Next Scholar in Residence at WAM

“Behold, a ladder stood

on the earth, the top of it

reached to heaven;

and behold,

angels of G-d were ascending

and descending on it”

The West Ashley Minyan
Presents
Another “Climbing the Ladder” Event
Shabbat Vayera – November 6th and 7th

Rabbi and Mrs. Nosson Kaiser
Jacksonville, Florida

Program of events:

Friday Night Nov 6th 2009

Carlbach Shabbat and Dinner* (all at JCC)

Mincha at 5 pm

Ma'ariv at 5:15 pm
Dinner 6:30 pm

Keynote Address at 8 pm
An ‘I’ for an ‘I’: Exploring the Hidden World of the Self

* * *

Shabbat Morning Nov 7th
Pre-Mussaf Shabbat Drasha (JCC)
The Most High and I: Finding G-d’s Love in the Dow Jones

Women’s Class - Rebbetzin Kaiser 2:30 pm

at Linda Kirshstein’s home
Empowerment through Prayer

Shalosh S’eudos (JCC)
When the Sun Gets in Your “Aye”:

Finding Inspiration & Opportunity by Cutting through the Glare

Melaveh Malka 8:00 pm

(at home of Arlene & Peter Rosenthal)
The South Shall Rise Again:

Building a Torah Community below the Mason-Dixon Line

*For reservations for the dinner

or to volunteer contact

Arlene at arleneshawinsky@yahoo.com

RABBI NOSSON KAISER

A native of Toronto, Canada, Rabbi Nosson Kaiser has been Rabbi of Etz Chaim Synagogue in Jacksonville, Florida since 2001. He helped to found Torah Academy of Jacksonville, where his wife, Rebbetzin Orit Kaiser, was the founding principal. An alumnus of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia and Jerusalem's Mir Yeshiva, Rabbi Kaiser served previously on the faculties of the Miami Beach Community Kollel and Mechina High School of South Florida. His accomplishments in Jacksonville have been recognized by the National Council of Young Israel, which gave him its Young Rabbinic Leadership Award in 2005. He has taught and lectured in three languages and is a popular guest speaker and scholar for synagogues, schools and national organizations. Rabbi Kaiser is also a trained cantor and is a past winner of the Canadian Mathematics Competition. The Kaisers are the proud parents of six children.

Redefining "Kibbutz"

And two cases of Jewish Geography from the media

My boyz like to tell me that everything I know I learned in Habonim. Growing up in SA, Habonim was my second family, and in terms of influences I was conscious of, it was probably even my first. My madrichim and my peers played a big role in providing me with a sense of myself within the framework of the Jewish people. If you were to ask me today, who were the biggest influences in my life, I would reflexively select people from that phase of my life. Not some figure from history, or some mentor in medicine, but the people I looked up to when I was growing up. Such is the power of youthful memory, that we cling to notions that provide us with a sense of belonging. In truth, there have been others who have played greater roles - influencing who we are, and what we have done with our lives. Go figure, as they say, one more example of the triumph of legend over logic.

Well, with that said, I had two very recent "encounters" from that past through reports in the media, both connected with Habonim. The first was in the New York Times on Sunday, where a short note from Britain mentioned a report by Michael Skapinker, who was a friend of mine when I was about 13. The second, listed below, was the snippet of an interview with historian Muki Tzur on NPR that I heard as I drove home today. The name "Muki Tzur" rang a really loud bell. I want to say he was a Shaliach in SA, either to the SA Zionist Federation, or to Habonim itself (*1).

Anyway, I thought this short report on new trends in Israel's communal frontiers might be of interest: the urban kibbutz - on NPR

Aleh u'Vaneh, Go up and build!
______________________________
(*1) I finally found confirmation on a web posting that Muki Tzur was indeed a shaliach to SA. Could there possibly be more than just one Muki Tzur?

A current batch of interesting reading . . .

Leonard Cohen performed in Israel, a trancendant event, reviewed by editor of the Jerusalem Post, David Horovitz - Editor's Notes: "A blessing welcomed, a blessing spurned"

More to come . . .