From the Rabbi's Desk
| September 2024
Friends, Summer feels like it is beginning to fade away. Children are heading back to school, students are heading back to college, sailors are thinking about preparing boats for the winter, and gardeners are bringing in those last summer vegetables. But as one season ends, another begins, and there is much to look forward to. September 8th will be the first day of Religious School AND the Temple Emanu-El Farmer’s Market Open House. Whether you are a new member or have been part of our community for many years, you will want to come. Just as the seasons change, TE changes also. Come catch up with old friends and meet new ones, enjoy music and food, support our local farmers, crafters, the Sisterhood Gift Shop, find out what is happening at Temple for you, and maybe even join a committee. Thank you to Emma Zelken and many others for making the Open House a new annual Fall tradition at Temple Emanu-El. Lisa Marcus and the Religious School teachers and staff have been working hard to prepare for an exciting new year. We have two big changes with religious school this year. First, we are rearranging our Sunday mornings. Several years ago, we added a weekday morning learner’s service called T’fila Time to our Sunday morning Religious School programming. This 25-minute service is learning Judaism by doing Judaism. In the classroom students learn words, prayers, and ideas that are foundational to Judaism; in T’fila Time, students experience Jewish religious practice. This year we will be moving T’fila Time to the beginning of our Sunday at 9:30 AM. We are strongly suggesting that student’s family members join us. Judaism can’t thrive and be sustained if it is confined to just young students in classrooms. Judaism needs the nurturing of families and community to be healthy. After T’fila Time, we hope parents and others will stick around and build their own community circles over healthy snacks, bagels and coffee. Again, everyone in our TE Community, but especially our Religious School families, are invited to be part of our Sunday morning T’fila Time at 9:30 AM. We will also conclude our Sunday mornings with Havdalah at 11:50 AM. Parents and guardians are welcome to join us for Havdalah and pick up their students in the Social Hall. The second big change to our religious school is Kadima (pronounced Ka-DEE-ma), a new program for high school students. The seeds for Kadima have grown out of discussions with our teens, who are now entering high school, and their families. In Kadima, our students will build an individual and mature sense of Jewish identity, meaning, purpose, and interconnectedness by exploring and putting core values into action. Teens will meet before religious school for a spirituality group led by Rabbi Polly and myself, followed by volunteering in our religious school. On select Sundays after religious school, teens will have lunch and learn while planning or doing social action or social justice projects. Kadima will also go on several trips to spots of Jewish importance and travel to Washington, DC, for the February Religious Action Center L’taken Seminar. The Kadima program will be facilitated by myself and a new face in our community, Libbie Duskin. If you are a parent and have questions about Kadima, please contact me ASAP. In this article, I have focused primarily on new happenings in the religious school. However, the vibrancy at Temple Emanu-El is spread throughout our entire community. If you are new to TE, have just been away for a while, or maybe just want to get involved in new things, make a point to come to our Open House on September 8th. I’ll see you there. L’Shana Tovah, |
Cantorial Notes
| September 2024
Welcome back from vacations and summer fun! Today is a spectacular day! Even though it is almost the end of August, today feels like September weather. You can feel there is change in the air. The choir and I are rehearsing High Holy Day music, Jose will be sounding the shofar to “wake us up” metaphorically, and we have invited Victor Johnson back to engage our hearts and souls as he plays Kol Nidre on cello. Sam Winograd, our Religious Practices Chair, is putting out the call for you to choose from selected parts and participate in services for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Make sure to read Sam’s bulletin article and reply. We love when you are involved.
Classes will begin again the week of September 9. This year I will be offering a Beginning Hebrew Class. Here is the lineup: Tuesdays at 11:00 Wednesdays at 10:00 Wednesdays at 11:00 Thursdays at 11:00 Thursdays at 12:00
You are welcome to come and try any class that is an “ongoing class”. Please contact me by email: shirie3860@aol.com and let me know which class/classes that you are interested in. Classes may be interrupted in October, due to the way the Holidays are falling. A very big thank you to all of you who led Shabbat Summer Services! I appreciated all the thoughtfulness, and time you put in to make your service meaningful and inclusive. Thank you to those who read Torah, wrote a D’var Torah, participated in various ways, and attended the lay-led Shabbat Services. Looking forward to seeing you at Shabbat and High Holy Day Services. May the New Year be a sweet and meaningful one. Shanah tova u’mitukah,
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Presidential Message
| September 2024
Welcome back from your summer vacations, staycations, family reunions, and restful sojourns! I am grateful for our Temple leadership who started the new fiscal year with zest. We are blessed to have a full, diverse, and highly motivated team of Board members. We met twice in July, for regular Temple business at the first meeting and then a special Board retreat to focus on annual goals planning. We reflected on the past year‘s successes and identified what was not working, what we could improve, and what innovations we could pursue this year. In August we met again for regular business, and to analyze our collective inputs, so we can clearly define this year’s priorities. This month, we will set measurable objectives and strategies, identify timing and resources, and get to it. I very much appreciate the tireless efforts of Hazzan Sherry and our lay leaders, their prayer readers, and service participants who led Shabbat throughout the summer. Many thanks to all of you for your devotion to Torah, prayer, and our community. We are so fortunate to have generous congregants who give their time and energy to our Temple life. I personally enjoyed hearing the variety of voices and listening to creative and meaningful D’Var Torah sermons. It was a special treat to attend the special outdoor Shabbat led by Rabbi Marc and Hazzan Sherry at Bluff Point State Park. Thank you to the Religious Practices Committee for planning the delicious breakfast picnic and spiritual walk. As we approach the High Holidays season, September will be a time for us to once again gather for religious school, adult education, and the many activities we enjoy in the Temple building, such as our monthly Shabbat Dinners on the third Friday of each month, baking club sessions, the mahjongg and writers circles, and upcoming fall events like the Temple’s Farmers Market and Open House on Sunday September 8. I look forward to hearing about your summer adventures! See you soon, Armi
Board Meeting Highlights These are highlights from our June and July Board meetings and recent Board activities:
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