Category: <span>Holidays</span>

Shabbat Candle Lighting Times for
Moscow, Russia
Friday, December 23rd
Light Candles at 15:41

Join us Tonight!
Weekly Kabbalat Shabbat Services 20:30
Followed by Shabbat Dinner

Shabbat, December 24th,
Shabbat Ends 17:07
Torah Portion: Vayeishev

Light over darkness

The Chanukah story happened so long ago – yet carries a timely message for us, even today.
Science has given us the greatest technologies and conveniences, yet it alone cannot free us from the moral and social challenges of our day. From gun violence and simmering racial tension, to corruption in politics and distrust of Wall Street, material pursuits alone do not lead to a happy and meaningful life.
Our children need a better diet than the value-system fed to them by Hollywood, the Internet and mass media. They need, nay, they want, inspiration, a noble cause to live for, a moral purpose that frames their pursuits and interests with meaning and direction.
Judaism teaches that every human being is created in the image of the Divine, charged with the duty to illuminate his or her surroundings, to make our universe a better place, a brighter place, a holier place.
A wise person once said, “Don’t chase away darkness with a broom; simply light a candle.” Darkness has no reality of its own – it’s merely the absence of light. Let’s teach our youth that they are the Menorah, and in a world of moral darkness, one small act of goodness and kindness will cast a light of epic proportions – just like the tiny flask of oil that miraculously burned for eight days.

Over Chanukah we will be having a few opportunities to shed Light over Darkness,
Please Join us:

1) Saturday evening December 24th at 20:00 Revaluation Square – Public Menorah Lighting
2) Monday evening December 26th at 20:30 Stari Arbat (corner of Kaloshin per.) Public Menorah Lighting
3) Thursday evening December 29th at 19:30 IJC – Center for Jewish Life – Chanukah Party – Asian Buffet – Details below:
Please join us on December 29th
at 19:30
for our annual
Chanukah Party!

* Asian Buffet
* Assorted Latkes
* Edible Sushi Menorah
* Fortune Doughnuts
* Oriental Menorah Lighting
* Dreidels & Gelt
* Music & Lechaim

International Jewish Community Center
“Center for Jewish Life”
per. Kaloshin, 12с1,
1500p. Per a Person
RSVP TODAY
Chanukah@JewishMoscow.com

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yanky and Rivky Klein

This email is In Loving memory of my dear father
R’ Yerachmiel Binyamin Halevi ben R, Menachem Klein OBM

SAVE THE DATE!!
OUR SHUL IS OPEN FOR PRAYER
WE SAVED YOU A SEAT

Kipahs & Prayerbooks • Personalized Prayer • Guided Services • Free admission •

Rosh HaShana
Evening Services:
Oct. 2nd & 3rd,
Morning Services:
Oct. 3rd & 4th,
Registration for our
Annual Rosha HaShana Dinner
will open Sunday

Yom Kipur
Evening Services:
Oct. 11th & 12th
Morning Services:
Oct. 12th,

No signup necessary. No payment required for a place to pray for the High Holidays. A kipah and prayerbook will be waiting for you. Services will be interspersed with insights, explanations and page guidance.

Shabbat Candle Lighting Times for
Moscow, Russia
Friday, September 16th
Light Candles at 18:07

Join us Tonight!
Weekly Kabbalat Shabbat Services 20:30

Shabbat, September 17th,
Shabbat Ends 19:18
Torah Portion: Ki Tavo

Something to Celebrate

Several years ago, I spoke with a local friend as we were walking out of Yom Kippur services. Since he had expressed reluctance about attending services, I asked him how the day had gone.
He looked at me tentatively and asked “Am I allowed to say I enjoyed it?”
I can see why some people think of the High Holidays as tedious or even glum.
Spending hours in synagogue is only the beginning.
The days’ theme focuses on acknowledging our responsibility to G-d and each other; there’s also an impossible-to-miss emphasis on “atonement”, which entails a process of identifying and facing our mistakes.

How uplifting can all that be?

It’s interesting that Chabad tradition describes a joyous enthusiasm that needs to permeate this time of year, up to and including these self-reflective, internally-scrutinous, High Holiday experiences.

Because we matter to G-d. And our relationships, our personal relationships with G-d and the relationships between us human beings, are all important.

Judaism tells us that our actions, each and every behavioral choice throughout the day, are very precious to G-d.

They matter. Because WE matter.

Our daily thoughts, words and actions rank so high on G-d’s “priority scale” that they are, to use the Rebbe’s expression, “Higher, Higher, and even Higher, to the extent that nothing else is Higher.”

Think about it in terms of a parent’s connection to a child. When something is striking at the heart of their relationship, nothing is more important. Nothing.

That helps us appreciate how nothing is more important to G-d than you and your life.

Every move, every moment, is critically important; because every move and every moment speaks to the core of our special relationship.

So this time of year presents an exciting opportunity. It’s a time to re-visit and strengthen our unbreakable, intimate connection with the Divine.

And if it hurts to see that the relationship is in need of some repair, so what?

Isn’t fixing and strengthening a cherished relationship something to celebrate?

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yanky and Rivky Klein

This email is In Loving memory of my dear father
R’ Yerachmiel Binyamin Halevi ben R, Menachem Klein OBM

Shabbat Candle Lighting Times for
Moscow, Russia

Weekly Kabbalat Shabbat Services 20:30

Friday, June 10th
Light Candles at 20:54
Torah Portion: Bamidbar

Shavuot Night 1
Saturday, June 11th
Light Candles after 20:53

Shavuot Day 2
Sunday, June 12th
Light Candles after 20:54

It was the most important moment in our nation’s history.

G-d Himself descended on the mountain. Speaking to each one of us, He declared, “I am G-d your G-d!” and then presented us each with the Torah to keep and cherish. It was a moment of love and commitment; indeed, the day G-d gave us the Torah is called our “wedding day.”

And this coming weekend, during the holiday of Shavuot, we will celebrate this momentous event anew!

So how do we celebrate our marriage to G d? Well, not by sending flowers (although many communities do have a beautiful custom to decorate their homes and synagogues with commemoratory flowers and greenery), but by affirming our bond with Him and His Torah, and strengthening our relationship.

This Sunday, June 12, let’s all do our utmost to attend services at our respective synagogues and listen to the reading of the Ten Commandments, once again experiencing and reaffirming the deal we struck at Sinai.

And, since the Jewish children are the next link in the golden chain linking us all the way back to that fateful day in the desert, it’s especially important to bring our children, even newborn babies.
So let’s all be there, and encourage our friends, family and neighbors not only to celebrate the past, but to enjoy the present and to recommit for the future.

Wishing you and yours a joyous and meaningful Shavuot,

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yanky and Rivky Klein

This email is In Loving memory of my dear father
R’ Yerachmiel Binyamin Halevi ben R, Menachem Klein OBM

Shabbat Candle Lighting Times for
Moscow, Russia
Friday, April 15th
Light Candles at 19:17
Shabbat, April 16th,
Shabbat Ends 20:39
Torah Portion: Metzora

Teaching Treasures

I’m not a kindergarten or primary school teacher, but I can well imagine that teaching young children the weekly parsha is easier at some times of the year than others.

The 12 weeks we devote to Berishis-Genesis would be easy; after all, which kids doesn’t enjoy learning about Creation, Noach’s flood, the early history of our forefathers and the adventures of Yosef? The following 3 months of the yearly cycle are Shmos-Exodus, when the kids get to enjoy the story of Moshe and the Jews escaping Egypt, the splitting of the Sea, the 10 Commandments and the building and outfitting of the Tabernacle.

So far, so easy.

Yet spare some sympathy for the luckless teachers at this time of year, forced to stand in front of their class week after week and explain the weekly portions devoted to animal sacrifices, Levites and leprosy. It must be so hard to demonstrate the relevance and moral teachings of these seemingly archaic laws to the lives of their pupils.

Take for example the laws of the Metzora of which we continue reading tomorrow. Last week we were informed, in excruciating detail, of the symptoms of various coloured blotches that could appear on one’s flesh or hair, presaging the existence of the ritual impurity known as tzaraas. This week we continue the theme by describing the purification process and the laws of tzaraas found on clothing or the walls of houses
Hardly riveting stuff, it must be admitted.

So rather than wade through the minutiae of details, the teachers tend to paint in broad strokes.

They spend much of their time describing the evils of gossip and slander, which are assumed to be the root cause of the punishment and then spend a bit of class time describing the birds and plants that were used in the purification ritual. But the topic which gets by far the most attention is the possibility of discovering buried treasure inside the diseased walls.

According to Rashi findingTzaraas could be [good] news, because the Amorites had hidden away treasures of gold inside the walls of their houses, and when removing tzaraas, he will demolish the house and find the treasure (Rashi Metzora 14:34).

Kids (and adults too) just love that concept.

Imagine the scene; you’re a sinner. You’re impure. You find ugly blotches all over your house, whose very presence proclaims to passers-by the existence of evil within your household. Your house is being demolished in the most publicly humiliating fashion when, in an instant, your fortune is transformed for the better. The walls of your house were concealing hidden treasures and now they are yours.

However, I would argue that more than just sharing the excitement of uncovering buried treasure, there is a tremendous life lesson to be learned from this passage and there is good reason why teachers choose to concentrate on this concept.

How often do we whinge and moan about the negatives that present on our journey through life. I have sinned and now I’m being punished. I’m trapped in the quicksand of despair and decay and the very walls of my existence are crumbling all around me. And then – in the midst of the blackness and suffering – at the time of your greatest humiliation, G-d’s salvation comes shining through.

Hashem looks after you in spite of your misbehaviour. Had you never sinned and then been punished with tzaraas, you would never have learned of the hidden treasures that lie within.
At all times and in all places; in sickness and health, in the midst of suffering or salvation, our benevolent Creator wants nothing for us other than the best. The exile will give way to exhilaration and, very soon we will discover the valuable blessings that Hashem has prepared for His people.

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Yanky Klein

This email is In Loving memory of my dear father
R’ Yerachmiel Binyamin Halevi ben R, Menachem Klein OBM