WHAT’S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE
Membership News and Upcoming Events
- Sunday! Annual Meeting, May 6
- Saturday! Israeli Film Series, May 5
- Book Club, May 22
- CJE Resource Specialist at Shir Hadash, Thursdays
- Registration Open for Reconstructing Judaism Convention, November 15-18
Creative Worship and Ritual
- Shabbat Services, Star Wars Style! May the 4th
- Family Shabbat and Dinner, 5:30pm
- Shabbat Evening Service, 7:30pm
- Oneg Volunteers Needed -- Sign Up Today
The Rabbi’s Corner
- “Receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai”
School News
- Religious School, May 6
- Teacher Appreciation Gift Donations Being Accepted Now
- Tzedakah Challenge - Help Our Students Meet Their Goal
- Save the Date! End of the Year Party, May 20
Adult Education
- Today! Lunch and Learn with the Rabbi, May 3
- Torah and Jewish Philosophy, Sundays
- Living Judaism: Introduction to Jewish Spirituality & Civilization, Next Class on May 20
- Tonight! A Taste of Mussar Class, Thursday Evenings
Israel Awareness
- Saturday! Israeli Movie Night on May 5
- Did You Know? Fun Facts About Israel
Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council
- Sock Drive for the Homeless Going on Now
- More Events and Programs from Interfaith Council
- Seeking an Additional Shir Hadash Rep for Interfaith Council
Ongoing Fundraisers
- Simcha Tree Leaves
- 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 Meeting, May 6
Join us for our Annual Meeting. Have bagels and lox while you hear from candidates for the Board of Directors and hear the reports from the President and Treasurer. We will then vote for Board Members and to approve the Annual Budget.
Saturday Night! Israeli Film Series, May 5 - 7:30 pm
We have an exciting and unusual movie planned for the evening of May 5. We will be showing The Ballad of the Weeping Spring. Torn apart by tragedy, a legendary band reunites to play an emotional final concert in this stylized homage to Spaghetti Westerns, samurai epics, and South American mysticism, shot entirely in Israel but set in a mythical time and place. With a pervasive pan-ethnic soundtrack serving as the film’s backbone, the story centers on the brooding Jossef Tawila, once the leader of a Mizrahi band (a unique musical form combining Middle Eastern and North African influences), who lives a hermit-like existence in the wake of a terrible accident. In a series of quirky vignettes across stunning exotic locations, Tawila brings together his old musician buddies to grant the last wishes of a dying friend, while healing his own tortured soul. Nominated for nine Israeli Academy Awards, with wins for Best Original Music, Best Original Soundtrack, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design. Admission is free and snacks will be available for purchase.
Book Club, May 22
The Book Club’s next selection will be The Bridal Chair by Gloria Goldreich. This is an exciting historical novel about the artist Marc Chagall: his personality, his physical flight from Russia to Paris (later Nazi-occupied) to America, and his daughter’s love. Our meeting will be on May 22, 7:30pm, at the home of Rebecca Rice, 3641 Bernay Drive in Northbrook. For more information, contact Meryl Abensohn at abenkras@aol.com.
CJE Resource Specialist at Shir Hadash
Welcome to Irina Polishchuk, CJE (Council for Jewish Elderly) Senior Resource Specialist. Irina will be at Shir Hadash on Thursdays from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm meeting with Jewish seniors in the community who need assistance on a wide range of issues. To schedule an appointment with Irina, call 773-428-3058. We are delighted to be partnering with CJE to bring this vital service to our community.
Registration Open for Reconstructing Judaism Convention, November 15-18
The annual convention for the Reconstructing Judaism Movement will be held November 15-18 in Philadelphia. Registration is open for this exciting event filled with workshops, music, worship, and fresh ideas. Click here for registration details, or contact Executive Director Geoff Prass, geoff@shir-hadash.org, for more information.
CREATIVE WORSHIP AND RITUAL
Shabbat Services this Friday, May 4:
"May the Fourth" be with You! One Night, Two Fun and Interesting Events
Family Shabbat and Dinner, 5:30pm
We start off with a fun event for families with young children. Our Family Shabbat includes two celebrations: Shavuot (the Jews' receipt of the Ten Commandments) and Star Wars Day. Rabbi Eitan will lead a family-friendly service and teach us all about the holiday of Shavuot and its meaning for us as Jews living in today’s world. For dinner, we will be enjoying blintzes for this traditionally dairy holiday. Costumes encouraged! In honor of both celebrations, kids (and adults too) are invited to come dressed as their favorite Star Wars character.
Shabbat Evening Service, 7:30pm
“May the Fourth Be With You: Jewish Themes in Star Wars”
Join us as we look deep into the Star Wars story to uncover the many Jewish themes and values. They are hidden in the story itself, names of characters, and more. Let’s have fun decoding this iconic American epic story. You’ll never look at Yoda the same way again!
Our Lahaka adult choir will sing during the worship service. Bring a Star Wars themed treat to share during the oneg refreshments.
Shabbat Morning Bar Mitzvah Service, May 5, 9:30am
We welcome Ryan Pearlman to the bima as Bar Mitzvah
Oneg Volunteers Needed for Services
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
May 4-5, 2018 / 20 Iyar 5778
Omer Day 35
Shabbat Emor
Torah: Leviticus 21:1-24:23 / Haftarah: Ezekiel 44:15-31
“Receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai”
Dear Friends,
How did the festival of Shavu’ot, which we will celebrate in two weeks, become the holiday of receiving the Torah? In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about the big three festivals of the biblical world, Passover, Shavu’ot, and Sukkot. These are three main agricultural festivals, which coincide with the three main harvests of the year. Passover celebrated the barley harvest. Shavu’ot recognized the wheat harvest and other spring crops. Sukkot was a celebration of the summer harvest.
Nowhere in the Torah text is any association of Shavu’ot with the Exodus from Egypt or the receiving of the Torah. Yet, that is what most believe about this holiday. There are many explanations for the development of the festival to its current meaning. Some maintain that since the Torah says that the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai on the ‘third new moon’ after leaving Egypt, that must coincide with the fifty days from Passover to Shavuot. Others hold that since Shavu’ot celebrated the springtime harvest in biblical Israel, we need to celebrate the springtime harvest in our time. Since most of us are no longer farmers, then the harvest we celebrate is the Torah itself.
I hope that you will join your Shir Hadash community at our Saturday evening Shavuot study session on May 19. On Sunday morning May 20, we will hold a Shavu’ot service for the religious school community. All are invited to celebrate Shavu’ot with all its meanings and associations.
Zay a Mentsch – Be a good person.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
To enjoy past entries of the Rabbi's Corner, please visit our website.
SCHOOL NEWS
Religious School, May 6
We’re looking forward to seeing all our teachers and students ready to go at 9:15 this Sunday.
Teacher Appreciation Gift Donations Being Collected Now
Thank you to everyone who already has contributed toward the teachers' gifts. If you would like to donate toward the end-of-year present, please give your contribution at the SHOP table on Sunday mornings or online here. Any contribution is appreciated; no amount is too big or too small. Recommended amount is $10 per student. In-person donations will be collected through May 6, and online donations until May 15. Click here for more info; to make an online donation, click here.
Tzedakah Challenge - Help Our Students Meet Their Goal!
If the students collect $500 in tzedakah contributions this year, all students will receive a prize to celebrate how much they've done to help others. We are only about $75 away from reaching this goal, and we have two weeks left of school! Over the next few weeks, each class will decide where they wish to donate the funds they have raised this year.
Save the Date! Free End-of-Year Party After School on May 20
After school on the last day, we will have a free end-of-year party filled with fun activities. Lunch will be provided compliments of Youth Group. Families are welcome, or students can attend by themselves. More details coming next week.
ADULT EDUCATION
Torah and Jewish Philosophy Class, Sundays
Instructor: Fred Andes
Join us on Sunday mornings at 9:30 to dig deep into the weekly Torah portion and take a look at modern Jewish philosophy.
Living Judaism: Introduction to Jewish Spirituality & Civilization, Next Class on May 20
Sundays, 11:15 am to 12:25 pm
Instructor: Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
A survey of essential and fundamental concepts of Judaism - its roots, history, sacred texts, holidays, and life cycle celebration. This class offers a great opportunity to learn what Judaism offers us to live, learn, celebrate and relate to life’s challenges in a Jewish way, today! This class is for everyone – from those with no Jewish background to those with a strong Jewish background, and all in between.
Lunch and Learn at Shir Hadash, May 3
Join Rabbi Eitan and Shir Hadash members and friends for refreshing and contemporary Jewish learning. We are studying the books of Joshua and Judges, which cover the fascinating period of Jewish history from the crossing of the Jordan River until the first kings of Israel. Everyone is welcome. No prior study, expertise, or background required. Feel free to bring your lunch.
A Taste of Mussar
An introduction to the study and practice of Jewish spiritual ethics. Mussar is a centuries old Jewish body of teachings, a perspective, and a disciplined practice that provides distinctively Jewish answers to the sorts of questions any thinking person asks about life.
The class meets on Thursdays, May 3, 10, and 17. Shir Hadash member Lynn Liebling, who has studied Mussar for seven years, will facilitate. The fee for the course is $36.
ISRAEL AWARENESS
Saturday! Israeli Film Night on May 5
Scroll up to the Member Events and Worship & Ritual sections to read about the screening of planned for the coming weeks from the Israel Awareness Committee.
Did You Know? Fun Facts About Israel
- Jerusalem was founded as the City of David in 1010 BCE, but there’s evidence of settlements there going back all the way to 4500 BCE.
- Jerusalem has been conquered more than 40 times including by the Persians, the Romans, the Ottoman Turks, and the British Empire. More than 100 battles have been fought for control of Jerusalem over the course of its history.
- Jerusalem has more than 2,000 active archaeological sites.
- Neil Armstrong said when he visited Jerusalem, “I am more excited stepping on these stones than I was stepping on the moon.”
- Jerusalem is home to an American football stadium, donated by the Kraft family, who are the owners of the New England Patriots.
NORTHWEST SUBURBAN INTERFAITH COUNCIL
Sock Drive Going on Now
Interfaith Council’s annual Knock Your Socks Off collection for mens’, womens’, and childrens’ new socks is going on now. Please bring new socks to help fill the box near in the Shir Hadash lobby during April and May. Donations will be distributed to our homeless neighbors in the Northwest Suburbs.
Other Events and Projects from the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council
Shir Hadash is an active member of the Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council. We look forward to the spring and summer with the following upcoming programs:
- Stamp Out Hunger, May 12, sponsored by the US Postal mail carriers: You place non-perishable food in your mailbox and the mail carriers will collect it. The Interfaith Council will then pick up the food and distribute it to our pantries that serve our community.
- 5th Annual i-Walk Against Hunger, June 24: A family walk from St. Mary Parish to Hope Lutheran Church and back. All donations collected go to assist our food pantries. We need walkers, sponsors and volunteers.
- 5th Annual Service Trip to Detroit, August 1-5: Volunteers will work with Cass Community Social Services to repair, maintain and build facilities to benefit the hungry, homeless, and unemployed. For more information and to register, click here.
- Interfaith Trip to Israel, summer 2018: details forthcoming.
- Food Donations: Please remember those less fortunate. Donations of canned goods are accepted throughout the year at our food pantries located at Congregation Beth Am (1370 Abbott Court, Buffalo Grove), Kingswood Methodist Church (401 W. Dundee, Buffalo Grove) and St. Mary Parish (10 North Buffalo Grove Road.)
We are discussing ideas for further educational programming. Our last panels covered questions on Christianity and Judaism. If you have any suggested topics, please contact Suzanne Wexler at skwexler@yahoo.com or 847-769-8257.
Seeking Shir Hadash Representative for Northwest Suburban Interfaith Council
Please consider joining Suzanne Wexler in representing SH at the Interfaith Council, a group of 10 congregations from synagogues and churches in Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Arlington Heights, Prospect Heights and Long Grove. The council members meet on the first Monday of each month from 7:30-9:00pm. We share ideas from our congregations as well as plan and execute community-wide programs to serve our communities, including our neighbors in need. Please contact Suzanne Wexler if you are interested in hearing more: skwexler@yahoo.com or (847) 769-8257.
ONGOING FUNDRAISERS
Simcha Tree Leaves Available for Purchase
Our Tree of Joy—a Simcha Tree—is situated in our Community Room to remind us of all the joys of our lives. The leaves come in copper, silver, and gold. Each leaf marks a lasting memory of a joyous simcha in the lives of members of Shir Hadash. We invite you to add your loved ones’ simchas to our Tree and share your nachaswith our congregation or just add your loved ones’ names out of love. Leaves can be purchased to mark your special family or individual accomplishments. Click here to see additional information and make your purchase.
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 Spring!
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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