A Purim Tale by Ben-Zion Friedman

MEGILLAH GEOGRAPHY

Once aPUN a time

King OSH-KOSH of the UNITED KINGDOM was HAVANA good time .

PEKING toasted ; ” YEMEN , SERB up SAMOA wine . let’s TAIWAN on . ”

The tipsy king asked Queen Vashti : ” KENYA dance the hoo-chee koo-chee . . without your NEW JERSEY ? ”

Vashti shouted : ” NORWAY ! :

PEKING ordered : ” You CONGO . ”

After she GHANA way , PEKING’s men went ROMAN for a YOUNGSTOWN girl .

PEKING SPOKAN said to Esther : ” On a scale of one-to-ten , you’re the only TENNESSEE .

I’d like to CZECH YOU OUT . ”

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Brisket and Kugel Cook-Off

Brisket and Kugel Cook-Off and Pot Luck Dinner
Sunday, November 23rd at 5:00 PM
Whether your recipe has been handed down through generations or you’ve added a new twist to something borrowed, all entries for the first RS Brisket and Kugel Cook-Off are welcome. You can make one or both recipes, and a “Blind Professional Judging” will name a winner. All entries will then be consumed by all attendees. All BoomRS and RS members and prospective members are invited to attend, but, if not bringing a Brisket or Kugel entry, then a potluck dish for sides, salad, and dessert is appreciated. BYOB of course and all cooks and just eaters please RSVP to Patsy Herman at patriciayusem@gmail.com.

Memorial Service for Lee Stanley

Please join us as we share memories of our beloved Lee Stanley at a Memorial Service on Sunday, September 14 at 2pm in our Sanctuary

Lee webOur community mourns the passing of Lee Stanley, a man who was better than almost anyone I know at finding and expressing joy. The music of RS, and his father Cantor Harry Stanley’s legacy, meant so much to him, he could hardly contain himself when he heard a piece he loved or when he heard children singing. He constantly reminded me to be free with my own joy, to let it show, because the joy of people like Lee bring warmth into the world.
Lee also taught everyone around him to access their deepest compassion. When the vidui, the confession, comes on Yom Kippur, I will confess to the times when I have not been as compassionate as I should have been, and I will vow to do better. Lee’s memory will always remind me of that.
Cantor Erin Frankel

Crowd Sourcing Sermon

Crowdsourcing Sermon

August 29 Sermon

For this summer’s sermons, we’d like to incorporate your perspectives. The clergy will pose a question at the beginning of each week. Your responses to the question will help inform the sermon for that week.

Please respond to the August 29 sermon topic: “Have you ever found extraordinary moments in ordinary experiences?  Describe the moment.Have you ever found extraordinary moments in ordinary experiences? Describe the moment.”

Remembering Lee Stanley

Lee 3Lee Stanley is remembered for keeping traditions alive at RS. Mike Newall of the Philadelphia Inquirer (August 19, 2014) wrote: “To the members of Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Lee Stanley was a keeper of history – a beloved, rumpled man who wore a straggly beard and oversize suits, and kept at his enthusiastic recall an unmatched knowledge of the congregation’s musical tradition. In his earnest way, fellow congregants say, Stanley could pluck from his mind details most others had long forgotten – or never thought to preserve: the precise date the congregation changed the melody for a particular song or tinkered with the Hebrew phrasing of a prayer.”

Do you have a memory of Lee that you would like to share?

Crowdsourcing Sermons

Crowdsourcing Sermon

August 22 Sermon

For this summer’s sermons, we’d like to incorporate your perspectives. The clergy will pose a question at the beginning of each week. Your responses to the question will help inform the sermon for that week.

Please respond to the August 22 sermon topic: “Have you ever carried around a grudge or a feeling that did not allow you to move forward completely?  Have you ever let go of such a feeling?”

Crowdsourcing Sermon

Crowdsourcing August 15 Sermon

For this summer’s sermons, we’d like to incorporate your perspectives. The clergy will pose a question at the beginning of each week. Your responses to the question will help inform the sermon for that week.

Please respond to the August 15 sermon topic: “What are your ideas about aging with dignity? How do you find the true meaning and purpose in life as you grow older?”

Crowdsourcing Sermon

Crowdsourcing August 8 Sermon

For this summer’s sermons, we’d like to incorporate your perspectives. The clergy will pose a question at the beginning of each week. Your responses to the question will help inform the sermon for that week.

Please respond to the August 1 sermon topic: “Besides your physical house/apartment/condo, where and when do you feel at home?  What is it about these other places/times that elicit feelings of comfort, safety and family?”

Message from Noah Max Igra, a soldier in the Israeli Defense Force

betty ruth's noah

 Many of you may remember that Noah Igra wrote a message for the Rodeph Shalom Bulletin a few months ago, and requested contributions to help his army unit.

As you may know, Noah is the grandson of Bettyruth Walter and Donald J. Goldberg, who were married here at Rodeph Shalom in 1957.  He is the son of Caroline Goldberg Igra, who was a Bat Mitzvah and confirmand here at RS,  and her husband Rami.  Noah was a Bar Mitzvah here at Rodeph Shalom in 2008.

There were kind contributions made in the name of Noah Igra to the IDF, and that money was used towards buying new and wonderful boots for his entire unit of 29 young Israeli men.

Well, you can be quite certain that those same boots are very important to these young soldiers fighting for the survival of Israel right now.

Since he is quite busy at the moment, I am writing this thank you note for him – and his entire unit – to tell you how appreciative these young men were to receive this gift from Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia.  We all pray for a rapid cease to this madness in the Middle East, and peace for all.

– Bettyruth Walter