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Shabbat Shalom!
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Kabbalat Shabbat

Friday, 6:15 PM
ON ZOOM ONLY
Shabbat Morning Services - Join us in welcoming Rabbi Scott Hoffman for his first Shabbat with Shir Chadash!

Saturday, 9:30 AM
In-person and live-streamed

Minyan with Men's Club
followed by breakfast

Sunday, 9:15 AM
In-person and live-streamed
COVID-19 UPDATE
Our Health Committee update as of June 17, 2022 is as follows:
 
In the last few months, we have been able to largely resume our normal programming (babysitting, indoor dining, etc.), and remove the strict limitations on attendance numbers and spacing. We also lifted our mask mandate, while keeping our vaccine requirement in effect. 
 
Recently, however, COVID-19 cases started creeping up again. Approximately a month ago, in response to the increased local positivity rates, we reinstated our mask mandate. While local positivity rates do remain elevated, we have not seen a significant increase in local hospitalizations or deaths. As a result and with the approval of the Board, we are returning to our mask optional policy.  

Please click HERE to read our guidelines in full.
Haftarah Tidbits
We are living at the end of an era. The overturning of Roe v. Wade signaled for us the end of a Supreme Court that respects past precedent and the entry into one that decides for itself what it considers right and just. For many of us, this is not a welcome shift. The prophet Shmuel in our haftarah this week is similarly disheartened as the form of leadership he represented reaches its end, with a new type of leadership arising in its wake. Shmuel is the last of the shoftim, chieftains or judges, who rule overall through God’s guidance. The people, however, have demanded a king “like all the other nations”, which seems to imply less of a role for God’s direction in leadership.

In this haftarah, Shmuel is giving his deathbed speech, affirming that his leadership of the people was just, reminding them of their history and mistake in asking for a king, and exhorting them to follow in God’s ways going forward. Much like Moshe in our parsha who affirms that he did not wrong Dathan and Aviram who rebelled against him, Shmuel asks: “whose ass have I taken? Whom have I defrauded or whom have I robbed?” At the end of the day, the people admit that he has in fact done right by them, even if they didn’t fully appreciate it in the moment. Leaders of righteousness like Moshe and Shmuel are often not fully appreciated until a new era begins without them.

And yet, Shmuel offers us a tantalizing hint of the hope that remains for the future. He says “As for me, I have grown old and gray—but my sons are still with you” Why should Shmuel even mention his sons being alive at this point? Rabbi David Kimhi, Radak, a French medieval successor to Rashi, says that by Shmuel mentioning his sons, he is really saying: “you [the people] will need them for the laws and judgements they received from me.” He’s telling them that even as his era is over, there are still people around who can teach others how to uphold justice. We may be living at the end of the era, but the seeds of righteousness and justice are still with us. It is our job to make them flower into a better future, where leaders once again will follow their duties to God and their people. 

- Rabbinic Intern David Kaplinsky
A Prayer for Peace
May we see the day when war and bloodshed cease,
when a great peace will embrace the whole world.
    Then nation will not threaten nation,
    and the human family will not again know war.
For all who live on earth shall realize
we have not come into being to hate or destroy.
We have come into being to praise, to labor, and to love.
    Compassionate God, bless the leaders of all nations
    With the power of compassion.
Fulfill the promise conveyed in Scripture:
I will bring peace to the land,
and you shall lie down and no one shall terrify you.
    I will rid the land of vicious beasts
    and it shall not be ravaged by war.
Let justice and righteousness flow like a mighty stream.
Let God’s peace fill the earth as the waters fill the sea.
And let us say: Amen.
A Prayer for Our Country
Our God and God of our ancestors, with mercy accept our prayer on behalf of our country and its government. Pour out Your blessing upon this land, upon its inhabitants, upon its leaders, its judges, officers, and officials, who faithfully devote themselves to the needs of the public. Help them understand the rules of justice You have decreed, so that peace and security, happiness and freedom, will never depart from our land.
 
Adonai, God whose spirit is in all creatures, we pray that Your spirit be awakened within all the inhabitants of our land. Uproot from our hearts hatred and malice, jealousy and strife. Plant love and companionship, peace and friendship, among the many peoples and faiths who dwell in our nation. Grant us the knowledge to judge justly, the wisdom to act with compassion, and the understanding and courage to root out poverty from our land.

May it be Your will that our land be a blessing to all who dwell on earth, and may You cause all peoples to dwell in friendship and freedom. Speedily fulfill the vision of Your prophets: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” “For all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall know Me.” And let us say: Amen. 
Parashat Korach
Torah: Numbers 17:25 - 18:32
Maftir: Numbers 18:30-32
Haftarah: 1 Samuel 11:14 - 12:22

The Torah reading for this week is in the panel above. If you do not have a Chumash at home you can find it on the link below. We are reading Triennial Year 3, but you might like to read the full portion (“Full Kriyah”).
Brochure
Our Shabbat brochure with yahrzeits and simchas for this week is attached. You might wish to take special notice of those who are sick and take a moment to direct your thoughts towards them.
Thank you!
Thank you to all those listed below who performed the mitzvah of supporting our community this past week.
Bernard Berins Cemetery Fund

To: Jane Berins
In honor of your new granddaughter, Riley Belle Berins
From: Marlene & Reuben Friedman

Caring Committee Fund

In memory of Celia Weinstein
From: Lisa and Michael Sackett

In memory of Pearl Sackett
From: Lisa and Michael Sackett

General Fund

From: Ricardo & Marcela Totah

Lazarus Bar Mitzvah Project Fund in Support
of the Bogdanova Family

To: Betty & Harry Lazarus
In honor of Evan Lazarus
From: Jan & N'Ann Glade
Yahrzeit Fund

In memory of Sally Ivker
From: Barry & Fran Ivker

In memory of Georg Gauff
From: Miriam Waltzer

In memory of Donald Felder
From: Marilyn & Martin Felder

In memory of Morris Friedman
From: Reuben & Marlene Friedman

In memory of Manuel Blitz
From: Reuben & Marlene Friedman

In memory of Mildred Palter Brown
From: Carmel Cohen
Contact Us
Scott Hoffman
Rabbi

Ricardo Totah
Executive Director 
 execdir@shirchadash.org
David Kaplinsky
Rabbinic Intern

Sarah Lustig
Office Manager
shirchadash@shirchadash.org
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