Women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers

Biblical Shiloh is  traditional place for prayers. The story of Chana Hannah praying for a son in Shiloh is well-known. We have retuned.

There's a well developed archeological park, with a wide variety of activities in Ancient Tel Shiloh שילה הקדומה Shiloh Hakeduma Shiloh Hakeduma. It can be reached by car or public transportation. For more information contact the office 02-5789111 or email v[email protected]. 

I hope you can join us.

Purim's Over, Rosh Chodesh Nissan is Soon

 

It's so true that time doesn't stand still. Late winter wild flowers are providing gorgeous decoration in my neighborhood. Last night we finished with Purim celebrations, and now the month of Nissan, and then  the Passover holiday are just around the corner. 

As you can see in the graphics above, Rosh Chodesh Nissan is just two weeks away on Thursday, March 23, 2023 8:30am. Join us.

ראש חודש ניסן

יום ה' 23\03\23 8:30

מתחילות ביחד בהלל ואחר כך מוסף

כולן מוזמנות

We celebrate with Women's Prayers singing Hallel out loud together and then a quiet Musaf. If you're joining us, please say the Shacharit prayer beforehand.

We meet in Shiloh Hakeduma, Ancient Shiloh at Tel Shiloh, the exact location of the Biblical Tabernacle; yes, Chana prayed here, too. Shiloh's where Joshua established the first Capital City of the Jewish Nation until Samuel the Prophet was told by Gd to appoint David as King. King David then united the Jewish People with a new Capital City, Jerusalem.

Shiloh Hakeduma is a well developed and maintained archeological site. There are lots of activities for visitors of all ages. For more information click or contact them 02-5789122 or [email protected].

Rosh Chodesh Elul, Sooner Than You Think

This coming Sunday is the Fast of Tisha (the 9th) of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish Calendar. It commemorates not only the destruction of our two Holy Temples but the dangers of disunity of the People of Israel.

The recovery of these tragedies has taken two thousand years. Yes, we're now in a state of building and revival, of which the Modern State of Israel and the miraculous survival of the Jewish People are proof that Gd is most powerful. The Jewish return to Ancient Biblical Shiloh is part of this process. 

We live in Shiloh, where the Mishkan Tabernacle, which predated the Holy Temple stood for close to four hundred years. During that time Jews came from all over to pray. Most well-known was Chana Hannah who prayed for a son. Gd gave her Shmuel Samuel.

Now every Rosh Chodesh, beginning of the Jewish Month, women come to Shiloh to pray together. Next Rosh Chodesh is Ellul, 5781, Monday, August 9, 2021, and at 8:30am we'll meet to pray.

תפילת נשים ראש חודש אלול, תשפ"א, יום ב' 8:30 9\08\2021

For more information email [email protected], subject "Rosh Chodesh"

Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh is a beautiful archeological park with lots of things to do. It's off of highway 60 and is also accessible by public transportation. 02-5789122, [email protected]

 

Rosh Chodesh (The Real) Adar Thursday and Friday

The official name for the upcoming Jewish Month is Adar Sheni/Bet, meaning the second Adar. That's because in ancient days, before there was a "set calendar," the months were announced when the first sliver of the "new moon" had been sighted.

In those days, if at the end of Adar, when it definitely didn't look like winter was over, they'd declare the new month to be an additional Adar. For "Jewish Leap Years," that name stuck. We have Adar Alef/Rishon/First and Adar Bet/Sheni/Second.

I'm a troublemaker, and I don't find those names good. I honestly think that now since we have a set calendar, we should be calling the extra month Shevat Bet/Sheni/Second, and it should come before a solitary Adar. But since I'm no Talmud Chacham, scholar, you'll only read this on my blog. Nobody I've ever mentioned it to knows of any Jewish scholar/sage who's said anything similar.

I hope you don't mind that I've written something that contradicts accepted Jewish theology.

Back to "business."

For well over a decade, I've been inviting women to join me at Tel Shiloh, Shiloh Hakeduma, for morning Rosh Chodesh Prayers. We sing Hallel out loud, but otherwise our prayers are silent, between us and Gd.

As we walk to and from the location believed to be where the Biblical Tabernacle had rested for three-hundred-sixty-nine years, we check out the latest discoveries, exchange Torah Words and more. Sometimes we celebrate special events together, too.

Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet we will doven together on Thursday, March 7, 2019, 8:30am.

כולן מוזמנות, תפילת נשים, ראש חודש אדר ב' , ל' אדר א', יום ה' ,7/03/2019 , 8:30, בשילה הקדומה, תל שילה

Shiloh Hakeduma is an officially recognized archaeological site, and there's even something more important. Biblical scholars and archaeologists agree that Shiloh, where I live, is the same as the Biblical Shiloh.

Here in Shiloh, yes, barely a mile from my house is the very place where the barren Hannah prayed for a son who would be dedicated to the Jewish People. He was Shmuel Hanavi, Samuel the Prophet.

Shiloh Hakeduma, Ancient Shiloh, is open on weekdays. You can just walk around or arrange for an official tour. There are also interesting events, especially during Passover and Succot. For more information, contact them directly at [email protected], or call 02-5789111.

For more information about our Women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers, email [email protected], with "Rosh Chodesh" as subject.

I hope you'll be able to join us.

Chodesh Tov!
Have a Wonderful Month!
Adar is the Month of Joy 
and Very Pleasant Surprises!

Tanach/Bible "What If's"

As a student of the Bible, who has very little back knowledge and an awful memory, I sometimes find my mind going in strange directions during classes or when thinking about what I've learned. Last week I found myself writing the following note:

The day before my chevruta, study group had gone over the account of King Saul's visit to the witch/fortuneteller, 1 Samuel, Chapter 28. Chazal and midrash have a lot to say about the woman.

Did she really conjure up Samuel The Prophet, or did she just fake it?

Considering that her/Samuel's prediction was on target, totally accurate, that King Saul and his sons would die in battle, gives it all a spooky  legitimacy. Add to this the similarity to Samuel's very first G-d given prediction, when he was told to tell Eli the High Priest that Eli and his sons would all die ending their ruling dynasty. For some strange reason, it popped into my head that the woman was Chana/Hannah, Samuel's mother. No place in the Bible tells of her death.

What do you think?

Lots of Reasons to Pray

There's so much to pray for. Besides all of the personal issues, which no doubt each and everyone can list, the Land of Israel is suffering serious serial drought. We haven't had a full winter's rain for a long time. It used to be that days on end the sun was hidden by rain clouds and generous storms. But in recent years the rains started later, end earlier and are much skimpier.

Cyclamen rakefet רקפת

It's just a week to the Jewish Month of Tevet, and we're using hoses and rinse water in the gardens. Rains are barely once a week and very weak. The ground still looks brown and dry, instead of natural lush green carpets. It's a rare and anorexic Cyclamen, rakefet רקפת that peeks out of the earth.

No matter what Israeli policies, the world hates us and does its best to weaken us. The Arab terrorists attack regardless of who's in power here. So, don't blame Bibi. When Rabin and Peres made policy things were much, much worse.

One of the most moving stories of how Gd hears our prayers is the story of Chana (Hannah) who prayed for a son, whom she promised to Gd to lead the Jewish People out of the anarchy of the time of Shoftim, Judges. She came to Shiloh to pray in the Mishkan, Tabernacle. Since Gd's presence never left Shiloh, and Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the Jewish Month, is traditionally known as a holiday for women, I've been inviting women to Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, to pray together where Chana did three thousand years ago. So, make your plans to join us. For more details, please email me.

Women's Prayers at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh
Rosh Chodesh Tevet 5778
Monday, December 18, 2017
30th of Kislev, 5778, 8:30am
Hallel and Musaf for Rosh Chodesh
Tour of Tel Shiloh
Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson
Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors.

תפילת נשים ראש חודש טבת בשילה הקדומה, תל שילה

יום ב' 18-12-2017

ל' כסלו, תשע"ח 8:30

הלל ומוסף לראש חודש

יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל

כדאי לבוא ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, is a beautiful archeological park, and it's open six days a week, Sunday-Friday. There will be special activities for the entire family during Chanukah, which you may enjoy. For more information, either check its facebook page or contact [email protected].

בתכנית:
- משחק חפש את הנר מיוחד לחנוכה
- סיורים מודרכים הכוללים ביקור במיצג מגדל הרואה, מערכת מערות מסתור, תצפית על קרבות החשמונאים וביקור במוזיאון.
- מלא סדנאות ומשחקים! רפאות כדים, ספינר סביבון, נר חשמונאי קדום ומתחם משחקי ענק
- אפיית פיתות על הסאג' וטעימות שמן זית

עלות כרטיס: 39 ש"ח לאדם מגיל 3
ימים שני-רביעי, ל' כסלו- ב' טבת, 20-22/12, בין השעות 9:00-16:00

פרטים והזמנות כאן:
www.a-shiloh.co.il/2425

Shiloh, The Perfect Place for Jewish Prayer!

Baba Sali, photo by Batya Medad

I know that many won't agree with me, but I do not go for praying to Gd at tombs and graves. No matter how righteous the dead may have been, it really turns my stomach to hear how people actually pray to the dead person, rather than to Gd Almighty. We all know that at Kever Rachel, Rachel's Tomb, many address their prayers to "Mama Rochel," rather than Gd. You'll hear the same sort of thing at the Baba Sali's Tomb and Uman and more graves and tombs so popular in the religious and traditional Jewish public.

Kotel, photo by Batya Medad

I've also lost my feelings for the Kotel, the Western Wall, once I understood what the place really is. It is very far from the actual Holy of Holies. It's the outer wall of the compound, not a remaining Temple wall.

There is one holy place that does attract my prayers, Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, just over a mile from my house. There are no walls and no graves and no tombs.

Kever Rachel
photo by Batya Medad

When Joshua led the Jewish People into the Land of Israel after the Exodus From Egypt, there were many battles to liberate towns, villages and cities that had been taken over, but Shiloh required no fighting. Shiloh stood empty of invaders awaiting the Jewish People to return. It became the religious and national capital of the Jewish Nation until David became King and planned the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In 1967, Shiloh was also empty of residents, so it was easy to establish a Jewish community here.

The Mishkan, Tabernacle, which was the forerunner of the Holy Temple, rested in Shiloh for 369 years. It was the holy place that pilgrims came to for Holiday and special prayers. The Bible tells the story of how Chana, Hannah, prayed in Shiloh for a son. That son, Shmuel Hanavi, Samuel The Prophet, led the Jewish People until he anointed the first two kings, Saul and David.

Women praying on the site of the Biblical Tabernacle, Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh, photo by Batya Medad

The laws of how to pray are derived from how Chana prayed, silently and directly to Gd.

For many years now, I've been inviting women to join me for Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of the Jewish Month) prayers at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh. Without the distraction of dead bodies we can easily pray directly to Gd, just the way we should.

Women's Prayers at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh Rosh Chodesh Kislev

Friday November 13, 2015

1st of Kislev, 5776, 8:30am

Hallel and Musaf for Rosh Chodesh

Tour of Tel Shiloh

Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים ראש חודש כסלו בשילה הקדומה, תל שילה

יום ו' 13-11  א' כסלוי, תשע"ו 8:30

הלל ומוסף לראש חודש

יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל

כדאי לבוא ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

Please save the date and let others know. Join our facebook group for more updates. And remember that there are many other things to do at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh. It's open to visitors six days a week. For more information call  02-994-4019.

Join us!

Chodesh Tov! Lesson From Biblical Shiloh, Prayer and Human Nature

Chodesh Tov, Everyone!
It's the first day of Rosh Chodesh Marchesvan, the Jewish Month of Cheshvan when winter truly begins. Winter here in the Holy Land doesn't always mean freezing snow. It's supposed to mean blessed rain, at the right time, the right quantities, gifts or rewards from G-d for our proper behavior.

Today some friends and I went to Shiloh Hakeduma, Ancient Shiloh, Tel Shiloh, the location of many Biblical stories, narratives that are being confirmed consistently by archaeologists working here to discover our past.

Shiloh has always been a location for prayer.  I, davka, prefer praying in Shiloh than in the more popular (non-synagogue) prayer sites. I just don't get "turned on" by graves, and the  Kotel littered with "Santa letters" is a "turn off." And since the Israeli Government has inexplicably allowed the Muslim Waqf to dictate what Jews can or can't do on our holiest spot, the Temple Mount, the next holiest, to my count when eliminating tombs and cemeteries, is Shiloh, specifically the area where it's believed the Mishkan, Holy Tabernacle had stood for close to four hundred 400 years when Shiloh was the administrative and spiritual capital of the Jewish Nation. That was just before the era of Kings and the building of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

One of the most well-known Shiloh stories from the Biblical era, is the story of Chana, Hannah. Chana was barren. She was married to Elkana, who had a second wife, Penina (Pearl) who did have children. Despite her inability to give him children, Elkana loved Chana more than he loved Penina. The situation was difficult for both women. Chana would have given anything for a child, and Penina was jealous of the favoritism Elkana bestowed on Chana.

The family/clan made the pilgrimage to Shiloh for all of the Holidays to pray there. One year Chana made an extra effort to pray to G-d. She prayed silently with all of her soul and might. Only her lips moved,  because G-d can hear what's in our hearts and minds, there's no need to shout. Chana's yearning for a child wasn't for her own personal selfish maternal needs. She understood the chaos and lack of leadership among the Jewish People and wanted to bring a son into the world to be a leader in G-d's name. She promised that if G-d would give her a son, that son would be brought to Shiloh to be trained by the priests there to lead the nation.

Eli, the High Priest, blessed her after hearing her story, and the next year Chana gave birth to a son. When he was weaned, she brought him to Shiloh and entrusted him to be educated by Eli.

Her subsequent "thank you prayer" to G-d is what is known as תפילת חנה Tefillat Chana, Hannah's Prayer, 1Samuel Chapter 2.

The line that fascinates me the most is:

ה  שְׂבֵעִים בַּלֶּחֶם נִשְׂכָּרוּ, וּרְעֵבִים חָדֵלּוּ, עַד-עֲקָרָה יָלְדָה שִׁבְעָה, וְרַבַּת בָּנִים אֻמְלָלָה.

5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry have ceased; while the barren hath borne seven, she that had many children hath languished.

I actually disagree with how it's generally understood. For those who aren't familiar with Hebrew, please look at all those dots and symbols on the bottom of and sometimes the tops of the Hebrew letters. They are the vowels. Without vowels, the letters can be pronounced frequently as different words meaning different things. The one I'd give a different meaning to is  שִׁבְעָה shiv'ah, seven, which I'd pronounce as sav'ah, satisfied.

Chana was satisfied with her one son; that's all she had prayed for. When more children were born to her, that was wonderful, but that isn't what she had asked for. Numbers weren't her priority. I've been telling people my theory for a few years already, and most people agree once they think about it, because the Bible was written without vowels.

The accepted commentary from the midrash for the next few words, that the mother of many was miserable, a better definition than the "languished" in the translation above, is usually explained that with each new child born to Hannah, one of Pearl's died. I can't imagine Hannah gloating over this. Today, at the Tel, when I told one of the women about my reading of שבעה she continued and said that Penina's personality was to be miserable. She wasn't happy even with her many children. The אֻמְלָלָה feeling miserable/depressed is an antonym for being satisfied with life, Chana's emotional state.

Some people manage to always see the best and be happy, while others are always finding fault in their situation. Chana does begin the story unhappy, wanting a child, but instead of being jealous wishing bad on others, she prayed to G-d, knowing that her fertility was in G-d's hands. She made her deal with G-d and didn't renege. Her precious first born son was sent to serve G-d, and he was Shmuel HaNavi, Samuel the Prophet who anointed Israel's first two kings, Saul an David. He did what he was born to do. He changed the world. Shmuel, like his mother accepted that they were just tools of G-d.

We all must learn to stop saying "I want..." and learn to hear what G-d wants us to do and be satisfied with it.

Chodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom

Prayer, Does G-d Need Those Written Notes?

Yesterday I ended up at the Kotel early afternoon.  It's not that I really felt a need to be there.  Of late, I've been dreaming of going to Har HaBayit, the Temple Mount, which truly is the Holiest Spot in The World for Jews.

But one can't be spontaneous when it comes to a pilgrimage to Har HaBayit.  One must first get to a mikva, ritual bath and bathe in a special way.  Entry to Har HaBayit isn't the 24/7 as to the Kotel, at least for Jews. Politicians have seen to that. They have decided, granted with the support of many rabbis who consider Har HaBayit too holy for Jews to visit for prayer and reflection. But they don't care about the irreverence and destruction being done there by non-Jews, particularly the Muslims.

Brooklyn Bridge walking to Ground Zero

Simply put, the Kotel is an outer wall of Har HaBayit, far from the exact site where the Beit HaMikdash, Holy Temples had stood.  It's sort of like considering a trip to Brooklyn in view of where the World Trade Center once stood to be the same as being there.

I decided to go to the Kotel for the simple reason that I had the time, didn't want to spend money and I also needed a place I could comfortably sit to doven (pray) Mincha (afternoon prayers) and say the Tehillim, Psalms I say daily.

Once I got there, I found a nice spot in the shade and made myself comfortable.  I had plenty of time.  I wasn't in a rush.  After I finished I remained seated and looked around. The area was littered with small pieces of paper, carefully folded, which had obviously fallen out of the cracks between the stones.

All of the walls, even more modern, recently built ones, are being used as "mailboxes," as if G-d has a secretarial staff and needs written records of our requests.

• Our All Knowing G-d Almighty can see in our hearts. 
• Our All Knowing G-d Almighty hears what we say and what we think and feel.
• Our All Knowing G-d Almighty is not a person.

This "letter" custom aka kvittel, reminds me too much of the childish goyish custom of sending letters to Santa Claus.

According to Judaism, we do not need intermediaries between ourselves and G-d. We can and should pray directly. The lessons learned from Chana's prayer to G-d for a child, when she was at the area of the Mishkan, Tabernacle in Shiloh is that we should pray silently but mouth our prayers.  G-d does not need to have the volume up.  He hears and knows everything.

Rain or Shine, Rosh Chodesh Tevet Prayers at Shiloh Hakeduma, Tel Shiloh

So far we've been having a dangerously dry winter here in the Holy-Land. We're a week into the Jewish Month of Kislev, and it has rained just for just minutes and just a few times.  Some of this year's rains were so light, you could almost count the drops.

Rain is one of the things we must pray to G-d for. If G-d replies "no," then I won't be all that surprised. G-d must be pretty angry considering what the Israeli Government has been doing, playing up to foreign leaders instead of solidifying our sovereignty in this precious holy Land.

I wonder what the weather was when the Biblical Chana came with her husband Elkana to pray at the Mishkan, Tabernacle in Shiloh.  Was the earth parched like it is now?  Is that one of the reasons she asked G-d for a son who would dedicate his life to serving the Jewish People.  Chana lived during the time of Shoftim, Judges.  It was a time of anarchy, when people did what they wanted and ignored G-d's commandments.

For the past few years, I've been going to pray every Rosh Chodesh (the beginning of the Jewish Month) at that Biblical site, where Chana had prayed.   Rosh Chodesh Tevet is only a few weeks away.

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh

Rosh Chodesh Tevet

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

First of Tevet 5774, 8:30am

Tour of Tel Shiloh & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים
ראש חודש טבת בתל שילה

יום ד' 4-12 א' טבת תשע"ד 8:30
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
 כדאי לבוא ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

You're welcome to join our facebook page. Tel Shiloh is open to visitors daily. Tours can be arranged through the Shiloh HaKeduma, Ancient Shiloh office. Email visit@telshilo.org.il  or phone 02-994-4019.

Jewish Prayer, In Quiet Dignity or Enthusiastic Participation

The online Tablet Magazine has an article about synagogue prayers and concerts, decorum and participation.

...Participatory services are more popular than services in which the congregation sits quietly for the most part, watching the rabbi and hazzan perform the work of worship up on the bimah.
Two: Tefillah was never meant to be a spectator sport, and by nature is the very opposite of a passive activity drained of emotion. We are talking about the attempt to stand before God, after all, however one understands God. This has never been an easy thing to do—consult the writings of religious virtuosi throughout the centuries—and is certainly not a routine matter for modern Jews in the pews. Nor is it easy to stand before oneself. The verb “to pray” in Hebrew is reflexive. Prayer is about exposing and facing up to depths of self, asking difficult questions and trying to answer them, pondering the meaning of God’s teachings for one’s life. The process can be uplifting, upsetting, or both. The tefillot we utter are meant to move us. At times the movement within has a chance to find expression in movement of the body—we bow, dance, sway, or parade around the synagogue. At other times, we keep what is inside bottled up, not wanting to reveal the turmoil...

It's certainly food for thought.  And it's a great relief to remember that there have always been many kinds and styles of synagogues and how they conduct prayers. The basic "rule" is, whether Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Liberal, in Israel or Out, the more artistically skilled and expensive the Chazzan, Cantor, prayer leader, the less participatory, especially if there's a choir assisting. And that means that I'm extraordinarily lucky; our local synagogues enjoy the services of neighbors and guests, not professional Chazzanim.  

Even better for me is the fact that our Ezrat Nashim, Women's Gallery is upstairs.  I can sing happily along, "dance" in my place and nobody seems to care.  The men downstairs don't hear me, and nobody upstairs has dared to complain.  I don't bang on the seats, tables nor clap my hands. I try to be as quiet as can be knowing how easy it is to lose concentration when someone makes a loud startling noise.  Freed of the responsibility of leading public prayer, my female neighbors and I high up in the balcony have the freedom to sing happily out of tune when the mood suits us.  When my voice breaks from emotion, it's between me and G-d; I can switch volume at will.  We're neither performing nor responsible for inspiring the Tzibur, community in to prayer.  Yes, I do consider this a freedom.  I very sincerely thank G-d every morning when praying the Morning Blessings for making me "according to His Will."

Jewish Prayers are not supposed to be a disciplined "concert, " observed by a polite and mostly silent audience.  We, the congregation are supposed to say the prayers.  The chazzan, or less professional ba'al tefilah or Shaliach Tzibur, which means "messenger of the community," is supposed to facilitate, inspire us to pray to G-d.  According to Judaism we have a direct connection to G-d which we must use.

The Halachot Laws of Prayer are derived from the story of the Biblical Chana, Hannah in Shiloh.  And that is the story read in the Rosh Hashannah Haftara, 1 Samuel 1,1-2,10.

יב  וְהָיָה כִּי הִרְבְּתָה, לְהִתְפַּלֵּל לִפְנֵי יְהוָה; וְעֵלִי, שֹׁמֵר אֶת-פִּיהָ.	12 And it came to pass, as she prayed long before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth.
יג  וְחַנָּה, הִיא מְדַבֶּרֶת עַל-לִבָּהּ--רַק שְׂפָתֶיהָ נָּעוֹת, וְקוֹלָהּ לֹא יִשָּׁמֵעַ; וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ עֵלִי, לְשִׁכֹּרָה.	13 Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard; therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken.

Unlike most other pilgrims to the Mishkan, Tabernacle in Shiloh who requested that Eli or his sons pass their message, request, prayers to G-d, Chana prayed directly to G-d.  And Chana's request was granted.

When we pray directly to G-d, we connect to G-d and develop a relationship with Him. If we count on the cantor, then we're not communicating with G-d, and we miss out.  You don't need a great impressive voice for G-d to hear.  If we count on others to do our praying, we may end up creating a congregation of "tape recorders."

in Florida, This Happens
In a large Florida City, the rabbi developed quite a reputation for his sermons; so much so that everyone who was Jewish in the community came every Shabbat. Unfortunately, one weekend a member had to visit Long Island for his nephew's bar mitzvah. But he didn't want to miss the rabbi's sermon. So he decided to hire a Shabbat goy to sit in the congregation and tape the sermon so he could listen to it when he returned. Other congregants saw what was going on, and they also decided to hire Shabbat goys to tape the sermon so they could play golf instead of going to shul. Within a few weeks time there were 500 gentiles sitting in shul taping the rabbi. The rabbi got wise to this. The following Shabbat he, too, hired a Shabbat goy who brought a tape recorder to play his prerecorded sermon to the 500 gentiles in the congregation who dutifully recorded his words on their machines. Witnesses said this marked the first incidence in history of artificial insermonation!

And if we're supposed to communicate our prayers to G-d, then we must use a siddur with a language we understand.  The prayers in Israel, especially in shuls like mine, Beit Knesset Noam Yonatan in Ramat Shmuel, Shiloh,  are amazing.  One of the reasons for this was noticed by a young cousin who once spent a Shabbat with us.

"Everyone understands the words!"

Jewish Prayers are in Hebrew, and Hebrew is the language spoken by most of my neighbors.  We're not mumbling, or even singing in gibberish.  When I've been a guest in homes in which the person saying Kiddush or Havdalah doesn't comprehend Hebrew, the prayer sounds different.  So, one of the ways to connect to Jewish Prayer is to learn Hebrew. And in the interim, keep checking up on the translation.

Busy Summer at Shiloh Hakedumah, Tel Shiloh

There are archeological excavations going on all the time at Tel Shiloh.  Besides that the new "tower" has opened, which includes  a fascinating movie about Biblical Shiloh.   In addition there will be our annual events, the TU B'Av Dancing in the Vineyards, on Sunday July 21 and T'fillat Chana, again featuring Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi on Wed. August  28. For more information try  emailing [email protected] or call 02-994-4019.

Besides all of these large events, we still come to pray every Rosh Chodesh at Tel Shiloh.

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh
Rosh Chodesh Ellul

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

1 Ellul 5773, 8:30am

Tour of Tel & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים
ראש חודש אלול בתל שילה
יום ד' 7-8 א' אלול תשע"ג 8:30
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
 כדאי לבוא ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

You're welcome to join us.