W E E K O F A P R I L 2 8 - M A Y 4 1 3 - 1 9 I Y Y A R , 5 7 7 8

V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 2 9

Over the course of the trip to Israel with the Jewish Federation of Jacksonville, we

got to meet some extraordinary people who made a profound impact. One

individual who stands out was Racheli Frankel. She was the mother of one of the

three teenage boys who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in 2014. At the

very same area where her son Naftali and his two friends were abducted,

there has been a park called Oz V’gaon that was established. It is a place where

families with children come to play and connect. We met her at the Oz V’gaon, and

she shared some powerful reflections. There was not a hint of anger or bitterness

that was conveyed in her remarks. She just said she was so thankful for all the

support that she has been shown from people around the world. She was asked

about how she is able to exude such gratitude and optimism in the face of the great

pain that she endured in that horrific tragedy. She replied that while she

experienced pain and grief, she didn’t allow that to define who she is. That is

obviously a very tall order, and different people experience traumatic events and

grief in various ways. She concluded her remarks by saying Am Yisroel Chai. I

walked away feeling that I had been in the presence of greatness. מי כעמך ישראל

Have a great Shabbos,

MESSAGE

CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES

FRIDAY, APRIL 27

Mincha 6:30PM

(Earliest Time to Light) 6:39PM

Candle Lighting 7:43PM

SHABBOS MORNING

Daf Yomi Class 8:15AM

Shacharis 9:00AM

Sephardic Minyan 9:00AM

Latest Shema 10:05AM

Unlocking the Closed Book 10:30AM

with Rabbi Feigenbaum

Following services, everyone is invited

to kiddush in the social hall.

SHABBOS AFTERNOON

Pirkei Avos Class 6:45PM

with Rabbi Fisch

Mincha 7:30PM

Followed by Seuda Shlishis

Maariv & Havdallah 8:46PM

SERVICES THIS WEEK:

SHACHARIS

Sunday 8:15AM

Monday--Friday 6:45AM

MINCHA

Sunday-Thursday 7:50PM

Following the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, G-d warns against unauthorized entry

“into the holy.” Only one person, the kohen gadol (“high priest”), may-but once a

year, on Yom Kippur—enter the innermost chamber in the Sanctuary to offer the

sacred ketoret to G-d.

Another feature of the Day of Atonement service is the casting of lots over two

goats, to determine which should be offered to G-d and which should be dispatched

to carry off the sins of Israel to the wilderness.

The Parshah of Acharei also warns against bringing korbanot (animal or meal

offerings) anywhere but in the Holy Temple, forbids the consumption of blood, and

details the laws prohibiting incest and other deviant sexual relations.

The Parshah of Kedoshim begins with the statement: “You shall be holy, for I, the

L-rd your G-d, am holy.” This is followed by dozens of mitzvot (divine

commandments) through which the Jew sanctifies him- or herself and relates to

the holiness of G-d.

These include: the prohibition against idolatry, the mitzvah of charity, the principle

of equality before the law, Shabbat, sexual morality, honesty in business, honor and

awe of one’s parents, and the sacredness of life.

Also in Kedoshim is the dictum which the great sage Rabbi Akiva called a cardinal

principle of Torah, and of which Hillel said, “This is the entire Torah, the rest is

commentary”—“Love your fellow as yourself.”

SYNOPSIS

TORAH READINGS

Parshas Acharei Page: 636

Haftarah Acharei Page: 1173

A D U LT E D U C ATI O N E VE N TS

8:20 pm Mini Series- 613: A Better Understanding Of This Mystical Number

with Rabbi Feigenbaum

8:15 pm Talmud Class with Rabbi Rabinowitz

Chaburah after Shacharis

6:50 pm Pirkei Avos with Rabbi Fisch

11:30 am Morning Club with Rabbi Schochet

8:20 pm Nosh & Drash with Rabbi Fisch

8:45 am Java for the Soul with Rabbi Feigenbaum

Get excited for Camp Sheves Achim 2018! Early Bird Registration Deadline- April 30th

For more information and to register please contact the shul office. 904-262-3565

Yom Rishon Enrichment Program-Sunday, April 29 from 9:15am-10:15am

Fun and friendly enrichment class on Sunday morning. Rabbi Mayer Rabinowitz will teach this class.

The class is open to boys and girls of the entire Jewish community in grades K-2. Students will learn

about the weekly Torah portion, Prayer, Basic Mitzvos, Middos, and Jewish Holidays. To register,

please contact the Etz Chaim office at 904-262-3565 x7.

Torah and Pizza Monday, April 30 from 6:30pm –7:30pm

Grades 8-12 Join Rabbi A.Y. on Monday evenings as we debate how Torah knowledge relates to

contemporary issues. This class is open to boys and girls in grades 8-12. Piping hot pizza and drinks

will be served!!

B'nei Mitzvah Enrichment Program Tuesday, May 1 from 4:15 pm-5:15 pm

class and focuses on building a strong Jewish knowledge on various topics such as the weekly Torah

Portion, Mitzvos, and the Holidays. This class is open to boys and girls in grades 5-7. Snacks and

drinks are served.

NCSY Spring Regional May 25-27. All teens in grades 9-12 are welcome to join us as we head to

Orlando for an action packed Jungle themed weekend. We will close the weekend with a trip to

Busch Gardens in Tampa on Sunday.

For more information and to hear about all the scholarship options please contact

Rabbi A.Y. at rabbicohen@etzchaim.org.

Babysitting is a supervised free play program for boys and girls ages infant through 3 years old and

is staffed by professional sitters.

Gan Shabbat is for boys and girls in nursery and Pre-K and is led by Sara Brown. The children are

entertained with stories, games, songs, and organized activities.

Tot Shabbat is for boys and girls in 'K' and 1st grade. The children are entertained with stories and

songs; they pray together and play together with organized activities led by our teenage group

leaders Nechama Finkelstein & Carlie Rosenthal.

Junior Congregation now meets with distinct groups for boys and girls. The boy's group is led by

Joey Hamaoui and is for grades 2 though B’nei Mitzvah, and the girl's group is led by Rachel Shyken

and is also for grades 2 through B'nei Mitzvah. The children begin their morning with group

morning prayers and continue with questions on the parsha, stories, and other activities.

NCSY Tefillah Workshop is a discussion based group dedicated to giving deeper insight into the

Parsha and general hashkafa and is for boys and girls b'nei mitzvah through 12th grade. This group

is currently studying Ethics of Our Fathers and is led by Joey Hamaoui. This group meets from

11:15am-12:00pm.

DAILY CLASSES Daf Yomi Weekdays 6:00am Shabbos 7:45am Sundays & legal holiday 7:30am Please join us each morning before services in the Mirkis Chapel. Hot coffee is served. Limud Yomi Rabbi Fisch will teach a brief lesson on gratitude following Minyan every morning. Mishna Yomi Rabbi Fisch will teach a brief Mishna between Mincha & Maariv every evening. We are studying Tractate Bava Kama.

SPOTLIGHT ON A SHUL PROGRAM

RABBI FISCH & ETZ CHAIM MEMBERS PARTICIPATE IN THE JEWISH

FEDERATION MISSION TO ISRAEL

Get excited for Camp Sheves Achim 2018! Early Bird Registration

Deadline- April 30th.

For more information and to register please contact the shul office. 904-262-3565

Ita Rabinowitz Miriam Phillips

Eric Held

Isaac Rush

Robert Mandella

Brandon Melamed

Marissa Kempner

Chaya Bayla Hauptman

Chaim Smith

Caroline Lee

Naida Gould

Louis Shapiro

Ken Jacobs

Travis Melamed

Sharon Browdy

Lila Smolensky

Herschel Rabinowitz

Itamar Ohayon

Joseph & Ariella Hamaoui

Moise & Elizabeth Hamaoui

Barbara Feldman

Martin Schwartz

Murray Husney

Jay Lipper

Abe Goldenthal

Phyllis Sprecher

Susan Goldman

Bertica Hubsch

Cecil Lee

Rena Bernard

Fannie Ozer

Yakov Vaynman

I was born in Long Island Jewish Hospital in NY. The doctor who

delivered me was at a concert when he was paged to come to the

hospital. I was born so quickly that he missed only intermission and

one act. When his friend, who was sitting with him at the concert,

asked him, “when are you going to go deliver that baby?”, he replied

that he had already gone and now he was back!

August 2005. After completing the Ner L’Elef teacher training program

in Jerusalem, we moved to Jacksonville where my husband, Rabbi

Mayer Rabinowitz, would teach Judaic Studies in Torah Academy. The

Etz Chaim community gave us a great warm Southern welcome!

Wow, it is hard to choose just one!

One of the things I love most about the Etz Chaim community is that

every person is important and everyone’s contribution is valued and

appreciated.

Whether it was giving classes for women, having Shabbos guests, or

cooking dinner for someone in the hospital, I felt blessed to use my

talents and abilities in a way that actually made a difference in the

lives of others. Living in a small and close knit community offered lots

of amazing opportunities I might never have had otherwise.

As my kids grew up, they were lucky to have many opportunities in Etz

Chaim as well. Even before they were old enough to count for a

minyan, the minyan regulars treated them as contributing members.

They were given the chance to participate in age appropriate ways. For

example, they sang anim zemiros, rolled the Torah (gelilah), served as

“page turner”, or helped return siddurim and chumashim to their

shelves. Of course, it was very exciting when, after reaching the age of

13, they could be counted for the minyan, read from the Torah, and

serve as the chazzan as well.

I love to sew (thank you Barbara Feldman for getting me into that

sewing class so many years ago!) and make fun crafts. I love to bake -

that's how I ended up starting Sweeta By Ita!

And I love to make music and sing! I teach piano online at my website

www.playjewishmusic.com and by giving private lessons.

I love Jacksonville and I feel privileged to be part of this wonderful

community!

CORNER Source: Gesher K

Rabbi Yaakov Fisch– Rav

Hamachshir

Rabbi Brown-Administrator

Some hechsherim give a certification of "DE" which stands for dairy equipment. This means that even

though the food does not contain dairy, it was processed on equipment which has been used for dairy in the

past. The Halachah for food which was made with dairy equipment is that it should not be eaten together

with meat, but it may be eaten immediately after eating meat.

Many hechsherim will label a product as dairy even if it only was used with dairy equipment. If you check the

ingredients and discover there is no dairy, it is possible that the product is merely dairy equipment. We may

not, however, assume that a product does not contain dairy because there is no dairy in the ingredient list.

The only way to find that out is to consult the certifying agency and ask them for more information.

Britain’s Simon Kindleysides, a 34-year old man

paralyzed from the waist down, set out at 10 a.m.

on Sunday and in 36 hours walked the London

Marathon, becoming the first paralyzed man to

complete the course on foot. To perform his feat, he

used Israeli technology — the ReWalk exoskeleton,

a suit for patients with spinal cord injuries that

helps them walk independently with the help of

computers and motion sensors.

“I’m exhausted, I’m not going to lie, “ Kindleysides

said in a YouTube video at 8:41 the next morning,

after he had walked 16 miles as drivers tooted and

fans applauded. “I’m going to get to the finish line.”

“This is the furthest I have ever walked in my entire

life,” he said at 22 miles. And at mile 25, he said,

“Bring it on, I’m almost there.”

He hit 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers) at around 11

p.m. on Monday amid cheering crowds, raising his

arms in victory. The marathon winner, Eliud

Kipchoge, crossed the finish line in little over two

hours.

Kindleysides was diagnosed in 2013 with a

neurological condition and a benign brain tumor

that left him paralyzed from the waist down.

In 2012, Claire Lomas, paralyzed from the chest

down, completed the marathon course at the

London Paralympics using the ReWalk exoskeleton.

“The support has just been overwhelming and like a

dream come true,” Kindleysides told the Eastern

Daily Press. “It is incredible because I didn’t expect

it to be as big as it was. My children are getting

great comments at school and they are very proud

of their dad.”

“I just wanted to show that anything is possible if

you put your mind to it,” he said. “You can stay in

bed and feel sorry for yourself or get out and enjoy

your life, because you are only here once.”

Kindleysides raised £6,500 for Brain Tumor Charity

with his marathon walk, the Eastern Daily Press

reported.

Britain’s Simon Kindleysides, a 34-year old man

paralyzed from waist down, uses the ReWalk

exoskeleton to complete the London Marathon in

36 hours on April 23, 2018 (YouTube screenshot)

In June 2015, Kindleysides raised over £5000 for

charity when he hand-cycled from London to Paris.

The ReWalk exoskeleton was developed by ReWalk

Robotics Ltd., a Nasdaq-traded Israeli company. Its

inventor, Amit Goffer, is a mechanical engineer who

became paralyzed from his upper back down after

an accident.

The ReWalk exoskeleton allows independent,

controlled walking similar to that of an able-bodied

person, as computers and motion sensors do the

“heavy lifting.” The suit hugs the legs of users as

they walk, with crutches to stabilize them. Users

wear a remote-control system on their wrists so they

can control their movements. As they walk, sensors

make sure that their chest remains upright and

balanced, allowing them to take strides without

falling.

The system controls movement using subtle

changes in center of gravity, mimics natural gait

and provides functional walking speed, enabling

paraplegics to move independently.

ReWalk Robotics said in March that in 2017, 107

ReWalk systems were placed, of which 57 were in

the US, 37 were in European markets, and 13 were

in other markets. Net loss for 2017 was $24.7

million compared to a net loss of $32.5 million for

2016.

The biggest hindrance to sales growth is ReWalk’s

price, which is some $80,000 to $85,000, and the

company is seeking insurance reimbursements to

help reach wider audiences, Jeff Dykan, the

chairman of ReWalk, said earlier this month.

In April, the company started a clinical study of a

new product that will aid the rehabilitation of people

who have suffered a stroke.

All Night Learning Shavuos Night May 20

We not only commemorate the anniversary of receiving the Torah but also relive that dynamic

experience. Please join us for this memorable evening. Special concurrent learning sessions are

held for youth and teens. We will offer hot coffee, snacks, and ice cream. Learning is followed by

morning services at sunrise. Stay tuned for this year's programming schedule.

Etz Chaim Synagogue &

Jewish Family Food Drive

THANK YOU for this week's

GENEROUS food donations! Momentum is great.

Let's keep adding to this great MITZVAH!

Etz Chaim Bikur Cholim volunteers are available to

visit the sick or home bound of the Etz Chaim

community. Please contact Hilde Meyer at

904-262-5316, or jayhilmey@gmail.com, to arrange

a visit.

Neshei Chessed (for ladies only)- if you are

interested in joining Neshei Chessed by providing

food (either cooking or purchasing a meal through a

local caterer) for those in short term need, please

contact hennyfisch@gmail.com

Save the Date

Shabbaton with Aliza Bulow on Friday, June 1 & Shabbos June 2 Aliza Bulow a Jewish Educator for over thirty years, is the national director of Ner LeElef’s North

American Women’s Program, and the Senior Educator for The Jewish Experience in Denver,

Colorado. She teaches ongoing classes in Jewish philosophy, basic Judaism and textual learning

skills, as well as lecturing on a broad range of topics in venues across the country and around

the world.

Monday, April 30 at 7:00pm

Jewish Community Alliance

Spring Event -First, Do No Ham

Jewish Medical Ethics Panel Discussion

Featuring Rabbi Cohen, Rabbi Fisch and Rabbi Lubliner

(A minimum gift of $104 to the 2018 Federation Annual

Campaign is required to attend.)

Tuesday, May 1 from 7:00-8:30pm

Walking he Streets of Jerusalem

Jewish Community Alliance

Join Shelly Shalev & Rabbi Avi Feigenbaum as we

explore Israels capital city.

Advanced Registration appreciated.

Monday, May 14 from 7:00-8:30pm

AIPAC event in Jacksonville, featuring author

Yossi Klein Halevi.

Jewish Community Alliance

5:30pm Club Member Pre Reception and Book Signing

7:00pm Program Open to the community

Dessert and coffee will be served

RSVP www.aipac.org/YKHJAX

Registration Required by May 10

Come Celebrate Lag Ba Omer

Wednesday, May 2 at 8:00pm

3651 Crown Point Road

Hosted by Avi & Tzippy Zaguri

8th Annual Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai

Hilola/Celebration

RSVP- Zagurirsvp@gmail.com or 904-434-4335

The book of Vayikra contains most of the mitzvoth/commandments that appear in the Torah itself. Because of

this, it contains relatively little narrative. Nevertheless, the number and quality of the commandments

themselves demand our study and appreciation. The Torah apparently could have sufficed by itself by just

saying “be a good person.” In fact, this was the slogan of many Jews and even of Jewish institutions and

organizations in the past who claimed that none of the ritual commandments were necessary if one just

remained “a good person.”

Of course, there was no unanimous opinion as to how to define who was a good person. The definitions varied

from generation to generation and culture to culture. The henchmen of Joseph Stalin and perhaps even those

of Adolf Hitler somehow justified every evil behavior in the belief that they were accomplishing some ultimate

good that transcended the bothersome details of murder and genocide. The capacity of human beings to

continually redefine good to fit any political agenda or current fad is truly limitless.

So, if it were not for the specific commandments of the Torah that have a defined, ultimate good for the Jewish

people and for civilization generally over millennia, we would be at a loss to find any moral footing for our lives

and behavior.

The Torah has always been the trees and the forest at one and the same time. It is the minute detail and a

general pattern of behavior that represents the traditional view as to what makes up a good person. As is often

the case, many humans double down on the details and minutia of rules to the exclusion of seeing the general

pattern of behavior into which they must fit. And, on the other hand, we find those that only see the general

moral pattern and ignore the detailed instructions that give meaning and substance in daily life to this general

moral pattern.

When we purchase a sophisticated piece of machinery we find that it always comes with detailed and

sometimes very complicated instructions as to how this device is to be assembled, connected and installed. One

may completely understand how the device works and what its ultimate benefit will be, but if one does not

follow the instructions for installation, even as to its smallest detail, this device cannot be installed and will not

work.

Without the detailed commandments, the general pattern of morality outlined in the Torah simply would never

come into being. Jewish history attests to this. It would be unthinkable that the Torah would command us to

be a Holy nation dedicated to the service of God and human beings without telling us how this was to be

achieved. It would not have shipped that necessary device to us without including instructions for its use in our

everyday lives. This I believe this is the primary message of the Torah reading of this week.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Berel Wein

PARSHAS ACHREI MOS KEDOSHIM

Scot Ackerman, M.D. President 904.571.9000

Rabbi Yaakov Fisch Senior Rabbi

262.3565 ext. 8 I 904.616.8955 cell

rabbifisch@etzchaim.org

Rabbi Avi Feigenbaum Education Director

262.3565 ext. 5 I 913.230.6448 cell

rabbifeigenbaum@etzchaim.org

Rabbi A.Y. Cohen Youth Director

262.3565 ext. 12 I 908.922.0268 cell

rabbicohen@etzchaim.org

Terri Velazquez Office Manager

ecoffice@etzchaim.org

Jeannie Wright Administrative Assistant

Jeannie@etzchaim.org

10167 San Jose Blvd Jacksonville, FL 32257 I Office 904.262.3565 I Fax: 904.292.0524 I www.etzchaim.org