Community Bulletin Board

New Tutoring Program for Cheltenham Township

The Cheltenham School District is looking for tutors to help students with basic skills in all subjects. Over the pandemic, many students lost a good amount of academics and are in need of additional support. Tutors should be 16 years and older. If you are interested or need more information, contact Tutoring Coordinator Toby Grubman at tobgru@aol.com or 215.663.0657. Sponsored by Champions for Cheltenham.

Event/Class

Antisemitism: Its Nature, Development, Evolution, and Present Stage, and How to Defeat it Through the Teachings of Theodore Herzl and Ahad Ha’am with Rabbi Matthew Abelson, Executive Director of Rabbis United

Since 2001, antisemitism entered its third phase. The singular Jewish state is now the target of those who hate Jews and Judaism. I will explore the events in and around that year - including the Second Intifada, the Al Durah Affair, and the UN Conference Against Racism in South Africa. How did Herzl envision Zionism defeating antisemitism? How was he right or wrong? How did Herzl’s greatest theoretical opponent, Ahad Ha’am view the same issue? I will explain how a synthesis of the two makes Zionism the most effective means of defeating antisemitism. At Gratz on Thursday, June 20 from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM. In-person only. $25/person. Register here.

Tikkun Olam

Currently, there are no federal programs that support families purchasing diapers and sadly, nearly half of U.S. families struggle to provide enough diapers for their children. To provide some relief, Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia intends to distribute more than three million diapers to local families this year. Our Gear Up for Baby program supplies diapers plus clothing, onesies, bibs, hygiene kits, baby books, and more! When you support Gear Up for Baby, you're helping a local family provide the essentials their child needs to thrive.

We are very grateful to a generous local family who has offered a $25,000 Gear Up for Baby Challenge Match in support of this urgent program. With this Challenge, your gift right now means we can provide double the number of diapers to help keep babies and toddlers clean, dry, and healthy. Click here to donate.

Tikkun Olam

Sharing Light for Remembrance
(A project of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs)

Candles are available now at AJ on the counter in the lobby outside the sanctuary (one candle per family please). Funds raised will go to KAVOD, an organization that provides immediate relief to Holocaust survivors in the Philadelphia area. KAVOD partners with the Jewish Family Service. You can pick up a candle at AJ today until 5:00 PM, tomorrow until 3:00 PM or, if you are attending Sunday's Shoah Seder, you can pick one up then. Forms for donations to KAVOD will be on the Sanctuary lobby counter or you can download one here. Alternatively, you can donate online (any amount is deeply appreciated) here.

Light candle at sundown on Sunday, May 5, 2024.

Retail Therapy

Are you looking for a Mothers Day gift? The students at the AJ Early Learning Center prepared "seed bombs" with the help of parent Lauren O’Hara. Each “bomb” can be planted in the ground or into a pot with soil. Time and love will result in a wildflower mini garden. Each seed bomb is $3, and you can purchase one with a small plastic bucket for $7. You can purchase them with cash or check made payable to Adath Jeshurun to the ELC office.

Event

For six decades, Greater Philadelphia has shown up each year to say Never Again at the Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony to observe Yom HaShoah.  The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia invites you to join their 60th annual ceremony as part of this vital tradition to ensure that we Never Forget about the six million Jews who perished in the Shoah and that we continue to honor the survivors living in our communities. The ceremony on Sunday, May 5, from 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM will include candle lighting, music and prayers. Advance registration is required. For security purposes, they are not able to accept walk-ins. Location: Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza, 16th Street and Ben Franklin Parkway. Click here to register. RSVP by Friday, May 3 at 11:59 AM.

Jewish Life

There’s an exciting, new national research opportunity on Jewish teen mental health that just went live that we want you to take part in. It's the first-ever national study of Jewish teen well-being. It asks about the biggest stressors teens face and the support you find most helpful. We know the Jewish community is diverse and want to be sure the data captures this.

Your voice and experience are so important! The survey is brief, mobile-friendly and anonymous. You can click here to take the survey when you have a few minutes. The survey is open through May 17, 2024.

Not a teen? We hope you that you will raise awareness about this survey and share this information with your networks and the teens in your life.

Torah

There is a common misconception that the reason why Moses was not allowed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land involved hitting a rock with his staff for water.

The Torah does use the rock incident as the occasion to inform Moses that he won’t make it into the Promised Land, but the Torah does not actually say that’s the reason why Moses can’t lead the Israelites there. As so often happens, it is only the crash of current events that has allowed me to understand the Torah’s deep intention.

There is one other great figure of the Bible who was unable to complete his vision and mission, King David. He was the founder of the messianic line who purchased the land for the Temple in Jerusalem, but was not allowed to build the Temple. Why? Here the Bible is explicit: He spilled too much blood. He fought too many wars (I Chron. 22:8).

But he fought those wars with God’s blessing for the safety and security of Israel. Why would he be punished for that?

Our rabbinic commentators admit what the Torah text omits: King David spilled innocent blood, blood that was unnecessary to spill to secure the victories necessary for Israel to be secure in its land (RaDaK and Malbim). He founded the messianic line, but you can’t build a Temple for God by shedding innocent blood.

Could the TaNaKH have revealed about King David what it was unwilling to disclose about Moses? Consider the final plague: God tells Moses that every first born in Egypt will be killed. Unlike Abraham, Moses does not argue with God that it would be unjust to murder the innocents with the guilty. (I owe this insight to Rabbi David Seidenberg.) The Rabbis made a big deal comparing Abraham, who argued for justice in Sodom and Gomorrah, with Noah, who just, sheepishly, complied. God said all the first born in Egypt were to be slain, and Moses complied, without pushing back, at all.

Our Rabbis were bothered by Moses’ docile compliance, so the midrash assures us that all the firstborns were guilty of rejoicing in the pain and distress of the Israelites. They got what was coming to them. They weren’t innocent! That’s what the midrash says. Our Rabbinic sages had a stake in preserving a sense of divine justice. They couldn’t accept such collateral damage as the price for redeeming the Israelites from bondage.

Why didn’t Moses make it into the promised land? Because like King David, Moses had innocent blood on his hands. He could have challenged God about the need to kill every firstborn. He could have asked if all that bloodshed was necessary to redeem Israel.

Too many Israelites died in bondage, and too many Egyptians died securing our freedom. Moses is remembered as our redeemer—although, curiously, not in the Haggadah where he is not even mentioned. But Moses can’t lead us across the river into the Promised Land because the river flows, in part, with the blood of innocent Egyptians.

At this year’s Pesach seder, we should use all our fingers, not just our pinkies, to dip into the red and diminish our joy. God willing, like the Israelites, we will prevail, but our joy will be diminished.

This essay was published with many others in the Conservative Movement’s Passover reader: Passover Reader 5784: Not A Haggadah on The Digital Home for Conservative Judaism (exploringjudaism.org).

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Stories help us pass along Jewish values and traditions. They inspire us, teach us and create a sense of belonging. Tell and K'vell helps pass along Jewish values and traditions and makes a wonderful Passover gift! If you're celebrating at home or you're a guest for the holiday, Tell and K'vell will help you deepen connections, build a sense of community, and strengthen Jewish identity. Orders placed by April 15 will be received in time for Passover. Plus, FREE SHIPPING on purchases of two or more! Limited time offer! Click here for more info.

Non-AJ Event

The InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia is presenting "The Last Yiddish Speaker" at the Drake Theater from March 29 through April 21. Here's the synopsis: In the years following a successful January 6th insurrection, a white supremacist regime has come into power. Paul and his teenage daughter, Sarah, live under the radar in a small town upstate as Christian-passing, despite being Jews who fled New York City. When an ancient Yiddish-speaking woman arrives on their doorstep, Paul and Sarah are forced to decide between fleeing again or fighting for their faith, their heritage and their identity. Tickets are $17 but from April 5 through April 7, a "pay as you can" policy is in effect. Find out more here. (One of the directors was here at AJ for the Vigil for Israel.)

Project

UNAPOLOGETICALLY JEWISH, a social media initiative presented by Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media (PJFM), aims to strengthen and foster bonds with Judaism and explore relationships with Israel through the creation of original, digital content by Jewish “GenZillennials” (now open to ages 18+). In this contest, EIGHT selected applicants will design their own unique digital content to be published on their own platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and/or YouTube) AND PJFM’s social media with the goal of attaining the most online engagement rates, which include the total number of likes/comments/shares per post and followers. The top FOUR contestants who receive the highest levels of engagement are invited to present their series at Digital Chutzpah 2024! PJFM’s Digital Media Festival on Wednesday, September 19, 2024, at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. On Closing Night of the festival on Sunday, September 22, social media metrics for the four contestants’ content are measured one final time, and the contestant with the most engagements receives a $5,000 prize AND inclusion in Fall Fest 2024’s programming. Click here to learn more.

Non-AJ Event

Join us on the road to friendship at Philly Friendship Circle's 2024 Annual Gala! Let's pave the way to authentic inclusion and celebrate our amazing teens and young adults. Sunday, April 7 at 5:00 PM, at Hilton on City Ave. For more info, visit phillyfriendship.org/gala.