WHAT’S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE
Membership News and Upcoming Events
Membership Renewal Forms Past Due -- Please Complete Now!
Deadline Extended! Gift of Membership Offer Available until September 1
MOSH/WISH Shabbat Potluck Dinner and Game Night, September 8
New! Shir Hadash Info Fair, September 10
Videographers Wanted for High Holidays
Help Needed for Recuperating Member
Office Volunteers Wanted
Shir Hadash App Available Now
Book Club
Join the Shul Cloud Support Team
Creative Worship and Ritual
Family Shabbat Dinner and Service, Friday, September 1, 5:30
Shabbat Evening Service, Friday, September 1, 7:30
Shabbat Morning Bat Mitzvah Service, Saturday, September 2, 9:30am
“Selichot – Prayers of Forgiveness” Saturday, September 16, 7:30pm
Register Now for High Holiday Services
Special High Holiday Memberships
Oneg Volunteers Needed -- Sign Up Today
The Rabbi’s Corner
“Lost Property”
Education News
Religious School Starts Sept. 10 -- Register Now!
Mitzvah Project: Sports Equipment Donations Requested
Social Action
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
Membership Renewal Forms Past Due -- Please Complete Now!
Renew your membership for the coming year. Click here for detailed information. (If you prefer paper forms for your registration, 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 - THIS FRIDAY
All members that renew and make payment arrangements by September 1 can still receive 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 does not cover school fees.) Questions? Contact Lisa Settler at settlerl@comcast.net or Stuart Aizenberg at stuartaizenberg@gmail.com.
WISH/MOSH Shabbat Potluck Dinner and Game Night, September 8
Celebrate Shabbat with your friends from WISH and MOSH! We will have a casual Shabbat potluck dinner at the home of the Wellisch family, 14 Wellington Court in Buffalo Grove, beginning at 6:30pm. We will light candles, eat, and play games – Mah Jongg, Poker, and more! Games will be available for children as well. This event is open to all family members. Click here to RSVP and let us know what you will be bringing to share at the potluck.
New! Shir Hadash Schmooze, Nosh, and Info Fair, September 10
It’s time to bring the kids back to school, and for the adults to get re-acquainted after a busy summer! On the first day of Religious School, stick around for an informal gathering and share a nosh with new and old friends. It’s a great opportunity to learn about fun activities and events and to become more involved in the Shir Hadash community. More details to come!
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, 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 Office Administrator, needs help with answering phone calls, taking down information, filing, and various other office tasks. She welcomes 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
Shabbat Family Dinner and Service, Friday, September 1, 5:30pm
First Fridays mean Family Shabbat, our special program for families with young kids. Come at 5:30pm for dinner, followed at 6:00 by a fun service with Rabbi Eitan including Shabbat prayers, stories, songs, and dance. Following the service, there will be snacks and a Shabbat activity. Please bring a treat to share at the oneg.
Shabbat Evening Service, Friday, September 1, 7:30pm
Our regular Shabbat service begins at 7:30pm. Since we will be together on Labor Day weekend, we will be talking about work - and how we balance it with everything else in our lives. These are very Jewish topics. After all, isn't Shabbat supposed to be about resting from our daily work? Of course, there's a lot more to this topic - so come and be part of the discussion! (And please remember to bring food to share at the oneg.)
Shabbat Morning Bat Mitzvah Service, Saturday, September 2, 9:30am
We welcome Callie Berthold to the bima as Bat Mitzvah.
“Selichot – Prayers of Forgiveness” Saturday, September 16, 7:30pm
Join us for an evening of reflection, study, and friends. Selichot is a brief Saturday evening service that prepares us for the work of the High Holidays. Its readings and melodies are meditative, reflective and stirring. Our study portion of the evening features a screening of the Academy Award nominated short documentary Joe’s Violin, an inspiring and touching film about the powerful effect of small acts of kindness and compassion. Bring a special treat to share in our dessert refreshment buffet.
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
September 1-2, 2017 / 11 Elul 5777
Shabbat Ki Teitze
Torah: Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19 / Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 - 54:10
“Lost Property”
Dear Friends,
I used to marvel how my kids would come home from camp with other campers’ clothing and possessions, even though almost everything was labeled and name tagged. As the summer comes to a close, often we come across numerous items that have been lost and found over the course of vacations, outings, and recreation. What are we supposed to do with all the lost stuff? Keep it? Donate it? What?
The Torah is clear regarding lost property. Large portions of the Talmud address what to do with lost property, too. We are commanded to return it as best we can. The section concludes with the injunction, “You many not remain indifferent.” Yes, small items with no chance of ever finding the owner may be kept, generally scattered items and pieces of things. But the rest must be advertised and effort must be spent of returning items to owners.
The medieval commentator Nachmanides explains that performing the mitzvah of returning lost property applies to friends, strangers and even enemies. Furthermore, you must help them if their property is in danger of being lost. He teaches, “Assist others. Remember the bond of humanity between you and forget the hatred.”
Zay a mentsch – Be a good person. Help each other.
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.
Madrichim Needed and Wanted!
If you have an 8th through 12th grader that is looking for a way to earn some extra spending money, to add something great to his/her college application, or even looking for some community service hours, being a madrich/a is a perfect for them! To apply and/or register, click here.
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
High Holiday Food Baskets
Once again this year, Shir Hadash is joining with Maot Chitim of Greater Chicagoland to help pack and deliver High Holiday food boxes for Jewish families in need all over the Chicago area. There are two different ways Shir Hadash members can help:
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- Packing food boxes 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
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, and encourage other members to join the committee.
Suggested Reading
The Palestinians and Free Speech: This article from Amnesty International is interesting. Amnesty International is normally fiercely and unfairly critical of Israel. So this article is a surprising look by them at the abuses of the Palestinian leadership. Though the article does not compare the ways in which Israel and the Palestinian governing bodies approach freedom of press, the difference is stark. Some of Israel's fiercest critics live and publish in Israel--in Israeli daily newspapers and other mainstream media. This article provides an interesting view of how difficult it is to achieve peace when Hamas and the PA repress moderate forces and peace movements within the Palestinian community.
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!
Thanks to Glenn Graff for supporting SHOP this week!
To view past editions of the Newsletter, please visit our website.
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