August 2010
AV/ELUL 5770
SHIR HAYAM HAS A NEW PHONE NUMBER – 206-567-9414
Note: to access older newsletters (only the most recent 10 show on the newsletter page) please type http://www.shirhayam.org/news/june-2007 in your browser (replacing month and year in the example with the one you are requesting).
Event Quick Reference:
See member’s calendar or call 206-567-9414 for event details.ls.
August 1 – Adopt-a-Road
August 8 – Machzor Decoration
September 8 – Erev Rosh Hashanah
September 9 – Rosh Hashanah
September 17 – Kol Nidre
September 18 – Yom Kippur
September 26 – CROP Hunger Walk
MAZEL TOV
Mazel Tov to Dash Mortell on becoming a Bar Mitzvah and to his family for their wonderful support and encouragement. Yesher Koach!
HIGH HOLIDAYS PREPARATIONS
Come help decorate our Machzors for the High Holidays. We would love some help and creativity as we add a Shir Hayam beautification touch to the High Holiday Machzors that were made for us a few years ago. Any age welcome to come. Wine, noshes, juice and lots of community spirit welcome. Sunday, August 8th, Rosenkotz property, 6:30pm call with questions: Julie 595-8824 or Rebecca 842-8525 Supplies provided.
Our chavurah again welcomes Rabbi Hanna Tiferet Siegel who will be leading our High Holidays this September. Erev Rosh Hashanah and Rosh Hashanah are on Wednesday, September 8 and Thursday, September 9; Kol Nidre is Friday, September 17, and Yom Kippur, Yizkor, and Neilah services are on Saturday, September 18. The Filipino American community again makes available to us their hall for our High Holiday meetings. Please look for the upcoming mailing which includes details about our High Holiday Services, yearly Calendar, JLC schedule, Crop Walk and Membership Forms.
MESSAGE FROM HANNA
“Ayeka? Where Are You?”
We have almost come full circle in the Jewish year. Rosh Hashana 5771 arrives “early,” on September 8th, just as school begins and summer ends. Each of us has been on a journey that is unique, yet similar, filled with beauty and loss, joy and challenges. Soon we will gather for our annual celebration to transform the sorrows of the past into fertile soil for a New Year.
The theme this year is from the second Creation story, Genesis 3:9. Hava and Adam have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge and their eyes have opened to the paradox of existence. They realize that they are naked and that frightens them, so they try to hide from the Presence of the Holy One. G!d plays along, asking, “Ayeka? Where are you?”
Ayeka? This is the question we bring to our Temple of the Heart. Where are we this year? Where are we hiding? What fears prevent us from being completely honest with ourselves and others? What are the yearnings,hidden deep within, that we cherish for ourselves, our family, and the world? How can we stand in our truth,
bear witness to the changes we have experienced, and give voice to the dreams we all share?
Your contributions of songs, prayers, stories, dances, commentaries, and anticipation in the prayer services is what makes our time together so special. Please take time during the month of Elul, which begins on the evening of August 9, to reflect on this question and prepare your offerings. Then send your thoughts to me at HannaT@telus.net and I will find just the right place to integrate your insights and creative expressions into our services.
I look forward to seeing your beautiful faces and being with you once again.
Love and Blessings,
Rabbi Hanna Tiferett
TIKKUN OLAM
CROP HUNGER WALK – Put the date on your calendar – Sunday, September 26.
ADOPT-A-ROAD Planned – Volunteers NEEDED
Mark your calendars! Our next Adopt-A-Road pick up is scheduled for Sunday, August 1 from 10:00 – ? Our designated pick up is both sides of Rt. 305 (Mile mark 5 to the Agate Bridge). We will meet at the Rotary Welcome Park off of Seabold Rd. just N of Seabold Methodist Church at 10:00. Half the group heads N, the other S. If you have any questions please contact Denise Brown, 780-0931. Unfortunately, the program requests that one be of 15 years of age or older. Trash bags & vests supplied. Dress for the weather, wear sturdy shoes, & bring gloves.
PROJECT BACKPACK
PHOTOS FROM OPERATION SACK LUNCH
TORAH REPAIR NEWS
Our Torah repairs have been completed! Rabbi Simon Benzaquen, who is also a Sofer, worked on the repairs in two phases. Since our Torah is over one hundred years old, a good bit of the text has faded and it isn’t really practical to re-ink in all those words and sections. In phase one of his repairs, Rabbi Benzaquen went through the entire scroll, cleared off cracked bits of ink and parchment, filled in some words and lines that were deleted during part of some earlier repair work, and fixed some significant rips in the parchment. This spring and summer, Rabbi Benzaquen again went through the entire scroll. Where each section abuts the next one, the parchment is folded a special way and stitched with gut string in a traditional manner. In a number of places, tears had occurred, and he fixed and restitched these areas and also attached three strengthening strips between all the parchment sections. At Dashiell Mortell’s Bar Mitzvah, the repaired Torah will be used for the first time, and we will have the joy of using our renovated Torah at our upcoming High Holiday services. Many thanks to Rabbi Benzaquen for his efforts and for the generosity of so many of our members who contributed immediately to the Torah Fund as soon as we made known the need for these repairs, making them possible, thus giving continued life to our Torah and enriching our community.
SWERV…Savvy Women Exchanging Relevant Views
Please save the date for the next SWERV Meeting – Tuesday, August 10, 2010 10:30 am-12:00 pm at Seabold Hall… Bainbridge Island (Komedal Rd. & NE Ralston Rd.) Speaker: Joe Honick, “The Joys of Being Yiddish” Joe is a cantor and sang for the New York Met. Come hear his amazing voice as he celebrates through song and story the experience of being Yiddish!
Future SWERV meetings…………SAVE THE DATES!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010 – Martha Bayley, “Books Too Good to Miss”
Martha Bayley, Kitsap Regional Library, returns to once again share her favorite reads for the fall.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 – Larry Kerr, “Mexico: How Did We Get Here?”
Larry Kerr retired from the US Foreign Service in 2004. Earlier postings included service as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs in Mexico, Charge and Deputy Chief of Mission in Georgia, and Consul General in Chile, as well as assignments in Guadalajara, Singapore, Guatemala, and Washington DC. Mr. Kerr will be discussing the current crisis in Mexico.
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