There is a special holiday coming up this week.  It’s Shavuot, and it commemorates our receiving the Torah. Here’s what the MyJewishLearning.com website says about the holiday:

“Shavuot marks one of the most important moments in Jewish history, the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. This was the moment when, in the Jewish understanding, God’s will was expressly communicated to human beings.”

Shavuot begins Thursday night, and Rabbi Delcau will be leading a special holiday service that night, starting at 7 PM.  Studying the Torah will make up a large part of the service.  One of the ways Shavuot is celebrated is by eating food made from dairy products, such as cheese, blintzes, kugel, and cheesecake.  Interestingly, the reason the custom focuses on dairy is because meat that had been prepared in the days before we received the Torah was no longer considered kosher, because it had not been prepared under the new dietary laws.

Rabbi Delcau will talk about Shavuot during our regular Friday night service, and he will lead services Saturday morning, May 23^rd, starting at 10 AM.  There will be a dairy luncheon at the Synagogue following the service. 

Our services will also be available on Zoom.  The Zoom links change frequently for security reasons.  We send out an email once a week with the Zoom link.  Contact the Synagogue office if you would like to be added to that mailing list.

Congratulations, Bibles and Beer!  The weekly discussion group is celebrating its 15^th anniversary.  It was founded by Rev. Rodger McDaniel and is a robust discussion about various aspects of the Bible.  Rev. McDaniel has retired, and Jason Bloomberg now leads the group.

Our thanks to PBR Printing.  They have updated the signs that we place in city parks around town, advertising the Yiddish Food Festival.  The signs will go up on May 24^th.  The Festival takes place on June 7.  We are also advertising the Festival on billboards all over town as well as other places.  The billboards will start on May 25.

There’s a lot of hard work going on in the Synagogue kitchen.  We are preparing a lot of food for the Festival.  The other day, 90 cookies were baked, and more are on the way, along with lots of other pastries.  Volunteers are always welcome.  We’ll be cooking this Thursday, May 21 at 4 PM.  Contact the Synagogue office for our other cooking times, and come join the fun.

There is still a little time left to become a sponsor of the Yiddish Food Festival.  Sponsorships are $250 and really help us.  The Yiddish Food Festival is our largest fundraiser of the year, and since we need a new roof for the Synagogue, we can use every dollar we can raise.  We’ll put the names of the sponsors on large signs posted around the Festival, so all of our guests can see them.  We’re getting close to the deadline for having those signs printed, so use our website or contact the Synagogue office to become a sponsor.

Preparing for the Yiddish Food Festival is a lot of work but seeing the hundreds of people who come to Mt. Sinai to enjoy the event makes it all worthwhile.  Working the Festival is a lot of fun, and a highlight of the year.  We’re looking forward to it.

Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:

Er hot fley in der noz.
He’s got fleas in his nose.