Annual Cold Shabbat on January 24 Shalom CSS! Please join us this Friday, Jan 24 for Cold Shabbat Dinner led by the Men’s Group. Please use the below link to RSVP to ensure we have enough food and to assist with the logistics. Thank you so much,. and we hope you are able to make it! http://forms.gle/d7cZSymqGWWsdXrr8
Jake
Mark your calendars for our annual Cold Shabbat, sponsored by the Men’s Group, on Friday, January 24. It will start at 6:30 p.m. with a spaghetti dinner and finish with a brief Shabbat evening service at 8. The dinner will be dairy and feature spaghetti with choices of cheeses and sauces, salad, beverages, garlic bread, and desserts. Gluten-free options also will be available. Dinner is free for members (suggested $5 donation for non-members and of course the service at 8 is open to all). So we know how much food to prepare, please RSVP to Stu Richman at [email protected] or Mark Holt at [email protected]. Please join us if you can!
A MESSAGE FROM RABBI GAIL
Our next Saturday morning service will be held on February 8th. More details and the link will be provided later, but Rabbi Gail wants your suggestions! It will be “Shabbat Shira”, the week in which we read the Song of the Sea (from which “Mi Chamocha” was extracted). The rabbi would like you to think of any favorite Hebrew songs that you might know, or melodies that you prefer over some of those that we are currently using, and send your suggestions to her. She will incorporate some of them into the service as appropriate. You can send your suggestions to her at [email protected] .
We have the materials on hand to clean and repair our Torah scroll in a very rudimentary way, along with instructions from a sofer (scribe). “A typical Torah scroll contains between 40 and 60 sheets, and each sheet has between 22 and 24 columns, depending on the size of the scroll,” but hopefully we can get the job done in a day. Special threads and needles are used, along with bookbinding tape and special art erasers. It would be lovely to find a day when a group of us could gather at the building and work on it together. Ideally, it would be nice if it could be done before Passover (which starts at sundown on April 12th) so that we have a fresh start with our first major holiday of the year. Please let Rabbi Gail know if you are interested in sharing in this labor of love and respect, and what days of the week or time of day would be best. You can contact her at [email protected] .
Sad news to share
Former Sha’are Shalom Member Murray Levy died December 22, 2024. He was a long-time member and supporter of our community as well as former Charles County commissioner president and state delegate.
Women’s Group
I have volunteered to lead the Congregation’s Women’s group. I would like to know how much interest the women members have in participating.
In the past the group’s activities included luncheons, attending shows, wine tastings, teas, quilting and knitting projects, Mahjong and book discussions.
If you have interest in the Women’s group, please contact me by January 25th (suz_darby@hotmail).
Please also share any ideas you have for the group’s activities!
Thank you, Suzanne Darby
DID WE MISS YOUR BIRTHDAY OR ANNIVERSARY IN 2024? PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO [email protected] so I can add it to my list. It’s Time to Start Preparing the 2025 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 2025, 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). (If you don’t remember the password, just contact any board member.) 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://shaareshalomsomd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Shaare-Shalom-Publisher-2024-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 2025 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, 2025. Checks should be made out to Congregation Sha’are Shalom. Mark’s address is:
The 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”) – $25
The 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”) – $50
Remember 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!
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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 Friday evenings. Please contact me at [email protected] to sign up or for more information. See you at our next serviceHELP WANTEDDates 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 ([email protected]) if you would like to sponsor an oneg or lead a Friday Night Service or have any questions about doing either.
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