Coming Up

Wednesday, October 16 – 6:30 PM – Board Meeting.

Thursday, October 17 – Noon to 2:00 PM – Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105

Thursday, October 17 – Noon – 1 PM – Torah Study. We will be studying the upcoming Torah portion. (This is NOT the same program as Torah Thursday).

Friday, October 18 – 6 PM – Sukkot dinner. Join us for dinner in the Sukkah (weather permitting) or in the Social Hall.

Friday, October 18 – 7 to 8 PM – Shabbat services followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.

Sunday, October 20 – Noon to 2 PM – Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105.

Sunday, October 20 – 1 to 2:30 – Jewish & Israeli dancing resumes – new dancers are welcome! For more information contact Mary Weintstein.

Monday, October 21 – 11 A.M. – Shmeni Atzert Yizkor

Monday, October 21 – 6 PM – Simchat Torah Hakafot 

Thursday, October 24 – Noon to 2:00 PM – Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105

Thursday, October 24 – Noon – 1 PM – Torah Study. We will be studying the upcoming Torah portion. (This is NOT the same program as Torah Thursday).

Friday, October 25 – 7 to 8 PM – Shabbat services followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.

Sunday, October 27 – Noon to 2 PM – Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105.

Sunday, October 27 – 1 to 2:30 – Jewish & Israeli dancing resumes – new dancers are welcome! For more information contact Mary Weintstein.

Sunday, October 27 – 4 PM – Annual Hadassah Wine & Chocolate event at Carol Fischer’s house. Suggested donation is $20. Support Hadassah while enjoying wine and chocolate pairings, appetizers, raffle items, and so much more!

Weekly Message from our Board President

Thank you, again! We need to say thank you to Irwin Pasternack for another significant donation to the Synagogue. Irwin was concerned about our High Holy Day services because our Rabbi is ill. He called to wish the Synagogue Happy New Year, and said he would donate enough funds to cover the cost of the Cantor who came to Cheyenne to help with services. Thank you, Irwin! And we want to thank Jason and Phyllis Bloomberg for paying for her travel expenses.

We also want to thank Cantor Susanne Katchko for coming to Cheyenne on short notice and doing an excellent job. She took time to get to know individual members of our Congregation and made many friends.

The President’s Speech on Erev Yom Kippur also had a lot of people to thank. Here’s an excerpt.

Rabbi Harley Karz-Wagman once said that Synagogues can look better from the inside than from the outside, and he meant that about Mt. Sinai. From the outside, we have a very nice building, but we also have a very small congregation. But from the inside, we have a lot of very wonderful people, and that makes all the difference.

When the Rabbi fell ill, members of our community immediately stepped up to help. Lay leaders jumped in to lead services and cover some of the Rabbi’s duties. Torah Thursday, which has a dedicated following, became Torah Study led by Jeff Weinstein. Jason and Phyllis Bloomberg are doing their best to represent the Rabbi at Bibles and Beer. The Board of Directors hired a Cantor to help with the High Holy Day services. Members of the community volunteered to drive the Rabbi to medical visits and make sure he and his wife were well cared for. And we’re all looking forward to the day he is back at full health.

Our Mt. Sinai Library continues to grow and thrive, because of the incredible work of Dorothy Feldman and Tim Solon. Carol Fischer and Steve Borin open their home repeatedly to guests of the Synagogue. They hosted the Israeli Scouts, again, and the Cantor for the High Holy Days, for two recent examples. And they make sure that people who stay at the Borin/Fischer hotel are well fed. Therese Tikvah McKinnon works so hard for the Synagogue that it is hard to tell where her paid hours end and her volunteer hours begin. Sheri Means stayed in close contact with Uri Neil and his family and alerted us when Uri passed away. And we are fortunate that Sheri and Georgia Young are close friends with Helen Zigmond, so we can keep up with her activities.

It is a challenge for Babs Klein to get out and about, but she actively participates through letters, donations, and proofreading the High Holy Day Journal every year. Mary Weinstein leads our Israeli Folk Dancers group, and you could argue she spends more time volunteering at the Synagogue than she does at home. Harlan Ribnick has quietly been donating significant money to the Mt. Sinai Trust every month. He’s been doing that for years, and has almost singlehandedly been growing the principal. Our Sisterhood not only prepares our meals at the Synagogue… they volunteer to prepare extra meals for special events.
Let me add the dozens of volunteers who help with the Yiddish Food Festival, See’s Candy Sale, Hanukah and Purim Parties, Passover Seder, and a lot more. And to everyone I’ve left out… my apologies, but your contributions to the Synagogue are noticed and very much appreciated.

So what does all this mean? A few years ago, during one of our movie nights, we watched a documentary about small Synagogues in several states that had to close because of declining membership and activities. As we watched, one thought came to mind. Gee, those folks don’t do a Yiddish Food Festival. They don’t have services every Friday night. They don’t hold a Passover Seder for the entire community, including a lot of non-Jews. They don’t welcome everyone who comes in the door, and make them feel part of the family. We do.

That’s what Rabbi Harley was referring to when he said we looked better from the inside. It is our people, our Congregation, the Jews and Non-Jews who support Mt. Sinai, that makes this place truly special.

A quick reminder – See’s Candy Sale pre-orders are now being accepted! Please call Andrea Moldo at 209-613-1884 to place your order.

We have some new books being donated to the Mt. Sinai Library. Both are for kids. The first is Daniel in the Dangerous Den, by Carol Greene. The other one is Why Noah Chose the Dove, by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:

Az me kumt iber di planken, bakumet men andereh gedanken.
If you go over a fence, you will find other ideas.

Shalom!

Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors

Rabbi’s Column

This year’s High Holiday season is not yet over, but it is not too soon to think about next year, when Rosh Hashanah (and all the other fall Holydays except Yom Kippur) will begin on a Friday night and extend for Saturday and Sunday. So – the last couple of years we stopped holding a 2nd day Rosh HaShanah service because of lack of attendance. Since some of the things that are traditionally done on the first day (blowing Shofar, Tashlich) are not done on Shabbat (in general), the timing in 2020 encourages the return of the Second Day service for that year. Ritual and Liturgy will discuss this in the next couple of months, so if you have a strong opinion either way, feel free to let me, Jeff or Jason know.

Again, a great amount of gratitude goes to all the people who work hard to make the Holyday season flow smoothly. This year especially it is clear that it takes a community to help make sure that everything goes well.

May you all be inscribed in The Book of Those Who Are Living, and extend kindness and consideration to one and all. 

Community Partner with Family Promise of Cheyenne

October Birthdays

2              Sue Carlass

2              Hal Ginsburg

18           David Bloch

20           Dorothy Feldman

25           Mark Elliott

23           Ilaine Brown

24           Jaimee Sodosky

27           Helen Zigmond

28           Jeff Weinstein

31           Namaste Reid

Mt. Sinai Movie Nights

All movies are shown at Mt. Sinai on the “big screen” and with surround sound. Refreshments and drinks provided. Come join us for any or all of our upcoming movies.