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BS''H *** Welcome *** to Congregation B'nai HaShem! We are happy to have you join us here at our web site! Thank you for taking the time to visit us. Please check with us often and read our web site carefully. May God bless you and your family always, for goodness, righteousness, happiness, love, joy and peace. Our Mission Our mission is to bring World Peace before the end of the year 2005. Without peace, life is not an enjoyable experience, no matter how healthy you are. Our other goals are certainly important, however our intended result is to have World Peace, now and forever. You will find our main goals at the beginning of each section of The Mitzvah Project. Please click on the button to the left that says "The Mitzvah Project" when you are finished reading this page. Then you can learn more about how to make the world a better place for yourself and the rest of us. About Our Congregation The words B'nai HaShem are Hebrew, and literally mean "Children of The Name". Actually it stands for "Children of God", as that is what we all are. HaShem or "The Name", is used instead of pronouncing God's personal Four-Letter Name which in English is spelled YHVH. The name HaShem is a polite way of referring to God. Most people do not know the personal name of God, and explaining this is one of our main goals. Of course God has many names, and people refer to Him in many different ways. We ask everyone keep an open mind about God. We ask everyone to read and research all the information they hear or see, from other sources and from this one. We strive to make sure all our information is accurate and true to the best of our knowledge. Nothing can take the place of asking questions, and reading for yourself. Our sources are the best books, Rabbi's, and scholars we can find. Congregation B'nai HaShem is a non-profit Florida corporation. It is a real synagogue, and perhaps one of the first internet synagogues. We consider Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (The RaMChaL) and Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonidies or The RaMBaM) to be our foremost Rabbi's here at Congregation B'nai HaShem. We also consider the other Great Rabbi's of past history such as Rashi, Ramban, the Vilna Gaon, Ibn Ezra, Onkelos, the Baal Shem Tov, the Maggid of Mezritch, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, and many other Great Rabbi's to be a part of our synagogue. We are very sorry to say that Rabbi Heszel Klepfisz of Beit Vegan, Jerusalem our official Rabbi recently passed away at the age of 95. Rabbi Klepfisz served as the Chief Rabbi of Panama for over 30 years, and was also the Dean of the Albert Einstein Academy there. He was a Holocaust survivor, and a relative of Mr. Silverman. His assistance and wisdom as a Talmid Chacham (Torah Scholar) was invaluable. You may want to read his latest book entitled "Culture of Compassion," it can be found at www.Eichlers.com/881250376.html. We are affiliated with all types of Jews, and we do not feel that grouping ourselves with any particular type of Jewish congregation or movement is best for us at this time. Just like when we bring together the four different species on Succos or Sukkot that represent the four different types of Jews, we want to bring all the Jews together. We do our best to be an observant congregation. We strive to obey all 613 Mitzvot. Our function is to reach out to Jewish people and non-Jewish people alike. We believe in kindness, tolerance, and the fundamental rule to "Love your fellow as yourself." The word mitzvah is from the Hebrew word "tzavta", which means "connection." When we do a mitzvah we "connect" with God, and fulfill his will as a noble servant does when he obeys his King. When we perform our duties carefully, and with the proper intention in mind, we are always rewarded. God can always be trusted to pay us for our good deeds. We have organized what we call "The Mitzvah Project". The Mitzvah Project is the real focus of our synagogue. We want every Jew to have a copy or have access to all 613 Mitzvot. We also want you to study them, learn them, and either do or stay away from them. Please see the section of our web site entitled "The 613 Mitzvot." A negative mitzvah is also known as a sin, therefore these mitzvahs you have to stay away from or you will ultimately be punished. God loves us all, however don't be fooled into thinking that He doesn't get upset with us sometimes if we do something wrong. If you recall He flooded the entire world and killed almost everyone. Fortunately He promised us that He won't do that again. There are Seven Mitzvahs (Mitzvot) that every man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth are supposed to obey, whether they are Jewish or not. These are known as The Seven Noachide Laws. These are by no means a simple set of laws, and many of the 613 Mitzvot are contained in or directly related to these seven. A non-Jew who obeys these laws is known as a "Righteous Gentile", and will merit a share in the World to Come in the Garden of Eden. Six of these mitzvahs were given by HaShem to Adam and Eve, then the seventh one to Noah and his descendants. Many centuries later they were written down in the Torah through Moses for our benefit, and the benefit of the entire human race. We ask you to participate with us in The Mitzvah Project. Mitzvahs are for everyone, the more you know about them, and the more you observe them, the better off you, your family, and the rest of us will be. We do this for free to help people, and make the world a better place for all of us. Everyone is a winner here. We need your help so that we may accomplish our goals and fulfill the mitzvahs we cannot currently perform, and we thank you for your support. We want learning about God and doing mitzvahs to be fun. Please tell your family and friends about us. When the Children of Israel accepted the belief in God and His Commandments, they all made a decision. They were chosen last among all the nations, but they were the only ones who chose to accept. They were then instructed through Moses and Aaron to follow the wishes of HaShem. It is explained in the Midrash that if the Children of Israel had not accepted the Torahs (the Teachings), God would have wiped out mankind and started over. Jewish people who obey HaShem should be proud of this, and those who don't understand about this need to be taught. God subsequently told us about the blessings and the curses. He told what will happen if we obey, and what will happen if we don't. We need all the blessings we can get, and none of the negative things. We must be positive and all work together. Every human being has his or her own thing that they are best at, and each of us have special talents of our own. Each son of Jacob, and later each member of their tribe, had special skills and attributes of their own. Today we have to realize that every Jew still has these special qualities, and in order to have World Peace we need them all. God loves all of us, and he wants to be able to show His love to all Jews and non-Jews alike. He will shower us with His blessings, if we will only let Him. It is all really very simple. The choice is ours, and we must make the correct decisions. This is fundamental in life. We must work to improve the world, and not make things worse for ourselves and our fellow human beings. We realize that the level of knowledge about God and the Torahs (The Oral and Written Law) is not very high for most people at this time. We will do our best to explain things as simply and easily as possible. We have purposely written this information in a simple manner so that children and adults can learn together quickly. If it is too simple for you then go right to the section about the 613 Mitzvot. If you have already read the books we recommend in the section entitled "The Reading List" and you review them from time to time, then you are most likely a Rabbi and you have your own website. Otherwise there is much to be learned from our humble site, and we encourage you to learn and share with others. We understand that there are some people who don't believe in God, and there are some people who are not interested in doing what God wants us to do. One of our goals is to teach the benefits of observing the mitzvahs. Almost everyone is already doing some mitzvahs and they don't even know it. We want to increase everyone's knowledge and observance of them. We know this is what HaShem wants us to do in order to perfect His Creation. Please visit our web site often, and we will do our best to keep you informed about new developments and activities in the wonderful world of mitzvahs and World Peace. We will leave you for now with the expression "Baruch HaShem" which is Hebrew for "Bless the Name", "Bless God", or "Thank God". Please use the expression often, as we do have much to be thankful for. We know you will enjoy doing mitzvahs, and the good feeling you get by doing them. Our "connection" to God and to each other is our greatest asset. We must use it wisely. Shalom (Peace) to you and yours, now and forever.
Contact InformationCongregation B'nai HaShem Jay F. Silverman President Mr. Silverman's Hebrew name is : Yaacov ben Eliezer ben Yaacov ben Eliezer For more information write to: Jay@TheMitzvahProject.org |
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Send mail to Jay@TheMitzvahProject.org with questions or comments about this web site.
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