Free Shabbat Dinner + Peanut's View of Reward & Punishment

Dear Chaverim:


*Friday night, 5:30 p.m. FREE BBQ Shabbos dinner followed by Shabbat Under the Stars, 6:30 p.m., JCC Picnic Grounds, 101 Garden of Eden Way, Talleyville. (No services at 1801 Baynard). Guitar music, sedra scenes. Please bring unaffiliated friends who are shul shopping.

*Saturday morning, 9:30 a.m., at CBS. Amanda and Benjamin Ebner b'nei mitzvah and guest darshanim: "Our Israeli B'nei Mitzvah" plus a little from Rabbi Michael, on

Ki Tavo: A Peanut's View on Reward & Punishment.

*Saturday evening, 8:30 p.m., Selichot: Gateway to High Holy Days. Havdalah, Nasherei, Charlie-Rose'esque Panel Discussion with President Karin Karel, Cantor Elisa and Rabbi Michael hosted by former newscaster Michael Sigman. Topic: Our Vision for CBS. Selichot services to follow.

*Sunday morning, 9 a.m., Open House including start of Hebrew School, Kugelmania, 1:30 p.m. - first-ever joint AKSE-CBS Pre-High Holy Day Cemetery Visit and Program, Jewish Community Cemetery on Foulk Rd.

Be moved. Have fun. Bring in the High Holy Days at CBS.

Shabbat shalom!

Rabbi Michael

Labor on the Bimah + Kindness to Animals Legislation

Dear Haverim:

     *This Friday, August 31, 6:30 p.m. services will be mindful of Labor Day.  My Sermon Topic will be:

Labor on the Bima: Insights from the Torah. 

I will be focusing on the rights of restaurant employees, immigrant workers and advances in Hegsher Tsedek, which is the Conservative Movement’s efforts to add another layer to labeling meat kosher, which would include standards involving how the employees who process the kosher food are treated.

        *This Saturday, September 1, 9:30 a.m., my d’var Torah will be Ki Tetzei: (Tsa’ar Baa’lei Hayim) Kindness to Animals legislation, from shooing away mother birds to not yoking an ox with a donkey.  I will be exploring modern applications as well as asking medieval rabbinic questions like: are we doing this for the animal or we doing this for our own moral development?

        (Note later 9 a.m. service on Monday, Labor Day, September 3).

        Be relevant. Stay informed.  Attend Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Shalom.

        Shabbat shalom!

        Rabbi Michael

Shabbat Mincha correction

Dear Haverim:




Correction: Shabbat Mincha services will begin this Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. (not 5 p.m.)



My apologies for the mistake.



Shabbat shalom,



Rabbi Michael

Helpful Marriage Hints & Torah take on Paul Ryan Veep Nomination

Dear Haverim,

This week, Shabbat services will be held:

*Friday, 6:30 p.m., (happy hour 6-6:20 pm), featuring my drash:

Helpful Hints I’ve Learned After 18 Years of Marriage.

*Saturday, 9:30 a.m., my drash will be:

Tsedek,Tsedek Tirdof–“Justice,Justice Thou Shalt Pursue”     In Light of the Paul Ryan Veep Nomination.

Note: There will be an additional Shabbat Mincha service at 5 p.m., in which David Alonzo will serve as shaliach tsibor, as he is called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah.

Stay informed, seek relevancy, be moved, attend Shabbat services at Congregation Beth Shalom.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Michael

Hava Nagila @ Olympics + Is it Kosher & Why Do I Care?

Dear Friends,

       It’s great to be back home in the First State after several family reunions, reconnecting with old friends, and attending a wonderful wedding in Southern California.  This marks my first Shabbat working with our newly-hired Education Director/Hazzan, fellow Californian Cantor Elisa Abrams.  Please come and celebrate Shabbat with us.

        Friday, August 17, 6:30 p.m., (happy hour 6 p.m.).  My sermon topic will be:

 Hava Nagila at the Olympics !

      Saturday, August 18, 9:30 a.m., we are celebrating the bat mitzvah anniversary of our outgoing Education Director, Dina Lipshultz.  She will be chanting haftarah to mark the occasion, and she and Alan will be sponsoring Kiddush lunch.  We will also be beginning a tradition of integrating youth into our cadre of Shabbat Torah readings.  My sermon topic will be:

 Parashat Re’eh: Is it Kosher and Why Should I Care?

      Be relevant. Stay informed. Be moved. Celebrate Shabbat at Congregation Beth Shalom.

        Shabbat shalom!

        Rabbi Michael

Jews of the Olympics/Jews of Aleppo: Looking at Current Events through a Historical Lense

Dear Chaverim,

     During the summer months it becomes more challenging to attract people to Shabbat services, so I ask you to make an extra effort to come if you are in town, knowing that your presence makes a difference.

·        Tonight, July 27, 6:30 p.m. (happy hour begins at 6 p.m.).  Sermonic topic: Jews of the Olympics & Jews of Aleppo: Looking at Current Events Through the Lens of History.

·        Tomorrow, July 28, 9:30 a.m.  Sermonic topic:

Making Tisha B’Av Meaningful TODAY

·        Tomorrow evening, July 28, 9 p.m. Erev Tisha B’Av services.  The ark is opened, bereft of our Torah, the chapel is lit with yarhzeit candles, we listen to congregants chant from Eicheh (the Book of Lamentations) and remember the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago. Twenty-four fast begins at sundown.

·         Sunday morning, July 29, 9 a.m. Tisha B’ Av services with a special Torah and Haftarah service to make this sad day.

Note: During Shabbat services, you will be able to greet Cantor Elisa Abrams (and her visiting mother, Vicky) for the first time since she accepted our new position as Cantor/Education Director -- Yet another reason to come to Shabbat services.  Also, beginning on Monday, I am going to take a two-week opportunity to visit my parents and celebrate a wedding in Southern California.  Cantor Elisa begins on August 1^st. Please make a special effort to attend her first solo service, Shabbat under the Stars, next Friday night, 6:30 pm., at the JCC Picnic Area. Merrill is preparing a meat bbq Shabbat dinner.  Mark your calendars now.

Violence: From Aurora to Bulgaria--A Jewish Pespective

Dear Congregants,

I am so sorry to be writing you to you later than usual. I have been helping our former Beth Shalom President, Bruce Stargatt, of blessed memory, and his family with their needs. Please join us this Sunday, at Beth Shalom, at 11:30 a.m., as we say farewell to a real giant in our legal and Jewish community.

*Tonight, Friday Kabbalat Shabbat services, 6:30 p.m. I had hoped for better weather this evening, but we will throw a garden Shabbat party in our enclosed atrium instead of outside. We will still have Sangrias and Shirley Temples on tap, I will still be accompanying services on guitar, and we still welcome you to bring a dairy or vegetarian dish for a community Shabbat dinner down in the lower level at the end of services. My sermon topic tonight: Trying to Make Sense of Violence: From Aurora to Bulgaria.

*Tomorrow, Saturday Services, July 21, 9:30 a.m. My sermon topic: Kill All the Midianites: GENOCIDE - A Mitzvah?

Sunday, July 22, 11:30 a.m. Funeral Services for Bruce Stargatt.

Wednesday, July 25, 9 pm. CBS Screening of National Geographic Channel's America's Lost Treasures. Shot on location at Congregation Beth Shalom and featuring me as an expert on Rev. Isaac Leeser's 19th century Kiddush Cup -- will it be awarded the status of one of America's Lost Treasures. Come and find out!

Be relevant! Stay informed! Be moved! Attend Shabbat services, life cycle events, and programs at Congregation Beth Shalom!

-- Rabbi Michael