WHAT’S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE
"Let's Make Our Building a Home"
Membership News and Upcoming Events
- Saturday! Coffee House Night, January 28
- Sunday! Town Hall Meeting, January 29
- New! Save the Date for Trivia Night, February 25
- Book Club
- SH Warehouse/Office Space Now Available for Rent
Creative Worship and Ritual
- No Shabbat Services this Week
- Oneg Volunteers Needed
The Rabbi’s Corner
Youth Education Announcements- "By Joining Together and Marching"
- Religious School, January 28
- Kallah is Coming! February 17-19
Youth Activities
- Kallah Retreat for Grades 6-12, February 17-19
- Sunday Morning Adult Ed Classes
Social Action
Ongoing Fundraisers
- Help Shir Hadash Feed the Needy, February 19
- Links to Fundraisers: Amazon, iGift, and More
SHOP Shir Hadash
MEMBERSHIP AND UPCOMING EVENTS
It’s time for “Coffee House Night at Shir Hadash – Open Mic Style” on
Saturday, January 28. Doors open at 6:30pm; performances
will run from about 7:00pm to 10:30pm or so. We’re going to have really
great show for you this weekend; you don’t want to miss it!
Members and nonmembers, a great evening depends on you! Enjoy our cozy atmosphere, comfortable seating, hot beverages, baked treats, and the amazing talent of our friends. Remember, everyone is welcome to participate! Any talent -- Dancers, Actors, Musicians, Storytellers, Group Acts -- you name it. Can’t wait to see you all there!
Members and nonmembers, a great evening depends on you! Enjoy our cozy atmosphere, comfortable seating, hot beverages, baked treats, and the amazing talent of our friends. Remember, everyone is welcome to participate! Any talent -- Dancers, Actors, Musicians, Storytellers, Group Acts -- you name it. Can’t wait to see you all there!
- If you’d like to be on stage, whether you’ve made an advance reservation or not, we want you to have your time in the spotlight. Please click here or go to the Shir Hadash website and click on the Coffee House link so we know who you are and can plan properly. Or you can email Margie at MargiePromoPro1@aol.com and put “Coffee House” in the subject line.
Please come around 6:30 to sign-in on the performance list, tune your
instruments, exercise your voice, get your treats and coffee/tea, and do your
final preparation before Coffee House Night starts. Talent
will have about 10 minutes on stage or up to 2 tunes, depending on the number
of people who sign up.
Trivia Night is coming to Shir Hadash on Saturday, February 25. This multi-round general trivia night will be fun for high schoolers and beyond. All proceeds will be donated to the Samuel I Andes Scholarship Fund and our religious school. Cash prizes will be awarded to the top teams. There will also be raffle prizes galore, pizza sales, and free babysitting! Registration and further info will go out later this week.
Book Club
On January 19, nine members met
to discuss By Fire, By Water by
Mitchell James Kaplan. We talked about the historical co-occurrence in Spain in
1492 with the end of Reconquista, the expulsion of the Jews, and Columbus's
departure for the Indies. We also spoke about Jews in Spain at that time and
the 340 years of the Spanish Inquisition. We thank Mickey Herbin for her
wonderful hospitality.
The next book will The
Seven Good Years, a memoir by Etgar Kerry. This promises to be a more
uplifting book , life-affirming and humorous. The next Book Club will meet in
March - details as to date and location TBA. For questions, contact Meryl
Abensohn at abenkras@aol.com.
Warehouse/Office Space Now Available for Rent
Shir Hadash is looking for a new commercial tenant for the warehouse and office space in the back portion of our building (the space previously occupied by RAILS). We have up as much as 5,995 square feet or as little as 3,274 square feet available to lease. This is a particularly great opportunity for a non- profit organization since we already have a tax-exempt status, but would also be a good fit for a profit business, or even a short-term seasonal business.
CREATIVE WORSHIP AND RITUAL
Family Shabbat Next Week: Our next kid-friendly Shabbat service will be Friday, February 3. We're planning a pizza dinner at 5:30pm, followed by a short service led by Rabbi Seeg and an oneg afterward. More details to come!
Oneg Volunteers Needed
We need Oneg volunteers for this Friday, January 20, and future dates including:
- Friday, February 3 - Service will honor students who are going on the Ta'am Israel Trip
- Friday, February 17
What does it take to volunteer for an Oneg and what dates do we need? It’s simple: visit www.shir-hadash.org and sign into the member’s area of ShulCloud (or just follow this link). Choose a date, bring a challah, and show up. You’ll get a reminder that week, and an email with all the details. There are more dates than these, so feel free to sign up for any that fit in your schedule. Thank you for participating!
THE RABBI’S CORNER
January
27-28, 2017 / 1 Shevat 5777
Shabbat
Va’eira – Rosh Hodesh Shevat
Torah:
Exodus 6:2 - 9:35
Maftir:
Numbers 28:9 - 28:15 | Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
Haftarah:
Isaiah 66:1 - 66:24 | Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
“By Joining Together and Marching”
Dear Friends,
Even though our Passover celebration is still a few months
off, we are reading the story of the enslavement and exodus of our people in
the Torah over the next few weeks. It is
the central story of Jewish identity – a story that unites the Jewish people
worldwide and throughout time. We were
slaves and now we are free. This story
forms the core of our mission to the world. Now that we are free, we must see to it that all are free.
One key element of the story must also be emphasized. The journey to freedom is never easy and
never quick. It is a difficult process
that involves courage, identity change, growth, challenge, maturity,
risk-taking, pride, and tenacity. Thus we Jews learn that on the road to
freedom, we must “keep on keeping on.” Our sages once asked why God insisted
that the Israelites go through the Egypt and Sinai experience. One rabbinic comment reminded us that the
only way to get pure gold is to put the ore in a blast furnace. Thus, the only way
through difficulty is to go through it – not around. This is the way of doing anything exciting,
audacious, and new in life. Best of all is if we go together.
So, I share this reading by Michael Walzer, which can be
found in our Shabbat prayer book. Enjoy.
“So pharaonic oppression, deliverance, Sinai, and Canaan are
still with us, powerful memories shaping our perceptions of the political world. The “door of hope” is still open; things are
not what they might be – even when what they might be isn’t totally different
from what they are…. We still believe, or many of us do, what the Exodus first
taught about the meaning and possibility of politics and about its proper form:
First; that wherever you live, it is probably Egypt; second; that there is a
better place, a world more attractive, a promised land; and third, that the way
to the land is through the wilderness. There is no way to get from here to
there except by joining together and marching.”
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
YOUTH EDUCATION ANNOUNCEMENTS
We look forward to seeing all our students and families at 9:15am.
School Advisory Committee Meeting, January 29
Our next SAC meeting will be January 29 from 11:00 to 12:30, beginning right after the Town Hall Meeting. We will discuss everything planned for second semester. All are welcome.
Kallah is Coming! February 17-19
Next month over President’s Day weekend, we will have our annual regional retreat for 6th-12th graders. We will leave by bus on Friday, February 17 around 4:00pm and return on Sunday, February 19 around 1:00pm. The retreat takes place at Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute (aka OSRUI) in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin and includes Reconstructionist youth from Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Our theme this year is “When Jew-Wish Upon a Star” and the weekend includes a lot of fun and social activities as well as time for social action, services, and a wee bit o’ learning.
This is a great chance to get to know other Shir Hadash students as well as peers from around the region. All of the programming is created and implemented by a committee of student leaders including a number of our Shir Hadash madrichim. The registration form will be available next week. Please contact Rabbi Seeg with any questions.
YOUTH ACTIVITIES
We're getting ready for Kallah, an outstanding chance to join with other Reconstructionist youth from around the Midwest! Scroll up to our "Youth Education" section for details, and contact Rabbi Seeg with any questions.
ADULT EDUCATION
Check out these engaging Adult Ed opportunities that meet during our Religious School hours. All are welcome.
- Torah and Philosophy, 9:30-10:30am
- Learning the Shir Hadash Prayer Book, 10:30-11:30am -- We will be studying the Amidah, or Standing Prayer, including its meanings, origins, and significance in modern Jewish life.
- Modern Hebrew, 11:30am-12:30pm
SOCIAL ACTION
On Sunday, February 19, Shir Hadash will be serving over 90 meals for needy individuals in our community. In order to provide the food and support for this meaningful project, we are looking for five or six families (18-20 people total) who are able to prepare, cook, and serve at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church soup kitchen in Evanston. This event will require volunteers to be available from 2:00 to 4:00pm on February 19.
Each family will be responsible for bringing a precooked meat or pasta entrée, one large bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and a dessert to feed approximately 10-12 people.
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
A New Year to 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 or purchased during Sunday School.
Thank you for supporting Shir Hadash with your SHOP purchases!
To view past editions of the Newsletter, please visit our website.
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