WEEKLY NEWS
23 Tevet 5780
December 31, 2019
Worship Times
Weekly Torah



Donate
THIS FRIDAY
5:30pm
Join us before services as the 6th grade hosts a community dinner. 

6:30pm
Join us for this service to start the Sabbath led by the 6th grade. The service is filled with music, prayer, and reflection on this week's Torah portion.  Following the service, join us for Kiddush and an Oneg in the Weisbein Social Hall.
In This Issue

 
THIS SATURDAY

9:30am

A one-hour, peaceful chanted service, mostly in Hebrew, with a focus on the "greatest hits" of Shabbat Shacharit services, a great way to get to know the service and start your day.



10:30am

Torah study with bagels/donuts and coffee will begin at 10:30am and go until Noonish.  Our Torah  Study is a vibrant exchange of ideas about the we ekly Torah portion, bringing both traditional commentary and recent scholarship to bear on the text.  It is a lively salon style, participatory Torah study where all are welcome, and no background or Hebrew is needed.


Young Families Havdalah
Saturday, January 4th| 4PM-6PM
 
Join us as Saragail Benjamin leads us in our monthly Young Families Havdalah celebration!
 
We'll...
 
Sing, dance, tell our favorite tales, & say good-bye to Shabbat with a kid-friendly Havdalah. 
 
Then we'll all share a pot-luck nosh.  Please bring a dish to share.
For kids ages 1-7 and their families
 
AND DON'T FORGET...  
Tot Shabbat 
Friday, January 17, 5:30-6:15 PM
Kid-friendly service with lots of singing, dancing, stories
Anti-Semitism
A four part class with Rabbi Edleson

Are you interested in learning more about the sources, causes and history of anti-semitism and to better understand some of the events happening around us? The class will explore anti-semitism in early writings of Christianity, in medieval literature, and in modern times. 

Please click HERE for information including dates, price, and sign up. Contact Stacie with any questions.
save the date
Scholar in Residence Weekend
January 31st - February 1st

Join the Temple Sinai community as we welcome Rabbi Michael Cohen for Shabbat on Judaism and the Environment. 
Click HERE to learn more about Rabbi Cohen.

Recent Incidents in St. Albans

Rabbi David has a few words to share about the recent incidents of anti-semitism. (Click on the image below)


Our Christmas Eve blood drive was perhaps the most successful we've had at Temple Sinai. We filled 27 out of 31 donor appointments, and at the end of the day, 21 units of blood were collected, with the potential to save more than 60 lives! Additionally, we had 6 first-time donors. Less than 5% of the eligible population actually step up and donate. Every new donor helps.
 
Thanks to all who helped out by donating, promoting the drive, making soup (Karen Cote, Elaine Eldridge, and David Edleson) and especially to Great Harvest Bread Company for donating some really great gluten.
 
Happy (Gregorian) New Year!
 
-David Punia & Karen Cote

Sisterhood/Brotherhood 
Upcoming Events

Sisterhood & Brotherhood go Bowling. 
January 12th  
bowling

Sisterhood Movie Night
January 14th

Sisterhood Goes X-Country Skiing
January 17th


Click on the images for info on each event!

Social Action  Opportunity



Give to the new Food Shelf in our Community!

Click any of the graphic above for more information.


Teacher Spotlight
Kitah Bet
2nd Grade Teacher, Sophie Dauerman
 
It is always a joy when the students who grew up in our Temple and attended our Religious School return and teach for us. In this case, Sophie, Morah Gavriela, never left!

Morah Gavriela co-teaches Kitah Bet with another one of our Temple teens, Naomi Diamond (Morah Nechama). Morah Gavriela has been in our school since she was three years old and following her Bat Mitzvah, attended the Chai School here and has been a madricha (assistant) in our school since then. This is the first year she has a classroom  where she is the teacher.

Morah Gavriela grew up in Shelburne and has two sisters, an older sister, Renee, and a younger sister, Anna, who will have her Bat Mitzvah this June. In addition to her physician parents and her sisters, she lives with a Golden Retriever, Buddy. When Morah Gavriela isn't teaching and attending CVU, she plays the oboe, tennis, writes poetry (you may have seen some of her writings in the local Hometown paper), and enjoys cross country skiing 

Her favorite holiday is Passover. She says, "My family hosts a Seder every year and I love helping my mom in the kitchen. We always have a fun twist to the Seder; last year we played Passover Wheel of Fortune and the year before that we played Jeopardy."

When asked about a favorite Jewish memory Morah Gavriella replied, "The summer after 9th grade I traveled to Israel with NFTY. It was four of the best weeks of my life! One of my favorite memories was camping out in the Negev and sleeping under the stars."

Alas, Morah Gavriella is a senior so next year she goes off to college. We shall miss having her in our school where she's been for 15 years! We know there's a lot of wonderful things in store for this bright, talented young woman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January Anniversaries & Birthdays
Join us in wishing them a wonderful day and many more!

24~ Jay and Cynthia Pasackow


  2 ~ Norman Rapoport

  3 ~ William Camp

  7 ~ Daniel Laskarzewski

  8 ~ Glenn Harple

  9 ~ Garrett Levin

14 ~ Joshua Kalfus

17 ~ Eric Wolinsky

18 ~ Judy Hettena Wright, Stephanie Weiss

19 ~ Elaine Eldridge, Tom Glaser, Holly Glassman, Linda Roberts Greenblatt

20 ~ Barbara Hicken

21 ~ Hannah Hauser, Morris Silver

22 ~ Samuel Edwards-Kuhn

24 ~ Pamela Mittel

25 ~ Marti Sterin

26 ~ Jill Glaser, Sarah Lorber

28 ~ Neil Buckley

29 ~ Rose Fenderson, Howard Kalfus, Amelia Murtha

 30 ~ Alec Collins

Family Drum Circle New Year's Eve

Everybody plays a drum!

 

Saragail leads in an interactive program of world rhythms and stories.

Tuesday, December 31

4:30-5:30 PM

Fletcher Free Library

235 College Street, Burlington

 

For kids and their families!

Free admission to this program!

 

Click here for more info

 

JCVT Logo
Throughout Vermont

Click the logo to view upcoming Jewish events sponsored by Jewish groups and houses of worship in VT.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mission Statement
We are a diverse, egalitarian, and inclusive community of Jews and interfaith families.  We joyfully embrace Judaism as a way of life through prayer, music, social action, celebrating Jewish holidays, lifelong learning, and life cycle events.  Through these activities, we seek to promote spiritual growth, moral values, and the social welfare of our community.
 
Vision Statement
Temple Sinai strives to be a joyful, energetic, accepting, innovative, caring, and accessible faith community.  We choose to practice and teach Jewish traditions in our community, so that Jews and Judaism will continue to flourish, both in Vermont and in an ever-changing world.  We believe that support for a safe and prosperous State of Israel is an important part of our Jewish identity.