Shir Hadash Weekly Newsletter -- August 18, 2016

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WHAT’S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE

Membership News and Upcoming Events

• Membership Renewal Forms Past Due
• Annual Pot Luck BBQ, August 28
• Save the Date! Coffee House Night-Open Mic Style, September 17
• Book Club

Creative Worship and Ritual

• Shabbat Evening Service, August 19, 7:30pm
• Shabbat Morning Bat Mitzvah Service, August 20, 9:30am

The Rabbi’s Corner

• "Rise in Honor"

Education Announcements

• Register for Religious School Now
• Havayah Announcement

Ongoing Fundraisers

• Links to Fundraisers: Amazon, iGift, and More

SHOP Shir Hadash

MEMBERSHIP AND UPCOMING EVENTS  

Membership Renewal Forms Past Due -- Please Complete Now!
It's time to renew your membership in Shir Hadash for the coming year. In an effort to streamline the process and reduce the use of paper, all our forms are now available on Shul Cloud. Click here for detailed information. (If you prefer to use paper forms for your registration, please contact our office at 847 498 8218.)  If you need assistance, contact Executive Director Geoff Prass at info@shir-hadash.org.

Annual BBQ, August 28
Mark your calendars for our annual Pot Luck Cookout on Sunday, August 28, at 4:00pm. It is a wonderful opportunity to visit with old friends and make ones. You can bring your relatives and friends too! This event is perfect for people who are thinking of joining Shir Hadash. Click on the event in the Shir Hadash calendar to learn more and to RSVP. Want to help plan the festivities? Contact Melanie Andes, fmandes@comcast.net. 

Save the Date! Coffee House Night – Open Mic Style, September 17

Be prepared for another wonderful evening of talent and treats! Coffee House Night – Open Mic Style is on the calendar for Saturday, September 17. from 7:00pm to about 10:00pm (doors open at 6:30pm). Enjoy a laid back Saturday night with low lighting, comfortable seating, friendly conversation, a Bake Sale with Coffee/Beverages, and the amazing talent of our friends. Everyone is welcome to participate! Dancers, Actors, Musicians, Storytellers, Magicians, Group Acts, Comedy, Readings, Actors … it’s your time to come forward and hear the applause.

If you’re interested in performing at our Coffee House, please contact Margie at MargiePromoPro1@aol.com and put “Coffee House Talent” in the subject line. Bakers, Tech Help, Set-up Roadie Crew, we need to hear from you too! Please contact Margie at MargiePromoPro1@aol.com and put your area of expertise in the subject line.

Book Club: Wrap Up and Next Selection

On August 10, the Book Club had quite an interesting discussion of the Rosenberg case, with several personal perspectives on the times and even Communist Party card-holding relatives! This was for the book The Hours Count by Jillian Cantor. We want to thank Sandy for hosting our group of twelve for a last minute change in location.

Our next Book Club meeting will be after Yom Kippur in October. The book is all the rage in Israel currently: The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi. The author will be speaking Shir Hadash’s Friday night service on November 4!! Keep tuned for upcoming details. For more info, contact Meryl at abenkras@aol.com.

CREATIVE WORSHIP AND RITUAL

Shabbat Evening Service, August 19, 7:30pm -- Shabbat V’etchanan – Nachamu

“Recon 201: Seeking God - Jewish Spirituality for the 21^st Century” -- Don’t miss our annual exploration of Reconstructionist theology - Recon 201.  Throughout the course of our worship, Rabbi Eitan will offer explanations on what Reconstructionism teaches about the meaning of prayer and what we mean when we pray to God.

Shabbat Morning Bat Mitzvah Service, August 20, 9:30am 

We will welcome Brianne Pearlman to the bima as Bat Mitzvah. All are invited to participate in the service.

THE RABBI’S CORNER

Shabbat Va’etchanan

Shabbat Nachamu (Shabbat of Consolation) –The Shabbat after Tish'a B'Av

Torah: Deuteronomy 3:23 - 7:11 / Haftarah: Isaiah 40:1 - 40:26

“Rise in Honor”

Dear Friends,

In this week’s Torah portion Moses recalls the wandering of the Jews through the wilderness.  He recites the Ten Commandments and reminds us of the central role in Jewish life.  The fifth commandment: “You will honor your father and your mother” speaks to me this week.  Notice how the text does not say to ‘love’ but rather ‘honor’ them - an important distinction. The parents who raised us and guided us to maturity must be accorded honor and respect.

I believe that we can measure the character of a society by studying how it honors and cares for its elders. If that’s true, then our American society is clearly failing in a big way.  For many Americans, parents are old, yet their children love only what’s ‘new & improved.’  Parents can be slow, but their children want fast, faster, fastest.  Parents can be a responsibility and an obligation, but their children just want freedom.   Parents can represent our past, but their children want to reinvent themselves and leave the past behind.  Parents live over there, while their children live anywhere but there.  Unfortunately, so many people leave parents behind in an almost adolescent quest for fun, stimulation, self-expression and the open road.  It just isn’t right.

The Torah says in Leviticus, “Lifnei seivah takum - You shall rise before your elders.”  That’s what it says, that in the presence of those older and wiser, we must stand in respect.  Unfortunately, instead of rising, too many let parents sit in utter abandonment.

Our Torah portion is telling us that as committed and knowledgeable Jews, we know better and can do better for our own parents and for elders all around us.  Take some time this Shabbat to respect and honor those upon whose shoulders we stand - our parents.  If you have no parents, then borrow some.  I am sure there are elders in your life somewhere who have shared with you something of great value at some point in your life.  Visit them; call them.  Tell them what they mean to you.

You shall surely rise in their presence.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

To read past entries of the Rabbi's blog, please visit our website.

EDUCATION ANNOUNCEMENTS

New! Havayah Goes "Chai Tech"!

This fall, we are launching our Chai-Tech Jewish High School Program. Have you heard that Israel is called the “Startup Nation”? That the cell phone, firewall software, instant messaging, WAZE, and so many other cool technologies were invented there? We Jews are change makers and this year’s Havayah program, Chai-Tech, is all about getting involved in creativity, technology, and changing the world–up close and personal.

Our new program, Chai-Tech, provides an opportunity for students to participate in hands-on projects that will help to develop a variety of practically applicable skill-sets, while at the same time exposing them to some of the powerful and resonant teachings that have been the foundation of Jewish life and thought over the centuries. Oh, and along the way they will get some great material to add to their high school resumes. 

We are very excited to be able to offer this unique program to our Shir Hadash 8th-12th graders; there is no program like it in the area. We look forward to an incredible year of learning and the creation of some amazing projects. For details, visit our website or contact Rabbi Seeg at learning@shir-hadash.org.

School Registration Now Open

Shir Hadash Religious School registration forms are now open for grades K-7. Click here to access the forms on Shul Cloud. Based on input from members and the School Advisory Council, our Director of Lifelong Learning Rabbi Seeg has put together a curriculum for the upcoming year that will provide an interesting, innovative, and fun Jewish education for our students. Complete your registration by August 15 to receive a $50 early bird discount! Questions? Contact Rabbi Seeg, at 847-498-8218 or learning@shir-hadash.org.

DONATIONS

To the Samuel Andes Scholarship Fund

• Luba Rothblatt

ONGOING FUNDRAISERS

Fundraiser Information Now Available on Shul Cloud

You can help Shir Hadash at no extra cost to you by taking advantage of a variety of ongoing

fundraisers, including iGive, Amazon Smile, and more. For complete details, click here.

SHOP SHIR HADASH

Summertime SHOP

SHOP is 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. Orders can be picked up in the Shir Hadash office.

Click here for information about current bonus offers!

Thanks to the following families for participating in SHOP this week:
Zinbarg
Schleicher
Herbin
Farahmandpour
Fargotstein
Fields
G. Graff
M. Graff
Singer

To view past editions of the Newsletter, please visit our website.