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Shabbat Shalom!
All Zoom links have migrated to our webpage! Click here to get there! 
Kabbalat Shabbat with special guest,
Rabbi Rebecca Schatz

Friday, 6:15 PM
ON ZOOM ONLY
Shabbat Morning Services followed by Kiddush lunch

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

Minyan with Men's Club

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

הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהֹוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ
 
“He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice, and to love goodness, and to walk modestly with your God.”
 
Judaism has a lot of requirements. I mean a lot. If we’re being honest, it requires more of us than we could reasonably live up to. That is why this statement of the Prophet Micah is so refreshing as a reminder of the essentials of being a good Jew and person: do justice, love goodness, and walk modestly with God.
 
Micah was a prophet of the southern kingdom of Judah the end of the 700s BCE, living through the exile of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to Assyria in 722 and the plundering of Jerusalem by the Assyrians in 702. He watched as the people of Judah went astray in their worship of idols as well as their reliance on sacrificial worship to God at the expense of their moral behavior. The verse that proceeds this puts Micah’s famous dictum in perspective: “Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, With myriads of streams of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, The fruit of my body for my sins?” The answer, for Micah, is “no”— God’s requirements are much more modest and focused.
 
We are so often lured into the idea that more is better. If we just gave everything we have that would really please God and make us our best selves. Micah tells us that this is not necessarily so. The idea that God demands so much of us can be a snare that blinds us from what God really wants. This is not to say we should avoid our responsibilities, but now and again we need to find ways to put them into perspective. For Micah, those responsibilities boil down to matters of justice in society, goodness in our dealings with others, and serving God in a way that is not ostentatious, but simple and humble. May these principles still guide each of us and help. 

- 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 Balak
Torah: Numbers 22:39 - 25:9
Maftir: Numbers 25:7-9
Haftarah: Micah 5:6 - 6:8

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.
Children's Fund

To: Levi Mizrahi
Refuah Shlemah to baby Levi. Sending get well wishes!
From: Debbie Wells

Fred Bronfin Torah Preservation Fund

In memory of Fred Bronfin
From: Danny, Melanie, Michael, and Neil Bronfin

General Fund

To: Rabbi Hoffman & David Kaplinsky
In honor of Rabbi Hoffman's arrival and Rabbinical Intern, David Kaplinsky's rabbinical work here
From: Melanie & Ken Ehrlich
Gilda Finkelstein Gift of Israel Fund

In memory of Isaac Pailet
From: Sanford Pailet

In memory of Gilda Finkelstein
From: Sanford Pailet

Yahrzeit Fund

In memory of Esther Lassen
From: Sandy Lassen

In memory of William Lassen
From: Sandy Lassen

In memory of our beloved mothers, Tina Ellis and Sylvia Ehrlich
From: Melanie & Ken Ehrlich

In memory of Russell Block
From: Paul Sterbcow
Contact Us
Scott Hoffman
Rabbi

Ricardo Totah
Executive Director 
 execdir@shirchadash.org
Chaviva Sands
Director of Education & Programming

Sarah Lustig
Office Manager
shirchadash@shirchadash.org
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