Torah Study, Saturday, January 20th at 8:30 AM
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 845 9030 4211
Passcode: 524459
Friday, January 26, 6:30 p.m.
Have you made your reservations yet?
Mark your calendars for our annual Cold Shabbat (the winter, indoor version of Hot Shabbat). Come to the synagogue at 6:30 p.m. for a free spaghetti dinner sponsored by the Men’s Group, followed by a condensed Friday evening service starting at 8. The dinner will include fresh-cooked spaghetti with a variety of vegetarian sauces, garlic bread, salad, wine and other beverages, and dessert. “Gluten-free options will be available.” Please RSVP to Mark Holt at mark.edward.holt@gmail.com
HAVDALAH SERVICE SATURDAY JANUARY 27 7:30pm on ZOOM
Rabbi Gail will be leading a Havdalah service via Zoom on Saturday, January 27, at 7:30 PM. If you have a Havdalah set of your own, you’re welcome to use it along with her as we move through the service. You can certainly have a sip of wine and a sniff of fragrant spices – you can use any mixtures of whole sweet spices such as cloves and allspice (she uses mulling spices). After the brief musical service, she will give a little talk about separation and mixtures in Judaism. Havdalah is, after all, the separation between the holy (Shabbat, Yom Kippur, etc) and the ordinary days of the week. Why are separations so important in Judaism? Zoom information is as follows:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Meeting ID: 874 2973 7156
Passcode: 578611
DEADLINE FOR PURIM BASKETS AND HAMANTASCHEN IS MARCH 13, 2024
Celebration of Purim
Sha’are Shalom’s Purim Baskets and Hamantaschen make it a special time of year. If you have not purchased them in the past, consider doing so this year, this is a great fundraiser and You will be glad you did!
Purim Baskets also known as Mishloach Manot, are gifts of food and drink sent to friends and relatives. The mitzvah of giving Mishloach Manot is spelled out in the Book of Esther, which instructs the Jewish People to observe the days of Purim as “days of feasting and gladness and sending portions of food to one another….. ” It has developed into a tradition of sending baskets to friends and relatives as a sign of friendship. As with many other congregations, this is one of our major fundraisers. We have adult and children’s baskets, with a different selection of snacks for each type. We are sometimes asked how we can make any money with the prices we ask. The answer is, no matter how many baskets are ordered for an individual, that person receives one basket with a card. The card lists the names of everyone that purchased a basket for them.
It’s time to start thinking of your friends at Sha’are Shalom and/or neighbors you want to send a basket.
- Individual baskets (adult or child) $8 each
- Baskets to the whole congregation $150
- Baskets to the whole Religious School $98.00
On Line or Email Ordering:
On Line: The Ordering form is on the Congregation’s website, https://shaareshalomsomd.org/
Email: Send your order to Jackie, grammysglassgarden@gmail.com; list the names of the recipients, specifying if they are children or adults and mail the check as specified above.
Whether ordering online or via email, if you are sending baskets to every Religious School Child or every Congregational Family, you do not need to identify them via name; we have those lists.
Hamantaschen Sales: The hamantaschen are made by the ladies and this year the gentlemen of Sha’are Shalom. The minimum order for each flavor is one dozen. Please specify the flavor and number of dozens. Place your order using the same procedure as for ordering and paying for baskets.
Baskets and hamantaschen may be picked up Sunday March 24th at the Religious School Purim Celebration.
If you have any questions, please contact Jackie at grammysglassgarden@gmail.com
Hamantaschen Order
NAME
PRUNE ____ DOZEN(S) $10.00 A DOZEN = ________________
APRICOT ____DOZEN(S) $10.00 A DOZEN =________________
POPPY SEED ____DOZEN(S) $10.00 A DOZEN =________________
RASBERRY ____DOZEN(S) $10.00 A DOZEN =________________
NUTELLA ____DOZEN(S) $10.00 A DOZEN =________________
Please send this form to Jackie Schoch, either by mail, Congregation Sha’are Shalom,
18 Henry Ford Circle, Waldorf, MD 20602-2787 or by email grammysglassgarden@gmail.com or by going to the website and order and pay online.
BASKET ORDERS
Name________________________(
Baskets to the Whole Congregation is $150.00
Baskets to the Whole Religious School $98.00
SAVE THE DATE
Oxon Hill Century Ride is back!
LABOR DAY 2024 Sept. 2, 2024
This is a big Fundraiser for Congregation Sha’are Shalom. We work at a rest stop for the Oxon Hill Century Ride.
The last time we did this we earned $1,500.00.
Be waiting for Mark Holt to give out more information as the time gets closer.
TIME TO START PLANNING
Mark your calendar for Pot Luck Sedar April 23rd. More information will be coming.
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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 Fridays February 23, March 22, April 26 , May 24. Please contact me at myerspat@gmail.com to sign up or for more information.
See you at our next service, Saturday, January 13, at 10!
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 Mike Green, VP, at mrgreen@csmd.edu or (240) 210-1064 (text or call and please leave a message if I don’t answer) if you would like to sponsor an oneg or lead a Friday Night Service or have any questions about doing either.
It’s Time to Start Preparing the 2024 Congregation Directory
This is the time of year for updating and publishing the annual Congregational Directory. Our Directory is not only a very useful address book that most of us keep by the telephone or computer but is also a major fundraiser for our synagogue.
Our publishing date is targeted for February 2024, so we will need to move expeditiously to update the directory information, renew the advertisements, and procure additional ads.
Everyone’s support is essential for the continued success of this valuable publication. Please carefully check your contact information in the current Directory, either the printed version or as posted in the Member Area of the Sha’are Shalom web site (https://shaareshalomsomd.org/
member-area). Corrections can also be made on the printed copy in the lobby of the synagogue. If you would like to see the ads and other information in the Directory (without names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses), a public version is on the Congregation web site at https://c0l27f.a2cdn2. secureserver.net/wp-content/ uploads/2023/04/Shaare-Shalom- 2023-Directory-Public-Edition. pdf. You can also send pictures of Congregation activities during the past year to Mark Holt at the address below for possible inclusion in the 2024 edition. There are two ways that everyone can help make the Directory a fundraising success. One is to place a personal greeting in the Directory—a great way to wish everyone a happy New Year or to remember a loved one. The second way to provide support is to ask local business people to place an ad in our Directory. Our success in previous years has shown that it’s not hard to get your dentist, doctor, veterinarian, dry cleaner, and others you do business with to place an ad in our Directory, which more than 100 families will use throughout the year. Feel free to send the public version above (or the link) to prospective advertisers.
If each one of us places a personal advertisement or obtains just one business advertisement we can raise over $3,000 for our congregation. Please provide your support by sending your ad copy to Mark Holt by January 31, 2024. Checks should be made out to Congregation Sha’are Shalom. Mark’s address is:
13413 Kris Ran Court
Fort Washington, MD 20744
mark.edward.holt@gmail.comThe prices for personal (non-business) ads are:
Inside cover – $200
Back cover – $200
Full page (8”x 5”) – $150
Half page (4” x 5”) – $75
Quarter page (2” x 5”) – $50
1/8 page (2” x 2 ½”) – $25The prices for business ads are:
Inside cover – $250
Back cover – $250
Full page (8”x 5”) – $220
Half page (4” x 5”) – $120
Quarter page (2” x 5”) – $75
1/8 page (2” x 2 ½”) – $50Remember also to patronize the businesses that have already placed ads in our Directory, and be sure to let them know you are from Sha’are Shalom. This will make it much easier for us to get them to renew their ads this year!