From Rabbi Craig Mayers
October/November 2018
We made it! Together, we experienced a wonderful High Holiday season, and I am so glad to see what we are capable of when we work as a team. We followed the “High-Hos” up with a meaningful Sukkot and enjoyed our first-ever giant-sized community sukkah – and celebration to match! This year, we forever changed Sukkot for our congregation. We are truly blessed!
Now we look forward to some more great events in the Fall months. The one I am really excited about is our Shabbat morning in Wickham Park on November 17th. I am calling it “Saturday in the Park” with a nod to Chicago (my favorite music group!) and their multi-platinum hit record.
On that day we will enjoy BLT, services, and a luncheon at the Back Lake pavilion inside Wickham Park. Judaism has a great tradition of worshipping in nature, and you won’t want to miss the feeling of davening, dining and learning “al fresco”. Not to mention the companionship and fellowship. And did I mention there will be food? There will be Shabbat-friendly games and activities for the kids after lunch for those who want to stay and enjoy a restful afternoon.
Every Shabbat during the Kabbalat Shabbat service, we mention and sing about the great outdoors multiple times: “Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult; let the sea and all within it thunder, the fields and everything in them exult; and shall all the trees of the forest shout for joy at the presence of the Lord, for He is coming” (Psalm 96). I do hope you will join us – and bring a friend or two – as Temple Beth Sholom “takes our act on the road” to worship in nature!
November of course is home to Thanksgiving, a secular holiday with Jewish origins (think: Sukkot). Somewhere, lost among the pumpkin spice lattes, Black Friday, and football games, is the message that we ought to be thankful for our blessings. We are fortunate to have much to be thankful for here at TBS, and I am thankful for your continued support and enthusiasm as we move ahead and try new things. The best is yet to come!
L’shalom,
Rabbi Craig Mayers
We made it! Together, we experienced a wonderful High Holiday season, and I am so glad to see what we are capable of when we work as a team. We followed the “High-Hos” up with a meaningful Sukkot and enjoyed our first-ever giant-sized community sukkah – and celebration to match! This year, we forever changed Sukkot for our congregation. We are truly blessed!
Now we look forward to some more great events in the Fall months. The one I am really excited about is our Shabbat morning in Wickham Park on November 17th. I am calling it “Saturday in the Park” with a nod to Chicago (my favorite music group!) and their multi-platinum hit record.
On that day we will enjoy BLT, services, and a luncheon at the Back Lake pavilion inside Wickham Park. Judaism has a great tradition of worshipping in nature, and you won’t want to miss the feeling of davening, dining and learning “al fresco”. Not to mention the companionship and fellowship. And did I mention there will be food? There will be Shabbat-friendly games and activities for the kids after lunch for those who want to stay and enjoy a restful afternoon.
Every Shabbat during the Kabbalat Shabbat service, we mention and sing about the great outdoors multiple times: “Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult; let the sea and all within it thunder, the fields and everything in them exult; and shall all the trees of the forest shout for joy at the presence of the Lord, for He is coming” (Psalm 96). I do hope you will join us – and bring a friend or two – as Temple Beth Sholom “takes our act on the road” to worship in nature!
November of course is home to Thanksgiving, a secular holiday with Jewish origins (think: Sukkot). Somewhere, lost among the pumpkin spice lattes, Black Friday, and football games, is the message that we ought to be thankful for our blessings. We are fortunate to have much to be thankful for here at TBS, and I am thankful for your continued support and enthusiasm as we move ahead and try new things. The best is yet to come!
L’shalom,
Rabbi Craig Mayers