A Message from Our Rabbi
March 3, 2021

"As we begin preparing for our upcoming holiday of Passover this month, we recall that ancient journey from slavery to freedom, and we think of the many times throughout history that our people have wandered in search of safety. Time and time again we have found ourselves forced out of our homelands for being who we are. But, each time, we were held together by community and assisted by those who risked their safety in protection of ours. We continued to survive against all odds as our hearts grew to hold others who would come to experience what we had. Recalling our Exodus from Egypt, the Torah tells us, “you know the soul of the stranger.” We continue creating and repairing the world as we build our communities on the collective strength of each individual, remembering that we are stronger and strongest when we come together."   
[Rabbi Rachel Grant Meyer, HIAS Rabbi-in-Residence]

Friday evening, we begin welcoming Shabbat with our Tot Shabbat service at 6:15 pm. 

Our Erev Shabbat service begins at 7:30 pm as we join with Synagogues around the country in dedicating our Shabbat experience to understanding the global refugee crisis in a Jewish context, supporting refugees and asylum seekers, and learning, through the work of HIAS and other organizations, what we can do to help. We are honored to have several speakers with us Friday evening – Steve Janove, Jaimee Friedman, and Claudia Navarro – who just had her Citizenship hearing last week and whom Steve worked closely with, and who also received support from several members of our congregational community as she prepared for the hearing. At a time when many of us have asked “What can we do?,” in partnership with our Social Action Committee we will be starting the discussion about the ways we can help those seeking asylum and looking to become American citizens after fleeing persecution, violence, and war. (Zoom; click HERE for our Shabbat siddur)

Shabbat morning, I will be leading Torah Study at 9:00 am. Our Spice Up Your Judaism session on “The Kabbalah of Happiness” will be led by Scott Kushner beginning at 10:15 am. (Zoom, for both study sessions)

Our Shabbat morning service begins on Zoom at 10:30 am, as we celebrate the B’nai Mitzvah of Max and Jordan Stone. (Zoom; click HERE for our Shabbat siddur).

And our Shabbat afternoon service begins on Zoom at 5:45 pm, as we celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Jacob Rexon. (Zoom; click HERE for our Shabbat siddur).

And…of course…Sunday evening at 5:00 pm, we will be celebrating together as a Synagogue Family our M’kor Or event, where we will honor Neil and Jodi Levine as they receive the Stuart and Marylee Alperin Leadership Award, and Sharon Halperin, as she is presented with the Guiding Light Educator Award. It will be an incredibly special night for our community as we celebrate our honorees, as we gather together for this not-to-be-missed virtual event, and as we share in a few surprises throughout the night!

L’shalom,

Rabbi Jennifer L. Frenkel