Last Chance To Register For Chanukah Live! and Participate in Our Sock Drive

December 19, 2024 / 18 Kislev 5785

Included in This Newsletter

Last Chance to Register for Chanukah Live!

Virtual Shabbat Service - 12/20

Shabbat Service - 1/10

Weekly D'var Torah

Community Events

Spotlight Calendar

Members and guests are always welcome to attend our Shir Ami services, classes and special events (fees may apply)

December

Soul Spa - Meet the Midrash (virtual)

Saturdays, December 21 and 28 (continues weekly through June 2025)

10:00 AM

Unlocking the Jewish Prayer Book Class (virtual)

Sundays, December 22 and 29

5:00 PM

Shabbat Service (virtual)

Friday, December 20

7:00 PM

Chanukah Live! (in person)

Friday, December 27

Round Hill Community Church

Community Room

6:00 PM

Registration deadline is 12/21/2024.

Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Older (virtual -- special 12/23 makeup class)

Monday December 30

7:00 PM

January

Soul Spa - Meet the Midrash (virtual)

Saturdays, January 4, 11, 18 and 25 (continues weekly through June 2025)

10:00 AM

Unlocking the Jewish Prayer Book Class (virtual)

Sundays, January 5, 12, 19 and 26

5:00 PM

Shabbat Service (in person)

Friday, January 10

7:00 PM

Board Meeting (virtual)

Monday, January 13

7:00 PM

From Age-ing to Sage-ing - A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Older (virtual)

Tuesdays, January 14 and 28

7:00 PM

Shabbat Service (in person)

Friday, January 24

7:00 PM - Details to follow

2024-2025 Calendar is now available on our website

Click here

To Make Donations or Payments:

To make donations or register for classes or events, please go to our website's donation page.

congregationshirami.org/donate.html

Email Address

shirami.info@gmail.com

Website

www.congregationshirami.org

Donations and Payments

congregationshirami.org/donate.html

Mailing Address

1273 E. Putnam Ave

PO Box 312

Riverside, CT 06878

Chanukah Live! is just over a week away. Scroll down to register today. DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS 12/21!

Shabbat Service

Friday, December 20

7:00 PM

via Zoom

Join Rabbi David and the Shir Ami community for a Zoom-only Shabbat Service.

Themed to Joseph (and his amazing technicolor dreamcoat): Even though the service is virtual, dress at home in your snazziest colorful best! We will all light our own candles at home and do our own kiddush blessings together by Zoom.

Shabbat Service

Friday, January 10

7:00 PM

We hope you will join us in this special evening for our Shir Ami community as we thank our outgoing co-president, welcome our new officers, and celebrate the 10th anniversary of Rabbi David’s ordination.

Thank you to the incoming officers for sponsoring the Oneg.

Chanukah Live! - Register by 12/21

Chanukah Live!

Friday, December 27

6:00 PM

Round Hill Community Church

Community Room

(building on right as you drive in)

REGISTRATION "HARD" DEADLINE: DECEMBER 21!

Once again we will have our amazing potluck dinner. We hope you can join us! Congregants’ holiday specialties, including latkes (with apple sauce, of course), chicken and brisket dishes, and desserts will be provided.

Come enjoy candle lighting, music, singing, dancing, learning, fun activities and lots of homemade delicious food!

You are welcome to bring your own menorah and candles as well as beverages (soda or wine). If you’re game, wear a Chanukah ugly sweater or a blue and white outfit.

The cost is $36 per person. The "hard" no-exceptions deadline to register is December 21. Please be sure to register by this date.

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Chanukah Live Mitzvah Project: The Joy of Sox

We all like to feel cozy, warm and dry in the winter with comfy sox (socks) on. Homeless people and others in dire need may not have warm sox, or any sox. We will collect sox for those in need and send them to The Joy of Sox, an organization that distributes sox to the homeless across the US and around the world (Ukraine, Afghanistan, Uganda).

Please bring new sox to our Chanukah Dinner - as many pairs as you would like - and we will send them to The Joy of Sox! If you are not attending "Chanukah Live!," please leave the sox in a bag marked “Ronny Kaplan, Apt. 8E” at the front desk of 1 Strawberry Hill Ave. in Stamford. She will pack them up and send them to The Joy of Sox.

Let's make the holidays a little more comfy for those less fortunate.

Shir Ami Classes

Please be sure to register beforehand

so we know who is attending and so we can contact you if needed!

Soul Spa is open to all.

Our Torah study each Shabbat morning has become a mainstay of our programming. As we examine the parashat each week under Rabbi David's guidance and questioning, our sacred writings become more familiar, the stories clearer, and the teachings more meaningful.

Soul Spa is free for members and non-members alike. You may drop in frequently or infrequently, as you like. Please click here to find the weekly Zoom link and for recordings of previous discussions.

Please purchase the book, From Age-ing to Sage-ing. The edition we're using is this one. You will also find the Zoom link on the website landing page the day of the class.

Weekly D'var Torah

D'var Torah by Rabbi David

Parashat Vayeishev 5785 (2024)

Pointers Along the Way

What if the random nondescript person actually held the missing piece of our puzzle? What if the bad driver who cut us off on the highway actually put us in the right place at the right time?

What if we lived into the possibility that our lives are full of pointers hidden amidst the mundane?

What if they've been there all along? Read more...

Community News

November Issue of

Greenwich Jewish News

Please click here to read the digital version. See page 8 for an article about Shir Ami classes and page 10 for an article about Rabbi David's selection to a Premier Jewish Spirituality Program.

December/January Issue of

New Jewish Voice

Please click here to read the latest digital version.

Blessings and Simchas

Blessings for a Happy Birthday to our members with December birthdays:

Susan Kreiger - 12/17

Karen Meisel - 12/18

Larry Nadel - 12/29

Stanley Gratt -12/31

In our weekly Blessing and Simchas, we invite members to offer congratulations on a special event in someone’s life, blessings for healing, or to remember a loved one.

If you make a special donation and would like to share it in the newsletter’s “Blessings and Simchas," let us know by emailing shirami.info@gmail.com with the subject line, "Blessings and Simchas" no later than 9:00 AM on Monday. Be sure to include the wording for how you want the donation and the donor to be recognized, including your name, the occasion and the recipient's name(s).

If you choose to make a donation, you may do so by visiting our website's donation page or by mailing a check to Congregation Shir Ami, 1273 East Putnam Avenue, P.O. Box 312, Riverside, CT 06870-9998.

Membership

We warmly welcome you to join our community at Congregation Shir Ami.

Please visit our Membership Page where you can find:

Membership Letter - from our Shir Ami Officers
Membership Form - easy-to-fill out online or print
Membership Policy - details on dues, benefits and more

Membership allows you special access to:

practice our faith together and learn from the Torah and each other
help shape our community
support Shir Ami's mission
find inspiration in our diverse offerings of services, classes and events.
participate in rituals, group trips and member events
have access to our wonderful clergy for pastoral care and life cycle events
recognize our loved ones who have passed during our Yizkor service each year

As with most faith-based organizations, membership dues fuel everything we do and account for only 65% of our annual budget. Full dues payments and additional contributions are always appreciated. If an alternate arrangement is needed, please contact Co-Presidents Jackie Marschall at jackiea.broadcast@gmail.com or Marie Orsini Rosen at morsinirosen@gmail.com.

If you are interested and would like to know more, please find membership information on our website’s membership page. The easy-to-fill-out form may be completed online and submitted with a button, or can be printed out and sent to our mailing address: Congregation Shir Ami, 1273 E Putnam Ave, PO Box 312, Riverside, CT 06878.

All are welcome to join our community!

Other Community Websites

For a full listing of all local events of Jewish interest visit the websites for:

UJA/JCC of Greenwich

UJF Greater Stamford, New Canaan, Darien

JCC Stamford

Jewish Family Services Greenwich

Jewish Family Service Stamford

Interfaith Council of Southwestern CT

Learning in Retirement Stamford

If you're only receiving the newsletter monthly and would like to receive it weekly, please click the link above to edit your email preference.

CongregationShirAmi.org

203-900-7976

shirami.info@gmail.com