Dear Friends,

Shabbat Shalom!

Tomorrow we will read Parashat "Vayera" that begins with God's revelation to Abraham at Elonei Mamre. I believe that God's revelation is ongoing and not a one-time event at Mount Sinai. Sometimes if we look deep enough we can see little sparks of this ongoing revelation.

1. Or Hadash is very fortunate that many Ethiopian Jews became Bar Mitzvah at our Sanctuary in the past three years. Last Thursday, Oct. 8 the Bar Mitzvah of Masgano Baze took place at Or Hadash (see picture). Masgano, the son of Babi Baze, is a new immigrant from Ethiopia. The family made aliyah three years ago. The absorption in Israel was not easy. They initially lived in a caravan and after three years received an apartment in a very poor neighborhood in Haifa. Sanitary conditions in this neighborhood are bad. Babi is afraid to let his children play outside because it is a crime-stricken area. Getting by financially has been a constant struggle for the family.
In Ethiopia, Babi was a singer. He cannot make a living as an artist in Israel today. With the help of friends in Lexington, MA, Babi works at Or Hadash as a maintenance person to support his family and this ceremony was possible. He has been very well accepted by everyone at Or Hadash, especially our staff.
Masgano has three siblings and he is the first one in his whole family to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah in Israel. Mazal Tov!

2. This year, 5768 (2007-8) marks a record number of Bat Mitzvah ceremonies at Or Hadash. Since we have established excellent connections with many public and private schools in Haifa, we are witnesses that from 2006 a growing number of schools requested to have group Bat Mitzvah ceremonies at Or Hadash. Today, most of the girls in Israel do not have an individual Aliyah to the Torah but merely a party at the age of 12. That is why our Bat Mitzvah ceremonies are so important. This year we are expecting 13 classes consisting of 186 girls (!) to have their Bat Mitzvah at Or Hadash. Each girl will study her own aliyah with Rabbi Nof and will read from the Torah in each of the 13 different group ceremonies.

3. Every year, the most circulated local newspaper "Yediot Haifa" (which is part of "Yediot Ahronot", the largest and most popular newpaper in Israel) publishes a list of 101 most influential people in the city of Haifa. It includes figures from all streams of society and different professions. This year the list included 25 lawyers and judges, 24 doctors, professors and heads of hospital departments, 18 politicians, mayors, vice mayors, members of parliament and only two writers, four educators, one priest and two rabbis. Last year I had the honor to be at No. 69 on the list. This year, 2007, I climbed a spot (!), to No.68. At this rate, maybe in 50 years I on the top 10 of the list.

4. In the past few days we heard on the news about the wildfires in San Diego. We heard that only on Wednesday did the firefighters take control over the fires that caused half a million people to leave their homes. At this time our thoughts are with residents of San Diego, Los Angeles and California. We hope that this terrible catastrophe end soon and things return to normal. Special prayers were said by the children at-risk from our Moadonit who expressed their concern. We will continue to say prayers for them at our Shabbat services.

5. On Wednesday, Oct. 24, we commemorated the murder of Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, z"l, at Or Hadash who was murdered 12 years ago by right wing extremist, Yigal Amir. It was a shocking trauma (and still is) for all of us. The memorial service was led by our youth. At the entrance to the sanctuary dozens of candles were arranged as a Star of David around the picture of Yitzhak Rabin.
Towards the end of the memorial service, Prof. Eran Vigoda- Gadot Head of the Political Sciences Department at the University of Haifa presented a powerful lecture.

6. This morning a large group of second graders from the Re'ali school (the Hadar branch) came to Or Hadash for their "Kabalat Sefer Hatorah" service. It is a tradition of many years for second graders. The children sang songs and actively participated in the service, among them many of our preschool graduates.

7. In a few more hours a group of 30 friends from Westminster Synagogue in London will join us for Kabalat Shabbat and dinner. The group, led by Rabbi Thomas Salamon, came especially to re-give us the Czech Memorial Torah Scroll No. 978 after 43 years. We are all very excited about it.

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom from Haifa.

Edgar