Purim 5767

Volume VII Number 3

Bulletin, Moncton-Dieppe-vyvrbyr, NB  NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Thank you to all that have sent articles. I had to make a choice among what was sent, as there was quite a bit of material to publish. (Reminder: we can only include articles that are sent to us in WORD or WordPerfect or HTLM forms). In the 5766 Purim Bulletin (last year), I reproduced an article entitled: “In Fond and Respectful Remembrance of Joe Sherman”. Our friend Joe Sherman had just passed away. I didn’t give the credit for the article and I have to apologize for that. Interestingly the author of the article found a copy of the bulletin and called me. I promised her I would give her proper credit in this bulletin. So, here it is: the excellent article was written by Dina E. Cox, a poetess who very much appreciated Joe’s talent. For those of you who would like to read the article again, go to the Shul’s website and download the bulletin for Purim 5766 or go to the league of Canadian Poets archives at http://www.poets.ca/linktext/newsletter/2006-02-06/

dushes. We have had two very beautiful lunches over the past few weeks, thanks especially to the Rinzler family who have honoured their yahrzeits in this way. In addition, the sisterhood provided a wonderful kiddush for Tu B’Shevat, with all sorts of fruit and nuts to remind us that spring is not too far away. We are very grateful to all who sponsor kiddushes and, of course, to those who put so much effort into preparing them. The Shul has been busy over the past few weeks, with a Camp Kadimah rally and several tour groups. By the time you read this, we will have had an exciting Shabbaton and will be looking forward to Purim festivities. In addition to the Megillah reading, there will be costumes for the kids, food, a movie, and of course all kinds of hamantaschen. Stay tuned for word on the community Seders that are being planned for Pesach. The Rabbi is to be commended for the energy that he puts into the programmes that he organizes. I encourage everyone to take part in as much as they can. Nancy, Aaron, Aviva, and Daniel join me in wishing you all a happy Purim – chag sameach! Ivan Cohen

IVAN COHEN

President's message

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Feb 2007

his is my first message, coming only a month after the newly elected Board has taken office, and I am still getting my feet wet (so to speak) with the business of administering Tiferes Israel Synagogue. We had an initial Board meeting earlier this month at which we identified a number of issues that are carried over from last year and a few initiatives that we hope to get started on in the coming months. I am in the process of putting together a series of committees, which I hope will help to move things along. The most important unfinished business is the matter of raising funds to pay for the windows that were recently repaired. Once this is taken care of, we would like to give our full attention to the design and construction of a ramp. We will look into various funding options, but in both cases members (and friends!) will be called upon for their generosity. I am happy to report that the new dairy stove in the kitchen has been installed and is now in use baking those delicious sweets that we enjoy at Shabbat kid-

THE KIELCE POGROM By Bozena Szaynok Source: Fear Gross, Princeton U. http://www.fathom.com/course/72809602/session1.html For many years, the anti-Jewish pogrom in Kielce on July 4, 1946, was one of the many taboo topics in modern Polish history. At the end of the 1980s, the great political changes in Poland meant that historians could begin to research the history of Poland using secret archives and records, which had not previously been available to them. These new research opportunities also applied to the history of Jews in Poland after 1945 - my field of specialization. I became the first historian to gain access to materials on the Kielce pogrom contained in the archives of the Polish Ministry of the Interior in Warsaw and in the local archive in the town of Kielce itself. Based on my research, I would like to present what we know for certain about the Jewish pogrom. The pogrom in Kielce took place on July 4, 1946, but some events started a few days before. On July 1, a nine-year-old boy, Henryk Blaszczyk, left home without

2 informing his parents. Little Henryk set out to visit friends of his parents in the village of Bielaki, 25 kilometres from Kielce. Henryk's visit took place during summer vacation, and it was not the boy's first visit there. In Kielce, Henryk's father, Walenty Blaszczyk, troubled by his son's absence, began searching for him. When searches brought no results, Henryk was reported missing to the police at midnight. On July 3, Henryk decided to return home and came back to Kielce. His family and neighbours asked him where he had been. He told a story about an unknown gentleman whom he had met in Kielce and who asked him to deliver a parcel to some house and, after that, he put the boy in a cellar. With the help of another boy who was also there, Henry escaped on July 3. Obviously, the story was told by the boy to avoid punishment, but the neighbours and the boy's parents believed it. Two neighbours, who were at the Blaszczyks' home, when Henryk came back, had questions. One asked the boy whether the gentleman he described was a Gypsy or a Jew, and the boy replied that he had to be a Jew. However, in response to a similar question asked by the other neighbour, the boy merely replied that he was put in a cellar by a man without giving any information about his nationality. In other words, two persons suggested to little Henryk that Jews could have been the perpetrators of his abduction. On the next day, July 4, at about 8 a.m., Walenty Blaszczyk (the boy's father) set out for the police station with his son and one of the neighbours. On the way, they passed the house where Jewish families lived, the so-called Jewish house. They asked the boy if he had been kept at the Jewish home. Henryk not only stated that he had been held there, but he also pointed to one short man standing near the Jewish house and said that this man had put him in a cellar. At the police station, Henryk's story was treated as truthful. In a short time, three police patrols were dispatched to Planty Street, where the Jewish house was located. The policemen from the first patrol arrested the young Jewish male pointed out by the boy, and the next patrol started searching for the place where the boy had been held. Each of the three patrols had about ten policemen. They walked with Henryk and obviously attracted the attention of the residents of Kielce. When the policemen were questioned about what had happened, they spread false reports about Jews holding a Polish boy, and they also talked about searching for murdered Polish children in a Jewish home. People started to gather very quickly along the way and to congregate in front of the so-called Jewish house. The behaviour of the policemen and the people who were gathering near Planty Street made the Jewish families living there apprehensive. Severyn Kahane, the chairman of the Jewish Committee in Kielce and an inhabitant of the Jewish house, went to the police station to get some explanations. The police promised to release Singer Kalaman, the young Jewish male who had been arrested, but they did not keep their promise. The initial search of the house by the policemen con-

Tiferes Israel, Purim 5767 vinced the crowd that the rumour about Polish children being kept there was true, although, at the beginning, most of the people in the crowd behaved passively. At about 10 a.m., the police patrols and a group of functionaries from the political police were joined by an army contingent on Planty Street. According to the testimony of the deputy commander of the army division, about one hundred soldiers and five officers were dispatched to Planty Street. The newly arrived troops had not been told anything about the events, and they came to believe that Jews had kidnapped and murdered Polish children in the house on Planty Street. The soldiers got their information from the people gathered on the street. With the arrival of the troops, tensions rose very quickly. The soldiers and the policemen then went into the building. Jews were told to surrender their weapons, but not all of the residents obeyed the order. The entry of the policemen and the soldiers into the Jewish house marked the beginning of the pogrom. Excerpts from testimonies describe what followed. Ewa Szuchman, resident of the house on Planty Street, said: After the police took away the weapons, the crowd broke into the Kibbutz (on the second floor) and policemen started shooting at the Jews first. They killed one and wounded several others. Albert Grynbaum, another inhabitant of the Jewish house who was on the first floor, said: The soldiers went up to the second floor. Several minutes later two Jews came to me and told me that the soldiers were killing Jews and looting their property. It was then that I heard shots. After the shooting on the second floor, shots were heard from the street and inside the building. This is how the Kielce pogrom began. The behaviour of the policemen and the soldiers, influenced by the crowd outside, provoked it into action. After the attack inside the building, the Jews were led outside where the people killed them in a cruel fashion. Other eyewitness accounts given by Jews and Poles confirm these events. Baruch Dorfman (Jew, resident of the Jewish house): Uniformed soldiers and a number of civilians forced their way into the building. I had already been wounded. They told us to get out and form a line. Civilians, including women, were on the stairs. The soldiers hit us with their rifle butts. Civilians, men and women, also hit us. Ryszard Salapa (one of the policemen) recalled: The military led Jews out of apartments and people began hitting them with everything they could. The armed soldiers did not react. Some returned to the building to lead other Jews outside. At about 11 a.m. Seweryn Kahane, the chairman of the Jewish Committee in Kielce, was shot by soldiers. He was killed while calling for help. Until noon, all attempts to stop the pogrom brought no results. At that time, the pogrom spilled over into the city itself as well. One resident of Kielce recalled:

Purim 5767 At 11:30 some eight young people coming from the direction of the railroad station on Sienkiewicz Street ran a man down in the middle of the road. He was hit with fists in the face and head. From his face I could tell he was a Semite. I would like to mention that as a former prisoner of concentration camps I had not gone through an experience like this. I have seen very little sadism and bestiality of this scale. At about 12 o'clock, the army managed to push the crowd back from the square facing the Jewish house. However, the crowd did not disperse. The temporary calm was interrupted by the arrival of workers from the Ludwikow steel mill. The arrival of the workers marked the beginning of the next phase of the pogrom, during which about 20 Jews lost their lives. Once the workers arrived nothing could be done for the Jews inside the building or on the square. Neither the military nor the local political leaders did anything to stop the workers from attacking Jews. The pogrom lasted until 2-3 p.m. New units of soldiers from a nearby school run by the Interior Ministry and from Warsaw finally succeeded in restoring order. Also, around 2 p.m., five priests went to Planty, where they tried to convince people gathering there to return home. The priests warned the mob that the soldiers would use their weapons. However, one of the soldiers standing nearby said that the Polish army would never shoot at Poles. Meanwhile, wounded Jews were brought to the hospital. While being transported, they were beaten and robbed by soldiers. The anti-Jewish mood did not end with the pogrom. In the afternoon, a large, antiJewish demonstration took place on Planty Street. In addition, a crowd approached the hospital and demanded that the wounded Jews be handed over to them. The pogrom in Kielce began about 10 a.m. and ended in the afternoon. Anti-Jewish events took place not only at Planty Street but all over town. In Kielce, a Jewish mother and baby were carried out of their house and killed. Anti-Jewish actions also occurred on trains passing through Kielce that day. Over forty people were killed in the pogrom (some of them died later in the hospital), including two Poles. Who were the victims of the Kielce pogrom? *The Chairman of the Jewish Community in Kielce, Severyn Kahane. *Young Zionists who wanted to leave Poland for Palestine. *Jewish soldiers and former prisoners of concentration camps were among the victims. *Estera Proszowska, killed because she helped wounded Jews. The Kielce pogrom touches many problems. The most painful and traumatic of these problems is the existence of anti-Semitism in Poland after World War II. Poles were clearly willing to participate in an act of anti-Jewish violence. The pogrom in Kielce was a turning point in the post-war history of Jews in Poland. After the pogrom, the majority of the Jews remaining in Poland decided to leave. Until July 1946, some groups of Jews had

3 wanted to stay in Poland in spite of dominant influence exerted by Zionism. Before the pogrom, an average of one thousand Jews crossed the Polish border illegally each month. In July, August, and September 1946, over sixty thousand Jews left Poland. Jews no longer believed that they could be safe in Poland. Despite the large militia and army presence in the town of Kielce, Jews had been murdered there in cold blood, in public, and for a period of more than five hours. What I have presented here is a brief overview of the historical and political aspects of an incident in which over forty innocent people were murdered. From a historian's point of view, it is an event in modern Polish history, which, like many others from the same period, can now be discussed openly and, with some limitations, authoritatively.

ARABS vs ISRAEL The International News

Editor-in-Chief: Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman (submitted by David Attis)

Imam Ali Ibn Abi Taleb: "If God were to humiliate a human being He would deny him knowledge" The League of Arab States has 22 members. Of the 22, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman are 'traditional monarchies'. Of the 22, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria and Somalia are 'Authoritarian Regimes' (Source: www.freedomhouse.org). Of the 22, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Morocco and Somalia are among the 'world's most repressive regimes' (Source: A special report to the 59th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights). Of the 330 million Muslim men, women and children living under Arab rulers a mere 486,530 live in a democracy (0.15 per cent of the total). A mere two hundred and fifty miles from the 'League of Dictators' HQ in Cairo is the only 'parliamentary democracy' in the region; universal suffrage, multi-party, multi-candidate, competitive elections. Israel's 6,352,117 residents are 76 per cent Jewish and 23 per cent non-Jewish (mostly Arab). Israel spends $110 on scientific research per year per person while the same figure for the Arab world is $2. Knowledge makes Israel grow by 5.2 per cent a year while "rates of productivity (the average production of one worker) in Arab countries were negative to a large and increasing extent in oilproducing countries during the 1980s and 90s (World Bank; Arab Development Report)." Facts cannot be denied: The state of Israel now has six universities ranked as among the best on the face of the planet. Hebrew University Jerusalem is in the top-100. Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Tel Aviv University and Weizmann Institute of Science are in the top-200. Bar Ilan University and Ben Gurion University are in the top-300. The Arab League does not have a single university in the top-400 (http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ranking.htm). One in two Arab women can neither read nor write (remember, "If God were to humiliate a human being He would deny him/her knowledge"). Israel's universities are producing knowledge. Israeli society is applying that knowledge plus diffusing knowledge produced by others. On the other hand, within the Arab League, repressive regimes have erected religious, social and cultural barriers to the production as well as diffusion of knowledge.

4 Look at how knowledge is abandoning the Arab world: Between 1998 and 2000 more than 15,000 Arab physicians migrated. According to the World Bank, "roughly 25 per cent of 300,000 first degree graduates from Arab universities emigrated. Roughly 23 per cent of Arab engineers, 50 per cent of Arab doctors and 15 per cent of Arab BSc holders had emigrated." Israel, on the other hand, has more engineers and scientists per capita than any other country (for every 10,000 Israelis there are 145 engineers or scientists). Israel ranks among the top-7 countries worldwide for patents per capita. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Israel's pharmaceutical giant, is the world's largest producer of antibiotics (Teva developed Copaxone, a unique immunomodulator therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, the only non-interferon agent available). Facts are hard to deny: Most members of the Arab League grant Muslim women fewer rights -- with regards to marriage, divorce, dress code, civil rights, legal status and education. Israel does not. Spain translates more books in a year than has the Arab world in the past thousand years (since the reign of Caliph Mamoun; Abbasid, caliph 813-833). Six million Israelis buy 12 million books every year making them one of the highest consumers of books in the world. Israel has the highest number of university degrees per capita in the world; the Arab world has the lowest. Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other country (109 per 10,000 Israelis); the Arab world -- next to nothing. Results are for everyone to see: The average per capita income in Israel is $25,000 while the average income within the League of Arab States is $5,000. The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist. [email protected]

ERNST LEITZ SAVED JEWS QUIETLY Source:http://www.aquamarinefund.net/guyspier/archives/200 6/11/frank_dabba_smi.html

Frank Dabba Smith (2006). The greatest invention of the Leitz family: The Leica freedom train. American Photographic Historical Society, 1150 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. For the last 10 years or so, I've been a devotee of Leica camera's. I've owned an M6 (stolen), an MP (to replace the M6), as well as the D-Lux (battered, but going strong), the Digilux 2 (impressive) and the D-Lux 2 (the Spier family's current work horse.) It now emerges that there is a story behind the Leica camera that is much more impressive than the camera itself: The Leitz family's efforts to save Jews in Germany. And why was the story was not told until now? The Leitz family wanted no publicity for its efforts. Very impressive. Leica's take amazing photos. But the book behind the camera is even better. The 'Leica Freedom Train'. It is a German product - precise, minimalist, utterly efficient Behind its worldwide acceptance as a creative tool was a family-owned, socially oriented firm that, during the Nazi era, acted with uncommon grace, generosity and modesty. E. Leitz Inc., designer and manufacturer of Germany's most famous photographic product, saved its Jews. And Ernst Leitz II, the steely eyed

Tiferes Israel, Purim 5767 Protestant patriarch who headed the closely held firm as the Holocaust loomed across Europe, acted in such a way as to earn the title, "the photography industry's Schindler." As George Gilbert, a veteran writer on topics photographic, told the story at last week's convention of the Leica Historical Society of America in Portland, Ore., Leitz Inc., founded in Wetzlar in 1869, had a tradition of enlightened behaviour toward its workers. Pensions, sick leave, health insurance - all were instituted early on at Leitz, which depended for its work force upon generations of skilled employees - many of whom were Jewish. As soon as Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in 1933, Ernst Leitz II began receiving frantic calls from Jewish associates, asking for his help in getting them and their families out of the country. As Christians, Leitz and his family were immune to Nazi Germany's Nuremberg laws, which restricted the movement of Jews and limited their professional activities. To help his Jewish workers and colleagues, Leitz quietly established what has become known among historians of the Holocaust as "the Leica Freedom Train," a covert means of allowing Jews to leave Germany in the guise of Leitz employees being assigned overseas. Employees, retailers, family members, even friends of family members were "assigned" to Leitz sales offices in France, Britain, Hong Kong and the United States. Leitz's activities intensified after the Kristallnacht of November 1938, during which synagogues and Jewish shops were burned across Germany. Before long, German "employees" were disembarking from the ocean liner Bremen at a New York pier and making their way to the Manhattan office of Leitz Inc., where executives quickly found them jobs in the photographic industry. Each new arrival had around his or her neck the symbol of freedom - a new Leica. The refugees were paid a stipend until they could find work. Out of this migration came designers, repair technicians, salespeople, marketers and writers for the photographic press. Keeping the story quiet The "Leica Freedom Train" was at its height in 1938 and early 1939, delivering groups of refugees to New York every few weeks. Then, with the invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany closed its borders. By that time, hundreds of endangered Jews had escaped to America, thanks to Leitz's efforts. How did Ernst Leitz II and his staff get away with it? Leitz Inc. was an internationally recognized brand that reflected credit on the newly resurgent Reich. The company produced range-finders and other optical systems for the German military. Also, the Nazi government desperately needed hard currency from abroad, and Leitz's single biggest market for optical goods was the United States. Even so, members of the Leitz family and firm suffered for their good works. A top executive, Alfred Turk, was jailed for working to help Jews and freed only after the payment of a large bribe.

Purim 5767

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Leitz's daughter, Elsie Kuhn-Leitz, was imprisoned by the Gestapo after she was caught at the border, helping Jewish women cross into Switzerland. She eventually was freed but endured rough treatment in the course of questioning. She also fell under suspicion when she attempted to improve the living conditions of 700 to 800 Ukrainian slave labourers, all of them women, who had been assigned to work in the plant during the 1940s. (After the war, Kuhn-Leitz received numerous honours for her humanitarian efforts, among them the Officier d'honneur des Palms Academic from France in 1965 and the Aristide Briand Medal from the European Academy in the 1970s.) Why has no one told this story until now? According to the late Norman Lipton, a freelance writer and editor, the Leitz family wanted no publicity for its heroic efforts. Only after the last member of the Leitz family was dead did the "Leica Freedom Train" finally come to light. It is now the subject of a book, "The Greatest Invention of the Leitz Family: The Leica Freedom Train," by Frank Dabba Smith, a Californiaborn rabbi currently living in England. Posted by Guy Spier

Welcome to Steve & Nancy FERRAGUT Our newest members!

SISTERHOOD NEWS

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s the presidency of sisterhood was vacant, I volunteered to fill it until the end of the term and, so far, there have been a few special kiddushes that sisterhood has been involved in. The kitchen has been thoroughly cleaned and the ladies did a terrific job. A big thank you to Margie Attis, Carole Savage, Ruth Fuller, Joy Wood and Gay LeBlanc and everyone else who helped. The new stove has been hooked up and put to good use. The stand-up freezer has been repaired. There will be a bring and buy sometime in March at the home off Betty Hans. The date will be announced later. Happy Purim to all. Shalom. Goldie, president

Sisterhood Gift Shop Cards from Congregation Tiferes Israel can be purchased to congratulate your friends on their birthday or anniversary or wedding. Please contact Theodore 387-9000.

Buy a TREE, or, at least buy a leaf from our TREE of LIFE 387-9000 100$ a leaf, 750$ a small stone, 1500$ a large one

Looking for that special Purim gift for someone? Come see the new arrivals in our showcase. Lovely menorahs with their own velvet box for storing, candy dishes or perhaps a plate that you can either serve goodies on or hang on the wall. Wishing all a Very Happy Healthy Purim. Linda Coleman, 386-5715, Sisterhood Gift Shop

Olivier's Catering For In-House Fine Gastronomy Call (506) 383-9707 Vast Experience including Kosher Cuisine

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Tiferes Israel, Purim 5767 Next bulletin : Pesach 5767

Guess who?

Please note deadline for submitting articles: March 16, 2007.

Moncton's Holocaust Memorial is in preparation. This year it will take place on Sunday, April 15 at 2 PM. The highlight of this year's service will be a performance of the play, "I Never Saw Another Butterfly". Butterfly is a 45-minute play that was created out of a piece of poetry created by a child in the holocaust, and rescued for posterity. It will be acted by a group of drama students of Monkton’s Atlantic Baptist University, and first was performed at the university in November 2006. We are truly fortunate to have these students willing and able to assist in our memorial, and to reach and teach a wider audience. Joan Sichel

IMMIGRATION COMMITTEE

answer: see next bulletin …

New Year Greetings 5767 If you have not done so yet, please send your cheque of 10 $, payable to Sisterhood of Tiferes Israel and mail it to Margie Attis, 179 Bonaccord St., Moncton, E1C 5L8. Thank you very much.

Sisterhood

The committee is active in trying to bring Jews to Moncton. We are exploring all avenues: Jews from France, Belgium, Argentina, Toronto, Montréal, anywhere … If you can help either with ideas or in any other way, please contact me. This summer, our first sponsored family will arrive. Ury El and his wife Zoie and children Noam & Nir will be with us. Obviously they will need help and encouragement during the first few months. We need host families: families that are willing to spend a little time with them once in a while. To show them around, help them get settled and help them adjust to the way we live. If you are willing to help in some way it will be very much appreciated. Please call Barrie Carnat 3865099 or myself at 872-0539. Thank you. I would also like to thank the members of the committee: Barrie, Evy, Victoria and Francis for such great work. Nicole Druckman Haller, chair

2007 TIFERES ISRAEL BOARD President : V.-P. : Treasurer : Secretary: Directors : Gabbai: Past President: Pres. of sisterhood: Chevra Kaddisha:

Ivan Cohen Jack Haller Theodore Lewis Joan Sichel B. Carnat, J. Davidson, G. Jochelman, I. Schelew Harry Brodie Irwin Lampert Goldie Johnston Harry Gorber

Purim 5767

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Timetable for religious services, March 2007 - April 2007:

•Every Monday and Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. •Every Shabbat morning at 9:00 am •Time for Havdallah: look in the Royal Bank calendar and add 65 minutes to the candle lighting time that is written for this particular Shabbat. •Time for Friday’s Mincha, (candle lighting time is in bracket): Keep and post close to the phone

March 2 (5:48) : 5:45 March 9 (5:58): 6:00

March 16 (7:07): 7:00 March 23 (7:17): 7:00

•Yahrzeit, March 2007- April 2007 Adar Nathan Cohen 2-II Zev Wolf Lampert 7 Poli Brumer Meltzer 7-II Newman Dubinsky 8-I Max Savage 11-II Helen Savage 12 Benjamin Selick 14-I Estelle Bloom 14-I Morris Smith 14-I Jennie Gorber 15-I Chaye Coleman 16-I Jude Stein 19-II Esther Dubinsky 21 Jacob Mark 21-I Newton Prager 22 Louie Klimitz 23 Louis Gorber 26 Leah Attis 29 Rose Cohen 29-II Please, call 854-9053, if you

March 30 (7:26) : 7:00 April 6 (7:35) : 7:00

post by your kosher fridge, for future reference

2007 Nissan 2007 Feb 20 Annie Jochelman 3 Mar 22 25 Golda Lampert 5 24 25 Isaac Selick 8 27 26 Reggie Lackman 10 29 Mar 1 Addie Rich 10 29 2 Samuel Selick 11 30 4 Jake Rubin 11 30 4 Bella Jake 12 31 4 Fruma Rubin 12 31 5 Max Eli Rinzler 14 Apr 2 6 Evelyn Block 15 3 9 Abie Block 17 5 11 Hyman Jochelman 18 6 11 Channa Sheina Pfeffer 19 7 12 Hyman Brumer 20 8 13 Bessie Greenblatt 21 9 16 Bill Davidson 25 13 19 Gerald Birnbaum 25 13 19 Louis Berelovitch 26 14 find that someone in your family is missing from the list.

Purim

1. Megilah Reading Saturday March 3rd, 7:00 p.m. Join in the fun, wear a costume.

2. Megilah Reading Sunday March 4th, Shacharit 10:30 a.m. followed by Megilah Reading around 11 a.m.

3. Purim extravaganza Please join us Saturday March 3, at 7:00 p.m. for Megillah, Feast and Carnival. Join

in the fun, wear a costume.

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Tiferes Israel, Purim 5767

From The Desk Of The Rabbi

Dear Members, It is hard to believe that almost a year have come and gone for me here at the Shul so fast. Welcome to our several new members!!!! There have been many good things accomplished so far. The Chedar for 3 year olds and 6 year olds has continued to be a great hit! Many of the youth, teenagers and adults are coming for regular private, semi-private and group Torah classes. Some kids are even studying Torah twice a week! The understanding & reading Hebrew class was so good we even learned to write Hebrew in cursive. Wednesday Nights 7:30 P.M. Kabbalah & Mysticism class is growing. Thursdays 11:30 A.M. Learn & Lunch is growing. In Moncton I am proud to say," Torah is being studied everyday!!!! We have a new book for The Schmoozing Book Club The Challenge of Creation thanks to Perry Romberg. If you would like a copy see Carole Savage. Thanks to David Singer I continue to have a weekly Torah article in his newspaper the County Chronicle. We had a Torah, wine & chocolate party. We continue to use the new media system to show Torah based subjects thanks to Jordan. The shul Website has been updated thanks to Jen. Many lectures and tours to University classes and church groups have been given. Kosher meals are available at the Shul & Hospitals. Kosher Mezzuzahs & Teffilin are available from me anytime! Please come see the new Purim display in the Shul bookcase. Also don't forget to come hear the Megillah! Happy Purim! Rabbi Chaim Bulua 858-0258

Hamantashen

Dear Rabbi Chaim, Why do we eat hamantashen on Purim? Farvos, foon Doorbyan © Michoel Muchnik Dear Farvos, As the day that celebrates the salvation of the physical existence of the Jewish people, Purim is the most physical of the festivals. Its observances include giving gifts of money to the poor, sending food portions to friends, and eating a sumptuous meal accompanied by plentiful drink in the closing hours of the festival. Hamantashen and kreplach, both with their fillings hidden inside, allude to the hidden nature of the Purim miracle. On a lighter note, the three-pointed hamantashen are said to evoke Haman's three-pointed hat or his triangular ears.

Purim 5767

9 Shul Schedule- All Welcome!

4-6 P.M. Monday Chedar 10+yrs. old 7:00 P.M. Monday Coffee, Dvar Torah & Mariv Minyan 7:00 P.M. Wednesday Coffee & Mariv Minyan 7:30 P.M. Wednesday Kabbala & Talmud class in English & Yiddish with the Rabbi 4-5 P.M. Thursday Chedar 6+ yrs. old Fri. Erev Shabbat Mincha, Dvar Torah & Kabbalat Shabbos (as per timetable) 9 A.M. Sat. Shabbos Shacris & Special Kiddush 9:00 A.M. Sunday Chedar 6+ yrs. old 10:00 A.M. Sunday Chedar 3+yrs. old

Kosher Meals available at the Hospitals and Shul. New Kosher Teffillin for sale $400. New Kosher Mezuzot for sale $60.

The Mitzvot of Purim 1) Listen To The Megillah To relive the miraculous events of Purim, listen to the reading of the Megillah (the Scroll of Esther) twice: once on Purim eve, Saturday night, March 3, 2007, and again on Purim day, March 4, 2007. To properly fulfil the mitzvah, it is crucial to hear every single word of the Megillah. At certain points in the reading where Haman's name is mentioned, it is customary to twirl graggers (Purim noisemakers) and stamp one's feet to "eradicate" his evil name. Tell the children Purim is the only time when it's a mitzvah to make noise! 2) Give to the Needy (Matanot La'evyonim) Give to the Needy: Click here for tips on how to fulfill the mitzvah of giving to the poor on Purim day. Concern for the needy is a year-round responsibility; but on Purim it is a special mitzvah to remember the poor. Give charity to at least two, (but preferably more) needy individuals on Purim day, March 4, 2007. The mitzvah is best fulfilled by giving directly to the needy. If, however, you cannot find poor people, place at least two coins into a charity box. As with the other mitzvahs of Purim, even small children should fulfill this mitzvah. 3) Send Food Portions to Friends (Mishloach Manot) Gifts of Food: For helpful hints on how to exchange gifts of food on Purim day, click here. On Purim we emphasize the importance of Jewish unity and friendship by sending gifts of food to friends. On Purim day, March 4, 2007, send a gift of at least two kinds of ready-to-eat foods (e.g., pastry, fruit, beverage), to at least one friend on Purim day. Men should send to men and women to women. It is preferable that the gifts are delivered via a third party. Children, in addition to sending their own gifts of food to their friends, make enthusiastic messengers. 4) Eat, Drink and be Merry Purim should be celebrated with a special festive meal on Purim Day, at which family and friends gather together to rejoice in the Purim spirit. It is a mitzvah to drink wine or other inebriating drinks at this meal.

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Tiferes Israel, Purim 5767

Purim-- It's all in the Name

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article.asp?AID=1388

Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?kid=1214

There is something strange in the name of Purim. Firstly, it is a Persian word (meaning "lots", the lots that Haman cast in deciding when to issue his decree against the Jews). And secondly, its reference is to the danger with which the Jews were confronted, rather than to their ultimate deliverance. Added to this, the Megillah, the Book of Esther, is unique amongst the books of the Torah in not containing a single mention of the name of Gd. All this suggests that Purim is a symbol of "concealment," of the "hiding" of the face of G-d. The name "Esther" itself is related to the Hebrew word for "I will hide," which occurs in Devarim where G-d says "I will surely hide My face." And yet Purim celebrates a miracle, a revelation of Divine providence. In resolving this apparent contradiction of a miracle of whether it is a natural or a supernatural event. The underlying question is one which the modern mind finds particularly urgent: Does the disappearance of supernatural revelations mean that the age of miracles is past? 1. PURIM AND THE PRESENT "If one reads the Megillah in the wrong order (literally, 'backwards'), he has not fulfilled his obligation."' The Baal Shem Tov explained that this refers to a person who reads the Megillah believing that the story it tells occurred only in the past (that is, he reads it "backwards," as a retrospective account) and that the miracle of Purim does not endure into the present. Such a man has not fulfilled his obligation, for the purpose of the reading of the Megillah is to learn how a Jew should behave in the present. If this applies to every verse of the Megillah, and more so to the Megillah as a whole, it applies still more to the verse which explains how the festival of Purim acquired its name. For the name of a thing is a sign of its essential character. And to read the verse which tells us of the inner meaning of Purim as if it applies only to the past is to miss its eternal message to Israel and the Jew. 2. THE NAME OF PURIM The verse says: "Therefore they called the days Purim ('lots') because of the lot" which Haman had cast to determine when the Jews should be destroyed. The word "pur" is not Hebrew but Persian. Thus the Torah, when mentioning it, translates into Hebrew: "Pur: That is, the goral (lot)." Why, then, is the festival called by a Persian name, Purim, instead of the Hebrew equivalent, goralot? All other festivals, including Chanukah (the other one to be instituted in Rabbinic times) have Hebrew names. There is another enigma. The other festivals commemorating miracles of deliverance recall the fact by their names. Purim, instead of being named after the deliverance from Haman's decree, is, on the contrary, named after the danger itself. The lottery which Haman cast to fix the day when he intended to consume and destroy them," G-d forbid. 3. THE NAME OF G-D Another feature is peculiar to the Megillah, the Book of Esther: The name of G-d is not once mentioned. All other books of the Torah contain G-d's name many times. This remarkable omission is suggestive of an extreme concealment. Every Jew, even when he is speaking about secular concerns, should have "the name of G-d familiar on his lips." Certainly when he writes, even on secular business, it is a universal custom (and Jewish custom is part of Torah) to preface a letter with the words (With G-d's blessing," "With the help of Heaven," or the like. It is striking, then, that one of the books of the Torah should be entirely devoid of G-d's name! 4. CONCEALMENT AND REVELATION As said above, the inner meaning of a thing is signified by its name. And the name Esther suggests the concealment that we find in the Megillah. "Esther" comes from the same root as "hester," or hiding. Indeed it alludes to a double hiding, as we find in the Talmud: "Where is the name Esther indicated in the Torah? (In the verse) 'I will hide, yes hide My face."' But revelation is also implicit in the name Megillat Esther, for Megillah means "revelation.'' Just as, in the title of the book, we can distinguish two opposites, concealment (Esther) and revelation (Megillah), so too in the festival itself On the one hand, the idea of concealment lies behind the name of Purim, a Persian word, and one connected with the decree against the Jews. On the other hand, it is a festival which in its celebration and rejoicing surpasses all others, going so far as to enjoin drinking "until one does not know the difference between 'Blessed be Mordechai' and 'Cursed be Haman'' a celebration without limit. 5. THE ACTIONS OF ESTHER AND MORDECHAI To understand these apparent contradictions, we must first consider one feature of the story of Esther.

Purim 5767

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On the face of it, when the Jews heard Haman’s decree, they should in the first instance have used these representatives to try and sway Ahasuerus to abrogate it. But we find in the Megillah that Mordechai's first action was that he "clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes and went out into the midst of the City." He turned to repentance, and urged the rest of the Jews to do likewise. Only then did he send Esther "to come to the King and entreat him and plead with him for her people." Esther herself behaved in the same way. When it became necessary for her to go to the King, the first thing she did was to charge Mordechai to "Go and gather all the Jews ... and they should fast for me, and neither eat nor drink for three days and nights." In addition, Esther included herself. "I also... will fast likewise." At first glance it would seem essential for her to have found favour in Ahasuerus' eyes. Her entry into the King's inner court was "not according to the law." It involved the risk of death: "Whoever ... shall come to the King into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put to death." Esther could not be sure of royal favour: "I have not been summoned ... these thirty days." If so, how could she contemplate fasting for three successive days, an act which in the normal course of events would have detracted from her beauty? 6. CAUSE AND CURE The reason is this. Mordechai and Esther knew for certain that Haman's decree was not an accident of history, but a consequence of failings within the Jewish people. Since one cannot completely remove an effect (the decree) without destroying the cause, their first action was to call the Jewish people to repentance and fasting. It was not an undefined call: It articulated the specific sin which had to be rectified. The Midrash, commenting on Esther's words, "and they shall fast for me and neither eat nor drink," explains them thus: "You are fasting because you have eaten and drunk at Ahasuerus' feast." They then went to Ahasuerus, to seek his annulment of the decree, because G-d desires to bless man "through all that you do" through natural means. Going to Ahasuerus was (and was no more than) a way of allowing a Divine deliverance to be achieved through natural channels. The real cause of the deliverance lay not in the King's decision, but in the fasting and repentance of the Jews. And so, though Mordechai and Esther used natural means, the emphasis of their concern lay in the underlying spiritual causes. 7. NATURAL AND SUPERNATURAL BLESSINGS The moral is plain. In a time of adversity there are those who believe that the first and crucial step must be to try by all natural means to combat it. The Megillah teaches otherwise: That the initial act must be to strengthen one's bond with G-d, through learning Torah and keeping the commandments. Only then must one seek some physical channel through which the deliverance may flow. If one acts in this way, one's deliverance will be supernatural whatever natural guise it is revealed in. This is for both the individual and the community. The Jew is committed to the knowledge that he is linked to G-d, and that G-d is not bounded by the laws of nature, even though He sends His blessings in the form of natural events. Man must prepare this channel, "through all that you do." But since this is no more than a channel, his main aim must be to prepare to receive the Divine blessing through learning and fulfilling the Torah. The effort by natural means is analogous to writing a check, which is of no use if the check is not covered by funds in the bank. The "funds" are the spiritual acts. Purim comes as the refutation of this doubt. For the miracle of Purim occurred when the Jews were in exile, "scattered and dispersed amongst the peoples." Nor did exile cease afterwards. But the deliverance came not through natural causes, but because of the three day fast of the Jews. This explains why Purim suggests concealment, in its Persian name, in its being called after the decree of Haman, and in the Megillah being devoid of the name of G-d. It is to bring home the truth that the Jew is not bounded by natural law, not only in his spiritual life, not only in his dealings with fellow Jews, but even in his relation to the secular world: When he is forced to speak another language, when decrees are issued against him, when he is afraid to write G-d's name in case it is defiled. In the deepest concealment, revelation is found. In the name Megillat Esther, alongside the Esther (concealment) is Megillah (revelation). In the lottery (Purim) is found a symbol for the unpredictable, the supernatural. When G-d says, "I will hide, yes hide My face," He is saying: "Even when My face is hidden, you can still reach the "I" I as I am beyond all names." And as past redemption gives strength for future redemption, from Purim the Messianic Age will flow, when concealment will be turned into revelation, and "night will shine like day."