Israel Public Action Committee of Congregation Rodfei Sholom
In response to the continuous anti-Israel bias found in the reporting of the Arab-Israeli conflict, a group of volunteers from the Congregation under the direction of Rabbi Scheinberg, Bobbie Ghitis, and a professional journalist and former editor of the San Antonio Light, Ben Siegal Z”L, formed in 2001 the Israel Public Action Committee of Congregation Rodfei Sholom (IPA).
The IPA Committee works to provide information to the general public about Israel and the Middle East. It monitors and counters anti-Israel bias in the media, exposes anti-Israel propaganda, and encourages action and advocacy for Israel. It sends the “Daily Alert”, a compendium of news prepared by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. It also sends “Action Alerts” regarding U.S. House and Senate resolutions affecting Israel and the Jewish people.
The IPA won an award from the Orthodox Union in 2004 for its 17-month research project exposing the anti-Israel bias Israel bias existing in the local paper. The IPA has been instrumental in bringing to San Antonio programming about Israel, anti-Semitism, and Radical Islam including the documentary Israel Inside, the Step-Up for Israel program, Judeophobia, and Raphael Shore’s documentaries The Third Jihad and Crossing the Line--The Intifada Comes to Campus.” It also joined other cities in the U.S. in the screening of the premiere Iranium.
The IPA is also active in the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation.
For more information, to receive the “Daily Alert,” or to join the Committee, please contact Bobbie Ghitis, IPA Chair, at 210.493.3557 or send an email to iparodfei@gmail.com.
Bikur Cholim (Visiting the Sick)
Rodfei Sholom's tradition of being a caring, warm, and supportive community is meaningfully expressed through its Bikur Cholim (visiting the sick) committee.
According to the Rabbis, the mitzvah of visiting the sick originates in the Torah in Genesis 18:1 when G-d appears to Avraham while he is sitting at the entrance to his tent in the plains of Mamrei. Rashi comments that G-d appears to Avraham immediately after his circumcision to inquire about his well-being, since he was recuperating from the circumcision. The Rabbis of the Talmud explain that as G-d visits the sick so should we visit the sick.
The essence of the mitzvah of Bikur Cholimis to be with the person who is ill, to address both that person's physical and spiritual needs, and to provide comfort and support.
Members of the committee visit patients at local hospitals and also visit the Jewish elderly at Golden Estates (previously Golden Manor), where the residents experience a bimonthly class on Judaism.
Since the synagogue doesn't receive a list of patients at the hospital (due to government regulations), it is very important that the patients or their families notify the office about any hospitalization.
Anyone interested in joining the Bikur Cholim committee or helping with any of these important mitzvahs, should contact Bobbie Ghitis, chair of the committee at 210.862.0704 or the synagogue at 210.493.3557.
Women’s Tehillim Group
A group of women meet every Shabbat afternoon at either the synagogue or a home nearby, for discussion and the reading of psalms. Please contact the synagogue office for the exact time and place each week.
