The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The youth convention was nice. Not many kids. The kids from the big cities thought the convention was a prank. It was a regional convention. I am sure Kansas City has Jewish kids. I don't think they knew that Topeka has Jewish kids, or that it is a place. They're thinking about hosting the next convention where people can find it. It seems that kids can't find Topeka. I have a feeling that we would benefit from better Midwest geography studies.
It was tough recruiting for the convention, but we did it for our kids. There were around twelve kids from other towns. They found those kids with phonebook use. Anybody who had a 'berg' at the end of their name was considered Jewish enough to attend. The convention killed the Topeka Jewish pride. The idea was to bring Jewish pride to the Jewish kids in our city. If the other cities didn't think it was a joke, that would've helped. The convention ended with a Shlock Rock show. It was a show for the kids, but they needed more than fifteen people at the show. So, it became a community event, and everybody hung out at the refreshments table. All shul events are based around Kiddish. Refreshments suffices for Kiddish. Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, engagements, birthdays, board meetings. Everything has Kiddish refreshments. Bingo has a Kiddish too. You just have to pay for Kiddish at Bingo. Christmas buzz has been making it around the shul. The local soft rock has been playing Christmas songs and the Jews can’t avoid it. Hallmark is the favorite channel of the Jewish women in our community. Sisterhood loves it. Past two months it’s only been Christmas movies. There are no Thanksgiving movies. Just Christmas. There is too much influence. Multiple people wished me a Merry Shabbat. I got pulled into another conversation I couldn't get out of. She didn’t let me go in the conversation. She didn't hold me, but she kept on going with another side thought and went on for an hour. Not one breath. She knew I would run if she breathed. It’s a skill to keep somebody in conversation without the arm hold. You need excellent lungs for that. The rabbi banned the armhold last week. I have to tell him about this. He has to ban the no breath too. Rabbi Mendelchem’s Drasha Shabbat Shalom Last Parsha in Bereishit… No. We’re not finished. We continue reading the Torah after this. It’s not a read it once kind of book. You read it again… I know you know the ending… Really. How does it end, Sima?... Thank you Shlomo. Thank you for reading the last few Psukim and interrupting the sermon. You killed it for everybody. Now nobody’s going to show up to shul… Because they all know the ending, Shlomo. It’s the same reason many of our congregants still haven’t seen Wonder Woman, Shlomo… You don’t say ‘The Torah is a good read.’ You learn it… We wouldn’t have a people if it was ‘a read.’ You don’t know how it ends, because we are still living… Michael. You are part of the Torah. Kimmy. You’re part of the Torah. No. Bernie. You’re not. You’re an annoying father-in-law… (Bereishit 47:28) 'And Yaakov lived in Mitzrayim.' The Torah uses the word 'ויחי'- 'lived.' A word used to mean living, life, something that is not felt here right now. With all the deadbeats showing up to shul. I have not seen a smile in a half a year, since the Bat Mitzvah tripped over the Bimah... Does anything positive happen in this congregation… I know we’re not in Israel. Sadie. You could’ve joined us. You skipped out on the last trip… COVID wasn’t around then. That’s not an excuse… You can't live if you don't have your children. They left... They wouldn't have paid their dues anyways... How do you live? That’s the question. How do we live the Torah, so that we can say ‘we lived?' Not like the back left corner, who sits there passing on depression… You make other people unhappy. Seeing you makes me feel like I am not living. You exude death. That's how depressing your section of the shul is... Yaakov was crying for Eretz Yisrael… He cared Mushky. He cared… Men cry too, Mushky... If the back left corner let out a tear every once in a while, they would be happier people... If he's crying for Israel, how is Yaakov living? That's the question... Crying is part of living. We need more crying in this shul. Everybody take a moment and look to your neighbor. Think about what you did wrong in your life to deserve to sit next to them, and let out a tear.... How can somebody 'live' in Egypt? How can one have life in a place such as Egypt? Once a person has lived in Israel… It’s the King’s Castle… I think the Rambam says it… OK. Chazal… In Israel, the intensity of life hit them. With that feeling, how can they feel the connection with life outside of Israel?... Yes, non-Jews may have a beautiful life without Jews in the Diaspora. How can a Jew be happy in the Diasporan when we have to travel 8 hours for a kosher meat?... He lived because finally he was with Yosef. Family... You don't want your kids coming home from college... In (Bereishit 46:3-4) we see the answer: H’ tells Yaakov- ‘Do not fear from going down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there....I will go down with you, and I will also bring you up.’ There is no great nation being made in Topeka right now. We’re fighting over the Walmart vs Tom’s Hardware and Brooms… H' didn't say He'll make a great nation in Topeka. No nachis here... I'm on Tom's side, but there's no nachis when your kids can't share a Tonka truck... Slavery was abolished here... Yaakov had to be consoled, as he did not want to leave Israel (Rashi). You think I wanted to be here?... Knowing the future will be good, that your future generations, your kids, will do something, can make you happy. Do something… Yes. That’s the point. Do something with your lives. Then maybe there wouldn't be such depression exuded from the Fran and Sadie section... They're too old to bring nachis. You have to bring them nachis... Knowing the future will be good. Knowing your kids will do something with their lives. Knowing they won't go to Kiddish club. That brings happiness... Not your happiness. Happiness to your ancestors, Ron. We're doing as good as we can outside of Israel, without slavery. Without fear, one may live. The fear of living right, the fear of living with meaning. Yaakov was praised on his diaspora, with meaning. H' tells him, 'I will go down with you'... H' did not tell you he'll join you on your vacation to Disney World. That was your decision. A great nation will not be made in Disney... When there is H' with you, there is meaning. There is no more fear. There is life. You can live. Is H’ with us here?... That was rhetorical, Bernie. H’ is not among us. Look around… No. That’s Fran. We know you like her. Is H' here? I would venture to say He is not at the Kiddush club. You can pass on that message to the members of the Kiddush club who are drinking schnapps right now, instead of listening to this brilliant mussar (moral teaching)... There’s no promise of going back to Israel… Not if you don’t join the shul trip, Sadie... Why you are not living in Israel... I understand you won't move to Israel. Business is too good. You can underwrite the tour to Israel... If business goes down... You should be blessed for you business to go bankrupt, after you pay your dues, Yankel. Is that what it takes to make Aliyah... I know Jewish school is free in Israel... Now, I did not get a calling to be here, in this congregation. There was a good salary... A large salary is a sign from H'. H' told me to come for six figures. So, I did... He didn't tell me about Bernie... The shul trip. Don't forget.... Yaakov is also promised that he will be taken back to Israel. The greatest comfort of all, knowing you won't have to spend too long at Congregation Beis Emes uSefilah... After he passed away, was he not taken back to Israel?... OK then. With all of this 'life,' he still asks Yosef to bury him in Eretz Yisrael. The land of Israel is where his soul is connected... Jews want to be in Israel. Yes. That is the message, Bernie. Life in Israel... Yaakov didn't want to leave Israel. He was blessed to leave. Yet, he never gave up on going back. Unlike Mr. Felsenblum who made it a point to protest Israel's right to existence, when he decided on serving meatballs and not falafel at the shul fundraiser... I understand we have had falafel for every Israel night for the past 38 years. Not that point. The point is that Mr. Felsenblum does not understand the importance of yearning to be in Eretz Yisrael. That is where the life comes from. Yaakov is able to live outside of Eretz Yisrael, because he is still connected with it, through H'. And H' likes falafel. And he is yearning the whole time... You yearn for Israel when you eat Sima and the sisterhood's falafel balls. Anybody who has had the sisterhood's falafel balls can only think of their need to return to Eretz Yisrael... I do not want to speak bad of the Neturei Karta in our community... With all that said. May you please give the rabbi a good reason to stay in this shul. As we all know, the contract is being renegotiated. I believe H's message was that He is with the rabbi outside of Israel, with a meaningful salary of six figures... Yosef is made to promise that he will not bury Yaakov in Egypt. As Yaakov pleaded (Bereishit 47:30) ‘And I shall lay down with my fathers…’ Is Ma'arat HaMachpelah not comfortable. Yaakov even makes Yosef swear (47:31), because you can’t trust your children. What gives you strength? What gives you strength to do what’s right? It's crying for Eretz Yisrael and your kids not messing up, Bryan... Yaakov is sick and he is told that Yosef is coming, (Bereishit 48:2) ‘and he makes himself strong.’ He puts in that extra effort to sit up on the bed… When a sick person knows somebody is coming, they put in that effort. When a healthy person knows the shul needs them for a Minyin, they don't show up… I’ve been to the Jewish Nursing Society and these people don’t get up at all… Because you don’t visit… Michael visits, but he brings no nachis. They still lay down. They seem him and they want to die... If any of you were inspiration, sick people would be trying harder. They'd be running around, swimming laps in the pool at ninety... He doesn’t want to look bad for his children and grandchildren. That’s what gives him strength… Is there any embarrassment Bernie? You sleep for the sermons. Your kids don’t need to see this. Yaakov is ill and he gets up for his children. Your grandchildren see you and... The kids cause him to live. Seeing Yosef is alive causes him to live. Michael. You bring no nachis... But don't overdo your life... (Bereishit 48:3-5) He has strength, so he tells Yosef about H’s blessing of making him a nation and giving him Israel, and he tells Yosef that Ephraim and Menashe are his children. Nachis. He has a future. He knows his children will become a nation... That's more than eighty members in a synagogue… I understand Chanan still can’t get a date… You have to go to New York Chanana. There are Jewish girls there. You need kids to make a nation, Chanan... Yaakov takes credit for Yosef’s kids. Yosef was first dead by Yehudah last week, and now his children are Yaakov’s… You should be so lucky for your children to be your fathers’. You can’t raise them… Phil. You’re just a bad father-in-law. You get in the way… Shlomo definitely takes credit for his grandkids… Overbearing. That’s what it is. That’s why your daughter-in-law hates you. If Michael would bring nachis... Yes. Your Zayde would have strength. He would feel alive and take credit for you… I know that would get your mom mad... The grandkids bring life. When they’re not around… Not an excuse. They would be showing upto shul. They would get out of the nursing home and showup. They don't want to, because there is no nachis... They don't want to take credit for what you've done to this shul... (48:8-9) And then Yaakov asks who came with Yosef and Yosef tells him that their ‘my children.’ Possessive like every one of the kids in this congregation. ‘It’s mine.’ Not one of the kids knows how to share. They go to junior congregation and get one toy each. Five balls and they each get one. Share with your parents. Share a Tonka truck for crying out loud... Yes. Cry… You don’t even invite your parents to dinner… You stuck your dad in a nursing facility. Where is he going to find his strength… He has dementia right now. If he thinks your kids are his, let it be. THEY RAISED YOU!!! Yaakov tells Yosef to bring them over, ‘and I will bless them.' He is thinking about the next generation. He doesn't want them doing Kedusha, in the Chazzin's repetition, to 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.' He wants his grandchildren to have multitudes to be friends with. He wants decent conventions for the youth... The advisors are trying too hard. The getting too into benching. It was crazy… We notice you. You don't need to be standing on a chair to thank Gd for food... It's not proper manners to stand at a table, even if you're trying to bring excitement to teenagers... Yaakov wants to have a say in their lives, so they don't mess up... That's why this shul is bringing no nachis... Yaakov didn't do the arm hold. It was a head hold... If it was that tight, would Yosef have been able to have switched the hands?... When you can give a Bracha to your grandkids, that's living... A Bracha that they shouldn't have to see the back left of this shul. It's depressing... Rivka’s Notes on Rabbi Mendelchem’s Sermon The rabbi used the word ‘deadbeats’ and he lost everybody under sixty. The crying session was beautiful though. Sitting next to Fran had me doing a lot of Teshuva. People were beating their hearts for what they did wrong to deserve the punishment of sitting in shul. The rabbi should give this speech every Yom Kippur. Looking around the congregation, it makes you want to cry. I think the rabbi forgot that there was a youth convention. Usually one of the kids gets up to speak. His message was about how bad their families are, and how the youth brings no nachis. We’ve never given that message at a youth convention. The conventions are usually about having the kids want to be religious, and marry Jewish. Now, they’re worried their father-in-laws will take their kids from them. Hopefully the kids will visit their grandparents, even if their parents threw them into a nursing home and the grandparents have no idea who the grandkids are. The rabbi was right. If they have no idea who their grandkids are, they'll probably have mor nachis. Had the singalong at the end of Shabbat. A lot of kids crying. I was in the back, crying too. You just cry when you sway. When you put your arm around somebody’s shoulder and sway, you cry. Singing with an arm around a friend brings tears. An arm around somebody you just met that weekend is even more emotional. Those kids that just met are best friends now, as they don't know each other. It turns out that not knowing somebody makes you closer friends. To be honest, seeing Fran sway makes me cry even more. Shlock Rock did good. You can't be too emotional when you're singing songs like 'My Menorah' and lyrics of 'Achashverosh Achashverosh Ah-Ah-chasverosh.' The kids needed to bring down the level of emotion. The Shlock Rock show was awesome. Loved the songs. I didn’t know the lyrics, but I loved the songs. Great stuff. I know the original lyrics. I just have hard times remembering the Jewish lyrics. 'I was born in the USA.' I know those lyrics. I think Shlock Rock adds in, 'Now I'm making Aliyah today.' That's a lie and I've already made enough resolutions that I will have to atone for on Yom Kippur. The community really is influenced by the Christmas songs. The Chazzin sang Kedusha to 'The Weather Outside is Frightful' and 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas.' Even Shlock Rock was influenced, singing 'I'm Dreaming of a White Challah.' In an effort to grow Jewish identity, the rabbi got everybody to sign a petition that the local softrock station, and Delilah After Dark, only play Christmas song for a month and a half before Christmas. The rabbi is trying to change the law to make it illegal to play Christmas songs before Thanksgiving. The rabbi’s point of not knowing how the Torah ends, was brilliant. We’ve had so many classes with people and guest lecturers that try to kill it for us. Telling us what it all means and how it ends. Even Yaakov didn't tell his kids how it ends. I am still trying to figure out how the visiting professor from Hebrew University, Dr. Sofhayom, knows. Truth is that Sima had no idea. She can’t read Hebrew. The rabbi was teaching us that the ending of the Torah is the end of the world. When he was asked how it ends, the rabbi started talking about the Neviim for a good twenty-five minutes. Around thirty people walked out of the sermon in protest of the Torah, which they declared is not the reason they come to shul. One congregant got real mad and yelled, 'You can't bring the Prophets into the sermons now. That'll be another half an hour.' They were mad that Kiddish wasn’t starting sooner. Ron walked out real angry, exclaiming, ‘I can care less how the Torah ends.’ Then he looked at Sima and told her she should’ve gone to Hebrew school. At Kiddish, Michael told me that he would’ve been not happy if Sima was in his class. He doesn’t like when people ask questions and keep the class going longer. He calls them ‘recess killers.’ The rabbi didn’t deal with the nobreath in his speech. However, the bulletin did have something in it that says that you can’t go for more than five sentences without a response. You also can’t talk without a breath for more than three minutes. If somebody picks up something and starts walking to the door, you can’t cut them off and you have to stop talking to them. You can say goodbye, but that’s it. There is really no nachis in this shul. Rabbi was right. There are no Jewish girls in Topeka. At least Chanan dated all of them. They already know about him, and to know about Chanan is to hate him. Chanan went down to New York. He went for what they call a Shabbaton. He realized that the youth Shabbaton convention at our shul this week wasn't his target population. In New York, he met seven women and dated none of them. He said there were too many, so he couldn’t date. He didn’t have enough money for that much coffee. The shul decided to host a fundraiser for Chanan to go down to New York and to be able to afford coffee for him and a woman. We raised enough money for one date in New York. After calculating, that’s twelve dates in Topeka. The rabbi is definitely getting a cut of the shul's upcoming trip to Israel. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
Leave a Reply. |
How these work, I don’t know. I appreciate all the healthy cookies and chips... I put on a few pounds eating a lot of healthy. It seems that too many healthy peanut butter cups will also get you fat. False advertisement.
![]() David Kilimnick - Israel's "Father of Anglo Comedy" (JPost) is not touring with his Israel solidarity show. Bring David to your community, college campus, shul, home, to share laughs of Jewish unity... 585-738-9233 [email protected]
It’s tradition to eat more fruit on Tu BShvat, to praise Gd for his creation and to walk around with an upset stomach.
Categories
All
Archives
February 2025
|
12/17/2021
0 Comments