Shabbat Shalom GRJC

Weekly Emails to the Congregation

Parshat Vayelech 2008

Shabbat Shalom to the GRJC family,

We light our Shabbat candles Friday evening at 6:16 pm.  Friday evening services begin at 8 pm and Saturday morning services begin at 9 am.  At our Friday evening service we will celebrate all OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES!  Join us for a special blessing and songs.

Friday at 6:30 will be the first TOT SHABBAT and SHABBAT SHELI of the year.  Tot Shabbat is for Pre-K and K and Shabbat Sheli is for 1st through 3rd grade.  Both programs run at the same time and join together for snack around 7:15.

This Shabbat is called “Shabbat Shuvah”.  The word “shuvah” comes from the opening of the Haftarah that we will read, “Shuvah/Return, Israel, to the Lord your God…”  These words from the prophet Hoshea call on the people of Israel to repent their sins and reconcile with God and with other people.  The word “shuvah” comes from the same root as the word for repentance “teshuvah”.

Both the Haftarah and the fact that this Shabbat falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur give us the special name for this Shabbat.  We are now in the “Aseret Yemai Teshuvah”, the Ten Days of Repentance.  The ten days between the two High Holidays are a time for introspection and reflection.  These ten days offer us a time to use the energy we got from our prayers and thinking on Rosh Hashanah to prepare us for Yom Kippur.  The process of teshuvah, repentance, which began with the arrival of the New Year, reaches its full realization on Yom Kippur as we stand before God in judgment.  The prayers of Rosh Hashanah established that God was Sovereign and Judge over the universe, and the prayers and rituals of Yom Kippur call upon us to submit to God’s judgment—but we have the chance to continue to pursue becoming the person we want to be through the whole fall holiday season and beyond!

In preparing for Yom Kippur we try to motivate ourselves to take the thoughts, resolutions, and plans we began to make on Rosh Hashanah and commit to acting on them.

This time between the two High Holidays is a great opportunity to plan for the New Year.  There is energy and anticipation in the air.  The feeling we may have is similar to how we feel when we are flying or driving toward any destination.  All at once we feel excited and nervous as a million thoughts fly through our minds about everything having to do with traveling, where we will stay, and what we will do when we get there.  If we can focus our thoughts on a few things that we want to leave behind in the year that passed and a few things we want to do differently in this New Year, then we can reduce our existential level of stress as we travel toward the as yet uncharted waters of this New Year, 5769.

May it be a happy, healthy, and meaningful journey for us all.


MAZEL TOV
To Rabbi Rachel Schwartz and all GRJC board members who participated in the first GRJC Apples and Honey Service on Rosh Hashanah afternoon.  We welcomed over 80 people to this short “Taste of Rosh Hashanah”, a free and open service for the community.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The GRJC OCTOBER BULLETIN should be arriving in your mailboxes today or tomorrow.

KOL NIDRE AND YOM KIPPUR SERVICES, Wednesday evening and Thursday, October 8-9.  **Yom Kippur Afternoon and concluding service times will be revised.  Please check email for the updated times.**

Please remember to drop off your OPERATION ISAIAH GROCERY BAG filled with non-perishable food items by the downstairs coatroom on or before Yom Kippur. Thank you to Marc Isenberg and Judi Forer for delivering the bags already left at the GRJC to the Center for Food Action.

There is still time to participate in our Nursery School’s FALL BULB SALE fundraiser.  Order forms are available in the Center office and must be returned with payment by October 7.

NEIGHBORS:  A book discussion group at the Glen Rock Public Library with Library Director Roz Pelcyger and Rabbi Tow.  First Meeting:  MONDAY EVENING, OCT. 6, AT 7:30 PM. First book:  Jumpa Lahiri’s “Interpreter of Maladies” available at the Library.

DEADLINE FOR RSVPs FOR CONGREGATIONAL DINNER IN THE SUKKAH is next Monday, October 6.  Forms are available in the Center Office.

YOUNG FAMILIES PIZZA AND PUZZLE NIGHT, Sunday, Oct. 5, 5-7pm (Social Hall)

MELTON II ADULT ED CLASS, Monday, Oct. 6, 7:30-9:45pm (Youth Lounge)

MOMMY & ME, Tuesday and Wednesday, October 7-8, 9:30-10:45am (Social Hall)

GRJC MONTHLY BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING, Tuesday, October 7, 8pm (Social Hall)

NURSERY SCHOOL EARLY DISMISSAL, Wednesday, October 8, 11:30 am.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is hosting the IRF OVERFLOW SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS on Sunday Nights in October and November.  If you can volunteer to help staff the Shelter (7pm-midnight or midnight to 7am) please call the Shelter Coordinator, Pat Spencer, at 201-444-9105 or the Lutheran church office at 201-444-6598.

THE KEHILLAH PROJECT - We are proud to be participating this year in the Kehillah Project that is a partnership between the YJCC in Washington Township and synagogues in the area.  Through this program, our Daled class students and parents will have opportunities to do some amazing Jewish programs that would not have been possible with each organization working alone.  Our students will also get to meet their peers from all over the area. 

The word "kehillah" means community, and the goal of this project is to build a stronger sense of community among Jews in Bergen County. The Opening Day Kehillah program will take place on Sunday morning, October 26, at the YJCC.


With wishes for a pleasant and restful Shabbat as we enjoy the rainbow colors of the leaves,
Rabbi Tow

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