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WHAT'S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE
Please Take Note of High Priority Items Marked in Red!
Our staff continues to work from home and the office as necessary. Messages via phone and email will receive a response within 24 hours. If you need any assistance, you may call Marc Fargotstein at 847-612-6579 or contact Office Administrator Karen Burnham at 847-714-6946. The Rabbi is also available on his cell phone 847-525-7746 at any time. For more information about our COVID-19 response plan, click here.
Don't Forget! Town Hall Meeting Tonight, August 27, 7:30 p.m. -- See Zoom Link and Details under Membership News Below
Creative Worship and Ritual -- Upcoming Services
- Register for High Holidays -- Deadline Extended to September 1
- Zoom Shabbat Evening Service, August 28, 7:30 p.m.
- Next Week: Multigenerational Zoom Shabbat, September 4, 7:00 p.m.
The Rabbi’s Corner -- "Return"
Religious Education
- School Registration and Tuition Commitment Forms Online -- School Starts September 13!
- Sunday Morning Adult Ed Programs Continue Online
- Torah and Jewish Philosophy
- Hebrew Reading
- Modern Israel
- Lunch & Learn with the Rabbi, Thursdays
Membership News and Events
- Tonight! Shir Hadash Virtual Town Hall Meeting, August 27, 7:30pm
- Don't Delay! Membership Renewals Due -- Complete Your Forms Online!
- Starts Next Week! Multi-Part Book Discussion: White Fragility, Thursdays in September
- Mussar Study Group, September 10
- Shir HaNosh TV: Blintzes with Bev Lieberman, September 13
- Book Club New Selection; Meeting October 15
Social Action
- Annual High Holiday Food Drive, September 13
- In-Person Volunteer Opportunity with Northern Illinois Food Bank
Support for Members
- Support for Seniors from Illinois Department on Aging
- SBA COVID Disaster Assistance for Businesses
- Food Distribution for Veterans, August 28
Ongoing Fundraisers
- iGive
- Amazon Smile
- SHOP Shir Hadash
High Holidays Schedule and Registration Now Available: Registration Extended to September 1 -- The High Holidays are approaching! Shir Hadash will be holding all of our customary services, this year via Zoom due to COVID-19. Each registered member will receive a unique viewing code. Visit our website for complete information about services and registration. (You will need to log into Shul Cloud to access member information.) Prayerbook order forms are available as well. Please remember that you must be a member in good standing with up-to-date payments in order to register for High Holidays. If you have any questions about High Holiday services, contact the Creative Worship & Ritual Committee at cwr@shir-hadash.org.
Zooming Kabbalat Shabbat Friday, August 28, 7:30 p.m. -- Shabbat Ki Teitze “To Bigotry, No Sanction” – Join as we study the exchange of letters between George Washington and the Hebrew Congregation of Newport RI. Let’s celebrate Shabbat together with an on-line full Shabbat service via ZOOM. Rabbi Eitan will share the pages of the prayer book on screen and lead the service from his home with meditations, prayer, readings, story, and song.
Next Week! Zooming Multigenerational Service, Friday, Sept 4, 7:00 p.m. - Mark your calendar!
August 28-29, 2020 / 9 Elul 5780 / Shabbat Ki Teitze
Torah: Deuteronomy 21:10 - 25:19 / Haftarah: Isaiah 54:1 - 54:10
“Return”
Dear Friends,
This week’s Torah portion teaches that if you see your neighbor’s ox or sheep gone astray, you may not ignore it. You must take it back to him. And if you live far away or you do not know who owns it, you must take it home and care for the animal until it is claimed. This teaching applies to all property belonging to your neighbor. You may not remain indifferent to the return of lost property.
We are now in the month of Elul, the month preceding the High Holidays. It is month of preparation for the important work we do to self-correct and return to a path of righteous behavior.
What do you have that belong to your friends, relatives and neighbors? Do you have books, tools or items that were borrowed long ago? Do you have clothing or household items laying around that you haven’t gotten around to returning? Now is the time to give it all back.
What else do you have that belongs to your friends, relatives and neighbors? Do you have any apologies that belong to them, but you haven’t shared. Do you have any favors to return in exchange for help and assistance they once gave you? Now is the time to offer them in order to set the record straight.
The law of returning lost property is so important in Judaism because with it, trust and confidence abounds. If we all pledge to care for and respect each other’s lost property, then an atmosphere of support and interdependence thrives.
Zay a mentsch – Be a good person.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Read past editions of The Rabbi's Corner on the Shir Hadash website here.
Religious School Registration and Tuition Forms Available Online -- Shir Hadash's 2020-2021 Religious School Registration is open! Parents will need to complete two forms - the Tuition Commitment form and the School Registration form (in addition to your annual Membership Renewal). Follow the links above to get started! Please note that this registration process is for all grades, Kindergarten through 7th Grade, as well as Madrichim, 8th Grade through 12th Grade. As a reminder, Religious School starts on Sunday, September 13, 2020.
Sunday Morning Adult Ed Programs: Online! All members are welcome to participate. Contact the class facilitator, below, for information.
- 10:00 a.m. -- Torah and Jewish Philosophy via ZOOM Contact Fred Andes for details. Call in number is 312 626 6799.
- 11:00 a.m. -- Hebrew Reading via WebEx -- contact Steve Lewin.
- 11:15 a.m. -- Modern Israel: Incredible History and Awesome Guests via Zoom Contact Rabbi Eitan for more information.
Rabbi's Lunch and Learn, Thursdays at 1:00 p.m.-- Join an engaging examination of the week's Torah portion Via Zoom.
DON'T FORGET - Shir Hadash Town Hall Virtual Meeting Tonight! Thursday, August 27, 7:30 p.m. Join us as the Shir Hadash Leadership Team shares important updates and discusses how we are responding and continuously adjusting to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Key topics include High Holiday Preparations, School Activities, Finances, Building Facilities.
Congregants are invited to submit questions over the Q&A function. The Town Hall will be hosted as a Zoom Webinar and only panelists will be seen. A
Don't Delay! Complete Your Membership Renewal -- We are very happy that so many people have renewed their memberships and signed up for High Holiday services. For those that haven't, do it today! Click this link to renew your membership, or become a new member. If you require a paper registration form, call the office at (847) 498-8218.
Starts Next Thursday! Multi-Part Book Discussion: White Fragility – Thursdays in September: As we prepare for the High Holidays, this is a season of personal reflection in the Jewish calendar. In partnership with Or Shalom, we will be engaging in this personal reflection when it comes to race and racism by reading and discussing the book White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo.
This in-depth book discussion will have four sessions, all via Zoom: September 3, 10, 17, and 24 at 7:00-8:30pm. Participants are expected to attend at least three of the four sessions, and preferably all of them. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link; click here to sign up.
Read at whatever pace suits your time. The sessions will focus on discussing these chapters:
- September 3, Chapter 1
- September 10, Chapters 2-4
- September 17, Chapter 5-8
- September 24, Chapters 9-12
It should take only a couple of hours to read the chapters for each session.
For now – please get a copy of the book and begin reading if you plan to participate! Questions? Contact our Social Action Chair, Lisa Burton Radzely, SocialActionSH@gmail.com.
Mussar Study Group, September 10 -- The Mussar study group will meet via Zoom on Thursday, September 10, at 7:30 p.m. If you are interested in getting involved in Mussar, please email Lynn Liebling or Kayla Shonberg.
Shir HaNosh TV, September 13 – Save the date for our next episode: Shir HaNosh TV: Beautiful Blintzes, Sunday, Sept. 13, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Bev Lieberman will demonstrate her family blintz recipe! Blintzes are a perfect part of a Yom Kippur break-the-fast meal. Bev will teach us how to make this classic Ashkenazi dish and will tell us about her family's cooking history. Questions? Contact Melanie at fmandes@comcast.net.
Book Club's Next Selection: Meeting October 15 -- Book Club's next selection is Farewell to Salonika: City at the Crossroads by Leon Sciaky, a memoir of growing up in Salonika, a diverse city of the Ottoman Empire, on the eve of World War I. Join in our lively conversation on October 15 at 7:30pm. Zoom link will be sent out the week of the meeting. Click here for more information!
SOCIAL ACTION
Annual High Holiday Food Drive, September 13 -- We will once again be participating in our annual non-perishable food drive during the High Holidays for The ARK. Due to COVID-19, we are arranging contactless dropoff at our synagogue parking lot on Sunday, September 13, with our own volunteers, from 1:15p-3:15p. Religious School families will have an opportunity to drop off during religious school hours that day. Please mark your calendars to help support this important Social Action event!
In-Person Volunteer Opportunity with Northern Illinois Food Bank --Northern Illinois Food Bank needs volunteers to sort and pack food, assist with food distribution, and stock shelves. All volunteers will socially distance and take other necessary COVID precautions. View the Northern Illinois Food Bank shift calendar and register for a shift here. To learn more about the Northern Illinois Food Bank's response to COVID-19, click here.
SUPPORT FOR MEMBERS
Free Groceries for Veterans, August 28-- If you are a veteran and need food assistance, Northern Illinois Food Bank will distribute free groceries to veterans on Friday, August 28, 12pm-1:30pm at Midwest Veterans Closet, 2323 Green Bay Road, North Chicago. A volunteer wearing protective gear will place the box and/or bag of groceries in your vehicle. You will not be allowed to exit your car. Food will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis, while supplies last.
Support for Seniors -- The Illinois Department on Aging has ramped up their services to meet the needs of Illinois' older population. Seniors who need food/meal help or other services should contact the department at
Help for Small Businesses -- The offers disaster assistance to Illinois small businesses econo
ONGOING FUNDRAISERS
If you are home and shopping online, be sure to consider these donation programs that support Shir Hadash at no extra cost to you!
iGive -- There are 2500 online retailers helping to make donations happen through iGive. Click here to learn more. or contact Sandi Schleicher, sschleicher@onebox.com.
Amazon Smile -- Amazon will automatically donate 0.5% of your purchase to when you sign up at smile.amazon.com. Be sure to select "Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Synagogue-Congregation Shir Hadash" in Wheeling as your charity of choice.
Shop with Scrip -- ShopWithScrip gift cards are available for more than 750+ brands and each purchase provides a donation to Shir Hadash. Click here for complete details!
