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2 Kislev 5777 | December 2, 2016
This Week's Chailights
Shabbat Shalom! Below is our weekly "Shabbat Email Greeting" to let you know about some of the great things that have happened here this past week.

 

A NOTE FROM STUART
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  Not just for the food, the football, or the permission to wear elastic-waist pants, but because it gives each of us dedicated time to reflect on our blessings and express our gratitude for all the gifts we’ve been given.
 
In thinking about the holiday this year, I wondered (as I often do) what our sages have to say on the subject.  Does Judaism have a Thanksgiving?   
 
The answer is a resounding YES.  In fact, Judaism teaches us EVERY day is Thanksgiving Day:
 
Jewish law mandates a person should pray three times during the day:  in the morning, in the evening, and at night.  Traditionally, Jews worldwide start each day by reciting a short prayer called Modeh Ani:
 
Modeh ani l’fanekha                                                  I offer thanks before You,
Melech chai v’kayam                                                 living and eternal King,
she’hekhezarta bi nishmashti b’khemla                    who has mercifully restored my soul.
rabbah emunatekha.                                                 Your faithfulness is beyond measure.
 
What a profound way to begin each day—by giving thanks before we even get out of bed!  But what does this twelve-word prayer really mean?
 
Judaism teaches that while we’re asleep each night, our souls leave our bodies to convene with God.  We say Modeh Ani when we wake up to thank God for returning our souls to our bodies each morning and enabling us to live another day.  In a more spiritual sense, reciting this prayer before we do anything else each morning gives us the opportunity to connect to the larger forces within us—and beyond us—and to consider not only the kind of day we want to have, but also the kind of life we want to lead and the kind of contribution we want to make in the world.
 
Many of us lead stressful lives, filled with lengthy To Do lists and multiple responsibilities and obligations—some of our own choosing, others not so much.  We often attribute this stress to “the times we live in.”  However, even rabbis from centuries long since passed—times we tend to view as “simpler”—were taxed by the many opportunities and challenges they faced daily.  And so, they set aside time each morning to give thanks, reflect, and ponder what lies ahead.
 
Now, some of you may be thinking, “But I’m not a morning person.”  That’s okay—there’s no deadline. The point is that, according to Jewish teaching, the only time we can experience ourselves in our finest, truest dimension is the moment we wake up—before we start thinking about the day and all its details—because it is at that moment when all we feel is the sense of being awake and alive. It’s the ultimate “me” time!
 
Our sages believed we each benefit greatly from dedicating the first moments of our day to giving thanks—that it set the tone for the day by giving it clarity, direction, and purpose.  So, whether you say the more traditional Modeh Ani—or you create a morning ritual that better reflects your personality and beliefs—you, too, can make every day Thanksgiving.
 
Give it a try, and let me know what you think.
 
If you have feedback, I would love to receive it: sraynor@jccmetrowest.org.

Shabbat Shalom,
Stuart

Center For Adult Enrichment

Forty recipients of the kosher Meals on Wheels program received something extra in their food packages for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanks to the talented members of the Creative Hands Committee of the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex Section,  each home-bound  client was given a beautiful, warm hand-made blanket to keep. Shown here presenting the blankets is Anita Strauss, one of the knitters and a member of both NCJW and the Margulies JCC Senior Center, to Joanne Bramnick, Director of the Essex County Nutrition Program at the JCC and Kosher Meals on Wheels. For more information on eligibility for the home delivered kosher meals program, please contact Joanne at jbramnick@jccmetrowest.org or 973-530-3414.

Special Needs Services

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families and friends last week. This week the women in our Girl’s Night program enjoyed snacks and the movie Hairspray!  Participants laughed and sang along together while watching this classic film and discussed the importance of inclusion.  Our Guy’s Night group met and discussed current events while cooking up cheese quesadillas which they enjoyed together.  Our Monday evening programs provide our participants with the opportunity to develop friendships with peers and explore topics that are specifically of interest to these groups.

Children & Families


Children and Teen Production Company
Alice in Wonderland Jr. was a hit! We had a great time performing for our friends and families- we can’t wait to do it again! Auditions for The Wizard of Oz are coming up the first week in January for grades k-6!) We hope you will join us for our next production THE 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on December 15, 17, 18…you can purchase tickets at www.boxofficetickets.com/jccmetrowest.

Camp Deeny Riback

With over 100 campers already registered for summer 2017, CDR is well on its way to another magical summer. Now is the time to book a private tour of our facilities, before the snow and cold of winter set in. Call Deb in the camp office at 973-929-2901 to arrange a time or with any other questions about our amazing off-site facilities and program.

Campers and staff of summer 2016 are looking forward to the annual camp reunion. This year it will be held at the JCC in W. Orange on January 7th. More details will follow.

Center for Jewish Life

DID YOU KNOW THAT:
On November 30th Israel Observed Jewish Refugee Day – a National Day Remembering Jewish Exodus and Expulsion from Arab and Muslim Lands.
 
The commemorative day, designated by the Knesset three years ago, is a belated recognition of the trauma experienced by 850,000 to 1 million Jews who were expelled or fled from their homes across Arab and Muslim-majority countries from the 1940s-1970s. In fact, there have been more Jews displaced from Arab countries than Palestinians (850,000, as against 711,000 according to UN figures.)This expulsion is one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the 20th century.
 
In light of this commemorative day, we would like to share a Melton Moment from one of our students:
 
“I have been taking the Melton class with joy for that last four years. On a recent flight, I was seated next to a couple from the Midwest. As we settled in, I discovered they were first time travelers to Israel… I began speaking about how wonderful Israel was to visit. There was no conversation for a while, until quite hesitantly, the husband turned to me and asked, "From what you said, I think you might be Jewish?” I laughed, and said I was. Then I asked, “What faith are you?” They were eager to tell me—he Catholic and she “born again Christian.” Then he asked what was weighing on his mind: “Why are they fighting? I don’t understand it.” For the rest of the flight, we engaged in a rather deep and sincere interfaith exchange, one that I hope prepared them for their trip to Israel.
 
If it were not for Melton, I would not have been able to answer with conviction, authority, and knowledge the historical, spiritual and thorny issues at hand. My present course in Israel and Arab Conflict notwithstanding, I believe Melton has made me a more informed, grounded and ethical Jew. Thank you Melton! “
 -Nancy Gorrell
SHABBAT SHALOM FROM LARRY REIN
In this week’s Parsha, Toldos, Rebecca becomes pregnant after Isaac and Rebecca endures twenty childless years, until their prayers are answered.  She experiences a very complicated pregnancy as the “children struggle inside her.”  G‑d tells her that “there are two nations in her womb,” and that the younger will prevail over the elder.

Esau is born first followed by Jacob, who is born clutching Esau’s heel. Esau grows up to be “a cunning hunter” and Jacob is “a wholesome man,” spending time in the tents of learning. Isaac favors Esau and Rebecca loves Jacob. Returning exhausted and hungry from the hunt one day, Esau sells his birthright for a pot of red lentil stew.

Isaac grows old and blind, and expresses his desire to bless Esau before he dies. While Esau goes off to hunt for his father’s favorite food, Rebecca dresses Jacob in Esau’s clothes, covers his arms and neck with goatskins to simulate the feel of his hairier brother, prepares a similar dish, and sends Jacob to his father. Jacob receives his father’s blessings over his brother. When Esau returns and the deception is revealed, Isaac predicts that he will live by his sword, and that when Jacob falters, the younger brother will forfeit his supremacy over the elder.  Jacob leaves home to flee Esau’s wrath.

Here at the JCC, we look to emulate Jacob and use him as a role model.

This week, the Women’s Philanthropy department of UJA of Greater Metrowest came to learn more about our Senior programs, as well as participate in the lunch programs, the new Memory center and senior activities.  The takeaway was that “this is a diamond of our community.”  I encourage everyone to spend time experiencing the Senior success.

A special thank you to Sharon Gordon and her amazing team for making us the best Senior program in the greater community.

Shabbat Shalom,
Larry
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