Thursday, June 6, 2019

This weekend: Open House, BBQ, Rock Shabbat, & The Forgotten Holiday

To paraphrase Mr. T: I pity the "family" that isn't around this weekend. We have soooo much going on.

Like any weekend, we begin with Shabbat. But not just any Shabbat. We have 3 special events:

Open House for School; BBQ dinner, Rock Shabbat with Dahg.

It all begins at 5:00 with fun and games for the kiddos. I won't go into all the details, see the weekly announcements for that, but suffice it to say, it's going to be a real humdinger of an evening! (When was the last time you heard anyone use the term 'humdinger'?)

BTW, if able, please bring a salad, side dish or dessert to share. Temple is supplying the BBQ on our new grill!

If interested, at 6:00, Rabbi E. & Morah Judy will have a SHORT presentation on innovations and directions our Hebrew school is taking.

The Forgotten Holiday: Shavuot
In the Torah it tells of 3 very important pilgrimage holidays: Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot. Maybe because Shavuot comes at such a busy time of the year, many people don't even know what it is! No less important than the other 2, it's a harvest festival but more importantly, it's the time when the Torah was first given on Mt. Sinai. It's a tradition to study ALL night

When I was a little girl my mother told me that if I was able to stay up until midnight studying, the sky would open and I would see God's face. I'll never forget that at midnight we went outside and it was partly cloudy, and at midnight, lo and behold (when was the last time you heard anyone use the term ' lo and behold '?) the clouds parted, leaving a dark circle of sky with millions of stars. Maybe that is the face of God. 

This tradition of study is called Tikkun Leil Shavuot. This year we are joining with OZ at their synagogue (after all, they came here for Yom HaShoah/Holocaust Memorial), where both Rabbis Small and Edleson will lead a study on The Book of Ruth, a beautiful Megillah, of Ruth, often called the first Jew by Choice.  (see details in the weekly announcement). This begins Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. and goes till...???

Sunday morning, June 9, Shavuot celebrations continue with services here at 10 a.m., with a service and the reading of the Ten Commandments. Hallel (songs of praise) is recited and there is a Yizkor service at noon to remember our beloved family members who have passed away.

Hope you can join us for some, or all, of these wonderful events.

Morah Judy

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