Coming Up
Tuesday, January 27 - 5:30 to 6:30 PM - Beginning Hebrew - Taught by Jeff Weinstein.
Tuesday, January 27 - 5:30 to 6:30 PM - Continuing Biblical/Liturgical Hebrew - Taught by Rabbi Larry Moldo.
Tuesday, January 27 - 6:35 to 7:35 PM - Introduction to Judaism - Taught by Rabbi Larry Moldo.
Wednesday, January 28 - 7 to 8:30 PM - Board Meeting
Thursday, January 29 - 12 noon - Torah Thursday. We are studying Numbers. Brown Bag Lunch.
Friday, January 30 - 7 PM - Shabbat Services followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, January 31 - 9:30 AM - Shabbat Services and Torah Study followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood
Sunday, February 1 - 1 to 3 PM - Jewish & Israeli Dancing. For more information please contact Mary Weinstein.
Tuesday, February 3 - 5:30 to 6:30 PM - Continuing Biblical/Liturgical Hebrew - Taught by Rabbi Larry Moldo.
Tuesday, February 3 - 6:35 to 7:35 PM - Introduction to Judaism - Taught by Rabbi Larry Moldo.
Wednesday, February 4 - 6:45 to 7:45 PM - The Five Megillot - Taught by Rabbi Larry Moldo.
Thursday, February 5 - 12 noon - Torah Thursday. We are studying Numbers. Brown Bag Lunch.
Friday, February 6 - 7 PM - Shabbat Services led by Rabbi Larry Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, February 7 - 9:30 AM - Shabbat Services and Torah Study led by Rabbi Moldo followed by a light lunch sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, February 7 - 12:30 to 1:30 PM - Exploring Communication with God - We talk with God through our words and deeds. We also listen for God, and sometimes try to approach more closely to God. A little bit of mysticism, a little bit of theology, and every so often a "how-to" manual moment will fill these discussions. Taught by Rabbi Larry Moldo.
Sunday, February 8 - 10 AM to 12 noon - Mt. Sinai Religious School.
Sunday, February 8 - 12 noon to 1 PM - Sisterhood Meeting.
Sunday, February 8 - 1 to 3 PM - CLASS CANCELLED THIS WEEK. Jewish & Israeli Dancing. For more information please contact Mary Weinstein
SAVE THE DATE!
Sunday, March 1 - Hadassah Book Group will be meeting at Elena Berlinsky's home in Laramie. We will be discussing ‘A Damaged Mirror’ by Ovadya ben Malka. An embittered holocaust survivor cannot speak of what he was forced to do to survive. A young girl in Texas is haunted by a memory of something she could not have lived. Together, they must unlock the gates of memory to find the hope that lies beyond despair.
JANUARY BIRTHDAYS
1 Agnes Weinstein
10 Dave Friedberg
12 Laurie Lerner
15 Steve Lerner
25 Donna Pepper
26 Jacob Means
26 David Young
27 Erin Brown
29 Howard Rodack
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Weekly Message from our Board President
January 26, 2015
Lots of nuts and bolts this week, but let’s begin with politics. Israel is vitally important to all Jews. We may disagree about particular policies or individual issues, but Jews worldwide agree that Israel must continue to exist. So it was encouraging when Georgia Young received a letter from Wyoming Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis about her position on Israel.
Lummis’s letter said this:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the United States' policy towards Israel. I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
I continue to believe that, like all democratic nations, Israel has the sovereign right and duty to defend itself from attack. Israel fights daily for its very existence in the war on terrorism. A long-standing ally of the United States, Israel needs our support, especially amidst such widespread adversity and unrest in the Middle East.
Lummis then discussed last summer’s battles over Gaza, and added this comment:
The United Nations recently voted to give "Palestine" non-member state observer status. The United States opposed this declaration of statehood and I will continue to support our stance moving forward. Providing an international forum for Palestinians to attack, isolate and delegitimize Israel will not lead to peace.
Tim Solon alerted us to a documentary coming up on HBO. It’s called Night Will Fall, and tells the story of film crews who went into the concentration camps just after they were liberated in World War II, what happened to the film that was shot and the movie that was produced. Here’s a link to a synopsis of Night Will Fall: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/night-will-fall/synopsis.html.
Rabbi Narrowe’s schedule has changed again. This is due to the Air Force changing the dates of his deployment. It means he will not be able to teach his regular Wednesday night class for the next three weeks. He will be back in time for the class on February 18, and will then teach for about a month after that.
Also, we should mention that Jeff Weinstein’s class on Beginning Hebrew will have its final session this week. However, Rabbi Moldo says you can always learn more Hebrew, and he suggests students move to his Continuing Biblical and Liturgical Hebrew class, which conveniently is taught at the same time as Beginning Hebrew – Tuesday nights from 5:30 to 6:30.
So that’s the nuts and bolts. Now on to the fun stuff. Final preparations are under way for this year’s Purim Baskets. Mt. Sinai’s Purim Baskets are a wonderful fundraiser. Every family in our congregation will receive a basket filled with fresh fruit, cookies, and other goodies in honor of Purim. The baskets will come with a note, indicating which members of the Congregation wanted to say hello and Happy Purim. So you could receive a basket with a note naming some of your closest friends in our Congregation, or one that has many names attached, all wishing you well.
You’ll receive a note in the mail about it. It will have a form so you can indicate who you want to send your best wishes to. That’s where the fundraising comes in – we ask for donations based on the number of names you want to include. Oh, and for you, bubbeleh, we have a special deal – a volume discount! Watch for the letters in the mail. And thanks to Therese McKinnon for organizing everything.
Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:
Reden iz zilber, shveigen iz gold.
Speech is silver, silence is golden.
Shalom,
Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors
Torah Tidbits from Rabbi Larry Moldo
Irony abounds this coming week. We leave Egypt, and we also manage to defeat Sisera (with the help of a somewhat aggravated Yael). In both cases a song is sung, and women are rather important for the resolution of the incident.
Taking a look at the Torah reading first - after the Israelites knew they were safe, Miriam and the women took out the band instruments and had a jam session on the shore, riffing on the chorus "I sing to God who is really tops, horse and rider got upped into the sea."
Band instruments?
Really?
How many people include instruments in their evacuation bag?
Should we?
It doesn't feel that practical, except when it is. If you never feel the need to celebrate, then missing your instrument will never happen. If you anticipate celebrating, you know that somebody will complain if the instrument is missing.
In the prophetic section, we read the story of the battle of Barak against Sisera. Barak went to the Judge Deborah for her advice, and sought her presence in the army command post. She reminded him he would win either way, but Sisera would not be killed by him if she went with. He demanded she come, so Sisera wound up running away. He went to stay with some folks who were more neutral, and only Yael was there. She encouraged him to stay, and fed him things which would help him feel his exhaustion, at which point she killed him. When the Israelites came looking, she showed them their dead enemy, and the battle was over.
Then Deborah sang.
Among the things she mentions are the tribes which were too busy to show up. The closer ones kept sending the matter back to committee for further discussion, and there was reportedly great debate upon the matter.
Talking about something when action is necessary is not a new human failing, and it crosses political lines. All parties can think of something which "needs doing" that keeps being discussed. A fun project in preparation for Purim could be rewriting her song in an even-handed improv mode, skewering all and sundry.
Just think if there had been an "Exodus packing committee" back in Egypt.
In the end, I guess we can just be glad that 1) the women ignored the reasonable advice and packed their timbrels and 2) a guy named "thunder" did not feel the need to always be the center of attention. Perhaps we can try and be a bit more like them. |
