By Pearl Markovitz | January 21, 2021
The sisterhood of Congregation Beth Aaron, headed by Debbie Sheffey and Gabriellle Silverberg, invited Dr. Michelle Sarna, wife of the UAE Chief Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, to address the community on Zoom this past Sunday evening, January 16. A large group of participants took advantage of this opportunity to hear what is actually happening on the ground across the world with Jewish residents in a Muslim country.
The Jewish presence in the UAE began long before the Abraham Accords were signed. In the 1970s, after the fortuitous discovery of an oil resource yielding enormous revenue, the leaders of the UAE, encompassing seven Gulf States, decided to establish a university to serve as a global educational center on equal footing with Cambridge and Oxford. Ten years ago, Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, executive director of the Bronfman Center at NYU, chaplain and professor at the Wagner School of Public Policy, together with his colleague and friend
Not In Our Town Billings holds virtual Martin Luther King Jr. service Sunday
and last updated 2021-01-17 20:25:31-05
BILLINGS â The racial equality group Not In Our Town Billings held a virtual Martin Luther King Jr. Day service Sunday with a theme of bridge over troubled waters where different local faith leaders offered their thoughts on the advice King would have for the people of today.
Pastor Melvin Terry of All Nations Church and president of the Black Heritage Foundation spoke first, saying the day is one to reflect on race relations in Billings.
âIt is a good time to count the blessings and chart our course for more progress and success in race relations, understanding culture and heritage of all our citizens in our city in the greater Billings region, Terry said.
By Pearl Markovitz | January 07, 2021
The endless sea of Torah study can be navigated in myriad ways. Masechet Yevamot spans 122 pages. The current cycle of Daf Yomi completed Yevamot in 122 days. In contrast, Daf Hashavua began Masechet Yevamot in May of 2020 and anticipates its completion only in September 2022. Knowing full well the length of study of this masechet, the Mermelstein family sponsored the entire Daf Hashavua’s learning of Yevamot in memory of beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather Shelley Mermelstein, Yosef Shmuel Shmelke, z”l, who was an enthusiastic participant in the local Daf Hashavua Program at Congregation Beth Aaron.
Felder’s burnt shul, a place I called home
The flames that ripped through the landmark Congregation Beth Aaron last Thursday, totally destroying the Boro Park minyan factory and its upstairs apartments, elicited a melancholy wave of nostalgia for those who have known the shul as “Felder’s” since its founding seven decades ago.
“When your father was niftar,” one man told State Senator Simcha Felder, the son of shul founder Rav Tzvi Mordechai Felder ztz”l, “I felt that he was still here, because Rabbi Felder was the shul, and the shul was still standing. When I saw that fire, I felt that Rabbi Felder had just passed away.”
Yellowstone Public Radio
Latke makers Richie and Amy Solomon at the Congregation Beth Aaron latke drive through on the first night of Hanukkah, Dec. 10, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has moved many faith communities to swap in person worship and activities for remote or steaming opportunities. Important holiday traditions have given them an opportunity to be creative.
The Christmas Eve service at Eidsvold Lutheran Church in Somers is moving outside this year. Reverend Andrew Wendle says it will be a parking lot distanced service. People will come and light a luminary. Actually it should be very beautiful. But it’s very… definitely different. It’s not sitting in the church and singing silent night or anything like that, Wendle said.