Congregation Agudath Jacob May Nisan/Iyar 5776 www.agudath-waco.org Rabbi: Ben-Zion Lanxner President: Abbye Silver

Phone: 254-772-1451 Office Admin: Amanda Henson Fax: 254-772-2471 Rabbi@agudath-waco.org Cajassistant@grandecom.net

This bulletin is published twelve times per year by Congregation Agudath Jacob – a non profit organization.

Founded in 1888 – Celebrating 128 years – Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Rabbi Ben-Zion Lanxner

Lag B’Omer

“When you take this people out of Egypt” said G-d to Moses when He revealed Himself to him in a burning bush at the foot of Mount Sinai, “you shall serve G-d on this mountain”. It took seven weeks to reach the mountain. The people of Israel departed on the 15th of Nissan (the 1st day of Passover); on the 6th of Sivan, celebrated ever since as the festival of Shavu’ot, they assembled at the foot of Mount Sinai and received the Torah from G-d.

The Kabbalists explain that the 49 days that connect Passover with Shavu’ot correspond to the 49 drives and traits of the human heart. Each day saw the refinement of one of these Sefirot (Sefirat ha’Omer) bringing the people of Israel one step closer to their election as G-d’s chosen people and their receiving of His communication to humanity. The Midrash also mentions that when the people of Israel left Egypt, they were in the 49th level of Tum’a, impurity, consequently, Hashem had to liberate His people before reaching the 5oth level of impurity which was also synonymous of death. From the time the Israelites left Egypt to the time they reached Mount Sinai, they had 49 days to cleanse themselves from their impurity and finally get to the level of purity necessary to receiving the Ten Utterances.

Each year, we retrace this inner journey with our “Counting of the Omer” (Sefirat Ha’Omer). Beginning on the second night of Passover or at the second Seder, we count the days and weeks: “Today is one day to the Omer” and so on and so forth, until the 49th day which are 7 weeks to the Omer which Shavu’ot the “Festival of Weeks” is the

product of that count, driven by the miracles and revelations of the Exodus, but achieved by a methodical, 49 step process of self-refinement within the Jewish Soul.

Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of the Omer, commemorates two events. The first is the interruption or end of the plague between Pesach and Shavuot that killed the students of Rabbi Akiva during the time of the Roman occupation and persecution of Israel. It was also a dark time of our history where the study of Torah was prohibited and punishable by death. To commemorate these tragedies, we observe the tradition of not celebrating any weddings or cut our hair as a sign of mourning. This mourning period is lifted on Lag B’Omer, as the plague ended.

After the death of 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, became one of the five students who then carried on Rabbi Akiva’s teachings. He later died on the same 33rd day of the Omer.

These two personalities and these two aspects of Lag B’Omer are connected in many ways. It was Rabbi Akiva, alone among his colleagues, who entered the “Pardes” the Orchad, a deep level of mystical meditation, in peace – and came out in peace. The mystical tradition that Rabbi Akiva transmitted was passed down to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and revealed in the Zohar.

The cardinal custom of Lag B’Omer is the bonfire. The fires of Lag B’Omer represent the light of the inner dimension of the Torah, the spiritual, mystical Jewish tradition handed down to our own day. This light represents the deepest longing of

the soul to be close to G-d and to understand the depths of the Torah.

Rabbi Akiva was tortured to death for teaching Torah publicly by scraping off his skin with burning rakes. He took that fire and transformed it into sacrificing his life with a fiery love of G-d. As he prepared to die he told his students, who were forced to witness his torture, that he had always longed to fulfill the verse which commands us to love G-d with all our souls. He now prepared in great joy to fulfill that mitzvah. His ability to transform the fires of torture into the fire of love of G-d was carried on by his student Shimon Bar Yochai and infused in the incredible light emanating from the teachings contained in the holy Zohar. Rabbi Akiva died with the last word of the Shema on his lips. It is customary to close one’s eyes when saying the Shema.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, my mentor, taught that sometimes to see clearly we need to close our eyes. The most penetrating sight is an inner sight, deeper than our eyes can see.

It asserts in the Zohar, the foundation text of Kabbalah, that Israel will be redeemed in the future through the merit of learning its secrets. In order to overcome the darkness all around us, on a personal, national and universal level, we need to go beyond the superficial learning and observance of Torah and reveal deeper and more spiritual levels that will bring light to ourselves and all those around us.

Ultimately, we will understand that the battle raging in Israel will have to be won not only on the battlefield, but more importantly, the present confrontation, as it relates to politics, culture, religion and world views will also have to be won spiritually. And for the Jewish people the strength and wisdom to arise victorious will have to come from where it has always come – from the light, inspiration and power of our holy Torah. Lag B’Omer infuses us with the fiery passion to delve deeper and deeper into our Torah and tradition, till the light will dispel all evil and pave the way for the final redemption.

At the moment Rabbi Akiva transmuted the burning combs of hatred and torture into a fiery determination and love of G-d, it was transferred to his student, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who was also persecuted by the Roman authorities, but managed to escape to a secluded cave where he

hid for twelve years. During those years the fire of Torah burned bright, unbeknownst to others, as he wrote the Zohar, the fundamental text of Kabbalah unto this day. His fire for Torah, received from his teacher, was transmuted into understanding the light of the inner dimension of the Torah.

After twelve years, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai left his cave ready to re-enter the world. According to the Talmud, upon seeing a farmer working his fields, a fire burst forth from him and “burnt up” the farmer, for he could not comprehend mundane pursuits of this world in comparison to the brilliant light of the Divine service of God. In response, God ordered him back to his cave until he could temper his passion, until he could use his own fire in a more productive way.

There is a concept in Chassidut, termed “descending in order to ascend,” where sometimes one needs to stumble or fall in order to subsequently rise to an even higher spiritual level. This is the nature of a test, where we struggle for the sake of ultimately reaching a new level of consciousness and being.

There is yet an even higher, subtler concept termed “ascending in order to descend,” where one is careful not to get enamored with the “high” of an experience for its own sake, but always seeking at the very climax of the ascent to transform the experience and integrate it into our more normative reality.

This is why of the four great Sages who entered the “Pardes”, the culminating apex of the mystical ascent of the soul, only Rabbi Akiva entered in peace and went out in peace; the others were in one way or another marred by what they saw and experienced. Rabbi Akiva came and went in peace only because he was focused on the return, even before the ascent.

G-d sent Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai back into the cave so he could now consciously integrate his twelve years of spiritual revelation in a manner that would benefit the world around him. The fire would continue to burn, but in a way others could grasp and share.

Upon leaving the cave, this time for good, Rabbi Shimon gathered around him once again his students and gave over to them this holy fire. On his death bed he assured his distraught students – who questioned how they would ever be able to continue without him – that they should rejoice and not be saddened. The eternal flame of Torah

given over to him by his teacher, Rabbi Akiva, in his recitation of the Shema, was now transmitted into the eternal teachings he was giving over to them.

It is described that at his passing, a great light filled the room. That light has been handed down from generation to generation and is symbolized in the bonfire of Lag B’Omer. The law of conservation of energy applies to the spiritual as well as the physical world. Spiritual longing and light is never destroyed, it is always transformed and passed on.

It will be this light, represented by the bonfire of Lag B’Omer, that will ultimately reveal itself in the final redemption, when Israel will become “a light unto the nations”, Bekarov Beyameinu, soon and in our days.

YOM HAZIKARON

The fourth of Iyar, the day preceding Israel’s Independence Day, was declared by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) to be a Memorial Day for those who lost their lives in the struggle that led to the establishment of the State of Israel and for all military personnel who were killed while in active duty in Israel’s armed forces. Joining these two days together conveys a simple message: Israelis owe the independence and the very existence of the Jewish state to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it.

In 2016, Yom Hazikaron falls on May 11.

Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Memorial Day, is different in its character and mood from the American Memorial Day. For 24 hours (from sunset to sunset) all places of public entertainment (theaters, cinemas, nightclubs, pubs, etc.) are closed. The most noticeable feature of the day is the sound of siren that is heard throughout the country twice, during which the entire nation observes a two-minutes “standstill” of all traffic and daily activities. The first siren marks the

beginning of Memorial Day at 8:00 P.M., and the second is at 11:00 A.M., before the public recitation of prayers in the military cemeteries. All radio and television stations broadcast programs portraying the lives and heroic deeds of fallen soldiers. Most of the broadcasting time is devoted to Israeli songs that convey the mood of the day.

This year at Agudath Jacob, we will

commemorate Yom Hazikaron during our Shabbat Parshat Kedoshim services and a special prayer for

the Fallen Soldiers (the Kedoshim, the Holy Fallen Soldiers) of the State of Israel will be chanted by our Rabbi.

The next day will be our Yom Ha’atzma’ut,

Israel Independence Day. YOM HA’ATZMA’UT

Israel’s Independence Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Iyar, which is the Hebrew date of the formal establishment of the State of Israel, when members of the “provisional government” read and signed a Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv. The original date corresponded to May 14, 1948. In 2016, it falls on May 12.

Most of the Jewish communities in the

Western world have incorporated this modern holiday into their calendars, but some North American Jewish communities hold the public celebrations on a following Sunday in order to attract more participation. In the State of Israel it is a formal holiday, so almost everyone has the day off.

Yom Ha’atzmaut in Israel is always preceded by Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers. The message of linking these two days is clear: Israelis owe their independence–the very existence of the state–to the soldiers who

sacrificed their lives for it.

The official “switch” from Yom Hazikaron to Yom Ha’atzmaut takes place a few minutes after sundown, with a ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem in which the flag is raised from half staff (due to Memorial Day) to the top of the pole. The

president of Israel delivers a speech of congratulations, and soldiers representing the army, navy, and air force parade with their flags. In recent decades this small-scale parade has replaced the large-scale daytime parade, which

was the main event during the 1950s and ’60s. The evening parade is followed by a torch lighting (hadlakat masuot) ceremony, which marks the country’s achievements in all spheres of life.

Rabbi Ben-Zion Lanxner

Friday, May 6

Kabbalat Shabbat 6:00 p.m. Candle Lighting 7:54 p.m.

Saturday, May 7 Shacharit 9:30 a.m. Shabbat Ends 8:52 p.m.

Friday, May 13 Kabbalat Shabbat 6:00 p.m. Candle Lighting 7:59 p.m.

Saturday, May 14 Shacharit 9:30 a.m. Shabbat Ends 8:58 p.m.

Friday, May 20 Kabbalat Shabbat 6:00 p.m. Candle Lighting 8:04 p.m.

Saturday, May 21 Shacharit 9:30 a.m. Shabbat Ends 9:03 p.m.

Friday, May 27 Kabbalat Shabbat 6:00 p.m. Candle Lighting 8:08 p.m.

Saturday, May 28 Shacharit 9:30 a.m. Shabbat Ends 9:08 p.m.

Leonard Englander

Abbye & Susan Silver

Shanna & Jay Rogers Joie & Larry McNabb

Florence & Stanley Hersh Joseph Settle

May 4

Mr. & Mrs. George Keller

May 7

Dr. & Mrs. Harvey Spark

May 9

Mr. & Mrs. Craig Hoffman

May 25

Mr. & Mrs. David Jortner

May 30

Mr. & Mrs. Joel Weissman

The monthly CAJ Board meeting

will be held Wednesday, May 11 at

6:00 p.m. Please contact the office

if you will be unable to attend.

Food from the Faithful

We will bring Cereals & pastas on an on-going basis.

Please bring packages throughout the year and Susan

Silver will see that they are delivered to Caritas.

Cemetery Restoration Fund

Justin Lynn

May 2

Miguel Perez May 11

Dorothy Harelik May 12

Chava Kamenetsky

May 15 Jake Bauer

May 20 Betty Bauer

May 21 Jayden Mayette

May 25 Benjamin Spark

May 30 Lacey Meredith Farley

Jake Schwartz

Discretionary Fund ***At CAJ, the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund is

used to make contributions to the Rabbi’s

choice of charities. If one wishes to give a gift

of gratuity to the Rabbi, that check should be

made out to the Rabbi personally.***

Melvin Lipsitz

Jeff & Lea Levin

Joseph Settle

Brandon & Teresa Harris

Birdie Citrin

Jeff & Lea Levin

Audre Rapoport

Melvin Lipsitz

The office will be closed Monday, May 30 in observance of

Memorial Day.

Happy Birthday Deana Stupak

Carolyn Neuwirth

Howard & Yaffah Miller’s Wedding

Brandon & Teresa Harris

Happy Birthday Susan Lanxner

Abbye & Susan Silver

The last day of Religious School will be Wednesday, May 18th.

Shabbat DonationsApril 2

Jake & Simone Bauer

Brent & Dianne deMoville

Judy Hersh

Stanley & Florence Hersh

David Levy

Howard & Yaffah Miller

Miguel Perez

Abbye & Susan Silver

Gloria Yoder

Steve & Lilia Schwarz

April 9

Jeff & Lea Levin

Miguel & Lourdes Perez

Gloria Yoder

Brent & Dianne deMoville

Steve & Lilia Schwarz

April 16

Jake & Simone Bauer

Stanley & Florence Hersh

Jeff & Lea Levin

Howard & Yaffah Miller

Abbye & Susan Silver

Steve & Lilia Schwarz

HOW TO OBSERVE THE YAHRZEIT

It is traditional to kindle a Yahrzeit Candle in the home on the evening Yahrzeit begins. It should remain

lighted until sunset the next day. Possible prayer before lighting a Yahrzeit candle: Eternal God, I/we

light this candle in memory of (name) _________, my/our beloved (relationship) ___________. The light

of the flame rekindles all the warm memories of the moment we shared together, and reassures me /us

that a piece of his/her soul dwells in my/our heart(s) forever. May his/her soul be bound up with the

bonds of eternal life. Amen. Candles are available at the Gift Shop. Every effort should be made to say

Kaddish at congregational services. It is meritorious to perform some Mitzvah or to contribute to the

synagogue in commemoration of the deceased.

Kaddish will be read on May 6 Nisan 28 Leah Beerman Alex Stein Morris Miller Nisan 29 Ida Berkman Don Tocker Iyar 1 Harry Goltz M.S. (Max) Roberts Iyar 2 Sam Rubel Iyar 3 Tessie Ruskin Iyar 4 Adam Kiss

Lester Englander Lawrence Lynn Kaddish will be read on May 13 Iyar 5 Agnes Rubel Mrs. Ben Golob

Abraham Sprecher Iyar 6 Ruth Bell Iyar 7 Bertha Rosen Rebecca Brickman Jake Berkman Iyar 8 Eva Wizig Abe Hashfield M. Berlowitz

Iyar 9 Z. Hoppenstein Muriel Jesenof Iyar 10 Mary Novich Dr. Sam Chernoff Iyar 11 Annie Esserman Sarah Israel Jack Weissman Dave Freed Max Chodorow Lillian Rubenstein Kaddish will be read on May 20 Iyar 12 Benjamin Bauer Joe Leo Siegel Louis Woolf Iyar 13 Millie Gardner Abe Adams Iyar 14 Adrian Moes Fannie Genecov Iyar 15 Sarah Hoffman Morris Cohen Annie Rae Wizig Iyar 16 Gilford Fred Iyar 17 Julius Berkman

Jacob Greenspan

Samuel Kestner Abe Udashen Iyar 18 N. Suravitz Jennie Rosenberg Kaddish will be read on May 27 Iyar 19 Louis Kleiman Ralph Leeds Iyar 20 Sonia Stein Iyar 21 Louis Marks

Lee Wolkoff Sarah Stein Iyar 22 Max Hoppenstein Abe Lewis Hyman Novy Iyar 23 Mandel H. Citrin Iyar 24 A. Polansky Mary Budin Orpha Starr Iyar 25 Otto Levy

David Harry Rubel Mrs. Phillip Stupak Steve Zelen

May 201623 Nisan 5776 - 23 Iyar 5776

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

5:21AM/7:24PM 5:20AM/7:25PM 5:18AM/7:26PM 5:17AM/7:27PM 5:16AM/7:28PM§8:13PM

5:15AM/7:29PM¡¡7:11PM

5:14AM/7:30PM§8:15PM

5:12AM/7:31PM 5:11AM/7:32PM 5:10AM/7:33PM 5:09AM/7:34PM§8:19PM

5:08AM/7:35PM§8:20PM

5:07AM/7:36PM¡¡7:18PM

5:06AM/7:37PM§8:22PM

5:05AM/7:38PM 5:04AM/7:39PM 5:03AM/7:40PM 5:03AM/7:41PM 5:02AM/7:42PM 5:01AM/7:43PM¡¡7:25PM

5:00AM/7:44PM§8:29PM

4:59AM/7:45PM§8:30PM

4:59AM/7:45PM 4:58AM/7:46PM 4:57AM/7:47PM 4:57AM/7:48PM§8:33PM

4:56AM/7:49PM¡¡7:31PM

4:56AM/7:50PM§8:35PM

4:55AM/7:50PM 4:55AM/7:51PM 4:54AM/7:52PM

23 Nisan/8 L'Omer 24 Nisan/9 L'Omer 25 Nisan/10 L'Omer 26 Nisan/11 L'Omer 27 Nisan/12 L'Omer 28 Nisan/13 L'Omer 29 Nisan/14 L'Omer

30 Nisan/15 L'Omer 1 Iyar/16 L'Omer 2 Iyar/17 L'Omer 3 Iyar/18 L'Omer 4 Iyar/19 L'Omer 5 Iyar/20 L'Omer 6 Iyar/21 L'Omer

7 Iyar/22 L'Omer 8 Iyar/23 L'Omer 9 Iyar/24 L'Omer 10 Iyar/25 L'Omer 11 Iyar/26 L'Omer 12 Iyar/27 L'Omer 13 Iyar/28 L'Omer

14 Iyar/29 L'Omer 15 Iyar/30 L'Omer 16 Iyar/31 L'Omer 17 Iyar/32 L'Omer 18 Iyar/33 L'Omer 19 Iyar/34 L'Omer 20 Iyar/35 L'Omer

21 Iyar/36 L'Omer 22 Iyar/37 L'Omer 23 Iyar/38 L'Omer

Kiddushin 51 Kiddushin 52 Kiddushin 53 Kiddushin 54 Kiddushin 55 Kiddushin 56 Kiddushin 57

Kiddushin 58 Kiddushin 59 Kiddushin 60 Kiddushin 61 Kiddushin 62 Kiddushin 63 Kiddushin 64

Kiddushin 65 Kiddushin 66 Kiddushin 67 Kiddushin 68 Kiddushin 69 Kiddushin 70 Kiddushin 71

Kiddushin 72 Kiddushin 73 Kiddushin 74 Kiddushin 75 Kiddushin 76 Kiddushin 77 Kiddushin 78

Kiddushin 79 Kiddushin 80 Kiddushin 81

Minyan & Classes9:00 a.m.

Religious School4:30 p.m.

Yom Hashoah Kabbalat Shabbat6:00 p.m.

Shacharit9:30 a.m.

Rosh Hodesh I

Minyan & Classes9:00 a.m.

Rosh Hodesh II Yom Hazikaron

Board Meeting6:00 p.m.

Religious School4:30 p.m.

Yom Ha'Atzmaut

Tanya Session4:00 p.m

Kabbalat Shabbat6:00 p.m.

Shacharit9:30 a.m.

Minyan & Classes9:00 a.m.

Last DayReligious School

4:30 p.m.

Tanya Session4:00 p.m

Kabbalat Shabbat6:00 p.m.

Shacharit9:30 a.m.

Pesach Sheini

Minyan & Classes9:00 a.m.

Lag B'Omer

Tanya Session4:00 p.m

Kabbalat Shabbat6:00 p.m.

Shacharit9:30 a.m.

Minyan & Classes9:00 a.m.

[¡¡Candle Lighting, §Observance End, Printed April 21, 2016/13 Nisan 5776 for Canton, Ohio]