Weekly E-News 5784
August 2 - August 8, 2024


Kiddush

Thanks to Eva Locker for preparing kiddush!

Menu

Quiche
Salad
Bagels & Cream Cheese
Please consider sponsoring a kiddush, in whole or in part, to celebrate a special achievement or celebration. You may also donate to the kiddush fund in any amount at any time.
Contact the office for more details.
Week-at-a-Glance


SHABBAT PRAYER STUDY @ 10 AM SATURDAYS
Ever wanted to learn a little bit more about what we say and do during our prayers? Wanted to know what prayer is in Judaism, or why we say the Mourner’s Kaddish at the end of the service, or why we stand during the Amidah? Do you have questions about our prayers, but never wanted to take a full class? Rabbi Gelman is here to help! Starting this week, after our normal Psukei Dzimrei at 9:45, every Shabbat service from 10-10:10 will be dedicated to going over a little piece of prayer knowledge. Learn the meaning of the prayers, the order of the service, and more! The Shacharit morning service will always start at 10:10 to make sure we end on time, so make sure you get to services by 10 AM to learn a little more about our prayers!
 August 2 – August 8, 2024
 
This Shabbat:
 
2024 | 5784

 Mattot-Masei

Candle Lighting: 8:02 pm
Havdalah: 8:59 pm
(all times are for Savannah)
Annual Torah reading: Numbers 30:2-36:7
(Etz Hayim pp 941-967)
Triennial Torah reading: Numbers 32:1-33:49
(Etz Hayim pp 949-957)
Haftarah: Jeremiah 2:4-28, 3:4
(Etz Hayim pp 973-976)
Service Leader Sign Up

Are you interested in leading services? Reading Torah? You can sign up on our service leader sign up sheet! If you are interested in learning how to read Torah or lead services, contact Rabbi Gelman at rabbi@agudath-achim.com.
In Person Service Times:
Tuesday: 7:30 AM
Wednesday: 8:00 AM
Every Friday: 8:00 AM
1st Friday: 6:00 PM at Synagogue
2nd, 3rd & 4th Friday: 8PM at Synagogue
Shabbat: 9:45 AM
Rabbi's Message

There is a very long passage in this week’s Torah portion that is one of my favorite to lein from the Torah and one of the most seemingly boring in the Torah, for the exact same reason. For the space of around 50 verses, the Torah details all of the waystations that the Israelites encamped at as they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land, beginning with Rameses in Egypt and ending on the banks of the River Jordan. For 40 verses, the flow goes like this: “They set out from Tachat and encamped at Terach. They set out from Terach and encamped at Mitkah.” And so on and on and on, for a total of 42 encampments over the Israelites 40 years in the desert.

Why does the Torah go into such great, boring, detail? The rabbis are divided on this question. Rashi, quoting a Midrash, says that all of the stations are shown to prove that actually, over their forty years in the desert, the Israelites did not travel much. They traveled 14 times in the first year out of Egypt, until the failure of the spies and God’s decree that the Israelites would wander the desert, and another 8 times in the last year of their wandering following Aharon’s death. It follows, then, says Rashi, that the Israelites only traveled 20 times in 38 years. They were not constantly moving. Maimonides claims that the stations are recorded to prove a miracle, that people might think the Israelites encamped close to civilization for their 40 years of wandering, so the Torah records exactly where in the desert they encamped, so that all those who read the Torah might recognize God’s might in keeping the Israelites alive in the wilderness. Nachmanides records both of these opinions, and says it might be one of them, or a “secret that has not been revealed to us,” a nice way of putting that he does not quite understand the point of this passage either.

But Rashbam, Rashi’s grandson, put its very simply. “All of the journeys and camping is reviewed again in order to explain where they camped.” That might seem a little tautological (a thing that needs itself to explain itself). But there is something beautiful in his statement. By focusing on where the Israelites camped for 40 years, the Torah emphasis that, indeed, they camped for 40 years. They were out in the desert, alone, with just God and each other for protection. And so, the long passage focusing on their encampment engenders a sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the places that sheltered our ancestors. Gratitude toward God for providing for them in the desert. Gratitude for our ancestors, who were able to camp and hold out and make their way to the Promised Land. Without the long list, we don’t get a sense of just how long and hard it was to camp for 40 years outside of the Land of Israel. The list is there so that we can feel gratitude.

In our lives, we can only truly feel gratitude for what we truly acknowledge. Many therapists recommend keeping a gratitude journal so that we can remember what it is we are thankful for. This is a practice I would like to start myself. But whether or not we keep a gratitude journal, or keep account in some other way, it is important for us to remember that the first step to being grateful is to acknowledging what we have to be grateful for in the first place.

Shabbat Shalom!


Rabbi Gelman
Birthdays

August 5th
Nanci Aronstein

August 7th
Marc Eichenholtz

August 8th
Diane Weil

Anniversaries

August 8th
Jean & Julian Weitz
Mitzvah Grams

If you'd like to wish AA members Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary, the Sisterhood will be glad to send cards for you!
The cost is just $1.00 for individual names or $50.00/ 6 months for all members with a date to celebrate.
Please make checks payable to Congregation Agudath Achim.

For more information or to enroll, call Natalie Hyman at 518-265-6777 or email her at njhyman@aol.com.
Yahrzeits

August 2 - August 9, 2024

Thursday night/Friday, August 2 - 27 Tammuz
Hannah Gibson - daughter of Sarah Parker
Nance Mescon - sister of Timothy Mescon
Jerry Shell - father of Linda Udinsky

Friday night/ Saturday, August 3 - 28 Tammuz
George Baker - uncle of Ellin Joselove
Rosalyn Gordon - mother of Lauren Mescon

Saturday night/ Sunday, August 4 - 29 Tammuz
Fanny Meyers - great-aunt of Linda Zoller

Sunday night/Monday, August 5 - 1 Av
Oscar Beberman - uncle of Michael Konter
Jack Galin - father of Murray Galin, uncle of Mel Galin
Bernard Greenberg - father of Charna Cweibel
Steven Haysman - brother of Melvin Haysman
Lois Makover - sister of Gerald Caplan

Monday night/Tuesday, August 6 - 2 Av
Lawrence Bodziner - father of Richard Bodziner
Helen Cranman - mother of Lynn Reeves & Paul Cranman,
grandmother of Kasey Berman & Morgan McGhie
Herbert Meister - father of Janet Benjamin

Tuesday night/Wednesday, August 7 - 3 Av
Al Shayne - father of Harriet Kulbersh

Wednesday night/ Thursday, Aug 8 - 4 Av
Ruben Ginsberg - grandfather of Ron Ginsberg
Joseph Joselove - husband of Ellin Joselove

Thursday night/Friday, August 9 - 5 Av
Ethel Brodsky - grandmother of Kenneth Hoffman

Commemoration of the Yahrzeit begins the evening of the first noted date.
Community Announcements
Invitation from Rabbi Haas:

The CEO of the Georgia Hillels, Rabbi Larry S. will speak at Mickve Israel this Sunday at 6pm for any interested high school and college students and parents. Please join us! 

Montag Gallery Exhibit

August 1-31, 2024


Adam Levinson

Opening Reception:
August 8, 5-7pm


What seems obvious from a distance, upon closer inspection, may reveal intricacies and beauty beyond expectation.


This body of work, composed collectively of hundreds of thousands circles, indicates texture and movement that perhaps is only perceived, inviting the viewer to consider one's repeated actions toward a desired result, and visualize both cohesion and structure in unity.

Grandson of beloved JEA member, artist and community advocate, Rene Lehrberger, Adam Levison is an artist based in Savannah and the founder of Circle House Sav, a new community and event space near Daffin Park.

Inquiries for murals and commissions: circlehousesav@gmail.com
Project Elef is an initiative that will help deserving families prepare for school without stress. Michelle Allan and Sarah Docar are facilitating the project as Tzedek Coordinators, having recently completed the first year of the Tzedek Cohort through JCCNA and Repair the World. The goal is to collect 1,000 items and $1,000.00 by the end of July.  A generous donor will match dollar-for-dollar money collected to meet the goal.   The items collected will be sorted and packed, ultimately providing numerous children in the area with a brand new backpack filled with a complete and grade appropriate supply list.  Collection bins are located in the JEA Main Lobby and Small Auditorium. 
Donor Dues Program
Rabbi Samuel Gelman
Morgan McGhie, President
Motti Locker, Executive Director

Congregation Agudath Achim | office@agudath-achim.com | 912-352-4737 | www.agudath-achim.com