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