What's Happening at a Glance
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| Our sixth graders (Hannah, Michael, and Lauren) practiced holding the Torah last month. |
- Wednesday, December 5: Next book group
- Wednesday, January 9: Bulls game with MOSH
- Welcome new board member Glenn Graff
- Help Wanted: Chanukah class parties on December 16
- Sunday, December 16: Bake sale!
- Upcoming school schedule
- Kallah! Midwest Regional Retreat February 15 to 17
- Friday, November 30: Learners’ service
- Friday, December 7: Lights & Miracles
- Sunday, December 2: Torah study
- “What Jacob and Esau Teach Us”
- Docent training at the Illinois Holocaust Museum
- Genetic education and screening program for young adults
- Holiday SHOP orders of at least $400 are now payable by credit card
Membership and Upcoming Events
Our book club will meet on Wednesday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Stacy Laner, 1047 Shambliss Court, Buffalo Grove. We will be reading It Happened in Italy: Untold Stories of How the People in Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust by Elizabeth Bettina. This is a fascinating and inspiring true story only recently coming to light. Please bring your own personal or family stories about the Italian Holocaust experience. For more information or to RSVP, contact Meryl Abensohn at abenkras@aol.com.
On behalf of the Men of Shir Hadash (MOSH), you are invited to come out for an exciting evening of Chicago Bulls basketball! All members of Shir Hadash are welcome, not just men! Invite your friends, family, and coworkers to join us as well! We’ll need at least 20 people participating to lock in this great group rate. RSVP to Sandi Schleicher at sschleicher@onebox.com ASAP!
- When: Wednesday, January 9
- Time: Game starts at 7 p.m. (we might meet early for dinner)
- Where: United Center
- Opponent: Milwaukee Bucks
- Price: $44 per ticket
Welcome New Board Member Glenn Graff
We would like to welcome Glenn Graff to the Shir Hadash Board. Glenn brings a background in real estate and tax law, delivering affordable housing, promoting community, and economic development. Glenn brings a passion to contribute to both our programming and sustainability teams (where we have an open position). We look forward to his enthusiasm and leadership.
Education Update
Thank you to volunteer "Party Parents" Molly Michaels (2nd Grade), Wendy Stein (3rd Grade), Pauline Levy (4th Grade), Dawn Allen (5th Grade), and Lauren Tashma (7th Grade). We still need help with Chanukah class parties for the K/1 and 6th grades on December 16 from 12 to 12:25 p.m. Each class party should include a couple of games and some treats. If you can help out in any capacity, please email eddirector@shir-hadash.org, or your classroom teacher. It's easy and fun!
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| More photos of sixth graders (Josh, Alyson, and Adam) with the Torah. |
We will be holding our first fundraiser bake sale of the year on Sunday, December 16, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at religious school, located at the Hellenic Academy (Pine Street & Lake Cook Road). Proceeds will help pay for the game materials and prizes for our school Purim carnival. Last year, because of your amazing response, we were able to purchase an iPad for the Hebrew Lab. Let’s see how much we can raise this year! HELP WANTED! We need help in three categories:
- We are asking all of the incredibly talented bakers in our Shir Hadash family to provide delicious baked goods to sell.
- We need people to help out at the bake sale for a few hours that morning. We are planning to have a lot of fun working the bake sale.
- We also need people to buy these goodies! Perhaps your talents lie in selecting sweets from the market. Anything that's contributed will be appreciated.
- Sunday, December 2: Religious school resumes
- Friday, December 7: Hanukkah Lights and Miracles
- Sunday, December 9: Religious school
- Sunday, December 16: Religious school, bake sale, class Chanukah parties
- Sunday, December 23: No school
- Sunday, December 30: No school
- Sunday, January 6: Religious school resumes
- Friday, March 1, 2013: Shabbat services will be led by grades K through 3
- Friday, May 17, 2013: Shabbat services will be led by our Havayah
Lights and Miracles: Your Child Will Be Performing on December 7
All of our religious school students are currently working on being an active part of our Lights and Miracles service. Gan Yeladim through second graders have choreographed their own dance accompaniment to a song that Rabbi Eitan has been teaching the school. The older students are choreographing the movement to a Woody Guthrie Chanukah song. Please plan to attend. The service will be held on Friday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m., at LCHS. Latkes and donuts will be served!
Teen News
Kallah! Midwest Regional Retreat February 15 to 17
Planning is underway for the 2013 No'ar Hadash Midwest Youth Kallah, which will be held from February 15 to 17, 2013, at a NEW location. This year, Shir Hadash 6th to 12th graders will share a great weekend with teens from other Reconstructionist congregations at the Perlman Retreat Center at Camp Beber in Wisconsin. Watch the newsletter and your mailbox for registration materials, which will be available mid-November.
Creative Worship & Ritual
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| A few more sixth graders (Brian and Brandon). |
This Friday, November 30, is a fifth Friday, which means we will be holding a learners' service. Why are the prayers in a special order? Does the order really matter? What do the prayers really mean, anyway? Why do we say some and sing some? Why do we stand for some and sit for others? At our special 5th Friday Learner’s Service, any and every question is welcome. We will move through the service stopping whenever a hand goes up with a question. Rabbi Eitan will explain and discuss the fascinating fine points and open our understanding to the architecture, wisdom and beauty of the Jewish liturgy. Bring questions! The service will be held at LCHS at 7:30 p.m., with a potluck oneg following.
Lights & Miracles on December 7
Light the Lights and celebrate the Jewish festival of freedom—Chanukah. Generations of American Jewish songwriters have written beautiful Chanukah songs. This year, we celebrate the American style of welcoming the Chanukah holiday. Shir Hadash folk musicians will lead us in a hootenanny jam and sing-along of favorite songs like Oh Chanukah and Dreidel, Dreidel. The celebration will feature our band, the Mighty Shir Hadash Klezmorim, who will get us on our feet. Our youth dancers will perform to Woody Guthrie’s Chanukah song. We will tell stories, learn the lessons of our tradition, light the Chanukah menorah, and wave glow lights as we sing. After the service, join us for potato latkes and doughnuts, traditional Chanukah treats. Services will be held on Friday, December 7, at 7:30 p.m., at LCHS.
Adult Education
This week, we are offering the following adult education class:
- Sunday, December 2: Torah study, 9:30, at Hellenic Academy. This week, we will read and discuss the next Torah portion—Jacob reunites with Esau, Jacob wrestles the angel, and the story of Dinah. There’s lots to talk about! Come and join the group in the lobby, right behind the SHOP Shir Hadash desk.
The Rabbi's Corner
November 30 - December 1, 2012 - 17 Kislev 5773
Shabbat Vayishlach
Torah Reading: Genesis 32:4 - 36:43 / Haftarah Reading: Obadiah 1:1-21
“What Jacob and Esau Teach Us”
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Community Announcements
Docents are volunteers who conduct tours of the Museum for visitors of all ages and diverse backgrounds through all Museum exhibitions. Utilizing techniques of dialogue and inquiry, docents encourage exploration of our exhibitions and advance our educational mission. Each tour program is two to four hours in length.
- December 5, 2012: Final applications due
- Early February 2014: Prospective docent interviews
- Late February 2013: Acceptance letters mailed
- June 2014: Docent training program begins. Sessions: June 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12
Genetic Education and Screening Program for Young Adults
Registration is now open for the Center for Jewish Genetics’ carrier screening programs for young Jewish adults. The Center offers an expanded panel of 18 disorders, including Tay-Sachs disease, Gaucher disease, and Cystic Fibrosis. Join the Center in October or December for a subsidized screening program ($180 per person), which includes an educational presentation, dinner, and screening. These tests usually cost more than $3,000! Pre-registration is required. Please contact Taryn Brickman at TarynBrickman@juf.org or visit www.jewishgenetics.org to learn more.
Donations
Thanks to the following people for their donations:
General Fund
- Gloria Kaplan in memory of Helen Wallk, mother of Jeff Wallk
- Judith and Seymour Fleischman in memory of Bernice Shipley, sister of Eleanor Weiner and aunt of Dawn Weiner-Kaplow
SHOP Shir Hadash
Holiday SHOP orders of at least $400 are now payable by credit card. Annual SHOP orders are also payable by credit card. If every family purchases $400 a month in grocery, gas, or other cards, we can earn more than $15,000. Shir Hadash believes that an inability to pay should never be a barrier to membership or education. Special consideration is given to our members when circumstances prevent them from meeting any part of their financial commitment. To offset this consideration and to make up the budgetary deficit, the Board is asking that all members consider making a monthly commitment to using shop gift cards. Purchasing SHOP gift cards helps the shul raise much needed funds without spending any more money than you already do for your regular expenses. A complete list of the many gift cards available through this program, along with the percentage the shul earns is available on our website. Orders can be picked up at Sunday school or the Shir Hadash office.
- M. Graff
- Zinbarg
- Schleicher
- Lazar
- Zwick
- Schmidt
- Foruoz
- Friedman
- Anes
- Soglin
- Walmart is offering a savings of 10 cents a gallon on gas purchases made when using a Walmart Gift Card, starting August 31, 2012, until December 23, 2012.
- Place an order on ShopWithScrip® from 12/1 to 12/7/2012 that contains at least $100 total in any Gap brand purchase* and your order will be entered in a drawing to be held at the conclusion of the promotion for some pretty incredible prizes. Grand Prize: Gap Inc. will reimburse the grand prize winning family for the cost of their ShopWithScrip order, up to $1,000. In addition, the organization the order is placed through will receive free shipping for an entire year and $5,000 in Gap/Banana Republic/Old Navy Options GiftCards to use however they see fit! First Prize: Gap Inc. will reimburse the first prize winning family for the cost of their ShopWithScrip order, up to $1,000. If that isn't enough, the organization the order is placed through will receive free shipping for a year and $1,000 in Gap/Banana Republic/Old Navy Options GiftCards to use as they like! Second Place Prizes: Five lucky second place winners, Gap Inc. will reimburse the family for the cost of their ShopWithScrip order, up to $1,000.
- Holiday Gift Card Wrappers (10-pack) include ten different designs and are available for $2.00 with a 10% non-profit contribution.
Changes to Reload Schedule Over the Holidays
- Christmas: No reloads from Monday, December 24, 2012, through Wednesday, December 26, 2012. Reload orders placed and paid for after 3:30 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time) on Friday, December 21, 2012, until 3:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, December 27, 2012, will be available for use the morning of Friday, December 28, 2012.
- New Years: No reloads on Tuesday, January 1, 2013. Reload orders placed and paid for after 3:30 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time) on Monday, December 31, 2012, will be available for use the morning of Thursday, January 3, 2013.
