A Message from Our Rabbi
July 22, 2020

THREE NEW AND EXCITING UPCOMING EVENTS!

I’m writing this week’s M’korMail Message “upside-down” in a sense, as there are three upcoming events that I want to draw your attention to, as each requires pre-registration. Below those three, you’ll find the information for this coming Shabbat evening/morning.

1. This Friday morning , Miss Jill, Cantor Harrison, and I will be leading Bim Bam Baby at 10:00 am on Zoom for our Tot Families (littles up through 2 years). If you would like to join us, and aren’t on our ECC email list, please be in touch with Miss Jill ( JillMoghadam@mkorshalom.org ). We’d love to see you!

2. NEXT Friday evening (July 31) we will be holding our first “Drive Up Shabbat” (weather permitting). Our service will be streamed live from our M’kor Shalom parking lot so there’s the opportunity to watch on your computer at home OR by joining us for an outdoor parking lot Shabbat service experience! For those wanting to stream services on their computer, just follow the link in next week’s M’korMail Message. For those wishing to join us in the parking lot for an “in person” experience, we ask you to pre-register for a spot. To ensure safe social distancing, we are only able to accommodate the first 36 car sign-ups for this first drive up service (click HERE to register). Those who register are welcome to bring folding chairs to sit next to their cars. Masks are required, and ushers will be on hand to assist with the parking directions. 

3. I’m proud to share that Congregation M’kor Shalom is supporting the Religious Action Center’s newest statewide organizing project, RAC-NJ. RAC-NJ will enable us to work in concert with other congregations across the state to put our Jewish values into practice in this moment when we know that history is unfolding all around us.  Please join us for RAC-NJ’s official launch on August 6 at 7:30 pm via Zoom . To sign up, go to  https://RAC.org/NJKickoff . I am serving on the steering committee for this kickoff event, which will feature New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way with an update on what lessons New Jersey has learned so far about voting in a pandemic, and how New Jersey is using those lessons to plan for November. Rev. Dr. Charles F. Boyer of Salvation and Social Justice will be speaking about racial justice in the Garden State. This is an opportunity to learn how your voice can help shape our RAC-NJ statewide strategy to address racial justice, pandemic response, voting rights, and more. We will also learn about opportunities to take action with Every Voice, Every Vote: The Reform Movement’s 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign. Together, we can turn the urgency of the moment into lasting change.

Our Torah portion for this coming Shabbat is Devarim , as we begin our fifth and final Book of Torah - Deuteronomy, a combination of speeches (sermons, really) that Moses shares with the Israelite people as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. Warnings, blessings, life-lessons…it’s all here. In some places, it reads like an “ethical will,” of Moses passing on his values and teachings to the next generation who will take over. The Israelites are at a transition point. Behind them is the desert. In front of them, the Promised Land. It has been a remarkable journey as Moses helps us look back on how far the people have come.

THIS Friday evening , our Kabbalat Shabbat service begins at 6:30 pm on Zoom. (click HERE for updated online siddur.)

Shabbat morning , Rabbi Address will be leading Torah Study beginning at 10:00 am. (Zoom)

And, tonight (7:00 pm, Zoom), I’ll be leading our Book Discussion on How To Be An Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Frenkel