Weekly Message from the Board President

Welcome back, Cantor Adina Ackerman and her husband, Glenn!  Cantor Adina will be leading services this weekend… but wait, there’s more (as they say in the commercials).  She’ll be leading Friday night services, and then Shabbat morning services on Saturday.  Cantor Adina will also teach a class on Saturday afternoon, followed by a Havdalah service.  And then she has something special planned for the kids after that.  Here’s a note from her about the weekend.

Saturday morning, services with readings from the Torah and Haftarah, followed by lunch. (Red lentil soup, in honor of this week’s Torah portion, where Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for “a mess of pottage.”)

Saturday afternoon (4:00 pm, we’re thinking) — I’m teaching a class on the Yigdal prayer:

–what it’s about (it’s a poetic restatement of Maimonides’ 13 Principles of Faith, kind of a Jewish Creed);

–its sources in Bible and Mishnah;

–the ideas in Yigdal about what it means to be a real Jew, and what we think about those ideas–do we have to believe all this to be good Jews?; and

–a little about the music used for singing Yigdal, and a brief song session to sing through a few melodies.

Following the class (5:00 pm), we’ll have a light nosh. Families and kids are encouraged to show up at this time, because right after the light meal we’ll do a short Havdalah service (5:30 pm, just a few minutes after the “official” end of Shabbat); and finally,

A session for young kids and their Significant Others to “close out the day in a Jewish way”–we’ll learn and sing some nighttime songs, read a story, and do the Nighttime Sh’ma. Lilah Tov–Goodnight!

It sounds great and we’re looking forward to it.  Remember, if you want to attend services via Zoom, please send an email to [email protected].  We change the Zoom link frequently for security reasons.  On Fridays we send out an email with the links for that weekend’s services and events.  Send us your email address and we’ll add you to the mailing list.

The Board of Directors meets Wednesday for its last regular meeting of the year.  On Sunday, December 7 we’ll have the annual congregation meeting where new Board members will be elected.  The new Board’s first regular meeting doesn’t take place until January.  We have three openings on the Board – if you would like to serve, please let the office know so we can add your name to the ballots.  If you have received a proxy ballot and won’t be able to make the meeting in person, please get the ballot to the Synagogue office no later than Friday, December 5^th.

Next week is Thanksgiving and we hope you have a great holiday.  And the See’s Candy Sale kicks off the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Stop by between 10 AM and 4 PM on Sunday, November 30^th to pick up your orders, or to shop the selection.

The week after that (the same weekend as our annual congregation meeting), Rabbi Jack Shlachter and his wife will be coming to Cheyenne.  He will lead services on Friday night and Saturday morning, teach a class Saturday afternoon and lead a Havdalah service to end Shabbat.

We are welcoming both Cantor Adina and Rabbi Shlachter as Scholars in Residence, and both are being considered for our next Religious Leader.  So we’re asking you to attend their services and classes and give members of the Board of Directors your thoughts on them.

We’ve wrapped up our Food Drive and to say it was a success is an understatement.  Take a look at the picture.  All the food donated is going to Needs, Inc. to be distributed to those who need it.  And thank you for our generosity and your help to the Cheyenne community!

Oh, and one last thing (which we’ll talk about way too much).  Our next Shalom Dinner will be our annual Christmas Eve event at China Buffet.  We usually get a great turnout (as many as 40 people one year!).  China Buffet is a large restaurant so they can handle our group pretty easily.  We’ll have more details as we get closer.

Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:

A moyz iz a ganef. / Nit di moyz iz der ganef, nor di lokh iz der ganef.       
A mouse is a thief. / The mouse isn’t the thief, the hole is the thief.          

Shalom,

Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors

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Community Partner with Family Promise of Cheyenne

November Birthdays

3              Jared Miller

4              Julie Breen

7              Ya’el McLoud

11            Alan Wolf

11           Aviv Mantaka

11           Chayale Mendelsohn

19           Dennis Fisher

25           Therese McKinnon

25           Stephanie Ehrlich

26           James Peebles

26           Devorah Leah Mendelsohn

27           Phyllis Bloomberg

27           Nolan Rap

29           Lila Gallensky