This week’s edition includes:
FEATURING CHARLIE HARARY
“Becoming The Best Person You Can Be”
Sunday Night, September 29, 2013 @ 8:00 pm. Mincha followed by Arvit @ 6:15 PM. Congregation Shaare Tova, Kew Gardens, NY.
Submitted by Mojgan Liviem.
GIRLS NIGHT OUT
6th & 7th Grade Girls – Join us every Monday night @ the YMJC from 7-8:20 pm in the library for Parsha, games, pizza, raffles, prizes and much more! Classes begin on Monday, September 30th
TEEN TUESDAYS
6th & 7th Grade Boys – Join us every Tuesday night @ the YMJC from 7-8:20 pm in the library for Parsha, games, pizza, raffles, ping pong, prizes and much more! Classes begin on Tuesday, October 1st
MAGEN DAVID ADOM AMBULANCE DEDICATION CEREMONY
We did it! – $100,000 has been raised for a brand new ambulance for the people of Israel. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of our community! – Special guests and Arutz 7 from Israel will be attending to cover this historic dedication.
Community wide Blood Drive
The Mashadi Youth Committee has organized a blood drive to be held at Shaare Shalom Synagogue (54 Steamboat Road), on Sunday, October 6th, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 pm. Blood cannot be manufactured – it can only come from generous donors which is why we encourage all eligible donors to come and participate.
The general requirement to be a blood donor is as follows:
1) Must be age 17 or up. 16 year-olds can donate with permission of parent or guardian who must sign you in.
2) Must weigh at least 110 pounds.
3) Must have valid identification such as a driver’s license, passport, or other valid picture id, and your social security number. Drinks, snacks, and light food will be available for all donors. For more information, please feel free to contact Shawn Aziz at 516-423-6231 /shlomoshawnaziz@gmail.com, Maxine Karmily at 516-782-1551, or Charlotte Shahverdi at 516-424-2252 / charlottes989@gmail.com.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE OFFICIAL FLYER
MASHADI ENGAGED COUPLES (NAMZAD DAR) GIFT CEREMONY AT SHAARE SHALOM ON SIMCHAT TORAH – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
On the Simcha Torah Friday, UMJCA is presenting a beautiful gift to all Mashadi Engaged couples (Namzad-dar). We invite all these couples to come to Shaare Shalom Synagogue on this day. The presentation will be done during the auctioning of Simha Torah baskets. We also encourage all families and friends to come to this exciting event.
The Safety, Health & First Aid Committee is making an effort to make our synagogues a more ‘Nut Aware’ environment to protect those of us that suffer from NUT ALLERGIES. We ask that ALL members help out by not including ANY NUTS in their Shira trays, whether they are ordered from authorized vendors, or made at home. All Nuts include but are not limited to: Almonds, Walnuts, Cashews, Peanuts, Pistachios, Sesame, as all the authorized Kanissa venders have been notified, and to please refrain from bringing All Nut related products and snacks like Bamba and Sesame Candy to our Kanissas. Together we can make our Kanissas a safer environment for all those who attend them but it should also be noted that it is the sole responsibility of the parents and their children to monitor their own food restrictions. For comments and feedback on this and other safety matters please contact the YMJC board at 130@Mashadi.org.
Bring your children to Shaare Shalom (54 Steamboat Rd ) or YMJC (130 Steamboat Rd.) so that they can receive a blessing (Mishaberach) under the large Tzitzit on Simchat Torah (Friday Sept 27th).. Everyone who participates will receive a fantastic GOODY BAG sponsored by the Kordvani Family.
All proceeds will benefit Talmud Torah & Jewish education.
– 1. Incredible Israel – 2 round trip tickets to Israel – Maximum $3,600 Value – Donated by: Mr. & Mrs. Farhad Hakimian (Mortezazadeh) and Sons
– 2. Fontainebleau Getaway – 1 week stay in a studio apartment at the Fontainebleau Resort – Donated by: Anonymous
– 3. $1800 Americana Card. Enjoy $1800 to spend at Americana. Donated by: Americana Manhasset
Each ticket gets 3 chances to win! 1 ticket $100 – 3 tickets $260 – 7 tickets $500 – 15 tickets $1000. To purchase tickets, please call: 516-225-1761 or 516-263-9480. To purchase by email: info@stocklotsusa.com or abcd1026@aol.com.
Save the date: 2013 Americana Champions for Charity Nov 24 (Sun before Chanukah) & Dec 5,6,7
Calling all boys 13-15 years old – Join with all your friends every Sunday @ 130. Come and go from 1-7 pm and cheer for your favorite NFL team, plenty of seats and soft drinks for everyone. Pizza will be sold at $2 a slice For more info please Contact Farid Aziz or Ayzik Kohan. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FLYER
CPR WORKSHOP ($65) with Dr. Justin Hakimian on Sunday, September 29th from 5pm-8:00 pm at 130 Steamboat Road. This life-saving class is a must for all! Please call or email Avital at the YMJC office to register for the CPR Workshop and other Programs @ 130 classes. Ph: 516-708-9999. Email: avital@mashadi.org.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO VIEW THE FLYER
THE FUTURE IS NOW
On Sunday November 17th, 2013, the Supervisory Council of the UMJCA will hold elections for the Central Board and the Synagogue Boards of Shaare Shalom, Young Mashadi Jewish Center and Shaare Tova.
Our community has reached its success through unity, perseverance and dedication to community. Each and every one of us has a duty to volunteer at some point in our life, in order to build a better future for our children.
We ask all community members to consider the honor and privilege of serving the community by nominating yourself and or your fellow community members for the Central Board or the Synagogue Board of your choice, before the deadline of Monday October 28th, 2013. Minimum age is 36 for Central Board and 26 for Synagogue Boards.
LOOK WHO HAS BEEN NOMINATED SO FAR:
NOMINATED FOR CENTRAL BOARD AND SHAARE SHALOM
NOMINATED FOR YMJC AND SHAARE TOVA (QUEENS)
CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR CANDIDATES ONLINE
CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE YOUR CANDIDATES BY FAX
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CANDIDACY ACCEPTANCE FORM
With the help of Mehdi Nassimi, Cyrus Elian, Behnam Pourattarian, Igal Nassim and David Karimzadeh we have finally reached the final weekend of matches. We would also like to thank Mehdi for hosting the finals.
The finals for the men’s singles and doubles tournaments will take place this Sunday September 22nd 2013 at 11AM at Mehdi and Ania Nassimi’s residence, 4 Pheasant Run. The matchup for singles is David Karimzadeh v Ariel Hakimi. Following the singles final, the doubles matchup will take place between the winner of Alex Rahmani / Michael Hakimi and Simon Kashfi / Jared Hakimian vs the winner of David Karimzadeh / Sammy Hakimian and Benny Nabavian / Ray Hakimian.
We’d like to thank all the participants in this year’s tournament. I hope you had a good time, and hopefully we will have this tournament for many years to come.
The attached file shows the tournament brackets.
Couple of years ago, just a few days before Yom Kippur, I was out of town
visiting a customer of mine called Yury, who is a Russian Jew but unfortunately,
not observant at all. After conducting our business transaction, I don’t
remember why, but I started a religious conversation with him. So I asked him:
“Are you going to fast on Yom Kippur?” He said: “No!” Although surprised but not
shocked, I asked him: “Why? Don’t you believe in G-d and in Yom Kippur, the day
of atonement?” He said: “I do believe in G-d, but the idea of Yom Kippur does
not make sense to me.” So I continued: “Why not? G-d said that He will forgive
all your sins if you just fast and pray for forgiveness on this day! You’ll have
nothing to lose! G-d will either forgive you, or He won’t!! Does the 25 hours of
fasting really bother you that much? Worst case scenario, you might loose a
couple of pounds which in your case could be beneficial!!!”
Then Yury answered in a calm but a firm voice: “Listen, when I was a kid my parents sent
me to an Orthodox Yeshiva. We were taught that in order for G-d to forgive our
sins on Yom Kippur, we have to do a complete Teshuva (Repentance), which comes
in three stages. First we have to admit to our sins, then we have to regret our
sins, and finally, we have to stop committing the sins. Well, I don’t know about
you, but I have no intention of changing my lifestyle! I want to continue dine
out and eat shrimps and lobsters; I want to continue to go on my boat on
Saturdays and so on. So, why should I fool G-d by fasting on Yom Kippur and
begging for forgiveness if I know that I’m going to continue with my sins
anyway? Isn’t it hypocritical? If I were G-d, I wouldn’t have forgiven myself
either! What really bothers me is when I see some of you Orthodox Jews fasting
on Yom Kippur, crying and pouring your hearts out to G-d, telling Him how sorry
you are for committing the sins, begging for forgiveness, and then the next day,
you continue with the sins again. At least I have the guts to admit that I’m
wrong and I don’t deserve to be forgiven!!!!”
Well, for the first time in my life I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to lose an argument to a non-observant Jew, but on the other hand, I didn’t know how to respond to Yury’s argument, maybe because in the back of my mind, I somehow agreed with what he
said. So I said to him: ” I do understand that you have a point, but I’m sure
you are wrong. I just don’t have an answer for you now, but hopefully soon, I
will prove to you that your ideology is wrong”. With saying that, I said goodbye
and left his store.
The next day on the flight back home, I kept thinking about what Yury said and it scared me. What if he is right? Are we really a bunch of hypocrites?? How many of us are really going to change after Yom Kippur? Many of us like myself might change a little, but surely we won’t become “sinless saints” so to speak !! Does that mean that Hashem is not going
to forgive us??
When I arrived at home, I ate my dinner quickly and immediately started surfing the internet looking for answers to Yury’s argument. As I started to read commentaries on Yom Kippur and the day for repentance, I suddenly came across an article written by RabbiAaron Moss, a Chabad Rabbi who lives in Sydney Australia. He says the following: ” Do you know what’s the main difference between G-d and the human beings? — G-d is perfect; human beings are not!! Being imperfect means, you can fail, you can err and you can do mistakes. And Hashem understands this human deficiency, since He’s the one who
has created us. Accordingly, G-d has placed on the calendar an annual day of
repentance. It is not an optional holiday only for those who may think that they
have committed a sin. Yom Kippur is a day for EVERYONE to fast and ask for
forgiveness EVERY SINGLE YEAR. It is as if Hashem expects everyone to fail year
after year after year! G-d is so not surprised by our repeated failures and
mistakes, that He put Yom Kippur on the annual calendar till the end of days.
Because he knows we were never meant to be perfect, since we are only flesh and
blood!!!
For those of us who are not perfect, Yom Kippur is a great day,
since Hashem gives us an opportunity to admit and to regret our mistakes and try
to improve on them. The Torah says that if we fast on Yom Kippur, “you shall be
forgiven and purified from all your sins…”, which means that Hashem doesnot
look at our future mistakes, He just wants to clean up our past! So, the answer
to Yury’s argument is quite simple: “Don’t be scared if you think that you are
going to sin again next year. If you fast on Yom Kippur, Hashem will forgive you
for the sins you’ve committed in the past and won’t judge you on your future
sins. You never know, maybe you’ll change your mind and you won’t repeat the
same sin next year!!!”
Yes my friends, Hashem our G-d is the most merciful Judge of all. On Yom Kippur, Hashem guarantees to forgive our sins, if we admit, regret and “try our best” not to do it again. Which other court house in the entire world has such a merciful Judge?? Imagine if you passed a red light and you got caught. And on the day of your trial you go in front of a
Judge and say: ” I’m really sorry, I know what I did was wrong and I’m going to
try my best not to do it again!” Do you think the judge is going to let you go
without paying the fine?? Or have you ever heard of a Judge who is going to say:
“Ok, fine. I let you go free, just fast for 25 hours, and if I see that you’ve
passed the red lights again, you just have to come back here next year to the
same courtroom and stand in front of me, and we will review your file again!!”
Unheard of, right?! But this is exactly what Hashem is doing!!!!! Because Hashem
our G-d is a compassionate Judge, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abundant in kindness. His goal is not to punish us for our sins, but rather, he
wants us to understand what we did was wrong and wants us to improve ourselves!
Hashem is ready to forgive us, all we need to do is to come close to him and ask
for forgiveness! Hashem doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but he wants us to try
al least!
So my friends, tomorrow on Yom Kippur, fast, go to Kanissa,
pray from the bottom of your heart and ask for forgiveness. Admit, regret and
promise to try your best not to repeat the sins again, and G-d forbid if you do,
well you just have to come back again next year and stand in front of the most
merciful judge, the G-d Almighty! How about that?!
Wishing everyone Gmar Chatima Tova, an easy and a meaningful fast, followed by a sin-free year!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;
Martin
Btw, I did send an email to Yury afterwards that year and wrote what I said above and I’m
happy to announce that he did fast last year. Let’s hope that he will Continue to fast this year too…..
The Entire Community is Invited to an Ispirational Evening Featuring Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi: “SUKKOT – Our Temporary Home In This World”. __Monday Night, September 16 @ 8:00 pm at Congregation Shaare Tova, Key Gardens. Submitted by Mojgan Liviem.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND TO VIEW THE FLYER
Want a tune up on your Hebrew reading? Did you forget your aleph bet? Want to be a chazan? Want to learn to read tehillim? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then sign up for IVREAD! IVREAD is a learning initiative to teach the community how to advance their Hebrew reading skills in the context of Jewish prayers on regular days, Shabbats, and holidays. Classes begin on October 21stat 8:00PM and will continue for eight weeks on every Monday night. Check up on our Facebook page for the registration link or click here. For ages 16-120. One time fee of $30 for new students, $25 for returning students.Questions? Contact Joe Kamali (516) 659.3881 oekamali@gmail.com or Stephanie Aziz (516} 423-9999 stephanienemat@gmail.com, Stephanie Dilamani (516-423-6641)
Mrs. Mahin Enayatian, Mr. Edmond and Mr. Allen Enayatian and their families are dedicating a new Sefer Torah to the community to be used at the YMJC Synagogue at 130 Steamboat Road in memory of Nissan Ben Nissim. This Sefer Torah will be completed on Sunday September 15th at 1:30 pm at the Mashadi Jewish Center (54 Steamboat Rd) and will be accompanied to YMJC after its completion.The Enayatian Family would like to invite all the community members to join them in this festive event.
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