Remembering Leo Ritter

Dear Friends:

This coming Shabbat (June 13) we will be dedicating the Ritter Family Library and introducing our new machzorim (High Holiday Prayerbooks). Meditation will be at 2:30, Mincha services will be at 3:30 PM and the dedication will be at approximately 4:30 PM. We very much hope you'll join us.

The library is being dedicated in memory of Leo Ritter, of blessed memory, who passed away on September 5, 2013 / 1 Tishrei 5774.

We are thrilled that starting in 2015, Beacon Hebrew Alliance will be celebrating the Days of Awe with the new Machzor (prayerbook) Lev Shalem. This was the unanimous selection of the machzor selection team, which included Celia Baczkowski, Judy Chaleff, Ann & Jeff Gross, Eli & Cathy Harary, Laura Liebeck-Smith, Michael Nurik, Joan Pirie, Linda Tafapolsky, Bill Smith, Yaakov Weintraub and was led by Cantor Ellen Gersh. We are very grateful for the time they put into reviewing options and considering what was the best fit for our community.

They selected Lev Shalem because of its beautiful design and because of the ways in which it will be a tremendous resource for the members of our diverse community.

• There is a running historical and spiritual commentary which will illuminate the prayers of the holidays.
• There are English translations which are close to the meaning of the original text and many transliterations of key prayers.
• There is a rich ­assortment of readings including Hasidic stories, selections from Abraham Joshua Heschel, Martin Buber, contemporary Israeli and American poets, leading rabbis and more. 

This prayerbook contains the classical and the contemporary, the historical and the spiritual; we hope it will be inspiring and relevant for our community for years to come.

Everyone is invited to dedicate one of our new machzorim in honor or in memory of a loved one, family, or friend. The minimum donation is $72.

BHA is the amazing place it is because of the creativity and energy of our present and the commitment and dedication of our past. This machzor, from which I hope we will pray for years into the future, has been contributed by a family who has been part of BHA since its inception nearly 100 years ago.

I look forward to celebrating the past, present and future of BHA this Shabbat. I hope you'll join us.

With blessings,

Rabbi Brent Spodek