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Shir Chadash Newsletter

February 8 - February 14, 2024

29 Shevat - 5 Adar I 5784

Security Reminder: Please be aware that due to security concerns, we are, for the time being, implementing a new security protocol in which we will require Photo ID from non-members or unfamiliar faces joining us for services. We hope you understand and still decide to join us in prayer as we observe and celebrate Shabbat.

Health Reminder: With the return of Winter, also comes the return of rising numbers of Covid, flu, and RSV in our community. If you are feeling ill, please consider staying home and participating in services online to protect those around you, especially the more susceptible members of our Congregation.

Please note that our office will be closed Monday and Tuesday, February 12-13, for Lundi and Mardi Gras Days.


Have a very happy Mardi Gras season and stay safe!

NOLA STANDS WITH ISRAEL

Dear Shir Chadash community,


This week, I’ll offer a few suggestions about how to learn Torah from the land of Israel – even if you’re not actually in the land of Israel. The places I recommend in the next few paragraphs stand out to me because they satisfy my “double” requirement of being grounded in traditional text study on the one hand, yet maintaining a spirit of pluralism on the other. 

 

First, I would be remiss if I failed to mention that there is a Conservative Yeshiva in Israel. It offers a number of online classes, but its most popular offerings are actually email communications. The two best are a daily Mishna study and a weekly Torah portion discussion. You can sign up to receive these in your email, or you can go on the website of the Conservative Yeshiva and find it yourself.

 

Second on my list is the Shalom Hartman Institute. Hartman also offers online classes, but in contrast to the Conservative Yeshiva, it has a network of teachers in North America available for in-person instruction. These courses are usually offered through the Federation, and I assure you they are always worthwhile. Shalom Hartman has on its faculty a number of recognizable figures, including Yossi Klein Halevi and Yehuda Kurtzer, to name just two.

 

Finally, you can try your hand at learning on your own through English language publications from Israel from Koren Publishers in Jerusalem. These include the Steinsaltz Talmud and the Koren Bible, both very well presented explanations of Talmudic and Biblical texts. And if you prefer ebooks, don’t worry – Koren has those as well.

 

Every Shabbat as we take out the Torah, we declare, “For the Torah will go forth from Zion, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 2:3) Nowadays, it’s more true than ever – assuming we take it upon ourselves to see to its fulfillment.


Of course, if you need additional help, the leadership of both Shir Chadash and of the New Orleans Jewish community, are here to assist you. Below, you will find link to resources which can help, whether you are seeking pastoral support, an opportunity for pro-Israel advocacy, or a chance to help Israel financially, spiritually, or through volunteer work. Please feel free to take advantage of these resources as fully as you like. And if you need additional help, please feel free to call us in the office.



~ Rabbi Scott Hoffman

ISRAEL RESOURCES
Shir Chadash Calendar
All links have migrated to our webpage. Click here to get there! 

Thursday, February 8th

5 pm, YAS Does Muses - at the corner of Napoleon & Prytania- RSVP HERE



Friday, February 9th

6:15 pm, Shabbat Evening Services


Saturday, February 10th

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


10 am, Babysitting



Sunday, February 11th

NO SHUL SCHOOL - MARDI GRAS BREAK


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


Monday, February 12th - Lundi Gras

OFFICE CLOSED


Tuesday, February 13th - Mardi Gras

OFFICE CLOSED


Wednesday, February 14th

10 am, Sisterhood Class: The Bible Says...That?

Thursday, February 15th

8 am, Morning Minyan on Zoom



Friday, February 16th

6:15 pm, Magical Musical Kabbalat Shabbat with Basya Schechter & David Buchbinder, followed by dessert oneg - Registration is appreciated


Saturday, February 17th

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


10 am, Babysitting


Sunday, February 18th

9 am, SHUL SCHOOL, with special musical workshops for each class featuring Basya Schechter & David Buchbinder


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


10:30 am, Sunday Mah Jongg - Open to all players of any experience level


Tuesday, February 20th

11 am, Lunch & Learn: Codes of Jewish Law


Wednesday, February 21st

10 am, Sisterhood Class: The Bible Says...That?

Shir Chadash Events & Announcements
REGISTRATION IS APPRECIATED!

We invite you to join us as

Eve Elle Bradley

daughter of Rachel & Jeremy Bradley,

granddaughter of Diane & Mark Schleifstein,

and sister of Rose Ray Bradley

is given her Hebrew Name.


Thursday, February 22, 2024

Morning Minyan at 9:30 AM,

followed by Ceremony and Brunch.

REGISTER HERE

CLASSES WITH RABBI HOFFMAN

Great Jewish Novels

(of the 20th Century)

Once a month, Tuesdays, 7 PM

@ Rabbi Hoffman's Home

Next Class: March 5th

"Call It Sleep"

by Henry Roth


The twentieth century saw the flourishing of multiple genres of Jewish literature. Great novels were written in pre-war Europe, the newly-established state of Israel, and the first immigrant generation in the United States. Come and discuss the ways in which this literature shaped, and was shaped by, our Jewish world.  


Please RSVP to Rabbi Hoffman at rabbiscott@shirchadash.org


Click here for the full 2023-2024 schedule and book list

Lunch & Learn:

Codes of Jewish Law

With gratitude to the Nat Leon Fund

Once a month, Tuesdays, 11 AM

Next Class: February 20th


Join Rabbi Hoffman for a one-hour session followed by a delicious catered lunch, provided free of charge thanks to the generosity of the Nat Leon Fund. We will be looking at the various codes of Jewish law and see how Jewish sources have wrestled with questions both timeless and current. You do not need to bring anything but a hunger to learn – and perhaps a hunger for lunch. Translations will be based, wherever possible, upon the materials found in www.sefaria.org. 

Sisterhood Class: The Bible Says... That?

Wednesdays. 10 AM

In-person and available on Zoom


The so-called “historical” books of the Bible – that is, Judges, Joshua, I/II Samuel, and I/II Kings are filled with exciting and colorful stories. But are these stories satirical? Are they filled with hidden messages? Are they both didactic and entertaining? Come and join us for an exploration of these books of the Bible and learn that our ancestors’ tastes were not always far removed from our own. All materials will be provided, so just come and enjoy.

MAH JONGG SUNDAYS AT SHIR CHADASH

Come play Mah Jongg at Shir Chadash once a month on Sundays at 10:30 AM!



New and experienced players are welcome!



Upcoming Dates: February 18 | March 17

Sunday Shacharit Minyan

Minyan will be in the Chapel

at 9:15 am, followed by breakfast.

Zoom participation remains an option.


Everyone welcome!

Thursday Shacharit Minyan


Join us at 8 am for our

virtual weekday minyan.

Click here for the most recent

Family Newsletter

to learn more about upcoming

children's programming!

Click here for the most recent Shul School Recap!


If you have not yet registered your child(ren) and wish to enroll them,

please do so HERE or contact

Chaviva Sands at educationdirector@shirchadash.org.

Sisterhood Corner
Top 10 Reasons to Join Sisterhood!

10. Sisterhood needs & values you 

  9. Interesting discussions & conversations

  8. Opportunities to learn new skills

  7. Being a part of something bigger than yourself

  6. Connections to individuals around the world

  5. Longest ongoing Torah study class in NOLA

  4. Innovative programming

  3. Increased longevity & decreased stress

  2. Unmatched support system 

  1. Lasting friendships 

 

For details about membership, dues payments, or contributing, please click HERE.


Information and/or questions, contact Charisse Sands at 504-231-6464 or annsandsc@aol.com (Sisterhood in subject line)

UPCOMING CLASSES & PROGRAMMING!

Rosh Chodesh Gathering & Learning

As advertised, Sundays at 10:30 AM

Next Session: March 3rd



Rosh Chodesh is a special time for women to gather and learn. This year Sisterhood will be studying the Girls in Trouble curriculum, a project of Alicia Jo Rabins. We will follow individual women through their stories in the Torah by engaging in studying Torah text, considering the story’s relevance to our own lives, and generating our own creative interpretations. This curriculum brings biblical women to life, demonstrating the power of these often understudied stories and highlighting the ways in which they can help us navigate our own complicated lives. 

Community Events and Announcements
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Now on exhibit at the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, “A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America” is an evocative series of black-and-white photographs by Andrew Feiler memorializing the Rosenwald schools, a network of nearly 5,000 modest schoolhouses built to educate underserved Black students in the segregated south. The project, the joint dream of a Jewish philanthropist and a Black educator, narrowed the Black-white education gap that plagued Southern and border states, strengthened Black-Jewish relations, paved the way for the civil rights movement, and helped to build a new African American middle class. 

Contact Us

OFFICE HOURS: Monday - Friday, 9 AM - 3 PM

Scott Hoffman

Rabbi

rabbiscott@shirchadash.org


Ricardo Totah

Executive Director 

 execdir@shirchadash.org

Chaviva Sands

Director of Education & Programming

 educationdirector@shirchadash.org


Rabbi David Cohen-Henriquez

Outreach/Engagement Coordinator

rabbidavid@shirchadash.org

Sarah Lustig

Office Manager

shirchadash@shirchadash.org


Quick Links

Shir Chadash Website


Online Giving


Shir Chadash Family-Established Funds


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Jewish Federation of GNO

Crescent City Jewish News


Southern Jewish Life


Jewish Community Day School


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