September 25 2020 l 7 Tishrei 5781
CONGREGATION BEIT T'SHUVAH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Dear Congregants,
Rosh HaShanah was amazing! Thank you for helping to make it special by showing up on ZOOM and reaching across the screen to connect heart to heart with everyone else online.
Now, Yom Kippur is upon us and we promise to do our very best to bring the same honesty, authenticity, spirituality, and great music to help make the day special for all of us.
Here are some important details for you:
• This Friday night we have regular Shabbat services beginning at 6:30 pm. Saturday morning is also regular schedule: at 9:30 am, we learn together and at 10:30 am, we pray together.
• Yom Kippur begins with Kol Nidre on Sunday night, September 27th. We will light candles at 6:30pm on ZOOM and prepare in silence for our Erev Yom Kippur services which will begin at 7:00 PM with Kol Nidre. Yom Kippur continues throughout Monday.
• Our Yom Kippur services have also been abridged to make them more ZOOM-friendly. They are each between 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
Sunday night — 7:00 pm (Kol Nidre)
Monday Part 1 — 10:00 am (Shacharit)
Monday Part 2 — 12:00 noon (First, Torah, then Yikor/Musaf)
Gratitude — 3:00 pm (led by Harriet Rossetto & Rabbi Mark Borovitz)
Monday Part 3 — 6:00 pm (First, Torah and Minchah, then Nei’ilah. At the end will blow the shofar)
• It has become our custom to wear white for Yom Kippur services.
• We have created .pdfs of all of our services which are available to everyone who are members or who have purchased High Holiday tickets. You will want to download them early so that you are prepared for services.
• ZOOM meeting rooms are unique to Yom Kippur. They are NOT the same link as our regular Shabbat services. If you are not a member and want to participate in our services, contact Jillian right way: jcoventry@beittshuvah.org
• IF YOU HAVE NOT YET PURCHASED TICKETS OR MEMBERSHIP AND YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND SERVICES, PLEASE CLICK HERE.
Music, Torah, celebration, recovery, and community. This is Yom Kippur at Beit T’Shuvah. If you are fasting, may your fast be easy. Join us and help us make this a year of teshuvah at Beit T’Shuvah!
G’mar chatimah tovah!!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Micha'el
|
|
THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION
By: Rabbi Miriam Green Potok
A few days ago, I woke up after an unusually vivid dream. In the dream, I had accidentally acquired sixteen parakeets while shopping at Target, and was trying to figure out what to do with them. When I told my husband about this dream, he thought of my sister, who for many years has had parakeets as pets - and I thought, maybe I should give my sister a call. I called her later that day, curious about how she was doing, and wondering if the dream somehow related to real life.
As we talked, I was relieved that her real-life parakeets were doing well, and that her life in general was going smoothly. Our conversation progressed to friends and family, and we began to reflect on big-picture topics. We are both old enough now to begin to understand in a deep way that our time on earth is not limitless, that we can work towards all our dreams yet may never accomplish all our goals, and that we can steer our life in a particular direction yet can’t determine where we’ll end up. We may never completely close the gap between our dreams and our reality.
Our parashah this week, Ha’azinu, proclaims, “The Rock! God’s ways are perfect.” Every year I read this sentence, and a part of me thinks, “Really?!” Especially this year, with wildfires, pandemic, and politics — are you trying to tell me God’s ways are perfect? We must live with...click here to read more.
|
|
Josh C. for one year of sobriety.
Taryn W. for 7 years of sobriety.
We are still celebrating birthdays each week on Zoom!
To sign up to take a Sober Birthday cake at Beit T'Shuvah, click here.
|
|
If you would like to sponsor shabbat at
|
|
Check out the BTS Thrift Store’s new e-commerce website. We have a wide range of items starting as low as $15! Shop, donate and share with your friends. *Shipping is available upon request*
|
|
Tribute donations are a wonderful way of marking life cycle events for your loved ones and friends and supporting Beit T'Shuvah.
Jan & Andrew Cardin in memory of Stanley Cohen
Karen & Kenneth Glickman in memory of our wonderful, talented son, Daniel Glickman
Vera Kopilenko in memory of Igor Kopilenko
Jennifer Hechtman Rosen in memory of Matthew Rudnick
Tena Frank in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of Gideon Meier
Audrae & Jerry Rosenzweig in honor of Denise Silberman's special birthday
If you are interested in sending a beautiful tribute, please contact Development . You can also send a tribute online by Clicking Here. Beit T'Shuvah will promptly send a card to the family or friend you are recognizing.
|
|
OUR SINCEREST CONDOLENCES |
|
...to the Rabbi Iggy and his family on the loss of his father, Benjamin Gurin
If you are interested in sending a beautiful tribute, please contact Development . You can also send a tribute online by Clicking Here. Beit T'Shuvah will promptly send a card to the family or friend you are recognizing.
|
|
THIS WEEK'S SPOTLIGHT
Marshall S.
By: Nathan R.
Marshall S., a resident at Beit T’Shuvah, remembers that even when he first got drunk at age 11, he was drinking differently than his friends. “I remember my friends didn’t want to keep drinking the way I was. They almost didn’t understand why I kept wanting to get more and more drunk.” He ended up vomiting and having a “horrible first reaction,” but also recalls, “I loved it, I even looked at it as ‘I’m puking now so I can have a stronger tolerance later.’”
Around that time, his father had checked into rehab, although he never talked to Marshall about what drugs he did. His parents later divorced, which led to another rehab stint for his father when Marshall was around 15 or 16. These events, along with his older sister going through a troubled phase, took a lot of focus off of Marshall. This lack of family connection led him to start smoking weed and to drink more frequently, with liquor he pilfered from his and his friends’ parents.
In high school, Marshall started experimenting with pills and muscle relaxants. He was using his addiction as “a platform to get into a lot of trouble,” admitting he was hanging out with kids he knew were worse than him. On his way...click here to continue reading.
|
|
Sukkot: Hope in Uncertainty |
Join Harriet and Doug in the virtual Sukkah on Tuesday, October 6th at 7pm to find hope in uncertainty. Through an interactive discussion, Harriet and Doug will guide us in an exploration of the unique opportunity of living in uncertain times, and help us build not only a sukkat shalom, a shelter of peace, but a sukkat tikvah, a shelter of hope.
Zoom info coming soon!
|
|
|
Join us this year for livestreamed, interactive services you won't forget. Leave behind your old notions of High Holidays as mandatory and monotonous. At Congregation Beit T’Shuvah, the number one concern is uplifting your soul (even from your couch).
Tickets for High Holiday services are included in membership dues. If you would like to simply purchase tickets for this year’s virtual service, tickets are a suggested donation of $36 per person, per service.
Click here to renew your membership and/or purchase tickets.
|
|
|
Beit T’Shuvah Custom Masks are Here! |
Stay safe while supporting Beit T’Shuvah with masks custom made by Creative Matters. Perfect gifts for alumni, staff, residents, people in recovery or community members!
$10 per mask
Designs:
One Day At A Time
In This Together
|
|
|
BTS Zoom Family Support Group! Whether your loved one is still in treatment or they have already moved on to the next chapter of their journey, we would like to provide a platform in which families get to talk about their shared experiences and wisdom.
This group is for families of our current and former residents, no need to RSVP, just drop in!
|
|
|
Friday night services held via zoom at 6:30pm PT.
|
|
|
Saturday Morning Services |
Saturday morning Prayer and Meditation at 10:30am PT.
|
|
|
Come learn on Saturday mornings at 9:30am PT with Rabbi Micha'el Akiba.
|
|
|
Baked T'Shuvah's founder Jackie Elkins is licensed by the state and you can now order the Baked T'Shuvah challah you know and love!
Pick up at BTS. Must prepay.
Available flavors: Plain, Chocolate Chip, Salted Caramel or Raisin. Contact Amy Abrams to place your order - orders need to be placed no later than Wednesday!
|
|
|
We are still celebrating birthdays each week on our Shabbat Zoom.
To sign up to take a cake, please contact Jillian.
If you missed celebrating your birthday this year and would still like to take a cake via Zoom, contact Jillian.
|
|
|
Life in Uncertain Times: Coping Strategies Before, During, and After Corona. With Rabbi Joseph. Mondays from 12-1pm PT/3-4pm ET.
|
|
|
#NotMyCorona. Recovery-Minded Spiritual Learning with Beit T’Shuvah and the T’Shuvah Center. Wednesdays. 1pm PT/4pm ET.
|
|
|
BTS community AA meeting: Thursdays at 7pm.
|
|
|
Beit T’Shuvah and the Elaine Breslow Institute invite you participate in this spiritual challenge!
|
|
|
Thursdays. 9-9:30am PT/12-12:30pm ET.
A powerful kaddish experience led by the Lab/Shul community. They have invited our Beit T’Shuvah community to join them.
https://labshul.org/event/virtual-mourners-kaddish-call/2019-08-29/
|
|
|
Past newsletters are now available online. Please click here to view.
For anyone that shops at Ralphs, please consider registering your phone with their community care program and select Beit T'Shuvah as your charity.
For anyone that purchases items on Amazon, all you have to do is go to Amazon Smile and choose Beit T'Shuvah as your charity and a percentage of each purchase will be given back to us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
