The Scribe 
5778
F A L L   2 0 1 7 
Laurie Franklin
Laurie's Letter
On the Road to Becoming a Rabbi: Crossroad Ahead

    When I began my rabbinic program in fall 2011, I knew that one day we might be having a conversation about my future at Har Shalom. Now, the time for that conversation has arrived. As a student, I have been blessed by the opportunity to use everything I learn in service to our congregation. Recently, I was awarded senior status in the ALEPH rabbinic program and anticipate that I will be ordained in January 2019.
    So, now we face a new question together: Does Har Shalom have the resources to hire me as rabbi? As a student, I was able to learn much from my experiences at Har Shalom and could justify working for a modest, part-time income. The income also covered my tuition, fees, books and travel expenses. As a senior student and soon-to-be-ordained rabbi, with six years of study behind me, it is appropriate to expect more. The board kindly agreed to give me a raise this year, on the provision that we would begin a process to determine whether we can continue beyond May 2018. To that end, the board constituted an ad hoc committee composed of members-at-large and some of the elected leadership to think creatively about our resources and discern whether our community can retain me.
    In truth, I have been preparing to be Har Shalom's rabbi since 2009, even before I began in the ALEPH seminary program. I owe my desire to pursue a rabbinic path to Har Shalom's board, who supported my participation in Union for Reform Judaism leadership seminars during 2007-2009 that catalyzed my desire to become a rabbi. I am indebted to Har Shalom for granting me leave and giving me a scholarship while I spent the 2012-2013 year at Pardes Institute in Jerusalem and for allowing me the flexibility to travel for the annual residential weeks of my ordination program. I dearly hope we can continue together beyond next May 2018. I am also aware that I might have to prepare for other possibilities.
    I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has been part of our community and has helped me along my path toward ordination. I am grateful to those who made special, additional donations that will allow me to remain employed by Har Shalom this year. Last, I am thankful for the energy and time of those who are participating in the ad hoc discernment process. I am confident that through our work and with the help of the Holy Blessed One, we will reach a fitting resolution.

Holly Kingsford
President Holly Kingsford's Column    
My Last Column As President

    When tasked with writing a "State of the Shul" article, I wondered if I could balance my concerns with the positives. Let me explain: Our student rabbi is transitioning to full rabbi; will we be able to pay her properly? For greater accountability and continuity, we are migrating our financial management to a more costly professional bookkeeping service; will we be able to afford it? And one of our longtime members and active supporters is moving out of state! Will we have the resources to sustain ourselves? Talk about a wing and a prayer!
    For the past four years, as president of the board, sometimes I have felt alone with my concerns, and yet it seems that at the 11th hour, everyone pitches in, and we are able to survive another day. Truly, we all have an indispensible role in the survival and growth of Har Shalom.
    Now, it is time to pass the baton to the next president and administration, although I will remain on the board as immediate past president, as our by-laws specify. At our next annual meeting on September 10th, we will be voting in the new board.
    As we approach this season of renewal and change, let's consider some of the accomplishments of the last four years. Here are just a few:
· We still have a roof over our heads, and it doesn't leak anymore. We have new paint, new chairs and new carpet.
· We are paying the mortgages down steadily.
· We hosted Pizmon, a concert of a capella Jewish youth, as well as the Hadassah Shabbaton.
· We have a weekly Jewish meditation group and held several monthly Rosh Chodesh observances.
· Seders, Holy Days and parties have been beautifully presented and fun.
· We have more and more children and adult B'nai Mitzva happening.
· We have consistently held weekly services, either led by Laurie or by competent lay leaders. (Such a mitzva!)
· We have a beautiful new website.
· Our library is the most comprehensive Jewish library in the state of Montana.
· We removed the rotten front canopy and redecorated the front with art and flowers in a beautiful and unique way.
· The sanctuary is more regal than ever with a Ner Tamid and a handmade Torah ark.
· Summer Camp begins (as I write this) on Monday with our Israeli counselors.
    Are there things we could be doing better? Sure! In a small community, there is no room for anyone to keep their light hidden. We need every gift and talent to be in play for the greater good. I would ask that you consider what part you might play and then get in touch with a member of our leadership team. Conversations have  been happening. By managing our collective energy, we are free to speak our truth and are forging our unique way.
    We are all stronger when we work together.
Meet Our Leaders  
    
    Every year, we elect the board at our annual meeting. This year, all of our board's five members are up for election or re-election. Four would like to continue (Holly Kingsford, Bert Chessin, Pat Cohen and Lida Running Crane), and one is running for the first time, after having been appointed to fill a vacancy (David Cox). These are the people who have stepped forward to fill critical leadership roles in our community, and we can be grateful for their contribution to our community's life.
    According to Har Shalom's bylaws, the congregation elects the board, and the board elects its own officers. This year, President Holly Kingsford and and Vice President Pat Cohen are planning to step out of their 4-year tenure in those roles but would like to continue as board members. So, we anticipate changes after September 10, our annual meeting date.
    When Holly became president in 2013, she instituted a system of operating committees, led by chairs and working closely with liaisons on the board. The board appoints the committee chairs. The new president and board will decide whether to retain this system or approach this aspect of governance differently.
    So, please meet our board members, committee chairs and other special leaders, some outgoing, some incoming, and some remaining in place:

BOARD (Elected by the congregation)

Holly Kingsford, President (outgoing as board officer), Membership liaison
Holly has two grown children and is proud of her four magnificent grandchildren. She owns a Farmers Insurance agency on South Russell Street. Holly attended Hebrew Day School in Portland, OR, and lived in Israel for five years. She served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a drill sergeant, training Israeli women recruits.

Pat Cohen, current Vice President (outgoing as board officer),  Ruach liaison, and keeper of the Har Shalom Calendar
Pat Cohen is a wife, a mother of two daughters and a son-in-law, a grandmother (of one adorable grandson), a retired computer programmer. 
She spends her time encouraging the native plants around her and discouraging weeds, studying Spanish, studying Hebrew, and rereading Harry Potter books.

Lida Running Crane, Secretary, Education and Social action liaison
Lida Running Crane is going into her fourth year as Har Shalom Board Secretary and Social Action liaison. She is invested in building community within Har Shalom and in sharing that Jewish experience with her family.

Bert Chessin, Immediate past president, Treasurer,
Finance liaison
Bert Chessin is a native Missoulian, who returned to Missoula ten years ago, after nearly a four-decade diaspora. He grew up in the small, intimate Jewish community here and had his Bar Mitzvah ceremony at the University Congregational Church, when Har Shalom's present Torah was gifted to Missoula from the Helena Jewish community. His Jewish journey has been one of Jewish
music and ritual and building community. Klezmer music has been a cornerstone of his Jewish identity, along with serving as president of congregations in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Missoula. Bert has been largely responsible for coordinating the Har Shalom summer camp, helping with Atidaynu, and providing tutoring for bnei mitzvah students. Bert is blessed to be back home with family, community, and Missoulians of all stripes.

David Cox, Building Committee Chair, appointed to board in 2017 to fill vacancy 
David joined Har Shalom in 2015, having moved from Portland, OR, with his wife, Susan, and stepdaughter, Lisa. He volunteered to do some of the deferred maintenance on the building, then served on the Operating Committee responsible for building issues. He is grateful for having found such a wonderful, supportive
and friendly Jewish spiritual home at Har Shalom, and would like to see our congregation expand and be the spiritual home to more Missoulians. David works part-time as a handyman, sings in a barbershop chorus for fun, and has attended
the ALEPH Davvening Leadership Training Institute over the last year.

OPERATING COMMITTEES and SPECIAL POSITIONS
(Appointed by the board)

Sheehan Rosen, Atidaynu coordinator and Education/Social Action Chair (outgoing)
Sheehan served as a Sunday school teacher and administrator since 2006. She continues to be active in maintaining the Har Shalom Library. Editor's note: Sheehan is also a life-long dancer and a professional midwife. She and husband Paul have shepherded three sons through b'nei mitzvah at Har Shalom.

Jessica Weltman and Matt Semanoff,
Atidaynu coordinators for 2017-2018 (5778)
Matt Semanoff and Jessica Weltman are happy to join their nearly nine-year-old daughter at Atidaynu this coming year and assist in making Har Shalom a special place for Jewish children to feel part of a community. They both hail from the Midwest, growing up in Jewish summer camps and Sunday schools, but have been living in Missoula for over ten years. Their day jobs are at the University. They welcome old and new families to another great year.

Barb Gross, Ruach Chair
Barb has been a member of the Har Shalom Community since 1991. She attended the University of Montana and the Missoula Vo-Tech (now Missoula College) and graduated from both. She has been chair of the Spiritual (Ruach) Committee for four years. The calm feeling you get after going to Friday and Saturday Services at Har Shalom is a welcomed part of Barb's life. Torah Study on Saturday morning keeps her tuned into Shabbat Shalom.


Sherry Kolenda, Finance chair
Sherry has been a member of the Har Shalom community since her arrival in Missoula in 2006. She has been an active member of the Har Shalom leadership team throughout this time, serving in various positions, including serving on the Board, Vice President and currently as Chair of the Finance Committee. She has been instrumental in facilitating fund raising projects, including the very successful Chef's Dinner and production of 'Tuesdays with Morrie", as well as a number of matching funds campaigns. She pursues a career as a realtor for Windermere Real Estate and is living the Montana dream in the Blue Mountain area of Missoula with her husband Richard and two beloved yellow labs, Bodee and Bitsy.

Joy Earls, Membership chair (outgoing)
Joy Earls was drawn to Missoula in 1978 (Joy Shulman at that time.) She first attended Har Shalom (The Missoula Jewish Community) in the basement of the Methodist Church downtown. As the community flourished and grew, she lent a helping hand when possible: preparing Passover Seder meals, carrying the siddurs to services at various churches, helping with Sunday school at the YWCA, and serving on the board in different capacities. Board meetings were a fun affair at Marilyn Dayries home.
    Several years later at a board meeting at Maeta Kaplan's house, as co-chair of the building committee, Joy presented the proposal to purchase a building on Russell  Street-a home for Har Shalom. After the initial shock and a community meeting, Har Shalom unpacked those boxes for good in their new home. No more schlepping. Her younger son Carter was honored to celebrate the first Bar Mitzvah there.
    Outside the Jewish Community Joy shares her life with husband Mark, older son Leland and labradoodle mascots Norman and Oscar. She earned her MPA at UM and has been the Executive Director and President of several non-profits in Missoula and HR Director for city of Missoula. Currently she works more than full-time running her Real Estate Brokerage. She does admit to finding enough time to ski, camp, fish and enjoy Montana life at its finest.

Marlene Hutchins, Member-at-Large,  Art Director/Graphic Designer
Marlene has been a member of Har Shalom ever since she arrived in Missoula in 1989, and cultivated a relationship with the congregation through her graphic design skills. Working with Jackie Cohen, she created newsletters for the HS community, then volunteered to help the congregation find their voice, message and graphic identity while serving as a Board member. She has had the honor and pleasure to design the congregation's website, quarterly newsletters, printed materials, and electronic communications. When she takes a break from her professional work as a designer/thinker, she plays bass in Missoula's finest klezmer band, "Chutzpah!".

Har Shalom High Holiday and Chagim Schedule 5778
    
Our High Holiday services are open to all at no charge, and we don't require tickets.

Sat Sept 16 
8:30 pm -  Leil Selichot candlelight service

Wed Sept 20 
7 pm Erev Rosh Hashana

Thurs Sept 21 
9 am -   Children's Rosh Hashana service
10 am -   Rosh Hashana I morning service for all, followed by  Tashlich

Fri Sept 22 
8 am -  Rosh Hashana II contemplative service
6 pm -  potluck at Pineview Park picnic shelter
7 pm - Shabbat Shuva service at Pineview Park picnic shelter

Sat Sept 23 
9 am - Shabbat Shuva Torah on the Trail, meet at Rattlesnake  Trailhead

Sun Sept 24 
9 am - Pre-Yom Kippur mikveh at Lolo Hot Springs

Fri Sept 29 
6:30 pm - Kol Nidre

Sat Sept 30 
9 am - Children's Yom Kippur service
10 am - Yom Kippur morning service for all
Yom Kippur menucha (rest)
3:30 pm - Cheshbon Hanefesh (Soul Accounting, a time for  study and reflection)
5 pm - Yizkor/Ma'riv/Neilah
8 pm - Havdallah and Break the Fast

Sun Oct 1 
11 am - Build and decorate sukkah at Har Shalom

Thurs Oct 5 
8 am - Sukkot I, Contemplative service, Taking the Lulav

Fri Oct 6 
5 pm - Sukkot II potluck/Taking the Lulav
6:30 pm - Sukkot service in the sukkah

Thurs Oct 12 
6 pm - Sukkot Yizkor

Fri Oct 13 
5 pm - Simchat Torah, Soup and Salad potluck at Har Shalom
6 pm - Simchat Torah service (unroll the Torah!)


Torah Trails:
A New Year, an Open Door,
and the Path Beyond
-Laurie Franklin

    Every holiday of the Jewish calendar offers a spiritual opportunity. Each observance gives us a chance to feel awe and thanks as if they were brand new. For example, on Hanukah, we marvel at the miracle of Divine Light in dark times. On Passover, we rejoice in gratitude for our freedom. On Purim, we celebrate-with wicked humor-the mystery of Holy Presence that is never named yet saves us from devastation. On Shavuot, we feel God's love directed toward us through the gift of Torah. And, yes, there is most certainly a connection between food and nourishment of spirit: think latkes, charoses, Hamantaschen and cheesecake!
    Now, we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, followed by Sukkot and Simchat Torah. The calendar is filled for nearly a month! What spiritual awakenings might this big pile-up of special observances offer? Or maybe a better question might be: What door might we open during the coming Days of Awe?
Rosh Hashanah is literally the "head of the year". It's a time to celebrate the world's birthday, and along with it, our own re-birthing. What are our dreams and hopes for ourselves, our families, and our communities? Can we see a way to bring them into being? Here is our door, opened to a New Year, a year of possibility.
    Yom Kippur is reflection time; we pause to make clear-eyed assessments of our actions of the past year and reach for change and healing. We apologize to each other and to God. We clean the slate, we recharge our spiritual batteries, and we renew our vision. How wide have we been able to open the door? What can we see ahead of us, on the path beyond?
    On Sukkot, freed from the clutter of the past year by Yom Kippur, we harvest clarity and revel in the joy of the sukkah, the shelter-that-is-no-shelter. We are exposed. We trust God. We hang out in the sukkah with the holy folk of ages past and with all the visitors we can summon, all of us bathing in the unimpeded radiations of the Divine. We are on the path to holy living, and we are not alone.
    On Simchat Torah, we celebrate the completion and beginning the cycle of reading Torah. We dance with the Torah, feeling the flow of Divine teaching, coming to us in love. All year long, Torah accompanies us on the path.
    One after another, the holidays at the beginning of the New Year renew our appreciation for life and our tools for living it. If we open the door to the New Year with focused intention, we grow closer to each other and to God.
    Come, let us gather in these Days of Awe. Let us laugh and cry and celebrate. Let us seek a path of blessing and walk it together.
WOW: Free Children's Books from PJ Library

    We were recently contacted by a representative from the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) who gave us exceedingly good news: PJ Library is now available in our region to all our families at no cost.
reading-children-teacher.jpg
Just sign up here , and Jewish-themed books that are appropriate for your child(ren')s age(s) will begin flowing to your mailbox every month. As soon as o ur families sign up, we will begin events for our kiddos  that include their favorite books.
    The PJ Library site says: 
    "The books are all age-appropriate, and the stories explore Jewish values, holidays, traditions, culture, folktales, and more... 
    PJ Library is for any family raising Jewish children - affiliated, unaffiliated, interfaith, or non-traditional.
    Previously, PJ Library was available solely through local partnerships. (EDITOR'S NOTE: there was no PJ Library partnership in our region) However, thanks to the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and a group of national funding partners known as the PJ Alliance, those living in areas of North America that do not have a local PJ Library community are now invited to join the National Community. Please note that when you see language referring to a 'local community' in PJ Library communications, your local community will be the National Community.
     Sign up today and in approximately six to eight weeks, you and your child(ren) can cuddle up and read a PJ Library book together."
Did you know?
You can view the meeting minutes and all news from the NEWS drop-down menu at our website:
Invitation to Be Part of the Future of Har Shalom:
Attend the Annual Membership Meeting September 10
Har Shalom sustains progressive, egalitarian, open and affirming Judaism
in Missoula

    Our tradition teaches that we are to be a nation of priests. That means we are also a nation of leaders! So, all members-at-large, this is your invitation to be a nation of leaders on behalf of Har Shalom. Whether you want to join the board or one its committees or simply want to offer an opinion, idea or observation, this is a chance for all of us to take part in the governance of our community. Please join us on September 10th at noon for lunch and stay for the Annual Membership Meeting, beginning at 1pm. We will be voting in the new Board. There are lots of changes afoot.


Shul Shekel Summary
from Finance Chair Sherry Kolenda

    We are happy to report that we continue steadily towards retiring our mortgages and are grateful to our community for working together to make it possible. We've made substantial progress because we are now at a point in the course of our primary loan that allows us to pay down principal with increasing speed. We would like to share the details at our upcoming annual meeting.
    So, we look forward to seeing your faces on September 10th and to relaying all the good news, as well as the challenges. Thank you for partnering to support Har Shalom. Together, our efforts add up.


Atidaynu Means "Our Future"
Orientation Sun 9/10, First day 9/17

    This summer, Atidaynu celebrated the leadership and learning Sheehan and Paul Rosen have provided our families for so many years with a lovely good-bye dinner. They will still be a part of the Har Shalom family but are ready to pass the torch. Matt Semanoff and Jessica Weltman have volunteered to usher in the new school year, hoping to engage families as active participants in shaping this community and learning experience for our children.
    On September 10, Atidaynu will hold an introductory meeting at Har Shalom at 11:00 am. This is just before the Har Shalom Annual Meeting. Please join us to talk about the school year, to ask questions if you are thinking about joining, and to offer up the ways you would like to be involved: teaching Hebrew, leading activities, finding tikkun olam opportunities, telling stories, bringing music, art, cooking or dance one weekend or throughout the year. This all-volunteer cooperative needs you!
    This year, Atidaynu will meet every other Sunday, at Har Shalom from 10-12. Each morning will start with a brief service. Our first regular meeting of the season is Sunday 9/17, one week after the 9/10 orientation.
    If you are interested in Atidaynu or have questions, please don't hesitate to write: jweltman@hotmail.com. If you are unable to come to the meeting on September 10 but would like to volunteer, please email.

Beit Midrash: A Tradition Made New at Har Shalom  jewish-stained-glass-narrow.jpg
-Laurie Franklin

    If you read our weekly emails, you may have noticed that Har Shalom holds beit midrash on Monday evenings. You might ask, "What is beit midrash, and why are we doing it?"
    "Beit midrash" literally means "house of interpretation". Traditionally, it's a place where men and boys would come to learn Talmud-Torah together. Beit midrash is the heart of a yeshiva, a school of Jewish learning. In modern contexts, it's still a yeshiva study hall, and it's also a place where people of any gender enter voluntarily and joyfully, to engage in Jewish learning of all kinds: Talmud-Torah,  literature, language, and more. So, at Har Shalom, we have created our own beit midrash to give ourselves a chance to experience Jewish learning and to expand our understanding of the way Jewish tradition might approach the issues of our day, for example, environmental and economic justice, gender equality, food security, and capital punishment. We also focus on music, liturgy and Jewish holidays.
    When I lived in Jerusalem and attended Pardes Institute, our evening beit midrash was a time for the regular students to do informal review of their day's or week's learning and was also a place for people from around the city to come and learn for its own sake, especially if their day jobs gave them no such opportunity. There was always a hum of conversation over the sacred texts and a sense of doing holy work.
    Why "holy work", you might ask? Our tradition teaches that we do three holy activities: we pray, we act in community, and we learn. The rabbis of the Talmud teach that when two people sit together and learn, the Divine Presence, the Shechinah, rests with them. So, Jewish learning brings us closer to Holiness.
    Even more, when we act in this age, if we have knowledge of Jewish text and tradition, it deepens our ethical understandings and sense of purpose. Sacred text is a source of thought-provoking and spirit-elevating ethical ideas and principles that can inform our way of being and doing.
    So, if you have a hankering for Jewish learning, a yearning to uncover the roots of our tradition, a desire for an adventure of Jewish exploration, come to beit midrash!

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Beit Midrash is open every Monday evening at Har Shalom, with breaks for Jewish and secular holidays.
SCHEDULE
6 pm: soup and salad (for a modest donation)
6:45 pm: shiur (a brief lesson on various subjects)
7-7:30 pm to end: small group study on topics of each group's choice.

Recent topics: adult b'nei mitzvah, beginning Hebrew, Torah and rabbinic writings about human relationship to the earth.
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Announcing at Har Shalom: 
An Evening of Mishpochah Megillahs  (Family Stories)
Please join us to shmooz and nosh on potluck snacks

When: Saturday, November 11th at 7 pm  Haman gets in trouble
January 20th
March 17th
May 5th
More dates to be added if there is desire from the community

Where: The Har Shalom Library 

How: Sign up with Lida Running Crane: lidarunningcrane@yahoo.com to host an evening to share your family stories, to select a film to show and discuss,
to offer a subject on which to build a discussion relating
to your connection to Jewish story, read a short story or poem and discuss, show family film footage of interviews or family history, bring in a family album to share and tell the stories that accompany it, tell the stories that defined your childhood, your family's history, your journey of Jewish identity. The evening will be satisfying as well through food shared together. All stories are welcome!

Who: Everyone! Please come, bring your family, your children and your favorite storyteller. Please bring a friend or someone from Har Shalom whose stories you would like to hear. If the discussion is not appropriate for children, we will be showing Jewish-themed children's films in the other room!

Why: To build a sense of community through telling the stories that define a diverse and yet shared history and to explore what makes up our contemporary Jewish identity by building space in our lives to share these important stories with each other and our children.

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OY VEY, a survey!

    As you may already know, our Har Shalom leadership team is in the process of evaluating our strengths and weaknesses, especially in the creation and sustainability of a shared sense of community and wellbeing, in an effort to better meet the needs of the community and to create changes where needed. We, as well as you, know there is always room for improvement and committing to that process is important to us.
    That said, we need your input and would love to hear your voice, good, bad or indifferent! As we move towards strengthening a sense of connectedness and community, we hope you will join us in identifying areas of growth. Here's your chance to make a difference for all of us, either by addressing a long-held issue or by sharing the parts of your Har Shalom experience for which you are particularly grateful. Maybe you feel a little of both! Regardless, the survey is confidential and the results will help guide our direction as we look towards a new year.
We so hope you'll take a few minutes to complete and submit the survey either sent to your home last month or found in the weekly since then. It can also be accessed here (as a downloadable PDF).
    Thank you to those who have already shared your voice and thank you, in advance, to those who will.
Har Shalom Wish List
    Our modest budget can't support these additions to Har Shalom's daily life. But we can dream and share our wish list with those who might like to help!
    Here's our current wish list:
* An up-to-date computer-compatible projector and sound system, so we can get rid of those enormous, big-screen, old-school video monitors that occupy too much space in the library and sanctuary
* Four all-wood bookcases, to match the ones we already have, so we can expand our growing collection of valuable Jewish books in our newly catalogued and organized reference and lending library
* A wooden library table, for the library, of course!
* Window treatments, for the kitchen, sanctuary doors, classroom, office and library for light and temperature control.
* A soundproofing divider between the sanctuary and kitchen, so we can prepare food without disturbing events in the sanctuary.
    Thank you for considering these worthy projects.
Yahrzeits
"Todah Rabah" means Thank You SO Much!
Donations & Tributes

Yahrtzeits, Remembrance, and Turning Loss into Good Works

At Har Shalom, we keep a list of all the names and yahrtzeits (annual Hebrew calendar date of a person's passing) of the close relatives of our congregants, past and present. Traditionally, a man takes responsibility for saying Kaddish for seven classes of relatives: father, mother, sister, brother, daughter, son, and spouse. In our progressive practice of Judaism, women also assume this role. Some of us also take additional responsibility to remember grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and close friends.
    Five times each year, we have an opportunity to say Kaddish for our loved ones: on their personal yahrtzeit date, on Yom Kippur Yizkor, and on Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot Yizkor. When we say Kaddish for someone, not only do we honor them and remember them; we also become their voice, allowing them to praise God beyond the grave. By doing so, we elevate their souls.
   At Har Shalom, we announce yahrtzeits in our Weekly email, and at each service, we read the current yahrtzeit names from our lists before we recite the mourner's Kaddish. On Yom Kippur and the Three Festivals, the Yizkor prayer is customarily offered as a silent, personal prayer, and we invite you to participate. This year, we will hold the Yom Kippur Yizkor service on Saturday September 30 at 5 pm and Sukkot Yizkor on Thursday, October 12 at 6 pm.
    One beautiful custom concerning yahrtzeits and Yizkor is to sponsor an oneg on or near the yahrtzeit date of a loved one and make a charitable donation to the community in their name so that a remembrance becomes a generous act and brings good into the world in the name of the one who has passed.
    If you would like to add a person to our Yahrtzeit list, please send us their full name, date and year of passing, time of day of passing (before or after sunset, if known) and any other information you might like us to have, for example their mother's and father's English and Hebrew given names (if known), their Hebrew given name (if known). We will convert the secular calendar date to the Hebrew calendar date and share it with you. Please let us know if you would like to check whether our Yahrtzeit list is complete with the names of those you would like to remember.







Volunteers do most of the work of maintaining our small community. Without willing helpers, we wouldn't exist. Many people volunteer their time and money to sustain Har Shalom, and we are exceedingly grateful for each generous act.
    In every public "thank you", we always manage to leave someone out, and this may be a good problem to have because it is the result of having so many to thank! So, here we go, and with thanks to those who are patiently waiting for acknowledgement in the next newsletter.
Todah Rabah to: 
Robin Abeshaus and Anna Kalm, 
for super-human effort to plan, feed, house and transport the NY a capella singing group, Pizmon, during their May visit. Thanks also to Bert and Carol Chessin, Suzanne Aboulfadl and Pat and Jack Cohen, for additional housing and chauffering.  To 
Toba Winston and Sheehan Rosen 
for cataloguing and organizing the Har Shalom library.  To 
Bert Chessin and Ilana Mcleod 
for coordinating the Har Shalom summer camp with our wonderful Israeli counselors, and to
Dave Jolles, 
for being the captain of the Har Shalom summer-camp boat trip on Flathead Lake.  To 
Lida and Paul Running Crane, Dev Harris Errecart, and Paul Kingsford 
for planning, designing and building the new planters that adorn our front entrance. Thanks also to
Paul K. 
for faithful summer watering.  To 
Sheehan Rosen and the entire Rosen family--Paul, Jeb, Eli and Caleb--
for being stalwart organizers, teachers, and volunteers at Atidaynu. Thanks also to teachers
 Bert Chessin and Jody Jakob 
for inspired leadership.  To 
Kate Soukonnikov 
for faithful and thorough monitoring of the info@har-shalom.org email. 
To 
Beth Jaffe, Cedar Mountain Software, and Marlene Hutchins 
for painstaking, time-intensive work to migrate the Har Shalom web site to a new platform.  To 
Nina Alviar, Kate Sells and Elise Foster
for a fitting and beautiful oneg following the Bat Mitzvah of Toba Winston.  To 
David Cox, Alisa Watson and David Smith 
for grading and sealing the foundation of our building.
To 
David Cox, Paul Running Crane, David Jolles, Matt Erekson and a crew of LDS helpers, 
who refurbished our roof fasteners and sealed the whole shebang just in time to keep us dry in winter and spring.  To 
Marlene Hutchins and Hutchins Free Range Creative 
for continuing to shape our graphic design and messaging activities.  To 
the generous souls who contributed to our seder fund to sponsor seats. 
To  every person and family who brought an oneg to share after our services.
Thank you for all your contributions, whether made in memory of a loved one, or in support of the services we provide to you and our growing community. 
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Laurie and Administrative Office Hours 
My door is open to all who would like to visit with me about personal, spiritual matters. Office hours, by special appointment, are  Tuesday  afternoons, from  4 to 6 pm , and on Wednesday afternoons. Please call 406/546-9368 or email  laurief@har-shalom.org.
 
Office hours with our Administrator, Lisa, are Fridays. Contact her at 406-549-9595 or email admin@har-shalom.org
Board of Directors
President: Holly Kingsford  406-207-2078 | holly@har-shalom.org 
Vice President: Pat Cohen  406-543-4409 |  pat@har-shalom.org
Treasurer: (acting) Bert Chessin  406-531-5193 | bert@har-shalom.org
Secretary: Lida Running Crane  406-241-2566 | lida@har-shalom.org
Past President: Bert Chessin  406-531-5193 | bert@har-shalom.org

Pat Cohen, Editor | Har Shalom | 3035 South Russell Street | PO Box 3715 | Missoula, MT 59806 |  406-549-9595
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