Selihot and High Holy Days Are Around the Corner

September 26, 2024 / 23 Elul 5784

Included in This Newsletter

Selihot-Havdalah Service - 9/28

Havdalah Photos from the Green's Home

Sukkot Events

Everything About the High Holy Days

Weekly D'var Torah

Community Events

Social Action Opportunities

Interfaith Blood Drive - 11/2

Spotlight Calendar

Members and guests are always welcome to attend our Shir Ami Services, Classes and Special Events (fees may apply)

September

Selihot Service (in person)

Saturday, September 28th

7:00 PM

October

See below for High Holy Days Schedule

Board Meeting (virtual)

NOTE NEW DATE

Tuesday, October 8th

7:00 PM

Sukkot Party for Members Only

(in person - Rabbi David's home)

Sunday, October 20th

1:00 PM - Details to Follow

Shabbat and Simchat Torah (in person)

Friday, October 25th

7:00 PM - Details to Follow

Soul Spa - Meet the Midrash

Saturday, October 26th (continues weekly)

10:00 AM - Details to Follow

2024-2025 Calendar is now available on our website.

Click here

Email Address

shirami.info@gmail.com

Website

www.congregationshirami.org

Donations and Payments

https://www.congregationshirami.org/donate.html

Mailing Address

1273 E. Putnam Ave

PO Box 312

Riverside, CT 06878

To Make Donations or Payments:

For Members who are paying for dues and Non-Members who are registering for a class, or purchasing High Holiday Tickets, please go to our donation page on our website to make your payments.

And of course, we always appreciate any additional donations to help us provide a full year of quality services, classes and special events.

congregationshirami.org/donate.html

Selihot-Havdalah Service

Saturday, September 28th

7:00 PM

First Presbyterian Church

Open the gates of repentance as the High Holy Days with Rabbi David on Saturday, September 28, starting 7:00pm. After a community Havdalah and rounds of singing niggunim (wordless melodies), we'll move into a soulful Selihot of presence, ritual and contemplation. We'll immerse into the season's music, rouse our hearts with shofar blasts, turn ever more deeply into teshuvah (repair, repentance), and create a collective and anonymous

Al Het for our community to use on Yom Kippur.

Thank you to Marie Orsini Rosen and Phil Rosen for hosting the Oneg.

Thank you to Joan and David Green for hosting a lovely Havdalah evening for Shir Ami members at their home on Saturday, September 21st. There were so many delicious foods brought by everyone, including a gorgeous challah made by Rick Mason.

Everything About the High Holy Days

Gateway to the High Holy Days of 5785

This holy month of Elul is our gateway into the Season of Meaning.

This monthly Rabbi's Corner column is dedicated to the upcoming High Holy Days of 5785 – our theme, our music, what to expect, and how to make the most of this poignant season at a most pivotal time.

Two New High Holy Days Songs

This week's second new High Holy Days song is Nishmat Kol Chai by Joey Weisenberg and Hadar (2014). Please click here for a video of this song.

Yah Ribon is one of the new High Holy Days songs this year.This piyyut (Jewish liturgical poem) is a 1500s Aramaic classic that Rabbi Josh Warshawsky brought into modernity. Rabbi David arranged it this year for Shir Ami and our vocal quartet, modified to add English and reduce repetitions. The congregational chorus is the boxed materials. The song praises God as the true Sovereign of our hearts and souls, the core of our High Holy Days journey. Click here for a video of this song.

High Holy Days Schedule and Registration

HIGH HOLY DAYS REGISTRATION AND YIZKOR MEMORIAL SLIDES DEADLINES ARE THIS WEEK!

The High Holy Days start in less than an week. The complicated logistics of the 6 services are planned and led by Rabbi David and are managed by member-volunteers. In this photo, you see our Treasurer, David Green and Rabbi David preparing the Torah. Like all members, our volunteers have busy lives, in addition to their Shir Ami commitments. Please help them make High Holy Days the wonderful experience for you that they are by registering your attendance and reviewing your Yizkor slides no later than 9/27/2024.

Manage your Yizkor slides and make your donation by clicking here.

Sukkot at Shir Ami

Weekly D'var Torah

D'var Torah by Rabbi David

Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeileikh 5784 (2024)

Who's In? You're In. We're All In.

One of my favorite moments of the Jewish liturgical year is coming and it's probably not what you think. There's a point on Yom Kippur when we come together as if to receive anew the ancient covenant, knowing that the very act of being together magnetizes that covenant.

Except that Torah's basis for it, in this week's portion, makes no sense unless we read it in a counter-intuitive way. Read more...

Community Events

Rabbi David will be co-officiating this important event and asks Shir Ami members to please join him that evening. Registration is required for security purposes. Please click here to register.

Note: While we hope that Shir Ami members will attend the October 7 Evening of Remembrance at Temple Sholom in Greenwich where Rabbi David is co-officiating, we also support a companion commemoration will take place on the same date and time at the Stamford JCC, hosted by the UJF of Stamford, New Canaan and Darien.

Community Commemoration for October 7^th

^{(separate observance from the one being held at Temple Sholom in Greenwich,}

^{same day and time, where Rabbi David will be participating)}

Monday, October 7

7:00pm

Stamford JCC

1035 Newfield Ave, Stamford

Join the UJF to commemorate and to honor each of the lives lost, all those injured, and those still held in captivity. Register today at www.ujf.org/Oct7

-----------------------------------------------

Jewish Festival of Fairfield County

Sunday, September 29

3:00-6:00 PM

Featuring Music, Food Trucks, Culture, and Entertainment for all ages.

Nefesh Mountain

Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah

December 12th at 7:30 PM

Nefesh Mountain is a progressive bluegrass band that bridges elements of American folk and Appalachian bluegrass with Jewish experience and identity. Inspired by their life-changing trip to Poland and Ukraine, the homes from which husband-and-wife team of Doni Zasloff and Eric Lindberg’s families emigrated, Nefesh Mountain explores experiences from an Eastern European Jewish perspective. Their music tells stories of humanity with “old soul wisdom”.

Nefesh Mountain: A Hanukkah Celebration will take place in the Music Room of the Rosen House.

The Box Office is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Phone number: 914-232-1252.

Tickets are limited. If you are interested, do secure your tickets soon. If you’d like to be included in pre-concert dinner plans, please email joangreen@outlook.com.

Social Action

Morning Mitzvah for JFS-Stamford

Thank you to Ronny Kaplan and Dahni Nisinzweig for volunteering this week at the JFS food bank in Stamford to put together Rosh Hashanah packages of food for delivery all over Fairfield County.

Please reach out to Ronny to let her know if you are able to help next month by emailing her at ronnykaplan@snet.net or by calling 203.249.0602.

Interfaith Blood Drive

Saturday, November 2nd

First Presbyterian Church

8:00 AM - 1:30 PM

Our semi-annual Interfaith Blood Drive is 40 days away.

Give patients a reason to be thankful! Come donate and get a $10 e-gift card to a merchant of choice, PLUS you’ll be entered for a chance at a $7K gift card! There will be 2 winners. Sign up now at rcblood.org/donate and use code FPCG, or call 800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) - contact Barbara Salop with any questions (bdsalop@gmail.com)

Membership Drive Continues

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

If you have already registered and paid for your membership, we thank you.

If you have not, please register and make your payment as soon as possible. Our fiscal year began on July 1, and so did our new budget expenses!

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 - has details on dues, benefits and more

The Benefits of Membership allow 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 where there is something for everybody
participate in rituals, group trips and events reserved for members
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 look for membership information found 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.

While membership remains open all year, we ask that you make your membership commitment now so that we can keep our new fiscal year, with all its services and activities, strong. Thank you!

All are welcome to join our community!

Shir Ami Classes

Soul Spa is open to all.

Our Torah study each week on 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 as frequently or as infrequently, as you like. Please click here to find the weekly Zoom link and for recordings of previous discussions.

Note: Soul Spa will be community-led between August 16th and October 19th. Rabbi David will return for the new Torah study cycle after Simchat Torah on October 26th.

Social Action

For nearly 30 years, a dedicated group of JFS volunteers have made daily visits to sick Jewish patients at Greenwich Hospital. Barbara Salop has been visiting since 2014, and says “Our Bikur Cholim cohort comforts those who are in need of simple acknowledgement at a vulnerable time in their lives. Just knowing someone cares enough to listen brings emotional relief. It is gratifying to see someone perk up a bit and smile.”

Bikur Cholim volunteers are needed now! A simple conversation with can uplift patients' spirits and make a tough day a little brighter. Training sessions are led by Rabbi MJ Newman, JFS Rabbinic Scholar in Residence and Rabbinic Chaplain at Greenwich Hospital, and start Tuesday evening, October 15, with the remaining sessions on October 22, October 29, November 5, and November 12.

For more details, please contact Jessica Berger at JFS Greenwich.

Blessings and Simchas

Blessings for a Happy Birthday to all of our members with September birthdays:

Barbara Salop - 9/1

Suzanne Saperstein - 9/2

Ellen Ruth Topol - 9/10

Mitchell Brand - 9/23

Judith Croen - 9/23

Ray Marschall - 9/24

Linda Gratt - 9/30

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 names.

You are not required to make a donation but if you chose to, you may do so on 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.