Congregation Beth Torah E-News
August 9, 2019 - August 22, 2019
8 Av - 21 Av 5779
6100 West 127th Street • Overland Park, Kansas 66209
 Phone: 913-498-2212
WORSHIP

Erev Shabbat, Friday, August 9th
Nosh 6:00 p.m.
Worship 6:30 p.m.
We will be coming together to help each other heal with special prayers and songs offering inspiration and hope.

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

Erev Shabbat, Friday, August 16th
Nosh 6:00 p.m.
Worship 6:30 p.m.

Shabbat, Saturday, August 17th
Sichat Shabbat Group 9 : 00 a.m.
Shabbat Morning Worship 10:30 a.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Where will YOU be when the Shofar sounds?
Click here for our High Holy Day schedule. Look for more HHD information coming soon.
HHD Choir
Our 2019 High Holy Day music rehearsals have begun! But it’s not too late to join us—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
Introduction to Judaism and Hebrew 101
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.
Email either Rabbi Cattapan ( jcattapan@beth-torah.org ) or Rabbi Kleinman ( mkleinman@beth-torah.org ) or click here for more information.
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.
Your Help Is Needed!
Snacks, drinks and gift cards needed for our golf tournament fundraiser. If you can donate an item or two, please contact Sharon at saltman@beth-torah.org or 913-498-2212 or visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054DA8AC2AA2FC1-golf

Fund The Mums
We are looking for some sponsors of beauty to help fill our front flower bed for the fall season. Thank you our Beth Torah Park Clean Up Crew for offering to plant fall mums in September, but they need your help. So that the flowers are consistent in color and quality, we are setting a goal of $500.00 to Fund the Mum. Please be one of our Five Flower Funders to donate $100.00. Contact the Beth Torah office to make our flower garden grow.  
You Did It! 
With the urgent need and very rocky start to August for the Community Blood Bank, our congregation set out to help with a goal of 30 donors for our August 7 th  blood drive. The Blood Bank let us know that we had 40 people register and collected 39 units of blood. Our next blood drive is November 20 th . Contact Sharon Altman at  saltman@beth-torah.org  to get registered to save a life.
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
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.
ARJE WEINER RELIGIOUS SCHOOL & YOUTH NEWS
Keep up with the latest WRS news on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/CBTWRS/
Mark Your Calendars!
Sunday school starts September 8th and TAG starts September 11th.

Please share this link with a friend, as the Weiner Religious School welcomes Jewish learners even if their families are not affiliated with Beth Torah.

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.

Kick off Year of Jewish Learning at Day of Discovery
August 25, 2019, 8:45 a.m.-3:15 p.m. at the Jewish Community Campus. Learn, study and discover some of the community’s finest Jewish educators, rabbis and cantors who will lead sessions on a wide range of topics. Watch your mail in early August for the Day of Discovery brochure or check online at  www.kcrabbis.or g for a listing of over 30 classes and information related to the day available the end of July. Questions: contact Annette Fish, Administrator/Program Director, Rabbinical Association of Greater Kansas City,  afprogram@aol.com , 913-327-4622. 
 
Day of Discovery Family Community Service Learning Project for parents and K-5 th  graders, August 25, 9:30-11:00 a.m., Jewish Community Campus. Watch for more information.

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.

Break the Silence! 
Help raise awareness of mental illness while reducing its stigma. The 4 th  Annual Speak Up walk will be on Sunday, September 15 th  at the Garmin Pavilion in Olathe. Help start this important conversation by registering or donating here:  https://www.firstgiving.com/event/65488/Speak-Up-Walk-2019

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 August. These items will be stocked in the JFS Food pantries and will provide food for more than 200 households in our community. 
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