Kabbalat Shabbat: The Sabbath of Return (Shabbat Shuva)
Our Friday night service begins at 6:00 p.m. and concludes around 6:50 p.m. This week Reb Josh will be leading the davening. In the spirit of Shabbat Shuva, the special shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, I will talk about some rituals of preparation for the fast, including the lighting of memorial candles and contemporary revisions of Caparot (the ritual of twirling and donating money in advance of the holy day).
Our service is designed to create a buffer between the work week and Shabbat rest. We aim to make the atmosphere like a family shabbat table complete with Candle Lighting, Blessing one another, Kiddush, Motzei and Angel Cards. Before and after the service we take time to check in with one another and share greetings (feel free to log on early). Our service has been abridged for ZOOM but includes familiar and new melodies, readings from the margins of the siddur, and some learning.
Shabbat Shuva is a special week in the annual cycle – an opportunity to make final preparations for Yom Kippur and a truly New Year. Reb Josh will lead the davening and offer a teaching built around the central prayer of the holiday – Unitaneh Tokeh – the poetic reading that connects Yom Kippur and the ultimate Day of Judgement at the end of time. Ronya Gordon will chant the special haftorah for this shabbat.
We also honor SIMCHA SHABBAT this week, an opportunity to share upcoming October birthdays, anniversaries and other special moments in our lives.
Our torah reading, parshat Vayelekh, takes us to the final days in Moses’ life. Moses reaches the age of 120. 120 is not meant to be an actual life span. Instead, 120 indicates that Moses led a full life, a complete life (12 is a number of wholeness, taken from the 12 months of the year and the 12 signs of the zodiac). Moses may not have accomplished his personal goal of reaching the Holy Land, but he nevertheless, becomes Moshe Rabbenu, Moses our teacher, lawgiver and liberator for all time.
Our service begins at 10 a.m. in our sanctuary (and sitting in our new, comfortable, chairs). Services conclude around noon, and are followed by kiddush luncheon. You can also join us on live stream (links below).
Entering Yom Kippur
We are told that one of the most meaningful ways to enter Yom Kippur is by reaching out to help others. We want to offer three ways to do so.
When you come to the building on Tuesday night for the Kol Nidre service, please remember that we are collecting food for the local food pantries and charitable gifts (cash or checks). We have selected two charities this year for our donations:
HIAS: the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society HIAS is a Jewish American nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was originally established in 1881 to aid Jewish refugees.
HEALING ACROSS THE DIVIDES HATD is a locally based organization that provides micro grants to support health care to support marginal Israeli and Palestinian communities.
If you will not be joining us in person, drop off donations before or after Yom Kippur in the office.
Shabbat shalom and Gmar Hatimah Tovah, Rabbi Leonard Gordon
A PDF of the Shabbat morning siddur is available by clicking the pic to your right, so you can follow from home if you do not have a siddur.
If you need a bible, please be in touch with our office or consider purchasing a copy of Siddur Lev Shalem and Humash Etz Hayyim for your home library.
Services are streamed and in person, as follows
(click the icon/logo for the link)
Friday, 6:00 PM, Kabbalat Shabbat Services on Zoom
Saturday, 10:00AM, Shabbat Morning Services
Join us in person if fully vaccinated; masking is optional but recommended;
