MK Rabbi Dov Lipman to Speak in Teaneck on Sunday

Rabbi Dov Lipman, former member of Knesset and current Director of Government and International Affairs for the Michael Levine Lone Soldier Center in Israel, will speak this Sunday, April 26, at 11:00 a.m., at Congregation Beth Aaron, 950 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck.

In his talk, he will tell the inside story of last summer’s war with a focus on the role that lone soldiers played. He will also address the phenomenon of Israeli haredim who are lone soldiers along with his vision for improving the conditions for the Lone Soldiers before, during, and after service.

R’ Lipman served as a member of the 19th Knesset with the Yesh Atid party, the first American born MK in 30 years. He holds rabbinic ordination from Ner Israel Rabbinical College and a Masters in Education from Johns Hopkins University. The author of four books about Judaism, including his latest, To Unify a Nation: My Vision for the Future of Israel, R’ Lipman and his wife moved to Israel with their four children in July 2004.

Teaneck Neighborhood Shuls Celebrate Shabbat Chayal, in Support of Chayalim

On Shabbat, April 25, Congregation Beth Aaron will be raising funds for the Friends of IDF, Lone Soldier program. Lone Soldiers are those whose families live abroad and choose to leave their countries of origin to serve the State of Israel. Many choose to serve in combat positions, enduring grueling training, exercises, missions, and operations, all to ensure Israel’s safety.

The program is in memory of Ilan Tokayer, z”l, a Teaneck resident who served in the IDF before his untimely passing.

In conjunction with programming events planned for that Shabbat, Beth Aaron will be sponsoring a fundraising Kiddush for the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF), Lone Soldiers Program. Sponsorships are available. Donations can be made online at www.bethaaron.org/event/shabbat-chayal.html or by sending a check to the shul office.

Shefa School to Host Teaneck Open House

The Shefa School is having a parlor meeting on Tuesday, May 5 at 8 p.m. in Teaneck, NJ. The Shefa School, which is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, opened last September. It’s a pluralistic Jewish day school for children with language-based learning disabilities. Next year, it will serve grades 2–6 and will ultimately enroll students in grades K–8.

Members of the administration will be at the parlor meeting and will discuss language-based learning disabilities and how Shefa addresses them within a Jewish day school. To RSVP—or if you have further questions—email: [email protected].

Free Seminar Offered by the Belz School

Yeshiva University’s Belz School of Jewish Music is offering a four-week seminar at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun. The Bayrish Schreiber Memorial Seminar will focus on the musical nusach of Shacharit for Shabbat. It takes place on Thursday evenings from 8–9:30 p.m. and runs through May 21.

The seminar is conducted by members of the Belz faculty. It’s free and open to all residents of Bergen County. All baalei tefilla and aspiring baalei tefillah are invited to attend. A Certificate of Completion will be given to all those who finish the series. In addition to learning the beautiful and accurate nusach of the Belz School, attendees will learn surprising facts about tefillat schacharit.

West Point to Host Memorial Service

A memorial service will take place on Sunday, April 26, at the Jewish Chapel at the US Military Academy, West Point. The service will take place from 11 a.m.–1:15 p.m. The service is for Colonel Mickey Marcus and the heroic American and Canadian volunteers who gave their lives in Israel’s war of independence.

Col. Marcus was a West Point graduate who voluntarily went back into the Army at age 38 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He served in a number of executive-like roles, and admiring colleagues identified him as one of the War Department’s best brains. Later, Col. Marcus volunteered to serve as military advisor to Israel. He designed a command structure for Israel’s new army and wrote manuals to train it. Ben-Gurion called Col. Marcus “the best man we had.”

Visitors will have an opportunity to see the impressive Jewish chapel highlighting contributions of Jews to the military. There will be a graveside ceremony with full military colors, honor guard, and 21-gun salute. For further information, contact Susan Levin at [email protected] or Mark Wiesen at [email protected].

Unite4Unity Program at New Milford Solomon Schechter

On Tuesday, April 28, The Solomon Schechter Day School in New Milford will be hosting a program where you can show your support for Israel. The program will take place from 7:30 p.m.–10:30 p.m.

The keynote speaker is Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, the founder and CEO of Our Soldiers Speak. Sgt. Anthony is a veteran and combat reservist in the Israel Defense Forces. He founded Our Soldiers Speak in 2006. It’s a non-governmental, not-for-profit organization that convenes seminars and information sessions pertaining to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Seminars have taken place on over 300 campuses across three continents.

Following the remarks from Sgt. Anthony will be a panel of three dignitaries: Avi Posnick, Regional Coordinator, Northeast Region, Stand With Us; Andrew Gross, Political Advisor to the Deputy Consul General of Israel; and Dan Mitzner, Associate Director, AIPAC.

There will also be breakout sessions and light refreshments. For more information, contact Joy Kurland at 201-820-3946 or [email protected].

Community Beit Midrash Program Presented by Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University will present “Jews for George: An Exploration of Judaism in the Age of the American Revolution.” The four-week Community Beit Midrash program will meet on consecutive Wednesdays, April 29, May 6, 13, and 20, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It will take place at Congregation Shearith Israel, The Spanish Portuguese Synagogue, the oldest Jewish congregation in America, established in 1654.

Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, director of YU’s Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought and rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, will teach the course using original source documents from the archives of Shearith Israel.

YIOT to Host Rachel Friedman

The Young Israel of Teaneck will continue its monthly Shabbat Afternoon Lecture Series this coming Shabbat with Rachel Friedman, Dean of Lamdeinu, at 6:15pm. The Young Israel is located at 868 Perry Lane in Teaneck. All are welcome to attend.

Elections Still Open for the World Zionist Congress

Once every four years, the World Zionist Congress meets in Jerusalem to make key funding and policy decisions that affect the future of Israel and Jews throughout the world. The Congress’s 525 delegates come from all over the world and will include 145 delegates from the United States. The 37th Zionist Congress will meet in October 2015.

Every Jew over the age of 18 is entitled to vote. For those below the age of 30, there’s a $5 fee and for those above the age of 30, the fee is $10. The final day to vote is April 30.

To vote in the US, you must register with the American Zionist Movement (www.myvoteourisrael.com), the umbrella organization of Zionist bodies and the representative of the World Zionist Organization in the US.

Rabbi Jeremy Stern of ORA to Speak at Congregation Beth Aaron

This Shabbat, April 25, Rabbi Jeremy Stern will speak twice at Congregation Beth Aaron on “Agunot, Domestic Abuse, and What We Can Do About It.” Congregation Beth Aaron is located at 950 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck.

At a pre-Mincha shiur at 6:15 p.m., the topic will be “Breaking the Chain: A Road Map to Resolving the Agunah Crisis.” Mincha will begin at 7:20 p.m. At the shiur following Mincha, he will speak on “In the Trenches of Agunah Advocacy.”

Rabbi Stern serves as the Executive Director of the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA), an international nonprofit organization that advocates against the abuse of the get (Jewish divorce) process. R’ Stern received a BA, a Master’s in Jewish Education and rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University, and a Master’s in Public Administration specializing in Nonprofit Administration from Baruch College. With ORA, R’ Stern has been instrumental in resolving over 150 contentious Jewish divorce cases and in leading community-wide initiatives to assist women who are victims of get refusal. R’ Stern lectures frequently on issues of domestic abuse, the interplay between the Jewish and American legal systems, and the role of the Jewish community in preventing and counteracting get refusal.

Beth Abraham to Host Rav Yeshia Steinberger as Scholar-in-Residence

Congregation Beth Abraham is set to host Rav Yeshaya Steinberger this Shabbos, April 24 and 25th, as a Scholar-in-Residence. Rav Steinberger will help the community place Yom Ha’atzmaut in its proper context. He will be speaking (in English) four times over the weekend: Shabbos morning (9:00 minyan), before musaf: “Atzmaut (Independence) and Atzmeeut (Self-discovery), In Light of Parashat Tazria-Mitsorah,” Shabbos afternoon, one hour before minchah: “Ish Hahalacha (Halachic Man) versus Kol Dodi Dofek: Contradiction? Synthesis? Compromise?” and after mincha: “Torah Umada as His Pathway to Avodat Hashem: The Uniqueness of Rav Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein zt”l. He will also speak Sunday morning after the 8:00 AM shacharis and breakfast: “Blazing New Trails: Rav Ovadiah Yosef and others as a paradigm for the authority of the Rabanut Harasheet, as Mara D’atra, and Beyond”

Rav Yeshaya Steinberger is the founder and head of the Ziv Hatorah Institute (which enables young Dati Leumi rabanim to engage in Jewish Identity training with students at Hebrew University), a Senior Rav at Yeshivat Hakotel, and the head of its Iyun program. He is the District Rav of a number of neighborhoods in Yerushalayim, and was a finalist for the Chief Rav of Yerushalayim. He also lectures in Jewish Philosophy at Michlalah and Yaakov Herzog-Lifshitz Teacher’s College. He delivers a popular weekly shiur on agadah at Bet Kineset Yeshurun.