16th January 2021 / 3rd Shevat 5781 Dear Member,
Please see below for our weekly e-newsletter.
The Shul is now closed for all services and all other events until further notice.
The Shul office will remain open for phone calls only. Please do not visit the Shul office for any reason. If you are due to make a payment, this can be done by debit/credit card by ringing Michelle on 020 8629 2783 or by cheque through the post.
If you know of anyone that needs our help please contact the Shul office.
This week's Cranbrook News is sponsored by Lydia Freedman & Jacqui Burns in loving memory of their parents Trudy & Nat Burns and brother Steven Burns z"l together with Martin Freedman in loving memory of his father Paul Freedman z"l. Details of our Zoom services are detailed below. Shabbat Shalom
Cranbrook US
News and Views Dear Friends,
The second plague that hit the Egyptians was the plague of frogs. The Torah testifies to the fact that the frogs went absolutely everywhere - even jumping inside people's stomachs and sacrificing their “froggy” lives in the ovens. The Torah tells us that: “the Frog arose”. This seems to be incorrect. It wasn't one frog, it was many many frogs that came out of the Nile.
There are various answers provided to this question. The first is that the frogs rose up in a swarm, and, therefore, it was one phenomenon.
The Talmud however, provides an interesting interpretation. The Talmud relates that in fact, one large frog did come out of the Nile. The Egyptians saw it, and started hitting it, hoping that the frogs would return to their “froggy” homes in the river. However, as soon as they started hitting the frog, it started to mutate and multiply, increasing every single time the Egyptians hit the frogs until it became an unstoppable croak or army of frogs.
While this novel interpretation serves to solve the grammar-related issues of the verse its overall meaning seems to lack purpose. What does this tell us about our lives? The Torah itself is eternal and has lessons which are eternal. What sort of eternal lesson are we supposed to learn from this grammatical croak?
The commentators explain that the plague of frogs was there to prove to Pharaoh that G-d existed in such a clear way that it would be impossible to refute. One huge frog arising from the Nile should have been incredibly impressive. What would you do if you saw a frog the size of your house hopping towards you? Surely you would stop and think to yourself - it's a miracle! The Egyptians were so set in their mind about the way things worked that when they were faced with a reality which differed from their vision, they hit it in the hopes that it would go away. Not only did it not go away, it produced hundreds and thousands of frogs, and this plague became their new reality.
What does that mean to us? Sometimes we are faced with frog situations in our everyday lives. We are being presented with a reality and that reality so completely contradicts our perceptions about what was or what should be. Unfortunately the most common response is to keep knocking against the reality in the hopes that that reality will change, forcing it to bend reality to our perception.
They say that the definition of insanity is doing something again and again hoping for a different result. Perhaps we need to look into our lives and examine what we are hitting our heads against, fighting against rather than accepting. Perhaps if we did this we would live saner, happier lives.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom
Zoom Service Details
Weekday Shacharit: On Zoom Monday 18th - Friday 22nd at 8am.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86385039085?pwd=aHU4bTJrT2I5b0syODU1T0szK3N6QT09
Meeting ID: 863 8503 9085 / Password: 695854
Ma'ariv: On Zoom Monday 18th to Thursday 21st at 7:30pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82329373357?pwd=bmdvaGpMa2wrYkdDVFFSTDllTnBMZz09
Meeting ID: 823 2937 3357 / Password: 582038
Times - Va'era
Kabbalat Shabbat on Zoom at 3.25pm Candle Lighting at 4.05pm Shabbat ends at 5.14pm Shabbat Candle lighting and Shabbat Begins next week (Bo) at 4.17pm.
Help Needed There are occasions that we need men to help make a minyan at a levoya, this is a great mitzvah. We appreciate that during this difficult time men do not want to go out, perhaps some of our younger members would like to help out.
Ladies Lunch & Learn Lunch and learn is an interactive, informal and inspiring discussion programme for women. Each time we learn a different topic based on Jewish concepts and find relevant, modern ideas that we can bring into our lives based on the wisdom of ancient texts. No prior Hebrew or Jewish knowledge required. Under non-Covid conditions, we used to meet in the shul and have lunch together. As it stands, feel free to bring your lunch to the table and eat while we learn!
If members go into hospital to Queens, King George or Whipps Cross or any other hospital could they please inform the Shul office so that we can keep up to date as to how they are.
Annette Colman, Rita Isaacs, Graham Kogan,
Morris Koslover, Eva Meyer, Walter Owen, Philip Rome and Norman Whyte on their respective birthdays.
Sponsorship
If you would like to mark a birthday or Simcha, or want to commemorate a Yahrzeit, this can be done by sponsoring Cranbrook News. In the forthcoming weeks, there are many dates that are available. The cost of sponsoring Cranbrook News is £15.
Sponsorship is available for the on-line version of Cranbrook News on the following dates: January 30th; February 20th & 27th; March 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th.
To book any of these dates please call the synagogue office on: 020-8629 2780 or e-mail admin@cranbrooksynagogue.org.uk
E-Mails
Over the past few week's a few members will have noticed that they are no longer receiving e-mails from us. This is something that is out of our control. If you have an alternate e-mail address to the one that you used receive e-mails on please let us have it and we will add you back into the system.
Condolences to: Keith and Jonathan Golding on the loss of their father, Jeffrey Golding.
Harry Cohen on the loss of his wife, June Cohen.
Debra Gershon and Melissa Robin on the loss of their mother, June Cohen.
We wish Long Life to everyone who is observing a Yahrzeit this week:
Vera Aarons, Tracy Abrahams, Karla Austin, Irene Barry, Frank Baum, Ruth Berg, Cynthia Berman, Sidney Berman, Harvey Bick, Norman Bick, Lilian Black, Stewart Block, Marsha Bloom, Rayna Bowman, Derek Brent, Sheila Burack, Elaine Chaplin, Blanche Charach, Hetty Conway, Susan Crammer, Mildred Davies, Shirley Davis-Merrian, Marion Dobin, Carol Emden, Deborah Epstein, Derek Ettinger, Stanley Faw, Sandra Filek, Martin Freedman, Julian Gandz, Elena Goldstein, Raynor Gordon, Renee Graham, Edna Graham, Paul Grant, Anne Green, Eunice Green, Jane Greenberg, Barbara Grossman, Edith Huberman, Victoria Joffe, Alan Kaye, Rosalind Kaye, Alan Kaye, Raymond Kennard, Harold Klein, Shirley Kravitz, Martin Lander, Susan Lasky, Shirley Leach, Andrea Lester, Michael Levene, Emanuel Levene, Alma Levene, Howard Lewis, Lillian Lewis, Hetty Liborwich, Keith Luton, Eleanor Lyndon, Ruth Lyndon, Anita Macatonia, Solomon Macatonia, Helena Marco, Sandra Melnick, Jan Meyer, David Michaels, Rev Gary Newman, June Noah, Stuart Pentol, Rita Phillips, Mandie Preston, Lawrence Regan, Leila Rome, Jeffrey Scott, Victor Shafier, Zena Shayer, Harvey Sheere, Bert Smiler, Geoffrey Stean, Rita Stedman, June Stevens, Betty Turner, Helen Van Loen, Harvey Weinfass, Helena Weston and Ruth Wolfe.
Pesach 5781 - Shalom Magazine
Many thanks to everyone who submitted articles for the Rosh Hashanah Edition of the Shalom Magazine. We have had some excellent feedback from our readers. The next edition of the Shalom Magazine will be the Pesach 5781 Edition.
If you have any interesting or amusing articles with a Jewish content that you would like us to include, please email them as soon as possible to Philippa Stanton at stanton.philippa@gmail.com.
All articles, pictures and stories must be received by 1st February 2021 - however, I have already started collecting new articles, so please email me as soon as you can! Get your Company's name in print!
Not only do we need articles for the shul magazine, but we also need advertisements too. Adverts can be full size in colour, half page or quarter page.
Get your company's name seen by all our members, nearly 2000 of them. Contact the shul office on 020 8629 2780 for more details. The 200 Club The 200 Club aims to raise funds for building and maintaining the Shul, but has extended its function to help with various events that need organising.
To join please fill out the application form by clicking here.
Congratulations to our latest winners.
November 1st prize £250 Yaffa Nathan 2nd price £100 Anne Jayson
December 1st prize £250 Martin Bloomberg 2nd price £100 Ivor Martin
Shul Office Opening Hours As the Shul office is not open currently please call Estelle on 020 8629 2780 or Michelle on 020 8629 2783.
Rabbi Dansky is available out of hours. You can contact him directly on his mobile 07780 236697 or by calling the Shul office and selecting option 3.
Reverend Newman is available out of hours. You can contact him directly on his mobile 07882 054321 or by calling the Shul office and selecting option 4.
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