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Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Arnow 11/11/2022

Dear Kol Rinah Family, 

First, mazal tov to Jordan Stettner, who will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah at mincha this Saturday afternoon (3:30pm!).  Mazal tov too to his parents, Jennifer Jacobs and Jeff Stettner, and to his grandparents, Randee and Myron Jacobs.  

This was an extraordinary week for me.  

From Sunday through Wednesday, 200 hundred Conservative rabbis from around the world were here in St. Louis, at the Ritz in Clayton (we got a good rate when we booked back in 2018!) for the first in-person convention we've had since 2018, and the biggest in-person convention we've had in ten years.  

The sound of our voices together for mincha Sunday afternoon was overwhelming.  That first "Ashrei"--"happy are the ones" was bigger, deeper, than I could have imagined.  

Each morning there were options for learning.  I heard Emily Stein MacDonald from our own Berger Memorial Chapels in conversation with a rabbi from Connecticut about changes in Jewish funeral practices.  Yehuda Kurtzer of the Shalom Hartman Institute had a group of people thinking about what new, uniting, big ideas in the Jewish world could be.  My dad taught on hope, from his book on hope in Judaism.  Jewish Theological Seminary chancellor Shuli Rubin Schwartz taught on the evolving visions of her predecessors as JTS Chancellor, and her own vision.  Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, new Dean of the Rabbinical School of JTS spoke and had us thinking about where we do and importantly do not, find joy.  

And those were just the sessions I went to. (Rabbi Shafrin led a well-attended session entitled: "Engagement is a Verb: Building Strong and Responsive Communities.")

Monday afternoon, our own Rabbi Brad Horwitz helped organize outings around St. Louis, to the Arch, the Missouri History Museum, the Budweiser Brewery, and Busch Stadium.  

I went to the Arch, believe it or not, for the first time ever.  It was a beautifully clear day, and it was so neat to have a bird's eye perspective on our region, and to serve as a local explainer of our geography and history.  

Early Monday and Tuesday mornings there were learning and exercise options, including a 7am run led by Rabbi Jessica Shafrin.  Those who came loved it, and reported, "She is fast!"  

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evenings before dinner, we had "mishpachot," or "families."  These were small groups of about ten, facilitated by rabbis or others, to allow colleagues to process their days, and in some sense, our lives, while also giving some modality or experience that we can take home as well.  I was in a group led by a local therapist where we did some different kinds of meditation, which was so calming and quieting and grounding amidst some very intense days.  Rabbi Scott Slarskey led one of these groups too.  

The food at the Ritz was excellent.  No surprise.  

Monday night was perhaps the most riveting, searing time at the Convention.  We couldn't have all these rabbis come to St. Louis and only see and learn about baseball, beer and the Arch.  We needed to learn from St. Louis too, I felt. 

We had a panel conversation with Rabbi Susan Talve and Rev. Traci Blackmon, and Pastor (and now Dr.!) Carlos Smith and me, facilitated by Rabbi Amy Eilberg, the first woman ordained in the Conservative movement, back in 1985.  

We each told our stories of how we experienced Michael Brown's killing back in August 2014 (he was killed while I was on the bima my first Shabbat working at Kol Rinah), and the time after it.  We also spoke about the blessings and challenges of deep friendship and partnership across race and religion.  

Tuesday afternoon (and in smaller sessions the other days too), Susan Beaumont, a reverend and consultant to many congregations, who wrote a terrific book called, How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going: Leading in a Liminal Season, helped us think about how to lean in to the unsettledness of these times, rather than trying to automatically go back to how things were or establish a new normal too quickly.  

Tuesday evening, election night, we had some distracting fun, St. Louis-stye, with a trivia night.  We wrote a special category of Rabbinical Assembly trivia, there was a Bible category, and people were totally into it.  I was sitting at a table of mostly Israeli colleagues, and I was delighted that they had fun and felt like the questions were not only American in flavor.  (We came in fourth.)

Wednesday morning, we walked from the Ritz over to Memorial Park (the circular grassy park at the southeast corner of South Meremac and Carondolet Avenues in Clayton) to speak about reproductive rights to the media that we had invited.  The Rabbinical Assembly has a fifty-year record of supporting reproductive rights in America.  Colleagues, including Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael and Rabbi Professor Pamela Barmash and our partner and friend Amy Kuo Hammerman of NCJW St. Louis spoke clearly, movingly and forcefully for how reproductive rights are a religious right for Jews.  

You can see some of the coverage here: 

https://stljewishlight.org/top-story/reproductive-rights-are-a-conservative-jewish-value-so-say-100-rabbis-meeting-in-st-louis/
https://religionnews.com/2022/11/09/abortion-rights-scored-the-biggest-midterm-victories/

And now, all those rabbis are back home, having, I hope, been nourished, renewed, reinspired, and having reconnected with themselves, and friends new and old.  

It was an incredible blessing to help craft this experience.  Thank you to my Kol Rinah family for giving me the space to do so, and the position from which to do so.  

Looking ahead to this Shabbat, Rabbi Shafrin will lead Torah Talk on Zoom at noon today. 

Candle lighting is at 4:33pm. 

We'll have Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv at 6pm in the chapel.  

Tomorrow morning, we'll observe Veterans Shabbat--please join us for this annual day to honor our Jewish war veterans.  

Also, at 10:30am we'll have our second Kol HaMishpacha service for families with kids K-4th grade, led by Karen Kern and Rabbi Jessica Shafrin.  

Mincha and Jordan Stettner's bar mitzvah will be at 3:30pm.  Shabbat ends at 5:36pm.  


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)

rsday 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.”
Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784