Can Real Community Survive And Even Thrive?
A Community Tikkun Lail Shavuot Learning Evening
with Bnai Emet Synagogue
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Tuesday, June 7, 2011 • 7:30-10:30 pm
(followed by dessert reception)
On Shavuot the people of Israel stood at Mount Sinai as individuals and as a community. What does it mean now to be an individual in community? Can real communities survive in the face of the challenges of social fragmentation and “virtual” networks? How can we foster a community in which people are connected in meaningful ways?
We welcome our friends from Bnai Emet Synagogue to share in an evening of learning and conversation about the very real challenges of creating and sustaining welcoming and connected Jewish communities in the 21st century.
Presenters:
Rabbi Charni Flame Selch, Bnai Emet
Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff, Adath Jeshurun
Rabbi Harold Kravitz, Adath Jeshurun
With Response and Reflections from:
Carol Bromer and Dani Fisher
Conveners - Adath Jeshurun Welcoming and Connecting Initiative
Late night study is the traditional way to celebrate Shavuot and the giving of the Torah. A Tikkun, which means both a set order of study and the act of repair or perfection, symbolizes how, through learning, we make the world better. We begin with a short festival service and conclude with delicious dairy desserts for everyone!
L'Dor V'Dor Shavuot Intergenerational Program
Thursday, June 9 10:00 - 11:15 am
Parents, grandparents and children who are pre-kindergarted age through grade four are invited to attend L'dor V'dor Shavuot on Thursday morning, June 9, which is the second day of Shavuot. Older siblings are welcome and childcare for children ages 2 - 4 may be available with advance reservations by June3. Interested persons should contact Janice Schachtman, 952-545-8694 or janices@adath.net. Following the program at 11:15 am is the Yizkor Memorial Service, with childcare available during the service.
Yizkor Memorial Service
Thursday, June 9
On Thursday morning, May 20, our congregation will recite Yizkor, the Memorial Service in memory of loved ones no longer with us. Four times yearly, on Yom Kippur and on the final days of Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot, Jews gather to recite Yizkor together. While much of our mourning as individuals may be private, e.g. lighting yahrzeit candles, Yizkor is communal. It is the public observance for the community of bereaved. It includes, at some time in our lives, each of us. Some of us may remember as children being rushed out of the sanctuary before Yizkor began. Custom allowed that only those who had lost immediate relatives should remain in. Some followed the superstition that to hear others mourn for their departed was to tempt the evil eye. Among the Sefardim no one leaves during Yizkor. Many congregations today, including Adath, encourage everyone to participate, so that the entire congrega-tion can offer prayers for the martyrs of the Jewish people and can also offer moral support to friends and family who may be deeply touched by the service. The Yizkor service consists of these parts: 1. A series of readings and prayers setting the mood for the solemn service. 2. Paragraphs that individuals read recalling their deceased. There are paragraphs for father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, other relatives and friends and Jewish martyrs. 3. El Malei Rahamim, the memorial prayer for the deceased, and Psalm 23. 4. We conclude with the Mourner's Kaddish. Yizkor honors the memory of those who are no longer with us and allows us to reconnect with them. The custom of remembering the dead in the synagogue is based originally on the belief that such prayers (and the accompanying opportu-nity to give tzedakah) are of help in elevating the souls of the departed. Reciting Yizkor can be a very powerful experience. In reciting Yizkor we are connected to loved ones who have departed and to our fellow congregants—a community with whom we share the experience of loss and comfort. This is one in a series of occasional informational articles provided by Adath Jeshurun’s Chevra Kavod Hamet.
Why Dairy on Shavuot?
Here are few of the many reasons offered over the years:
Some derive the practice directly from Biblical sources, to symbolize the ―land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8) promised to the Israelites. Those of kabbalistic bent equate the numerical value of the word halav (milk) with the number of days Moses spent on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments.
Some say that at Sinai, when the Israelites received the Torah, they were considered to be as innocent as newborns, whose food is milk. Symbolizing modesty, dairy was seen as appropriate for the occasion of receiving the Torah, which should always be approached with humility.
We offer three special recipes for your enjoyment, from the Adath Women’s League cookbook "L’Dor V’Dor: Generations of Good Taste." The cookbook is available for purchase for just $5 in the Women’s League Gift Shop. Click here to download and print recipes.
Additional Shavuot Resources:
www.myjewishlearning.com
United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism
Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
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