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Congregation Shalom is a Reform Jewish community committed to education, spiritual growth,
and Tikkun
Olam (healing the world).
We are proud to be an extended family of
equals - welcoming,
caring, and inclusive.
Together, we engage in religious observance,
enjoy social activities, and
pursue life-long learning.
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From our Rabb
i
Stay tuned for the Rabbi's article in September.
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From our President
Dear friends,
Summer is half-way over now, and the activity level at the temple reflects that. Sundays and Wednesdays are noticeably quieter while school is on hiatus. But the business of the temple continues, even on these hot days. Summer cleaning, with an emptier building, is more thorough. School registrations have been processed in anticipation of fall classes. Rabbi Perry and the Ritual Committee have begun planning for the High Holidays. B'Nai Mitzvah tutoring continues for those with autumn dates. And the Board of Trustees meets year round.
We want to let our members know what the business of the temple is, and how the Board is addressing it. Every member of this congregation should be able to understand decisions that are being made by the Board. Our mission statement refers to us as "an extended family of equals" and, though many decisions are made by the Board, it follows that input from regular members is valued. You might be interested to know that Board meetings are open to all members. You can witness the business of the temple as it is happening. Board meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month, and the agenda will be posted approximately one week before on the Members Only section of our temple website. You will also be able to find minutes of these meetings there once they've been completed.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, or comments. I can be reached at
president@congregationshalom.org
or at 978-692-0415. I would like each member to feel a sense of "ownership" of this place. Getting involved is a good thing.
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From our Education Director
Stay tuned for Yael's article in the September issue.
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 From our Cantorial Soloist
Birkat Kohanim
, the Priestly Blessing, found in the Torah in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, is a series of blessings stating: 1. May the Lord bless you and keep you. 2. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. 3. May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and grant you peace (Num. 6:24-26). While this trifold benediction is seen in the Torah only once, it is said or chanted at services/lifecycle events throughout the year.
In focusing on this ancient text, I could not help but think about the many blessings I have experienced at Congregation Shalom. Over the past several years, I have been blessed to lead a variety of services with Rabbi Perry. Our Friday night Shabbat menus have been filled with soulful and energetic song, spirit and, yes, laughter! Singing at our Bar and Bat Mitzvah services and watching our young adults show their mastery of text and prayer is another deeply felt blessing.
Last, but certainly not least, has been the blessing of working with the Junior Choir, Kol Kolot. I have had the pleasure of leading in song a group of your children. When working together, not only do their beautiful, sweet voices blend, but their sense of ruach (spirit) is felt as well. Kol Kolot will be performing several times this coming year. Please check our calendar for upcoming performances!
And so, as we continue to soak up the summer warmth, I am thrilled to know that my blessings at Congregation Shalom will continue musically this year.
Beginning on Friday September 15th
at 6 PM, please join us for our first Sunset Shabbat of the season. Soon thereafter, we will embrace Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. We will mark the onset of 5778 with soulful song, emphasizing tradition, ritual, and strength of community...blessing upon blessing!
Our Tehilim, or Psalms, are words of praise, enabling us to show our gratitude for our many gifts. Please enjoy our recording below of Psalm 150 meshed with Leonard Cohen's melody and lyrics. Adam and I are so excited to share another year of song and soul with you all!
B'Shalom,
Jodi Blankstein, Cantorial Soloist
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Summary Dues and Fees -
Fiscal Year 2017 - 2018
These are Congregation Shalom's approved dues and fees for fiscal year 2017 - 2018:
Dues:
Family $2070
Affiliate $345
Single $1250
Young Adult* $36
*Member 29 years old or younger with no child of school age
Assessments:
Long Term Maintenance $205
New Member Fee $100 per year in years 2-6 of membership
School Fees
:
Pre-school (members) $364
Pre-school (nonmembers) $421
Religious school $404
Hebrew school $443
Chai school (Confirmation program) $391
Post-Confirmation (grades 11-12) $209
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Please Pick Your Oneg!!!
You choose the date, time, and service type
· Want a Sunset Oneg?
· Want to host the same night as your father's Yarzheit?
· How about hosting the same night as your child's class dinner?
· Away all winter?
Just let us know, and we'll make it happen. Every member is expected to host
two
Onegs. However, if you volunteer to be the
coordinator, one Oneg
will fulfill your obligation. All hosts are expected to help with set-up and clean-up along with supplying food.
PLEASE DO NOT JUST DROP OFF FOOD AT THE TEMPLE.
There is always a need for those of you willing to host some special services for Erev Rosh Hashana, Rosh Hashana children's service, Simchat Torah service, or teacher appreciation Shabbat. If you have very young children, the Tot Shabbat is for you. However, if your children have outgrown it, please let us know.
Please send an email to
oneg@congregationshalom.org
with requests, as well as stating whether you are willing to be a Coordinator or not. Requests may contain any/all of the following:
Service type: Tot, Family, Adult, MOCA, Adult Sunset, or Shabbat Shirah
Service Time: There are Adult "Sunset Services" at 6:00 p.m., family services at 7:00 p.m. and a few others at 7:15 p.m. There are no longer 8:00 p.m. services.
Event: Holiday or Special Shabbat (e.g., Shalomites Service, Grade 3 Shabbat Dinner, or a friend's Bar/Bat Mitzvah weekend)
Unavailable dates, such as vacation or snowbird schedule: "we're in Florida from December 1 - May 31" or "not during tax season", so we'll schedule you for a better time.
Music preference: Do you want Jodi/Adam, Shpiel, or our new Shabbat Shirah?
Specific date: such as December Family Service or November 6 at 8 p.m.
The final schedule for services/special Shabbats is not available until late August. Assignments are made during August and published in the September newsletter. Therefore,
requests can be made during early August
.
If you do not request specific dates, you will be assigned to ones that we hope are appropriate; however, the best way to ensure that the assignment is correct is to
let us know your preferences before being assigned
. Once the assignment has been made, you are responsible for swapping your date, if necessary, with another member.
Thank you for your part in making our congregational Oneg program successful; it's yet another part of Congregation Shalom's tradition that we feel is special and unique.
The Oneg Committee:
Caren Boroshok, Scheduler
Pat & Rick Karpeles, Letter Senders
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Donations
The following donations were received from March - June 2017:
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT FUND
Four General Donations
In honor of
Passover
Marriage of Roberta Myers & Ariel Dagan
In memory of
Gibi Cox
Pauline Powell
MARTIN AMES SOCIAL ACTION LECTURE FUND
In honor of
Frank family's great grandchild
In memory of
Lorraine Syatt
MUSIC FUND
In honor of
Choir Shabbat
SUSAN MURRAY YOUTH SCHOLARSHIP FUND
In honor of
Grade 10 Students, four donations
In memory of
Stephen Miller
LEAVES ON TREE OF LIFE
In honor of
Daniel Himelfarb's bar mitzvah
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For a link to the Tribute Book Ad Form please click here:
Click here to see sample ads for the Tribute Book:
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Social Action Committee
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Save the Date
October 15th - 50th Anniversary Gala
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Summer Service Schedule
August 11th
August 25th
All services will start at 6:00 p.m.
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Groups
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Quick Links
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Links to Our Website
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Good and Welfare
Condolences to Marilyn Katler on the passing of her mother Sylvia Katler.
Mazal Tov to Wendy Capland and Chris Michaud on the marriage of their daughter
Abigail Lily Capland to Ricky Galosh on June 24th. Our member and proud step dad Chris Michaud officiated!
Condolences to Neil Berenson and family on the passing of his brother Martin Berenson.
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New Members
We warmly welcome the Dennis family and the Ecker/Ball family to our Congregation Shalom community.
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August Yahrzeits
August 4th
Emily Fischler
Justin David Goldman
Zelman Kamien
Eleanor Myers
Donald Pearlman
Naomi Perry
Allan Rosenberg
Sherry Rosenberg
Saul Shurdut
Charlotte Siegel
August 11th
Leon Fox
Bob Kupor
Carole Myers
Rose Pasternack
Steven Silverman
Lillian Spiegler
August 18th
Esther Gilmore
Mark Himelfarb
William Kurzman
Goldie (Strasberg) Lasky
Eli Segal
Shirley Shurdit
Al Silverstein
Irving Weisberger
August 25
Isador William Friedlander
Harry Gross
Shirley Heckel Hodes
Saul Hirschel
Louis Laider
Benjamin Orringer
John Truitt
September 1
Jeromen Degen
Anne Levi
Clara Shamesman
Ernest Snyder
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| Our Caring Committee Can Help
The Caring Committee is always available to provide meals or transportation to those members and families who need a little help. Please don't hesitate to email Katie Wolman at
caringchair@congregationshalom.org
or Rabbi Perry at
rabbi@congregationshalom.org
, or feel free to call Katie at home.
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| Newsletter Ads and You!
We are always looking for advertisers for the Temple newsletter. Ads can be placed at any time with special pricing for members. Ads need not be for a year so if you want to try us, we take ads for 3 months as well as six months. If you decide to continue your ad for a full year, we do pro-rate the price. As the saying goes, "Try us, you'll like us!"
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Youth Scholarships
Throughout the year, there are many enriching Jewish experiences available to our youth through our synagogue or the community. These include, but aren't limited to, summer camps and trips to Washington, New York, and Israel. Fortunately, there is some scholarship money available through the temple to those families in need of financial assistance for these opportunities. Please contact Margie Berenson at scholarship@concgregationahalom.org with any questions and/or for an application form.
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| Changed Your Address?
Notify us at: emailchange@congregationshalom.org
and we'll make sure all the right organizations at the Temple are informed. Please include your full name in your request.
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Fundraising 
We need your help. In August the Fundraising Committee begins assembling information for the Online Auction. Is there a new store/restaurant in your neighborhood? Send us the name or better yet, we will give you an introductory letter so you can do 'the ask' yourself. Now is the time to think about you own donation - a special dinner at you home, a dessert you are known for, a cooking class you are willing to host, any kind of class you are willing to teach. Please get in touch with us at
Remember to fill the gray container with books, torn clothing, old schoolbags, belts, handbags, broken toys and so forth. Everything is broken down and recycled. The yellow and green container is for newspapers and paper only. No telephone books, please. NO CARDBOARD!!!
We emphasize this because last month someone threw 3 cardboard boxes from basketball backboards in the newspaper/paper container, as well as our green trash container. We had to take the backboard cardboard boxes from the yellow and green container and put them in the green trash container that we have to pay to empty. Please think about this when you come to the Temple to drop off 'no-no's.
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with any questions.
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Brotherhood News
Look forward to seeing new folks at the kick-off event!
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 Grocery Cards
Join in for the Grocery Card Fundraiser Program!
Are you making extra trips to the market shopping for BBQ items and popsicles for the kids?
Turn those bags of groceries into money for the Temple!
You can help raise funds for Congregation Shalom programs. Here's how:
1 -- You buy grocery gift cards through our program for Donelan's, Hannaford, Stop & Shop or Whole Foods.
2-- You receive your cards in the mail near the end of each month, then send in payment to the Temple Office.
3 -- The Temple receives free cash back!
For every $100 gift card, the temple gets $7. Many families already request up to $400 each month. That adds up to $28 for the Temple. Please consider joining in to support this easy fundraiser.
A special thank you to Judy Beningson, who has made this program run so smoothly for many years. I look forward to continuing this successful fundraiser and hopefully, with your help, increasing participation and profits in the next fiscal year.
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Book Group
The Congregation Shalom book group will be on vacation this summer. During the summer we will be reading the classic " Exodus
" by Leon Uris.
Some other books mentioned for summer reads were:
Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki
House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
1984 by George Orwell
The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Happy reading! Have a great summer.
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iGive for Congregation Shalom
Have you ever thought how great it would be to be able to shop online at 783 different well-known stores and still donate money to Congregation Shalom? Well, you can do that! It's free and easy so join those of us who have been sending donations to the synagogue for years simply by shopping by first going to the iGive website once you have established the link.
Click here
to register for Congregation Shalom to automatically be the recipient cause.
If you make a purchase through iGive within 45 days of signing up, an extra $5.00 will go to Congregation Shalom. If you have any questions, please contact Laura at
fundraising@congregationshalom.org.
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Extended Community
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Table of Plenty in Chelmsford
Free Dinner Served
Every Tuesday from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
at First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Chelmsford Center
All are welcome. No questions asked.
Also, if you know of someone who cannot get out,
but would benefit from a dinner being delivered to them, please contact us.
For more information contact:
tableofplentyinchelmsford@gmail.com
www.tableofplentyinchelmsford.org
978-710-8328
Return to Quick Links
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From the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston & Affiliates...
VNA Hospice Care needs volunteers! Hospice volunteers play a key role in helping to provide caring and compassion to patients and families facing life-limiting illness and loss. A volunteer may provide patients with company and emotional support, give the spouse, partner or other caregiver a needed break from care giving, and/or help caregivers run errands or get to and from appointments. A strong need exists for volunteers who can visit on weekdays. We also seek: musicians who would like to sing or play music quietly at the bedside of nursing home residents; Reiki practitioners who would like to offer Reiki to patients and/or caregivers; and people interested in visiting with their therapy dog. Volunteers who speak both English and a second language are also helpful. We provide volunteer training and ongoing support. Call 781-569-2888 and ask to speak to a Volunteer Coordinator for more information. Or email LPalais@vnab.org.
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Spiritual Poetry Journal
"Soul-Lit" is a new on-line spiritual poetry journal. A number of entries have been from Jews and have Jewish content. Writers are encouraged to submit their own poems which have a level of spiritual content to them. Two volumes have already been published. To check out the website, please click here. Please spread the word to members of the community who are writers / poets, and who may wish to submit their own writings.
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Please support our Congregation Shalom advertisers 
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