E-KI
May 26, 2005 Vol. II No. 21
Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel
8339 Old York Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027 215.887.8700
Torah Time Online
Shabbat Bechukotai – Leviticus 26:3
Jeremiah 16:19
Making Every Day Count!
This year Friday, May 27, corresponds to the 33rd Day of Omer or “Lag B’Omer.” While most of us do not celebrate Lag B’Omer, it is a widely observed holiday in traditional parts of the Jewish community and in Israel. In Israel the day is characterized by outings, picnics, ballgames, mock bow and arrow play-fighting and bonfires with singing and dancing. At Meron, near Safed, tens of thousands of people gather at the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who, according to legend, is credited with writing the “Zohar,” the great masterpiece of Jewish mysticism.
My personal experience of Lag B’Omer is anchored in Jerusalem, where the hotels are packed with wedding parties all day long. The whole of Omer from Passover to Shavuot, except the 33rd day, is considered a period of mourning, in memory of a terrible plague which decimated the rabbinic community in Israel early in the 2nd Century CE. The plague lifted on Lag B’Omer and, correspondingly the ban on weddings during the Omer period is also lifted for that day. On several occasions, I was able to watch Huppah after Huppah in the courtyards of Jerusalem. Today, whenever I conduct a wedding and read the particularly joyous Seventh Blessing, which speaks of “the voice of the bride and groom” rejoicing in Jerusalem, I think of Lag B’Omer with a smile and a feeling of satisfaction.
Lag B’Omer is only one day of a seven-week period leading up to Shavuot and the commemoration of the “Giving of the Torah.” We are instructed to count each of the days of Omer. In Psalm 90 we are told to go even further and “number our days so that we may attain a heart of wisdom.”
The message is clear: every day counts! Every day we live is a gift and we should treat it as such. I see that with clarity at all the life cycle events I do, no matter whether it is at a Huppah or standing at graveside. We are so busy, so preoccupied, so self absorbed, except for those few precious moments and we stop to celebrate or say goodbye, those few moments in life when the real landscape of life is revealed and plain to see.
We don’t need to wait for Lag B’Omer to celebrate what is good and beautiful about life. We can do that everyday if we have the right perspective, and every seven days, if we care to punctuate our lives with a Shabbat moment. Because of my work, I see so much of life just about all the time and I am constantly reminded of the preciousness of time. Spend it wisely. Spend it with someone you love and let them know how much you love them. That, in my opinion, is time well spent.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Lance J. Sussman, Ph.D., D.D.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AT KI
Worship & Study Opportunities
This Shabbat – Friday, May 27 – Evening Service at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 28 –Torah Study Havurah at 9:00 a.m.; Shabbat Havurah Service at 10:30 a.m. Participants: Judy Greenberg (English Reader), David Goldstein (Hebrew Reader), Carol Rick (D’var Torah), David Goldstein (Torah Reader).
In the Week Ahead – Friday, June 3 – Family Service at 7:15 p.m. – Teacher Appreciation Shabbat – honoring Kathy Goldenberg. Saturday, June 4 – Torah Study Havurah at 9:00 a.m.; Havurah Service at 10:30 a.m.; Morning Service at 10:30 a.m., when we will celebrate the B’not Mitzvah of Nicole Castor Hess, daughter of Wendy and Steven Hess, and Molly Jenna Levin, daughter of Mindy and Michael Levin.
Coming Up – Thursday, June 9 – Open House in Blue Bell (see below). Friday, June 10 – Tot Shabbat at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, June 12 – Consecration of Confirmands at 8:00 p.m. Monday, June 13 – Shavuot Festival and Confirmation Service at 10:30 a.m. Friday, June 17 – Installation of Officers at 8:00 p.m. Friday, July 22 – Sizzlin’ Shabbat Barbecue & Service at 6:00 p.m.
Listen to Most recent Shabbat evening sermon – click on this link! http://www.kenesethisrael.org/Sermons/ShabbatService.htm
KEEP KI ON THE AIR! For more than 40 years, a single fund at KI has supported our weekly Shabbat and annual High Holy Day broadcasts. With increasing broadcast costs, the Tyson Fund no longer has sufficient money to keep us on the air for long. We need your personal financial help to continue bringing this vital service to thousand of area residents, many of whom are senior citizens and shut-ins! Send your donation to KI and note "KI Radio" on the memo line. If you want to learn more about how you could help, please call Rabbi Sussman at 215-887-8702. Many thanks for KEEPING KI ON THE AIR!
KI Blue Bell Campus
Open House – at our New KI Blue Bell Campus on Thursday, June 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. 1802 Skippack Pike (St. John Lutheran Church). All KI members and prospective members are invited to celebrate!
Cultural Opportunities
KI Men’s Softball –We need you to cheer us to victory! Next game is Tuesday, May 31, at Mondauk 5. For directions: http://www.jeffjet.com/Fields.htm Everyone is invited to come support our team.
Ruth G. Kahn Concert: The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia – Ignat Solzhenitsyn, Music Director and Conductor, and Leila Josefowicz, violin soloist, on Saturday, June 4, at 8:00 p.m. at KI. $30 admission includes dessert reception. Send check (payable to KI) to KI, Family Concert Series. Tickets will be held at the door. Seating is limited. KI Music Arts Committee. Information: (215) 887-8700.
Nashirah, the Jewish Chorale of Greater Philadelphia – Inaugural concert on Sunday, June 5, at 3:00 p.m. at the Gershman Y (Broad & Pine Streets, Philadelphia). Robert A. M. Ross, Music Director. General Admission Tickets: Orchestra, $36; Center Balcony, $18; Side Balcony, $10. For reservations and ticket information, call Barbara Steinberg (215) 887-8702 or www.nashirah.org.
Cultural Council 60+ - Consul Shahar Shelef, Israeli Consul General in Philadelphia, “The Update of the Peace Process in Israel” on Thursday, June 9. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. KI member luncheon fee is $8.00 with a reservation by June 2, $10.00 for guests and member reservations after June 2. Send checks to KI, Attn: Cultural Council. Information: Doris Parker, 215-886-9267. Sponsored by the Rosenau Fund. Last meeting of the season.
Monthly Lunch and Learn Program for Seniors who want to continue to live vital and independent lives. Meets 4th Thursday of each month at KI. Sponsored by Jewish Family and Children’s Services’ STAR Program. Next meeting is Thursday, June 23, from noon to 2:00 p.m. Program: “Medicare Changes for 2006.” For more information, reservations and transportation, contact Michele Kramer (267) 808-6264 and leave a message including your name, phone number and mailing address.
The Beauty of Holiness: Judaic Treasures – Exhibition of Judaica and Jewish art from The Leon and Julia Obermayer Collection (The Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, Congregation Rodeph Shalom) and the Temple Judea Museum (Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel) from June 17 through August 12, 2005 at the Temple Judea Museum. Program on Friday, June 24, at 8:00 p.m. Shabbat Service at KI led by combined clergy. The exhibition will be open from 7:00 p.m. Special Oneg after the service, sponsored by The Temple Judea Museum and The Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art.
Social Action Opportunities
Cook for Sharing Is Caring –Help assemble meals in the K/G kitchen for clients at Newman Senior Center (Klein Branch JCC) from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 28. Info: Gladys Segal (215) 635-5815.
Adult Education
Center City Lunch ‘n’ Learn with Rabbi Lance Sussman – on Thursday, June 16, at noon at Paul Jaffe’s office. RSVP to Clergy Office (215) 887-8702. To be added to the Lunch ‘n’ Learn e-mail list, send your e-address to barbara@kenesethisrael.org.
Preschool and Religious School
Teacher Appreciation Shabbat – on Friday, June 3, at 7:15 p.m. We will recognize all our teachers and honor Kathy Goldenberg on the eve of her retirement from the KI Preschool.
Build our new Playground – Save some time on Father’s Day weekend – Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday, June 17-19 – to complete this exciting project. Builders, bakers and babysitters needed. Contact Sharon Sood (215) 782-8188.
Story Hour – on Tuesday, June 21, Tuesday, July 19, and Wednesday, August 17, at 6:30 p.m. in KI’s Meyers Library. Children preschool to 3rd grade. Milk and cookies, too!
Be an Advocate for KI! There are still limited spaces available for Religious School and Preschool for next year. If you know people who might be interested in KI, please give the name to Kathy Goldenberg at (215) 885-2425 or Rabbi Stacy Rigler at (215) 887-8704.
Announcements
KI Annual Meeting – on Wednesday, June 15, at 7:30 p.m. Election of Officers, Trustees, and select members of the Executive Committee. Presentation of programming and financial reports. Refreshments will be served.
Installation of Congregational Officers and Trustees, Constituent Group Officers – on Friday, June 17, at 8:00 p.m. at the Shabbat Evening Service. Festive Oneg to follow.
Free Tay-Sachs & Canavan Screening – during May at area locations. Information: (215) 887-0877 or ntsad@aol.com or www.tay-sachs.org. Sponsored by National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association of Delaware Valley.
News from the Meyers Library— Library hours are: Sunday 9:30-12:15, Tuesday 4:30-6, Wednesday 10-3:30, and Friday before 8:00 p.m. services. (You can also visit the bookcarts at the Oneg.) For adults: Rifat Sonsino, The Many Faces of God, the philosophies of 15 famous Jewish theologians; From the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Hidden History of the Kovno Ghetto; For children: Charles L. Mee, Jr., Moses, Moses, illustrated by Ken Munowitz; Marjorie N. Curson, Jonas Salk.