Announcements

Got a Clue? Bring it to Game Night!

Posted by webmaster on July 5, 2012   |   Comments Off on Got a Clue? Bring it to Game Night!

When was the last time you played Twister?  Or an endless game of Monopoly?  Consider backgammon, chess, and the game of all games — Parcheesi.

We haven’t a Clue which board games might show up Saturday evening when we celebrate Temple Or Olam’s first ever Game Night, but we know it will be a great time.

We’ll start by chowing down, and since it’s game night, poultry lovers are encouraged to bring some.  Vegetarians will just have to produce tofu turkey or the like.  Chocolate is always welcome.

Bring your games, bring something to nosh and share, and expect a summer evening of pure companionability.  We’ll also sing the new week in with a Havdala ceremony complete with all the prerequesites — a cup of borei p’ri hagafen, spices, and blazing and braided candles.

We hope to see you there!

Time: 6 pm
Location: McGill Baptist Church, Concord
Date: July 7

July 2012 Shmoozeletter

Posted by Ralf Thiede on July 3, 2012   |   Comments Off on July 2012 Shmoozeletter

The July 2012 Shmoozeletter is on line (please click here to see it).  Points of interest:

  • July 7: Game Night (6:00 p.m.)
  • July 13: Kabbalat Shabbat service (7:00 p.m.)
  • Rosh Chodesh: July 21 (1:00 – 4:00 p.m.)
  • Aug. 11 and 18 Seminar: The Days of Awe
  • Meet the Mishpoche: Janet Sternbach
  • Implications of our No Jew Left Behind policy
  • In the mail: budget, membership packets

Schedule Changes

Posted by webmaster on June 12, 2012   |   Comments Off on Schedule Changes

Greetings Temple Or Olamites!

We have some schedule changes to report regarding our July Kabbalat Shabbat as well as our Congregational Game Night.

First, our game night has been officially scheduled for July 7th at 6pm.  We’ll be making further announcements as the date approaches, but be thinking about which game you’d like to bring for everyone to enjoy, and keep in mind that we’ll also be having a snack-ish potluck beforehand.

Second, July’s Kabbalat Shabbat service has been rescheduled a few times, but we are now ready to stick with a date:  The service will be held on July 13th at 7pm.  Please remember that during the summer, we only have one service per month—it would be wonderful to see as many of you as possible during these few meetings, so please make note of the dates.  Shavua Tov, ya’ll!

June 2012 Shmoozeletter

Posted by Ralf Thiede on May 31, 2012   |   Comments Off on June 2012 Shmoozeletter

Temple Or Olam’s Shmoozeletter for June 2012 is now on line (click here) – highlights:

  • The Love Song Service: Suggest a song!
  • Introducing Administrative Assistant Charlotte Miller
  • Annual Meeting: June 3 at 4:00 p.m.
  • Service: June 15
  • Game Night: July 14
  • Rosh Chodesh: July 21 (tentative)
  • Seminar ‘Days of Awe’: August 11 and 18
  • Meet the Mishpoche: Sergio Chait
  • Looking for a school building to house Religious School

Some Housekeeping and the Annual Meeting

Posted by webmaster on May 26, 2012   |   Comments Off on Some Housekeeping and the Annual Meeting

First of all, please make note of the fact that we have only one service in June; we do NOT have a Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday the 1st.

Our annual meeting, however, promises to provide plenty of entertainment, noshing and information, along with ample opportunities to visit.  (Just a reminder, the annual meeting is for members only, and the link to the evite is here.)  The meeting highlights will include:

  • Granting special awards to the kids in our religious school and the teachers who teach them.
  • Granting recognition to particular congregants
  • Chowing down on a very fine pot-luck dinner
  • Conducting the coolest raffle ever – you only have to show up to have a chance to win!

Items so far on the raffle list include….

  • A beautiful glass mezuzah
  • Two hand-crocheted blankets
  • Judaica items that will make you smile (including a Star of David ice cube tray)
  • A lovely kippah (made by our rabbi)
  • Chocolate rugelach!
  • A Jewish surprise in a bag

We’ll also announce the candidates for our board this next year, review our financials and, if we’re lucky, end with a little Israeli dancing!

Other summer plans include a game night, a love song service, and a Rosh Hodesh meeting for the women—keep an eye out for more information in the Shmooze!

May 2012 Shmoozeletter

Posted by Ralf Thiede on May 1, 2012   |   Comments Off on May 2012 Shmoozeletter

The May 2012 Shmoozeletter is posted here.  Enjoy!  Highlights:

  • JingJing Jacobson – Bat Mitzvah May 19
  • May 04 Shabbat Service in Dalton Park, Concord
  • Rabbi Thiede on Amendment One
  • Religious School Notes: The 7 Prayer Gates of the Amidah
  • Call for Donations: Or Olam Religious School Scholarships
  • June 03 Annual Meeting and Potluck Dinner
  • Religous School’s Violins of Hope Excursion
  • Birthdays and Yahrzeits

Kabbalat Shabbat Potluck – your questions answered!

Posted by webmaster on April 28, 2012   |   Comments Off on Kabbalat Shabbat Potluck – your questions answered!

We’ve had a few questions about our upcoming Kabbalat Shabbat Potluck @ Dorton Park, so in no particular order, here come the answers:

  • If you’re not so familiar with the area, the park is just down the street from McGill.  Here is a Google Earth view of the park, and for GPS purposes, the address is:  5790 Polar Tent Rd, Concord, NC.
  • Your animals are welcome to come and be blessed along with the rest of us!  The park is entirely pet friendly.
  • The potluck is “anything goes.” (Which means that those of us who eat meat will be eating it!)  Additionally, there is a grill, so we could cook hot dogs.

Again, if you’d like to indicate what you’re bringing, it would be appreciated.  So far, all we know is that there will be chicken nuggets!

Kabbalat Shabbat Potluck & Service @ Dorton Park, May 4th

Posted by webmaster on April 26, 2012   |   Comments Off on Kabbalat Shabbat Potluck & Service @ Dorton Park, May 4th

Those of you who attended our congregational Shabbat dinner on February 17th know what a fine experience it was to sit and visit and eat together, to hear fellow members blessing their loved ones, and to participate in a community that is interested in supporting and getting to know one another.

We will be doing something similar during our May 4th Kabbalat Shabbat service which, weather permitting, will be held at Dorton Park, shelter #1.  (If it rains, we’ll set up at the church.) We’ll begin the service at the regular time, and Rabbi Barbara will use the time to help teach us about the kind of rituals that are part and parcel of a Friday night home Shabbat. We’ll learn the sequence of opening prayers, we’ll set the table, light the candles, and sing Shalom Aleychem.  We’ll bless our partners and children, recite Kiddush, and say the motzi.  And then, of course, we’ll eat!

Our dinner will be pot luck, and everyone will need to bring either an entree, side item (vegetable, pasta, etc.), or dessert.  There is no official sign-up sheet, so it’s truly going to be luck of the draw! (If you’d like to send a note with what you’re bringing however, it would be appreciated! Email anhodges@yahoo.com.) Challah, wine, and juice will be provided.

After dinner, we’ll sing Shabbat songs and do some fun stuff (like the icebreaker at our last dinner). In essence, we’ll be learning Shabbat home ritual by doing it first in community. . . and we’ll have an amazing time, too!

Kabbalat Shabbat @ Dorton Park shelter #1
May 4th @ 7pm
Bring a dish to share!

By the By — Violins for Hope Exhibit is Free of Charge

Posted by Rabbi Thiede on April 9, 2012   |   Comments Off on By the By — Violins for Hope Exhibit is Free of Charge

I forgot to mention that little fact in my previous post.  The exhibit costs us nothing but our time and it is certainly worth that!

Please consider joining us for the Violins of Hope exhibit on April 22.  We’ll meet at 2 pm at UNC-Charlotte’s Center City Building (320 E. 9th Street).  It offers a great opportunity for fellowship, educational experience and sporting our  Temple Or Olam T-shirts…. (and if you don’t have one, feel free to ask Robbin Smith, our treasurer how to acquire one gorgeously Carolina blue Temple T-shirt).  🙂

Rabbi Barbara

Visiting the Violins of Hope Exhibit — As a Congregation

Posted by Rabbi Thiede on April 9, 2012   |   Comments Off on Visiting the Violins of Hope Exhibit — As a Congregation

Dear All,

I wrote the thesis for my first master’s degree on the Holocaust.  I have been teaching courses on the Holocaust and the history of European antisemitism for almost thirty years.  I was recently privileged to be a part of the activities around the Violins of Hope exhibit by giving the opening lecture at the UNC-Charlotte exhibit “Spots of Light: To Be a Woman in the Holocaust.”

You all know that remembering, honoring, and acknowledging this history is very important to me.  We are lucky to have the chance to remember merely by being together because our own congregation is blessed by the presence of Holocaust survivors Arthur and Ruth Kingberg.

I would very much like you all to invite you all to join with me in visiting the exhibit Violins of Hope at UNC-Charlotte Center City Building Gallery on April 22.  The exhibit includes 18 violins that tell stories of the Holocaust – its victims and survivors.  We may be making this trip as part of an interfaith experience with members of Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

We will meet at the gallery at 2 pm April 22.  Please RSVP to Rabbi.Thiede@or-olam.org by April 18 if you would like to be a part of this amazing trip.  Alan Coffman, one of our own, may be working as a docent there that very day!

Chag sameach to all,

Rabbi Barbara

Time: 2 pm
Date: April 22, 2012
Location: UNC-Charlotte Center City Building Gallery, 320 E. 9th Street