Beit HaShofar Synagogue
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 by Rebbetzin Malkah
"Not by might, nor by power, but through My spirit" - Zechariah 4:6, read on Shabbat Chanukah
There is no doubt that we, as women, have the ability to carry much and rest little. Whether we have families, or care for those around us, we are constantly in motion. Sometimes before we even realize where the day has gone, it is over. But how do we maintain the balance of giving light and being sure our cruise of oil doesn't run out? As the darkness of the winter season comes upon us, it can be difficult to motivate ourselves, let alone feel cheery. However, as bearers of the light of Mashiach, it is possible to dance like the flames of the candles and radiate light, as well as endure the challenges of our days beyond what we think is possible.
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Join us for a delightful, sensory and spiritual walk at our Tu B'Shevat Seder on Saturday February 11th at 1PM
Give your senses and and your neshama/soul a chance to awaken.
Suggested donation per person for attendance:
$8/adults, $6/students & seniors, $4/children.
We will also accept donations to plant trees in Israel ($18 each). Note: You can donate to plant as many trees as you like.
No one will be turned away from experiencing a feast of the senses and the season due to lack of funds. Give what you are able.
Come and experience the rising of the sap, the life, within yourself.
Please fill out the form below to make your seder reservation, and donate online for the seder and to plant trees before February 8th.
Click here to donate online for the seder event and JNF trees.
2011 Tu B'Shevat Seder Signup
Click here to donate online for the seder event and JNF trees.
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by Rebbetzin Malkah 
When the Baal Shem Tov was young, he lived in the mountains of southern Russia.
From time to time he would walk to the top of a mountain, and lose himself in thought.
Lost to the world, lost to himself, but found to G-d.Deep in this lostness and this foundness, he once began to walk where there was no ground to walk on.
As he put his foot down, he was stepping into an abyss.
But before he could hurtle downward, a nearby mountain moved, and closed the gap.
The Baal Shem, all unknowing, continued on firm ground: lost to the world, lost to himself, but found to G-d. - - Chassidic tale
Stonewashing is a process in the textile industry that is used to give a new denim cloth garment a worn-out appearance. This process also helps to increase the softness and flexibility of otherwise stiff and rigid fabrics such as denim. This process entails what the name implies: washing the denim with large stones to roughen up and soften the cloth. As stones represent an obstacle or hardship, the denim is likened to B'nei Yisrael's fabric of faith. The challenges that Hashem places before B'nei Yisrael as they travel through the wilderness are meant to tenderize and increase their faith. Moshe, Mashiach Yeshua and the Baal Shem Tov all prove to us that through this stonewashing comes a small seed of faith that can rise above the evil, chaos and doubt that prevail in our midst. Not only can we move mountains, but we can be a conduit of faith and possibility to those around us, even in the most impossible of circumstances.
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 We are wishing you a sweet and prosperous New Year 5771. How are you going to make this year better than the next? How will we all be a better light for Messiah this year? I think we have an answer. Our community has started a new project and all are invited to participate. Let me introduce you to the practice of Mussar for the Messianic Jewish community.
The Hebrew term Mussar (מוּסַר), is from the book of Proverbs 1:2 meaning instruction, discipline, or conduct. The Mussar movement was a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Eastern Europe, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews.
A diligent study of Mussar (Jewish ethical practice) can bring new life into your days. Our Mussar Master, Messiah Yeshua taught us how we should bring good fruit as a demonstration of our purposeful lives:
For a good tree does not produce rotten fruit, and a rotten tree does not produce good fruit. For every tree is recognized by its fruit; for people do not gather figs from thorns or harvest grapes from a thorny bush. A good man, from the storehouse of his good heart, obtains what is good; a bad man, from the storehouse of his bad heart, obtains what is bad. For from the overflow of a man’s heart his mouth will speak. (Luke 6:43-45)
 Let us sprout good fruit this year. I welcome you to participate and be active in the Riverton Mussar project.
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by Rebbetzin Malkah
There is an aggadah (legend) in the Midrash that the Roman Emperor Hadrian asked how man would be revived in the World to Come; Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah replied that it would be "From Luz, in the back-bone." "Prove this to me," said Hadrian. Then the Rabbi took Luz, a small bone of the spine, and immersed it in water, but it was not softened; he put it into the fire, but it was not consumed; he put it into a mill, but it could not be pounded; he placed it upon an anvil and struck it with a hammer, but the anvil split and the hammer was broken. (Ecclesiastes Rabbah xii / Genesis Rabbah xviii).
"Yaacov arose early in the morning and took the stone that he place around his head and set it up as a pillar; and he poured oil on its top. And he named that place Beth-el; however Luz was the city's name originally." Bereishis 28:18-19
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