Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Arnow 9/11/2020
Dear Kol Rinah Family,
I woke up this morning unsettled, sad. And I still am. Because it's September 11th. Even nineteen years later, the trauma of that day resides deep inside me, and maybe inside you too.
I find myself thinking about skies. The grayness of the sky here in St. Louis earlier this morning, that is starting now to clear up. The unnatural, smoked skies of California and Oregon. And the perfect blue sky in New York City in 2001. There are not many days I remember the sky. But I remember the sky that day. Are there days whose sky you can remember?
I can also remember the sky last Saturday--it was perfectly blue, and my bar mitzvah boy son Caleb joked wth me that if he looked long enough he could find a cloud.
Life and death, blessing and curse. Moses reminds us twice, in the space of just a few verses in this week's Torah reading, that God puts before us life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, Moses pleads with us.
Choosing life, and really thinking about what that means, is some of the Torah I need this Shabbat. In the wake of suicide attacks that killed thousands nineteen years ago, choosing life felt like a statement.
Today, we're doing everything we can to choose life--for ourselves and those we come into contact with, by wearing masks, socially distancing, and not ignoring potential virus symptons.
But we're also choosing life by not letting everything stop, and by living on. We're still breathing, just with masks.
Last Shabbat for my family was an exercise in living. We had been looking forward to celebrating our son Caleb's bar mitzvah with our entire Kol Rinah family, along with many friends and family from around the country who were planning, for many of them, their first trip to St. Louis ever.
Instead of being with us in person, almost three hundred screens joined us to share our in our joy, to live together with us, as Caleb demonstrated a little of who he is that makes us so proud of him. We are so grateful to all of you who were "present," and all of you who have reached out to let us know how the event touched you.
Choosing life this High Holidays for me is about being determined to still live, to still do the things constitutive of our Jewish lives, just in ways that allow us to choose life, and be safe, for ourselves and all those around us.
How can you choose life? Make sure you have a machzor. Call the office if you don't. Even if you don't usually, get a lulav and etrog this year. Deadline extended to Monday at noon.
This is all to say, let's celebrate and do the things we can do, even though it won't be the same. And let's choose life, at home, but together.
Tonight, we'll have Kol Rinah Brotherhood's pre-Kabbalat Shabbat L'Chaim at 5:30pm in the same Zoom room (same link) as mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat.
At 6pm we'll have Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat with Karen Kern, Rabbi Shafrin and me. We've been using Zoom breakout rooms to have some brief (four minute!) small group conversation on a Torah/life-related question during services. Check it out if you haven't joined us recently on a Friday night.
Candle lighting is at 6:56pm.
Tomorrow morning, we'll have Shabbat morning services streaming from our new sanctuary begining at 9:30am. The link is below, along with instructions for setting up your computer to stay on throughout Shabbat.
Shabbat ends at 7:53pm.
At 8pm, we'll gather on Zoom (link below--but the same link as for weekday evening and Friday evening services) for Havdalah on Zoom, followed by a short introduction to Selihot with Rabbi Shafrin and me. Here's a little more on what Selihot (or Selichot, if you prefer) is.
Sunday you can join Melissa Bellows for Havdalah at 10am.
At 4pm, Joanie Terrizi will be leading some embodied meditation on: “Right Here, Right Now: Getting Out of Our Heads at the Head of the Year.”
Monday afternoon at noon Karen Kern will be sharing 30 minutes of music for Elul--join her for a wonderful heart-opening time.
One other note about weekday minyanim--we've been a little short for minyan on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7am. If you're able to join us, your virtual presence will be greatly appreciated!
Shabbat shalom and see you on Zoom/Livestreaming,
Rabbi Noah Arnow
I woke up this morning unsettled, sad. And I still am. Because it's September 11th. Even nineteen years later, the trauma of that day resides deep inside me, and maybe inside you too.
I find myself thinking about skies. The grayness of the sky here in St. Louis earlier this morning, that is starting now to clear up. The unnatural, smoked skies of California and Oregon. And the perfect blue sky in New York City in 2001. There are not many days I remember the sky. But I remember the sky that day. Are there days whose sky you can remember?
I can also remember the sky last Saturday--it was perfectly blue, and my bar mitzvah boy son Caleb joked wth me that if he looked long enough he could find a cloud.
Life and death, blessing and curse. Moses reminds us twice, in the space of just a few verses in this week's Torah reading, that God puts before us life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, Moses pleads with us.
Choosing life, and really thinking about what that means, is some of the Torah I need this Shabbat. In the wake of suicide attacks that killed thousands nineteen years ago, choosing life felt like a statement.
Today, we're doing everything we can to choose life--for ourselves and those we come into contact with, by wearing masks, socially distancing, and not ignoring potential virus symptons.
But we're also choosing life by not letting everything stop, and by living on. We're still breathing, just with masks.
Last Shabbat for my family was an exercise in living. We had been looking forward to celebrating our son Caleb's bar mitzvah with our entire Kol Rinah family, along with many friends and family from around the country who were planning, for many of them, their first trip to St. Louis ever.
Instead of being with us in person, almost three hundred screens joined us to share our in our joy, to live together with us, as Caleb demonstrated a little of who he is that makes us so proud of him. We are so grateful to all of you who were "present," and all of you who have reached out to let us know how the event touched you.
Choosing life this High Holidays for me is about being determined to still live, to still do the things constitutive of our Jewish lives, just in ways that allow us to choose life, and be safe, for ourselves and all those around us.
How can you choose life? Make sure you have a machzor. Call the office if you don't. Even if you don't usually, get a lulav and etrog this year. Deadline extended to Monday at noon.
This is all to say, let's celebrate and do the things we can do, even though it won't be the same. And let's choose life, at home, but together.
Tonight, we'll have Kol Rinah Brotherhood's pre-Kabbalat Shabbat L'Chaim at 5:30pm in the same Zoom room (same link) as mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat.
At 6pm we'll have Mincha and Kabbalat Shabbat with Karen Kern, Rabbi Shafrin and me. We've been using Zoom breakout rooms to have some brief (four minute!) small group conversation on a Torah/life-related question during services. Check it out if you haven't joined us recently on a Friday night.
Candle lighting is at 6:56pm.
Tomorrow morning, we'll have Shabbat morning services streaming from our new sanctuary begining at 9:30am. The link is below, along with instructions for setting up your computer to stay on throughout Shabbat.
Shabbat ends at 7:53pm.
At 8pm, we'll gather on Zoom (link below--but the same link as for weekday evening and Friday evening services) for Havdalah on Zoom, followed by a short introduction to Selihot with Rabbi Shafrin and me. Here's a little more on what Selihot (or Selichot, if you prefer) is.
Sunday you can join Melissa Bellows for Havdalah at 10am.
At 4pm, Joanie Terrizi will be leading some embodied meditation on: “Right Here, Right Now: Getting Out of Our Heads at the Head of the Year.”
Monday afternoon at noon Karen Kern will be sharing 30 minutes of music for Elul--join her for a wonderful heart-opening time.
One other note about weekday minyanim--we've been a little short for minyan on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7am. If you're able to join us, your virtual presence will be greatly appreciated!
Shabbat shalom and see you on Zoom/Livestreaming,
Rabbi Noah Arnow
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.
Shabbat services in-person, streaming.
To stream kolrinahstl.org/kr-streaming
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Friday 9am – 3pm
Phone: 314-727-1747
Friday 9am – 3pm
Phone: 314-727-1747
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Thu, April 25 2024 17 Nisan 5784