Finding a Balance:Work-Family-Shabbat

Dear Haverim:




*Tomorrow, Friday, February 1st,6:30 p.m., we will be celebrating Hebrew School Consecration (kiddy-friendly Happy Hour 6 p.m.). Our Kitah Bet class will be presented with siddurim, with covers lovingly crafted by their parents. Our children will also give the drash, The Days of Creation and Beginning Our Jewish Education. I would encourage you to come, even if you do not have children in the Hebrew school, as these children are OUR future and they deserve and need our support. We will also be celebrating Teacher Appreciation Shabbat, including our choice for Teacher of the Year.



*Saturday, February 2nd, 9:30 a.m., Parashat Yitro. My sermon topic will be: Finding a Balance: Life, Work, Family and Shabbat. We lead such pressured lives. The interplay between Moses, and his father-in-law, Yitro, combined with the Ten Commandment’s fourth commandment regarding Shabbat give some wonderful options for leading more fulfilled, balanced lives.



Come for our children! Come for achieving a balanced-life!! Come to Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Shalom!!!



Shabbat shalom,



Rabbi Michael

Dear Haverim:

        *This Friday night, we will be jump-starting services 15 minutes earlier, at 6:15 p.m., in honor of New Member Shabbat  (expanded, Tu B’Shevat-inspired Happy Hour begins at 5:45 p.m.).  We will be giving every new member a mezuzah.  For my drash I will talk about From Our House to Your House: Creating Shalom Bayit.  I will talk about the bridges we must build from our own homes to the synagogue and back again.  A Judaism which exists only in the synagogue will not survive – only a home-based Judaism can be passed on to a next generation.  But the synagogue, from the Hebrew School to Adult Education can reinforce and strengthen the Jewish home.

        *This Saturday, 9:30 a.m., we will be celebrating both Shabbat Shira and Tu’ B’Shevat, plus learning about the Parashat B’Shelach.  For Shabbat Shira, Cantor Elisa will be leading us in Debbie Friedman’s version of Miriam’s Song and Hebrew School students will join her in singing When You Believe from The Prince of Egypt.  We will conduct a mini-Tu B’Shevat seder at each table during lunch, as we celebrate Mildred and Herman Cohen’s 65^th wedding anniversary.  For my drash, I will be focusing on the words from the parasha: “Ki Karov Hu:” Some times the Shortcut is Really the Long Path, and the Long Path is Really the Shortcut.” I will talk about the need to reflect back after suffering a disappointment so we can learn and grow.

        Spend this Shabbat at Congregation Beth Shalom.  Celebrate New Members! Celebrate Trees!  Celebrate Music!

        Shabbat shalom,

        Rabbi Michael

Dr. King to Neuroplasticity of Pharaoh's Brain: Shabbat @ CBS

Dear Haverim:

*This Friday night, January 18, 8 p.m., please join us for our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Shabbat Celebration. We will be joined by Rev. Dr. Clifford Johnson of Shiloh Baptist Church, reprising his role of Dr. King, Rev. Cheryl Jensen of Peninsula McCabe United Methodist Church, reprising her role as Susannah Heschel, and I will be reprising my role as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, as we celebrate the historic partnership of the African American and Jewish communities in the late sixties, and try to breathe new life into this important alliance. We will be featuring Gospel and Hebrew song and prayer. A festive oneg will follow.

*This Saturday, January 19, 9:30 a.m., I will be sharing some of the best teachings from my recent JTS Rabbinic Training Institute retreat with scholars from the Jewish Theological Seminary and the American Jewish University. My material will cover the gamut from neuroplasticity of Pharoah’s brain to esoteric medieval rabbinic commentaries on the plagues. I promise an eclectic experience on the Torah portion, Bo.

*This Saturday night, January 19, 7 p.m. Join the congregants of Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth and Beth Emeth at Beth Shalom for an evening of games, beginning with a guitar-led Havdalah. As we are hosting, I am counting on all of you coming out to welcome our friends from the neighboring congregations.

Link hands in interfaith solidarity. Learn all sorts of esoteric things about Torah. Play games with fellow Jews. Come to Shabbat and Havdalah at Congregation Beth Shalom!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Michael