Coming Up
Wednesday, September 21 - 6:30 to 8 PM - Board Meeting.
Thursday, September 22 - 12 noon to 1 PM - Torah Thursday. Join us at Torah Thursday as we begin all over again with Genesis! We will work on understanding the text more completely with the help of Rashi (France, 1040-1105), Sforno (Italy, 1475-1550) and Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (Israel, 1937 and still going). Calories and commentators - what could be better? Brown Bag Lunch.
Friday, September 23 - 7 PM - Shabbat Service sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, September 24 - 9:30 to 11:30 AM - Shabbat Services and Torah study followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, September 24 - 8:30 to 10 PM - Selichot - Movie, discussion, & ice cream.
Sunday, September 25 - 1 PM to 3 PM - Jewish and Israeli Dancing. Please contact Mary Weinstein with any questions and/or to let her know you will be coming. Or just show up! If you haven't danced with us before, or feel just a bit rusty, we'll be starting nice and slow, so come join us!
Thursday, September 29 - 12 noon to 1 PM - Torah Thursday. Join us at Torah Thursday as we begin all over again with Genesis! We will work on understanding the text more completely with the help of Rashi (France, 1040-1105), Sforno (Italy, 1475-1550) and Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (Israel, 1937 and still going). Calories and commentators - what could be better? Brown Bag Lunch.
Friday, September 30 - 7 PM - Shabbat Service sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, October 1 - 9:30 to 11:30 AM - Shabbat Services and Torah study followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
High Holyday Services
Sunday, October 2 - Erev Rosh Hashanah 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Monday, October 3 - Rosh HaShanah 1 9:00 – 1:30 p.m. Tashlich follows
Tuesday, October 4 - Rosh HaShanah 2 9:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Friday, October 7 - 7:00 p.m. - Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, October 8 - 9:30 to 11:30 AM - Shabbat Services and Torah study led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Tuesday, October 11 - Kol Nidrei 7:00 – 10:00 p.m
Wednesday, October 12 - Yom Kippur 9:00 a.m.
Wednesday, October 12 - Yizkor 11:00 a.m. or so
Wednesday, October 12 - Mincha 5:15 p.m.
Wednesday, October 12 - Neilah about 6:15 p.m.
Wednesday, October 12 - Break Fast 7:20 p.m.
Monday, October 17 - Sukkot 1 9:30 a.m. Services
Monday, October 17 - Torah Study 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday, October 18 - Sukkot 2 OFFICE CLOSED
Friday, October 21 - 7:00 p.m. - Shabbat Service led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, October 22 - 9:30 to 11:30 AM - Shabbat Services and Torah study led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Monday, October 24 - Shmini Atzeret 9:30 a.m. Services
Monday, October 24 - Yizkor 11:00 a.m.
Monday, October 24 - Simchat Torah 6:30 p.m. Hakkafot
Tuesday, October 25 - Simchat Torah 10:30 – noon Torah Study
SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS
3 Cathy Berdan
5 Liz Wolf
9 Pewaubek Reid
10 Shira Michael
13 Navit Reid
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Weekly Message from our Board President
September 19, 2016
People sure are curious about Mt. Sinai. Over the weekend, the city of Cheyenne conducted its Tour the Legend event. The tour visits historic buildings in Cheyenne, and Mt. Sinai was on the list. In the span of a few hours, about 150 people came into the Synagogue to see what we were all about. Special thanks to Jeff Weinstein and Therese McKinnon for leading the tours.
Time is getting short! Make sure you get your information to the Sisterhood for the annual High Holyday Journal. This is an opportunity to send greetings, share simchas, and remember loved ones. The Journal is one of Sisterhood's major fundraisers.
The rates are:
$12.00 for a New Year Greeting
$8.00 for an In Honor of for the first name, additional names are $2.00
$8.00 for an In Memory for the first name, additional names are $2.00
Don't forget the Vital Statistics which include births, bar and bat mizvot, engagements, weddings, graduations, anniversaries, and special honors at no charge - such a deal.
Please e-mail your information to Journal@mtsinaicheyenne.org. Checks payable to Mt. Sinai Sisterhood can be sent to P.O. Box 1012, Cheyenne, WY 82003.
Therese McKinnon is organizing a food drive this year for the High Holydays. Here’s her note about it:
The Jim McKinnon Memorial Food Drive is in full swing. There are boxes set up in the Social Hall on the left as you enter. There are lists available. The food will be delivered to Needs, Inc. the Friday after Yom Kippur (October 14th). Here are some of the foods on their wish list: canned vegetables and fruits, Hamburger and Tuna Helper, Rice, Pinto beans, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Soups, Cereal (unsweetened preferred) and Oatmeal, and various canned meats. They very much appreciate our support. They have served the Cheyenne community since 1972. Please call Therese with any questions. 286-2619
Did you know the Mt. Sinai Library now has videos to borrow? Sometimes we have to buy the movies we show at movie nights, and those films are added to the library. There are some nice surprises in there. Tim Solon has more:
This Thursday the novel "Sage Courage" by Mt. Sinai member Heather McLoud will be available in the fiction section. It reminded me of Toni Morrison's "Beloved" but without the ghost.
(Spoiler Alert) In this novel it is the overwhelming sense of trauma that permeates a house--an experience that I have twice encountered. Probably Heather's life experiences as a nurse and a mother enabled her to give emotional reality to a gripping story of a woman's internal and external struggles. in and miles outside a fictional Wyoming community northeast of Dubois.
(Trigger Warning) You may need to take some breaks, as I did, for a breather from the tensions being experienced. For more details you could consult with Phyllis Bloomberg, one of those anonymous persons Heather thanks for proof reading; Therese McKinnon who is reading a copy; and, of course, Heather's Grandmother, Dorothy Feldman. Please note the instruction on how to check out a fiction book.
A quick reminder – our next Shalom Dinner is Thursday, September 29 at at Old Chicago off of Dell Range Blvd. at 6:30. It’s time for pizza!
Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:
Vos me hot, vil men nit; un vos me vil, hot men nit.
What one has, one doesn’t want; and what one wants, one cannot have.
Shalom!
Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors
Rabbi's Column
We interrupt the regularly scheduled educational segment to bring you an update of where you might have seen me during the past week.
Perhaps it was on Tuesday evening while attending a speech by a Holocaust speaker, where, on the serendipity highway, I met one of the new clergy in town. As both of us had brought our spouses, they also met each other. The pastor of the North Cheyenne Baptist Church has found his way to Torah Thursday and Shabbat morning services. When I mentioned we were studying Genesis, he began reciting, in Hebrew, the first several verses of that text.
It might have been on Wednesday night, where I was part of the religious panel associated with The Bridge art exhibit at UW in Laramie. Two of the panel members were from Cheyenne, and two were from Laramie. The moderator and one of the panelists expressed interest in knowing what is happening with the Cheyenne Interfaith Council, so I forwarded to them a copy of the email I had already arranged to send out.
For privacy reasons, you would not have seen me on Friday as I visited with a person at the VA in the newly built area who requested a Rabbi.
There were other things I did during the week, but those were the places I went.
Now, back to the abbreviated regularly scheduled program:
Back to basics: Rosh HaShanah, the Fast of Gedaliah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah - all of these occur during this quite busy month. The next month, Heshvan, is also called MarHeshvan (bitter Heshvan), as Heshvan is the only month without some religious ceremony. Many of us are just glad of a little breathing spell.
Fair to Middling: In Israel and many Reform congregations, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined into one day. This may seem no different than combining any other two festivals into one day, but this means that the community will be involved in both rejoicing with the Torah as we complete it and start all over again and Yizkor - all on the same day. Emotional whiplash, anyone?
Beyond the beyond: It used to be that every community had their own Simchat Torah celebration. Not only in space, but in time, as every community had their own schedule for completing the Torah, and their own practice of what was read when. (The general practice was to read a verse, translate it, interpret it, and then talk about it. Then go to the next verse, and do this for at least 21 verses.) There are some hints concerning this practice in the Mekhilta, one of the Halachic Midrash collections out there. The Mekhilta is about Exodus. (The other two are Sifra (The Book, about Leviticus) and Sifrei (the Books, about Numbers and Deuteronomy)) |
