WHAT’S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE
Membership News and Upcoming Events
Sunday! Annual Picnic, August 27
Membership Renewal Forms Past Due -- Please Complete Now!
Deadline Extended! Gift of Membership Offer Available to September 1
March with Shir Hadash in the Buffalo Grove Days Parade, September 3
Videographers Wanted for High Holidays
Help Needed for Ailing Member
Office Volunteers Wanted
Shir Hadash App Available Now
Book Club
Join the Shul Cloud Support Team
Creative Worship and Ritual
No Shabbat Evening Service on August 25
Shabbat Afternoon Bar Mitzvah Service, Saturday, August 26, 4:30pm
Register Now for High Holiday Services
Special High Holiday Memberships
Oneg Volunteers Needed -- Sign Up Today
The Rabbi’s Corner
“Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue”
Education News
Religious School Starts Sept. 10 -- Register Now!
Mitzvah Project: Sports Equipment Donations Requested
Social Action
School Supplies Drive for Homeless Kids
Holiday Food Baskets
Israel Awareness
Join the SH Israel Committee
Interesting Reads
Ongoing Fundraisers
Don’t Forget Our Permanent Restaurant Fundraisers!
Shir Hadash Memorial Wall
Links to Fundraisers: Amazon, iGive, and More
SHOP Shir Hadash
MEMBERSHIP AND UPCOMING EVENTS
Sunday! Annual Potluck Picnic, August 27
It's time again for our annual day of Fun, Food, Family & Friends! Our annual community picnic will kick off at 4:00pm in the Shir Hadash courtyard on Sunday, August 27. This is a great opportunity to bring family and friends who would like to get a taste of Shir Hadash or are thinking of joining.
We are grilling Kosher hamburgers and hot dogs, plus vegetarian options. Please click here to RSVP and tell us what dishes or desserts you'd like to bring. (Since this is obviously a meat meal, please be sure to bring items that are dairy-free.) If you have any questions, please contact the office at 847-498-8218 ext 1.
(When you come to the picnic, please remember to bring a donation of school supplies for our Back to School Drive to support homeless children in our community. Scroll down to our Social Action section for details and suggestions. Thank you!)
Membership Renewal Forms Past Due -- Please Complete Now!
It's time to renew your membership for the coming year. For your convenience, all our forms are available on ShulCloud. 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 Julie Wellisch at admin@shir-hadash.org, or our Executive Director Geoff Prass at geoff@shir-hadash.org.
Deadline Extended! Gift of Membership Program Available Through September 1
All members that renew and make payment arrangements by September 1 get a certificate to give to a friend or family member who has never been a member of Shir Hadash! The certificate will get them a free one-year membership providing it is redeemed by September 11. (Please note, the certificate will not cover school fees.) Questions? Contact Lisa Settler at settlerl@comcast.net or Stuart Aizenberg at stuartaizenberg@gmail.com
March with Shir Hadash in the Buffalo Grove Days Parade, September 3
We are looking for volunteers to march in the BG Days Parade on Sunday, September 3. The parade starts at 11 but we will be gathering prior to that time. We'll be handing out lollipops and information on Shir Hadash. If you are interested, please contact Lisa Settler at settlerl@comcast.net.
Videographers Wanted
We are looking for volunteers to help record our high holiday services so that we can capture our uplifting and musical services and share them with more people. This might include Facebook Live if possible. We already have an excellent sound set up, we just need to add video and plug in the sound. We hope to have multiple volunteers so that the burden is not too heavy on any one person. If you have the skills to help us on this, please contact Glenn Graff at nflsunday1966@gmail.com or 847-420-2505.
Help Needed for Recuperating Member
Shir Hadash member Meryl Abensohn is home recovering from surgery. She would appreciate some help with grocery shopping as well as meals. Her email address is abenkras@aol.com. You can also call the synagogue office, 847 498 8218. If you would like to volunteer as a coordinator for her, that would be a wonderful mitzvah.
Office Volunteers Needed
It’s the busiest time of year in the Shir Hadash office! Now through early October, High Holidays, Julie, our Administrator, needs some help with answering phone calls, taking down information, filing, and various other office tasks. She would welcome volunteers during office hours everyday except Thursdays. For more info, contact Julie at admin@shir-hadash.org. Thanks for helping!
Book Club
The upcoming Book Club discussion will be on Daniel Silva's The English Assassin. This book is the first in a spy mystery trilogy revolving around the Nazis.The story involves an Israeli spy, Nazi art heists, and of course a murder. We're looking for a host to sponsor our next meeting. For this and questions, please contact Meryl Abensohn at abenkras@aol.com
Join the Shul Cloud Support Team
Want to help out, but hate going to meetings? Read on! We are looking for a few good people to help on the Shul Cloud team. If you have been looking for a way to get involved with helping the synagogue and have some knowledge in technology -- we want you! We are looking for people who:
- Enjoy teaching and coaching
- Have experience with computers other than word processing
- Have experience with web or graphic design
After initial training, there are no regular meetings. You get to help out the shul in a very needed way, and everything can be done from home! Everything thing we do is task based -- assuming we have a full team, we will be able to flex the work around different schedules and skill sets easily.
Interested? Please contact Geoff or Lise Schleicher at info@shir-hadash.org as soon as possible. We hope to get the team trained and running in August.
CREATIVE WORSHIP AND RITUAL
No Shabbat Evening Service on Friday, August 25
Enjoy celebrating Shabbat with your family and friends.
Shabbat Afternoon Bar Mitzvah Service, Saturday August 26, 4:30pm
We welcome Aidan Sultan to the bima as Bar Mitzvah.
Register Now for High Holiday Services
The High Holidays are fast approaching, beginning with Selichot on Saturday, September 16. Shir Hadash will be holding some services at Our Lady of the Brook Worship Center, at 3700 Dundee Road in Northbrook, with the remainder of the services at the synagogue. Please register for your tickets by September 1. For a complete schedule of services, information about children's programming, and registration, visit our website.
Guests Encouraged!
Shir Hadash welcomes participants in our High Holiday services who are not (yet!) full members. We consider these guests to be High Holiday Members, and encourage them to join in all our services from Selichot through Simchat Torah. We have two separate levels for returning guests and first-timers:
- High Holiday Members: For those who have come to our High Holiday services in the past, we offer a Holiday Membership for $250/person ($200 for seniors). They can register on our website.
- New High Holiday Members: Guests who have not been with us for previous High Holidays may be eligible for our special New High Holiday Membership rate of $54 per person. Invite your friends and family to take advantage of this opportunity by visiting our website.
If you are paying for your friends’ or family members’ Holiday Membership, you can do it at the same time when you register for yourself. Questions? Call the office at 847 498 8218.
Oneg Volunteers Needed for Services
Please sign up to help as an oneg volunteer for one of our upcoming services. It's easy: just click here to pick a date, bring a challah, and show up! You'll receive a reminder email the week before with more details. For more information, contact Sean Fisher-Rohde at oneg@shir-hadash.org.
THE RABBI’S CORNER
August 25-26, 2017 / 4 Elul 5777
Shabbat Shofteem
Torah: Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9 / Haftarah: Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12
“Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue”
Dear Friends,
We live in a time of increasing political disparity and polarity in our society. So, why must we pursue justice, as commanded in this week’s Torah portion, if it appears to use that no one is listening?
Author Elie Wiesel told a story of the one righteous man of Sodom, who walked the streets protesting against the injustice of his city. People made fun of him, derided him. Finally, a young person asked, “Why do you continue your protest against evil; can’t you see no one is paying attention to you?” He answered, “I’ll tell you why I continue. In the beginning I thought I would change people. Today, I know I cannot. Yet, if I continue my protest, at least I will prevent others from changing me.” (Elie Wiesel, One Generation After)
Zay a mentsch – Be a good person.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
EDUCATION NEWS
Religious School Starts Sept. 10 -- Register Now!
The Shir Hadash Religious School is reigniting our tradition of being a creative laboratory of progressive Jewish education. Our new Education Director Geoff Prass has put together some interesting, innovative, and fun Jewish education opportunities for our students. School starts September 10! Registration forms are now open. Click here to access the forms on Shul Cloud.
Want to learn more about the Religious School programs? Contact Geoff at 847-498-8218 or Geoff@shir-hadash.org.
Mitzvah Project: Sports Equipment Donations Requested
For his mitzvah project, SH student Ryan Siegel is collecting new and gently used sports equipment for The Sports Shed, a Chicago organization that supplies equipment for thousands of young people in low-income neighborhoods of the city. Please support his project with donations in the collection barrel at Shir Hadash through October 1. To learn more about The Sports Shed and the types of items they need, click here.
SOCIAL ACTION
School Supplies Drive for Homeless Children Ends Sunday August 27
Help homeless children get off to a great start for their school year: support our School Supplies Drive! There is a collection box in the Shir Hadash lobby. Any new supplies are welcome, but the items most needed include notebooks, lined paper, journals, #2 pencils, pens, gel pens, tracing paper, colored pencils, markers, highlighters, crayons, tape, calculators, glue sticks, and gift cards for food and clothing. Many of these items are inexpensive -- feel free to give multiples! Thank you for helping children in need in our community. Questions? Contact Lisa Burton Radzely at lisashsa@gmail.com.
High Holiday Food Baskets
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 10 from 9:30 to 10:30am at 7100 N. McCormick Blvd, Lincolnwood, IL. (Located at the Lincolnwood Town Center across the parking lot from Kohl's).
- Delivery of food packages will take place on Sunday, September 17, 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. Details on where to meet will be provided to delivery volunteers.
We need approximately 10 people for packing on September 10, and 10 - 15 people for delivery on September 17. If you are interested in helping on one or both of these dates, please email Mark Lenhart at mjlenhart@comcast.net as soon as possible.
ISRAEL AWARENESS
Join the Israel Committee
Please reach out regarding this newsletter section to Ed Rice (e.rice1@comcast.net) or Burton Kopulsky (bkopulsky@chicagobooth.edu) of the SH Israel Committee. They appreciate your feedback, ideas, and suggestions. They are looking for additional members to join them on the committee and enhance Israel-related programming at Shir Hadash.
Suggested Reading
Rabbi Dr. Daniel Gordis is an American rabbi who moved to Israel about 20 years ago. He is a prolific writer who has written multiple books and regularly writes commentaries in a variety of major publications. You can subscribe to his update e-mails here. This site also lists his many excellent books. His latest piece in the New York Times on the events in Charlottesville provides an interesting analysis of how Israel has beneficially altered Jewish existence.
ONGOING FUNDRAISERS
Don’t Forget Our Permanent Restaurant Fundraisers!
The Continental Restaurant in Buffalo Grove or 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.
Shir Hadash Memorial Wall
Having a Memorial Plaque for a loved one in Shir Hadash’s Memorial Wall ensures that Yahrzeit will be observed for them in perpetuity by our congregation.The cost for a plaque is $360. Many congregants prepay and reserve plaques.You may register for the plaque(s) through our website, or request a paper order form by calling the office (847-498-8218),
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
SHOP for Back to School!
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. For more information, email Michelle at SHOP@shir-hadash.org. 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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