Membership News

A couple of months ago I finally had the chance to read “Tuesdays with Morrie”. It’s been 25 years since it was published – yes, I’m quite a bit behind on my book reading list. Morrie, thanks to Mitch Albom, left behind so many simple but profound and insightful lessons for us. One such simple and obvious lesson that I found so beautifully shared was:

“Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and who love you... In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right?” His voice dropped to a whisper. “But here’s the secret: in between, we need others as well.”

 

For much of our lives, we are surrounded by our relationships with parents, spouses and partners, children, siblings, extended family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Sometimes we need a simple reminder, like the one from Morrie, to remind us how much we need all of these relationships in our lives. And our Jewish values are replete with ways to respect, support, help and care for one another and serve to help us make and keep our relationships to one another healthy and strong.

As someone who has a role in working to provide meaningful ways for our members to engage, connect and build relationships with one another, I value the beautiful people and relationships that we have here at Kol Rinah. I recognize how needed each one of you is to our amazing community and I truly hope that you recognize it too.

 

There are many wonderful opportunities ahead to be together and to connect with one another. In January we have a full Shabbat line-up with a Kol HaMishpacha Family Shabbat, our Board Recognition Shabbat, a Young Families Tot Shabbat and our musical Kol Chadash service. We also have a beautiful, music-filled Friday Kabbalat Shabbat service every week. In honor of Martin Luther King Jr, on January 15th the St Louis Symphony Orchestra will be here at Kol Rinah to run a special program for our religious school KoREH, our Families group and all who would like to attend. And in February, we are so excited and honored to have Hazzan Joanna Dulkin with us for a whole weekend of singing and learning. Hazzan Dulkin served at Kol Rinah’s legacy congregation Shaare Zedek for many years and currently serves at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnesota. She is an amazing musician, teacher, leader and an all-around wonderful person – you do not want to miss this special weekend!