קישור שלום ~ Kishur Sholom

Staying Connected with the Temple Sholom Community

14 January 2025 ~ 14 Tevet 5785 ~ Parashat Shmot

Kids' "Moadon" מוֹעֲדוֹן

Geared for the 5-10 year old crowd ~ Moadon means 'club' or 'clubhouse'.


November brought us a "TASTE OF SHABBAT" and December a "TASTE OF HANUKKAH" ... for January we've just added "TOUR THE TEMPLE!"


THIS WEEK: Friday, Jan. 17 at 4:30 PM! We'll have a chance to explore what's in a temple, anyway!? We are hoping to attract temple members and non-members to this new endeavor! Click here for more details. Reach out if you have any questions to our volunteer coordinator - Sandy Singco (sssingco@gmail.com)! Next month, February 7: "TASTE OF TU BISHVAT".

Chaverim y'karim - dear friends,


Fire and water are two magical substances that are mesmerizing. When contained, they provide elemental needs for living. When unleashed and left to their own, they can consume with unique force. Sadly the city of Los Angeles is witnessing this reality right now.


Amy and I have just returned from San Francisco, visiting my family. We had planned to go to L.A. to visit my son, Eitan, and his fiancée, Robin, but given the fires we returned home. Los Angeles hardly needs another car on the road. On a personal level, Eitan and Robin and her family, thank God, are well. They all live in Los Angeles and are very close to the fires. None have faced evacuation (yet) but have their bags packed should an order be issued. Eitan’s synagogue in Santa Monica, where he works, is very near Pacific Palisades and needless to say, their community has been affected immediately and painfully. 


Like so many of you, I have been gripped by the pictures and the news from the fires - the loss of property, security, safety … it is nothing short of a human and envirronmental tragedy of the highest proportion. Truly I am overwhelmed thinking about the scope of this disaster! I read a statistic that roughly a quarter of the Jewish community of Los Angeles is in one of the evacuation zones.  


While many are debating the causes of the fire, and there is much finger pointing, I will leave the assessment to others - for us, the consummate question in this moment is: what can we do to assist? I have provided a few resources below though I have no doubt you all know excellent organizations that can help as well. 


I pray for the hundreds of thousands of displaced people and of suddenly homeless individuals and families. I pray for the emergency responders, who are working tirelessly. I pray that we will all do our part to help Angelinos recover from this unspeakable disaster. While in San Francisco I was watching the local news, and I found it very inspiring to see churches and loving souls fill trucks with donated goods for the people “in SoCal.” I heard one man say, “We are just going to drive it down there and bring it to people in need.” I pray the spirit of generosity and concern will inspire all of us to do our part.  


Six months ago, it was Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina that destroyed communties and lives with too much water. And in this moment it is southern California that is being brutalized by fire - and clearly, not enough water. 


In First Kings, Chapter 19:12, we find the prophet Elijah searching for restoration at a time of deep despair. God passes by and there is massive wind and fire … “but God was not in the fire - and after the fire, a small, still voice - kol d'mammah dakah - קול דממה דקה.”


The kol d’mammah dakah. That small, still voice is every action and prayer, every donation and deed of loving-kindness, that calling out of truth where there has been human failure and that considering how to make wiser decisions for the inevitable future disasters that await us by fire, by water, by earthquake and by human frailties. 


Consider how and where to give - and I know you join me in hoping that all those affected by these fires can find a sukkat shalom - a shelter of peace - to work through these most difficult of days. 


Rabbi Mark Cohn

rabbicohn@tsholom.org 


Pictured above - Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center destroyed by fire last week. The link will take you to their website with a chance to donate to sustaining their community.

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NOTE: I have had a chance to learn about dynamite programs for 10-12th graders. Know someone who might be interested!? See below and/or reach out to me if you have questions!!


TIKVAH SCHOLARS PROGRAM is an 11-day residential summer institute for current 10th-12th graders. From the website: "We seek students who want to think deeply about serious questions, push their intellectual limits, and read the great works of the Jewish canon and of Western thought with world-class faculty in a vibrant and pluralistic community of students from around the world. The program seeks to advance Jewish excellence in the modern age by exposing some of the best Jewish students to the most important foundational questions in politics, economics, Zionist thought, and Judaism, guided by some of the top teachers, scholars, and policy makers." Learn more here.

ARTICLES / BLOGS


"It's a mitzvah: LA fires activate Jewish law of saving Torahs from a calamity" (13 Jan 2025) by Gavriel Fiske in The Times of Israel.


"L.A. Fires displaced them. But their bar mitzvahs went on" (10 Jan 2025) by Louis Keene in The Forward.


"What a remarkable Torah rescued from Iran - then LA's fire - can teach us about community during devastation" (10 Jan 2025) by Rob Eshman in The Forward.

"L.A. Was Built to Burn" by Leighton Woodhouse (12 Jan 2025) in The Free Press. And just by way of creating conversation that tries to encourage meaningful discussion from various angles, consider the response to the Woodhouse article, "Letters to the Editor: The Fires Weren't Inevitable" (13 Jan 2025) in The Free Press.


"The war's not over and IDF soldiers still need our help" (7 Jan 2025) by Daniel Polisar in The Times of Israel Blog.


"Alahn gets out of the hospital" (13 Jan 2025) by Daniel Gordis in Israel from the Inside.


My Solomon Schechter School embodied a bygone era of American, Zionist and New York Jewish Dream" (8 Jan 2025) by Gil Troy in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA).


PODCAST


"From Orthodox Roots to #Gay of #Zion" (11 Jan 2025) on Here I am with Shai Davidai. Watch or Listen to an inspiring conversation with Roniel Tessler, a screenwriter, Jewish educator, and founder of a gay Jewish Zionist group in New York City. The episode delves into Roniel's personal journey, exploring his experiences as a gay Jewish man navigating identity, community, and activism.


"Israel at War - Morality and Survival" (8 Jan 2025) with Rabbi Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi on For Heaven's Sake of the Shalom Hartman Institute.


TZEDAKAH OPPORTUNITIES


Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.


Jewish Federation of Los Angeles - Wildfire Relief.


Jewish Free Loan Association - of Los Angeles.


Pico Union Project.


Israel Friends: Helping IDF Soldiers Directly

NEW MILFORD COMMUNITY SHELTER: REOPENING!!


THE WEATHER IS TURNING COLD! OVERNIGHT VOLUNTEERS and CONTRIBUTORS NEEDED


Following a request from Mayor Bass, many of the people involved with the New Milford Homeless Shelter Coalition (which closed following COVID) are opening the New Milford Community Shelter.


If you have questions, would like to learn more, contribute, and/or volunteer, please call (860.592.0142) or email:

nmctcommunityshelter@gmail.com


If you would like to donate (tax deductible), checks can be made out and sent to New Milford Community Shelter.


New Milford Community Shelter

16 Cobble Rd, Kent, CT 06757


Learn more about this important shelter program!

SHABBAT SERVICE SCHEDULE


FRIDAYS AT 6:30 PM

JANUARY 17, 31

FEBRUARY 7, 21



SATURDAYS AT 10:30 AM


FEBRUARY 8, MARCH 8

THIS WEEK (Friday, January 17) - Paul Ullman will be reading Torah in memory of Cantor Guy Bonne (z"l).


WANT TO HONOR A FRIEND, REMEMBER A LOVED ONE, OR JUST DO A MITZVAH!?


Come read Torah, have an aliyah to Torah, or just ... hold the Torah! When we draw near to Torah, we elevate a moment for ourselves and others. Reach out to Rabbi Cohn to find an upcoming service and he'll find something special for YOU! Note: A Jew who is 13 years old and a day, is automatically a Bar or Bat Mitzvah and thus eligible!

SHABBAT TORAH STUDY

Led by CJ Kelly


SATURDAYS AT 9:30 AM



JANUARY 18, 25

FEBRUARY 8*, 15, 22


*Led by Rabbi Cohn

Temple Sholom

122 Kent Road ~ P.O. Box 509

New Milford, CT 06776

(860) 354-0273

Temple Sholom Website (www.tsholom.org)

Temple Sholom Facebook