HANUKKAH: Hundreds brave cold for annual lighting of the menorah at The Marketplace
BY JAMES GELUSO, Californian staff writer
The longest night of the year got a brightening Sunday with the lighting of the menorah at The Marketplace.
Twevle-year-old Ariella Goldstein sings along to a dreidel song while keeping her menorah hat balanced on her head during the lighting ceremony at the Marketplace.
Hundreds crowded around Rabbi Shmuel Schlanger as he invited children to the front and prepared the crowd for the celebration.
"It's freezing!" he said. "It reminds me of Moscow, back where I was not born."
Intermixed with the jokes, the candles, the balloon animals and the songs was a little sadness. The lighting was dedicated to the victims of last month's attacks in Mumbai, in particular Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, who were serving the Jewish community in India.
"Tonight we vow to counter the senseless hate with unconditional love," Schlanger said. The menorah, he said, "symbolizes Hannukah's bold message of never give up."
This is the sixth year that Chabad of Bakersfield has lit its public menorah.
Schlanger followed the lighting with songs in both Hebrew and English while he played guitar.
He confessed to being a little more tired than at previous menorah lightings, because he and his wife got an early Hannukah present just a few days ago — a baby boy.
Resident Olivia Ramirez said she has a menorah at home, but was glad to come out for the public event.
"I think it's wonderful," she said. "Everyone can get together whether they're Jewish or not.
Sept. 2008
Torah scroll dedication
by COURTENAY EDELHART
Californian staff writer
I had misgivings about moving to Bakersfield earlier this year because of my Jewish faith. I couldn’t imagine there would be any Jews in rural, devoutly Christian Bakersfield.
It was a pleasant surprise, when I arrived, to discover Bakersfield was more cosmopolitan than I’d thought. There were no less than three temples to choose from, including--shock and amazement-- a Chassidic one.
Chassidism is a form of mystical Orthodox Judaism that began in the 1700s in Eastern Europe. Men in the community often wear black suits and hats, and women dress modestly in long skirts.
You’d expect to find Chassids in Brooklyn, or Los Angeles’ Fairfax district. I never would have dreamed I’d find them here.
I belong to the Reform movement, the most liberal of Judaism’s branches. But when I found out Chabad of Bakersfield would be dedicating a new Torah scroll and had invited the public to celebrate its dedication, I decided to attend.
For one thing, Chassids know how to throw a party. There’s always klezmer music and dancing.
Plus, I had never been to a Torah scroll dedication before. Scrolls have preceded me at every temple I’ve ever joined.
A Torah scroll dedication is a huge deal in the Jewish community because modern scrolls are still created the same way they were thousands of years ago.
A Torah scroll contains the first five books of Moses, which are divided into portions to be read each week during services. A scribe writes the Torah in Hebrew calligraphy on specially treated parchment that is stitched together to form one continuous scroll.
A scroll contains about 600,000 characters. You remember I said it’s written by hand, right?
Oh, and the scroll has to be flawless. One little teeny tiny spelling error renders the whole thing unusable. Who are mere mortals to alter the word of God?
A scroll is written with a quill, because modern writing implements are usually made of metal, the same material used to make weapons. That would be profane, because weapons take life. The Torah, it is believed, gives life.
The “Rose & Irwin Joseph Lebanoff Torah Scroll” was donated by Maxine Barber and her siblings in honor of their parents. One scribe began it in Jerusalem, and after 10 months of tedious labor shipped it to Bakersfield, where a guest scribe from Las Vegas filled in Deuteronomy 34:12 to complete it.
No lie. I said Vegas.
After a few minutes passed to allow the ink to dry, Rabbi Shmuel Schlanger held the scroll open and aloft for the community to view, then rolled it up and placed a velvet cover over it. The handles were capped with ornate silver crowns, as is customary.
“When Moses received the Torah, they marched around with it for 40 years in the desert,” the rabbi quipped. “We’ll take a little less time marching in front of the building, here. Watch out for cars.”
A hand-held canopy was then hoisted in the air to honor and shield the scroll, and a joyful procession followed clergy and the donor family singing Hebrew prayers. The procession wound its way through the parking lot, into the street and then into the temple sanctuary. There, after a blessing, the scroll was placed inside the ark, or sacred cabinet where scrolls are stored when not in use.
It is a uniquely appropriate time to dedicate a new scroll.
This fall commences the most holy time of year on the Jewish calendar. We will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, at nightfall Monday.
Our tradition holds that we have 10 days from the onset of Rosh Hashanah to pray and reflect on our conduct. It is a time to seek forgiveness from anyone we may have wronged over the past year. Only after reconciliation can we ask for mercy on Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, when we fast and seek God’s forgiveness. This year Yom Kippur falls on Oct. 9.
To Christians it may be 2008. But on the Jewish calendar, it will soon be 5769.
Think about that.
In this day and age, it might stun non-Jews to learn that my people don’t just waltz over to Kinko’s and print out a scroll on a computer when they need a new one.
But there is something truly special about knowing the history and moral code of the Jewish people has been handed down the same way for millennia.
Rabbi Schlanger said it best.
“A lot of people ask how long a Torah scroll is when it’s completely unrolled,” he said.
“The answer is, endless.”
*****************************************
August 2008
Israeli children get 'just to be kids' by The Bakersfield Californian
Watching the dozen boys play football in the southwest Bakersfield backyard, it’s hard to imagine that they come from war-torn homes half a world away. Chabad of California, a nonprofit organization rooted in traditional Jewish values, sponsored 50 children from the Israeli border town of Sderot to come to California for summer camp to get away from the attacks. Chabad of Bakersfield brought 12 of them up to Kern for the weekend. “They‘re going to be just having a great time. That’s it. That’s all. There’s no studying, praying,” said Rabbi Shmuli Schlanger, of Chabad of Bakersfield. “To laugh, to smile and just to be kids.”
Sderot sits about one kilometer from the Gaza Strip, a stronghold of the Islamic group Hamas.
Spend some more time with the boys, though, and you can see some effects of the war.
When the boys bowled Thursday night, one became upset after a ball dropped and made a loud crashing sound, similar to a sound he might hear when a bomb drops, Schlanger said.
Ten-year-old Shai Uchayon stormed off after another boy tried to talk to the newspaper reporter first on Friday.
Chabad of Bakersfield was also careful to avoid bringing the boys near fireworks over the Independence Day weekend, which also might set them off, said Schlanger’s wife, Esther.
“They’re very quick to get upset, and they have to be calmed down,” Rabbi Schlanger said. “They’re full of tension, these children.”
After Shai calmed down, the brown-haired boy with glasses talked in Hebrew about what Sderot is like, with Rabbi Schlanger translating.
“When he’s scared, he says, ‘I don’t really have much to do ... We go into bomb shelters,’” Schlanger said, translating.
“There’s a lot of Qassam rockets that are flying into his neighborhood, and there’s a lot of fear.”
For fun, Shai, an only child, likes to play soccer.
“When he did come to Los Angeles, he felt he was arriving in Tel Aviv,” Schlanger translated.
This is Shai’s first trip to the United States, and while he is here, he wants to learn to play baseball, he said. Shai has also enjoyed seeing American cars.
“I’m watching them now with smiles on their faces. We always think we have great problems and sometimes we just can’t go on,” Rabbi Schlanger said after Shai joined the other boys.
“From children, there’s so much you can learn.”
Most of the boys are roughly Shai’s age, Mrs. Schlanger said.
And along with honoring the Sabbath, the boys are going swimming and horseback riding before traveling back to Long Beach, she said. They will be in California for three weeks.
“They see that people are welcoming to them,” Mrs. Schlanger said. “People care about them.”
April 2008
Bakersfield to Join Worldwide Release of “Talmudic Ethics”
Critically acclaimed series brings wisdom of the Talmud to the general public
Sooner or later, it happens to almost everyone. You face a tough ethical decision, and you have to pick a course of action that will let you live with yourself. You feel like you are lost in a maze of possibilities, unsure which courses of action will lead you out of your turmoil, and which will leave you in a dead end of regret and self-recrimination. .
Traditionally, Jews have looked to the Talmud to help them unravel tangled instincts.
“The simple fact is that life is complicated. Most days people hesitate and agonize over difficult decisions,” says Rabbi Shmuli Schlanger of Chabad of Bakersfield. “The Talmud recognizes that ethics is complex and subtle, and it knows that complicated questions cannot be answered with a simple yes or no. While the technology may have changed over time, the rabbis of the Talmud have grappled with the same kinds of ethical concerns that we worry about today.”
This May, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute is proud to launch “Talmudic Ethics,” an innovative approach to facing life’s most challenging dilemmas. Participants need no prior knowledge of the Talmud and no formal legal training. There are no prerequisites other than an open mind.
Talmudic Ethics tackles big issues like abortion, euthanasia, freedom of expression, and fair business practice. Students will learn how the best Jewish minds struggled with hard choices, and trace their search for satisfying resolutions. And they will discover how Judaism offers a moral compass to help them find direction through the maze of life.
Bakersfield lawyers will be pleased to know that Talmudic Ethics has been approved for nine credit hours by the Californai State Bar, including 1.5 of ethics credits. This is a unique opportunity for lawyers interested in learning about Jewish thought to claim continuing legal education credits while being able to engage the most brilliant minds of Jewish history.
This exciting new course will be offered at The Chabad Center for Jewish Living for six Mondays starting May 5. The course costs $85.
Recognizing the personal nature of the gut-wrenching issues this course will address, Rabbi Schlanger concluded that, “we can’t promise to provide you with all the answers. But we guarantee you’ll think about the questions in a whole new way.”
* * *
The Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is the adult education arm of Chabad. JLI’s classes and programs are offered at over 300 locations in more than 200 cities nationwide, as well as in international locations (including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela). JLI classes have been attended by nearly 75,000 people since its creation in 1998.
Every course offered by JLI is synchronized so that lessons are offered concurrently in all locations. This unique feature has helped to create a true global learning community.
Please visit www.myJLI.com for up-to-date information aboutTalmudic Ethics or call
661-835-8381
.
******************************************
January 2008
California Snow Helps Teams Keep Their Ritual Baths Kosher
A crew of Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students and community members gathers snow for two mikvahs in Southern California.
A team of rabbinical students and Southern California Jewish community members experienced that truth last week when they set out to harvest snow for two communal ritual baths maintained by Chabad-Lubavitch in Bakersfield and the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach.
Essentially a pool of water that must be connected to another reservoir of water, a mikvah is a crucial facility in Judaism, necessary to the observance of the Torah's ritual purity laws.
Jewish law mandates that a mikvah's reservoir contain a minimum of 40 seah, or about 750 liters, of "water than comes from a natural source, such as rainwater," explained Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky, a sought-after halachic decisor on the Executive Committee of Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbis in the United States and Canada. "But once water is in a receptacle, it loses its natural status. If you take rain water and place it in a cup, then it already becomes disqualified."
Transported snow also counts. But there is a catch: All the shovels and bags used in the process have to have holes, so that they could not be considered receptacles by Jewish law.
Since it hadn't rained in the area in quite some time, 20 people headed for the Greenhorn Mountains, which a recent storm had pounded with heavy snow, last Wednesday. Armed with shovels and 600 empty onion bags, they rode in a refrigerated truck with Rabbi Shmuli Schlanger, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Bakersfield and its Mikvah Simcha Yisroel mikvah.
"I knew exactly where the snow was going to be," said Dr. Ori Raz, a Bakersfield community member, who drove the truck the 60 miles to the town of Alta Sierra near Lake Isabella.
"It's not every day that it snows in Southern California," commented Schlanger on the unusual journey.
Mikvah expert Rabbi Yirmy Katz and Rabbi Aharon Abend, spiritual leader of Chabad-Lubavitch of North Hollywood, escorted the crew to oversee the operation.
At their destination, the team first drilled holes into two of the shovels, after which the drills broke down. While Katz and Abend went down the mountain to look for some help with the other six, those left behind used the good shovels to break up the snow. They used their hands to fill the bags.
After filling 380 bags, Katz, who had just returned with the six newly-punctured shovels, directed them up the road to find "fluffier snow." By early afternoon, they concluded the eight hours of labor and headed back down the mountainside.
Then the truck broke down.
Navigating the Terrain
"It was the scariest experience I've ever had," said Raz, who had to navigate the load through heavy snowfall and down a stretch of road considered to have the second-steepest grade in the whole state.
Later that night, the snowstorm worsened, closing whole swaths of roadways in Southern California, stranding dozens of cars on Interstate 5.
Robert Borenstein, a professional truck driver who attends Chabad-Lubavitch of Bakersfield, came out to help get the truck started at about 9:00 that night.
"There was a quite a lot of snow in a little truck, but thank G‑d, they finished what they wanted to do there," he said.
After depositing half of their cargo at Bakersfield, the next morning they headed out for the Jewish Community Center Chabad's mikvah, due to open Feb. 6 in Redondo Beach, some 125 miles away.
Right after the long-anticipated snow was emptied into the mikvah, "G‑d's sense of humor kicked in," noted Schlanger. It started raining.
Rabbi Yossi Mintz, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of the Beach Cities in Redondo Beach, added that "it hasn't stopped raining since we put the snow in."
The rain water would have filled up both mikvahs.
Said Schlanger: "I'm still tired, but it was worth it."
Bakersfield adds a third rabbi
By AMANDA DES LAURIERS, Special to The Californian
The Bakersfield Californian
Friday October 04, 2002, 05:08:07 PM
There's a new rabbi in town.
Rabbi Shmuli Schlanger, his wife, Esther, and their new daughter, Leahle, have come to Bakersfield to provide services for the new Chabad International Synagogue.
Rabbi Schlanger received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva Central.
Originally from London, England, Schlanger and his family moved here from the Bronx, N.Y., last month.
"After my wife and I married, I decided it was time to take a post," Schlanger said. "I was approached by the director of Chabad international and was asked to basically set up shop here in Bakersfield."
He made it clear that the new synagogue is not intended to be "instead of" two existing synagogues in Bakersfield, but "in addition to" them.
"Our intention here is to work with the Jewish people and to help the Jewish community here in Bakersfield with awareness and identity," Schlanger said.
He already has admirers.
"There is nothing this man can't do," said Martin Black, a Chabad Congregationalist.
Black said Schlanger is one of the few men to touch his heart.
"From our first meeting, this man gave me an overwhelming sense of security.
"No matter what kind of problem you might have, this man would be there. I can tell already that this young man is going to be a success."
Schlanger has plans for his new congregation. The rabbi intends to implement an interactive holiday program, and adult education classes in the Torah.
Not only does the Rabbi want to educate, but also to nurture.
"I would really like to see a growth in the unity of the community," he said.
"I also want to help bring about a proudness of the Jewish culture and to work toward the goal of bringing Godliness in the world."
Sept. 26 was the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and it was the Chabad congregation's first celebration together.
The celebration is full of food, song and community.
Different plants and fruits are bound together ceremonially.
This is to represent that, although they are different plants and grow differently, they grow with unity -- just like the Jewish people.
"These plants represent the different people in the Jewish community," Schlanger said.
"The symbolism of the plants shows that although we are different, we are all one people; all with one God."
During the traditional Sukkot ceremony held at the Schlangers' new home, the rabbi brought out his guitar and played the song "Oseh Shalom." The attending congregants joined in and the air in the back yard of the rabbi's home was filled with joyous sound.
"It's just about Peace," he said of the song.
That is just how many of the congregants feel about Rabbi Schlanger.
"If Bakersfield has an angel, it is this man," Black said.
BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA--America's "fruit basket" is happily anticipating the arrival of new Chabad representatives Rabbi Shmuel and Esther Malka Schlanger and three month old Leah, who will be arriving in time for the High Holidays.
Nicknamed for the surrounding farms that supply the country with mass amounts of produce, Bakersfield, just under two hours from LA, boasts a sizeable Jewish community of several thousand families. Community members approached Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, director of West Coast Chabad, with requests for a Chabad representative, and the Schlangers were hired by Rabbi Cunin earlier this year.
Since then, they have made several trips to Bakersfield to meet the community and arrange accommodations for themselves and the Chabad House. They are delighted by the warm reception they have received.
"Chabad has a proven track record in attracting the youth of the community," says Gail Tenzer, a Bakersfield resident. "We are confident that Rabbi and Mrs. Schlanger will have a powerful, exciting impact on our children and community."
The Schlangers first activities after the holidays will focus on youth programming, for the many young families in the community. We want to establish a firm foundation of Yiddishkeit in the city, says Esther Malka Schlanger. Our future depends on the children, so we need to begin with them. The couple also plan on introducing adult education, holiday awareness activities, and a full range of programs for the entire family.
Born and raised in the Lubavitch communities of London and Crown Heights, respectively, the Rabbi and Mrs. Schlanger are both intimately familiar with the life of Chabad shluchim, having worked in Chabad houses in Connecticut, Nevada, and Cleveland, among other places.
Theres such terrific enthusiasm in Bakersfield, says Rabbi Schlanger. We cant wait to get started.
