Ma Chadash:   What's New This Week? Happenings for the week of January 15 ________________________________________ “ Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

On Shabbat

Saturday, January 18, Shabbat Shemot

Shabbat Morning Services at 9:30 AM with Rabbi Sid and Rabbi Hazzan Rachel celebrating the words and wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. We will also be joined by Chords of Glory and Gabby Milkman, Jonah Daniel, Rafi Shore, Noam Richman, Aden Jeral, Sara Scherlinder, Dalia Cedarbaum, Moriah Naveh and Louis Cedarbaum f or the Annual Teen Torah Takeover . There is no babysitting, Tot Shabbat or Torah School. We'll be back on January 25.

Off the Bimah

Achrei Oneg: Back From Israel with Idan Shacharit Institute January 18 at 1:00 PM in the Library Join Idan and learn about The Shacharit Institute - a synergistic mix of a think tank, leadership incubator and community organizing hub that is nurturing new social partnership among all of Israel's communities, building a future rooted in the common good. Shaharit helps different (and sometimes opposite) sectors of the Israeli society to learn to work together on common goals, overcoming differences of worldview and value judgment together.

Jewish Studies Presents

Exploring Reconstructionist Judaism Peoplehood, Torah, and God Part 2: Torah With Rabbi Fred Sunday, January 26th from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.  Torah is study, and action -- a product and a process. It’s the first Five Books, and every commentary on them, every poem written that references them, and every life that’s been lived informed by this tradition. For Mordechai Kaplan and for us, the challenge in modernity is to take Torah lovingly, but not literally. In this second of three sessions, we’ll consider what Torah has meant, and what it might mean. We’ll consider how Torah evolves and how communities now set the norms. We’ll look at different ways to study Torah, and different ways to live it out – including the Reconstructionist roots of our social action commitments. Part 3: Rabbi Rachel will share with us how our approach to t’filah (prayer) practice affirms and deepens Reconstructionist ideology and theology through the liturgy and through ritual. February 23 from 10AM - Noon.

Coming Soon to Adat Shalom

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, PhD, is an author, Jungian psychotherapist, and founding rabbi of Congregation Nevei Kodesh in Boulder, Colorado   She is the author of Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma.

Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Our Families and Changing the World Rabbi Dr. Tirzah Firestone Sunday, February 9, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM Combining Jewish wisdom texts, neuroscience, and teachings from the field of Jungian psychology, Rabbi Dr. Firestone will demonstrate how personal life riddles often originate in our ancestral legacies, and how we can transform their seemingly impenetrable mysteries into usable meaning.    This program is free and open to the public. Please register here.   Please share this posting with friends and others in the community, from across faith traditions and without faith traditions, who might be interested in this timely and important topic.   This program is lovingly underwritten by the Adrienne Kohn Fund for Spiritual Growth at Adat Shalom.

Coming Up in the Community

Voices of Asylum Seekers in Israel February 16, 2020 7:00 PM Bender JCC An evening about Judaism, Refugees and Social Justice in Israel. J oin us for an exclusive opportunity to hear Barik (27) and Izadeen (21), young asylum seekers from Darfur, tell their remarkable life stories. Learn about their escape from Sudan and the hazardous journey across the Sinai into Israel, and the current situation they’re facing Israel today. We will learn what BINA is doing to help and learn about Israel’s approach to refugees since the establishment of the State. This event is co-sponsored by BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change and Adat Shalom. It is free and open to the community. Please register here. And on Shabbat morning, February 15, Eran Baruch, BINA: The Jewish Movement for Social Change’s Executive Director, will be visiting Adat Shalom.

From the Board

The next meeting of the Adat Shalom Board is on Wednesday, January 21 at 7:30 PM. Members of the synagogue are welcome to attend. We ask that you please notify Judy Ackerman, Board Secretary if you are planning on coming.

From the Office

In observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Adat Shalom's office and building will be closed on Monday, January 20.

Life Cycle

If you have a death in the family or other life cycle emergency, please contact the synagogue office and/or lifecycle@adatshalom.net .

Have a submission for Ma Chadash?  Send it to Marcie Wilson the week before on Monday (10 days in advance) to be sure it's included. Please put For Ma Chadash in the subject line!