-->

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Shir Hadash Weekly Newsletter -- August 25, 2016

For daily event updates, visit our calendarLike us on Facebook or Twitter 

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE


Membership News and Upcoming Events
  • Sunday! Annual Pot Luck BBQ, August 28
  • New! Join Shir Hadash in the Buffalo Grove Labor Day Parade, September 4
  • Coffee House Night-Open Mic Style, September 17
  • Book Club
  • New! Design Help Needed
  • Membership Renewal Forms Past Due
Creative Worship and Ritual
  • No Services this Week
  • Registration Forms for High Holidays Now Open
The Rabbi’s Corner
  • "Giving Thanks"
Education Announcements
  • Register for Religious School Now
  • Havayah Goes "Chai Tech"
  • Sign Up Now for Madrichim Program
Volunteer Opportunities
  • Help Needed: High Holiday Food Packing and Delivery
Donations

Ongoing Fundraisers
  • Links to Fundraisers: Amazon, iGift, and More
SHOP Shir Hadash


MEMBERSHIP AND UPCOMING EVENTS  



This Sunday! Annual BBQ, August 28
Our annual Pot Luck Cookout is this weekend 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. 


New! Join Shir Hadash in the Buffalo Grove Parade, September 4
Here's your change to be in a parade and do a mitzvah at the same time! SH is participating in the Buffalo Grove Labor Day Parade on Sunday, September 4. We would love to have our members come out to walk and hand out goodies to the crowd. Everyone who participates gets a free Shir Hadash T-Shirt! 

The parade launches from Bernard Drive and Terrace Place at 11:00am.  It runs east down Bernard to Raupp Blvd. turning onto St. Mary's Parkway and ending there.  It typically lasts 90 minutes. Assembly time will be around 10::00am, meeting before to decorate the car.

Please RSVP to Julie Wellisch, juliewellisch@gmail.com, and let her know how many t-shirts and sizes you need. Have a pick-up truck or convertible that you'd be willing to drive? Please let Julie know that too!


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!

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
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! Stay tuned for upcoming details. For more info, contact Meryl at abenkras@aol.com.

New! Design Help Needed
We are looking for an experienced professional interior designer who we could hire as a consultant to enhance our synagogue space. If you have a referral, please contact Marc Fargotstein at 847-612-6579 or marcfargo@att.net.

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.


CREATIVE WORSHIP AND RITUAL



No Shabbat Services this Week
Enjoy celebrating Shabbat with your family.

High Holiday Registration Now Open

We have opened registration for members and guests for our High Holidays services, with all forms available on the Shir Hadash website. Please note that everyone should register, including members, so that we can plan appropriately to ensure a meaningful and comfortable experience for everyone. Prayer books, if needed, can also be ordered through the registration form.

THE RABBI’S CORNER




August 26-27, 2016 / 23 Av 5776
Shabbat Ekev
Torah: Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25 / Haftarah: Isaiah 49:14 - 51:3

“Giving Thanks”

Dear Friends,

Watching the Olympics over the past two weeks has reminded me how very impressed I am by top-level athletes. What their raw talent and years of dedicated training have produced is nothing short of amazing.  Yet, not once have I heard an athlete say that their success was due solely to personal effort and lonely perseverance.  Not once have I heard an athlete say, “Well, I did it all myself.”  Never.  Rather, what I hear time and time again is how athletes thank everyone and everything who helped them along the way - parents, coaches, teammates, and training facilities and sponsors.  Thank you to competitors, sports officials, sport supervision bodies, and the fans.  Finally, thank you to God for giving them the power and ability to pursue and accomplish such lofty athletic success.  Athletes understand best of all that the road to glory is not walked alone.  Individuals, community and God are always there to lend support and focus.

In this week’s Torah portion, Moses is recounting the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.  He is careful to caution the people from thinking that their success is due to their own hard work. “Man does not live by bread alone” is his way of reminding the Israelites that life is not sustained solely by putting food in the stomach. God’s spirit and guiding presence has even more to say about life and living. When the Israelites have eaten a meal, they should give thanks to God for providing food in abundance. This is the foundation for Birkat Hamazon, the grace after meals. One must never take food and sustenance for granted.


We can learn a lot from great athletes and from this week’s Torah portion. No one accomplishes great success in a vacuum. The only way to accomplishment is with the help of individuals, community and God.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

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


EDUCATION ANNOUNCEMENTS


Havayah Goes "Chai Tech"!
Have you heard that Israel is called the “Startup Nation”? This year’s Havayah program, Chai-Tech, is all about getting involved in creativity, technology, and changing the world–up close and personal.

Chai-Tech provides an opportunity for students in grades 8-12 to participate in hands-on projects in technology, artistic production, and investment, 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. 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 students; there is no program like it in the area. 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. 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. Questions? Contact Rabbi Seeg, at 847-498-8218 or learning@shir-hadash.org.

Teens: Register Now for Madrichim Program
Madrichim are teaching assistants in grades 8-12 who work in the Religious School on Sunday morning. They develop creative, interesting, and engaging lessons for the students in both Hebrew and Jewish Studies, serving as examples of Jewish engagement to the students.  Madrichim are role models; they are able to connect with students in a way that is different from teachers and can be extremely powerful.

Professional development is also part of the Madrichim Program. One Sunday each month, madrichim meet to have lunch, share experiences, and discuss topics like classroom management, group dynamics, and how to write and implement a lesson plan.  Every aspect of the Madrichim Program develops skills that are not only important unto themselves but also highly sought after by schools and employers. All this, plus you get paid!

The first day of Religious School is September 11 and space in the Madrichim Program is filling up, so please register here ASAP. (Families must complete member registration before teens can sign up for the Madrichim Program.) Contact Rabbi Seeg, learning@shir-hadash.org, with any questions.


TEEN NEWS


BBYO -- One More Advisor Needed
Our Ra’am BBYO group is looking for a new female co-advisor (to work with our current female advisor). BBYO advisors are volunteers who encourage and support the BBYO teens who are ultimately responsible for chapter programming with their peers. If interested, please contact Rabbi Seeg at learning@shir-hadash.org.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES


Help Needed: High Holiday Food Packing and Delivery
Once again this year, Shir Hadash will be joining with Maot Chitim of Greater Chicagoland to help pack and deliver High Holiday food boxes for needy Jewish families all over the Chicago area. There are two different ways Shir Hadash members can help, either packing food boxes or delivering them. 

  • Packing will take place on Sunday, September 18 from 9:30 to 10:15am at 8260 Austin Avenue in  Morton Grove. 
  • Delivery of food packages will take place on Sunday, September 25, from 9:30 to 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.
If you are interested in helping on one or both of these dates, please contact Mark Lenhart, mjlenhart@comcast.net, as soon as possible. 

DONATIONS

To the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund
  • Beth Klauba
  • Eleanor & Mickey Weiner

To the General Fund
  • Mady Fern
  • Ruth & Maury Ettleson

To the Music Wish List
  • Mady Fern

To the School Wish List
  • Mady Fern

To the Religious School Scholarship Fund
  • Eleanor & Mickey Weiner

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.

    No comments:

    Post a Comment