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
- Town Hall Meeting, March 15
- Book Club, March 19
- Community Seder, April 4
- Recap: Smashing Time at Queen Esther’s Purim Dinner
- Yoga at Shir Hadash
Creative Worship and Ritual
- Shabbat Services this Week
- Shabbat Speaker Series Begins March 13, 7:30pm
- Shabbat Morning Service and Bat Mitzvah at Renaissance Hotel, 9:30am
Volunteer Opportunities
- PADS Homeless Shelter, March 17
- New! Passover Baskets
- New! Disaster Recovery Service Project, July 15-19
- SHOP Needs You
The Rabbi’s Corner
- “The Pause that Refreshes”
Education
- Religious School, March 15
- Tefillin Needed
- Geocaching Mitzvah Project, April 18
Teen News
- Bowling Party Highlights
- Purim Carnival Appreciation
- Ra'am Board Meeting via Google Hangout, March 16
- BBYO Regional Event, March 14
- Business Meeting and Stand Up Program, March 23
Adult Education
- Adult Ed Class on American Jewish History, March 15
- Lunch and Learn with the Rabbi, Tuesdays
- Sunday Morning Adult Ed Class
Community Events
- JUF Fundraiser April 12
Ongoing Fundraisers
- Help Shir Hadash Earn Free Donations with iGive
- Samuel I. Andes Scholarship Fund
- Permanent Restaurant Fundraisers: The Continental and Butterfield’s
SHOP Shir Hadash
Membership and Upcoming Events
This Sunday! Town Hall Meeting, March 15
We will be having a Town Hall meeting on Sunday at 10:30am. Come get an update on what is happening at
Shir Hadash, and participate in small group discussions so that we can learn
about your hopes and dreams for Shir Hadash and what we can do to enhance our
Shir Hadash community.
Book Club, March 19
Our book club’s next selection will be Son of Hamas by
Mossab Hassam Yousef. Our discussion will be led by Ed Rice, who has attended a
talk by the author. Our meeting will be held on March 19 at the Andes home, 945
Creek Bend Drive in Vernon Hills. Everyone is welcome. For more information,
contact Meryl Abensohn, abenkras@aol.com.
Community Seder, April 4
Our annual Community Seder is scheduled for April 4, at Shir
Hadash. Mark your calendars now, and watch for more details to be announced
soon.
Smashing Time at
Queen Esther's Dinner and Rock and Roll Spiel!
Saturday was a fantastic event, which started with an
authentic Queen Esther's Persian dinner and was followed up with a rocking time
where the Purim story was told in concert form through classic rock and roll
songs. Thank you to the singers, the
band, helpers who helped set up and clean up, and everyone who cooked food for
the event.
Yoga has Started at Shir Hadash
We are excited to have started yoga classes at Shir Hadash!
We launched a five-week session on March 10, but newcomers may still join us at
Shir Hadash on Tuesdays from 6:00-7:00pm. Our classes are being taught by a
certified instructor and are appropriate for men and women, ages 14 and up with
any level of yoga experience. We will even accommodate those needing to work
from a chair instead of a mat.
For class description, instructor info, class dates, more
info and online payment please click
here. On site payment (cash, check or
credit card) will be available. Please
email Joanne Litman at jolitman@gmail.com with questions or to let her know
you'll be there (although a reservation is NOT necessary).
Creative Worship and Ritual
This Week’s Services
- Shabbat Evening Service, Friday, March 13, 7:30pm
- See below for details on this special service.
- Shabbat Morning Service, Saturday, March 14, 9:30am
- We will honor Emily Siegel as Bat Mitzvah. All are welcome to join in the service, which will be held at the Renaissance Chicago North Shore Hotel in Northbrook.
Second Friday Speaker Series Begins March 13, 7:30pm
We are excited to launch the new Shir Hadash Speaker Series. The theme
of the series is Jewish Paths to Understanding,
Tolerance, and Coexistence. The
series seeks to inspire listeners to join in bringing peace and understanding
to our world through Jewish values and teachings. These presentations will
enhance our Shabbat services on the second Friday of each month.
Our first speaker will be Harry Rhodes, the Executive
Director and one of the founders of “Growing Home,” Chicago's leading organic
agriculture social enterprise focused on empowering people and communities in
Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. Growing Home's USDA certified organic farms
serve as the foundation for the organization's vision of a world with healthy
people and communities. Harry will speak on the topic, “Tikkun Olam - Repairing
Neighborhoods and Lives: Bringing Skills, Jobs, Engagement, and Healthy Food to
those on Society’s Margins through Urban Farming.” Be sure to join us for this
inspiring presentation.
Volunteer Opportunities
PADS Homeless Shelter, March 17
Next Week! We have another opportunity to
help serve our neighbors in need at the PADS Shelter located at Kingswood
Church, 401 W. Dundee Road, Buffalo Grove.
There are three different ways to participate: Dinner Shift -
6:30-8:45pm. Six volunteers are needed (16 years and older). You will help set
up, serve, and clean up after the meal.
You'll get a chance to eat and interact with the homeless guests.
- Food to be Prepared and Dropped Off - Main Dish, Salad, Vegetable Dish (each enough to feed 15+) Other Food Donations to be Dropped Off - 2 Gallons of Milk, 2 Gallons of Juice, 2lbs of Sliced Lunch Meat, 2lbs of Sliced Cheese, 15 pieces of Fresh Fruit to be used for sack lunches.
New! Passover Food Baskets
Once again this year, Shir Hadash
will be joining with Maot Chitim of Greater Chicagoland to help them pack and
deliver Passover food baskets for needy Jewish families all over the Chicago
area. There are two different ways you
can help, either packing food boxes or delivering them.
- Packing: Sunday, March 22, 9:30--10:15am, at 8220 N. Austin Avenue in Morton Grove.
- Delivery: Sunday, March 29, 9:30--11:30am in the Buffalo Grove/Wheeling area. We will be delivering 105 food packages, which will be in large boxes weighing approximately 20 lbs. each. We deliver to several large complexes and use a rental truck to transport the boxes.
New! Disaster Relief Project, July 15-19
The Northwest Suburban Interfaith
Council, which includes Shir Hadash, will be joining in a service trip to
Brookport, Illinois to aid in the recovery efforts from the devastating
tornados of November 2013. Volunteers, skilled and unskilled, are invited to
participate in this reconstruction project. Whether you’re a professional
tradesman or have trouble swinging a hammer, you are welcome! For more
information, click here or contact Joanne Dicker, 847 459 8914.
SHOP Needs You!
Our ongoing, and vital, SHOP Shir Hadash fundraiser needs
volunteers to staff our table at Sunday School. It’s an easy job and a great
chance to schmooze with other Shir Hadashniks! Can you spare one Sunday morning
to help – just one – from 9:00 to 12:30? Click here to sign up for a day of your choice on Shul Cloud, or contact Gina
Zinbarg, gzinbarg@sbcglobal.net, for more info.
The Rabbi’s Corner
March 13-14, 2015 / 23 Adar 5775
Shabbat Vayak’hel-Pikudei, Parah
Torah: Exodus 35:1 - 40:38
Maftir: Numbers 19:1 - 19:22 | Shabbat
Parah
Haftarah: Ezekiel 36:16 - 36:38 |
Shabbat Parah
“The Pause that Refreshes”
Dear Friends,
This week’s Torah portion begins with Moses instructing the
Children of Israel to observe the Sabbath day by doing no work and lighting no
fires. It is to be a day of complete
rest. Following this powerful reminder,
Moses instructs the people concerning the building of the mishkan, the portable
sanctuary for worship and sacrifice. The
Torah repeats the commandment to observe the Sabbath twelve times. Yet, not once is ‘work’ defined. Therefore, the rabbis of the Talmud used this
week’s portion to infer the meaning of ‘work’ to be all activities involved in
constructing the mishkan.
Why is it so important to observe the Sabbath and what is so
important about not doing any work?
Can’t Shabbat be about doing projects such as chores and errands? Can’t Shabbat be about running to our
children’s sport activities, going to a show or catching up on the
laundry? Can’t Shabbat simply be a
change of pace just to signify that we are not laboring for wage and salary?
Why does our Jewish tradition tell us to stop, rest, celebrate, pray, study and
be with family for one day each week?
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism
answered this in a way that we at Shir Hadash can readily understand. His analogy is through art and painting….
To read the rest of The Rabbi’s Corner, or view past
installments of the Rabbi’s blog, please visit our website.
Education
Religious School, March 15
We will see all of our students at 9:15am.
Tefillin Needed
Rabbi Eitan is collecting sets of tefillin for his teaching
of traditional Judaism to our students. If you have an unused and
unwanted set to donate, please contact him at rabbi@shir-hadash.org or call the
office.
Geocaching Mitzvah
Project, April 18
Looking for a fun activity for the whole family? Zoe
Berthold’s Bat Mitzvah Project is both a good time and for a good cause! Drop
by The Grove (1421 Milwaukee Ave) in Glenview any time from 1-3 PM on Saturday,
April 18, for an introduction to a real-life scavenger hunt called Geocaching.
We will teach you how to use your smartphone to find containers called
“geocaches” hidden all around. After finding the three geocaches that we’ve
hidden with clues inside and solving the puzzle based off the clues, you get a
prize. There is a suggested donation of $5, but 100% of the proceeds go to the
Greater Chicago Food Depository! No registration required. Please email Julie
Berthold at Avergirl@gmail.com with any questions. Click here to learn more.
Teen News
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Bowling Party Highlights
Bowling last
weekend was a huge success! Over 20 teens showed up at Jeffrey Lanes to bowl,
eat pizza, and hang out. The kids had a great time selecting songs from the
jukebox, talking, and of course, watching the pins fall. Stay tuned for our
next teen social event!
Purim Carnival Appreciation
Thank you to
our teens for planning and creating a fun Purim Carnival for the younger kids.
All the smiles and happy faces really showed what a special event this was – in
spirit and in practice. Great job!
Ra'am Board Meeting via Google Hangout,
March 16
Questions?
Contact Carole at youth@shir-hadash.org.
BBYO Regional Event, March 14
Today, March 12 is the deadline to register!
Registration is open for March 14! Please join the South Suburb chapters, Chaverim BBG and Barney Ross AZA, to celebrate GMR's Bar Mitzvah! All BBYO members in 8th-12th grade welcome! The price of this wonderful event will be $18 and we are highly encouraging each individual to raise and donate additional increments of $18 to our mitzvah project of GMR’s Stand UP Cause. Click here for more details and registration information.
Registration is open for March 14! Please join the South Suburb chapters, Chaverim BBG and Barney Ross AZA, to celebrate GMR's Bar Mitzvah! All BBYO members in 8th-12th grade welcome! The price of this wonderful event will be $18 and we are highly encouraging each individual to raise and donate additional increments of $18 to our mitzvah project of GMR’s Stand UP Cause. Click here for more details and registration information.
Business Meeting and Stand Up Program,
March 23
On March 23
at 7pm, we will be having a business meeting and a Stand Up program at Shir
Hadash, 200 W Dundee. Business Meetings are actually a lot of fun and a time
for all of us to plan what we want the chapter to do - so we hope you all can
make it! This meeting is extremely special because we are also going to have a
Stand Up Social Action program that is super cool!
Adult Education
Winter Adult Ed Class on American Jewish History -- Next
Meeting March 15
- Meets on the following Sunday mornings, 11:15 to 12:25 at Shir Hadash
- March 15, 22; April 12; May 3
This survey course
focuses on the fascinating story of the Jewish community in America. Our study
will be divided into eight periods spanning colonial times to the present. Each
class session will include lecture, discussion, and reading through historical
source documents and artifacts. We will also touch on Jewish genealogy and
tracing our families’ roots. Students are encouraged to bring online/web
resources to class. Instructor: Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow assisted by Shir
Hadash members. Everyone is welcome to participate.
Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
All are invited to join Shir Hadash members and friends for
a refreshing and contemporary exploration of the weekly Torah portion. We
meet at noon on Tuesdays in the conference room.
Sunday Morning Adult Ed
Each Sunday when Religious School is in session, Fred Andes
leads a casual group as we meet at the synagogue from 9:45 to 10:45 for coffee
and engaging discussion topics. All are welcome.
Community Events
JUF Fundraiser, April 12 – RSVP Today!
By now, everyone should have received an invitation to the
20115 Northwest Suburban JUF Fundraising event. Please help make this
fundraiser a success by registering online
or through the mail with your paper RSVP. We want Shir Hadash to be well
represented at the dessert reception so we can help support the important work
of the JUF. It’s going to be a great event, especially because of our guest
speaker, Holocaust survivor Sam Harris. Our own Rich and Rachel Schick Siegel
are co-chairs for this event. Please contact Ronna Leibach at
RonnaLeibach@juf.org or 312 444 2812 with any questions. See you on April 12!
Ongoing Fundraisers
Help Shir Hadash Earn Free Donations with iGive
You can help Shir Hadash every time you shop online – the
iGive Button makes it simple! iGive is a free and easy way to support the shul.
Average shoppers using iGive raise between $30 and $100 a year for their
causes. There are 1480 online retailers helping to make donations happen
through iGive.
Click here to learn more and join iGive. If you have
questions, contact Sandi Schleicher, finance@shir-hadash.org.
Scholarship Fund
To help families in financial need pay for their children’s
Jewish education at Shir Hadash, Melanie and Fred Andes created the Samuel I
Andes Scholarship Fund in memory of Fred’s great-uncle have graciously offered
to match all donations to the fund up to $11,000.00. Click
here to donate online or mail in your
check made out to Shir Hadash with “Scholarship” written in the memo line.
Don’t Forget Our Permanent Restaurant Fundraisers!
The Continental Restaurant in Buffalo Grove and
Butterfield’s Restaurant in Northbrook will donate 5% of your total bill to
Shir Hadash! No flyer needed – just mention Shir Hadash when you are paying or
fill out the Shir Hadash book behind the desk.
SHOP Shir Hadash
SHOP for Spring!
SHOP is our congregation’s ongoing fundraiser – and the
easiest way to support the shul without spending an extra dime! Purchase gift
cards through SHOP and the vendors pay a percentage back to Shir Hadash. SHOP orders of at least $400 are now payable by credit
card, as well as annual SHOP orders. Orders can be picked up at the synagogue
office.
SHOP Needs Your Help!
Please sign up to staff the SHOP table for a Sunday
morning. Full details in the “Volunteer Opportunities” section, above.
Pi Day is Coming! The first five digits of
pi are 3.1415, so on 3/14/15 (Saturday, March 14) 15 retailers on one of our
gift card vendors, ShopWithScrip.com, will be offering bonuses on ALL products
for 3 hours and 14 minutes, starting at noon Eastern time. Visit ShopWithScrip for details.
Bonus Offers Available Now:
- Bed Bath & Beyond – 1% Bonus March 7 to 20
- Cabela’s – 1% Bonus March 7 to 20
- American Eagle – 2% March 14 to 27
- Build a Bear Workshop – 2% March 14 to 27
- Home Depot – 1% March 14 to 27
- Journeys – 3% March 14 to April 3
Thanks to the following families for participating in SHOP this
week:
- Zinbarg
- Schleicher
- Herbin
- Estes-Goldman
- Idleman
- Simon
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