Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Shafrin 8/21/2020
Dear Kol Rinah Family,
Chodesh tov! Today is the first day of the month of Elul, the final month in the Jewish calendar. This entire month is often seen as a spiritual journey, marked with stops designed to push us each to reflect on ourselves and our lives. We add a special psalm, Psalm 27, to each service throughout this High Holiday season; we sound the shofar each morning in order to wake us up to the reality of who we are, who we know we really should be, and to notice the difference between the two. We are given cues and hints that now is the time to do the hard work of setting not only priorities for our lives, but making plans for living by them.
And it is very, very fitting that we begin that month reading Parashat Shoftim, a Torah portion that is all about leadership, community, and looking at ourselves collectively to create systems which allows everyone to thrive. Our Torah teaches that justice, fairness, equity, and a place in the community are not commodoties to be given, but rather rights inherent in the system.
Conversely, the parashah reminds us that justice only is acheived when it is pursued by all people and enshrined by leaders.
Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20)
A just world is only built up through the collective work and the caring bonds of an entire community. We must work together, not only to make the world the best it can be, but simply to live. So many of us are realizing in these last few months how critical it is for all of us to have people on whom we can rely, no matter who we are, our work status, our age, our place in the community. Most importantly, the Torah portion emphasizes, over and over again, how clear thinking, working together, and tough, honest accounting of ourselves, as individuals and as a community, is the only way to build a life for ourselves.
It is fitting, as we look to a year full of challenges and opportunities that we could never have imagined, that we are reminded this week to ground ourselves in what we know to be true. Just as the Jewish people, sitting on the banks of the Jordan, awaiting their futures in the Land of Israel, were asked to look at where they had been order to map out where they were headed, so too, our Tradition asks us to look honestly at ourselves, at the past 11 months before moving forward into the next year.
I hope that we can say we worked together with others, that we fought the good fights and stood by our beliefs. I hope we can say we reached out when we saw people in need. I hope we can say that we gave what we could, our time, resources, knowledge, skills, and compassion to our community. I hope we can say that yes, we made mistakes, we own them, and we acknowledge that we fell short, and also that we will work to do better. I hope that we can each become the best versions of ourselves in this new year, 5781.
This week is an incredibly exciting one. I am so pleased to wish a hearty mazal tov to Jacob Kalachek, who will be celebrating his bar mitzvah this coming Thursday, August 27, at 9:00 am! I also want to say mazal tov to his parents, Josh and Cindy Kalacheck, his sister Ella, and his grandmother, Sylvia Silver, as well as their entire extended family. We will be streaming the service via Zoom, and the Kalachek family welcomes anyone who would like to daven along with the service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81192963616
Additonally, there will also be a regular minyan at 7:00 am on Thursday.
All of the links for minyanim can be found below. Last night, you should have received an incredibly detailed email outlining the many opportunities for learning, growth, connection, and spiritual meaning we have in our community this coming month. If you have any questions, please contact the office (314-727-1747) or consult the Kol Rinah website.
Minyan continues this week at the usual times (see times and links below), and today at noon, Rabbi Arnow will be teaching Torah Talk connected to the themes of teshuvah (repentence/return). Throughout the month of Elul, we will be reading selections from the incredible writings of Rabbeniu Yonah (Rabbi Jonah ben Avraham, a 13th Century Spanish rabbi and moral philosopher) and looking at ways we can reflect on ourselves and our lives in order to put our best foot forward in the year to come.
Tonight at 6:00 pm, we'll gather on Zoom for mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat. Rabbi Arnow, Karen Kern, and I will try to start off Shabbat with some lively and soulful tunes, as we kick off the new month of Elul with some incredible song, reflection, and thoughtful communty connection. Candle lighting this evening will be at 7:28 pm. Havdallah will be at 8:30 pm on Saturday.
Sunday morning, at 10:00 am, there will be Havdalah led by our own Melissa Bellows. At 11:30am, Rabbi Arnow will lead the first session of his two-part series on Jewish views of "cancel culture," looking at how our Tradition handles individuals or groups who say or do problematic things, and how individuals and communities move forward.
We also have two special events for sanctifying our new building space. On Sunday, August 23, we will be planting our time capsule at 1:00pm, and on Wednesday, at 4:00 pm, we will be posting our new, gorgeous mezuzah, designed by our own Gary Kodner. In order to keep everyone safe and healthy, we will be having only the people involved in the event at the new building, but we encourage everyone to participate remotely. We will be streaming these events on Kol Rinah's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/KolRinahSTL
Shabbat shalom and see you on Zoom,
Rabbi Scott Shafrin
Chodesh tov! Today is the first day of the month of Elul, the final month in the Jewish calendar. This entire month is often seen as a spiritual journey, marked with stops designed to push us each to reflect on ourselves and our lives. We add a special psalm, Psalm 27, to each service throughout this High Holiday season; we sound the shofar each morning in order to wake us up to the reality of who we are, who we know we really should be, and to notice the difference between the two. We are given cues and hints that now is the time to do the hard work of setting not only priorities for our lives, but making plans for living by them.
And it is very, very fitting that we begin that month reading Parashat Shoftim, a Torah portion that is all about leadership, community, and looking at ourselves collectively to create systems which allows everyone to thrive. Our Torah teaches that justice, fairness, equity, and a place in the community are not commodoties to be given, but rather rights inherent in the system.
Conversely, the parashah reminds us that justice only is acheived when it is pursued by all people and enshrined by leaders.
Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20)
A just world is only built up through the collective work and the caring bonds of an entire community. We must work together, not only to make the world the best it can be, but simply to live. So many of us are realizing in these last few months how critical it is for all of us to have people on whom we can rely, no matter who we are, our work status, our age, our place in the community. Most importantly, the Torah portion emphasizes, over and over again, how clear thinking, working together, and tough, honest accounting of ourselves, as individuals and as a community, is the only way to build a life for ourselves.
It is fitting, as we look to a year full of challenges and opportunities that we could never have imagined, that we are reminded this week to ground ourselves in what we know to be true. Just as the Jewish people, sitting on the banks of the Jordan, awaiting their futures in the Land of Israel, were asked to look at where they had been order to map out where they were headed, so too, our Tradition asks us to look honestly at ourselves, at the past 11 months before moving forward into the next year.
I hope that we can say we worked together with others, that we fought the good fights and stood by our beliefs. I hope we can say we reached out when we saw people in need. I hope we can say that we gave what we could, our time, resources, knowledge, skills, and compassion to our community. I hope we can say that yes, we made mistakes, we own them, and we acknowledge that we fell short, and also that we will work to do better. I hope that we can each become the best versions of ourselves in this new year, 5781.
This week is an incredibly exciting one. I am so pleased to wish a hearty mazal tov to Jacob Kalachek, who will be celebrating his bar mitzvah this coming Thursday, August 27, at 9:00 am! I also want to say mazal tov to his parents, Josh and Cindy Kalacheck, his sister Ella, and his grandmother, Sylvia Silver, as well as their entire extended family. We will be streaming the service via Zoom, and the Kalachek family welcomes anyone who would like to daven along with the service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81192963616
Additonally, there will also be a regular minyan at 7:00 am on Thursday.
All of the links for minyanim can be found below. Last night, you should have received an incredibly detailed email outlining the many opportunities for learning, growth, connection, and spiritual meaning we have in our community this coming month. If you have any questions, please contact the office (314-727-1747) or consult the Kol Rinah website.
Minyan continues this week at the usual times (see times and links below), and today at noon, Rabbi Arnow will be teaching Torah Talk connected to the themes of teshuvah (repentence/return). Throughout the month of Elul, we will be reading selections from the incredible writings of Rabbeniu Yonah (Rabbi Jonah ben Avraham, a 13th Century Spanish rabbi and moral philosopher) and looking at ways we can reflect on ourselves and our lives in order to put our best foot forward in the year to come.
Tonight at 6:00 pm, we'll gather on Zoom for mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat. Rabbi Arnow, Karen Kern, and I will try to start off Shabbat with some lively and soulful tunes, as we kick off the new month of Elul with some incredible song, reflection, and thoughtful communty connection. Candle lighting this evening will be at 7:28 pm. Havdallah will be at 8:30 pm on Saturday.
Sunday morning, at 10:00 am, there will be Havdalah led by our own Melissa Bellows. At 11:30am, Rabbi Arnow will lead the first session of his two-part series on Jewish views of "cancel culture," looking at how our Tradition handles individuals or groups who say or do problematic things, and how individuals and communities move forward.
We also have two special events for sanctifying our new building space. On Sunday, August 23, we will be planting our time capsule at 1:00pm, and on Wednesday, at 4:00 pm, we will be posting our new, gorgeous mezuzah, designed by our own Gary Kodner. In order to keep everyone safe and healthy, we will be having only the people involved in the event at the new building, but we encourage everyone to participate remotely. We will be streaming these events on Kol Rinah's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/KolRinahSTL
Shabbat shalom and see you on Zoom,
Rabbi Scott Shafrin
Thu, April 25 2024
17 Nisan 5784
MISSION: Create a welcoming community that embraces Torah, meaningful worship, lifelong learning, music, Israel, and tikkun olam, guided by the tenets of Conservative Judaism.
Calendar & Services
Weekday minyans on Zoom:
Mornings- M, T, W, F 7am & Sun 8am.
Evenings- Sun-Th 6pm.
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Thursday mornings 7am are in-person only.
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Phone: 314-727-1747
Friday 9am – 3pm
Phone: 314-727-1747
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Thu, April 25 2024 17 Nisan 5784