CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM


688 Clifton Park Center Road, Clifton Park, NY 12065
(518) 371-0608

Welcome to Congregation Beth Shalom
An established community synagogue serving Southern Saratoga communities

News About Upcoming Services

We welcome Rabbi Amiel Monson, Rabbi in Residence, to Congregation Beth Shalom. Rabbi Ami will lead Kabbalat Shabbat services for Congregation Beth Shalom Fridays at 7:00 PM.
“Originally from Philadelphia, Monson spent the last seven years on the West Coast in a range of positions. The rabbi graduated from the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, Penn.) with a bachelor’s degree in comparative religion and a certificate in Jewish studies. He earned three master’s degrees from Gratz College (Elkins Park, Penn.) —in Jewish education, Jewish communal service, and Jewish studies. He graduated from The Academy for Jewish Religion (California) and was recently ordained. He follows generations of family rabbis, including his father, and maternal grandfather, who served at Temple Beth El in Troy in the 1940s, and a great-grandfather.” Jewish World, Jun 23, 2021
Rabbi Ami has replaced Rabbi Beverly as chaplain to Daughters of Sarah, Coburg Village and other assisted living or skilled nursing facilities in our area.

Please come to Kabbalat Shabbat service to make a minyan and to welcome Rabbi Ami. Services will be both in-person and via Zoom to accommodate our out-of-town members.
Please see the Beth Shalom weekly email announcements for all worship details including Zoom information. Please note that the service schedule is subject to change. Check Thursday's Beth Shalom email announcements for the most current information.


For Beth Shalom membership information, please call 518-371-0608.

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Holocaust Remembrance Day: What Why, How


Jody Squadere is a librarian at the East Greenbush Community Library in Rensselaer County and is also a member of B'nai Sholom Reform Congregation. She has organized a program to be presented to the public called "Holocaust Remembrance Day: What Why, How" to be given by Rabbi Danielle Weisbrot of B'nai Sholom Reform Congregation. This is a free program. Registration is required on the B'nai Sholom Reform website or by calling us at 518-477-7476. The event will be on Thursday, April 13 at 6:30pm. 


Description: What does a day of remembrance mean? How can we make it meaningful? Join us for an evening of learning and remembrance.

This year, International Holocaust Remembrance Day fell on January 27. The Israeli/Jewish commemoration, called Yom HaShoah, starts on April 17 (the 27th of the Hebrew month of Nisan). Shoah is the Hebrew word for “catastrophe,” while Holocaust is Greek for “sacrifice by fire.” Both terms – and both memorials – struggle to capture the tragedy of the past as we grapple with its meaning in the present.


Join Rabbi Danielle Weisbrot of B'nai Sholom Reform Congregation (Albany) for a discussion of these two days of remembrance and their unique roles in navigating the loss and the legacy of the Holocaust.

Jody has attached a flyer as well as the link to our registration page. https://eastgreenbushlibrary.librarymarket.com/holocaust-remembrance-day-what-why-how


Please share this information with your community and on the community calendar. I am reaching out to other Capital Area Congregations. Please reach out to Jody if you have any questions.

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ELUL MEDITATIONS

“If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?”

                                   – Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

The Hebrew month of Elul which precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is meant as a time of introspection. Each day of the month, we are meant to spend some time in meditation and contemplation about the year ending, and the teshuvah, the returning, renewing, and repenting that we each need to do in preparation for the coming year. 

Rather than wait until Rosh Hashanah, we take time each day for 30 days, looking at our actions, reviewing our lives, engaging in meaningful dialogue with our souls and beginning to apologize to those we have wronged, including ourselves.  

 

Our tradition calls this process "cheshbon hanefesh," an accounting of the soul. This is an opportunity for us to understand ourselves better and find more opportunities to engage with God.

The goal is to have a better sense of ourselves, our shortcomings and mistakes, sought forgiveness where possible, and granted forgiveness as well.
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Suggested Books to Read
Thanks to Rabbi Ami, this column is a new feature of our Beth Shalom website.

HENNE HOUSE by Nomi Eve

Book Overview

 An evocative and stirring novel about a young woman living in the fascinating and rarely portrayed community of Yemenite Jews of the mid-twentieth century, from the acclaimed author of The Family Orchard. In the tradition of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them. Nomi Eve's vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari's parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter. After passage of the Orphan's Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents' health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela's situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing. Suddenly, Adela's eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one's heritage. She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long-established way of life. She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear. Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history. From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far-ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming-of-age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century. Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart. This description may be from another edition of this product.

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Please Visit our Calendar for All the Upcoming Events


Do you have a special event coming up that you would like to share with your family, friends, and synagogue family? Why not sponsor an Oneg or Kiddush? Sponsoring a kiddush is honoring, celebrating, memorializing, and congratulating any individual/s or event. A kiddush is a wonderful way to bring people together and begin to celebrate the Sabbath too. For more information you can call the synagogue office and speak to Jackie at (518) 371-0608 or call Linda Russell at (518) 371-3641.

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Additionally, check out some of the other resources available to Beth Shalom, including volunteer opportunities, through Jewish Federation of NENY using the link highlighted here or the information below.

Rachel Gershon Rourke, Community Volunteer Coordinator

Jewish Family Services of Northeastern New York

Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York

Albany & Schenectady Jewish Community Centers

Phone: 518.722.4980 ext:1003       email: [email protected]

http://www.jfsneny.org.                  184 Washington Avenue Ext, Albany NY 12203

A link to the Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center is also provided above.

The Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center

The Emil A. and Jenny Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies strives to build a cadre of teachers, professional and lay leaders across the United States who are committed to Holocaust Education and Remembrance, ready to meet the challenges that the field is facing as survivors of the Holocaust are passing away and awareness of the subject in public memory is fading.

Welcome to Beth Shalom


Welcome to Beth Shalom!  Serving Southern Saratoga County for the last 47 years, we are so excited to welcome you into our building, services, and synagogue family.  While our unique membership comes from all branches of Judaism, we lean towards liberal Conservative practices and embrace interfaith, LGBTQA, and all our diverse friends and families.  Have a question?  Our Board and members are here to help.  Poke around our website to learn more about us and contact us today so we can learn more about you!  We are so glad you are here and can't wait to greet you in person!
Rabbi Ami with Professor Josh Kulp from The Conservative Yeshiva in Israel.
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Recent Events of Interest

A Mitzvah

 

We have a chance for volunteers to participate in a mitzvah by helping a refugee family who have settled in our area. Rabbi Beverly Magidson has forwarded this request to us.

 

The United States Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is looking for volunteers to assist with a small Afghan refugee family located in Ballston Spa. The family consists of two older adults and two adult children. Most of what they need is daytime transportation to doctor appointments. They are living with family; their English is pretty good. USCRI would like to run background checks for volunteers (at their expense) but will not require it in this case.

 

Please contact Margaret Slotnick at [email protected]

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Rabbi Ami recently officiated at a renewal ceremony at Summit at Mill Hill Senior Independent Living in Guilderland. Click on the link above to watch.
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‘It Could Happen Here’ – A Conversation with Jonathan Greenblatt,
ADL CEO and National Director
Wednesday, September 21, 2022
GE Theater at Proctors

Many congregants from Beth Shalom attended a conversation with Jonathan Greenblatt, author of It Could Happen Here – Why America is Tipping from Hate to the Unthinkable – And How We Can Stop It
In his new book, Greenblatt sounds an alarm about how the antisemitism and hate-related violence once relegated to far-off places is intensifying in the U.S., and how violence on an even larger, more catastrophic scale
could be around the corner if we don’t act now. The program was moderated by Neil Golub.
For those of you that would like to send Rabbi emeritus Markowitz a short note please send it to:
Rabbi Chanan Markowitz
c/o Josh Markowitz
3530 N Lake Shore Drive, #1A
Chicago, IL 60657

We are sure he would love to hear from you.

Congregation Beth Shalom                        [email protected]                  (518) 371-0608                  Rabbi Ami T. Monson, Rabbi in Residence
688 Clifton Park Center Road                                                                                                                                                President David Clayman
Clifton Park, NY 12065                                                                                                                                                           Rabbi Emeritus Dr. Chanan Markowitz