the shmooze - shulcloud
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THE SHMOOZE A Weekly Newsletter for Members and Friends of Bais Abraham Congregation
Garth Silberstein, Rabbi
Shabbat – Parshat Shemot
25 December 2021 / 21 Tevet 5782 Shabbat Candle Lighting – 4:26 pm
Shabbat Ends – 5:30 pm
(according to www.myzmanim.com)
YCT Shemitah Beit Midrash YCT Shemitah Beit Midrash – This Sun
Shabbat Shalom! Services this Shabbat will be held upstairs.
• Kabbalat Shabbat (downstairs) – 4:26 pm
• Shabbat morning services followed by Kiddush - 9:00 am Thank you to Larry Friedman for giving the Shabbat drasha and making a
meat cholent for Kiddush. Thank you as well to Paula Lemerman for providing a cake in honor of Stewart Shilcrat’s birthday. Happy birthday,
Stewart!
• Mincha, Midrash Rabbah Study, and Maariv – 4:11 pm Next week there will be Shacharit services on Monday and Thursday at 6:30 am. Please let Stewart Shilcrat, [email protected], know if you are able to attend. The Eruv is up! Thank you to those who worked so hard to repair it. Sign up now for a Shabbaton with Rabbi Dr. Eli Yoggev on January 21-22! All are invited for a Shabbat of Jewish learning, conversation, and delicious vegan food with Rabbi Dr. Eli Yoggev. See the flyer in the back of the Shmooze, and learn more/sign up on the website: https://www.baisabe.com/event/VeganShabbaton Winter Outreach Drive – Collection Site at Bais Abe As temperatures drop, the unhoused in St. Louis are faced with bitterly cold winter weather. To keep our neighbors warm, the Jewish Community Relations Council is organizing our 4th annual Winter Outreach. In partnership with St. Louis Jewish organizations and State Representative Kimberly Ann Collins, we will be collecting donations of new and gently used blankets, pillows, coats, hats, scarves, gloves, boots, and clothes as well as new underwear, socks, towels, washcloths and toiletries. You can drop off donations at Bais Abe and find a list of additional drop-off sites at jcrcstl.org/take-action/winter-outreach.html. Thank you to Mark Oppenheim for delivering Bais Abe’s donations this past week. The Bais Abe office will be closed December 24-January 2. The office voicemail will be checked if there are emergencies during this time period. Rabbi Silberstein’s classes are on hiatus until January.
Bais Abraham Contacts
Shul Office (314) 721-3030
Rabbi Garth Silberstein [email protected] emai Ruth Schachter-Cohen, Executive Director
[email protected] Larry Friedman, President
[email protected] Kiddush Sponsorship
[email protected] Shmooze Submissions
Davening Schedule Monday, Thursday, and Rosh Chodesh Shacharit…6:30 am Friday Mincha/Maariv …4:26
pm Shabbat Shacharit…9:00 am
Shabbat Mincha/Maariv… 4:11 pm
Office Hours Phone or email only Monday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Tuesday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Wednesday: 9:00 am – 5:00
pm Thursday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday: 9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Shalom and Welcome! We at Bais Abe pride ourselves on hospitality and openness to Jews of all backgrounds. We strive to build a community rooted in mutual respect and commitment to Torah values and Halacha (Jewish law). Please feel free to contact the office, [email protected], for any
information that may be helpful to you. Shabbat home hospitality is currently on hold.
Bais Abraham Board of Directors
Larry Friedman President
Judy Hoffman Vice President
Lilly Canel-Katz Secretary
Greg Storch Treasurer
Martha Ginsburg Immediate Past President Directors: Aviva Buck-Yael Fawn Chapel Tessa Gardner George Grossberg Michael Gutwein Jeff Haspel Simone Picker Richard Sandler Phyllis Shapiro Stewart Shilcrat Dan Vianello Nathan Waldman Rob Wasserman
A Letter from the Bais Abe Medical Advisory Committee Dear members of the Bais Abe community, We are currently in a difficult phase of the COVID-19 pandemic with rapid spread of the Omicron variant. In the interest of protecting members of our community and allowing communal worship to take place safely, the Medical Advisory Committee has the following recommendations: The starting point is vaccination. We strongly and unanimously recommend that everyone 5-years of age and older receive the full COVID vaccine series. This includes 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) or 1 dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine), followed by a booster (6 months after an mRNA vaccine or 2 months after J&J). The primary series alone does not provide protection against Omicron. However, adding a booster provides substantial protection. Vaccination is now authorized by the FDA and recommended by CDC for children 5-years of age and older, and we urge use of the vaccine to protect eligible children. At this time, only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for those under 18 years of age. We discourage attendance of unvaccinated individuals including children too young to receive the vaccine. We now recognize that breakthrough infections are occurring, even in those who have had a full primary series and a booster. For this reason, other precautions beyond vaccination are required for all individuals. Remember that if you contract COVID, you may be contagious for 1-2 days before you develop symptoms. People are considered contagious for 48 hours before and up to 10 days after onset of symptoms. People with very severe COVID or those who are immunosuppressed may be contagious for longer. Furthermore, some people may be infected without having any symptoms, yet they may still be contagious. For these reasons, precautions must be universal, regardless of vaccination status.
Do not attend services or any indoor event at the shul if you are ill. Common symptoms of Omicron include fever, cough, headache, runny nose, and sore or scratchy throat. Loss of sense of smell and taste can occur but appear to be less common than with previous variants. Other symptoms include muscle aches, chest pain, shortness of breath, and gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Symptoms may be milder in those who have been previously vaccinated. The symptoms of COVID overlap other conditions such as the common cold, the flu, other seasonal respiratory viruses, norovirus, and allergies. In most cases diagnostic testing is required to determine the cause of the symptoms. For this reason, do not attend if you have any of these symptoms, even if you think they are from another cause. Masks should be worn at all times while in the shul building. We recommend using the highest grade mask possible. The best mask for protecting yourself and others is an N95. KN95 and KF94 are also good. If one of these high filtration masks is not used, we recommend double masking, with a paper medical mask covered by a high-quality cloth mask (at least 3 ply). Masks should always cover the nose and mouth. The mask requirement includes all children 2-years of age and older. Practice good personal hygiene. If you need to cough or sneeze, be sure your mask is in place and try to turn away from others. Wash or disinfect hands after using the toilet. We have evaluated the ventilation of the building and we think that with open windows in the sanctuary and in the first-floor meeting hall, clearance of aerosols is adequate. Current recommendations for spacing between people during services are adequate and should be maintained. We look forward to the time when these restrictions can be loosened. We are continuously evaluating that possibility.
Please see the back of the Shmooze for an infographic on proper masking.
YCT Community Shemitah Beit Midrash We are excited to be a partnering organization for YCT Rabbinical School's Community Shemitah Beit Midrash, a series of classes featuring a myriad of topics and teachers. As a Bais Abe member, you can register and participate in any of the sessions free of charge. Just visit the website, http://www.yctorah.org/shemitah/, and choose Bais Abe from the drop-down menu when registering. See the flyer in the back of the Shmooze for a list of dates and teachers. The next session will be on January 9th, where Rabba Yaffa Epstein will speak on the topic, “For the Rest of Us: A Year of Rejuvenation.” Bais Abe Misheberach List As part of the Rabbi’s Morning Tehilim, Halakha and Mishnah that meets on Zoom (https://www.baisabe.com/event/dailyprayers) Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 7:45 AM, participants say a prayer for healing the sick. If you would like to send names of family or friends who need healing, please be in touch with the Rabbi or shul office.
Halacha Highlight TRIPLE VA’YECHULU ON FRIDAY NIGHT
The ויכולו (Va’yechulu) passage from Bereshit (2:1-3) is recited three times on Friday night –
once in the shmoneh esrei, then right after finishing the shmoneh esrei, and finally, as the introductory part of Friday night kiddush. The first three words of Va’yechulu are, “and the heavens and the earth were finished.” In Talmud Shabbat (119b), we find the statement, “Rav Hamnuna said, anyone who recites the prayer of Va’yechulu becomes a partner with the Holy One in the act of creation.” Since it is considered a testimony of God’s creation of the world most believe you should try to say the second one in shul together with at least one other person/witness. The sages explain that the second one is needed after shmoneh esrei to cover the times when Shabbat is part of a Yom Tov (Pesach, Sukkot, Shavuot), in which case Va’yechulu is not recited in shmone esrei. It is then repeated at the beginning of Kiddush to cover all those who might not have made it to shul on Friday night. Others say that it is said as part of Kiddush to link Shabbat to creation. After saying Va’yechulu in Kiddush, we say the blessing, “and caused us to inherit his holy Shabbat . . . as a memorial of the work of creation.” Shabbat shalom! Jack Shapiro
St. Louis Jewish Community News and Messages
Ongoing Bais Abe Zoom Classes and Programs Unless otherwise indicated, Bais Abe classes and programs are open to both men and
women. Morning Tehillim, Halakha and Mishnah with Rabbi Garth Silberstein
• Time: Monday and Wednesday (online), Thursday (in-person), 7:45 AM Central Time
• Sign up on the website: https://www.baisabe.com/form/Tehilim-registration-form.html Midrash Rabba: Group study of Midrash Rabba on the upcoming week’s Parsha
• Time: Shabbat afternoon between Mincha and Maariv.
• This class meets in-person at Bais Abe. The Book of Samuel with Stewart Shilcrat Learning is dedicated to the memory of Micah Abraham Lemerman Shilcrat z”l
• Time: Sundays, 9:30 AM Central Time (US and Canada) • Sign up on the website: https://www.baisabe.com/book-of-samuel-class.html
Judaism 101 with Rabbi Garth Silberstein
• This class is on hiatus. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested in attending Judaism 101 when it resumes.
In-Depth Study of the Book of Ruth for Women with Maharat Rori Picker Neiss • Time: Wednesdays, 9:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada) • Options to Join Zoom Meeting - Please contact Maharat Rori, [email protected], for more
information.
Parshat HaShavua with Rabbi Garth Silberstein • Time: Thursdays, 12:00 pm Central Time (US and Canada) • Sign up on the website: https://www.baisabe.com/event/ParshatHashavua
Submit articles and announcements for publication by Thursday morning to [email protected]. Advertise in the
Shmooze Classified section and on Bais Abraham’s website for two weeks for $18. For further news and general
information about our shul please check out our website at www.baisabe.com. The Shmooze© is a community
publication of Bais Abraham Congregation, 6910 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63130. Garth Silberstein, Rabbi.
שלום שבת