Anshei Darom News

Since it was first unveiled during the 2003 FJMC Biennial Convention in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, the FJMC Sefer Haftorah scroll - a parchment scroll containing the entire year’s Haftorah readings, complete with vowels and trope notes - has traveled around North America to Men’s Clubs and Brotherhoods, to regional retreats and to FJMC conventions. It has been used in synagogues from West Coast to East Coast, from Florida to Canada.

As part of this year’s itinerary, the Sefer Haftorah made a stop at Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Georgia last week. Here’s Stan Schnitzer, President of Congregation Or Hadash Men’s Club, with his commentary on the visit...

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“This is really cool! This is really cool!”

That was the reaction of Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz, co-spiritual leader of Congregation Or Hadash, Sandy Springs, GA, when she saw the FJMC Sefer Haftorah for the first time.

“Wow,” she said. “I have never seen anything like this.”

Neither had the congregation’s 50 Religious School students and teachers who gathered around to hear the story of how chanting the Haftorah and how the Sefer Haftorah project was born. Club President Stan Schnitzer, as past member of the FJMC Executive Committee and past president of the Northern New Jersey Region and Temple Beth Shalom (Livingston, NJ) Men’s Club, was able to tell some of the personal stories about people involved whose names are inscribed.

Stan Schnitzer and Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz share the Sefer Haftorah with Or Hadash Hebrew School students.

On Shabbat morning, club member Aaron Stambler chanted the Haftorah from the scroll. Aaron is one of our congregation’s frequent Torah readers and Haftorah chanters, and he was most appreciative of being able to have the honor of this reading, the first in our congregation. The congregation is only seven years old, and the Men’s Club was formed four years ago and just affiliated last year.

The Men’s Club was extremely pleased to be able to bring this FJMC treasure to the congregation, and our rabbis and congregants are already looking forward to the next time the Sefer Haftorah can visit our synagogue.

The Sefer Haftorah travels from one congregation to the next every week. Where distances are great, the scroll is shipped via common carrier... but within the Southeast region, we try to add the personal touch. In the true Men’s Club spirit of brotherhood, Stan and his counterpart from the Temple Israel Men’s Club in Charlotte, NC, Mike Eisner, had met for lunch in Duncan, SC - midway between their synagogues - and had had lunch while making the transfer. (For those of you with New Jersey roots, it was Exit 63 off I-85.) After Shabbat, Stan then handed the Sefer Haftorah off to Steve Krodman, Anshei Darom Region President and member of Congregation Etz Chaim Men’s Club – the scroll’s next stop.

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Ever wonder what's going on at other Men's Clubs in the region?

Wonder no more! All you have to do is visit the Anshei Darom Regional Events Calendar, where you can see what the other clubs are up to. You can also enter information about your club's events so everyone else knows what's going on in your corner of the world.

Simply click the link on the sidebar - or right here!

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On Sunday, February 4, 2007, Men's Clubs throughout the world celebrated the Mitzvah of Tefillin with their congregations.

At Congregation Etz Chaim in Marietta, Georgia, over 85 congregants, including our sixth-grade Hebrew School students and their parents, helped make this the biggest World Wide Wrap ever.



Rabbi Paul Kerbel led morning Minyan, explaining the various parts of the Shacharit service to the assembly.



After "wrapping up" Shacharit, members of the Etz Chaim Men's Club, along with other congregational leaders, instructed the students - and their parents - on the procedure of donning tefillin.






Wrapping things up nicely.


Wearing Great-Grandfather's tefillin.

Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a Bagel and Lox Breakfast courtesy of the Men's Club...complete with "Wrap Music" for entertainment!


Enjoying a little "Wrap Music" with breakfast.

Tell us about how your Men's Club and congregation celebrated the World Wide Wrap! Send an e-mail with all the details to Steve Krodman at elisson1 [at] aol [dot] com - don't forget to include some pictures - and we'll post 'em right here.

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Alex Jassen, our Scholar-in-Residence, has prepared the following outline of web sites for reading about the Dead Sea Scrolls. We hope this will help all of us focus a little better on the Dead Sea Scrolls and give us all a good start on this subject. Alex has broken the sites down into several levels. We hope you will enjoy your studies and that they will enhance the program we are planning for you prior to your arrival at the retreat.

Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls

For the Curious:

1. Basic Information on the Dead Sea Scrolls

a. Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, The Hebrew University.

http://orion.mscc.huji.ac.il/educate/educate.shtml

b. Dead Sea Scrolls Fact Sheet (by Edward Cook)

http://homepage.mac.com/edcook/fact_sheet.htm

2. General Information on the Site of Qumran

http://mosaic.lk.net/g-qumran.html

3. The Library of Congress Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibition Website

http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/scrolls/toc.html


For the Slightly More Ambitious:

1. Introductory Lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls by James Davila (University of St. Andrews)

http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~www_sd/dssintro05.html


For the Even More Ambitious (and willing to go to the bookstore):

1. VanderKam, James C. The Dead Sea Scrolls Today. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994. [a very readable introduction]

2. Davies, Philip R., George J. Brooke, and Phillip R. Callaway. The Complete World of the Dead Sea Scrolls. London: Thames and Hudson, 2002.
[Also a good introduction with many pictures and other images]

3. Shanks, Hershel, ed. Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls. A Reader from the Biblical Archaeology Review. New York: Random House, 1992. [A collection of essays intended for a popular educated audience]

Please feel free to contact Alex with questions or additional requests: [apj205 (at) nyu (dot) edu]

Labels: Programming Info