Save The Date : April 17, Saturday

SOKOL HEISLER FAMILY LUNCHEON

Save the date for the Annual Sharon Sokol Heisler Family Luncheon Saturday, April 17th. Mort Klein, President of the ZOA will be the featured speaker.His topic will be “Lessons of the Holocaust Applied to Today’s Arab War Against Israel”

Details to follow.

Within Our Family: March 13, 2010

Mazal Tov to Ina & Isaac Greszes on the Bar Mitzvah of their son Bailey  and the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Emma. Mazal Tov also to grandparents Sarita & Ben Greszes and Sharon Frankel and to brother Charles.

Mazal Tov to Judy & Abe Soleimani on the birth of their granddaughter, born to their children Elana & David Aminoff.

Mazal Tov to Ruth & Mel Klapper on the birth of a great-granddaughter born to their grandchildren Amanda & Alon Waltuch.

Mazal Tov to Yaffa & Avraham Gabbaizadeh on the upcoming marriage of his son Ariel to Fabian Sameiach.

Mazal Tov to Sharon & Moti Ahdut on the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Laura.

Sponsorships: March 13, 2010

Kiddush & Bima Flowers in the Beit Midrash are sponsored by Grandparents Sarita & Ben Greszes and Sharon Frankel in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of Bailey Greszes and the Bat Mitzvah of Emma Greszes.

Seudah Shlishit is sponsored by Lisa & Alan Adler in memory of his parents Bella & Murray  Adler and by Anida & Ed Rosman in memory of his mother Flora & his father Romy Rosman.

This week’s youth snacks are sponsored by Diane & David Rein in honor of their daughter Sophia’s 7th birthday.

Sunday Breakfast is sponsored by Joseph Farajian in memory of his mother Sara bat Yehuda.

Men’s Club: Sunday, March 21

GNS MEN’S CLUB

Sunday, March 21st, MK Tzippy Hotovely, Likud party, Israel’s youngest member of Knesset, head of Committee on the Status of Women is speaking at GNS on “The Need for Greater Zionist Education in Israel and the Diaspora” and giving an update on the current political situation in the Middle East with reference to President Obama’s policies. She will be accompanied by Ahron Pulver of the Israel Independence Fund.

Yom Hashoa:Saturday, April 10, 2010 9:15pm

SAVE THE DATE! SAVE THE DATE! SAVE THE DATE!

YOM HASHOAH  COMMEMORATION

Great Neck Synagogue Premier of

FOUR SEASONS LODGE

Award winning documentary that follows the lives of holocaust survivors each summer at their beloved bungalow colony as they celebrate their survival.

Two survivors featured in the movie will be on hand to answer questions after the screening.

Brief Synopsis

In an inspiring and startlingly funny documentary,

FOUR SEASONS LODGE follows a group of Holocaust

survivors during what might be their final summer

together at a bungalow colony in the Catskill Mountains.

Directed by New York Times journalist Andrew Jacobs,

with beautiful cinematography by a team of filmmakers

including Albert Maysles, the verite film explores the

power of friendship and the drive to find joy despite

painful memories. It is a counterintuitive Holocaust

documentary: a fusion of ribald humor, stories of

unimaginable loss, the last of the Borscht Belt crooners,

and a family made entirely of friends and lovers. The

characters dance, flirt, and fight as the fate of their

community hangs in the balance.

Parsha Ki Sisa : Dr. Laura Danoff

Peace of Parsha

In the beginning of this week’s parsha, Ki Sisa Hashem commands Moshe to count the Children of Israel.  This was actually the third time a census was done. The first time was when the Jews traveled to Egypt (Ya’acov’s family numbered seventy), the second time was when they left Egypt (600,000 men) and the third time was the day after Yom Kippur since many Jews had died following the sin of the Golden Calf and the census was done to count the number of male survivors over the age of twenty. According to Rashi, Hashem repeatedly counted the Children of Israel because of his deep love for them.

When a census was done, each man was required to contribute a silver coin of a half -shekel. The words Ki Sisa does not actually mean, “counting”, but instead “the elevation of one’s head”. The method of counting by means of coins is significant to prove that every single person has his own individual worth and potential. By donating a half shekel and not a whole emphasizes that no one is complete without another. When we realize that we count, our heads are lifted up and we are elevated.

According to Rav Hirsch “the mission of Israel is dependent on the unity of the whole”. When a nation becomes one, it is elevated to a higher plane. The nation is judged more benevolently as a whole than on an individual basis. Kuzari says this is also one of the reasons why praying with a minyan is better than davening alone and is more effective. The union of prayer has a force and a power all its own.

Rabbi Zweig said that the half-shekel represented the soul of each person. Therefore by giving the half-shekel the Jews were giving themselves over to Hashem with the understanding that G-d held their other half. This is the reason each person had to give individually and everyone had to give equally and no one could give for another person.

The half shekel was not a one time mitzvah brought about because of the sin of the Golden Calf. It was a permanent contribution done one time a year and from this the animals for the communal sacrifices could be bought. These offerings were intended as an atonement for the people. Since the Mishkan was inaugurated on the 1st of Nissan, it became the practice to begin collecting the half-shekels from the 1st of Adar.

Today, we read the beginning of Parsha Ki Sisa called Parsha Shekalim after the torah reading on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Chodesh Adar to remind us of the contribution made yearly for the Bais Hamikdash.

In the opening of the parsha it says,  “Every man shall give Hashem an atonement for his soul when counting them, so that there will not be a plague among them when counting them”. The Hebrew word v’nasnu meaning “and they shall give” can be read the same backward and forward. This
reminds us that when we give- it will come back to us and enrich us.
The phrase “when counting them ” is repeated twice to remind us that no one is allowed to count Jews like we count objects - not just during Moshe’s time but forever. Rashi explains that when people are counted ordinarily they become subject to an evil eye.

Hashem showed Moshe an image of a coin made of fire and said “this, they shall give”(Exodus 30:13). According to Rashi, this tells us that money is like fire. Both money and fire can be either beneficial or destructive, depending on how they are used. Giving tzedakah should always be done with enthusiasm and a good heart. Fourteen out of the fifteen materials used for the Mishkan’s construction were received “from every man whose heart impels him to give”. (Exodus 25:2). Silver was the only material according to Hashem that was to be contributed equally by each Jew -the rich were not to give more and the poor were not allowed to give less.

This parsha impresses upon us that each one of us can make a difference in our own families, in our communities, and in the world!
Our words, actions and our mitzvot have tremendous significance. It is our responsibility to grow and become better people. There is a unique strength in unity, which makes the Jewish people even greater and stronger. So, count and make a difference!

Shabbat Shalom! This d’var torah is in honor of the birthday of my husband, Scott whose actions and mitzvot serve as a role model for our family and shul.

Culinary Event for Miklat

Great Neck Friends of

Miklat

Cordially invites you to a Culinary Event

Featuring

Jamie Geller

Author of

Quick & Kosher

Recipes From The Bride Who Knew Nothing

Please join us for an evening of delicious food,

great wine and wonderful company.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

7:30 PM

At the home of

Davida Yehaskel

9 Willow Lane

Great Neck, New York

Shmurah Matzah

GREAT NECK SYNAGOGUE

is again pleased to serve its membership with

the sale of Hand Baked SHMURAH MATZAH

Pick-up for Matzah will be on

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010

Between 6:30 pm & 8:30 pm

All orders must be prepaid

Please make checks payable to

GREAT NECK SYNAGOGUE

All orders must be received before MARCH 23, 2010

Limited Supply.  Please order early

—————————————————————————————— —————————————————————

Order Form

Name_________________________________________

Address_______________________________________

Telephone (Home)__________(Bus.)_______________

_____lb. Shmurah Matzah @ $18.50 per lb.________

Check Enclosed for Total Cost______

Send to Great Neck Synagogue

26 Old Mill Road

Great Neck, NY 11023

or Fax to 516-487-6149

Passover Food Collection

PASSOVER FOOD COLLECTION

Are you shopping for Passover? The GNS Hunger Initiative and Sisterhood request donations of canned and packaged Passover foods. Please bring them to the Sisterhood Passover Bazaar on March 10th or drop donations off at the GNS office. Thank you very much for your kindness and generosity to help those in need.

Thank You Purim Sponsors 2010

Great Neck Synagogue

Thanks the following for

sponsoring Purim 2010

Alan & Lisa Adler

Dan & Marcy Aharon

Nathaniel Aryeh

Bart & Emma Baum

Jeff & Pam Bilfeld

Hal & Debbie Chadow

Elie & Laura Cohen

Tom & Debbie Furst

Mark & Beth Goldman

Ben & Sarita Greszes

Isaac & Ina Greszes

Emanuel Haghighat

Joey & Donna Hecht

Eliot & Erica Heisler

Michael & Alisa Hoenig

Dan & Marcia Horowitz

Adam & Didi Hutt

Henry & Erein Justin

Ivan & Lisa Kaufman

Jeff & Carol Kaufman

Gregory & Tami Kramer

Jonathan & Ilana Kroll

Michael & Mindy Leventhal

Arthur & Randi Luxenberg

Myles & Rona Mittleman

Zachary & Yifat Mittleman

Avery & Ellen Modlin

Jonathan & Daniella Muller

Jon & Dina Ohebshalom

Jared & Liz Ort

Murray & Marci Rabinowitz

Nathan & Debbie Rosenblatt

Dov & Aliza Sassoon

Evan & Jessica Shusterman

Ron & Cheryl Silverman

Alan & Orly Steinberg

Baruch & Pam Toledano

Sam & Melissa Toledano

Nathaniel & Rebecca Weisel

Adam & Karen Zalta

Brett & Robin Zuckerman

Glenn & Heidi Zuckerman

Ross Zuckerman

Steven & Shellie Zuckerman

Special thanks to Lisa & Michael Aryeh for all of the candy and ice cream that was donated by them for our Purim Celebration.

Thanks also to all the readers of the Megillah:

Paul Brody, Ethan Heisler, Avi Goldberg, Richard Mayer, Craig Resmovits, Russel Mendelson and Eli Flatow.

Also thanks to our custodial staff for getting the building ready and then cleaned up for the next day.

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