Weekly Message from the Board President

We have some exciting news to share, but first some important (and relevant) background.  Last fall, the Mt. Sinai Board of Directors decided not to renew Rabbi Halfon’s contract.  Rabbi Halfon has worked very hard for us over the past four years, but the Board decided to go in a different direction.  The Rabbi’s contract ends on June 30, and he has been actively looking for new opportunities.

In the past, when we have been between Rabbis, lay leaders have led services.  We estimate it will take about a year to find a new Rabbi who will move to Cheyenne.  We’ll have more on the search in a moment.

We have also brought in student rabbis and scholars-in-residence when we have not had a Rabbi.  You may remember Jason Rosner, who came to Cheyenne twice a month when Rabbi Harley left.  He was a student at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, but did a great job for us, including the High Holy Days, Hanukah, and the Passover Seder.  We have reached out to rabbinical schools all over the country to find a student rabbi.

In the meantime, Jason Bloomberg reached out to Rabbi Joe Black of Temple Emanuel in Denver.  Temple Emanuel is Denver’s largest Synagogue.  Rabbi Black has been the Synagogue’s senior Rabbi for the past 15 years and has decided to retire.  He is also a musical performer with 7 albums and two songbooks out.  Rabbi Black came to Cheyenne and performed a concert for us several years ago.

So here’s the news.  Rabbi Black has agreed to come to Cheyenne and lead High Holy Day Services for us.  He will also come up other times during the year to lead services, teach classes, and meet with members of the congregation.  In fact, his first visit will be during Cheyenne Frontier Days (we’ll see if he wears a cowboy hat to lead services).  Rabbi Black will be in Cheyenne for Friday night services on July 18.  Other details of that visit are still being worked out.

The bottom line is this – that what many consider the best Rabbi in our region will be coming to Mt. Sinai to lead services, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

We are soon going to start the search for a new Rabbi, and that’s where you come in.  What should be look for in a Rabbi?  What kind of person do we want?

The next month will be spent preparing for the Yiddish Food Festival, which is June 1.  After that, we will hold a Zoom “Town Hall” meeting to talk about what we are looking for in a new Rabbi.  You can give us your opinions right now, by responding to our newsletter, or emailing [email protected].

We will then organize a Rabbi Search Committee, and you are all invited to participate.  The search committee will prepare a job description, create an ad, and then place the ad on various online job boards.  Then the committee will review the applicants, narrow it down to finalists, and present their recommendations to the Board.  After that, the finalists will be invited to lead services in Cheyenne (either by Zoom or in person), and then the Board of Directors will decide to make an offer.

We want you involved in the process.  After all, the person we hire will be your Rabbi, too.  Let’s start with your ideas on the kind of person we should look for.

But for now, we have to focus on the Yiddish Food Festival.  Cooking is underway on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings and we sure could use your help. Please contact Jeff Weinstein at 307-421-7189 for details or just show up.

We also have a note from Rabbi Halfon about a movie he is showing at the Synagogue this week:

This is a reminder to come this Thursday May 1 at 6:45 PM – 8:30 to see the award-winning movie “Walk on Water” (103 min.) featuring major Israeli star Lior Ashkenazi, German actors Caroline Peters and Knut Berger, and Palestinian actor Yousef  Sweid.  It is an important and timely film (from 2004 but even more relevant today!) which covers a lot of territory, including a) Jewish-German relations and guilt; b) Israeli-Palestinian issues; c) men’s healing and homophobia; d) some sights and sounds from modern Israel; and e) even some light-hearted and happy elements!   Ashkenzai plays a jaded Mossad hit man, who is given an “easy” assignment by his boss.   You have to see the movie to learn the rest.  (It also streams on some networks, but not on Youtube).  Best of all, most of the film is in English, with sections in Hebrew and German with subtitles.  A great film!

Rabbi Moshe will arrange or provide some refreshments for this special screening.

Here’s our Yiddish Phrase of the Week:

In a groysn taykh khapt men groyse fish.    
In a big river you catch big fish.   

Shalom,

Dave Lerner
President
Mt. Sinai Board of Directors

Donations to Israel

If you would like to send money to Israel, here are some options:

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A selection of Basic Jewish Library (Books, movies and other resources), recommended by Rabbi Halfon.  Please click here.

Community Partner with Family Promise of Cheyenne

Community Partner with Meals of Hope

April Birthdays

1              Nathan Weinstein

               Gayle Wagner

3             Daniel Solish

4             Warren “Zeev” Osher

6            Sally Nolan

9             Cecilia Linn

24           Carol Fischer

24           Tori Rosenthal

29           Barbara Karz-Wagman