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Life Cycle Events

October 28, 2011 by •

Congregation Shaarey Zedek offers a full range of lifecycle ceremonies, including

  • B’rit milah (covenant of circumcision) for baby boy

  • Simchat bat (joy of the daughter) naming ceremonies for girls

  • Consecration services welcoming our newest religious school students

  • Bar / Bat Mitzvah (son / daughter of the commandments) celebrations for our thirteen-year-old religious school students

  • Confirmation for our tenth-graders

  • Religious School Graduation

  • Wedding ceremonies

  • Funerals

  • Conversion ceremonies

For further information, please contact: Rabbi Bigman at rabbibigman@shaareyzedek.com or at (517) 351-3570.

Yesod (Adult Ed)

October 28, 2011 by •

Contact us to sign up
or with any questions!

At Congregation (~: Chai :~) we believe that Jewish learning is a lifetime project. Judaism offers a wealth of rich, deep, sophisticated ideas which are most useful for adults. Adults make decisions about raising children, choosing careers, medical care for themselves and loved ones, where to live and whom to love. Adults need the guidance of a religious system to help them through this maze of serious choices. Adults also experience fully the deep sorrow of loss and the great joy of true love. Jewish tradition can guide adults throug these emotional highs a lows.

Adult learning at (~: Chai :~) equips our lifelong learners to face the complexity of their lives armed with Jewish knowledge. Whether taking a Basic Judaism course, or an advanced Talmud seminar, our learners come away from the experience with a greater appreciation of Judaism’s profound depths, and a greater understanding of how to lead an inspired life.

Please join us at any one of our course offerings this year. Membership is not required, and many of the classes have a nominal charge or are free!

EVENT POLICIES

All are Invited
We welcome everyone, Jewish or not, Member or not, to attend our classes and programs. Please join us!

Enrollment and Cancellation Policies
Some classes and programs have limited enrollments.
Register early to avoid disappointment.
If enrollment is too low, an event or class may be canceled.
To be notified of schedule changes or cancellations, you must be preregistered.

FORMS TO DOWNLOAD

Brochure & Registration form

Register Online ((~: Chai :~) Members Only)

Wandering Views Film Series

Torah School

October 28, 2011 by •

TORAH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS

  • 2011-2012 Calendar

FORMS TO DOWNLOAD

  • 2011-2012 Enrollment Forms
  • Parent Handbook
  • Secure Online Payment

FOR MORE INFORMATION

  • Receive our e-mail communications

Our Sanctuary

October 28, 2011 by •

 

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Integer placerat lectus ut est aliquam venenatis. Suspendisse blandit nisl ut dui blandit mollis. Nulla non enim risus, at egestas nulla. Cras lacus ligula, venenatis eu laoreet eget, mollis sed lacus. Aliquam vitae quam magna, ut posuere est. Integer ultrices ligula vitae orci accumsan at volutpat nibh auctor. Sed a nunc nec nulla gravida bibendum in at justo. Phasellus eros metus, scelerisque ac ullamcorper a, scelerisque ac quam. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque id odio ut justo egestas euismod nec at tortor. Pellentesque ac consectetur tellus. Aenean quis risus elit. Nunc interdum risus vitae nunc egestas ac posuere tellus scelerisque. Sed nec lectus arcu.

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Daily Minyan

October 28, 2011 by •

 

JOIN US FOR DAILY MINYAN

Not only will we be able to fulfill the important mitzvah of helping others recite the Mourners Kaddish,
it is a wonderful way to open our hearts and minds allowing God’s presence into our lives.

  

Morning Minyan Monday – Friday  7:30 am
  Sundays  9:00 am

 

You only get one opportunity to make a first impression.

October 26, 2011 by •

After months of planning and design, this week we finally unveiled the new BRS website – www.brsonline.org We are very proud of its great features including a FAQ section for people who live here, those looking to move and those visiting.  We have videos, podcasts, a blog, photo galleries, and much more.  We have also included a member login where you can see your statements, pay your invoices, make donations and look someone up on the membership directory.  We look forward to hearing your feedback and your help in spreading the word about this great new tool to reach people and spread the BRS mission.  Look soon for the BRS app for apple and android.    A tremendous thank you is due to Kerry Purcell in our office who put in countless hours, great creativity and hard work to make this new website a reality.

As we put the finishing touches on the new website this week, we kept reminding one another that it represents the face of the Shul to someone looking into who we are.  You only get one opportunity to make a first impression and it is critically important to make a positive one if you want to get a relationship started on the right foot.

What is true for a website and a Shul, is true for how we present ourselves to others as well.  Our faces are the homepage of who we are and how we are perceived.  No matter what is happening in our hearts or our minds, we leave a strong impression on others based on the disposition carried in our faces.  Do we project sadness, despair, worry, uncertainty and doubt?  Or are we happy, positive, optimistic and joyful.

Rabbi Yisroel Salanter once said that our faces have the status of reshus ha’rabim, they are public domain and we therefore need to be sensitive to the public when we decide what mood we are going to project.  The gemara (Kesubos 111b) says that it is better to smile at someone warmly than to provide him with food and drink.  Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe writes that just as plants require sunshine to live, converting the rays of the sun into nutrients, people too convert smiles into energy and strength, and without it they wilt and perish. Smiling is a uniquely human expression.  When is the last time you saw a dog or cat smile?

Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a physician at Harvard Medical School, authored a study that concludes that happiness is contagious.  The same way when one person yawns, it affects others, when one person smiles or is happy it leads to others happiness and smiling as well.

This poem says it best:

It cost nothing, but creates much.

It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give.

It happens in a flash and the memory of it lasts forever.

None are so rich they can get along without it and none so poor but are richer for its benefits.

It creates happiness in the home, fosters good will in a business, and is the countersign of friends.

It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and nature’s best antidote for trouble.

Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, or stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anybody till it is given away!

If someone is too tired to give you a smile, leave one of yours.

For, nobody needs a smile so much as those who have none to give.

Rotator 2

October 24, 2011 by •

Quod a changing, si continue mutatur in naturali modo naturaliter prius

pertingit ad illud ad quod mutatur ultimum inter. Ita ‘inter’ importat

praesentiam minus tria in processu mutationis est contrarium quod

“novissimi: et si continuo movetur aliquid relinquit rima minima gap in

materia, aut tantum non in tempore (nam non intermittit quin temporibus

rebus a ‘inter’ dum, contra, nihil prohibet aliquam magnificam post infimum

supremi), sed in materia in qua motus agitur. Non modo perspicue verum est,

sed in omni mutatione locorum alia pariter. (Omnis autem importat mutationem

bina opposita et contraria esse vel contradictorie opposita sint: tum quia

contradictio non potest habere medium terminum, manifestum est quod inter

‘necesse habent par contrariorum) Hoc loco contrarium quod maxime distat in

linea recta, quia finita est certus minima linea, quae est certus numerus

limitatus constituit.

Rotator 1

October 24, 2011 by •

Quod a changing, si continue mutatur in naturali modo naturaliter prius

pertingit ad illud ad quod mutatur ultimum inter. Ita ‘inter’ importat

praesentiam minus tria in processu mutationis est contrarium quod

“novissimi: et si continuo movetur aliquid relinquit rima minima gap in

materia, aut tantum non in tempore (nam non intermittit quin temporibus

rebus a ‘inter’ dum, contra, nihil prohibet aliquam magnificam post infimum

supremi), sed in materia in qua motus agitur. Non modo perspicue verum est,

sed in omni mutatione locorum alia pariter. (Omnis autem importat mutationem

bina opposita et contraria esse vel contradictorie opposita sint: tum quia

contradictio non potest habere medium terminum, manifestum est quod inter

‘necesse habent par contrariorum) Hoc loco contrarium quod maxime distat in

linea recta, quia finita est certus minima linea, quae est certus numerus

limitatus constituit.

Rotator 3

October 24, 2011 by •

Quod a changing, si continue mutatur in naturali modo naturaliter prius

pertingit ad illud ad quod mutatur ultimum inter. Ita ‘inter’ importat

praesentiam minus tria in processu mutationis est contrarium quod

“novissimi: et si continuo movetur aliquid relinquit rima minima gap in

materia, aut tantum non in tempore (nam non intermittit quin temporibus

rebus a ‘inter’ dum, contra, nihil prohibet aliquam magnificam post infimum

supremi), sed in materia in qua motus agitur. Non modo perspicue verum est,

sed in omni mutatione locorum alia pariter. (Omnis autem importat mutationem

bina opposita et contraria esse vel contradictorie opposita sint: tum quia

contradictio non potest habere medium terminum, manifestum est quod inter

‘necesse habent par contrariorum) Hoc loco contrarium quod maxime distat in

linea recta, quia finita est certus minima linea, quae est certus numerus

limitatus constituit.

We are a people only because of the book

October 19, 2011 by •

Imagine the following scene playing out on CSPAN:  On a specific day of the year, the Supreme Court justices together with the member of Congress take copies of the United States Constitution and dance around the floor of the House of Representatives while singing, clapping and lifting the law books high in the air.   With each circuit of those carrying the Constitution, the others lean in to affectionately kiss the books before they pass by. This entire scenario seems impossible and the very suggestion of this scene is ludicrous.

And yet, this is exactly what we do on Simchas Torah in Shuls around the world.  We collect all the Torahs from around the shul, sing and dance in a spirited fashion and kiss each Torah as it passes us by.  What explains our seemingly bizarre behavior, especially in contrast with the attitude and approach every other legal system and religion brings to their law books?

Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains so beautifully:

“A Torah scroll is the nearest thing Judaism has to a holy object. Still written today as it was thousands of years ago — on parchment, using a quill, by a master-scribe — it is our most cherished possession. We stand in its presence as if it were a king. We dance with it as if it were a bride. We kiss it as if it were a friend. If, God forbid, one is damaged beyond repair, we mourn it as if it were a member of the family.

The Koran calls Jews a “people of the book,” but this is an understatement. We are a people only because of the book. It is our constitution as a holy nation under the sovereignty of God. It is God’s love letter to the children of Israel. We study it incessantly. We read it in the synagogue each week, completing it in a year. During the long centuries of Jewish exile, it was our ancestors’ memory of the past and hope for the future. It was, said the German poet Heinrich Heine, the “portable homeland” of the Jew.  Some Christians have found it hard to understand the Jewish love of law. To them it sometimes seems like an obsession with detail, the “letter” rather than the “spirit.”

To us, though, it represents the idea that there is no facet of life that cannot be sanctified and turned into the service of God: eating, drinking, relationships, the workplace, the economy and our welfare system. God belongs to society as well as to the inwardness of the soul. Which is why we need law as well as love.”

We live in a world of great darkness in which people are desperately searching for meaning, purpose, happiness, joy, direction, fulfillment, family values, and more.  While so much of the world struggles, we are amazingly blessed, fortunate and privileged to be charged by the ideals, values and laws of the Torah that truly provides a prescription for a meaningful life.  It is not ours alone and we have no monopoly on its message.  Etz chaim hi, lamachazikim bah, it is a tree of life for all those who hold on to it.

As we close in on seven long and intensive weeks that began with the first of Elul and ends with Simchas Torah, many of us feel burnt out, tired, and sick of cooking, eating, long davening and yes, even preparing and listening to sermons and classes.  It is no coincidence that exactly when we begin to feel Jewish holidays and observant life are burdensome and difficult that we observe Simchas Torah and remember how fortunate and blessed we are to have Torah and the true simcha it brings.

As we head into the final stretch of this marathon season, I wish you a Chag sameach and a year filled with the simchas Torah, the joy of Torah and simchas ha’chayim, the joy of life.

Chag Sameach

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