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This week with Rabbi Kinberg
Mazel Tov! Do you know we share an anniversary?
This week is our 3rd year together. In the summer of 2014 I arrived at Kol Ami. It was a time of change. And we all know...change is hard. I am the fourth rabbi in the twenty five plus years of Kol Ami being together as a congregation.
I was hired with a three year contract and my goal for the three years was to grow Kol Ami, not just in numbers, but in a sense of collective identity and in the programs and services we offer our community. One goal was to go from being a part-time congregation with only twice monthly Kabbalat Shabbat services to a full functioning synagogue with weekly Shabbat services in the morning and evening, weekly Torah Study, a thriving religious school and youth group, programs for different demographic groups like seniors and people with babies or toddlers. Over the course of three years we have built up all we do and I am happy to tell you: we have achieved our goals. We rest this July right where I had hoped we would be. I know I feel blessed and I am grateful to all the Kol Ami members and friends of our community for helping us reach this moment in time.
This week we begin our new schedule of worship, study, meditation, spiritual development and family education. Beginning this Saturday we will offer twice monthly meditative services which go deep into the spiritual and personal meanings of our prayers and sacred texts. These services are perfect for those who are new to Jewish spirituality and they are also perfect for those who are seeped in transitional Jewish prayer. These services will follow the traditional order of prayer but will focus more slowly on core concepts and prayer terms. We will go deep. We will aid in going internal and making Shabbat a space of personal spiritual work and community connection.
We have many B'nai Mitzvah coming up this summer. Every other week starting this July will also offer a more traditional Torah service. We will move more quickly through the body of Shabbat Morning liturgy with an emphasis on communal song and Torah reading.
We will ALSO offer Torah Study every Shabbat Morning from 9am-10:15am. Rain or shine. Every Saturday morning we will grasp onto that tree of life: Torah.
All services and study groups are open to everyone. No Hebrew knowledge needed.
This is the first of my weekly messages to the Kol Ami community. Look to this spot in HaKol every week. I will be writing a special series just for our members.
Have a beautiful week and I hope to be able to wish you Shabbat Shalom in person sometime soon.
Many blessings,
Rabbi Kinberg
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We are honored to announce that Jane Hashash is our new Religious School Coordinator. Jane comes to us with decades of experience working with children and teens in the area of arts education. She is an accomplished caterer and pastry chef. Jane brings her skills in project management, event planning and creativity within Judaism to our education team. We could not be more thrilled to add her and her many gifts to program. Jane is married to Asher Hashash and is mother to Avi and Noam.
