Adas Israel - Mason City, IA

Torah Thoughts & Sukkot 29 September 2023

Hello friends and welcome to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation based in Mason City, Iowa. We're grateful you are
here. Tonight, at sundown, we not only will celebrate Shabbat but also the holiday of Sukkot. Many would know this as the "Festival of Tabernacles" or "Booths". For the next week we will sit in the Sukkah, the temporary "hut" with family and friends enjoying food and the meaning of the holiday. (You can click on the images to enlarge them.)

Sukkot

This is one of the many holidays we are told to celebrate in the Torah. We read in Lev. 23:33 as G-d tells Moses about the holiday. Then in Num. 29:12 we hear again about the holiday and finally in Deut. 16:13 we link Sukkot to agriculture. So, it's pretty clear that Hashem wants us to mark this week in a very special way. 

Also during Sukkot we are commanded to wave the Four Species.  What is that? The Lulav and Etrog. The etrog is a fragrant fruit with a thick, white rind and bright yellow.  Think a large lemon. The Lulav is a palm branch that is starlight and tightly bound. Attached to the Lulav are the Hadas or myrtle and the Arava the willow branch. We bind all the branches together: two willows on the left, one palm branch in the center, and three myrtles on the right. Say the following blessing, then lift them together with the Esrog and shake it in all directions, as a symbol of God's mastery over all Creation.

"Blessed are you Hashem, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us regarding taking the lulav."

The Sukkah

Building the sukkah or "tabernacle" is a great experience for family and friends. You don't have to build walls especially for the Sukkah; you can use the side of a building, or even a hedge of bushes. And if you can find an area that is already enclosed by 2 or 3 walls, then your job will be that much easier!

The roof material (S'chach) must be made from material that grows from the ground, i.e. branches or leaves (but not metal).  Also, the material must be presently detached from the ground. This means that nothing can be overhanging your Sukkah – not a tree, a gutter, air-conditioning unit, etc.

The roof must be sufficiently covered so that it gives more shade than sun during the daytime, yet it should be sufficiently open so that the stars are visible through the roof at night. The roof material can only be added after the requisite number of walls are in place.

Enjoy the holiday!

Break Fast

We had a wonderful and meaningful Yom Kippur and everybody pitched in for our Break Fast. It was a lively group and following Havdalah we ate and visited until late in the evening. Thank you all who came and made this such a wonderful and joyful Yom Kippur.

The Wolf Family

Just ahead of Yom Kippur we were visited by a family with deep roots to Adas Israel in fact it was the Wolf family that is responsible for collecting funds for our first building back in 1910.  Pictured here are Meir Wolf, his son Matthew and his son, Charles. They were on a journey to reconnect with many of the memories attached to Adas Israel and Mason City. It was great to have them with us, even for a short time. A reminder that we are never far from each other.

Shabbat Shalom, Hag Sameach and enjoy.  Thank you for reading. 

 

 

 

High Holydays Schedule 5784

Hello Friends! We're excited that you might be with us for our High Holydays Celebration. This week we'll be reading Gen. 21 in Shul. Rosh Hashanah is also called Yom Teruah, “a day of blowing blasts” (Numbers 29:1). Teruah literally means “shouting,” since the day was probably initially a great popular acclamation of G-d, enhanced and led by trumpet calls. But, because we are meeting on Shabbat we'll not be blowing the shofar. However following the evening service on Shabbat we will.  Because we can!

Services at Adas Israel will start on the Eve of Rosh Hashanah which is September 15.  We'll be meeting at 7:00PM. That service is rather short.  We come back to shul on Shabbat the 16th for morning services starting at 10:00AM. Following services we'll have a light lunch in the Social Hall and a Midrash for those of you who wish to remain with us.  Then we will gather again for our afternoon service starting at 6:00PM and a celebration of the day in the Social Hall. 

Then for Yom Kippur we will begin on Sunday the 24th of September with Kol Nidre starting at 7:00PM. This also is a rather short service. We will gather again on Monday the 25th for services starting at 10AM and our break will come at about 1PM. For those of you interested we will then hold another Midrash in the Social Hall.  We return to the shul for the concluding service at 6PM and Break the Fast at roughly 7:30PM. 

Hope to see you in Shul!

CORRECTED High Holydays Service Schedule

Services at Adas Israel will start on the Eve of Rosh Hashanah which is September 15.  We'll be meeting at 7:00PM. That service is rather short.  We come back to shul on Shabbat the 16th for morning services starting at 10:00AM. Following services we'll have a light lunch in the Social Hall and a Midrash for those of you who wish to remain with us.  Then we will gather again for our afternoon service starting at 6:00PM and a celebration of the day in the Social Hall. Because all of this also happens on Shabbat there is no blowing of the shofar. 

Then for Yom Kippur we will begin on Sunday the 24th of September with Kol Nidre starting at 7:00PM. This also is a rather short service. We will gather again on Monday the 25th for services starting at 10AM and our break will come at about 1PM. For those of you interested we will then hold another Midrash in the Social Hall.  We return to the shul for the concluding service at 6PM and Break the Fast at roughly 7:30PM. 

A HUGH THANK YOU to Dr. Lederman for letting me know I had the wrong month.  Oy!

We look forward to seeing you in Shul.

Torah Thoughts 8 September 2023

Hello friends and welcome back to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation based in Mason City, Iowa. Today, rather than offer up some thoughts about this week's Torah Portion some thoughts about the High Holy Days coming up very soon. To be honest with you, this week has been full of challenges at my "other jobs". Nothing bad...just very full days writing a magazine, keeping up with the daily show (Insight on Business) and hosting yet another podcast for a client. No excuse but know that I did study a bit as well. This week we studied Deut. 29:9 - 31:30.

In just a few days we'll be gathering for Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew for "Head of the Year") the Jewish News Year. Unlike the secular new year we don't have fireworks, a ball dropping from the sky or singing a song that I'm not sure anybody really understands. Nope, Rosh Hashanah is a day of celebration that marks the start of not only a new year (5784) it is also the beginning of the Ten Days of Repentance which ends at Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the civil year, according to the teachings of Judaism, and is the traditional anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman according to the Torah, as well as the initiation of humanity's role in G-d's world.

Service Schedule

Services at Adas Israel will start on the Eve of Rosh Hashanah which is October 15.  We'll be meeting at 7:00PM. That service is rather short.  We come back to shul on Shabbat the 16th for morning services starting at 10:00AM. Following services we'll have a light lunch in the Social Hall and a Midrash for those of you who wish to remain with us.  Then we will gather again for our afternoon service starting at 6:00PM and a celebration of the day in the Social Hall. Because all of this also happens on Shabbat there is no blowing of the shofar. 

Then for Yom Kippur we will begin on Sunday the 24th of October with Kol Nidre starting at 7:00PM. This also is a rather short service. We will gather again on Monday the 25th for services starting at 10AM and our break will come at about 1PM. For those of you interested we will then hold another Midrash in the Social Hall.  We return to the shul for the concluding service at 6PM and Break the Fast at roughly 7:30PM. 

We look forward to seeing you in Shul.

Thank you for reading and Shabbat Shalom! 

Torah Thoughts 1 September 2023 Parsha Ki Tavo

Welcome back to Torah Thoughts from Adas Israel the Jewish Congregation of Northern Iowa and based in Mason City. A reminder that in September we'll be gathering for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) services will take place at 7PM on Friday the 15th of September and also at 10AM on Shabbat the 16th of September. Then on Yom Kippur we will gather for Kol Nidre at 7PM on Sunday, September 24 and then again on Monday the 25th at 10AM. A break and then back for concluding services at 6:00PM with Break-Fast at nightfall. Hope to see you in Shul.

Parsha Ki Tavo

This week we read Ki Tavo (Deut. 26:1 - 29:8) and is Hebrew for "when you come". "It will be, when you come to the Land that Hashem, your G-d gives you as an inheritance, and you posses it and dwell in it..." 

The Torah is now giving details to what was mentioned in Exodus 23:19 and speaks to what the Jews must do to honor G-d and the land. This has to do with the "first fruits". In other words, a way to remember the gift of Israel and support the Kohen whose only job was to oversee the rituals of the tabernacle and then the temple. Also it is in Exodus 23:19 where we get the prohibition of mixing milk and meat. Go ahead and check it out...

Running From Blessings?

There is another interesting passage to share with you.  You will find it in Deut. 28:2: "All of these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you harken to the voice of G-d."  So what is going on here?  Are we actually running away from blessings?

The great Rabbi Twerski reminds us that the Baal Shem Tov's grandson says that G-d's blessings sometimes come in a form that we see as distressful, and inasmuch as we do not know their true character, we may flee from them. The Torah assures us that the good that G-d intends for us will come upon us even if we try to avoid it.

This is also the meaning of the verse: “May goodness and loving-kindness pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalms 23:6). We pray that if, in our limited understanding, we try to avoid a concealed kindness, that it pursue and overtake us.

A Story

Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev saw a person running in the marketplace. “Where are you running to?” he asked. The man answered, “I'm running for my parnassah (livelihood).” Rabbi Levi Yitzchok said, “How do you know your livelihood is in front of you? Perhaps it is behind you and you are running away from it.”

The Lesson

Infants cry franticly when the pediatrician administers a painful injection to immunize them against dreaded disease, and they cannot possibly understand why the mother who loves and cares for them collaborates with the doctor to hurt them. The gap between our wisdom and the infinite wisdom of G-d is much greater than even that between an infant and its mother. Whereas the infant cannot be expected to accept its mother's actions as being for its welfare, we should be wise enough to know that everything that G-d does for us has an ultimate good, even if we see it as not being so.

Thank you for reading and Shabbat Shalom!