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July 31, 2010 ~ 20 Av 5770
  Shabbat Parshat ~ Ekev
In This Issue
What's Happening in Our Schools
What's Happening at Adat
Mahshavot-Thoughts
Shabbat At Adat
Rabbi Peretz 
Friday, July 30
Candlelighting Time 7:39 PM
 
July 31 ~ Shabbat Morning   Services begin at 9:15 
 
Rabbi Scott Perlo officiating.   
 
What's Happening in our Schools   
 
We wish all of our students a great summer. See you in
the fall.
 
Plans are under way 
for next year.  Contact your school director
or the office for registration and information
 
ECC Summer Camp continues on Monday 
August 2nd. Weekly sessions available through August 13th. 
 
Rabbi Peretz 
 
Please remember to bring canned and boxed foods to our SOVA barrels.  Now is when so many don't have enough to eat.  This is our chance to help.  No Glass Please!
Rabbi Scott Perlo is always available to speak with you if you need assistance with illness, a personal situation or any other needs.  You can email him directly at: rabbi@adatshalomla.org

STAND OUT

Find the right job or the right employee with L.A.'s newest job search site, ParnossahWorksLA.org
  
For Job Seekers,
For Employers
 
To get started, log on to
and register online.  For more information contact Greg Krentzman at (323)761.8888 x8874 or email gkrentzman@jvsla.org.
Lost & Found
 
From time to time we find items that are left behind following a Shabbat Service, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a meeting or a school activity.  IF you are missing something of value, please call the Synagogue office to see if your possession is in our hands.
 
High Holy Days
5771 
 Information and Request for Tickets
was mailed last week. If you did not receive yours, or have a question, please call the office.  
 
 
 
 
Join Our Mailing List 

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT ADAT  

Friday, July 30~Sha-BBQ Dinner and Shabbat 6:00 PM 
 
Friday, August 13~Shabbat at the Beach II 5:30 PM
Details to follow
 
For more information about any of our programs, log onto our website www.adatshalomla.org or call the synagogue office at 310.475.4985
Mahshavot - Thoughts               Rabbi Scott Perlo
 בס''ד
Individualism
Parshat Ekev, 5770
 
We are a society that fiercely values personal independence and self-sufficiency. It's part of the American mythos - the great story that we tell ourselves about who we are. Paul Revere, Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, Calamity Jane - they are the raw material of the American heart.
 
What is stunning, then, is just how much we rugged individualists expect that other people produce for us. This demand goes far beyond material goods, for which we are wholly dependent upon others at this stage in our civilization. We also expect that other people will provide us with emotional care (therapy), exciting and challenging experiences (adventure travel), even, especially, spiritual connection on demand.
 
That we should ask these things of others is not unreasonable: we cannot live without other people; their care and blessing is the stuff of life; we are not islands; however, what troubles the mind is that we often place the burden of the success of these ventures upon their shoulders. The psychotherapist Sheldon Kopp (he wrote, If You Meet the Buddha on The Road, Kill Him!) says about this mode, "It is as if [the patient] comes into the office saying, 'my world is broken and you have to fix it.'"
 
Our midrash teaches us that one of the names for the human soul is yehidah: the solitary one, the unique one. It is not our bodies or our ways of living that are unique - we are more similar to each other in these regards than we are different. What is unique is the particular twist of our own heart. Life is made richest in the midst of the care of others, but only we, in the end, carry the responsibility for our own souls.
                                                                                       
Shalom u'Vrakha,
Peace and blessing,
Rabbi Scott Perlo 
 
For past versions of Mahshavot, please go to

 
                                                 

SHAB-BBQ 
THIS FRIDAY JULY 30TH 6:00 pm
 

It's not too late! Invite your friends!
 
Community and Connection For All Ages
(and don't forget the food!) 
 
BBQ $10/adult $5/child under 10
 
Call Joanna to RSVP 310-475-4985
 

                   CONVERSION BILL
 
We want to call your attention to a very disturbing bill currently before the Knesset that would, for the first time, only recognize conversions done under an extreme interpretation of Orthodoxy. Furthermore, it would legislate that non-Orthodox converts would not be eligible for aliyah under the law of return. 

The Conservative and Reform movements both in Israel and America are working vigorously to prevent this bill from reaching the floor. You are encouraged to email PM Netanyahu http://www.masorti.org/email/form-letter.html
expressing your opposition to this bill. 
 
To hear the recording of a conference call on this topic with Rabbi Steve Wernik from United Synagogue and Rabbi Julie Schonfeld from the Rabbinical Assembly click on this link http://www.uscj.org/media/rotemconfcall2.mp3.
 
 
 
                         UPDATE
 
On July 21st, the Knesset adjourned and the proposed conversion legislation did not come to the floor. While this is good news now, it is merely a lull in the ongoing struggle to define the Jewishness of Israel. The support of the American Jewish community is crucial in stopping this bill.

It is not too late to email the Prime Minister and let your voice be heard. 
 
More Information about the Bill
 
Alienating the Diaspora. Click here for The Jeruslame Post article.

Analysis: Banal but true. Click here for The Jeruslame Post article.

The conversion bill demystified. Click here for the Haaretz article.

Proposed Conversion Law: How good intentions turned into abhorrent legislation. Click here for the editorial by Rabbi Uri Regev, President & CEO of Hiddush.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mah Jongg Tournament 

 
The Adat Shalom Women's League 
cordially invites you to their
Mah Jongg Tournament
Sunday August 1, 2010 
 
Bagels-8:30AM Play begins promptly at 9:00AM
A delicious lunch is included! Entry fee $36
Payable to Adat Shalom Women's League
Call Judi Nachenberg 818-764-6240 or
Claire Winer 310-305-2850
Quick Links

3030 Westwood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90034  310.475.4985  310.474.4975 fax   www.adatshalomla.org