For it is not yours by inheritance. One cannot attain scholarship on the merit of his father's studies; everyone must acquire knowledge by personal effort.'
Rabbi Eliezer (Pirke Avot)
Do not seek greatness for yourself and do not covet honor; let your practice exceed your learning.'
Anonymous (Pirke Avot)
'Do not look at the jar, but what is in it; there may be a new vessel filled with mature wine and an old vessel that does not even contain new wine.'
Rabbi Meir (Pirke Avot)
'Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.'
Yeshua (Jesus) (Matthew 9:17)
'The day is short, the task is great, the workers are sluggish and the wages are high and the Master of the house is pressing.'
Rabbi Tarfon (Pirke Avot)
'Do not say, when I have leisure I shall study, for you may never be free.'
Hillel (Pirke Avot)
'I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.'
Yeshua (Jesus) (Matthew 5:18-20)
'Make your study of Torah a regular habit, say little and do much, and receive everyone with a cheerful smile.'
Shammai (Pirke Avot)
'Do not separate yourself from the community.'
Hillel (Pirke Avot)
'Do not forsake attendance at synagogue (as some do), but exhort one another; and even more as you see the Day approaching.'
(Hebrews 10.25)
'Be among the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them nearer to Torah.'
'If I am not for myself, who will be for me? and if I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?'
Hillel (Pirke Avot)
'It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.'
(Acts 15:19-21)
'All my life I was raised among the Sages and I have found nothing better than silence; it is not the study (of Torah) but its practice that is the essence, and whoever talks excessively causes sin.'
Simon the son of Rabban Gamaliel (Pirke Avot)
'Do not long for the table of kings, for your table is greater than theirs, and your crown is greater than their crown, and your Employer is faithful and shall pay you the reward of your work.'
Anonymous (Pirke Avot)
'You are not required to complete the work, but neither are you free to avoid it'
Rabbi Tarfon (Pirke Avot)
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| 2007 Fall Holidays |
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Date |
Time |
Service |
Holiday |
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Wed. Sept 12 |
7:00-8:15 |
Minchah |
Erev Rosh HaShanah (New Year) |
Thur. Sept 13, 2007 |
10:30-1:00 |
Shacharit |
Rosh HaShanah |
Fri. Sept 14, 2007 |
10:30-1:00? |
Shacharit? - Maybe a very small group. |
Rosh HaShanah - 2nd Day |
Fri. Sept 14, 2007 |
1:30-2:00 |
Tashlik (at park) |
Rosh HaShanah - 2nd Day |
Fri. Sept 21, 2007 |
7:00-8:15 |
Kol Nidrei |
Erev Yom Kipur |
Sat. Sept 22, 2007 |
10:30-1:00 |
Shacharit |
Yom Kipur |
Sat. Sept 22, 2007 |
1:00-6:00 |
Misc Torah/Talmud Study and Discussion |
Yom Kipur |
Sat. Sept 22, 2007 |
6:00 pm |
Minchah & Neilah (Closing of the Gates) |
Yom Kipur |
TBA |
6:00 pm |
Lunch in a Succah |
Sukot |
TBA |
6:00 pm |
Minchah/Arvit |
Simchat Torah |
Holiday |
Scripture References |
Rosh HaShanah
The Jewish New Year. A day of judgment. Synagogue services and blowing of
the Shofar (ram's horn). The beginning of the Ten Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim),
also called Ten Days of Repentance (Teshuva). |
Leviticus 23:24-25 - "Speak to the children of Israel, saying:
'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest,
a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary
work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the L-rd.'"
also Num. 29:1-6
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Yom Kippur
The Day of Atonement. A fast day beginning prior to sunset on the previous
day. Services at synagogue all day, including Kol Nidre, Neila, and Memorial
(Yizkor) services. |
Leviticus 16:29 - "This shall be a statute forever for you:
In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your
souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a
stranger who dwells among you."
also Lev. 23:27-32; Num. 29:7-11
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Sukkot
Tabernacles. Commemorates the Jewish people's wanderings in the desert.
Meals should be eaten in a special temporary hut (Sukkah). Waving the four
species of plants culminates on the seventh day with special services (Hoshana
Rabah).
Hoshanah Rabah
The seventh and last day of Sukkot. Concludes the Days of Awe as the day
of the sealing of judgment.
Shmini Atzeret
The Eighth Day of Assembly. Concluding celebration of renewal and thanksgiving.
Anticipates the Messianic Age.
Simchat Torah
Rejoicing of The Torah. The close of the High Holidays season. Cycle of
Torah readings are concluded and the scroll is rolled back to The Beginning.
A very joyous time of dancing with the Torah.
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Leviticus 23:34-36 - "Speak to the children of Israel, saying:
'The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles
for seven days to the L-rd. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation.
You shall do no customary work on it. For seven days you shall offer an offering
made by fire to the L-rd. On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation,
and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the L-rd. It is a sacred
assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it."
Leviticus 23:40-41 - "And you shall take for yourselves on the
first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs
of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the
L-rd your G-d for seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to the L-rd for
seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations.
You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for
seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your
generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths
when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the L-rd your G-d.'"
also Ex. 23:16, 34:22; Num. 29:12-38; Deut. 16:13-15
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Hanukkah
The Festival Of Lights. Evokes the rededication of the Second Temple in
Jerusalem by the Maccabees. Celebrated with lighting candles on a Hannukiah
each night.
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John 10:22 - "Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter,
and Yeshua/Jesus was walking around inside the Temple area, in Shlomo's
Colonade. So the Judeans surrounded him and said to him, 'How much longer
are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are Messiah, tell us publicly!'"
also First Maccabbees 4:52-59; Talmud Shabbat 21b; Josephus's Antiquities 12.7.7
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Tu B'Shevat
Jewish Arbor Day. Celebration of new fruits and the land of Israel. Tu B'Shevat
Seder. The Sages have designated the 15th of Shevat as the boundary for
trees, between one year and the next.
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Deuteronomy 14:28 - "At the end of each three year period,
you must bring out all the tithes of that year's crop, and place them in
your settlements."
Deuteronomy 26:12 - "When you have finished taking all the tithes
of your grain for the third year, which is the special tithe year, you must
give them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, orphan, and widow, so that
they will eat their fill in your settlements."
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Purim
Recalls the rescue of the Jewish people in Persia during the 6th century
B.C.E. Reading of the Book of Esther on the 14th of Adar. On the 13th of Adar,
the Fast of Esther is observed in commemoration of the Fast observed by
Mordechai and Esther and all Israel.
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Esther 9:29-31 - "Queen Esther... with Mordecai the Jew,
wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter...to establish these
days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen
Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for
themselves and for their descendents with instructions for their times of
fasting and their lamentations." |
Pesach
Remembrance of the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. No leaven (Chametz)
can be eaten or found in any household. Passover Seder is conducted.
|
Leviticus 23:5-7 - "In the first month, on the fourteenth
day of the month at evening, is the L-rd's passover. And on the fifteenth
day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the L-rd: seven
days ye shall eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy
convocation: ye shall do no servile work."
also Ex. 12, 16:1-3, 34:25; Num. 28:16; Deu. 16:1-8; Matt 26:17-27; Mark 14:12-25; Luke 22:7-22
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Shavuot
Moses Recieves The Torah (Pentecost).
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Exodus 19:1 - "In the third month after the Exodus of the
Jewish People from Egypt, on that very day, they came to the Desert of Sinai"
Deuteronomy 16:9-12 - "Seven weeks shalt thou number unto
thee: from the time thou beginnest to put the sickle to the standing grain
shalt thou begin to number seven weeks. And thou shalt keep the feast of
weeks unto the L-rd thy G-d with a tribute of a freewill-offering of thy
hand, which thou shalt give, according as the L-rd thy G-d blesseth thee:
and thou shalt rejoice before the L-rd thy G-d, thou, and thy son, and thy
daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that
is within thy gates, and the sojourner, and the fatherless, and the widow,
that are in the midst of thee, in the place which the L-rd thy G-d shall
choose, to cause his name to dwell there. And thou shalt remember that thou
wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe and do these statutes."
also Lev. 23:15-21; Num. 28:26-31; Ex. 23:16, 34:22; Acts 2
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Fast of Tisha B'Av
Fast Day Lamenting Destruction of both Temples. |
Zechariah 8:19 - "Thus saith the L-rd of Hosts: The fast of
the fourth [month], and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh,
and the fast of the tenth…"
Jeremiah 52:12 - "Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day
of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadrezzar, king
of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, who stood before
the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem: and he burned the house of Jehovah,
and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great
house, burned he with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were
with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round
about."
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What we offer is a very traditional service similar to what any Conservative or Traditional Synagogue would offer. We use the traditional ArtScroll Sidur and do at least the minimum required prayers for Shabbat (except for the Musaf). We have a shorten Torah service when a minyan of 10 men are present, and we have Oneg followed by Shir HaMalot (Grace after Meals). Our 'drashes' (teachings) in the morning are usually less than 15 minutes. [We have extended Torah study in the afternoon for those that want to stay. We use the Artscroll Chumash and commentary. ]
We believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah, and we add a few prayers related to his messiahship.
But we also offer a comfortable environment for mixed marriages and we will help you catch up on any Hebrew you may have forgotten.
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Are you looking for a closer walk with God? Are you tired of the baby food being fed to you at local churches? Maybe you are ready to move from milk to solid food.
Hebrews 5:13-14 'Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature...'
At Simchat Torah, we promise to give you meat. We will raise questions you probably never thought about. We will teach you Hebrew and the beautiful traditions of the Hebrew Sidur, much of which was set out by the scribe Ezra. We will teach you to understand the Bible with 'Jewish eyes'.
After lunch each Saturday, we have extended Torah study in the afternoon for those that want to stay. We use the Artscroll Chumash and commentary.
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