KUMMUNIQUE

Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat Bulletin
Issue 2, Nitzavim 5765
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SHANNA TOVA!!!!! Welcome to the second Kummunique. We have great articles
for your reading pleasure - just print this baby out, and enjoy it
throughout your Shabbat and Rosh Hashanna holiday.

In this issue you will find:

1. From Malkah's table: Rosh Hashanna fruits
2. Dvar Torah by Yishai Fleisher
3. What Israel can learn from the Statue of Liberty... by Zev Orenstein
4. Sanhedrin Moves to Establish Council For Noahides by Ezra Halevi
5. Assorted Aliyah News
6. Rosh Hashanna Past: writings from Ben, Ze'ev and Malkah from two
years ago!

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1. Dear Kommemiyutniks!

Rosh Hashanah fast approaches - time to make that New Year's Resolution to
come home to Israel and to make Israel an even better home for you, me, and
all our good brothers and sisters.
Rosh Hashanah in Israel is a time of family and friends, where people get
together not just to heap plates full of delicious homemade food, but to
heap blessings on each other's heads. Many families take part in a "Rosh
Hashanah Seder", a custom which is now trickling down throughout the exile,
as well. So get thee to the local super or makolet, and scavenge these
delectables, for good eating and a good year.

We dip apples in honey or sugar to signify our wish for a sweet new year.
We eat different vegetables whose names are an allusion for the good.

We eat carrots (which in Yiddish are mehren also meaning 'increase'). We
ask the Almighty for our merits to increase.

We eat leeks, (which in Aramaic are karasai, also meaning 'to cut off'.) We
ask HaShem to cut off our enemies.

We eat beets, (in Aramaic silka), also meaning 'remove and pray that our
adversaries be removed.

We eat dates, (in Aramaic tamrai) and ask HaShem that our enemies be
consumed (yetamu).

We eat gourds (eg. Pumpkin, squash), in Aramaic kara, and ask the A-mighty
to tear (kara) our sentences and proclaim (kara) our merits.

We eat pomegranates and ask that our merits should be as numerous as the
seeds of a pomegranate.

We eat fish with a request to be fruitful and multiply like fish.

We eat (or at least mention) the head of a sheep or a fish with the wish
that the Jewish people should be the leaders (heads) of nations.

Add your own symbolic foods, and you'll be full before the meal even
starts! Full of food and full of blessings. (Thanks to our good friends at
Aish for their help in creating this list - www.aish.com)

The Kumah family, of course, won't miss its opportunity to bless you, as
well. May the good L-rd bless all of you with health, happiness, and
success this year, as well as friendship, love and fun! May He give us all
a sense of the greater Jewish destiny, and may He let us know how best to
be a part of it. And may He allow us to merit to celebrate the fulfillment
of these blessings, together in the Land of Israel.

Happy New Year.
Malkah

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2. Dear Kumah,

What connects repentance (TESHUVA) and return (LASHUV)?

Man's natural state is that of connection to G-d, while 'sin' is a state of
disconnect from G-d and from a natural state of being. Returning to G-d, is
a return to the natural state, and therefore real repentance is essentially
a process of returning.

This is also true for the Nation of Israel as a whole. However, when
dealing National repentance, there is an added factor: that of returning to
the Land of Israel. When the Jewish people repent and return to G-d, G-d
brings them back to His abode - to the Land of Israel. The natural state of
the Jewish people is to dwell (LASHEVET) in the Land of Israel, the "Land
which your fathers possessed."

Devarim 30:

1. "So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the
blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them
(VEHASHIVOTA) to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you,
2. and you will return (VESHAVTA) to the LORD your God and obey Him with
all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and
your sons,
3. then the LORD your God will restore (VESHAV) you from captivity, and
have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples
where the LORD your God has scattered you.
4. "If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD
your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.
5. "The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers
possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply
you more than your fathers.


To return to Hashem is to dwell in the Land. Dwelling in the Land, is a
form of repentance itself as the RAMBAM tells us that one who is buried in
the Land of Israel - his sin are forgiven.

Reunification!
To return to Hashem is to reunify with ones nature.
To return to our National Jewish nature is to dwell on the Land.
For ALL the Jewish people to be reunited in the Land of Israel is true joy,
as King David tells us:

PSALM 133:
1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell (SHEVET) together in unity!

2. It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron's beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

3. It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing--life forever.

Mt. Hermon, is the tallest peak in the Land of Israel, and it looks down on
ALL the Children of Israel, sitting together in unity in the Land - what
can be more good and more pleasant than that?

Shabbat Shalom and Shanna Tova!!!

Yishai
Yishai@Kumah.org

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3. What Israel can learn from the Statue of Liberty...
by Ze'ev Orenstein http://israelperspectives.blogspot.com/

The United States of America has always been known as a country that has
welcomed immigrants from all over the world (In this post, I'm not going to
discuss the times when the US seemingly closed her doors on those who
needed her most).

In the harbor of New York, the gateway of immigrants to the United States,
stands proudly the Statue of Liberty, upon which one finds the following
words etched in stone (written by the Jewish Poetess Emma Lazarus):

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free...

The time has come for the State of Israel to take these words to heart.

In todays Ha'aretz we find the following troubling report:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/629290.html

Israel is set to deport a young ultra-Orthodox Jew from Brooklyn suspected
of having intended to assassinate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel Radio
reported Monday.

The case is believed to be the first time that Israel has sought
deportation of a Jew for alleged intentions to commit security violations.

Perhaps the raison d'etre for the establishment of the State of Israel, a
basic definition that nearly all can agree upon, was that the Jewish People
would never again be homeless and defenseless. Every Jew who so desired
could come home to the Land of Israel, and live proudly, freely and
securely as a Jew. It is for this very reason that among the very first
laws legislated by the State of Israel was the Law of Return, granting
immediate and automatic citizenship to any Jew, from anywhere in the world,
who chose to move to Israel.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/return.html

Equally troubling are those that argue that Israel should only accept Jews
who can support themselves financially, or otherwise not burden the state,
as candidates for citizenship.
http://amechad.blogspot.com/2005/09/restrict-aliya-and-taxes.html

Whether one is religious, and as such believes that the Land of Israel is
promised to the Jewish People by G-d, or if one is secular, and believes in
the right of the Jewish People to self-determination and sovereignty in
their historical homeland - in either case, no one has the right to refuse
any Jew from living in Israel.

Every Jew in the world, whether rich or poor, religious or secular, right
or left, criminals and convicts have a right to live in Israel. If a Jew is
poor, then the Jewish State of Israel will extend her hand in kindness to
him. If a Jew is sick, there must always be a bed in a hospital in Israel
to care for him. If a Jew is a criminal, then he has the right to sit in a
jail cell in the Land of Israel.

The State of Israel is not meant to serve as some type of exclusive country
club for elitist Jews where only those deemed desirable by the powers that
be may be admitted.

Perhaps the State of Israel should build a monument of her own, on which
the words of Jeremiah (and the unceasing prayer of Rachel Imeinu) will be
engraved:

V'shavu Banim L'Gvulam... / And the children (of Israel) will return to
their borders (the Land of Israel)

The children of Israel - the Jewish People - all of them... No questions asked.
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[This article is included as falling under the Neo-Zionism rubric. As the
center of Jewish life returns to center around Israel, so too our classical
Jewish Jurisprudence is taking form - the Sanhedrin. Furthermore, this
article deals with the budding Bnei Noach movement, non-Jews seeking the
Jewish approach to Gentile worship - a testament to the 'Light Unto the
Nations' nature of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel - Ed.]

4. Sanhedrin Moves to Establish Council For Noahides
By Ezra Halevi http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=90646

A council of non-Jewish observers of the Seven Laws of Noah has been
selected and will be ordained by the reestablished Sanhedrin in Jerusalem
this January.

B'nai Noach, literally "Children of Noah," known as Noahides, are non-Jews
who take upon themselves the Torah's obligations for non-Jews - consisting
of seven laws passed on from Noah following the flood, as documented in
Genesis (see below).

Until now, Noahide communities and organization had been scattered around
the globe, with a particular concentration centered around the southern
United States. The communities themselves are a relatively recent
phenomenon bolstered by the fact that the Internet has allowed individuals
sharing Noahide beliefs to get in touch with one another.

The court of 71 rabbis, known as the Sanhedrin, which was reestablished
last October in Tiberius following the reinstitution of rabbinic semikha,
decided, after numerous requests from the Noahide community, to assist the
movement in forming a leadership council.

Rabbi Michael Bar-Ron, with the Sanhedrin's blessing, travelled to the
United States to meet with representatives of the Noahide movement and
select members for the High Council. Bar-Ron, an ordained student, talmid
samukh, who currently sits on the Sanhedrin, is also one of the Sanhedrin's
spokesmen.

Bar-Ron organized a small conference in California where six of the
council's future members were selected and also addressed the annual
convention of the Vendyl Jones Research Institute - one of the Noahide
organizations represented on the council. At the VJRI convention, Bar-Ron
met five more of the Noahide leaders who will be joining the council.

The purpose of the council, which was the brainchild of Rabbi Avraham
Toledano, is to assist the B'nei Noach in their struggle to observe the
word of G-d. "The goal is to unify, serve and organize all kosher B'nei
Noach communities of the world under a single body that can operate under
the direct authority and supervision of the Sanhedrin," the decision to
establish the body reads. "To form a vessel through which the Torah, from
Zion (via the Sanhedrin) can effectively serve non-Jewish communities
around the world."

A third goal of the creation of the High Council and the Sanhedrin's
efforts in regard to the Noahide community, is to "transform the Noahide
movement from a religious phenomenon - a curiosity many have not heard of -
into a powerful international movement that can successfully compete with,
and with G-d's help bring about the fall of, any religious movement but the
pure authentic faith that was given to humanity through Noach, the father
of us all," said emissary Bar-Ron.

To that end, one of the primary functions of the council will be the
creation and development of effective outreach materials for the world.
Although Judaism does not require or encourage non-Jews to become Jewish,
the observance of the Seven Laws of Noah is incumbent upon humanity and
widespread observance is to be worked toward, even through active
proselytization, something that is anathema to Judaism.

The council is also seeking to identify and contact communities around the
world who observe the Seven Laws of Noah in order to invite them to learn
more about the movement. B'nei Noach in India and Brazil are already in
touch with Noahide leaders.

Asked why the Sanhedrin would reach out to B'nei Noach before concentrating
on outreach within the Jewish community, Rabbi Bar-Ron answered: "There was
no conscious choice to ignore the issue of outreach toward other Jews, but
there is a Torah principle that a mitzva, positive precept, that comes to
your hand should be fulfilled first and should not be put off. It happens
to be that the group that showed the most outward display of support and
genuine concern for the success of the Sanhedrin - contacting us from the
very outset - were the B'nei Noach. One of the great responsibilities of
the Jewish people is to spread the laws of Noach."

Bar-Ron said he had mixed feelings as he departed for the meetings with the
B'nei Noach leaders, as he left the day the forced expulsion of Jews from
Gaza began. "I was in such a horrible heart-wrenching pain about leaving -
I almost felt like a traitor to our people. But I realized then that
although the government was detaching itself from the Land of Israel - a
partial annulment of our covenant with G-d, similar to the sin of the ten
spies - there is another aspect of the covenant that has not been pursued.
That aspect is our obligation to be a nation of priests unto the nations.
This is the core of the covenant with Abraham and it is something the
Jewish people as a nation has not involved itself in since Second Temple
times. So as the government disengaged from the covenant, I was
participating in the reengagement with an aspect of the covenant that has
been dormant."

Bar-Ron was very impressed with the B'nei Noach leaders he met. "Each of
them had a different unique talent. One was an extremely talented media
coordinator, two were great scholars of Noahide law, one was secretary of a
large successful Noahide community and research institute and one was a law
enforcement officer for a number of years. Each had the wisdom and
experience that will help them lead the movement.

All of the prospective members of the High Council are obligated to appear
in Jerusalem this coming January, at which time they will be ordained by
the Sanhedrin as members of the High Council. "One of the things I thought
would be more difficult was implementing the fact that the Sanhedrin's
steering committee unanimously voted that the High Council members must
appear personally before the Sanhedrin to be ordained as such," Bar-Ron
said. "But the level of commitment of these people is so high that it is
not posing a problem at all.

Each member was screened very carefully and accepted not only on the basis
of their high reputation, wisdom and experience - there were many dedicated
and talented B'nei Noach who we would have loved to have accepted into the
council - but for their role as representatives of entire B'nei Noach
communities or as experts in a particularly field.

The acting head of the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, has set up a Beit
Din for B'nei Noach to serve the needs of B'nei Noach worldwide. At this
point, the council will not serve as a adjudicating body.

"It is our sincere hope that in years to come, the knowledge of the
halakha, Torah law, of the Seven Laws of Noach will grow to such a degree
that there will be true Noahide judges," Bar-Ron said. "One of the goals is
to delineate clearly the seven laws and their applications according to the
Mishneh Torah of the Rambam."

"Never before in recorded history have B'nei Noach come together to be
ordained by the Sanhedrin for the purpose of spreading Noahide observance
of laws," Bar-Ron said. "This is the first critical step of bringing about
the ultimate flowering of the brotherhood of mankind envisioned by Noach,
the father of mankind."

The Seven Laws of Noah are:

Shefichat damim - Do not murder.
Gezel - Do not steal or kidnap.
Avodah zarah - Do not worship false gods/idols.
Gilui arayot - Do not be sexually immoral (engage in incest, sodomy,
bestiality, castration and adultery)
Birkat Hashem - Do not utter G-d's name in vain, curse G-d or pursue the
occult.
Dinim - Set up righteous and honest courts and apply fair justice in
judging offenders and uphold the principles of the last five.
Ever Min HaChai - Do not eat a part of a live animal.

For more information email the Sanhedrin's secretary at: dbtc@actco.com


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5. Assorted Aliyah News:

Unique Opportunity for Aliyah-minded Dentists!
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=90652


Nefesh B'Nefesh is facilitating a group licensing process for North
American dentists who are interested in making Aliyah. Group participants
will prepare for the Israeli dental licensing exam in the U.S. with an
experienced, professional teacher who has successfully coached dentists for
this exam.

The dental exam that follows this course will be given in the U.S. and in
English. Dentists who pass this exam will be licensed in Israel upon their
making Aliyah, provided they arrive within three years of taking the exam.
It is a 2-week intensive (full day) course, and the cost is approximately
$1000. This program is contingent on participation of a minimum of 20
dentists.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please email dentists@nbn.org.il
with your name, telephone number, email, address and anticipated aliyah
date. -- Courtesy of AACI (Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel)

********

French and American Jews Boost Aliyah
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=90632


(IsraelNN.com) A spurt of new immigrants from France, the United States and
Canada has pushed total aliyah (immigration to Israel) up over the previous
year's figures, the Jewish Agency announced.

During the past Jewish year, which ends next Monday night, 23,124 new
immigrants have arrived, an increase of more than 1500 over the previous
year. North American aliyah ballooned to 2926, almost one-third higher than
in the Jewish year 5764. French aliyah grew by a similar rate to 2875, and
3887 immigrants arrived from Ethiopia, an increase of almost 20 percent.

*********

Commemorating 30 Years of Aliyah From Ethiopia
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=90043

Thirty years of immigration and absorption of Ethiopian Jewry will be
commemorated at a special ceremony tomorrow in Kibbutz Shefayim, along the
coast north of Herzliya.


The event, sponsored by Tebeka, the Legal Aid Center for Ethiopian Jewry,
will also discuss ways to maintain and strengthen communal identity among
the Ethiopian community.

Some 105,000 members of the Ethiopian Jewish community are currently living
in Israel, including 28,000 Sabras, i.e., those who were born in Israel.

Among the guests will be former Justice Minister Dan Meridor, Canada's
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, past North American Conference on Ethiopian
Jewry president Joseph Feit, and Uri Lubrani, a former Israeli Ambassador
to Ethiopia who was very instrumental in bringing thousands of Ethiopian
Jews to Israel.

Among the topics to be discussed are problems in acclimatization for
Ethiopian Jewry; the younger generation and their attitude towards their
parents' culture; affirmative action in absorption for Ethiopian Jewry; and
more.

The convention will conclude with a panel discussion summarizing 30 years
of Aliyah from Ethiopia, with the participation of people who were involved
in various aspects of absorption of the new olim [immigrants].

It won't be all talk, however. Paintings and art works, traditional foods
and musical instruments, games and literature will be on display, and
videos portraying heroic Aliyah treks from Ethiopia to Israel will be screened.
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6. THINGS WE WROTE ON THE KUMAH BLOG TWO YEARS AGO:
http://www.kumah.org/blog/archives/2003_09_21_index.php

T'ka b'Shofar Gadol L'cheruteinu

We say three times a day: "Teka b'shofar gadol l'cheruteinu, v'sa nesh
l'kabetz galuyoutenu, v'kab'tzenu yachad me'arba kanfot haaretz
(l'artzenu)" - Sound the great shofar to announce our redemption, and raise
a banner for the ingathering of our exiles, and gather us together from the
four corners of the earth (to our land). (Nusach Ashkenaz leaves out
"l'artzeinu" - to our land. I say this word anyway, because we must be
clear about the destination of kibutz galuyot!)

Why is it the shofar which will announce our return to Israel? The main
function of the shofar, as Jason said, is to call us to repent. It is a
wake-up siren, waking us from our sleep to a state where we are conscious
of our sins. Sometimes, when I wake up, I don't remember where I am, or
what time of day it is. It takes a few minutes before I am fully aware.
This is the case on the national level as well.

When we in the exile wake up this Rosh Hashana, we may feel like we are at
home. But the shofar calls to us to remind us to wake up fully, and realize
where we are - we are in exile, that is, not home, not where we are
supposed to be. We are not in exile because we have been forced here; we
are in exile because we've chosen not to return to the land which God has
given us. We can only make this choice if we are not fully awake- if we are
not conscious of our exile.

May the shofar this Rosh Hashana awake in us a new consciousness, to lead
us to a full ingathering of the exiles to our land!

K'tiva v'Chatima Tova!

- posted by Ben (Friday, September 26, 2003)


Teshuva - More than just repentance

From Rosh Chodesh Elul, when the Shofar was first blown, through the
conclusion of the Neila prayer on Yom Kippur, the main theme is Teshuva -
traditionally defined as repentance. When one considers the purpose of
teshuva, the idea is that through confessing our sins, experiencing true
remorse over having commited them in the first place and resolving not to
commit them again in the future, that we are bringing ourselves closer to
Hashem.

The Rebbi m'Slonim, in his Sefer Netivot Shalom, says that the purpose of
all the mitzvot is for one, through observing the mitvot to become closer
to Hashem. If closeness to Hashem is the purpose of performing mitzvot, as
well as being the goal of teshuva, then I suggest, that we approach this
idea of teshuva from a different perspective.

If our goal (and purpose) as a Jew is to strive to become close to Hashem,
then there is no other place more conducive towards this end more so than
Eretz Yisrael. Teshuva should be defined, not as merely repentance, but as
an actual call for us to return Home - to return to the place where we can
experience true closeness with Hashem.

"Hashiveinu Hashem Eilecha V'nashuva, chadeish yemeinu kikedem" - "Return
to us Hashem, and we shall return to you, restore things to how they once
were". Hashem has returned to us - He has given every Jew in the world the
chance to come home - it is up to us to make the move.

May this year be a year where "V'shavu banim l'gvulam" - "where the
children (the Jews) return to their borders".

Shanah tova!
- posted by Zev (Friday, September 26, 2003)



READERS!
Shalom, Readers! As Rosh Hashanah rapidly approaches, I would like to ask a
favor from all of you who care about Aliyah, from all of you who care about
the State of Israel, the Land of Israel, the People Israel, all of these or
any combination thereof: Push.
Push your friends and family to sign up with us on our website, and with
any organization that does its best to help the Jewish people/land. Push
them to support such organizations with their time, their money, and their
voices. Push them to talk about Jewish issues with THEIR friends and THEIR
families. Push them to sacrifice MANY more hours and MANY more dollars, to
the point where they wonder whether they might actually be giving too much
(the answer, I assure you, will always be "No.").
Push them to move to Israel - it's in them to do it, anyway.

Push yourself. Push yourself to dare to do more than you're comfortable
with. Push yourself to take risks for the greater good. Push yourself to
try harder, dream larger, sleep less, sweat more. Push yourself to believe.
Push yourself to believe that everything will turn out for the best
(because, honest to G-d, it will), that Faith will land Goodness right on
your doorstep, that you can accomplish more than you ask from yourself,
that naysayers aren't any wiser than optimists and that you CAN live in
Israel, you WILL find that job and you'll be better than fine, you'll be
great.

Push every Jew you ever meet to love you and to love every other Jew that
he or she will ever meet. Push them to be as much a part of our amazing
people and our amazing land as they can possibly be.

Push yourselves, dear, dear readers, to always, always arise, arise, arise.

posted by Malkah (Tuesday, September 23, 2003)


SHANNA TOVA!!! SHANNA TOVA!!! SHANNA TOVA!!! SHANNA TOVA!!! SHANNA TOVA!!!
SHANNA TOVA!!! SHANNA TOVA!!!