There will be no Saturday morning services on July 11. The next services will be Friday, July 24, at 8 p.m.
Torah Study, 1st and 3rd Saturdays 8:30 am via Zoom
Summer schedule
July 18
August 15
September 5
No Torah Study July 4th.
Contact Suzanne (suz_darby@hotmail.com) for information and study guide
Topic: Torah Study Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 845 9030 4211
SPECIAL EVENT
Social Planning Breakfast (July 12): Want to see more community dinners, game nights, or specialized events on the calendar? Join us on Sunday morning, July 12th, for a premium continental breakfast. We are mapping out the next 12 months of social activities, and every voice (and recipe idea!) is welcome.
Thank you all for your philanthropy, your spirit, and your unyielding commitment to keeping our community thriving for the next generation.
Jake Lindsay
Men’s & Women’s Group
Men’s and Women’s Groups to Have Joint Dinner at Thai Palace
The previous joint dinner by the Men’s and Women’s Groups was so successful that we decided to do it again–this time at Thai Palace restaurant in Waldorf on Wednesday, July 15, at 7 p.m.
Mark your paper and electronic calendars and let us know if you’d like to attend so we can make a reservation: Mark Holt at mark.edward.holt@gmail.com, or Suzanne Darby at suz_darby@hotmail.com.
Thai Palace is at 2732 Crain Hwy, Waldorf, MD. Check out its wide-ranging menu at https://thaipalacemd.com/
Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (1522-1570) lived in Safed, the center of mysticism and Kabbalah (and, today, also art!). He wrote Tomer Devorah (“The Palm Tree of Devorah,” named for the Biblical judge who sat beneath a palm tree to render judgment), first published in Venice in 1588. I have been eyeing this book for years, because it brings Mussar (Jewish ethics, which I’ve been focused on since 2015) and Kabbalah together. I’m now studying it with a study partner.
It’s based on the attributes of God, which we are supposed to be emulating, as they appear in the book of Micah – because Micah is read on Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The attributes of God appear in other places in the Tanakh, but Cordovero based his book on this particular text because of the timing.
Let me provide some background first: There is an oft-quoted phrase in the Talmud, כׇּל יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲרֵבִים זֶה בָּזֶה (all Israel is guarantors one for the other) (BT Shevuot 39a, very bottom of page). To Cordovero, it’s not just that we feel the pain or the joy of our fellow Jew, but that there is literally a piece of each other Jew that sits in our souls, so that we literally feel pain in our own selves when that other Jew suffers. In modern times, of course, this has been expanded to all of humanity as an ideal, not just the Jewish people.
We were provided with a study question at the end of our most recent session: “If you genuinely believed a fragment of your own soul sat inside the person you find most difficult, what would you have to stop doing?” I’ll pause while you think of the first thing that comes to mind in response to this question. For me, it’s the all-too-common stance of “othering” this person. The cure isn’t to work at increasing your tolerance of the person you find difficult, but to remember that you are not actually separate from them.
Fund Raiser For Personnel
Dear Members,
Congregation Sha’are Shalom has started a never ending Fundraiser to pay for Security at our synagogue.
We want all our members to feel safe coming to services and events at the Synagogue, so we will be having
Security Personnel there at all events.
There will be a tab under Donation on our website where you can make a donation for Security.
Thank you in advance.
Jackie – Treasurer
SPOTLIGHT ON OUR MEMBERS
Save the Date
Hard Bargain Players is producing the beautiful Play Tuesday with Morrie at The Black Box Theater in Indian Head Maryland.
4185 Indian Head Highway, Indian Head, Maryland 20640
Dates are Friday and Saturday nights July 10th to 25th.
This show is starring our own Zack Ball as Mitch Albom.
Stage Managers are Joselle and Melissa Gilpin.
301-643-6129 call for tickets.
Come see our own religious school student Mayzie Mildenstein In St. Mary’s County Arts Council Summerstock Production of Frozen. Mayzie plays young Elsa. Dates are July 17-19 and July 24-26 at Great Mills High School. Purschase tickets at secure.rec1.com
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Lead a Friday evening Shabbat service — we’ll help you!
We at Sha’are Shalom are proud of our long tradition of member participation in everything our synagogue does — including leading Friday night services. While we’re fortunate to have Rabbi Gail Fisher on the second Saturday morning of most months, it’s our own congregants who lead the evening service on the fourth Friday.
Our prayer book makes it easy — just choose your favorite reading from each two-page spread, either in English or Hebrew, spoken or sung. We even have some pre-chosen plans to use. The pressure is very low — the audience is usually small and supportive. If you’d rather not write a brief d’var Torah (a mini-sermon on how something from the week’s Torah portion might apply to our lives today), Suzanne Darby has volunteered to write it; and if you’re hesitant about leading songs, I can help out with that.
We’d just like more of our members to come up and play a part in services, and so we’re eager to help any way we can.
You don’t have to know Hebrew, and you just have to be past bar/bat mitzvah age. You can even enlist your spouse and/or kids to be your co-leaders. We’re looking for volunteers for Friday evenings. Please contact me at myerspat@gmail.com to sign up or for more information.
See you at our next service
HELP WANTED
Dates Available for Oneg Sponsors
Shar’are Shalom each Saturday morning (every 2nd Saturday) and Friday night (every 4th Friday) service at the temple ends with the pleasure of fellowship. A little nosh usually makes this fellowship last longer and adds to its delightfulness. Each post service nosh or oneg requires an Oneg Sponsor. Whether it is wine, juice, a challah, and some cookies, or even more – it is always appreciated by those in attendance.
Contact Marshall Jones (Mjones.shaare@gmail.com) if you would like to sponsor an oneg or lead a Friday Night Service or have any questions about doing either.