If you need assistance, please email the office at admin@shir-hadash.org or call 847-498-8218. You may additionally reach the Rabbi on his cell 847-525-7746 at any time, and our President, Marc Fargotstein at 847-612-6579. For more information about our COVID-19 response plan, click here .
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT A GLANCE
Creative Worship and Ritual - Tomorrow:: Multigenerational Shabbat via Zoom, Friday, March 5, 7:00 p.m.
- Next Friday: Shabbat Service with SHED Talk, Friday, March 12, 7:30 p.m.
The Rabbi's Corner -- "Temper, Temper"
Religious School
- Religious School, March 7
Adult Education- Sunday Morning Adult Ed Classes, March 7
--Torah and Jewish Philosophy, 10:00 a.m.
-- Hebrew Reacing, 11:00 a.m. - Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Eitan, Thursdays, 1:00 p.m.
Membership News and Events
- New: Mark Your Calendar for Annual Meeting June 6; Board Positions Available!
- Tonight: Defining Antisemitism, Thursday, March 4, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday: Trivia & Game Night, Saturday, March 6, 7:00 p.m.
- Next Week: New Member Meet-and-Greet Havdalah, Saturday, March 13, 5:30 p.m
- FAC Presents Comedy Class for Grades 3-8, Sunday, March 14, 1:00 p.m.
- New: Virtual Travels to Sites of Jewish History: Jerusalem, Wednesday, March 17, 7:30 p.m.
- Thank You for Supporting Bagel Box Fundraiser
- Community Info: New Vaccination Appointments in Des Plaines and United Center
Social Action
- Shir Hadash Members Provide Emergency Relief in Texas
Ongoing Fundraisers - iGive, Amazon Smile, and ShopWithScrip
CREATIVE WORSHIP AND RITUAL
Tomorrow: Multigenerational Shabbat via Zoom, Friday, March 5, 7:00 p.m. -- A family-friendly Zoom service for all school families, seniors, not-yet seniors, and anyone else who would like to come worship with us as a community.
Next Week: Shabbat Service with SHED Talk via Zoom, Friday, March 12, 7:30 p.m. -- We begin with a brief Kabbalah Shabbat to welcome the Shabbat with song and story. Then, Shir Hadash members offer personal reflections on life, living, and Judaism. This month, Chana Sulpar speaks on, “The Depression Connection: My Ties to Depression – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
THE RABBI’S CORNER
March 5-6, 2021 / 22 Adar 5781
Shabbat Ki Tissa/Parah
Torah: Exodus 30:11 - 34:35 / Maftir: Numbers 19:1 - 19:22 | Shabbat Parah
Haftarah: Ezekiel 36:16 - 36:38 | Shabbat Parah
“Temper, Temper”
Dear Friends,
What is our responsibility when someone close to use becomes extremely angry? In this week’s Torah portion, Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. Unfortunately, the Israelites had lost patience waiting for him and had a Golden Calf sculpted to worship. Moses became very, very angry. He smashed the tablets and went back up the mountain. A fascinating thing happened. The story tells us that God found a way to calm Moses down. There are other places in the Torah where God becomes terribly angry at the Israelites, and Moses calms God down.
The message is clear. Even in those moments when anger is deserved and justified, it does not help for all leaders to become angry and lose temper. Someone has to calm those who are upset and remain focused on the ultimate goal. Otherwise, everything will be lost despite what might be a temporary setback. Even in the most difficult and defeating of situations, our Jewish tradition wants to “Keep Calm and Carry On.”
.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Read past editions of The Rabbi's Corner on the Shir Hadash website .
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
Relgious School, March 7 -- We look forward to seeing all our student in their virtual classes at 10:15 a.m. Questions? Contact Rachel Goldberg or Alan Bernover.
ADULT EDUCATION
Adult Ed Sunday Morning Programs, March 7: Adults are welcome to join in the following adult education programs: - Torah and Jewish Philosophy, 10:00 a.m, via Zoom . If you would like to participate, contact Fred Andes. Call in number is 312 626 6799.
- Hebrew Reading, 11:00 a.m. via WebEx -- contact Steve Lewin.
Today: Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Eitan, March 4, 1:00 p.m. -- On Thursdays, be part of an engaging examination of the week's Torah portion via Zoom.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS AND EVENTS
Mark Your Calendar! Annual Meeting June 6; Board Positions Available -- As in 2020, the Shir Hadash Annual Meeting will be held via Zoom. Please plan to participate on June 6 at 10:00 a.m. for an informative session as well as elections for new Board members and approval of the annual budget. Your input is needed and greatly appreciated! If you will need an absentee ballot, please contact Karen at admin@shir-hadash.org.
At this time, we are seeking members who are interested in serving in the open Board positions, including: - President
- Executive Vice President
- Vice-President for Programming
- Four At-Large Board Members for two-year terms
In order to hold any of these offices, the individual must be a member in good standing as described in Article III, Section 4 of the bylaws. If you would like a nomination form or more information about the positions, please contact Fred Andes. Completed nomination forms must be received at the office by March 31, 2021.
We encourage all members to take the time to participate in the nomination/election process. Shir Hadash is only as great as we make it, and your input and assistance in that effort are greatly appreciated.
Tonight: Defining Antisemitism, March 4, 7:30 p.m. -- Please join us for an enlightening conversation about defining antisemitism in the current political environment. How to define antisemitism has been a hot topic prompting statements from a myriad of Jewish organizations, including Reconstructing Judaism, and others such as many American and global cities and the Biden administration. Background information and a link to register can be found at the event page. This is a great chance to both learn and share your thoughts on this important topic. This event is sponsored by the Shir Hadash Israel Committee.
Saturday: Virtual Trivia and Game Night, Saturday, March 6, 7:00 pm via Zoom – Click here for the Zoom link.--Meeting ID: 918 3644 9486, Passcode: Trivia202!
Join your Shir Hadash friends for several rounds of general trivia over Zoom, plus games and music! As always, will be raising funds to support the Religious School's Samuel Andes Scholarship Fund. RSVP here. There is no fee to join in the fun, but donations are welcome! Questions? Contact Sean Rohde.
Donations Welcome! If you can't join us for the event, but would like to donate to the scholarship fund, we welcome your support! Please click here, then in the section that asks 'Type', select 'Samuel Andes Scholarship Fund' from the dropdown menu, and please remember to also write 'Trivia Night' in the notes section. If you prefer to make a donation by check, please contact the office.
Next Week: New Member Meet-and-Greet Havdalah, Saturday March 13, 5:30 p.m. -- The Membership Committee will be hosting a virtual Havdalah service as we celebrate our New Members for the 2020-2021 year. We will get to know each other over Zoom before and after the Havdalah service, which will be led by Rabbi Eitan. Members from Shir Hadash's many committees will also join us to share their goals and upcoming events. We encourage all Board Members and Committee leaders to join in the celebration. RSVP here.
FAC Presents Comedy Class for Grades 3-8, Sunday March 14, 1:00 p.m. -- Come and join the Family Activities Committee as David Edler (of Shir Hadash Catskills Night Family) leads us through improv games and joke telling. We will have fun telling jokes, writing jokes, and learning about the element of surprise. Registration for this event is required for Zoom link. Feel free to send questions to Elliott Simon.
New: Virtual Travel to Jewish History Sites: Jerusalem, Wednesday, March 17, 7:30 p.m. - Our Virtual Travel series continues! This time, we're visiting Jerusalem in the time of King Herod. David Liebling will guide us on a tour of the ancient city and teach about its history. RSVP here.
Thank You for Supporting FAC Bagel Box Fundraiser -- The FAC (Family Activities Committee) would like to thank the congregation for supporting the very successful February Max & Benny's Bagel & Lox Kit pickup. Our thanks to Vicky Brice for organizing the program, coordinating our contactless drive-up pickup, and braving the cold! We will be back, with another chance for you to participate in this fun & delicious fundraiser in the spring!
Community Info: New Vaccination Appointments -- Thank you to Dawn Weiner-Kaplow for sharing the following information from Rep. Jan Schakowsky's office:
1) On March 10, the mass vaccination site at the United Center will open. Nearly 110,000 vaccinations will be delivered through this site in this initial round of appointments.
Starting Thursday, March 4, at 8:30am, people 65 and over can register for appointments at the United Center site. You can call 312-746-4835 or register online here. If there are still openings remaining, those slots will open for registration to all other eligible people (frontline workers, health care personnel, etc.) starting at 4:00 pm on Sunday, March 7.
2) On Thursday, March 4, a mass vaccination site will open in Des Plaines at 1155 E. Oakton St. Individuals in groups 1a and 1b can register online for the Des Plaines site or call 833-308-1988 M-F 7am-7pm CT.
SOCIAL ACTION
Shir Hadash Members Provide Emergency Relief in Texas --Thanks to an effort led by Nat Arons and assisted by Ila Rothschild, around 100 people in Nacogdoches, Texas received much-needed water, food, baby supplies, blankets, coats, and other necessities as they awaited the return of their water supply and the end of rolling blackouts. Nat and Ila rented a van, filled it with supplies, drove to a town in Texas that was devastated by the ice storm, and distributed items that were desperately needed. According to local aid groups and emergency managers, it was one of only two similarly-sized relief efforts received by Nacogdoches. Without the donations of Shir Hadash members and other Chicago-area groups, the people served by this effort would not have had basic necessities for several days. Most of all, a very big thank you to Shir Hadash Member Nat Arons and Shir Hadash Board Member Ila Rothschild for traveling to Texas and providing on-the-ground assistance.
ONGOING FUNDRAISERS
Gift Card Purchases Help Shir Hadash - SHOP Shir Hadash allows members to order physical and electronic gift cards from thousands of stores and Shir Hadash receives a portion of every purchase. Thousands of dollars can be generated for Shir Hadash at no cost to you. Click here for more information. Once registered, electronic and physical cards can be ordered instantly ordered using the RaiseRight app on your phone or through our vendor shopwithscrip.com. Contact Glenn Graff for more information.
When you’re 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.
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.
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