Monthly Archives: March 2014

PASSOVER JOKES

After the tenth plague, the slaying of all the Egyptian first born, Pharaoh told Moses the Jews were free to leave Egypt. So the Jews packed their carts with their belongings and tried to leave. The problem was, with all the dead Egyptians, the funeral homes could not handle the demand. The end result was streets littered with coffins.

With the streets impassable, the Jews couldn’t get there carts out of their driveways. They complained to Moses. “We can’t get out of Egypt unless you do something about these blocked streets”.

Moses, in turn, called out to G-d. “Lord, please do something about this coffin problem.” Understand, with all the commotion it was hard for G-d to hear what Moses was saying. He thought Moses said ‘Coughin” and responded by turning all the wine into
cough syrup. And that is why, to this day, we drink Passover wine that resembles cough syrup.
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As Moses and the children of Israel were crossing the Red Sea, the children of Israel began to complain to Moses of how thirsty they were after walking so far. Unfortunately, they were not able to drink from the walls of water on either side of them, as they were made up of salt-water.

Then, a fish from that wall of water told Moses that he and his family heard the complaints of the people, but that they through their own gills could remove the salt from the water and force it out of their mouths like a fresh water fountain for the Israelites to drink from as they walked by.

Moses accepted this kindly fish’s offer. But before the fish and his family began to help, they told Moses they had a demand. They and their descendants had to be always present at the seder meal that would be established to commemorate the Exodus, since they had a part in the story. When Moses agreed to this, he gave them their name which remains how they are known to this very day, for he said to them, “Go Filter Fish!”
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Moses was sitting in the Egyptian ghetto. Things were terrible. Pharaoh wouldn’t even speak to him. The rest of the Israelites were mad at him and making the overseers even more irritable than usual, etc. He was about ready to give up.

Suddenly a booming, sonorous voice spoke from above: “You, Moses, heed me ! I have good news, and bad news.”

Moses was staggered. The voice continued: “You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel from bondage. If Pharaoh refuses to release your bonds, I will smite Egypt with a rain of frogs”

“You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel to the Promised Land. If Pharaoh blocks your way, I will smite Egypt with a plague of Locusts.”

“You, Moses, will lead the People of Israel to freedom and safety. If Pharaoh’s army pursues you, I will part the waters of the Red Sea to open your path to the Promised Land.”

Moses was stunned. He stammered, “That’s…. that’s fantastic. I can’t believe it! — But what’s the bad news?”

“You, Moses, must write the Environmental Impact Statement.”
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Q: Why do we have an Haggadah at Passover?
A: So we can Seder right words.

Q: What do you call someone who derives pleasure from the bread of affliction?
A: A matzochist.
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G-d: And remember Moses, in the laws of keeping Kosher, never cook a calf in its mother’s milk. It is cruel.
Moses: Ohhhhhh! So you are saying we should never eat milk and meat together.
G-d: No, what I’m saying is, never cook a calf in its mother’s milk.
Moses: Oh, Lord forgive my ignorance! What you are really saying is we should wait six hours after eating meat to eat milk so the two are not in our stomachs.
G-d: No, Moses, what I’m saying is, never cook a calf in it’s mother’s milk!!!
Moses: Oh, Lord! Please don’t strike me down for my stupidity! What you mean is we should have a separate set of dishes for milk and a separate set for meat and if we make a mistake we have to bury that dish outside…
G-d: Moses, do whatever you want….
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The Computer Engineer’s Haggadah
————————–
Release ISRAEL
ISRAEL running in slave mode, cannot release
Set ISRAEL;mode=master
Pharaoh already running in master mode, cannot change ISRAEL
Set Pharaoh;mode=slave
Command ignored
Load Moshe
Done
Deactivate Pharaoh
Pharaoh account hard locked;cannot be deactivated
For i=1 to 10 do plagues
Are you sure? Y
Done

Release ISRAEL
error: ISRAEL uninitialized
Set ISRAEL = 600,000
Done
Release ISRAEL
ISRAEL released

Declare Matza;array(width=20,length=20,height=0)
Done

Move ISRAEL to Sinai
OPERATOR WARNING! SYSTEM ABOUT TO CRASH! PHARAOH AND RED SEA
HAVE LIMITED YOUR MEMORY SPACE! SAVE YOUR WORK!
Save ISRAEL
Specify save device
Save ISRAEL with miracle
Done

Move ISRAEL to Sinai
Done

For I=1 to 10 do commandments
Allocation conflict:Commandments cannot be operated with active golden calf routine
Destroy calf
Done
For I=1 to 10 do commandments
Done; commandments stored on hard rock device

Move ISRAEL to desert
Warning! Command could lead to infinite loop
Move ISRAEL to desert;limit=40 years
Done

Build Mishkan
Syntax error
Build Mishkan;owner=Betzalel
Done

Move ISRAEL to ISRAEL
Warning: operand terms must be unique
Move ISRAEL to CANAAN
Overload: cannot move all of ISRAEL to CANAAN
set ISRAEL = ISRAEL – (SPIES * 10)
Done
Move ISRAEL to CANAAN
Done
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A Jewish man took his Pesach lunch to eat outside in the park. He sat down on a bench and began eating. A little while later
a blind man came by and sat down next to him. Feeling neighborly, the Jewish man passed a sheet of matzoh to
the blind man. The blind man ran his fingers over the matzoh for a few minutes, looked puzzled, and finally exclaimed, “Who wrote this nonsense?”
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The Seder Plate Song (“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” )
by Dan Ochman
Shank bone on my Seder plate
Helps to make the Seder great
Charoset and some wine to sip
Don’t forget the greens to dip
Bitter herbs and an egg complete
our Seder plate so now let’s eat!

WEEK END PLANNING

Todah Robah to the following Congregation members who have offered their hospitality to Student Rabbi Bess Wohlner and to provide the oneg:

Airport Pickup: Marty Foxman
Friday evening,March 28, 2014, dinner with Student Rabbi Bess Wohlner: Jerry and Nadyne Weissman
Oneg: Jerry and Nadyne Weissman and Joy Breslauer
Saturday morning, March 29, 2014, after Torah study: Lunch with Student Rabbi Bess Wohlner: Laura Weiss

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Please mark your calendars to remind you of these upcoming events.

  • * Friday, 03/28/14: Week end with Student Rabbi Bess Wohlner
  • Monday, 04/14/2014–Tuesday, 04/22/2014: Pesach
  • * Tuesday, 04/15/2014, 5:30 P.M.: Aitz Chaim Community Pesach Seder, at the O’Haire Motor Inn
  • Monday, 04/28/2014: Yom HaShoah
  • * Friday, 05/09/2014 — Saturday, 05/10/2014: Montana Jewish Retreat, Chabad Lubavitch of Montana, at the El Western Cabins and Lodges in Ennis
  • Sunday, 05/18/2014: Lag B’omer (bonfire)
  • Tuesday, 06/03/2014: Erev Shavuot
  • Wednesday, 06/04/2014–Thursday, 06/05/2014: Shavuot (reading the book of Ruth
  • * Saturday, 06/21/2014, 9:00 A.M.: Scout Shabbat, at the Montana Council Camporee in Townsend, in the 4-H building
  • * Tuesday, 07/01/2014 — Thursday, 07/10/2014: Israeli Leadership Seminar in Israel
  • Friday, 08/01/2014 — Sunday, 08/03/2014: Annual Statewide Hadassah Shabbaton, Billings

* See article in Ram’s Horn.

JEWISH SERVICES THIS WEEK END

Here is the schedule for services this week end.

  • Friday Evening, March 28, 2014, 7:30 P.M.: Shabbat Services, led by Student Rabbi Bess Wohlner, at The Bethel. Oneg to follow.
  • Saturday morning, March 29, 2014, 10:00 A.M.: Torah study at The Bethel.
  • Saturday evening, March 29, 2014, 5:30 P.M.: Milchig (Dairy) Potluck and Adult Discussion at The bethel. Please bring a dairy dish to share.

The address of the Bethel is 1009 18th Avenue Southwest. click here for map and directions.

We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible after this long winter. Come thaw out your Jewish spirit.

SCOUT SHABBAT 2014

The Montana Council 2014 Scout Shabbat will be held at 9am on June 21, 2014 at the Montana Council Camporee in Townsend, MT in the 4-H building. Service will be led by Aaron Weissman and Stephen Boyd, and is open to all attendees at the Camporee.

Aaron Weissman
Scoutmaster, Troop 1026, Great Falls, MT
Vice President for Program, Montana Council
Boy Scouts of America

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PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE AITZ CHAIM ANNUAL COMMUNITY SEDER 04/15/2014

EDITOR’S NOTE: The story is told of a Jew who is traveling on a ship with some merchants. They show off their merchandise and ask the Jew, “What do you have?” He taps his head and says, “Everything I own is in here.” They laugh and call him a fool.

Then a storm hits. The ship sinks and everyone is forced to swim to shore with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They reach a city, but the merchants have nothing to sell. They are forced to beg in the streets.

A few days later they see the Jew, well dressed and well fed. He drops some money in their begging cups. They say to him, “We had so much merchandise, but now we have nothing. You had nothing, but now you have so much. How can that be?”

He taps his head and says, “I told you that everything I own is in here. I have studied all my life and I have knowledge. I am working as a teacher.”

The merchants nod their heads and all agree that knowledge is the best merchandise.

Jews know what it is like to have lost everything and to have nothing, not even a home or a homeland. We have survived by holding on to our knowledge. Each time we have moved, we have brought with us our best merchandise: knowledge of our Torah, our history, our beliefs, our skills and our stories. These stories cannot be lost, stolen, or destroyed, not as long as we keep remembering them and retelling them to each new generation.

As we celebrate the second day of Pesach as a community this April 15, we will once again share our stories and beliefs as a people, and pass them on to our children. Please join us. Next year in Jerusallem! — END OF EDITOR’S NOTE

A long-standing congregation tradition, the Aitz Chaim Community Pesach Seder will be held on the second evening of Passover, on Tuesday, April 15, at the O’Haire Motor Inn meeting room at 7th Street and 1st Avenue South. We will gather at 5:15pm, the Seder service will start at 5:30pm.

The cost of this year’s meal, which will include

  1. matzo ball soup
  2. brisket with pearl onions and apricots
  3. honey lemon chicken
  4. salad
  5. roasted potatoes
  6. vegetable
  7. dessert

will be $27 for Adult Congregation Members and $36 for non-Members.

If there ARE any participants under 12yo let me know, and we will inquire about a child’s rate. This fee covers all of our costs for a traditional Passover Seder, including matzo, the traditional symbolic foods, kosher wine and grape juice.

Please send your reservation and payment for the meal to the congregation at 1015 1st Ave N., or via email to Laura Weiss, president@aitzchaim.com. You can also pay for your reservation through the “PayPal” link on this page. All reservations are expected to be paid before the Seder begins. We need to have a final count to the caterer by April 7. The final date when we can accept cancellations is April 10, and we will be unable to accommodate refunds if you are unable to attend and do not inform us by that date.

Submitted by Aitz Chaim Congregation President Laura Weiss

MAZAL TOV! IT’S A GIRL!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Submitted by Elliott Magalnick

Our first grandaughter, third grandchild, born on 3.14,2014; 7 #; no name yet.
Grandpa Elliott

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HOW TO MAKE HAMENTASHEN

WHO KNOWS?

From http://partnersintorah.org
About the Author
Harry Rothenberg
Harry Rothenberg, as his accent suggests, is originally from Philadelphia and still spends too much time rooting for its sports teams. An attorney, he is best known for his representation of victims of catastrophic injury at the Rothenberg Law Firm, where he works with his parents and 5 of his siblings. But he’s equally passionate about lecturing on Jewish topics, particularly to audiences that did not have the same opportunity that he had to study for 3 years in Israel at Ohr Somayach yeshiva. A 1988 graduate of Columbia College and a 1993 graduate of Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, Harry lives in northern New Jersey with his wife Amy. Their 8 children range in age from their 21 year old eldest son to their 3 year old twin boys, who as their frequent guests can attest, are now in charge at their house.

HAPPY PUIRIM!

HappyPurim from our house to yours.

Biography of Rabbi Joseph R. Black from his web site

Joy in the experience of learning. That’s a big part of Rabbi Joe Black’s approach to contemporary Jewish music. With children, he is energetic, surprising, and dynamic. With adults, his superb musicianship, powerful songwriting and sense of spiritual awareness creates an opportunity for the head and the heart to come together.

Rabbi Black is one of the most popular Jewish contemporary artists in the United States. He has been a featured performer at the Coalition for Alternatives in Jewish Education (CAJE) Conference as well as the Biennial Conventions of the Union for Reform Judaism. He has shared his music with hundreds of Jewish communities around the United States and Canada. He also has been featured in many acoustic music venues around the country. Rabbi Black has been honored as one of the “Top Ten Artists” in both the categories of “Jewish Children’s Music” and “Male, Adult Contemporary Jewish Music” by Moment Magazine and TARA Publications. His recordings have received accolades from sources as diverse as The New York Times, Haddasah Magazine, Parent’s Choice, The American Library Journal and Kids First: The Coalition for Quality Children’s Video. While living in Chicago, he hosted the Emmy award winning television program, The Magic Door on WBBM TV.

Rabbi Black became Sr. Rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Denver, CO in July of 2010. He served as Rabbi of Congregation Albert in Albuquerque, New Mexico from 1996-2010. He served as Assistant and then Associate Rabbi at Temple Israel in Minneapolis MN from 1987-1996.

Rabbi Black is thought-provoking and accessible, a rare and wondrous combination. His infectious musical style teaches while entertaining. A Rabbi Joe Black performance is an engrossing experience–an extraordinary and unique extension of the rabbinate.

His intense commitment to both modern Jewish music and to his home congregation means that he performs only a few select concerts each year, choosing venues where his creative musical approach can counsel, guide, and teach…but most of all, entertain.

Rabbi Black has recorded five critically acclaimed albums of Jewish music:

· Aleph Bet Boogie – fun filled songs for Jewish families
· Everybody’s Got a Little Music – more exciting music for Jewish families
8 Nights of Joy – a live Chanukah concert with Chicago’s acclaimed, Maxwell Street Klezmer Band.
· Leave a Little Bit Undone – thought-provoking and lively contemporary Jewish Music
· Sabbatical – more contemporary Jewish Music

He also has published the New Rabbi Joe Black Songbook and Boker Tov! – a joyful picture book based on his original song.