Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Arnow 10/21/2022
Dear Kol Rinah Family,
Just in these couple of days since the holidays ended, I've been quite busy planning, creating, working.
When God rests from God's labors after all of the creating of the first six days, it's as if God wants to stretch God's metaphorical arms, let out a contented sigh, and admire God's handiwork and effort.
I definitely can relate to this. Can you?
Of course, God barely gets to do that, if at all. Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day, and, as legend (aka midrash) has it, they ate the forbidden fruit and were exiled from the garden of Eden all before the first Shabbat even began.
So maybe that seventh day was already not a sign of contentedness on God's part, but a bit of frustration and exhaustion with things not going how God had planned.
And even more, I can relate to this.
Either way, whether we take Shabbat as a time for contentedness or to (re)gather our strength and to prepare to try again, putting aside our frustrations for the week, it's a real gift.
And by the way--if we're feeling too content, we probably are not noticing the ways things are less good than we think they are. And if we're too frustrated, we're probably not noticing the real good there is.
I'll share two extra pieces of Torah this week.
First, my friend, colleague and teacher Rabbi Elie Kaunfer of Hadar is kicking off a year of writing a weekly d'var Torah connecting the weekly Torah portion to prayer. HIs first (and beautiful) d'var Torah is here and you can sign up to receive them weekly (recommended!) here.
Second, here's a fascinating piece on how the "forbidden fruit" of which Adam and Eve ate became an apple--a journey through Bible, art and linguistics!
Looking back at last week for just a moment, I want to mention our honorees on Simchat Torah, Cindy Payant and Gary Kodner. It's customary to honor people with the aliya for the completion of reading the Torah, and with the first aliya of the Torah. The first is called the Chattan/Kallat Torah (groom/bride of Torah) and the second is the Chattan/Kallat Breisheet (the groom/bride of Genesis).
Cindy was our Kallat Torah. In a sentence, Cindy is such a welcoming and steady and regular presence at all of our minyanim, whether Zoom, or Shabbat or holidays, making everyone feel welcome, she serves as Kol Rinah's Secretary, and cares so much about the pepole and ritual life of our shul.
Gary was our Chattan Breisheet. Gary has served as Kol Rinah's president since January 2021, working so hard both at his role, and also in helping to design and create the aesthetics of our new building, including the stained glass in the community hall and all the signage you see through out the building, and he's also a regular presence at Shabbat and holiday services, and a support to our entire congregation.
Much, much more could be said about each. Mazal tov Cindy and Gary, and thank you both!
Today at noon, Rabbi Shafrin will be leading Torah Talk on Zoom. He'll be teaching about how the Torah and the rabbis look at the creation stories of people as instructive of how people are meant to live.
Candle lighting is at 5:57pm.
Tonight at 6pm we'll have our regular and beautiful Kabbalat shabbat service in the chapel. I don't always feel in the mood for Kabbalat Shabbat before we start, but by the end, I'm always so much happier and calmer. Come join us!
Tomorrow, we start at 9am. We'll be celebrating the bar mitzvah of our Shinshin, Guy Dobrin. Guy has never had an aliya to the Torah before--he'll have an aliya, read a little Torah, and share some words of Torah himself as well. Mazal tov!
We'll also celebrate the aufruf of our members Zach Rosenblatt and Laura Goldsticker, in anticipation of their upcoming wedding next weekend. Mazal tov!
At 10:30am, Karen Kern and Rabbi Jessica Shafrin will lead our first "Kol Hamishpacha," a service for families with kids six and up. Come check it out!
Needless to say, we'll have some kiddush.
Mincha Saturday afternoon will be at 5:45pm and Shabbat ends at 6:59pm.
Next week, Wednesday evening at 7:30pm, I'm so excited to be in conversation with SLU Professor Rachel Greenwald Smith at MaTovu. Event details are here. Her sharp, beautiful, challenging book, On Compromise, "is an argument against contemporary liberal society’s tendency to view compromise as an unalloyed good—politically, ethically, and artistically." We'll be talking about how compromise plays into Jewish tradition and modern Jewish culture.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be in the last pushes of planning and working (as Convention Chair) on the Rabbinical Assembly's Convention, which will be here in St. Louis, at the Ritz, November 6-9. I'm so excited to share St. Louis with colleagues from around the world, and for some of them to see Kol Rinah too. And a few colleagues will be at Kol Rinah November 5 for us to learn with and from them!
Shabbat shalom, and see you in shul,
Rabbi Noah Arnow
ZOOM AND STREAMING LINKS
To join our Zoom Minyanim or classes, click on the desired meeting link, or call into either of the following numbers:
+1 312 626 6799
+1 646 558 8656
Then, when prompted, enter the Meeting ID of the desired minyan/class then press #. Then, when prompted, enter the password then press #.
Services (all times Central)
Evening Minyan on Zoom
Sunday-Thursday evenings at 6pm (but not on Jewish holidays)
Friday evenings when not in person one hour before candle lighting
Morning Minyan on Zoom
Monday-Wednesday and Friday mornings at 7am; Sunday mornings and national holidays at 8am (not including Jewish holidays)
(Please note that Thursday morning minyan is now being held in-person and is not on Zoom.)
Learning Opportunities
Torah Talk with Rabbi Arnow or Rabbi Shafrin
Every Friday at 12pm
Join us for study and discussion of the week's Torah portion.
Friday nights and Shabbat mornings
Fridays, 6pm in the chapel (no streaming)
Saturdays, 9:00am (9:30am when we are doing our musical Kol Chadash service)
Click the link below, then click the triangular "play" buttom:
tinyurl.com/KR-Streaming
You can also set your computer or device in advance so that this link will continue streaming continuously and you will not have to press any buttons on Shabbat. To make sure that your device will not shut itself down or do into sleep mode, follow the directions below to disable sleep mode:
For PC:
To disable automatic Sleep:
1. Open up Power Options in the Control Panel. In Windows 10 you can get there from right clicking on the start menu and going to Power Options
2. Click "change plan settings" next to your current power plan
3. Change "Put the computer to sleep" to never
4. Click "Save Changes"
For Apple Products:
1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click "Energy Saver."
2. Do either of the following:
a. Set the amount of time your computer or display should wait before going to sleep: Drag the “Computer sleep” and “Display sleep” sliders, or the “Turn display off after” slider.
b. Keep your Mac from going to sleep automatically: Select “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.”
Just in these couple of days since the holidays ended, I've been quite busy planning, creating, working.
When God rests from God's labors after all of the creating of the first six days, it's as if God wants to stretch God's metaphorical arms, let out a contented sigh, and admire God's handiwork and effort.
I definitely can relate to this. Can you?
Of course, God barely gets to do that, if at all. Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day, and, as legend (aka midrash) has it, they ate the forbidden fruit and were exiled from the garden of Eden all before the first Shabbat even began.
So maybe that seventh day was already not a sign of contentedness on God's part, but a bit of frustration and exhaustion with things not going how God had planned.
And even more, I can relate to this.
Either way, whether we take Shabbat as a time for contentedness or to (re)gather our strength and to prepare to try again, putting aside our frustrations for the week, it's a real gift.
And by the way--if we're feeling too content, we probably are not noticing the ways things are less good than we think they are. And if we're too frustrated, we're probably not noticing the real good there is.
I'll share two extra pieces of Torah this week.
First, my friend, colleague and teacher Rabbi Elie Kaunfer of Hadar is kicking off a year of writing a weekly d'var Torah connecting the weekly Torah portion to prayer. HIs first (and beautiful) d'var Torah is here and you can sign up to receive them weekly (recommended!) here.
Second, here's a fascinating piece on how the "forbidden fruit" of which Adam and Eve ate became an apple--a journey through Bible, art and linguistics!
Looking back at last week for just a moment, I want to mention our honorees on Simchat Torah, Cindy Payant and Gary Kodner. It's customary to honor people with the aliya for the completion of reading the Torah, and with the first aliya of the Torah. The first is called the Chattan/Kallat Torah (groom/bride of Torah) and the second is the Chattan/Kallat Breisheet (the groom/bride of Genesis).
Cindy was our Kallat Torah. In a sentence, Cindy is such a welcoming and steady and regular presence at all of our minyanim, whether Zoom, or Shabbat or holidays, making everyone feel welcome, she serves as Kol Rinah's Secretary, and cares so much about the pepole and ritual life of our shul.
Gary was our Chattan Breisheet. Gary has served as Kol Rinah's president since January 2021, working so hard both at his role, and also in helping to design and create the aesthetics of our new building, including the stained glass in the community hall and all the signage you see through out the building, and he's also a regular presence at Shabbat and holiday services, and a support to our entire congregation.
Much, much more could be said about each. Mazal tov Cindy and Gary, and thank you both!
Today at noon, Rabbi Shafrin will be leading Torah Talk on Zoom. He'll be teaching about how the Torah and the rabbis look at the creation stories of people as instructive of how people are meant to live.
Candle lighting is at 5:57pm.
Tonight at 6pm we'll have our regular and beautiful Kabbalat shabbat service in the chapel. I don't always feel in the mood for Kabbalat Shabbat before we start, but by the end, I'm always so much happier and calmer. Come join us!
Tomorrow, we start at 9am. We'll be celebrating the bar mitzvah of our Shinshin, Guy Dobrin. Guy has never had an aliya to the Torah before--he'll have an aliya, read a little Torah, and share some words of Torah himself as well. Mazal tov!
We'll also celebrate the aufruf of our members Zach Rosenblatt and Laura Goldsticker, in anticipation of their upcoming wedding next weekend. Mazal tov!
At 10:30am, Karen Kern and Rabbi Jessica Shafrin will lead our first "Kol Hamishpacha," a service for families with kids six and up. Come check it out!
Needless to say, we'll have some kiddush.
Mincha Saturday afternoon will be at 5:45pm and Shabbat ends at 6:59pm.
Next week, Wednesday evening at 7:30pm, I'm so excited to be in conversation with SLU Professor Rachel Greenwald Smith at MaTovu. Event details are here. Her sharp, beautiful, challenging book, On Compromise, "is an argument against contemporary liberal society’s tendency to view compromise as an unalloyed good—politically, ethically, and artistically." We'll be talking about how compromise plays into Jewish tradition and modern Jewish culture.
Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be in the last pushes of planning and working (as Convention Chair) on the Rabbinical Assembly's Convention, which will be here in St. Louis, at the Ritz, November 6-9. I'm so excited to share St. Louis with colleagues from around the world, and for some of them to see Kol Rinah too. And a few colleagues will be at Kol Rinah November 5 for us to learn with and from them!
Shabbat shalom, and see you in shul,
Rabbi Noah Arnow
ZOOM AND STREAMING LINKS
To join our Zoom Minyanim or classes, click on the desired meeting link, or call into either of the following numbers:
+1 312 626 6799
+1 646 558 8656
Then, when prompted, enter the Meeting ID of the desired minyan/class then press #. Then, when prompted, enter the password then press #.
Services (all times Central)
Evening Minyan on Zoom
Sunday-Thursday evenings at 6pm (but not on Jewish holidays)
Friday evenings when not in person one hour before candle lighting
Morning Minyan on Zoom
Monday-Wednesday and Friday mornings at 7am; Sunday mornings and national holidays at 8am (not including Jewish holidays)
(Please note that Thursday morning minyan is now being held in-person and is not on Zoom.)
Learning Opportunities
Torah Talk with Rabbi Arnow or Rabbi Shafrin
Every Friday at 12pm
Join us for study and discussion of the week's Torah portion.
Friday nights and Shabbat mornings
Fridays, 6pm in the chapel (no streaming)
Saturdays, 9:00am (9:30am when we are doing our musical Kol Chadash service)
Click the link below, then click the triangular "play" buttom:
tinyurl.com/KR-Streaming
You can also set your computer or device in advance so that this link will continue streaming continuously and you will not have to press any buttons on Shabbat. To make sure that your device will not shut itself down or do into sleep mode, follow the directions below to disable sleep mode:
For PC:
To disable automatic Sleep:
1. Open up Power Options in the Control Panel. In Windows 10 you can get there from right clicking on the start menu and going to Power Options
2. Click "change plan settings" next to your current power plan
3. Change "Put the computer to sleep" to never
4. Click "Save Changes"
For Apple Products:
1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click "Energy Saver."
2. Do either of the following:
a. Set the amount of time your computer or display should wait before going to sleep: Drag the “Computer sleep” and “Display sleep” sliders, or the “Turn display off after” slider.
b. Keep your Mac from going to sleep automatically: Select “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.”
Wed, April 24 2024
16 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.
Log in to view the Zoom Links page.
Thursday mornings 7am are in-person only.
Shabbat services in-person, streaming.
To stream kolrinahstl.org/kr-streaming
Office Hours
Monday – Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am – 3pm
Phone: 314-727-1747
Friday 9am – 3pm
Phone: 314-727-1747
Find it at Kol Rinah
Shavua Tov
Contribute to a Shabbat Kiddush
Celebrate life-cycle events or honor a loved one. A Shabbat Kiddush is a beautiful way of sharing a moment with the community!
Want to sponsor a specific Kiddush? Contact Barbara Shamir,
Event Request
FAQ's
Wed, April 24 2024 16 Nisan 5784