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Myself and Rabbi Weinberg had the pleasure of spending a long weekend with thousands of our colleagues, Chabad-Lubavitch Shluchim (emissaries) from more than 76 countries who gathered in Brooklyn last weekend for our annual conference. Above: The Shluchim gathered Sunday morning in front of Lubavitch World Headquarters for the traditional group photograph. (Can you find your rabbis? Hint: The guys with the black hat. Click on the above photo to inlarge. Click here to see more.)
As always, the conference was very uplifting and inspirational. Indeed it felt amazing, like we are part of one big happy family of the Rebbe's Shluchim, carrying out his vision of spreading "Judaism with a Smile"; - unconditional, non-judgmental outreach to our fellow Jews in more than 3000 communities around the globe. Chabad of Port Washington was well represented by a small delegation of lay-leaders who joined myself and Rabbi Weinberg at the gala banquet, held at Pier 12 in downtown Brooklyn. Board Members Felix Sater, Dr. Martin Brownstein and Michael Samuel were in attendance along with Chabad Members and Supporters Dr. Marshall Hubsher, Arnie Herz and Dan Ridloff.
Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Shalom M Paltiel
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Announcement: Ruben Mizvah Tree |
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You may have noticed the gorgeous new Ruben Family Mitzvah Tree in the shul lobby. This custom made amazing piece of work was commissioned, designed and sponsored by Tami and Dr. Glen Ruben to honor the memory of their departed loved ones.
The Mitzvah Tree will function very much like a "Tree of Life"; which you see at many synagogues. The Rubens decided to name this a Mitzvah Tree since it is usually in honor of a family "Simcha"; that one might dedicate a leaf.
Dedicate a leaf in honor of a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, wedding, birthday, child's birthday, anniversary, graduation, promotion or whatever.
Donation per leaf - Gold leaf: $2,500; Bronze leaf: $1,000
Contact the office or email [email protected] to make the arrangements. Donations can be paid out over time.
May our community experience many "simchas"; and may our tree grow, along with our families and community!
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Dec
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Light the Night
Port Washington, LIRR Main Street | 6 PM
Manhasset, Park across from Town Hall | 8 PM
Latkes! Donuts! Live Music! and lots more...
Click here for more info.
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Dec 5
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Hebrew School Chanukah Celebration
Sunday, December 5th | 10 AM - 12 PM
This Chanukah, dreidels won't be the only thing spinning... Be amazed and entertained by the famous hoops skills Black Jack Ryan, the Hoop Wizard!
Click here for more info.
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Are Men and Women Equal?
By: Rabbi Aron Moss
Sydney, Australia
I have often heard it said that Judaism believes that women are more spiritual than men. This is supposed to explain why men have more religious obligations than women - men need these things to become closer to G‑d, women are there already. But do we really believe that? Is it not just a patronising way to avoid the question of the different gender roles in Judaism?
Answer:
I remember as a child being told that men and women are equal. I had a big problem with this. I asked, "If men and woman are equal, why do men and women never compete with each other in sports? You never see a man playing against a woman in tennis, or women's soccer teams facing men's, or a mixed gender 100 metre sprint. If we are all equal, why can't we compete together?"
The answer I received was unsatisfying. "Men are on average stronger physically than women. It would not be fair for them to compete against each other in sports which require bodily strength, because men would always win. But in every other way, men and women are equal."
This did not sit well with me. If men are superior to women in physical strength, but equal in all else, then men and women are not equal. Men have an edge. Unless there is some other area of human endeavour in which women are superior, we are not equal.
This bothered me for years. Until I learnt Judaism's attitude to women.
Women are more soulful than men. While men may excel in physical prowess, women are far ahead when it comes to spiritual strength. Women are more sensitive to matters of the soul, more receptive to ideas of faith, more drawn to the divine than men. The feminine soul has an openness to the abstract and a grasp of the intangible that a male soul can only yearn for. This is why G‑d told Abraham, the first Jewish man, "Whatever Sarah your wife tells you, listen to her voice." She was the greater prophet, her soul more intuitive than his.
When I first heard this idea, it suddenly all made sense. There is indeed a balance between men and women. Men have stronger bodies, women have stronger souls.
Of course there are exceptions. Some women could beat any guy in an arm wrestle. And some men are more spiritually intuned than the women around them. But for the most part, men have bigger muscles, women have deeper feelings.
The Torah gives men more physical mitzvos, to tame the body and give the soul extra power. Women don't need this help. Because although men can jump higher in the air, women can reach higher into the heavens. |
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B"H |
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Board of Directors
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Adam Katz, Esq., President
Frank Arnold
Bert Brodsky
Martin H. Brownstein, M.D.
Howard Fensterman, Esq.
M. Allan Hyman, Esq.
Sara E. Paltiel
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
Alan Rosenzweig
Alan Salzbank
Michael Samuel
Felix Sater
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Daily Thought
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The Infinite Connection
The purpose of every human being is to serve his Creator, and that is a service of great joy:"I, puny mortal and decidedly finite being, serve with my deeds the Infinite Creator of All Worlds! I am bound to the Source of Life from birth, and all the many raging waters of this world cannot tear me away from that bond. Even if I sometimes fail, I may always return and in a single moment reconnect all my soul."
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Candle Lighting Times for
Port Washington, NY
[Based on Zip Code 11050] |
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Shabbat Candle Lighting: |
Friday, Nov 12
4:22 pm
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Shabbat Ends: |
Shabbat, Nov 13
5:22 pm
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MAZAL TOV!
Mazel tov to Ditzah and Eyal Danay on the birth of their first grandchild, whose Pidyon Haben was held this past Monday morning at the Shul. (click here for info on this lifecycle ceremony held on the 30th day of birth for a firstborn son.)
Proud Savta Ditzah
Proud Saba Eyal
BIRTHDAYS
Linda Balcourt 11/12
Galia Greener 11/12
Stella Shuris 11/12
Justin Cenname 11/14
Victor Hovanec 11/16
Alan Sandman 11/16
Susan Marcus-Eshel 11/18
YARTZEITS
Soleyman Esrail (Shlomo ben Elitzafan), observed by Joseph & Lida Esrail,
Kislev 6 - 11/13
Pauline Ferber, observed by Alan & Linda Sandman, Kislev 6 - 11/13
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* PATRONIZE OUR SPONSORS *
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This Week @ www.ChabadPW.org |
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Remembering Gabi and Rivki |
Legacy of Mumbai
Special section in honor of the second anniversary since the cruel murders of Gavriel (Gabi) and Rivky Holtzberg, beloved directors of Chabad of Mumbai. The story of the Holtzbergs' legacy of light.
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Living |
Refresh Rate
Physical reality is like your computer screen. The pictures it displays aren't substantial physical objects, but dynamic images that are being constantly regenerated.
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Women |
I Miss My Mother
On autopilot for all those months, I think that if I had stopped to think of what I was juggling, and what I was witnessing, I would have crawled into bed, and not gotten out...
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Parshah |
Somewhere Between Spirituality and Religion
Is it a self-improvement thing, like a woodworking class or a therapy session?
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Chabad-Lubavitch News from Around the World |
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NORTH AMERICA |
Jewish World Dances Beneath Brooklyn Roof at Chabad Banquet
As the sun set on the East River, approximately 4,500 Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and their supporters from 76 countries across the globe awaited entry to Brooklyn, N.Y.'s massive Pier 12 complex.
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NORTH AMERICA |
Brooklyn Pier Erupts in Dance at Annual Jewish Banquet
A warehouse at Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Pier 12 erupted in dance Sunday night as approximately 4,500 people got on their feet, locked arms, and circled around the giant room to the rhythmic chords of traditional Chasidic melodies.
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NORTH AMERICA |
Conn. Senator Joins Oklahomans in Celebration of Jewish Life
Four-term Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman talked politics and spirituality in Oklahoma City, Okla., taking the dais at the Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning to celebrate 13 years of full-time Chabad-Lubavitch activities in the state.
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PHOTO GALLERY |
Thousands of Rabbis Assemble for "Class Picture"
What's it like to photograph with thousands of rabbis in Brooklyn, N.Y., traffic whizzing behind you? Ask award-winning photographer Don Holloway, who has been immortalizing Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries at their annual conference for more than 20 years.
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The Parshah in a Nutshell |
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Parshat Vayeitzei
Jacob leaves his hometown Be'er Sheva and journeys to Charan. On the way, he encounters " the place" and sleeps there, dreaming of a ladder connecting heaven and earth, with angels climbing and descending on it; G‑d appears and promises that the land upon which he lies will be given to his descendents. In the morning, Jacob raises the stone on which he laid his head as an altar and monument, pledging that it will be made the house of G‑d.
In Charan, Jacob stays with and works for his uncle Laban, tending Laban's sheep. Laban agrees to give him his younger daughter Rachel — whom Jacob loves — in marriage, in return for seven years' labor. But on the wedding night, Laban gives him his elder daughter, Leah, instead — a deception Jacob discovers only in the morning. Jacob marries Rachel, too, a week later, after agreeing to work another seven years for Laban.
Leah gives birth to six sons — Reuben, Shimon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun — and a daughter, Dinah, while Rachel remains barren. Rachel gives Jacob her handmaid, Bilhah, as a wife to bear children in her stead, and two more sons, Dan and Naphtali, are born. Leah does the same with her handmaid, Zilpah, who gives birth to Gad and Asher. Finally, Rachel's prayers are answered and she gives birth to Joseph.
Jacob has now been in Charan for fourteen years and wishes to return home, but Laban persuades him to remain, now offering him sheep in return for his labor. Jacob prospers, despite Laban's repeated attempts to swindle him. After six years, Jacob leaves Charan in stealth, fearing that Laban would prevent him from leaving with the family and property for which he labored. Laban pursues Jacob, but is warned by G‑d in a dream not to harm him. Laban and Jacob make a pact on Mount Gal-Ed, attested to by a pile of stones, and Jacob proceeds to the Holy Land, where he is met by angels.
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Select content and graphics copyright Chabad-Lubavitch Media Center (www.chabad.org). |
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