Saturday, April 7, 5:30 pm
Sha’are Shalom Community Seder this year will be April 7, 2012 at 5:30 pm, in our synagogue on 18 Henry Ford Dr., Waldorf, MD.

The deadline for reservations is March 24 (more…)

Saturday, March 17, 7 pm
Leader is Elaine McVinney. Contact her at 301-283-3427, or pmcv@dishmail.net for details.

On Saturday, March 10th at 6pm people will be gathered at the temple twirling their groggers at the men-tion of a certain horrible man’s name. (more…)

February 11, 10 am
Service leader Rabbi Saltzman. Adult Education follows the oneg: “Denominations: Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Reform and Humanistic. A brief background of each denomination; examples of leading rabbinic thinkers; how the movements differ and are similar in interpretation of Jewish Law and Halachah. What is Halachah? Is there a Reform Halachah? (more…)

(Note the date and time have changed from those published in Dec. Gatekeeper)
This holiday is the New Year of Trees. To celebrate, join us for our annual Congregational Tu B’Shevat Seder. In addition to the traditional foods of Tu B’Shevat (come and learn what they are) the menu will include pizza and desserts! (more…)

Come play canasta or chess. A great way to spend a winter afternoon. Contact Mike Berens at MikeSBerens@comcast.net for details.

In May we will have our Annual Membership Meet-ing and the positions of President, Secretary and Financial Secretary need to be filled. The positions are listed below and if you would like to run for one of these positions, please contact Mike Green at somdgreens@comcast.net.

President shall be the official representative of the congregation and shall act as the Chairperson of the Board of Directors. The President shall supervise the activities of the officers of Sha’are Shalom in accordance with the policies and directives approved by the Board of Directors and with the purpose of the congregation. The President shall appoint all standing and special committee chairpersons.

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Educational Shabbat

Sha’are Shalom’s Educational Shabbat was a fun and informative evening. We shared a lot of great food and raised funds for Sha’are Shalom as well.We learned about Shabbat customs, such as the role Shabbat plays in Jewish life, candle lighting, challah, blessing the children, the priestly blessing, kiddush, hamotzie, and Shalom Alecheim.

The chicken dinner was wonderful and Nancy Gould led a beautiful service.
We would like to thank Madelene Weinberger, Joan Troncoso, Elaine McVinney, and Paul McVinney for putting this memorable event together.

Movie Night
Saturday, January 21, 7 pm
Tu B’Shvat, which celebrates the New Year of Trees, falls this year on Feb. 8. With that in mind, we will see “Pom Poko.” This animated film, which adults will enjoy as much as children, a story about what happens to a group of raccoons when developers destroy their forest. Pom Poko is a tale of the clash between modern civilization and the natural world, and the raccoons’ decision to fight back. Will it be enough? Bring your popcorn or dessert and find out. For more on Pom Poko, see www.imdb.com/title/tt0110008

URJ Biennial
Jackie Schoch

After a year of hard work, the Biennial has come and gone. Now it is up to us to make the Reform Movement move forward. I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Madelene and Lee Weinberger, Pam and Mike Green, Suzanne Darby, David Kanter and Randy Schoch for volunteering at the Biennial and Pay Myers for singing in the Biennial Choirs. Some of us put in longer hours and were given different jobs than assigned but we made it with a smile on our faces and for that I want to say Thank You.

This was my first time going to a Biennial and to tell you the truth, I didn’t know what a Biennial was until last year when our synagogue was ask to help host it. Our synagogue was probably the smallest, but we had more volunteers for our size, which I am very proud.

I am sorry that I was not able to attend any meetings, because the ones I wanted to attend was at the same time I was working.

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