THIS Mont h h aHodesh AT CHIZUK AMUno CONGREGATION AND SCHOOLS September 2015 | Elul 5775/Tishrei 5776
Selihot: An Evening of Greeting, Conversation, and Preparation Saturday, September 5
Community Playground – Making Progress
Join with our community to prepare for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
Our community-build playground project is moving ahead with excitement and great energy! We have assembled a dream team of Team Captains from all parts of our community to organize our volunteers, fundraising, PR, design, and several other areas. We are
We gather to enjoy the sweetness and light of Havdalah following the conclusion of Shabbat.
▶ Continued on page 9
Renew the Old – Consecrate the New Even as the music I listen to is now digitally recorded - downloaded or streamed onto my RABBI RON SHULMAN devices - I still have my collection of vinyl record albums stored in a cabinet. Good thing because collecting record albums is popular again. Retailers observe that this trend back to vinyl is particularly noticeable among younger consumers. I guess it’s time to dust off my old turn-table! Old form or new, the song matters more than how it is recorded. We listen to and collect the music we enjoy, the songs that touch us. We don’t buy the songs we don’t want to hear. What’s interesting in the revival of vinyl records is that recording artists want to present their new songs in this old fashion. Why? Because “everything old is new again.” ▶ Continued on page 6
9 p.m. Havdalah
Dessert Reception
In friendship and conversation, we’ll join to renew our bonds as a synagogue community before the first “formal” service of the High Holy Day season. Join with our rabbis and your synagogue friends for discussion about how to find personal meaning and spiritual feelings during the High Holy Days. 10 p.m. Selihot Service
Before our service begins, the Torah Scrolls in the ark are publicly changed into their white High Holy Day covers which symbolize the freshness and purity of the coming New Year. ▶ Continued on page 3
“Baltimore after Freddie Gray” Sukkot Symposium, featuring Dan Rodricks Friday, October 2 • 8 p.m. We welcome Dan Rodricks, Baltimore Sun columnist and YPR host, into our Sukkah and community. From his vantage point commenting on and interpreting events in Baltimore, Dan will speak with us about the issues and challenges we need to understand and
respond to in our greater Baltimore community after the unrest following Freddie Gray’s death. Questions of social justice, equality, and human dignity reflect meanings we glean as we celebrate the Festival of Sukkot. One aspect of the Sukkot festival is to gather together in Jewish community and consider shared concerns and needs. Historically, Sukkot was a time of great community meetings. This is the purpose of our Sukkot Symposium, to honor the holiday we celebrate by caring for the welfare of our people throughout the world. Mr. Rodricks will speak after our community Shabbat Hol HaMoed Sukkot dinner. Those not attending the dinner are welcome to join us for the presentation.