Shir Chadash Newsletter

February 23 - March 1, 2023

1 Adar - 8 Adar 5783

Friday, February 24th

6:15 pm, Shabbat Evening Services

Saturday, February 25th

9:30 am, Shabbat Morning Services, followed by Kiddush lunch sponsored by Hugo & Lis Kahn in honor of Hugo's birthday

10 am, Shul School Shabbat

10 am, Babysitting

Sunday, February 26th

NO REGULARLY SCHEDULED SHUL SCHOOL

9:15 am, Minyan with Men's Club, followed by breakfast

Tuesday, February 28th

11 am, Lunch & Learn

Wednesday, March 1st

10 am, Sisterhood Class: The Book of Legends

Thursday, March 2nd

8 am, Morning Minyan on Zoom

Friday, March 3rd

6:15 pm, Shabbat Evening Services

Saturday, March 4th

9:30 am, Shabbat Morning Services, followed by Kiddush lunch

10 am, Babysitting

10:30 am, Learn to Lead (for ages 7-12)

Sunday, March 5th

9 am, SHUL SCHOOL

9:15 am, Minyan with Men's Club, followed by breakfast

10 am, Family Hamantaschen Baking

Monday, March 6th - Erev Purim

5:30 pm, Children's Purim Program & Pizza Dinner for all ages

6:45 pm, Megillah Reading followed by Purim Celebration

Tuesday, March 7th - Purim

8 am, Morning Minyan with Megillah Reading

Wednesday, March 8th

10 am, Sisterhood Class: The Book of Legends

Thursday, March 9th

8 am, Morning Minyan on Zoom

Our Health Committee update as of December 7, 2022 is as follows:



'Tis the season for respiratory viruses . . . A "tridemic" of COVID, influenza, and RSV is currently upon us. As a result, we strongly encourage you to stay up to date with your COVID and flu vaccines. Bivalent COVID boosters are available for those ages 5 years and older. Flu vaccine is available for those ages 6 months and older.  Please visit vaccines.gov to find a location near you.  We also encourage frequent handwashing and wearing a mask in crowded indoor spaces. And if you are feeling sick, please stay home to help reduce the transmission of virus to others. Zay gezunt! Be well!

Please click HERE to read our guidelines in full.

Join us Monday, March 6th, for an evening of fun and laughter as we celebrate Purim! Starting at 5:30 PM we will have a special Purim program for our youngsters as well as a pizza dinner, catered by Dvash, for all who wish to join.

Prior to our Megillah Reading by Returning Special Guest, Daniel Olsen, at 6:45 PM, we will have a lively costume parade for all! During Megillah Reading, we will also be announcing the best costumes in our four categories: Group/Family, Couple, Single, and Kid - so don't put away your masks and outrageous outfits just yet!

Upon the completion of the Book of Esther, stick around for Israel Dancing with Dr. Elliott Raisen, libations, and a nosh. We can't wait to see you soon and get ready to make some noise!

Please note: The Megillah Reading will be live-streamed from the Sanctuary so whether you are here or at home, you can observe the mitzvah of hearing the Megillah read on Purim.

Please also join us the following morning,

March 7th, at 8 AM for Morning Minyan

with Megillah Reading by Daniel Olsen

(in-person and also available on Zoom).

SAVE THE DATE!

Stay tuned for more information!

Save the date for this fun-filled weekend with The Bible Players, a Torah Comedy team who use theater and improv to infuse comedy and laughs into tales from the Torah and beyond!

Everyone can be part of the campaign to replace 19 of our worn Torah covers. Giving opportunities from $36 to $2000+ (including inscription, 17 still available). From now almost until Passover (April 1, 2023) your donation to the Fred Bronfin Torah Preservation Fund will be a part of this campaign. Give in honor of any occasion: birthday, anniversary, thank you, or just because. The goal is to have the new covers on display for Rosh Hashanah 5784.  

To make your donation, contact the shul office or click the button below.

CLASSES WITH RABBI HOFFMAN

MSJE and Chabad of Louisiana are teaming up to host a family hamentaschen-making workshop at MSJE on Sunday, February 26 at 3:00pm. You’ll make the dough and choose your perfect down-home filling, with everything from pecan praline to apricot jam available, then leave the mess behind and take your hamentaschen home to bake – just in time for Purim. There will also be crafts and snacks for the kiddos. All ingredients and snacks are kosher. Perfect for families with children of all ages!

SAVE THE DATE!

LIMMUDFEST 2023 GOES LIVE! 

The lineup of local, regional, and national presenters and information on their sessions is now available! This year's sessions will cover a wide variety of issues and topics, such as:

• Arts and Culture
• Contemporary Jewish Life and Identity
• Family
• Food
• Hands-on
• History
• Israel

• Music
• Social Justice
• Southern Jewish Life
• Spirituality
• Text & Thought
• Teen Limmud
• Young Limmud

Each week we will be featuring two of their amazing presenters!

Laura Arnold Leibman is Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College, VP of Program (Association of Jewish Studies), and the author of The Art of the Jewish Family: A History of Women in Early New York in Five Objects (Bard Graduate Center, 2020), which won three National Jewish Book Awards. Her latest book, Once We Were Slaves (Oxford UP, 2021), is about an early multiracial Jewish family who began their lives enslaved in the Caribbean and became some of the wealthiest Jews in New York.

Limmud 2023 sessions: Quilting Identity

Eli Sperling served as the Senior Academic Research Coordinator at Emory University’s Institute for the Study of Modern Israel from 2012–2020 and taught as a guest professor in Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish Studies from 2019–2020. From June 2020-July 2022, Eli served as a Postdoctoral Associate in Duke University’s Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and currently serves as the Israel Institute Teaching Fellow in the University of Georgia’s Department of International Affairs. Eli is the author of the forthcoming book Singing the Land: Hebrew Music and Early Zionism in America, published by University of Michigan Press.

Limmud 2023 sessions:       

·      A ‘Warm Peace’ in the Middle East? Cultural Diplomacy and the Abraham Accords

·      What is Going on in Israeli Electoral Politics?

·      How Do We in the Diaspora Relate to Israel amidst Its Electoral Shifts to the Right?

Visit www.limmudnola.org to see the full line-up of sessions and to register for LimmudFest 2023.

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience is excited to announce the opening of its newest Special Exhibit! Titled “God, Goats and Pickup Trucks: Maurice Schmidt’s Visions of Texas,” the exhibition features 23 artworks celebrating the deep connection between the land and the divine that has come to characterize life in the Bible Belt. The collection ranges over the diverse Texas landscape through subjects both pastoral and holy.

Come see the exhibit, on display at MSJE until May 31, and mention that Shir Chadash is your congregation for a discounted ticket!

CHESED OPPORTUNITIES

Some of our congregants have some difficulty driving at night, but still wish to attend evening services and programming. Shir Chadash wishes to be as inclusive as possible and hopefully provide assistance to those who may need it.

If you need assistance in getting to shul in the evening OR are able and willing to provide a ride to those in need, please fill out the survey below.

Assistance Requested

Beloved member of the New Orleans Jewish community, Nita-Joan Sams, is seeking a full-time, live-in mature female companion who can also assist with transportation. Free room and board plus payment for services. Respondents must have a current driver's license and computer skills. If interested, please call 504.831.8475 x7245 (ask for Kiolga) or email kiolga@jfsneworleans.org.

Vanessa Cohen is an early childhood educator at the New Orleans JCC. This will be her sixth year teaching there. Vanessa was recently diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer. She is taking at least the first semester off from teaching to undergo aggressive cancer treatment which includes radiation and chemotherapy. If you know Vanessa, then you know she is one of the most caring and loving humans on this planet. She takes an interest in every single student. Teaching young and curious minds is Vanessa's greatest love, so for her to have to take extended time off of work must have been an especially challenging decision for her. As a teacher at the JCC, Vanessa has always supported her students and their families with so much enthusiasm and warmth. 

Even with health insurance, Vanessa will have many medical bills and extra expenses as a part of her treatment. FMLA will not be enough to support Vanessa with all of her routine and extra expenses. Now is our time to give back and show our support for Vanessa. Please donate if you can and please feel free to pass this on to anyone who may be willing to help.