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Commanded to be Joyful
by Rabbi Sari Laufer

Tradition teaches us that the very first thing we are supposed to do after the close of Yom Kippur is begin building the sukkah, the temporary structure in which we will eat, sing, and gather over the course of the Sukkot holiday.

Among the commandments of this holiday—to eat in the sukkah, to shake a lulav and etrog, to see the stars through the roof, there is also a custom of welcoming ushpizin and ushpizot—honored guests—into our sukkot. If you heard me speak over the High Holy Days, it might not surprise you that this is a custom I love, and encourage you to embrace this Sukkot! Whether we are inviting family, friends, or even new acquaintances into our sukkah, the holiday—and its themes—offer us a wonderful opportunity to welcome people into our lives and reflect on the blessings of friendship and community.

Speaking of welcoming, we want to take a moment to say shalom to those of you who are, perhaps, reading this email for the first time. We are so glad you chose to join us for our High Holy Day worship experience, and we look forward to more chances to connect and share our Wise community with you. Inside this email, you’ll find a lot of those opportunities, but do not hesitate to reach out to me if you are looking to connect more deeply. Perhaps you will start over these next days, with so many wonderful ways to celebrate Sukkot in OUR neighborhood—on the Wise campus.

Todah Rabbah for Making Our High Holy Days So Special!

Thank you for making our services such an incredible experience! Your warmth, your openness, and your voices made these Days of Awe truly memorable and special for all. We encourage you to share your favorite photos and moments on social media and tag us.

Stephen Wise Temple Wise School Wise Center for Youth Engagement

Here are some of our favorite snapshots from these incredible two weeks:

“Stephen Wise Temple has enriched my life,” Wise member Robert Glassman told us on the evening of Kol Nidrei services. “It has taught me to live with a sense of urgency. It has been a sacred and safe haven, an intellectual and spiritual retreat. It is part of my life, it is part of who I am. Stephen Wise Temple makes me feel at home.”

If you feel at home with Wise, please consider making a gift to our Annual Campaign to help ensure that we can build a home for future generations.

Thank you to Robert Glassman and to our wonderful speakers at Skirball Cultural Center and Bel Air Church: Joey Freeman and Dave Clark, respectively. Our thanks also to President Janine Kolodny for her warm remarks.

Center for Jewish Life Announces 2019-20 Events and Classes
A Message from Rabbi David Woznica

In our Center for Jewish Life we endeavor to bring you inspired thinkers who engage in issues that are of vital importance to Jews and to our world. Reflecting on this year’s program, I am enthusiastic about the wide variety of voices we have included as well as the eclectic personal stories and perspectives. You will hear two of America’s celebrated legal minds examine the issues before the Supreme Court; a White House speechwriter’s Jewish discovery; the story of the world’s only one-armed special forces sharpshooter and the harrowing account of a man who fled the famine of Ethiopia and now devotes his life to helping other Ethiopian Jews in Israel. You will meet a Palestinian who grew up on the Gaza Strip and hear his moving story about survival, hope, and the pursuit of peace; examine the reciprocal impact of the Persian Jewish Community on Los Angeles forty years after the revolution in Iran; engage with an expert on marriage; and much, much more.

Search for Meaning Returns with Guest Daniel Wordsworth

Daniel Wordsworth, CEO of Alight (formerly American Refugee Committee), sits down with Rabbi Yoshi for a conversation about how an abundance of human kindness can truly reshape the world. In this inspiring discussion, Daniel recounts numerous stories of how he has witnessed individuals making a difference by helping others: and how we can tap into that same extraordinary power ourselves. During Sukkot, we take time to remember our own story of wandering, of being refugees, and consider ways in the modern world we may help others.

Visit our sukkah on Feintech-Shapell Plaza for a display of work by IsraAID, an Israeli-based humanitarian aid agency responding to the world refugee crisis.

This Week’s Torah Portion: Haazinu

Friday, October 11
6:15 p.m. | Shabbat Services | Sanctuary
Led by Rabbi Ron Stern and Cantorial Intern Sara Anderson
Watch live on Friday night: Facebook | WiseLA.org

Saturday, October 12
9 a.m. | Lay-led Torah Study | Chapel Study
10 a.m. | Shabbat Morning Services (B’nai Mitzvah Celebration) | Sanctuary
Led by Rabbi David Woznica and Cantor Tannoz Foruzanfar

Wednesday, October 16
12 p.m. | Talmud Study with Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback | Feintech-Shapell Plaza Sukkah

Friday, October 18
6:15 p.m. | Shabbat Services | Plotkin Chapel
Led by Rabbi Josh Knobel and Cantor Emma Lutz

Saturday, October 19
9 a.m. | Lay-led Torah Study | Chapel Study
10 a.m. | Shabbat Morning Services (B’nai Mitzvah Celebration) | Sanctuary
Led by Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback and Cantor Emma Lutz

Monday, October 28
9 a.m. | Bible Study with Rabbi Ron Stern | Conference Room

The Big Fill 2019:
Help Save the Syrian Children Provide Supplies to Kids in Need
Drive Dates: October 10-20

We will spend 10 days preparing to help our partners from Save the Syrian Children by collecting desperately needed medical supplies, gently used clothes, and toys to kids and families in crisis, due to the violence in Syria. In the past, your generosity has helped fulfill our Wise mission to change the world for those in need. On October 20 we will pack up these items to prepare them for shipment.

How to Help:

1) Bring gently used clothes and toys to the Wise campus
2) Purchase items from our Amazon Wish List
3) Pack shipping boxes with us on October 20. RSVP HERE!

Sukkot celebrates both the harvest and the beauty of community; we gather in our sukkot and welcome old and new friends alike. Visit our sukkot on campus for these events or at other times during the festival to simply enjoy nature and its bounty with friends and family.

Wise Guys Sukkah Build
Thursday, October 10 | 6 p.m.

Religious School Family Sukkot Program and Picnic
Sunday, October 13 | 9 a.m.

Early Childhood and Wise Elementary School Sukkot Picnic
Sunday, October 13 | 4:30 p.m.

Sukkot Festival Services
Monday, October 14 | 10 a.m.

Morning Sukkot Minyan
Thursday, October 17 | 7:45 a.m.

Wise Years (Lunch in Sukkah)
Thursday, October 17 | 12 p.m.

Wise Women Rosh Hodesh
Thursday, October 17 | 6:30 p.m.

YAD Sukkot Celebration and Trivia Night
Thursday, October 17 | 7 p.m.

Tot Kabbalat Shabbat Singalong in the Sukkah
Open to anyone with kids 5 and younger!
Friday, October 18 | 4:30 p.m.

Sukkot Shabbat Services
Friday, October 18 | 6:15 p.m.

Simchat Torah Celebration
Sunday, October 20 | 4 p.m.

Sukkot Yizkor and Shemini Atzeret Services
Monday, October 21 | 10 a.m.

Lunch Bunch: Caring for the Stranger
Tuesday, October 15 | 5 p.m.

Help our Lunch Bunch care for the stranger by assembling lunches for residents at LA Family Housing’s Irmas Family Campus in North Hollywood.

Wise Years
Thursday, October 17 | Plotkin Chapel
10 a.m. | Registration Begins
10:30 a.m. | Program Begins

Bet Tzedek’s Elder Abuse Advocate, Alisa Anderson, will discuss the latest scams aimed at seniors and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim. Les Weider and Tyree Weider, Ed.D. will share their unique love story, Matzo Balls and Cornbread. Film: The Biggest Little Farm, a documentary chronicling John and Molly’s eight year quest as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature.

Simchat Torah Celebration
Sunday, October 20 | 4 p.m.

Celebrate the gift of Torah with your Wise community! Our celebration will include a brief service, Hakafot (marching of the Torahs), a guided tour of the Torah, Torah Reading, refreshments, and of course lots and lots of Hora dancing with our clergy and musicians.

WTY Luau
Sunday, October 20 | 6 p.m. | Wise Pool

Come hang with your friends, compete in games, and create lasting friendships in our very own heated pool! All Wise teens and friends welcome! Non-WTY members will have a $5 dollar admission fee. Please bring your swim suit and towel. Dinner, pool, and games provided.

Magic Mountain Youth Event: Grades 3-6
Saturday, October 26 | 9:30 a.m.

Summer is over, but the fun never ends! Join your favorite Camp Wise staff for a full day of fun at Magic Mountain with your favorite counselors! You don’t want to miss out on the first Camp Wise Youth Event of the year! Limited spaces are available.
Pick-up and drop-off at Stephen Wise Temple.

Center for Jewish Life presents
Classical Intermediate Hebrew
Mondays: October 28–December 16 | 6:45–9 p.m.

This course is for students who completed Beginning Hebrew 1 and 2 or have sufficient knowledge of Hebrew. Cost: $284 plus $25 book fee.

Tot Shabbat
Saturday, November 2 | 10 a.m. | Wise Woods

Gather together with our community for a festive service! Our Clergy and song leaders lead our music- and story-filled service that introduces the youngest members of our community to the joy of Shabbat. Parents and grandparents will love it too!

Wise Women presents
The Joy of Challah 2.0
Sunday, November 3 | 10:30 a.m.

Back by popular demand! Women in our community—members and guests—are again invited to enjoy a morning of brunch, bubbly, and (different kinds of) braiding, before heading home with your own challah to bake. Bring your mom, sister, cousin, and BFF to our second annual Challah Bake!

Center for Jewish Life presents
The Supreme Court: Crucial Cases of the Past, Present, and Future
with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Laurie Levenson
Monday, November 4 | 7:30 p.m.

Two extraordinary legal minds share their thoughts on what they see as the most important issues of the Supreme Court. Through a Jewish lens they will consider previous cases, current cases, and what will likely be future cases that the highest court in the United States will adjudicate including abortion rights, affirmative action, the death penalty, LGBTQ+ rights, gun rights, separation of church and state, and voting rights.
Erwin Chemerinsky is the Dean of Berkeley Law at University of California at Berkeley and is the Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law. He was founding Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law at University of California, Irvine School of Law with a joint appointment in Political Science.
Laurie L. Levenson is Professor of Law and David W. Burcham Chair in Ethical Advocacy at Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. She is Attorney Representative to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a Board Member of UCLA Hillel Council.

Center for Jewish Life presents
Homeland: Four Ways of Understanding Israel’s West Side
with Rabbi Josh Knobel
Tuesdays, November 5, 12, 19, 26 | 7:30 p.m.

This eye-opening course offers to transform how its students look at modern Israel. Newly updated, the class will provide an introduction to the western region of modern Israel, which is alternately referred to as the West Bank, Samaria, and Palestine. Together, students will examine four different histories of Western Israel recorded by the Religious Settler Movement, the Palestinians, Israeli Conservatives, and Israeli Doves—exploring many ideologies at stake in modern Israeli and Palestinian politics.

Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Informational Meeting
Tuesday, November 5 | 7 p.m.

When a Jew reaches the age of 13, she or he becomes a bat or bar mitzvah, literally a “daughter” or “son” of the commandments. Some, however, did not have the opportunity or privilege at 13 to be formally called to the Torah. Becoming a bat or bar mitzvah as an adult gives one the opportunity to seize a special moment in life. Many choose to mark a special anniversary or to honor the memory of a loved one by becoming an adult b’nai mitzvah. Connect with a group of learners by becoming part of our adult b’nai mitzvah program. After the initial informational meeting, studies will begin in spring 2020 and will culminate with a Shabbat service led by the cohort in late 2020.
Please contact Cantor Emma Lutz by email at [email protected] or by phone at 310.889.2270 to learn more.

Museums with Mario — Annenberg Space for Photography
W|ALLS: Defend, Divide, and the Divine
Wednesday, November 13 | 11 a.m.

This exhibition examines the historical use and artistic treatment of walls over centuries. It is political, emotional, and aesthetic.


Admission fees may apply.
Parking: $4.50 for three hours with validation

Soulful Shabbat
Friday, November 15
6:30 p.m. | Dinner
8 p.m. | Shabbat Service

Our unique musical service is one of Wise’s most popular traditions that creates a spiritual evening featuring the rhythms and melodies our members have come to love.

Israeli American Council presents
Sukkot Festival
Sunday, October 13 | 10 a.m.

The Israeli American Council Sukkot Festival is a free family event for the community with kosher food, kid friendly entertainment and tons of kid activities.
*Registration required

The Los Angeles City College Foundation presents
An Evening with Carl Bernstein
Sunday, October 27 | 3 p.m. | Camino Theatre

The Nick Beck Endowed Investigative Journalism Lecture Series proudly presents its inaugural speaker Carl Bernstein, investigative journalist and author.

We remember with love those who died in recent days and weeks:
Mansour Benyamini, Leonard Chevlin, Debra Magit, Michael Sher

We observe the yahrzeits of:
Maurice David Abracen*, Ruth Allenstein, Peter Aronson*, Madeline L. Bergman*, Sidney Morris Bornstein*, Morris Chernow, Joseph Cherry*, Diana Cohen*, Irving H. Cypers*, Rebecca Cyperstein*, Frieda Dornberg*, Joseph Dubman*, Yetta Ginsburg*, Ida Goldenfeld, Sophie Hamburger*, Vera Kossman*, Erwin Loeb, Lorraine Maiten, Albert Matz*, David Meyers*, Anna A. Owles*, Rose Perll*, Harry C. Reizner, Anne Rogow*, Arthur V. Schneider*, Hilda B. Schwarz *, John Sobel, Rose Versman*, Frieda Weisman*, Ethel Winston*, Ben Yousem*, Aaron Zeigerson

*Designated on our memorial walls

We reach out as a community and offer our support and deepest sympathy:

Ashley and Patrick Javaheri on the loss of Ashley’s father Mansour Benyamini
Andrea Sher on the loss of her husband Michael Sher

Julie and Brian Hartstein on their child Scarlett Hartstein becoming Bat Mitzvah
Brigitte and Hal Lifson on their child Sofia Lifson becoming Bat Mitzvah
Nazy and Kourosh Maddahi on their child Andre Maddahi becoming Bar Mitzvah
Felise and Elliott Wachtel on the marriage of the their daughter Jessica Wachtel to Adam Meczyk, son of Linda and Robert Meczyk

If you have a birth, wedding, or milestone birthday you would like to share with the Wise community, please email us at [email protected].
To schedule a Shabbat blessing or special reception in honor of a simcha, contact Arlene Spiegelman at 310.889.2272.

We honor our loved ones, our family simchas, and our communal losses through charitable giving. To give in honor or in memory of a cherished family member or dear friend, please visit WiseLA.org/Giving.

RABBI YOSHI ZWEIBACK DISCRETIONARY FUND
IN MEMORY OF
Vera Kossman, by Ted and Annie Haas
Ruth Allenstein, by The Marcus, Udewitz, and Allenstein Families
Zaki Gordon, by Jo-Ann Gordon

RABBI ELI HERSCHER DISCRETIONARY FUND
IN HONOR OF
Rabbi Eli Herscher with gratitude, thank you for officiating our daughter’s wedding, by Felice and Elliot Wachtel

RABBI DAVID WOZNICA DISCRETIONARY FUND
IN MEMORY OF
Aaron Zeigerson, by Rita and Sam D. Schwartz and Family

RABBI RON STERN DISCRETIONARY FUND
IN MEMORY OF
John Sobel, by Bill and Lisa Sobel

CANTOR NATHAN LAM DISCRETIONARY FUND
IN MEMORY OF
Arthur Schneider, by Flora Schneider

HOMES FOR HEROES FUND
IN GRATITUDE
For the honor of opening the ark, by Roberta and Ken Lloyd

IN HONOR OF
Shelly Levy’s complete recovery to good health and her commitment to Homes for Heroes, by Drazia Simon

METUKA BENJAMIN SCHOLARSHIP FUND
IN MEMORY
Sophie Hamburger, by the Siegel and Schlesinger Families

WISE SCHOOL ANNUAL GIVING CAMPAIGN
IN MEMORY OF
Ashley Javaheri’s father, Mansour Benyamini, by Lilian Jensen Tabibian

WISE SCHOOL GENERATIONS ENDOWMENT
IN HONOR OF
Dana and Scott Ehrlich’s Wedding Anniversary, by Deena and Ed Nahmias

YAHRZEIT FUND
IN MEMORY OF
Morris Chernow, by Eli and Arlene Chernow
Harry C. Reizner, by Tammy and Joel Steinman
Erwin Loeb, by Carol Russ and Family

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Stephen Wise Temple | 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive | Los Angeles, CA 90077
Shabbat Shalom