Coming Up
Monday, July 21 - 5:30 PM - Join us for dinner at Mt. Sinai with the Israeli Scouts.
Monday, July 21 - 7 PM - Israeli Scouts "Tzofim Friendship Caravan" performance at Mt Sinai.
Wednesday, July 23 - 5:30 to 6:30 PM - Giants in Jewish History – An Exploration of Famous Rabbis. We will spend 4-6 weeks exploring leading historical Rabbis, such as Rashi, Rambam, Ramban, Yosef Caro, Chofetz Chaim and Yitzhak El Fassi. Taught by Rabbi Narrowe.
Wednesday, July 23 - 6:45 PM - Machzor Under the Microscope: A brief overview of how the High Holiday experience has been put together, and what the point of the additional poems is. Taught by Rabbi Moldo.
Thursday, July 24 - 12 noon to 1 PM - Torah Thursday
Friday, July 25 - 7 PM - Shabbat Evening Services followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, July 26 - 9:30 AM - Shabbat Morning Services followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Wednesday, July 30 - 5:30 to 6:30 PM - Giants in Jewish History – An Exploration of Famous Rabbis. We will spend 4-6 weeks exploring leading historical Rabbis, such as Rashi, Rambam, Ramban, Yosef Caro, Chofetz Chaim and Yitzhak El Fassi. Taught by Rabbi Narrowe.
Wednesday, July 30 - 7 PM - Board Meeting
Thursday, July 31 - 12 noon to 1 PM - Torah Thursday
Friday, August 1 - 7 PM - Shabbat Evening Services, led by Rabbi Larry Moldo, followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, August 2 - 9:30 AM - Shabbat Morning Services and Torah Study, led by Rabbi Larry Moldo, followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
JULY BIRTHDAYS
6 Martha Silver
12 Dave Lerner
13 Marie Still
15 Andrea Moldo
16 Georgia Young
20 Hawk McLoud
22 Susan Feldman
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Weekly Message from our Board President
July 21, 2014
Our Torahs are the most cherished possessions we have at Mt. Sinai Synagogue. They are the cornerstones of our faith, and it is always a special occasion when we take the Torah from the Ark and read from it. Mt Sinai is very lucky to have Torahs for both our large and small sanctuary, and many of them have historical significance.
Unfortunately, the passage of time, and to our credit, the regular use of the Torahs has taken a toll. A Sofer is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Torah scrolls in the specific calligraphy required. Soferim can also repair aging and well loved Torahs. A Sofer is coming to Denver at the end of August, and the Synagogue is making arrangements to have him come to Cheyenne and do repair work on our Torahs. He will also be teaching a class and discussing the work involved in Torah restoration. His visit to Cheyenne is scheduled for Wednesday, August 27th.
The visit will cost the Synagogue over $3000, which covers the Sofer’s fee and his travel expenses to and from Denver. The Board of Directors is discussing fundraising plans to cover the cost.
Our fundraising for the Veta family stained glass window is progressing, and we continue to get new donations. We’d like to reach the full $10,000 goal by early September, so we can include it in the dedication of the newest ones and the celebration of completing the 60-year project of adding stained glass windows to Mt. Sinai Synagogue.
We have some sad news to report. A few weeks ago, Jeff Weinstein was contacted by Stuart Fox's brother in Minnesota. Here’s what Jeff said about it:
He informed me that Stuart had passed away, destitute, in Denver. Stuart's parents had purchased funeral spaces in our cemetery for themselves and their three children. The parents, Abe and Edith, are buried in our cemetery. While traditional Jews do not cremate remains, because of the family's financial circumstances, we recommended this action. The Jewish Cemetery Association would like to invite our community to the funeral which will be held Sunday, July 27, at 2:00 pm. This is truly an act of respect that everyone in our community can take part in.
Joe Zigmond, the son of Helen and the late Eugene Zigmond, has been doing some wonderful work at our Synagogue. Over the past few months Joe has been working on getting equipment to update the sound system at the Synagogue. He’s been working closely with Nate Weinstein.
Since Joe is in the process of moving to Philadelphia, Nate is going to finish up the wiring when some new microphone cable comes in. This is a real nice project, the result of a real nice project, done by a couple of real nice young men. It’s a great mitzvah!
Our Cowboy Rabbi is ready to ride! Rabbi Moldo and his wife Andrea are sporting their new cowboy hats this week, as they enjoy their very first Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Here’s our Yiddish phrase of the week:
A bisseleh chain iz shoin nit gemain.
A little charm and you are not ordinary.
Shalom,
Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors
Torah Tidbits from Rabbi Larry Moldo:
This week Moses does a quick review of the journey so far.
Seemingly every camping spot is mentioned, for the list of places is quite lengthy.
Yet there are a few spots not mentioned.
A couple of weeks ago, a little before Balaam showed up to try and curse the people, a sequence of places is mentioned in single verse. In transliteration "Mimatanah nachali'el uminachali'el bamot." In literal translation: From Matanah to Nachaliel and from Nachaliel to Bamot; when the place names themselves are also translated: From a gift, my inheritance - God, and from my inheritance - God, the heights. One interpretation of this verse as completely translated - When a person works to make the gift of Torah a personal inheritance from God, then that person can reach spiritual heights.
Why might Moses have left these stages off the list? I have a couple of thoughts. First, (judging Moses as having made a good decision), Moses could have been thinking, "If I remind the children how great their parents could have been, since we all know that they were not that great, won't I be causing them at the very least to disrespect them?" Second, Moses might not have wanted them to focus as much on the learning as they should on the doing, specifically making sure to conquer the land. Third, Moses might have decided that in spite of being able to go into the land, they did not measure up to their parents, and they would not have been redeemed from Egypt. Finally, Moses might have based his words on the context surrounding them.
The verse in question is embedded in a small digression about the Princes actually getting their hands dirty and digging wells. When the leaders are concerned with the survival of their people, then the people as a whole are given a spiritual boost so that it is easier to attain spiritual heights. When the leaders have a different concern chiefly in mind, even when that concern is essential and positive (such as hoping that the land received by lottery would be congenial to the tribe's future survival), then the people have to provide all the force for take-off velocity, and it is more likely that far fewer of them will do so. Rather than have everyone think that they weren't good enough, Moses skipped those encampments, hoping that mentioning the various places where the people making the journey experienced a bump in the road would be enough impetus to get the new generation to act appropriately.
Perhaps when we next tell our personal journey, we can think about the stages of the journey we are skipping and why we are skipping them, and thank Moses for pointing out to us why it might be important. |
