May 7 - May 14 • Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

Erev Shabbat Services - Rainbow Shabbat & Band - Friday, May 2, 6:00pm

Please join us this week for our Erev Shabbat services, led by Rabbi Vogel and Rabbi Stein. in the main Sanctuary or on Zoom, at 6:00pm. Please join us! Click here to join by Zoom.

Shabbat Morning Services featuring the Bat Mitzvah of Esme Rogoff -

Saturday, May 10, 10:30am

The entire congregation is encouraged to join us for Shabbat Morning Services, including the Bat Mitzvah of Esme Rogoff, daughter of Rachel Walchak and Adam Rogoff. We offer mazel tov to Esme and her entire family! To join Saturday morning services by Zoom, click here.

Saturday Morning Torah Study - Saturday, May 10, 9:00am

Twice a month on Shabbat mornings, Temple Sinai members gather to discuss the ideas presented by the week’s Torah portion. We begin with a light breakfast and singing and then then explore the Jewish ideas that emerge from the weekly Torah reading. In person or click here to join on Zoom.

A Conversation about Antisemitism with

Rob Leikind

Wednesday, May 7, 7:30pm

Weintraub Community Room

Rob Leikind has been the Regional Director of the New England chapter of the American Jewish Committee since 2008, and currently serves as a member of the Massachusetts Special Commission on Combatting Antisemitism. A child of parents who survived Hitler’s Europe, he began his career working with Holocaust survivors in Brooklyn, New York. A lawyer by training, he served as an Assistant District Attorney before going on to be Director of the ADL’s Connecticut and Boston offices and Senior Vice President of Hebrew College. Rob has been a contributor to various media on topics ranging from Israel and anti-Semitism to intergroup relations and civil rights. Join us for an interactive conversation. This session is in-person only.

Thursday Morning Study Group

Thursday, May 8, 10:15am

Weintraub Community Room

Join us each Thursday for a lively and friendly class with Rabbi Vogel. We study a wide variety of topics, rotating to a new field of study about every six weeks or so. Thursday Study includes discussions, films, text study, and an occasional guest speaker. Join us each Thursday or feel free to drop in just once! All are welcome. Join us either on Zoom or in person. Contact the Temple office to be added to the email list for information about each week’s session and link. In person, or by Zoom. All are welcome! 

Rainbow Shabbat

Friday May 9th, services at 6:00pm followed by an oneg

Featuring Temple Sinai Brookline members speaking about their Personal LGBTQ+ journeys, experiences, identities, and discoveries. Our rainbow Shabbat will be a celebration of courage, authenticity, resilience, and joy. 

All are welcome! Sponsored by Temple Sinai’s Rainbow Committee

K'tonton

Sunday, February 9, 10:00am-12:00pm

at Temple Sinai in the Larkin Library

This fun, interactive Jewish drop-off program for 3 & 4 year olds introduces young children to Jewish holidays and practices through arts & crafts, songs, stories and games. It’s a great way to introduce your child to the joy of Jewish learning!

Register Today!

Temple Sinai’s 

Community Retreat!

Sunday May 18, 10:00am-5:00pm

Register by Tuesday, May 13

The entire Sinai community will gather for our one day Community Retreat at the Metro-West YMCA Camp in Hopkinton, MA, on Sunday, May 18, from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m, a day of fun, relaxing, sports activities, discussion, singing, eating and being with one another! 

This all-ages event is for our entire congregation. 

Join Us for Our Special Teen Recognition 

Shabbat and 12th Grade Aliyah Ceremony!

Friday, May 30 at 6:00pm

Please join us for a special Erev Shabbat Service for our annual Sinai U Teen Recognition Shabbat & 12th Grade Aliyah Ceremony. We will celebrate, honor, and thank our teens for the active engagement in Jewish life at Temple Sinai. And we will offer a special blessing to our graduating 12th Graders and their parents on this special occasion. 

TEENS: Please RSVP HERE if you can make it. We would love to celebrate with you!

Shavuot

Sunday, June 1

Erev Shavu’ot & Yizkor Service

7:00pm at Temple Sinai’s Sanctuary

Please join us to celebrate the holiday of Shavu’ot, “the festival of weeks." This service will also include Yizkor memorial prayers recited on this and other festivals. Please join us to remember a dear relative or just to celebrate the holiday. All are welcome.

Annual Brookline Community Tikkun Leil Shavu’ot

8:00pm - 4:00am at Kehillath Israel

Temple Sinai joins other Brookline-area synagogues and minyanim for an all-night Jewish learning and cultural experience at the Brookline Community Tikkun Leil Shavuot! Over 500 people gather each year for dozens of Jewish learning sessions, including text study, art, music, cooking and food, and more, with a Sermon Slam as a highlight around 12:30am, to celebrate the Giving of the Torah on Shavu’ot. Sessions are led by community rabbis, teachers, volunteers, educators and activists.

For a list of and sessions, click here.

Sponsored by Temple Sinai and dozens of Brookline Jewish communities.

Mussar Study Group: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Challenges

Starting June 2025, Led by Merry Arnold

Join us for a sample session on Wednesday June 4, from 12:00-1:15pm

Mussar is a Jewish tradition that helps each of us cultivate and practice our ethical understanding. Come and explore Jewish ethical teachings - such as gratitude, patience and compassion - through study, conversation and practice. Regular meetings will then be every two weeks from June 18 - August 20th, 12:00-1:15pm, at Temple Sinai. Commitment required for sessions through August. Limited to 12 people maximum. Contact Merry Arnold for questions and to register.

Two Jews, Three Opinions: A Facilitated Dialogue about Our Diverse Opinions on Israel, Zionism, and the War

Tuesday, June 10 at 7:00pm

“Two Jews, three opinions,” is an old and familiar adage. But discussing our differing opinions can be fraught when it comes to Zionism, the war in Gaza after the terrible attacks of October 7, 2023. Yet silences create distance and break down the bonds of community. Our goal is to strengthen our community by engaging community members in respectful dialogue that leads to understanding and connection. In the spirit of Temple Sinai’s commitment to inclusivity, connection and mutual care, members of the Israel Education Committee and the Israel/Palestine Committee are organizing facilitated small-group dialogues in which congregants can discuss the Israel, Zionism, the war in Gaza and it's impact on Judaism and the Jewish Community with open hearts and minds in order to better understand each other’s positions. This will not be a debate. Rather, it is carefully structured to help us hear each other out with respectful curiosity and knit us closer together as a community, with appreciation for our diversity of opinion. 

Weekly Sunday Afternoon Mah Jong

3:00pm-5:00pm

Weintraub Community Room

Join us to play and learn at our weekly Sunday Sinai Mah Jong games! Whether you are a seasoned expert or still learning the game, you are welcome to join! Come enjoy an afternoon of strategy, community, and enjoyment. Game equipment will be provided but feel free to bring your own set if you have one.

In Our Lives...

Mazel tov to our member Merav Opher on being named a Guggenheim Fellow, among a group of “visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists” who are awarded this prestigious recognition. Merav is professor of astronomy at Boston University and is a William Bentinck-Smith Fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and she said she will use the funds to expand her study of the heliosphere, a plasma shield that protects our solar system. A celebratory article on the B.U. website with more information can be read here. Mazel tov, Merav!

Our member Anita Diamant published on May 5 one of her regular commentary articles on WBUR’s “Congnoscenti” website, titled “‘Project Esther’ and Trump’s Playbook Against Antisemitism.” You can read her observations here.

Temple Sinai member Mneesha Gellman was interviewed on WBUR/NPR's Here and Now about the US sending people to prisons in El Salvador. She also wrote about Salvadoran President Bukele's visit to the White House in Jacobin, and about prison conditions in El Salvador in The Conversation.

In the Community...

Sign Up to Walk with Keshet in Boston's Pride Parade!

Saturday, June 14

All LGBTQ members of our community AND allies are invited to join Keshet and other members of the local Jewish community to march in the Boston Pride parade on Saturday, June 14 in Back Bay. Experiencing joy and pride are two powerful ways we can resist those who seek to oppress us! Register (for free) by May 12!