Shir Hadash Newsletter 3/21/2013

To view this blog in its entirety, go to our website.

For daily event updates, visit our calendar.

What’s Happening at a Glance

Membership News and Upcoming Events

• Passover in the Matzah Aisle, March 24
• Community Seder at Our Lady of the Brook, March 26
• Business Mastermind Group, April 7
• April Book Club: Everything is Illuminated, April 25
• Save the Date: Shir Hadash Annual Meeting, May 5

Education Update

• School Seder a great success
• Upcoming school schedule

Teen News

• Madrichim meeting, April 28
• JUF Teen Engagement Fair, May 5
• High school event with JRC, May 11

Creative Worship & Ritual

• Recap: Our First Shabbat in the New Building
• Upcoming Services

Adult Education

• Jews and Slavery in the South, April 7

The Rabbi’s Corner: “Cooking With Gas”

Donations

Community News

• Interfaith Seder in Chicago, March 21
• JVS Career Connections for Professionals, March 21
• Film Recommendation: “Refuge”
• Parent & Family Connection for LGBTQ Jews in Chicagoland
• JUF Israel Solidarity Day, April 28

SHOP Shir Hadash

Membership and Upcoming Events

Share Your Feedback on the New Building – FAQs now available on website!

What’s the latest news about Shir Hadash’s new building? You can find out all about it, including a list of frequently asked questions, on our website! Simply go to our home page and click on the link “Find out more about our new building.” There you will find the latest information, a list of FAQs, photos, and a description of what our new building offers you. We want to hear your feedback! Please e-mail your thoughts to Shir Hadash President Jeffrey Wallk at president@shir-hadash.org.

Passover in the Matzah Aisle

In the weeks before Passover, families flock to grocery stores to stock up on boxes of matzah and other foods for the holiday. Members of Shir Hadash will be reaching out to the Jewish community right where they shop, in the matzah aisle! 

This year, we are setting up a table at the Dominick’s Fine Foods in Buffalo Grove, right down the road from our soon-to-be home. A group of our members, including several of our teen leaders, had a great time last week meeting shoppers and sharing our Shir Hadash spirit. This is an exciting, interactive and fun way to teach about the holiday of Passover, share some samples and recipes and explain why we eat all that matzah! We’ll be there again this Sunday, so come by to visit our table at Dominick’s – or better yet, please volunteer to take a one-hour shift at the table with Rabbi Eitan to meet and greet members of the Jewish community.

Date: Sunday, March 24, 11:00am to 3:00pm

Address: 770 S. Buffalo Grove Road, Buffalo Grove

Passover in the Matzah Aisle is a program of the Jewish Outreach Institute, based in New York City.

Community Seder

Join us for our annual Community Seder on Tuesday, March 26. This is always an exciting opportunity to celebrate together while we enjoy everyone’s favorite holiday recipes!

When: Tuesday, March 26, 6pm

Where: Our Lady of the Brook, 3700 Dundee Road, Northbrook

RSVP: By TODAY, Thursday, March 21. Click here to sign up your family. We suggest a nominal donation of $5.00 per person; children ages three and under are free. Send checks made payable to Shir Hadash for Melanie Andes, 945 Creek Bend Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061, or pay at the door.

This event is to be veggie/dairy, using Kosher for Passover ingredients. Fish is welcome! Feel free to bring Ashkenazic and Sephardic dishes. (Sephardic allows some ingredients that Ashkenazic does not, such as rice, corn, and legumes). Please bring one dish serving 8-10 people for every two people in your group, along with one 32-oz bottle of grape juice (non-alcoholic only). For guidelines and suggestions, please contact Melanie at 847 913 9198 or fmandes@comcast.net, or visit our Facebook page for some new recipes!

Business Mastermind Group

The Business Mastermind Group will be meeting on the first Sunday of each month while religious school is in session, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The mission is to build mutually beneficial relationships with Shir Hadash small business owners by providing value to other group members. Each meeting will feature a topic of interest that everyone agrees is important. We will focus on that topic for the whole meeting with everyone providing examples of their experiences related to the topic. At the first meeting, the group will pick a list of topics. Each meeting will start with brief introductions of everyone in the group. In this way, new people are always invited and will feel comfortable attending. For more information, contact Dan Wellisch at danw@wellsoftware.com.

Book Club

The next Book Club will be held on Thursday, April 25 at 7:30pm, at the home of Stacy Laner, 1047 Shambliss Court, Buffalo Grove. The book will be Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.This is the story of a young American Jew who flies to the Ukraine to search for the woman who saved his grandfather's life during the Nazi invasion. For more information, contact Meryl Abensohn at abenkras@aol.com.

Shir Hadash Goes to the Theatre Followup: Fifteen Shir Hadash members attended the March 16 performance of “Everything is Illuminated” at the Next Theatre in Evanston. The play was fantastic and the talk-back discussion afterwards was very “illuminating”! The play’s run has been extended to April 14. Visit the Next Theatre's website for information.

Israel Solidarity Day

JUF is hosting its annual Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration at the 2013 Israel Solidarity Day, which will be held on Sunday, April 28th at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.  Event highlights will include the Walk with Israel, fabulous all-day entertainment in Ravinia’s Pavilion featuring the King David Drummers, The Maccabeats and Matisyahu - acoustic, food for purchase and festivities for all ages.

The day’s agenda is as follows:

10:00 a.m. Teen J-Serve Project* (on site)

11:00 a.m. Registration opens

11:30 a.m. King David Drummers

12:15 p.m. The Maccabeats

1:00 p.m. Israel Solidarity Day Kickoff Rally

1:15 p.m. Three-Mile Walk with Israel & One-Mile Family Walk

2:30 p.m. King David Drummers

3:00 p.m. Matisyahu - acoustic

4:00 p.m. Program concludes

* 8th to 12th graders are invited to participate in a city-wide service project.

For detailed information and registration, visit the JUF website.

Education Update

All School Seder Success!

Great success. Last Sunday the Shir Hadash Religious School held our first All-School Passover Seder. Students from Kindergarten through Seventh grade, and all of our teenagers, participated in a seder led by Rabbi Eitan and his son, Ayal. They were beautifully accompanied by song leaders Ethan Zwick and Josh Wallk.

Students were brought into the center circle at 10:40 a.m., where they were seated around tables set complete with flowers and seder plates. An orange, representing woman's equality (among other things) was placed on each table.  Rabbi Eitan used his MacBook to project the seder onto the wall, so the students could follow along without individual haggadot.  Technology is always evolving at Shir Hadash Religious School.

Rabbi Eitan led us through Kadesh (white grape juice), Urehatz (we even had washing stations set up!), Karpas (parsley-dipping in salt water), and Yahatz (thank you Adam Weiss for sweeping up the extra matzah crumbs). The Torah Teen Players retold the passover story with creativity and good humor. Our students are particularly focused when the teens lead a play. After the story, more handwashing, and then on to the matzoh, maror, koreh (the sandwich), and then we ate the eggs. Although, as typically may happen in your family, we never quite got to the end of the seder, the children participated in what was declared, by many people of all ages, one of the most educationally satisfying days ever at Sunday school.

Thank you to all of the people who helped by sending in seder plates, charoset, hardboiled eggs, matzah, oranges, horseradish, grape juice, and parsley. These people included ; the Kalinas, the Schleichers, the Mostows, the Levitts, the Bernsteins, the Liebermans, the Michaels, the Blumsteins, the Soglins, the Edlers, the Horwitz/Litmans, the Shwartzes, the Zwicks, and the Zinbargs, among others. The day was especially beautiful because of you and your help.

Upcoming School Schedule

Spring Break: No School March 24 or 31

Monday, April 1: Havayah (grades 8-12) at LCHS

Sunday, April 7: 7th Graders Present Yom Hashoah Service at Sunday School

Sunday, April 14: Sunday School

Monday, April 15: Havayah

Sunday, April 21: Yom Tikkun Olam (Day to Repair the World) No school at Hellenic American Academy

Sunday, April 28: Sunday School Open House for Prospective Members

Monday, April 29: Last Day of Havayah BBQ

Sunday, May 5: Last Day of Sunday School

Friday, May 17: Shabbat services will be led by our Havayah

Teen News

Madrichim 

Our last meeting of the school year will be April 28. Please be sure to attend.

Teen Engagement Fair

Here’s a great event for 7^th and 8^th graders and their families: JUF will sponsor a Teen Engagement Fair at the Chicagoland Jewish High School on May 5 from 1:00 to 4:00. The day will show you how Jewish life really begins AFTER your b’nai mitzvah, with travel opportunities, organizations, programs and more. Plus they’ll have raffles, kosher hot dog eating contests, and lots of other activities. To learn more and RSVP, visit http://juf.org/teen.

Save the Date: Saturday evening, May 11th- High School event with JRC.  Details to follow... stay tuned!

Creative Worship & Ritual

Our First Shabbat in the New Building

March 16 marked an exciting milestone for our community, as we celebrated our first Shabbat in our new Wheeling home. which included Eitan’s derash and Power Point presentation (using the great new AV equipment) about the song “Dayenu”. Then we had a presentation by our President and Building Committee about the design plans for the sanctuary, including the bima and several design plans for the ark. People asked questions and gave suggestions, including written ones in the suggestion box. After all that, we had a quick oneg in the kitchen to end the evening – although some of us enjoyed continuing the discussion at the nearby Market Square Restaurant, over a bowl of their famous soup.

Upcoming Services

There will be no Friday night services on March 22 or March 29, Be sure to join us for our wonderful Community Seder on the 26^th (see above), and mark your calendars for our annual Pausing in the Wilderness service on April 5. More details to come!

Adult Education

Jews and Slavery

On April 7, Meryl Abensohn will lead a discussion of Jews in the American South during the age of slavery. Join us at 10:30 am at the Hellenic School for an engaging conversation. For more information, contact Meryl at abenkras@aol.com.

The Rabbi’s Corner

March 22-23, 2013 / 12 Nisan 5773

Shabbat Tzav / Shabbat Hagadol

Torah - Leviticus 6:1-8:36 / Haftarah – Malachi 3:4-24

“Cooking with Gas”

Dear Friends,

When Shabbat Hagadol (“The Great Shabbat”) comes around this weekend, it can mean only one thing, start cooking!  Shabbat Hagadol is the great Shabbat that precedes the Passover celebration.  It reminds us that in a few short days we will be gathering around our seder tables at our home, the homes of family and friends, or at Shir Hadash on the second night to recount the story of the exodus of our ancestors from slavery into freedom.  The seder is a ceremony filled with ritual, story, song and, of course, great food.

For those who regularly take on the lion’s share of the cooking, I encourage you to include others who are rarely involved….

To read the rest of The Rabbi’s Corner, click here to visit our website.

Donations

Many thanks to the following for their donation:

Building Fund:

Missy and Steve Kanter, in honor of the b'nai mitzvah of their children Izzy and Louie and in memory of Ed Kaplow, father of Rabbi Eitan

Community News

Multi-faith Seder: The Cup is for All of Us

Rabbi Eitan will be leading the Multi-faith Passover Seder again this year TONIGHT at the A.M.E. Zion Church at 6930 S. Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago. This event is presented by Friend of Shir Hadash Amram Abraham and his organization Institute for a New World Vision. The seder is an exciting encounter between Christians and Jews, as well as between Black and White Jews.  About half a dozen Shir Hadash members joined Rabbi Eitan in attending last year's seder and we all found it fascination and uplifting.  The food was great, as was the music. Any Shir Hadash members who would like to ride to the seder together can contact Lynne Arons, Rzldzl122@aol.com or 847 732 7001. 

Career Connections for Professionals

Tonight, March 21, JVS Chicago Career Development  Director Linda Wolfe will present “What the Heck is a Personal Brand and Why Do I Need One?” as part of the JVS Career Connections series. The presentation will be held at Lakeside Congregation, 1221 County Line Road in Highland Park from 5:00 to 8:00pm. Learn how to identify your unique skills and values and how to sell them to employers!  Admission is free, but pre-registration is required. Click here to register  or contact Sandra Saltzman at sandrasaltzman@jvschicago.org for more information.

Film Recommendation: "REFUGE: Stories of the Self-Help Home"

In honor of Yom HaShoah, WTTW Channel 11 is broadcasting the award-winning documentary, "REFUGE: Stories of the Self-Help Home" created by filmmaker Ethan Bensinger. This moving documentary reaches back more than 70 years to tell the stories of Chicago’s final generation of Holocaust survivors, and explores a local community that has given shelter to more than 1000 victims of Nazi persecution from Central Europe. (The film also features a score composed by Steve Zoloto, the son of Shir Hadash’s own Lillian Zoloto!) Channel 11 will show REFUGE  at 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, with rebroadcasts at 3pm on April 5 and 7. 

Parent & Family Connection for LGBTQ Jews

Is your child gay, lesbian, transgender, queer, or questioning? Do you want to talk to other Jewish families with LGBTQ children? If so, join the monthly discussions with Parent & Family Connection for LGBTQ Jews in Chicagoland. Upcoming meetings will be held on April 22 and May 20. Upcoming topics will include: transgender youth; passing--who knows, who doesn’t know; navigating a hetero-sexist world; healthy relationships and violence in the GLBTQ community; and conversation about creating inclusive communities.

With support from Keshet, Response provides group support for those dealing with any stage of the coming out process. Response helps adolescents in the Jewish and general community develop skills in communication, decision-making and leadership necessary to deal with life’s challenges. Response is a program of JCFS, a partner in serving our community, supported by the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation. Click here for information about upcoming events.

SHOP Shir Hadash

SHOP for Our New Home! 
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. 

Purchasing SHOP gift cards helps the shul raise much needed funds without spending any more money than you already do for your regular expenses.  Orders can be picked up at Sunday school or the Shir Hadash office.  

Celebrate National Reading Month at Barnes & Noble! Take some time to browse through the Deals of the Day on bn.com! Barnes & Noble is available in ScripNow™! 

Don't Toss That Card! Reload it. 

Reloading allows you to add funds to many plastic gift cards you previously purchased on ShopWithScrip® with ease and speed. In fact, if you pay for your Reload order with PrestoPay™, our online payment method, before 3:30 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, the funds will be added to your card overnight! For a growing number of retailers, you can add funds to your gift card in minutes with ReloadNow™! Please remember, if you pay by check, your reload purchase will be processed after the order is released by your coordinator. 

Remember, using ScripNow is simple:  To order, visit any of the brand pages on ShopWithScrip.com and select the ScripNow product choice. 

•Order your ScripNow . 

•Pay with PrestoPay™ to print your ScripNow in minutes. 

•Or, pay by check to have your coordinator release your order. 

•Receive an email when your eCard is available on your ShopWithScrip.com account. 

•Click on View ScripNow from your Family Home page to view and print your eCard. 

Thanks to the following families for participating in SHOP this week: 

• Allen      
• Weiner-Kaplow 
• Elfant 
• Zinbarg 
• Lazar 
• Estes-Goldman 
• Soglin 
• Schleicher