat Benjamin