Coming Up
Tuesday, September 18 - 7 PM - Kol Nidre.
Wednesday, September 19 - 9 AM - Yom Kippur services followed by Break the Fast.
Thursday, September 20 - 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM - Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105
Thursday, September 20 - 12 noon to 1 PM - Torah Thursday. Take a few moments out of your week and join us at noon on Thursdays as we begin uncovering more about Abram and family with the help of commentators Rashi, Sforno and Steinsaltz. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Thursday, September 20 - 6:30 PM - Board Meeting.
Friday, September 21 - 7 PM - Shabbat services led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, September 22 -10:30 AM to 11:30 AM - Shabbat services and Torah study led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Sunday, September 23 - 10 AM to 12 noon - Religious School.
Sunday, September 23 - 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM - Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105.
Sunday, September 23 - 1:30 PM to 3 PM - Israeli & Jewish Dancing!! This will the second class of the season and a great time to join us. Contact Mary Weinstein (or any of the dancers) if you have any questions.
Thursday, September 27 - 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM - Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105
Thursday, September 27 - 12 noon to 1 PM - Torah Thursday. Take a few moments out of your week and join us at noon on Thursdays as we begin uncovering more about Abram and family with the help of commentators Rashi, Sforno and Steinsaltz. Feel free to bring a lunch.
Friday, September 28 - 6 PM - Join us for our annual Sukkot dinner.
Friday, September 28 - 7 PM - Shabbat services led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Saturday, September 29 -10:30 AM to 11:30 AM - Shabbat services and Torah study led by Rabbi Moldo followed by Oneg sponsored by the Sisterhood.
Sunday, September 30 - 10 AM to 12 noon - Religious School.
Sunday, September 30 - 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM - Library Open. Other times by request. Call Tim Solon, 632-4105.
Sunday, September 30 - 1:30 PM to 3 PM - Israeli & Jewish Dancing!! This will the third class of the season and a great time to join us. Contact Mary Weinstein (or any of the dancers) if you have any questions.
SAVE THE DATES!
The annual Hadassah Wine and Chocolate Event will be on Sunday, October 7 at Carol Fischer's house. Details to follow.
Join us for a Family Havdalah Experience Saturday, October 27 from 6-7pm. Let’s bid farewell to Shabbat and share in wishing one another a “Shavuah Tov”, a good week. This is a beautiful and brief service to be enjoyed by all ages, young and old. A Havdalah Kit project will be available following the service and of course, a yummy treat. Looking forward to seeing our Shul friends and meeting so many others. Get the word out to your family and friends and we’ll see you on October 27!
High Holy Day Services Schedule
| Tuesday 9/18 |
Kol Nidrei 7 pm |
| Wednesday 9/19 |
Yom Kippur 9 am start
Yizkor about 11:15 a.m.
Mincha 5:45 p.m.
Ne’ilah 6:45 p.m.
Tekiah G’dolah 7:45 p.m. |
| Friday 9/21 |
Services 7 pm |
| Saturday 9/22 |
Services 10:30 am |
| Monday 9/21 |
Sukkot Day 1 |
| Tuesday 9/25 |
Sukkot Day 2 - Office closed |
| Friday 9/28 |
Sukkot Dinner 6 pm, services 7 pm |
| Saturday 9/29 |
Shabbat Hol HaMoed 10:30 am |
| Monday 10/1 |
Shmini Atzeret Yizkor 11 am
Simchat Torah Hakkafot 6 pm |
| Tuesday 10/2 |
Simchat Torah - Office closed |
SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS
3 Cathy Berdan
5 Liz Wolf
9 Pewaubek Reid
10 Shira Michael
10 Craig Michael
13 Navit Reid
19 Rich Nolan
|
Weekly Message from our Board President
G'mar Hatima Tova. May you be sealed in the Book of Life. That’s a traditional greeting for Yom Kippur. Another one is "May you have an easy Fast," and we wish that for everyone, too. Kol Nidre is at 7 PM Tuesday night. Yom Kippur services start Wednesday at 9 AM. Ne’ilah is at 6:45 P.M. and the Shofar will be at 7:45. Then it’s Break the Fast, and our volunteers have been hard at work preparing for it. We hope to see you at services!
He did it! Cheyenne City Councilman Pete Laybourn noticed the Cottonwood tree in front of the Synagogue could use some trimming. He called to ask for permission, which was granted. Pete said he would contact the city Department of Urban Forestry to get instructions on how to trim the tree. He cut the lower branches off, and removed them, and the tree is looking a lot better. Thanks, Pete!
Our movie night was “Cast a Giant Shadow” which is a historical, emotional, and exciting film about the founding of Israel. It’s available in the Mt. Sinai Library and highly recommended.
Our Mt. Sinai Board of Directors meets this Thursday because of Yom Kippur (the normal meeting day is Wednesday). The Board will be beginning work on the budget for 2019, and plans for the annual Congregation meeting in December.
One thing we hope you notice in the large Sanctuary are the new plaques appearing on some of the seats. Sponsorship of the seats is $500 in the large Sanctuary, and $1000 in the small Sanctuary. The money raised will go to the Mt. Sinai Endowment Fund.
We’re going to be hungry on Wednesday because of the Fast, so this is a perfect time to talk about the next Shalom Dinner. Yes, we’re being mean. But after you have celebrated Yom Kippur, make plans to join us at Perkins Restaurant on Dell Range Blvd. on Thursday, September 27. We’ll make the reservations for 6:30 P.M.
Here's our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:
Di vegen fun teshuveh zeinen nit vainiker farborgen vi di vegen fun zind.
The ways of repentance are as much hidden as the ways of sin.
May you have an easy Fast, and G’mar Hatima Tova.
Shalom!
Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors
Rabbi's Column
This is the Rabbi's Erev Rosh Hashanah Sermon
Shanah Tovah!
In some ways I feel like the MC at the Melodrama, who said when I went, “If I tell a joke you have not heard already, then I am doing something wrong.” If a sermon on Erev Rosh HaShanah is at all concerned about Rosh HaShanah, it is unlikely to be brand new in the cosmic sense. An individual might possibly not have heard about the ideas being discussed, but among the group here, several of you could possibly comment afterwards, “I’m sure I heard something like this before” – and that’s not even considering the portion I deliberately repeat each year.
Still, just as the Holy Day season itself repeats annually, there are some things that I think we need to look at each year from our new vantage point. One of those things is Teshuvah, repentance.
Part of the idea of repentance is working towards Atonement – at-one-ment – with God. In the days of the TaNaCH this was most often done by bringing one of the requested items to feed the hungry – that is, the Kohanim and Levi’im. Which is partly why they were in charge of deciding if what you had brought granted you atonement. Bringing an inedible animal, or another item that was not permitted as a foodstuff, while possibly showing how much you knew you needed to get back in good with God and yourself, would not do the job because the point was not the bringing and preparation, but the proper consumption. We can learn from the concept of piggul – eating something that is past the due date which is three days after the barbecue. When somebody actually does this, it nullifies the entire offering retroactively.
In general, Teshuvah comes before atonement. In particular, the Ten Days of Repentance culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Just in case the busyness of the year might have made you forget, here is what Teshuvah is all about:
Recognize you messed up and admit it to yourself.
Apologize for what you did to the person whom you harmed.
Fix what was broken.
Never repeat that particular action.
One complication in interpersonal relationships is that an action which is relatively meaningless and completely harmless for you might be an action for which another person is doing Teshuvah. If somebody puts off doing something with you, and does not tell you why, and you are feeling no guilt in the relationship, there is always the possibility that when your friend blew you off it really had nothing to do with you, and is also none of your business.
While Judaism in general doesn’t encourage making a resolution as such on Rosh HaShanah, sometimes it feels like our efforts to do better each year are exactly like a resolution. I am given to understand concerning resolutions, you can make far too many of them or take the single one you make to unusual extremes. Some of the people in the neighborhood I live in seem to cater to the second style – based on their behavior, their resolution was to walk more each day. In order to do this, they park in front of somebody else’s doorway in a completely different section of the parking lot at best, and to a greater extreme, in a different apartment complex entirely. This allows them to do more walking, but is rather inconvenient for the person in front of whose door they have just parked, who probably had not made a resolution involving more walking – and might even have made a resolution involving getting places on time, and extra walking was not part of the plan.
When a person makes too many resolutions, there is just no time to work on all of them, and eventually – if you are like me – you just give up on almost all of them. Sometimes I even go too far in the other direction.
A person could also, of course, decide to make just one resolution, and then spend a bit of time figuring out the least amount of work that could be done and still have that resolution be considered accomplished.
I feel that both of these extremes should be avoided. I don’t know if it is exactly easy, yet the clearest way of knowing when enough is too much or not really enough is to focus on self-improvement. There is only one of each of us, after all.
Which is not at all the situation concerning all the things that require fixing in this world. No matter how much is accomplished, there is always something that did not get done, or did not get done properly. This even applies to self-improvement, as each time we get a bit better, we see how much better than that we could have been. So self-pacing, even when involved in self-improvement, is essential.
May each of us work on improving one thing about ourselves, and one thing about the world around us, and may none of us be damaged in a non-growthful way as we work. As mentioned in Pirkei Avot – the wisdom messages of the sages – you are under no obligation to complete any particular task, yet you may not use that realization to avoid the obligation to work at it.
Shanah tovah. |
