Wednesday, August 27, 2008

eWeekly: Aug 27, 2008

Volume 2 Issue 49 August 27, 2008 Parashat Re’eh Deut. 11:26 – 16:17

From the desk of: Marci Barnes, Lifelong Learning

Calling all OZRIM!!!!  (what is an ozrim, anyway???)

Ozrim is the plural form of Ozer for a boy and Ozeret for a girl - that means “teachers’ aide” or formerly “madrikh”.  This year, all 7th-12th Grade students interested in helping out on Sunday mornings and Tuesday afternoons will be called OZRIM.  If you are interested in becoming an Ozer or Ozeret this year, be sure to ASAP and attend the first Ozrim Meeting of the year on Tuesday, September 2nd at 5pm.

If I haven’t met you yet, please introduce yourself this Friday at the Temple Ohav Shalom Shabbat in the Park or whenever you are in the building.  The Lifelong Learning Department is in full swing getting ready for classes to begin on Sunday, September 7th (9:00-11:30AM) and Tuesday, September 9th. (5:30-7:30PM) Pizza will be available for 3rd-8th grade on Tuesday nights @ 5:00PM. First night is free, after that it is $2.00 a night or $60 for the year.

Have you registered your children yet?  Please use the attached form and email, snail mail or drop it off at our office as soon as possible.  Your children will need to have this form turned in before they can begin attending classes. If there is anything that you would like to discuss with me prior to start of school regarding your questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email at your convenience.  We are looking forward to a fantastic year!

B’Shalom,

Marci Barnes
Director of Lifelong Learning

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!
TOS welcomes our newest members, Eileen Simon from Greenbay, WI., and The Grossman Family: Scott, Kathleen, Dustin and Ellie!

SHABBAT IN THE PARK!
Only 2 days to go! Shabbat in the Park is coming soon.  It is Friday, August 29th @ 6:00PM. The Spiritual Enrichment committee has been working hard to make this a rousing success. See the attached fliers for information and directions.

OY CAR WASH
OY (Ohav Youth) will be holding a car wash on Sunday, September 7th (the first day of Sunday school) from 9:00-12:00.  The cost will be $5 per car, but additional donations are appreciated! Proceeds benefit OY.

On Wednesday, September 3rd, at 7:00 PM, OY will be making posters to advertise for the car wash. All students in grades 9-12 are welcome to come and help out! If you have any questions, you can email .

SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT COMMITTEE OPEN HOUSE
The Spiritual Enrichment Committee is having an open house for its meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m.  We are looking for people to join our committee and make a difference in the experiences that TOS members have. Contact if you have questions.

Oneg Host Volunteers Needed
Because the Sept. 5th First Friday dinner has been canceled, we are asking all families planning on attending family Shabbat services on September 5th to bring an item for the Oneg.  Cookies, fruit, vegetables, cheese and crackers, or anything dairy or parve would be great!

Oneg Host Volunteers Needed
It is that time of the year again when we begin looking for Oneg hosts for Friday Night Shabbat Services.  If you’ve been thinking about signing up for an Oneg, now is the time.  We need hosts for the following dates in September (19th & 26th), October 10th and Monday October 13 for Erev Sukkot.  Please or call Joni Ferrara at (724) 933-3923 to schedule a date.  Volunteers (and cookies) are greatly appreciated!

Calling All Singers!
Tifani Katof, our cantorial intern, is looking for singers of all ages for Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippour!!

This will be a great opportunity to learn the melodies for the High Holidays and help make the services more meaningful

The group will meet three Saturdays for two hours. 
The first rehearsal is Aug 30th at 12:30 pm
The second is September 6th at 12:30 pm
The third rehearsal will be Saturday September 20th. 

Email for more information and to register.

FIRST FRIDAY DINNER OCTOBER 3rd
Our first Friday Dinners begin October 3rd!  Tot Shabbat begins September 19th.  You may make a reservation by Alaine or calling her at extension 19. We are working at adding website registration, but it will take some time. First Friday Dinners are $10 an individual, and $20 for a family. ToT Shabbat remains the same.  A-M should bring a side dish for 6, N-Z should bring a dessert for 6. We will bill your account.

Temple Youth Program
One of the greatest aspects of our Temple is that we are so young.  I am looking to grow our Youth Program through a youth committee.  I am soliciting anyone’s help.  I request that each member of the Committee assist in at least one event.  If you are interested in being on the Youth Committee, please call me at 412-414-1533.  –Ken Eisner, VP Youth

We will have 4 meetings this year.  They will be on:  September 4, 2008, November 13, 2008, January 15, 2009, and March 5, 2009.  They will all occur at 7:30 P.M.  Please help our kids!

The Mothers Circle is coming to Pittsburgh this fall!
Mothers Circle is a program for moms from other backgrounds raising Jewish children and will be coming to the North Hills in the fall of 2008! The group will meet approximately twice a month and will focus on Jewish rituals, ethics, and the how-to’s of creating a Jewish home.

Come be a part of this warm and nurturing environment and feel empowered to take on the responsibility of raising children in Judaism. Mothers in all family constellations are welcome and participants do not have to be affiliated with a Jewish institution or have any prior knowledge.  Free childcare will be available. Please join us!

The Mothers Circle is a program of the Jewish Outreach Institute and is made possible locally by the Agency for Jewish Learning.

For more information, please contact
Deb Taylor at 724-934-3183 or Dr. Zipora Gur at 412-521-1101 Ext. 3104 or .

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, August 29th Shabbat in the Park 6:00PM
Saturday, August 30th Bar Mitzvah of Michael Fujito
Saturday, August 30th Singing Group Rehearsal with Tifani 12:30-2:30PM
Wednesday, September 3rd 7:00PM OY! Meeting
Thursday, September 4th 7:30PM Temple Youth Committee
Saturday, Sept. 6th Singing Group Rehearsal with Tifani 12:30-2:30PM
Sunday, Sept. 7th First Day of School!  OY! Car Wash
Sunday, Sept. 14th 1:00-4:00PM Mah-Jongg
Tuesday, Sept. 16th 7:30PM Hadassah event with Harriet Kruman-info to follow!
Friday, September 19th Tot Shabbat Dinner (Service at 6:15PM, Dinner @ 6:45PM)
Saturday, Sept. 20th Singing Group Rehearsal with Tifani 12:30-2:30PM
Tuesday, Sept. 23rd Spiritual Enrichment Open House 7:30PM
Sunday, Oct. 26th 1:00-4:00PM Mah Jongg
Saturday, November 8th 9:00AM Special Needs Shabbat
Thursday, November 13th 7:30PM Temple Youth Committee

2009
Thursday, January 15th 7:30PM Temple Youth Committee
Saturday, January 24 9:00AM Special Needs Shabbat
Thursday, March 5th 7:30PM Temple Youth Committee
Saturday, April 25th 9:00AM Special Needs Shabbat

SCHEDULE OF SERVICES

Parashat Re’eh
Friday, August 29 – 28 Av, 5768
6:00PM SHABBAT IN THE PARK!
Kabbalat Shabbat
Rabbi Art & Tifani Katof
Saturday, August 30 – 29Av, 5768
10:00am Shabbat Morning Service
Bar Mitzvah – Michael Fujito
Rabbi Donsky & Tifani Katof

Rabbi Art: A new season is upon us!

Dear Friends,

Some of our young people have returned to their college campuses and some have returned to their elementary, middle and high schools, and some will get one more weekend before the academic year begins. Yes, some of us are still holding out for one last ray of summer sunshine.  And, others of us have thrown in the towel and are getting back into the swing of things.  Regardless of which group you belong, this coming Friday night is our community’s annual “Shabbat in the Park” starting at 6 PM (with Kabbalat Shabbat services at 6:45 PM.)

As I begin my twelfth year serving this wonderful congregation, one of my favorite yearly events continues to be our Shabbat gathering in North Park. Like many of you I have enjoyed watching our temple family grow and thrive and Shabbat in the Park has been a joyous, relaxing way of seeing old friends after a summer’s absence and meeting new ones who have just joined the congregation.

This year, our Student Cantor, Tifani Katof, will join us for Shabbat in the Park as she begins her second year serving our community.  So please come out to welcome her back with us.

Let me invite you to put two special dates on your September calendar. The first is Saturday evening, the 20th at 7:00 PM.  As part of our pre-High Holy Day once-a-year service of Selikhot (Spiritual Preparation) and Havdallah, we will hold our first installation of our temple leadership from our Board, our Men’s Club, our Women of Ohav and our Ohav Youth!  We hope that this program will bring all of us together in preparation for a new year.

On Sunday, September 21st, at 11:00 AM (school will finish early) we will hold a special dedication ceremony for the recently finished wing of our temple building and our new Noah’s Garden in memory of Noah Mass, may his memory always be for blessing.

I look forward to seeing and greeting all of you this coming Shabbat as well as on these two important September dates.

B’shalom,

Rabbi Art Donsky

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Rabbi Art: Summer Travels

(This week we welcome Rabbi Donsky back from serving on the faculty of the URJ Goldman Union Camp Institute, attending several conferences and some needed vacation; just in time as the temple professional staff begins preparing for the start of another year)

Dear Friends,

I now truly understand what my parents used to say, that as you get a bit older the summer seems to disappear right before your eyes.  While I can offer a detailed list all the programs and activities I enjoyed this summer, it seems that these past weeks have just flown by in a blink of an eye.  It’s just amazing!

I paid some attention to the ongoing Presidential Election campaign as I traveled this summer. However, it wasn’t until the recent mega-event at Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback (Mega) Church in Orange County, California that featured Senators McCain and Obama sitting with Pastor Rick (the very successful author of “The Purpose Driven Church”) answering questions one-on-one that I realized that the election is in full swing.  Watching this telecast I struck me that the evangelical movement represented by Pastor Warren and his many colleagues and their millions of members exist in a very, very different world than I, and I suspect, many of you do. 

Imagine, for a moment, if Rabbi Eric Yoffe, the president of our Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi David Saperstein, Executive Director of our Religious Action Center in Washington, D.C. (who, by the way, has been invited to offer the invocation at Democratic Convention next week) were able to convene such an encounter with the two presidential candidates.  And instead of a mega-church filled with evangelicals, the rabbis and senators would meet at a synagogue with lots Jews in the pews!

How different an event this would be?  What would be the most important questions?  Would our questions be so religiously parochial focusing upon such key presidential questions as when “life” begins, same-gender civil or religious marriages and the like (yes, Pastor Warren is concerned about poverty and hunger around the world this is where he differs from the likes of Pat Robertson) ?  Of course, we would have our own parochial questions about support for Israel, a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, separation between church and state, but I would think that many more global issues would be put before the two candidates from our reform leaders.

In the months ahead I am sure that we will hear much more from and about the candidates seeking the White House at this critical time in world history.  Our democracy is a strong one that has allowed our people to thrive and flourish in America like no other country in which we have lived.  The “Jewish” vote has become even more important in key background states (think “butterfly ballots in Florida”).  Our Religious Action Center – http://www.rac.org - is creating an election guide examining the candidates’ positions on important issues and matching their positions side by side with Jewish teachings.  As a people with a long history and an important written tradition let us take the time in the coming months to examine Jewish positions as we decide how we might cast our ballots in November.  Those of us with children at home can teach them an important lesson that Jewish tradition has something important and meaningful to say about just everything under the sun! (Still trying to hold onto the summer).

Let me take a moment to welcome all of our new families who have joined during the summer, I look forward to meeting you and welcoming you into the temple family. 

B’hatz’la’kha (much good wishes and luck) to all of young people going off to college for their freshman year; learn and enjoy and please let us have your email and snail mail addresses so that we may keep in touch with you.

Finally, let me welcome Marci Barnes, our new educator who holds the title of Director of Lifelong Learning.  Marci comes to us with many years of experience as a Jewish educator. Please take a moment to welcome her and if you see a little three year-old red-head running around our Preschool, it’s probably her son, Henry (Welcome also to Marci’s husband, Frank)!  And many thanks to Lisa Wiedman, who chaired the Search Committee and to her committee members who volunteered many hours at an especially busy time of the year to find us Marci!

Shalom,

Rabbi Art Donsky