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This Shabbat, October 3
Shemini Atzeret
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Shabbat and Weekly Services | | |
FRIDAY - EREV SHEMINI ATZERET
5 PM
Welcome Back Shabbat Sha-Blue Jeans
(Sayer Berkowitz Pavilion)
6 PM
Evening Service with Rabbi Haaz and Cantor Herman
(Dogole Chapel)
6:23 PM
Candle Lighting
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SHABBAT - SHEMINI ATZERET / EREV SIMCHAT TORAH
9:15 AM Morning Service with Rabbi Haaz and Cantor Herman
(Dogole Chapel)
1 PM
Interactive Torah Study
Click here to join via Zoom
(Meeting ID: 409 394 9318, Password: 5787)
5 PM
Shabbat Talmud Class with Rabbi Charlestein
(Rudofker Library)
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6 PM
Simchat Torah Minha/Ma'ariv/Havdalah (Dogole Chapel)
RSVP Requested
We invite our entire congregation to join our JFGRS students and elementary-age families for a joyful Simchat Torah evening at Har Zion.
7:20 PM
Shabbat Ends
Click here for the yahrzeit list through next Shabbat (October 3-10, 2026)
Click here for this week's JTS Torah Commentary (Simchat Torah 5787)
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SUNDAY - SIMCHAT TORAH
9:15 AM
Simchat Torah Morning Service
(Dogole Chapel)
RSVP Requested
We invite our entire congregation to join our NCCECE students and preschool-age families for a joyful Simchat Torah morning, as we celebrate the Torah and the many people who make up our Har Zion community.
11:30 AM
Torah Service
(Dogole Chapel)
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6:45 PM
Evening Service
(Dogole Chapel)
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REGULAR DAILY MINYAN
7:15 AM – Morning Minyan - Monday-Friday
(with the exception of holidays)
6 PM – Evening Minyan - Sunday-Friday
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Sisterhood Opening Luncheon
featuring illusionist & mentalist Ivan Michael
Sunday, October 11 | 1 - 4 PM
Join us as we begin another Sisterhood season with our opening luncheon catered by Classical Catering and featuring Ivan Michael, magician, illusionist and mentalist.
Sisterhood Membership is required to attend.
Deadline EXTENDED to TODAY, October 2.
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Shop the Landau Gift Box
Regular hours are Tuesday and Thursday, 10 AM-3 PM.
Contact us for an appointment at any other time.
For questions or to make an appointment, please call
215-290-7570 or email us at giftbox@harziontemple.org.
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Sisterhood Floral Fund Cards
If you would like to send Floral Fund cards for any occasion, please email Janice Katz, rhk101@hotmail.com, and mail in or drop off your $10 payment for each card to Har Zion Sisterhood.
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Tikkun Olam & Open A Book kicks off HIAS PA Coat Drive,
donating 6 winter coats!
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Har Zion's coat drive for HIAS PA, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of Pennsylvania, has begun! We are gathering new, adult, sizes S - XL men's and women's puffy/winter coats for donation now through Thanksgiving. Har Zion's constituent groups are being asked for donations in support of this worthy cause.
Not on a committee at Har Zion but want to participate? Why not “go-in” with a friend or 2 and purchase a coat? (Contact Andy Coren for a list of “reasonably priced” winter coats). Please leave the tags on each coat. Monetary donations, of any amount, will also be welcomed. Checks should be written out to Har Zion Temple with HIAS PA in the memo section. Please drop off checks and coats to the synagogue office.
| | Seeking Volunteers for Thanksgiving Outreach! | | |
Join us as we cook meals, make casseroles and soup, and prep snack bags for this year's Thanksgiving outreach for the benefit of Caring for Friends and St. John's Hospice. Signup slots are available:
Nov. 10, 12, and 17 from 6 - 9 PM in the Har Zion Kitchen
&
Nov. 15 from 9 AM - 12 PM for snack bag assembly.
Contact Jeff Handen to sign up and with any questions.
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A Message from the Tikkun Olam Committee:
Please bring a nonperishable food item to support the Mitzvah Food Pantry. Put it in the box located outside the gift shop. Thank you!
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Upcoming Events & Programs | | |
Open a Book... Open Your Mind: Janet Bond Brill, PhD
Monday, October 5 | 7 PM
In Janet Bond Brill's Little Enda's War, hear how Edna Szurek, a Jewish child in WWII Warsaw, smuggled food through the ghetto walls and became the youngest decorated Polis’s resistance member while disguised as a Catholic girl.
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Shifting Sands: The Middle East Today with Dr. Asaf Romirowsky
Begins Tuesday, October 6 | 1:30 PM
This course challenges the popular narrative that American involvement in the Middle East is a modern phenomenon, tracing our entanglements in the region back to the Barbary Wars of the early 19th century. It’s a reexamination of the foundational stories we tell ourselves about America’s role in the region, and why getting that history right matters today.
Classes can be attended in-person at Har Zion Temple or over Zoom. Participants are encouraged to attend the full series.
Please complete the short form below to register.
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Next-Level Nusach: An Advanced Practicum with Cantor Herman
Begins Wednesday, October 7 | 8:10 AM
Participants will have the opportunity to strengthen their confidence in leading weekday morning services while developing a better ear for the traditional nusach. Through guided practice, listening, and discussion, we’ll explore the patterns that give the service its distinctive sound and work through common questions and challenges. Whether you are already comfortable leading or hoping to do so in the future, this class offers a supportive setting to practice, learn from one another, and deepen your understanding of the weekday morning service.
Classes can be attended in-person at Har Zion Temple. Participants are encouraged to attend the full series.
Please complete the short form below to register.
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Coat Drive for HIAS PA
This October through Thanksgiving
Har Zion’s Tikkun Olam Committee is collecting new adult men’s and women’s winter coats in all sizes for HIAS Pennsylvania (HIAS PA) from October through Thanksgiving. HIAS PA provides legal services, education, advocacy, and support to low-income and at-risk immigrants from countries around the world as they build new lives in our community. Please contact Andy Coren for more information about the coat drive and how to participate.
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Bingo Night
Tickets On Sale!
Doors Open 6 PM | Bingo Begins 7 PM
Join us for Bingo Night at Har Zion! Purchase your ticket now for an exciting, fun-filled evening of games, connection, and giving back! All proceeds support Har Zion's Noreen Cook Center for Early Childhood Education.
Enjoy Premium Raffle Baskets, Exclusive Silent Auction Items, Fun Bingo Prizes, and a Delicious Sushi Dinner!
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A Year of Testimony
Running Until Yom Hashoah 2027
Har Zion Temple is beginning A Year of Testimony, a meaningful project led by David Tabby to collect and preserve the stories of Shoah victims, survivors, and their descendants connected to our community. Whether your family has carried these stories for generations or you are just beginning to learn more, this project is an opportunity to make sure these memories, names, documents, and experiences are not lost.
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Theatre Ariel
Theatre Ariel's newest production, The Melting Pot, opens October 21! This work, which popularized the concept of America as a "melting pot" and was hailed by Theodore Roosevelt as a "great play," is coproduced by Philadelphia Artists' Collective as part of America 250.
Tickets are available now on Theatre Ariel's website.
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Hosts for Hospitals
Since 2000, this non-profit organization has been providing lodging and caring support to meet the housing needs of patients and their families coming to Greater Philadelphia for specialized medical care. The lodging is provided by volunteer Hosts who welcome into their homes patient-families in need.
Click here for more info.
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New Hub For Older Adults
Gems at the JCC is the adult and older adult hub that inspired participants to live independently and actively through programs and activities that enhance well-being, promote engagement and foster community.
Click here for upcoming programs!
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Gratz College’s Exciting Continuing Adult Jewish Education Classes
to Enrich Community Learning
Click here for more info and to register for Gratz College's Continuing Adult Jewish Education Classes, or contact Rabbi Daniel Levitt at dlevitt@gratz.edu.
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The Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations
The Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at Saint Joseph's University is pleased to offer several educational events on Catholicism, Judaism and more.
Click here for info.
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Could you do a Mitzvah?
Drivers needed to help a congregant get to continued medical treatments (Penn Valley to Wynnewood) on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
If you can help, please email caring@harziontemple.org.
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Do You Need a Ride?
Do you need a ride to attend services, High Holiday services, meetings or programs? Just drop us an email at caring@harziontemple.org.
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Tell Us What’s Happening!
The Har Zion Caring Connection would love to hear from our Har Zion Family. Just drop us an email (caring@harziontemple.org) and let us know how we can help, reconnect or celebrate with you, join you at daily Minyan, Shabbat and Yom Tov services.
Let's celebrate together at Har Zion.
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