Dear Kol Rinah Family,
There's much happening in June (and this Shabbat!), but first a bit of Torah.
My colleague in Israel, Rabbi Arie Hasit, wrote the following today:
"This Shabbat, we start reading the book of Numbers. A series of censuses of the different tribes, number after number.
For 8 months, we’ve been obsessed with numbers.
245 days of war. 245 days of captivity. 295 soldiers. 120 hostages. 1200 murders on Oct 7. Tens of thousands of Gazans, some terrorists and some victims of their evil regimes refusal to accept any reasonable offer for a ceasefire — indeed when the only “reasonable” respond to Hamas is to ensure that they are never armed again.
But the Torah makes it clear that we don’t count in order to have a general idea. We count because every person matters. We count so that we don’t miss a single one.
Amongst our numbers, we are also counting the Omer, a time where we count up from the beginning of a harvest to its first fruits."
Amidst the counting up to Shavuot, which is nearly upon us, these other counts, of hostages, of days of war, of victims, of soldiers, weigh on me, on us.
It's so hard to keep track of all these different counts, of all these different rhythms. Trying to live and breathe in different rhythms simultaneously can be impossible.
May we count the blessings, the days, the good things in our lives and our world. And may we also keep counting the tragedies, the suffering, for as long as they continue.
But the truth is, there is no counting any of these things. No numbers can really capture our blessings, and no numbers can capture suffering, ours or anyone else's.
But we count nonetheless.
***
Tonight, Karen Kern and Will Soll will lead Kabbalat Shabbat at 6pm. Candle lighting is at 8:06pm.
Tomorrow, services begin at 9am. We'll bid farewell to Rabbis Tracy Nathan and Scott Slarskey. Rabbi Tracy and Reb Scott have been valued members of Kol Rinah, the St. Louis Jewish community, and most of all, the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School. We'll send them off with blessings, gratitude and love as they leave St. Louis and embark on their next adventure. All are welcome. (Reb Scott and Rabbi Tracy will be leading services, starting promptly at 9am. Words of Torah in their honor will be shared starting around 11am, and kiddush will be around 11:45am.)
Kiddush follows services.
Following Kiddush, we'll have a Pride Song Circle:
"Join us for a Pride Month-themed song circle, where we will learn melodies from Morocco, Italy, Iraq, Ukraine and a variety of other Jewish diaspora communities as a lens through which to explore the multiphonic nature of the Jewish people and what it means to elevate queer voices with the Jewish community."
Shabbat ends Saturday evening at 9:13pm.
Sunday June 9 on Zoom Verein is continuing with their learning on "Who Wrote the Bible." Register on the website to get the links. And here's the link to previous talks in this series, if you want to catch up.
Shavuot is next week, beginning the evening of Tuesday, June 11. We'll be joining with CRC and Bais Abe for our annual night of study (Tikkun Leil Shavuot) that evening at Bais Abe. The full Shavuot schedule is here and below:
Erev Shavuot - Tuesday, June 11, 2024
7:45pm - Mincha and Ma'ariv at Kol Rinah (in-person & livestreamed)
8:08pm - Candle lighting
9pm - Dairy Dinner at Bais Abe (RSVP was required by June 5th)
9:30pm-12:30am - Tikkun Leil Shavuot learning sessions
Wednesday, June 12
9am - Festival services at Kol Rinah (in-person & livestreamed)
6pm - Mincha, Maariv and Yizkor (in-person & livestreamed)
9:15pm - Candle lighting
Thursday, June 13
9am - Festival services at Kol Rinah (in-person & livestreamed)
10am - (approximately) Reading of the the Book of Ruth
11am - (approximately) Yizkor
9:15pm - Shavuot ends
Next Shabbat (June 15) we'll be celebrating "New Baby Shabbat." Cuteness will abound.
June 22 will be Kol Chadash, and June 29 will be Pride Shabbat. It's a busy month!
For more and collected Israel information, see this page on our website, as well as the Jewish Federation of St. Louis's Israel Resources page.
Every Shabbat and festival morning, we are still reciting a prayer for the State of Israel, a prayer for Israel Defense Forces soldiers, and a prayer for hostages.
May the one who makes peace in the heavens make peace over us, and over all Israel, and over all who dwell in the world.
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)
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 at 7am (8am on national holidays) and is not on Zoom)
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, for the stream, as well as for additional instructions:
https://www.kolrinahstl.org/kr-streaming
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Phone: 314-727-1747