Congregation Beth Torah E-News
July 12, 2019 - July 25, 2019
9 Tamuz - 22 Tamuz 5779
6100 West 127th Street • Overland Park, Kansas 66209
 Phone: 913-498-2212
WORSHIP

Erev Shabbat, Friday, July 12th
Nosh 6:00 p.m.
Worship 6:30 p.m.
Double Simcha Shabbat - see below for details

Shabbat, Saturday, July 13th
Sichat Shabbat Group 9 : 00 a.m.
Shabbat Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

Erev Shabbat, Friday, July 19th
Nosh 6:00 p.m.
Worship 6:30 p.m.

Shabbat, Saturday, July 20th
Sichat Shabbat Group 9 : 00 a.m.
Shabbat Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.


UPCOMING EVENTS
Join us for a Double Simcha Shabbat
We will welcome Lezlie Zucker as our CBT Music Coordinator and Install our 2019-2020 Board of Trustees on  Erev Shabbat, July 12 th . We will have a special Nosh at 6:00, followed by a joyful Erev Shabbat service. After worship we will gather in the Ulam for Kiddush, motzi and special treats to honor these new beginnings.
HHD Choir
Ready to get your choir on? Our 2019 High Holy Day Choirs will start rehearsing Wednesday, August 7, 7:00-8:30. All groups will meet that night: Women’s Group, Men’s Group, and the Beth Torah Volunteer Choir. Haven’t signed up to sing yet, or interested in joining the Community Selichot Choir? Email me at lzucker@beth-torah.org to add your voice!
 
I look forward to seeing you and singing with you!
Lezlie Revelle Zucker, Music Coordinator
Our 30th Anniversary Pick-a-Parties Were a Big Hit!
Thank you to everyone who coordinated, hosted and attended these fun, relational parties. We had such a great response that we are going to add more parties in the fall of 2019. Let’s have some more parties to celebrate a new year, 5780.

If you are interested in hosting a party, sign-up forms can be found here:

The deadline for submission is August 15, 2019.
Introduction to Judaism and Hebrew 101
Introduction to Judaism and Hebrew 101 is being offered at Beth Torah this Fall. Whether you were born Jewish, are interested in choosing Judaism, or love someone who is Jewish, join us for a year of learning and exploring together. Classes will begin after High Holy Days. Contact Rabbi Cattapan or Rabbi Kleinman in the Beth Torah office for more information and to let them know you are interested.
Tikkun KC
Time to get to work! Every day is Mitzvah Day at Beth Torah, but it’s time to have a DEMOLITION PARTY! Join us from 10am to 2pm on Sunday, July 28 th to begin our work with Tikkun KC on the Indiana redevelopment project (home located at 3525 and 3532 Indiana). Due to parking we are trying to get some carpools together to leave from Beth Torah at 9:00 am. Email Laura at lintfen@beth-torah.org or Larry Myer at larry@tikkun-kc.org for more information.  
Voter to Voter is an Innovative Project in Peer-to-Peer Advocacy
This project measurably increased voter turnout in 2018. Sign up for CBT’s Voter to Voter team and help fellow Kansans make their voices heard! Be on CBT’s Voter to Voter team! Contact Marcia Rittmaster at mrittmaster@gmail.com for more information and to hear how easy it is to make a difference.
We Need Your Help
Music is an integral part of sustaining, growing, and engaging our synagogue family in the context of Judaism. Beth Torah is looking for a Choir Director that will collaborate with our Music Coordinator and the Senior Rabbi, tending to the spiritual and communal life of Congregation Beth Torah through coordinating ensembles of volunteers and directing youth and adult choirs as they participate in our regularly scheduled Shabbat worship services and at High Holy Days, and other holidays. Do you know someone who would be perfect for this job? Please share the Choir Director job posting often and widely: Choir Director Job Posting
Mitzvah Garden Volunteer Groups Forming
Each year, Kansas City’s Mitzvah Garden produces 10,000 pounds of fresh organic produce for Kansas City food pantries. If you’ve never seen it, you must! If you haven’t visited in a while, you may be surprised to see some of the great things added in recent years. There are now beehives to contribute honey, an orchard and a blackberry patch. The garden’s 6,000-gallon water capture facility waters the garden through drip irrigation. A solar array powers all of the garden’s electrical needs.
 
Located around the corner on the grounds of Congregation B’nai Jehudah, the Mitzvah Garden is truly a community garden. With no employed staff, the garden relies on volunteers. Civic, social, philanthropic, religious and social service organizations from all over the Kansas Area participate.
 
CBT is building a team to help. Guided by the principles of Tikkun Olam, we will be volunteering at the garden one Sunday morning each month. Families attending religious school can join a group volunteering one weekday evening each month. More weeks may be added. All ages and skill levels are invited! If you are interested, please contact Jim Decker at jdec@kc.rr.com or 913-461-6371, and let him know your schedule preferences. He’ll work to put together a schedule based upon the community’s choices.
 
Learn about the Mitzvah Garden at http://www.mitzvahgardenkc.com/home.html . 
ARJE WEINER RELIGIOUS SCHOOL & YOUTH NEWS
Keep up with the latest WRS news on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/CBTWRS/
Please visit the WRS Facebook page for all the details and the sign-up links.
GETTING INVOLVED, ONGOING EVENTS & CONNECTIONS
Shalom Squad
Your welcoming face is needed on Friday nights. Sign up to be part of our Shalom Squad and personify the warm and welcoming feel that Beth Torah creates. Since two people are needed every week, why not sign up with a friend? Thank you to our member Jeff Antoniewicz for saying "Yes" to CBT and coordinating the Squad. You can choose your dates by clicking  here  or heading to our web site and clicking on the Shalom Squad link. 

Do You Want to Get Involved?
Visit our website to view all volunteer opportunities at Beth Torah.

 Ray Davidson Yiddish Group
Come study Yiddish! This group meets at Beth Torah at noon on Fridays and all are welcome.

Beth Torah is on YouTube 
Have you heard music performed at Beth Torah that has stirred your emotions? Do you wish you could listen to it again? There is a way to do that! Beth Torah has a YouTube channel  where videos are available to view over and over again. Music from Hanukkah Program, Shabbat Shirah, Spring Session, Purim, Beth Torah's Got Talent, and more!

Sichat Shabbat Group 
Join the community in discussion ( sicha ) on Shabbat morning, 9:00 to 10:15 am in the library.

Mi Shebeirach List
Prayers for loved ones in need of healing are beneficial for those who are ill and those who love them. If you have someone in your family who is currently ill, whose name you would like to appear on our Mi Shebeirach list, please send an email to Alyssa  and put in the message line: Mi Shebeirach list, or call the Beth Torah office and let us know. Thank you.
GREATER KANSAS CITY JEWISH COMMUNITY
Community Tisha B’AV Observance
Community Tisha B’AV Observance  Saturday, August 10 th , Congregation Beth Shalom, 14200 Lamar Avenue beginning at 9:45 p.m. with a Tisha B'av MA’ARIV service and followed by a D’var Torah and reading of Eicha. This is a meaningful service, and a time for communal reflection on both painful times of our past and hope for our future. The community Tisha B’Av observance will continue on Sunday, August 11 th  at Kehilath Israel Synagogue. The movie, “The Long Way Home” will be shown at 5:00 p.m. and will be followed by a panel discussion with rabbis. A Mincha service will begin at 8pm led by Rabbi Moshe Grussgott, a ten minute Torah lesson from Rabbi Grussgott, and ending with a Maariv service. Conclusion of fast will take place at 8:51pm followed by a light break fast. To indicate your attendance or for further information, register online at  kcrabbis.org  or contact Annette Fish, Rabbinical Association Administrator/Program Director,  afprogram@aol.com , 913-327-4622. Sponsored by the Rabbinic Association of Greater Kansas City.

JFS Volunteer Opportunities
Looking for ways to get involved in the community? When you volunteer at JFS, you are helping strengthen and improve the lives of thousands of people throughout Kansas City. Volunteers play a vital role in our programs, providing a helping hand, compassionate smile or meaningful connection. There are many ways to use your time and talents as a volunteer with JFS: Click here to check out the opportunities .

SASS-MoKan Remembrance Walk
The 16th Annual Remembrance Walk sponsored by SASS-MoKan (Suicide Awareness Survivor Support MO and KS) will take place on September 8, 2019 at Loose Park. The walk is for anyone who has lost a loved one by suicide or supporting those who have. Also, included is homicide or other traumatic loss. Registration is $25 in advance at  http://www.sass-mokan.com/Sass-walk/  or $30 that day. The walk includes a t-shirt, bag, and other items. All monies collected aid area support loss groups and prevention. Included in the walk is a name remembrance, song, and flowers. If you have questions, please contact  bonswade@gmail.com .

The Mitzvah Garden
The Kansas City Mitzvah Garden has opportunities blooming for volunteering by any groups/chavurahs or individuals. The garden provides produce to local food pantries. Volunteers are needed for planting, weeding, harvesting, and deliveries. Our usual work day is Sunday, but volunteers are needed Monday–Friday as well. For teens looking to accumulate community service hours, the garden is perfect. Email the Mitzvah Garden Volunteer Coordinator, Gabrielle Rhodes Handler or call 913-345-1118.

JFS Food Drive
Jewish Family Services, in partnership with the Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City, has teamed up with area congregations in response to the ever-growing need for food assistance in Kansas City. Our congregation has been asked to collect donations  of granola, fiber and snack bars and toilet paper during July and August. These items will be stocked in the JFS Food pantries and will provide food for more than 200 households in our community.