What’s Happening at a Glance
Creative Worship & Ritual- Shemini Atzeret, Thursday, September 26 (Today!)
- Simchat Torah, Sunday, September 29
- Sukkot Recap
- Welcome Our New Music Director
- Permanent Restaurant Fundraisers: The Continental and Butterfield’s
- UGive: Teen Service Hours Credit
- Simchat Torah Pizza Party Prep
- Office Help Needed
- Phone Outreach to Prospective Members
- Landscape Fall Clean Up
- "Valuing Creation”
- Response: Parent and Family Connection
- American Diabetes Association “Step Out” Walk
- Festival of Israeli Film
- “Old Jews Telling Jokes”
Creative Worship and Ritual
Thursday, September 26: Special Festival ServiceThere are a lot of things that congregations with their own buildings do, that we can do now at Shir Hadash. One of them is - to hold a morning service on a festival!
TODAY, September 26th, from 10:00 am to noon, we'll do just that, to mark Shemini Atzeret - the end of Sukkot. We will parade with the Torah scrolls. And we'll read from the end of the Torah - the last verses of Deuteronomy - and then start back at the beginning, with the opening lines of Genesis, “In the Beginning…” Our morning worship will include a Yizkor memorial service as well. Everyone is welcome to attend. See you then!
Sunday, September 29: Simchat Torah Service and Pizza Dinner
Celebrate Simchat Torah on Sunday, September 29, with a pizza dinner followed by a wonderful service! Dinner starts at 5:00pm with the service following at 6:00. We welcome everyone, younger and older, to dance numerous circle dances with our Torah scrolls led by Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow and members of the Mighty Shir Hadash Klezmorim band. Our newest religious school students will be honored through a “Consecration” ceremony. Following the dancing, we will unroll a Torah scroll from end to end for all to see. We will read the last few lines of the Torah and then the first few lines, thus finishing and beginning our study anew. Finally, taffy apples will be served outside in our Sukkah harvest booth.
Dinner RSVPs must be received by this Friday, September 27.
Click here for menu details and RSVP form. Looking forward to seeing everyone for this great Shir Hadash evening.
Sukkot Recap
We had a wonderful time celebrating the start of Sukkot in the first sukkah at our synagogue. Many thanks to the volunteers who put in the hard work to set up the sukkah, and to the kids who created decorations for it. Our Sunday School students also enjoyed spending time in the sukkah during the first day of Sunday School. This is yet another example of how wonderful it is to have a permanent home!
Membership and Upcoming Events
Welcome Our New Music Director!Adrian and Rabbi Eitan during Sukkot ServiceShir Hadash is thrilled to welcome Adrian A. Durlester as our new Music Director. Adrian brings to Shir Hadash over four decades of experience as a pianist, musician, musical director, choral director, songleader, and music educator with expertise in Jewish and secular music, opera, and musical theatre. Added to that are more than 18 years of experience in Jewish education as administrator, teacher, tutor, and technology guru for synagogues, day schools, camps, and JCCs. Adrian will build upon and expand the Shir Hadash musical experience, working with our Lahaka and other performing arts groups. Our children's choir, the Kolit, will be forming soon. Details to come in the near future!
Permanent Restaurant Fundraisers: The Continental and Butterfield's
Visit The Continental Restaurant or Butterfield’s anytime, and they will donate 5% of your total bill to Shir Hadash! No flyer needed – just mention Shir Hadash when you are paying. Stop by for a great meal and thank them for supporting our community!
- The Continental Restaurant, 788 S. Buffalo Grove Road, Buffalo Grove – 847 459 4095
- Butterfield’s, 4195 Dundee, Northbrook – 847 205 2588
Volunteer Opportunities
UGiveTeens can now get service hours credit when they volunteer for Shir Hadash through ugive.org. Many schools use UGive to track volunteer hours. Check with your school’s counselor to sign up and get credit while you help our community!
Simchat Torah: Pizza Party Prep
As you read above, we’ll start our Simchat Torah celebration on Sunday, September 29 with a pizza dinner. To set up, we need help putting out the dining tables, chairs, and buffet tables. Set up will begin about 12:15, just before Sunday School finishes. Come on in and join the fun! The more people who help - kids are welcome! - the faster the job will get done. If you have any questions contact Melanie Andes 847-913-9198,fmandes@comcast.net or Rebecca Rice 847-509-9951, r.rice1@comcast.net.
Office Help Needed
We still need extra help in the Shir Hadash office on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays for the next few weeks. If you have time to answer the phones and pitch in on administrative tasks, please contact volunteer@shir-hadash.org to fill some time slots.
Help Build Our Outreach to Prospective Members
We’ve had a surge in interest in Shir Hadash in recent months – now we want to make personal contact with people who’ve shown interest! We need about seven more volunteers to commit to calling 15 prospects each, to invite them to our upcoming events and answer any questions they may have about our community. A script will be provided to get the conversation started. Each caller will keep track of who they call, what response they received, and whether or not the individual would like further information. Assuming each call takes about 10 minutes, this is roughly a three-hour time commitment per volunteer. If you’re interested in participating, please contact volunteer@shir-hadash.org.
Landscape Fall Clean-Up
Our first landscape clean-up day is this weekend! Before April showers and May flowers, and spring planting, comes the less glamorous chore of clearing out the old stuff so we are ready to hit the ground running in the spring on our long term beautification plan for the new building. Please join the Landscaping Committee at one (or more!) of our upcoming Fall Clean-ups:
- Sunday, September 29
- Sunday, October 6
- Sunday, October 20
The Rabbi’s Corner
September 27-28, 2013 / 24 Tishrei 5774Shabbat BereisheetTorah Portion: Genesis 1:1-6:8 / Haftarah Portion: Isaiah 42:5-43:10“Valuing Creation”
Dear Friends,Did the creation of the world really happen in seven days? Were the heavens, the stars, sun and moon, sea and sky, grasses and trees all created on different days? Were fishes, bugs, birds, beasts, and humanity created on others? Did it happen just as the Bible says it does? For fundamentalists and ‘Creationists,’ it did. Creation rolled out exactly as the Bible says. For them, the Bible should be read literally, as a newspaper, listing all the facts just as they happened.
Yet, many Jewish sages and scholars teach that the Torah has to be read between the lines. The meaning runs deeper. For, the Torah was not written to give a factual account as we expect history to be written, compiled, and redacted today. Rather, its account was written to tell us more about the meaning of life itself….
To read the rest of the Rabbi’s Corner, click here to visit our website.
Community News
Response’s Parent and Family Connection SeriesParent and Family Connection is back! This JCFS-sponsored group offers friendship and support to LGBTQ teens and their families. New members and guests are always welcome. Upcoming events include:Sunday, October 6: Film screening of “Melting Away”, the first Israeli film to portray a family coming to terms with their transgender teen. This event is free, and will be followed by refreshments and a panel discussion. The screening will be held at Emanuel Congregation, 5959 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago, from 1:00 to 3:00pm. For more information, contact Rachel Marro at RachelMarro@jcfs.org, 224-625-2946.
American Diabetes Association “Step Out” Fundraiser
The ADA’s annual Step Out Walk to Stop Diabetes will be held this Saturday, September 28 at Didier Farms. Shir Hadash’s Dumrauf family has a team walking in honor of their son. In addition to a four-mile fundraising walk, this event features a fun, family-friendly festival where you can learn about healthy eating, physical activity and diabetes before and after the walk. Didier Farms is a pumpkin patch full of rides and games for children and a corn maze and hayrack rides is fun for the entire family! Visit the event website for details on how to participate or donate in support of Team Tyler Dumrauf.
Jewish Cultural Events in Chicagoland
Festival for Israeli CinemaThe Chicago Festival for Israeli Cinema will be held October 3 – 13. Fifteen films in a wide variety of genres will be shown at Northbrook Court and at venues in downtown Chicago. Visit the Festival’s website for more information or call 847-687-2126.C
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