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 . - Friday: Shabbat Service via Zoom, Friday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.
- Next Week: Shabbat Dinner Blessings via Zoom, Friday, April 23, 6:15 p.m.
The Rabbi's Corner -- "A Salute to Israel"
Religious School - Religious School, April 18, 10:15 a.m.
- School Reopening Task Force -- Your Input Needed!
Adult Education- Today: Thursday Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Eitan, April 15, 1:00 p.m.
- Sunday Morning Adult Ed Classes, April 18
--Torah and Jewish Philosophy, 10:00 a.m.
-- Hebrew Reading Class, 11:00 a.m. - Tuesday: "A Mother and Her Daughter-in-Law" Study of the Book of Ruth, April 20, 1:00 p.m.
Membership News and Events
- Tonight: Book Club, April 15, 7:30 p.m.
- Volunteers Sought for Mitzvah Committee
- Thank You for Supporting Max & Benny's Fundraiser
Social Justice- Apply by April 30: Buffalo Grove Pride Drive -- Participation Assistance Available
Social Action- Thank You! Successful Food and Toiletry Drive Supports Local Agencies
Ongoing Fundraisers - iGive, Amazon Smile, and ShopWithScrip
CREATIVE WORSHIP AND RITUAL
Friday: Shabbat Service via Zoom, Friday, April 16, 7:30 p.m. -- 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: Shabbat Dinner Blessings via Zoom, Friday, April 23, 6:15 p.m.-- Join us on Zoom as we light candles, bless our families, sanctify the wine, and bless the challah before Shabbat dinner. Rabbi Eitan will lead a 20-minute ceremony to welcome our Shabbat dinners at home.
THE RABBI’S CORNER
April 16-17, 2021 / 5 Iyar 5781 / Shabbat Tazria-Metzorah
Torah: Leviticus 12:1-15:33 / Haftarah: II Kings 7:3 - 7:20
Omer Day 20
“Salute to Israel”
Dear Friends,
This week we celebrate Israel’s 73rd Independence Day. How fortunate we are as Jews and as Americans that Israel exists. The only democracy in the Middle East, Israel is America’s most faithful ally. The only Jewish state, Israel is a beacon of Jewish life and vitality for world Jewry. Despite all of Israel’s concerns, it still emerges as a world leader in technology, religious tolerance, stability, food production, and lately, in Covid-19 vaccination for its citizens. Even though we are still not traveling far from home, now is a great time to plan a trip to Israel in the near future. Now is a great time to view some wonderful websites about Israel and its marvelous accomplishments, such as:
Israel 21c – Promoting Israel’s cultural, medical, and technological achievements
https://www.israel21c.org
SpaceIL – Israel’s space program
https://www.spaceil.com
Times of Israel – A great source for news and current events
https://www.timesofisrael.com
ASPNI – Focuses on the protection of nature in Israel
https://natureisrael.org/aspni
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow
Read past editions of The Rabbi's Corner on the Shir Hadash website .
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
Religious School Resumes, Sunday, April 18 -- We look forward to seeing all our students in their virtual classes at 10:15 a.m. on April 18. Questions? Contact Rachel Goldberg or Alan Bernover.
New: School Reopening Task Force -- The Synagogue is looking to create and staff a “School Re-Opening Task Force” to prepare for the 2021-2022 Religious School educational year. This task force will shape policy, create protocols for safe re-entry to our school, and implement best practices and procedures to comply with city, state and national guidelines regarding COVID-19. Professional areas of expertise are essential such as: medical professionals, school administrators and teachers, architects, engineers, safety compliance managers, project managers, and the like. We are hoping to include a wide array of backgrounds in this new task force and welcome school parents' input as well. Please contact Alan Bernover by email (SAC@shir-hadash.org) or at (773) 865-3136 if you are interested in participating in this new action committee. We plan to form this committee in the coming two weeks.
ADULT EDUCATION
Today: Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Eitan, Thursday, April 15, 1:00 p.m. - Join the Rabbi and other members in an engaging examination of the week's Torah portion via Zoom.
Adult Ed Sunday Morning Programs, April 18: Adults are welcome to join in the following adult education programs on Sundays:: - Torah and Jewish Philosophy, 10:00 a.m via Zoom: If you would like to participate, contact Fred Andes.
- Hebrew Reading, 11:00 a.m. via WebEx. For more information, contact Steve Lewin.
Tuesday: "A Mother and Her Daughter-in-Law: Four Movements in Two Women's Lives" April 20, 1:00 p.m. -- Join Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow and Deacon Peery Duderstadt for a series of five Zoom meetings, where we’ll delve into the Book of Ruth. Bring your Bible and discover a beautiful story of a mother and her daughter-in-law thousands of years ago. Sessions begin on Tuesday, April 13 at 1:00 pm and last about an hour. They continue each Tuesday through May 11. They will cover one chapter each week.
MEMBERSHIP NEWS AND EVENTS
Tonight: Book Club, Thursday, April 15, 7:30 p.m. -- The Book Club will be discussing Concealed by Esther Amini, a memoir of growing up in a Persian-Jewish family in Queens, New York. Click here to learn more!
Volunteers Sought for Mitzvah Committee - We want to reform, revitalize and expand the functions of our Mitzvah Committee. Traditionally, we've focused on helping to organize shivas which is certainly one of the most important functions. However, here's a more complete list of what we have envisioned. - Write get-well cards (anytime)
- Do hospital visits (after pandemic)
- Meal trains (different during pandemic and after)
- Help with organizing shivas (different during pandemic and after)
- Leading shivas (different during pandemic and after)
- Tracking life-cycle events of members and contacting them (anytime)
- Contact person for bar/bat mitzvah families (different during pandemic and after)
- Developing a funeral plan for members, working with funeral services (anytime)
Do you have an interest in helping with any of these functions? We can only effectively tackle the areas in which we have volunteers. Please contact Mady Fern, 847-254-0403 or Stuart Aizenberg, 847-840-7895 if you would like to volunteer.
Thank you for Supporting Max & Benny's Fundraiser -- The FAC (Family Activities Committee) would like to once again thank the congregation for supporting last week's Max & Benny's Bagel & Lox Kit pickup. Our thanks to Vicky Brice for her work on this popular new fundraiser. Watch for the next one in June!
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Apply by April 30: Buffalo Grove Pride Drive on June 6 -- Participation Assistance Available -- Shir Hadash will again be a sponsor for the Buffalo Grove Pride Parade. All the fun of a parade, within your own car. For the second year using this format, residential lawns will be decorated with pride decor, music, rainbow treats and more! Do you live in Buffalo Grove and want to become part of the parade route by decorating your home? We have limited funds available to help if you do on a first come - first served basis. However, understand that the planning and work to decorate is your responsibility. Please contact Stuart Aizenberg no later than April 30 if interested.
SOCIAL ACTION
Successful Food and Toiletry Drive -- Look at all of those food and toiletry donations! The cart shows the donated food, while the bags on the table are the donated toiletries. Eighteen households contributed to our food and toiletry drive benefiting Wheeling Food Pantry and the SNAP Gap program run by Interfaith Action of Evanston. Thank you so much to everyone who participated. The numerous bags of food and toiletries will help so many individuals. Thank you as well to the volunteers and staff who helped make this event a success. Vicky Brice, Karen Burnham, Ari Cohen, and Lisa Burton Radzely helped with our contactless drive-thru donations. Don Johnson was a big help when Wheeling Food Pantry sent a truck to pick up the food donations. Lisa Burton Radzely is bringing the toiletry donations to the First United Methodist Church in Evanston. A big thank you as well to Scarlett Andes, Rachel Schick Siegel, Carolyn Gessner, and Matt Settler for the Communications Committee's help letting our members know about this event. Keep an eye on the Social Action section of the newsletter for more ways you can help those struggling during this economic downturn.
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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