SHABBAT SERVICES October 15 & 16, 2021

SHABBAT SHALOM

Shabbat Lech Lecha

October 15 & 16, 2021 10 Cheshvan 5782

NEW ADMINISTRATION OFFICE HOURS

Beginning Monday, October 25 our new hours will be:

Monday-Thursday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sunday: 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

וַיֹּאמֶר יְי אֶל־אַבְרָם לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ׃

The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you … (Genesis 12:1)

Every year, as we approach parashat Lech Lecha, I continue to be inspired by these words, God’s first words to our ancestor, Avram. God asks Avram to take bold steps into the future. Something interesting to note is Avram’s age when he begins this journey: 75. The Torah makes sure to point this out just a couple of lines later (Abram went forth as the LORD had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran). I believe that revealing Avram’s age makes the journey even more inspiring. We usually think of a 75-year-old as intransigent; unwilling to change. Avram teaches us that age is just a number. No matter how young or old we are, we can always take new steps.

I believe this line from God to Avram, words that we read just a couple of weeks after the year officially begins (after the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot/Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah) are also here for us. Rabbi Avraham Israel Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine in the Land of Israel, taught that God did not necessarily speak to Avram alone; God actually gave the message of Lech Lecha to the entire world, but only Avram and his family listened to it and took those bold steps into the future. Rav Kook, who was born and raised in Europe as an Ultra-Orthodox Jew, also took bold and unprecedented steps when he moved from Europe to pre-state Israel. Every year, we stand in the shoes of both Abrahams as we hear the words Lech Lecha yet again. Are we inspired to take steps into the future? Are we listening to God?

This year, taking bold steps may not seem bold if we took them just two years ago. For example, attending an in-person service was the only way to attend a service, but now, attending a service in person comes with challenges we could not have imagined in the past. One of the bold steps we are taking in the coming year is to come back in person for our Friday night service, but our Friday night service will be different from the past. Beginning in November, we will continue to hold a ‘traditional’ Friday night service twice a month, but on the first Shabbat of every month, we will have our services outdoors so everyone, whether vaccinated or not, can pray and sing together in safety. On the third Shabbat of every month, we will hold an indoor experiential service. Each month will focus on a different ‘experience’ and will either be led by me or a guest leader from our community. Experiences may include 'silence' in the form of a meditative service, or ‘exploration’ during a learner’s service, or ‘auditory’ with a musical service, or 'visual' with an artistic service. We hope you can join us for any or all of these services.

Rabbi Avraham Isaac Kook famously said that our task as Jews is to ‘make the old new, and the new holy.’ I believe this is our sacred obligation as Jews and our obligation to each other as members of this incredible community.

I wish you all a Shabbat Shalom and I hope you join us for these new and holy experiences.

Rabbi David Baum

Check Out Rabbi Baum's Dvar Torah from last Shabbat on the Times Of Israel

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The direction of humanity changed forever on a day that few of us realize. On July 16, 1945, a team of scientists and engineers watched the first successful atomic bomb explosion at the Trinity test site in Alamogordo, New Mexico.

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blogs.timesofisrael.com

Beginning in November...

Friday, October 15, 2021

8:00 AM

THIS WEEK WE WILL MEET IN PERSON AT CSK AND ON ZOOM AT 8:00 AM

Join Zoom Minyan

KABBALAT SHABBAT/MAARIV

LED BY RABBI BAUM

Friday, October 15, 2021*

6:15 PM ET

*Shabbat services will be back in person

(and on Zoom) next Friday, October 22, 2021

Join Zoom Shabbat

Meeting ID: 882 0065 3129 Passcode: 910086

+13126266799,,88200653129#,,,,,,0#,,910086# US (Chicago)

SHABBAT MORNING SERVICES

Shabbat Lech Lecha

In-Person (& on Zoom)

Shabbat Morning Services

Saturday, October 16, 2021

9:30 AM ET

VACCINATED Chaverim and Sacred Guests Welcome!

If you are Zooming into Shabbat morning services and would like to participate in the service with an English reading, OR, If you are coming in person and would like an aliyah, please email: office@shaareikodesh.org

Vaccinations Required

Click Here to Review our UPDATED CSK Covid Policies

Masks Required

Click here if this is your FIRST In-Person Shabbat Service