Announcements

Or Olam in the Loop – Our Weekly Bulletin on All Things TOO

LoopTOO’s Annual Potluck Picnic in the Park

Location: Dorton Park, Concord – Shelter 1
Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm Date: May 31

 

  • 10:00 – 11:00: Religious School Craft Activity
  • 11:00 – 11:30: Israeli dancing
  • 11:30: Picnic lunch
  • 12:00: Adult Education: Creating a New Ketubah for God and Israel. In many Sephardic congregations, prior to the Torah reading on the first day of Shavuot a ketubah le-Shavuot (marriage certificate for Shavuot) is read out loud. It functions as a symbolic betrothal of God and Israel. What would be our conditions for a marriage contract of sorts with the Holy One of Blessing? What, in the 21st century, needs to be written down, committed to heart and soul?
  • 12:00 – Religious School Jewpardy Game

Please bring some goodies to share. Cheesecake, blintzes, and ice cream are a traditional way to honor Shavuot. Though the holiday is past, dairy is welcome!

 

Miriam DancingKabbalat Shabbat Service – Unplugged

If the weather is fine, we’ll be outside at PUUC on Friday, June 5. Join us for a night summery song and intentional prayer.

Bring dancing shoes and something to share at our oneg!

Location: Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church 9704 Mallard Creek Rd
Time: 7 pm

Annual Meeting – June 7 four puzzle pieces

We start at 7:15 at McGill Baptist Church. Annual reports will be submitted and our new board slate and budget will be presented and voted on. Hope to see you then!

Location: McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Rd, Concord
Time: 7:15 pm

 

Or Olam in the Loop – Our Weekly Bulletin on All Things TOO

LoopKabbalat Shabbat Torah Service May 22

We begin a new book this Shabbat, the Book of Numbers (also known as B’midbar).  This book in our scroll picks up where Exodus left off, telling the story of the long wandonkey from Shrekdering of the Ancient Israelites.

What’s in the Book of Numbers? Korach, the dude who led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. A seer and a talking donkey. A goodly number of marches, hither and yon.  Fiery serpents and a metal one made by Moses himself.

This Friday night we will look at the Book of Numbers in the light of the haftorah from Hosea that accompanies it’s very first parsha.

Please bring something to share at oneg!

Friday, May 22, 7:00 pm
Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church, 9704 Mallard Creek Rd, Charlotte

ALEPHALEPH: Ruach Ha’Aretz Summer Retreat

July 6-12

Exploring Deep Ecumenism is the theme, and Rabbi Barbara is one of the teachers at this weeklong  retreat in at West Chester University in Pennsylvania.  Deep Ecumenism was a central teaching of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, z”l.  Deep Ecumenism teaches that all religious traditions are a way to the Holy One.

The retreat is preceded by “Getting It… Together,” a weekend celebrating the 25th anniversary of the publication of  The Jew in the Lotus with nationally recognized Jewish leaders who were part of the Jewish delegation that met with the Dalai Lama and inspired the well-known book.

For more information, head to aleph.org/ruach

Or Olam in the Loop – Our Weekly Bulletin on All Things TOO

LoopNo Tolerance for Domestic Violence: CVAN’s Men for Change

In 2013, CVAN provided safety, shelter & support to 24,548 women and children. For several years, we have organized a special fundraiser for Men for Change, a program for and by CVAN (Cabarrus Victims Assistance Network).

This year, our new Board Member At Large for Tikkun Olam, Will King (see below) is together with Ralf Thiede calling for donations to Men for Change. We can, as a congregation send this message: Domestic violence will not be tolerated. Domestic Violence

The men of our congregation will be listed together with other donors in a full-page ad on Father’s Day. Please join us by making a donation through our Paypal button or by sending your donation in no later than May 27th. Make your check out to Temple Or Olam and put “CVAN” in the memo line. Checks should be sent to the following address:

Temple Or Olam
P.O. Box 1135
Concord NC
28026-1135

For more information on CVAN and Men for Change, please email Will King at at-large@or-olam.org

PUUC Yard Sale – Calling for Volunteers!

Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church is holding a yard sale and fair on June 2oth this year and has invited TOO to help out.  The church needs help with making signs, general Yard saleoperations, aiding with children’s activities (which includes parades!), and the like.

This is a great way to show our gratitude for a wonderful year at PUUC, so please, if you are interested in a two-hour stint helping out at one of the many activities planned, please send an email to info@or-olam.org.  We’d love to see you there!

Or Olam in the Loop – Our Weekly Bulletin on All Things TOO

LoopNo Tolerance for Domestic Violence: CVAN’s Men for Change

In 2013, CVAN provided safety, shelter & support to 24,548 women and children. For several years, we have organized a special fundraiser for Men for Change, a program for and by CVAN (Cabarrus Victims Assistance Network).

This year, our new Board Member At Large for Tikkun Olam, Will King (see below) is together with Ralf Thiede calling for donations to Men for Change. We can, as a congregation send this message: Domestic violence will not be tolerated. Domestic Violence

The men of our congregation will be listed together with other donors in a full-page ad on Father’s Day. Please join us by sending your donation no later than May 27th. Make your check out to Temple Or Olam and put “CVAN” in the memo line. Checks should be sent to the following address:

Temple Or Olam
P.O. Box 1135
Concord NC
28026-1135

For more information on CVAN and Men for Change, please email Will King at at-large@or-olam.org

butterflies and tulipsSpring Brings Change!

We are reorganizing our lines of responsibility and management. The position of Temple Administrator has been eliminated. A board member has been added. Will King will be our new Board Member At Large with a focus on Tikkun Olam. Will also serves as our interim treasurer until July.

A full slate of board nominations will be coming to you via the Nominating committee in a few weeks as we prepare for our Annual Meeting. Stay tuned!

Passover, Day 6: Inspired by our Story

An Aramean who wanders (was) my father, and he went down Egyptward, and he sojourned there in few numbers, and he became there a nation, great, mighty and many. And they did evil to us / made us out to be evil and they oppressed us, and they put on us heavy service. And we cried out unto YHVH God of our ancestors, and YHVH heard our voice and saw our oppression/humiliation, and our laboring, and our being squeezed. And brought us unto this place, and gave to us this land, a land dripping milk and honey. And now, here, I have brought the first of the fruit of the earth that YHVH gave to me (Deut. 26: 5-10)

We were to say these verses, according to our Torah, when we brought our first fruits to the Temple for Shavuot.  But they also appear in our haggadah.

These few verses tell the story of Exodus in the briefest, most beautiful and heart-rending form.  Simple, straightforward, and anguished — but ending with promises and hope.

Each year we are asked to relive what it means  to be oppressed.  Yet most Americans live lives of relative wealth and freedom.  How are we to make this injunction real, rather than rote?

One possibility would be to consider donating time or resources to helping oppressed peoples in the world, and to do so each day of the Passover holiday.  Can we translate our conscious gratitude for all we possess into generosity directed towards the many dispossessed peoples of the world?

May our celebration of Pesach help us to liberate others.

Rabbi Barbara

Or Olam in the Loop — P.S…. Shakespeare Abridged!

LoopAnnouncing: TOO Director, Actor, and Congregant  Jacob Brayton Appearing this Weekend in….

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)

All 37 plays in 97 minutes!  First they did America,then they took on All The Great Books, now the bad boys of abridgement tackle the works of the Bard himself in this hysterical interpretation!Shakespeare-Abridged-copy-300x300

Where?  At the Lee Street Theater & Performing Arts Center at the Tom & Martha Smith Event Center 329 N. Lee Streey

When? This Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm.

Tickets available here: http://www.leestreet.org/tickets/

Or Olam in the Loop – Our Weekly Bulletin on All Things TOO

LoopSpecial Religious School This Sunday!

We will have a special session of Israeli dancing with Rebecca Grossman from 9:45-10:45 at Advent in the gym. All families are welcome to join us.Miriam Dancing

This Sunday is also our Tot Time with Rabbi Barbara. Children five and under are invited to sing, dance, and tell stories from 11-12 in the preschool classroom. You are welcome to come for the dancing and stay for Tot Time.

Sunday, April 12
Advent Lutheran Church

Seder medievalAn Absolutely Sensational Community Seder was had by All!

If you weren’t able to be here, you missed a true community Seder of members, friends, and relatives. Besides the always wonderful food from Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions, we danced sang, deliberated, and brought smiles to each other’s faces. And as usually happens, we had a head-clearing experience with the horseradish.

Many thanks to the generous cooks, to Ginger for providing the Seder plate items, and Melanie and Rabbi Barbara for composing an interactive and stimulating seder experience.  Could it be any better?  Next year at TOO’s community seder!

Annual meeting approaching Latinos

Our nominating committee for Board of Directors elections in June has been formed. They will be working in the next few weeks to fill positions for a dynamic, responsive Board.

Please give them your heartfelt consideration if they approach you with a need. It takes a loving village… to create a healthy congregation!

Or Olam in the Loop – Our Weekly Bulletin on All Things TOO

LoopMaking it Real, Not Rote: Temple Or Olam Community Seder

We’ll be engaging in plenty of new interactive exercises that will help us tell our story, understand it in our own terms, and learn how and why it can tell us how to be the kind of community and the kinds of menschy people we long to be.

Join us for a family-friendly seder that promises to be thought-provoking, fun, and a true learning experience.

All members were issued an evite and a link to the SignUpGenius for Seder preparation and buffet offerings. We are also thrilled to have quite a few guests joining us.

Seder plate
Several members have RSVP’ed to attend but did not note what food they want to bring. Please check the link below and tell us what delicious Passover dish you want to share. We are preparing to feed 45 people, 8 of which are children.
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0b48aba928a1f49-orolam

Sunday, April 5, 5:00 pm
Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church
9704 Mallard Creek Rd, Charlotte

Yom Hashoah 2015  Yom Hashoah candle

In recent years, European newspapers have reported a significant rise in acts of violence against Jews. In January and February of 2015 alone, Jews have been beaten, graves have been defaced and overturned in Jewish cemeteries, and Jews attending synagogue or going shopping have been murdered. Polls across the continent demonstrate a rise in antisemitism.

Some suggest that this phenomenon is linked to tensions in the Middle East, Israel’s settlement policies, treatment of Arab citizens, and control over Palestinian territories.

Is frustration over Israel’s position and politics actually linked to the rise in antisemitism elsewhere in the world? Is Anti-Zionism simply antisemitism in disguise?

This year, Temple Or Olam will mark Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a program that seeks to explore these difficult questions. Participants will be learning and studying together in small groups and sharing their conclusions in and with community.

Wednesday, April 15, 7:30 pm
Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church
9704 Mallard Creek Rd, Charlotte

Thanks to All for Helping us Do the Crowd-Sourcing…Thanks

Our ability to confidently pay our obligations, including the rabbi’s contract, rental agreements at Advent Lutheran and PUUC, and the like, comes from all of you who are paying your dues as you pledged to do. Thank you so much! The last email invoice for the year will be coming your way next week if you still owe dues for 2014-15.

Figures in a circleAnnual Meeting – Food, Fun (Really!) and a Request: Please Put it on Your Calendar!

What will we raffle off this year?  What will we feed you?

And most important, how will be ensure that we have fun while…electing officers, approve the budget and rabbi’s contract?  Stay tuned, we’ll let you know…

Sunday, June 7
5:00 pm
Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church
9704 Mallard Creek Rd, Charlotte

Or Olam in the Loop – Our Weekly Bulletin on All Things TOO

LoopKabbalat Shabbat this Friday…. and Learning to Find Love (in Leviticus!)

We begin Leviticus this week, the book so many discard as a tome filled with rules and regulations. But this is a text worth a closer and gentler look. This Friday, Rabbi Barbara will help us find the love in Leviticus. Guests of several kinds will be visiting this Shabbat, from once well-known members to the new and curious; please join us in welcoming them.  Oneg following!  Leviticus 2

Date: March 20
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church, 9704 Mallard Creek Road, Charlotte

Community Seder Around The Corner (on April 5)

Or Olam is bringing a new seder your way: Our theme is “Be the mensch you want to be, be the Jew you want to be!” We’ll be exploring and discussing this very question with humor, with care, and with aplomb (or a plum. To go with the orange. Come and see.)
Please join us for your congregation’s community Seder.
Adults $20, children 6-12 $10, nuclear family limit $60.

Date: April 5
Time: 5 p.m.
Location: Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church, 9704 Mallard Creek Road, Charlotte

Guest Request: Do You Have a Place At Your First Night Seder Table?

One of our Or Olam families has been given the opportunity host a former visitor at High Holy Days who remembers us with great fondness and will be in town for Pesach. She would like to have a place at someone’s table for First Seder, then will join us on Sunday for our community Seder.

Does anyone have a space for her at your table on Friday, April 3?  Please email the temple administrator at templeadministrator@or-olam.org

 

Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church Latino Immigration Forum  Latinos

You are invited to attend a forum on the most critical issues impacting the Latino community on Tuesday, March 24, 2015, at 7 p.m. at Piedmont UU Church.
Welcome: Reverend Robin Tanner, Lead Minister, Piedmont UU Church
Presenters: Benjamin A. Snyder, Associate Immigration Attorney, and Hector Vaca, Director of ACTION NC in Charlotte

Issues:

Current status of President Obama’s Executive Action on Childhood Arrivals and Parental Accountability
In-state tuition for Latino children
Municipal ID for undocumented immigrants

Tuesday, March 24, 2014
7 to 8:30 p.m.
9704 Mallard Creek Road, Charlotte

December 2014 Shmoozeletter

The December 2014 Shmoozeletter is on line (please click here).  This is the final issue; we have changed to a weekly push system – The Loop.  If you do not receive the Loop but would like to, please contact Ralf Thiede (webmaster@or-olam.org).  Highlights:

  • Final Issue
  • MiLev HaPardes
  • Fund raising results and donations
  • Marilyn’s Kvelling Corner
  • Dinner, Dancing, and Dessert 2015
  • Birthdays, Yahrzeits, and contact information