Services

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

LoopGoing Gleaning, Anyone?

Our last group helped in the pulling of over 6600 pounds of corn to feed local hungry!     We’ve just heard that there is a new gleaning opportunity this Tuesday.  Please feel email Arlene Filkoff if you are interested in helping out at afilkoff@gmail.com

Love Song Service on July 18 – This Friday!

We’ve had some wonderful press for this service, but we all know our congregants are the best way to let people know about Temple Or Olam.  So please help us get the word out about a service that can be a great introduction to the joy and fun we like to have at Temple Or Olam.

Our Love Song service is great for bringing friends — of any denomination.  Read more about this year’s Love Song Service in Rabbi Barbara’s MiLev Ha Pardes in the July Shmoozeletter.

Help us get the word out about Temple Or Olam’s creative way of looking at the Kabbalat Shabbat by bringing bring guests.  And don’t forget to find that tie dye T-shirt…

Location and time: Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church on July 18 at 7 p.m.

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

LoopRelocating, Welcoming, Celebrating: TOO’s First Official Kabbalat Shabbat Service at Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church!

It will be a sweet night in a sanctuary we’ve all learned to love.  This Friday, we’ll be celebrating our relocation to University City together with The Reverend Robin Tanner and members of the Piedmont UU community.  We’ll explore what radical hospitality we hope to offer — on both sides.

We’ll also address Parsha Korach, which tells us what happens when community breaks down.  How do we rebuild in the light after experiencing the worst kind of darkness?

Please join us for this milestone service and bring something nourishing to share.  Let’s show our hosts and guests what kind of community we are — welcoming, open, and thrilled by a good nosh.

Date: June 20

Location: Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church, 9704 Mallard Creek Rd, Charlotte. Time: 7 p.m.

Calling all Fellow Dancing and Dance Supporters!

The JUNE 28 Israeli Dance Experience will be held at the Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church, 9700 Mallard Creek Road in Charlotte from 2:00-4:00 PM.

FREE REFRESHMENTS or bring some to share. Cost $10/adult, $5/child. RSVP to either Marilynaf@aol.com or Arlene at afilkoff@gmail.com. Pre-register by going to the Temple Or Olam’s home page, (http://or-olam.org) and click on the Pay Pal link. Please specify that your payment is for “Israeli Dancing.” However, you are welcome to pay at the door. We need your feet and financial support!

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

LoopShavuot Picnic and Activities Galore at Dorton Park This Sunday!

10:00 am – 11:00 am Aleph Bet Water Balloon and Water Gun Challenge

Teachers vs. children testing their Hebrew skills and tossing those balloons — what could be more fun (parents, please make sure the kids have extra clothes…).  Another reminder for moms and dads: You may be asked to help the children, so brush up on your Alef Bet before Sunday if you can!

11:00 — Carlebach Singalong: From Esai Einai to Ki Va Moed (Musical!)

11:30 — Ten Commandments Program (Experiential!)

We’ll hear the shofar, read the Ten Commandments, and have a modern-day Sinai experience. What might be new commandments for this time, this place, our congregation? Our kids will create a new set of tablets to bring to our Annual Meeting that next week.

12:00 –Picnic: All Things Dairy (Culinary!)

Bring on the blintzes and the cheesecake, the ice cream and the cream puffs: It’s Shavuot when we create luscious milchig meals…

1:00 — Adult Education Program: (Educational!)

Choosing Judaism – Over a Secular/Cultural Jewish Life, As Transformation and Acknowledgment of a Jewish Neshama: A Book of Ruth Shavuot Study Session

The Book of Ruth is rich in detail: We learn about how ordinary people can alter halakha to ensure the best possible future for a family, a community, and a nation. Why do we read this book on the anniversary of receiving the law? At the time when we receive the law, we should acknowledge that the law as given is not enough, and that bending and changing the law is actually a necessary practice.

In this book, Ruth chooses her people and acknowledges her Jewish neshama in five moving, intriguing, and inspiring chapters. The study session will explore this amazing text and use it as our jumping off point to address, discover, and reveal the many ways one can live in Jewish community.

  1. Does this work have anything to say about the ger toshav (a non-Jew resident and companion in Jewish community)?
  2. How does The Book of Ruth reflect present-day experiences for those choosing Judaism?
  3. In what ways does The Book of Ruth function as a mirror for our own community’s aspirations and hopes?

Join us for a great day at the big picnic shelter at Dorton Park on 5790 Poplar Tent Road in Concord.  We begin at 10 a.m.!

Services, Dinner, and the Annual Meeting on June 6 (Yes, the Raffle is Back!)

So what’s a meeting without a raffle? (TOO T-shirts are rumored to be among the most excellent prizes…).  And there’s dinner, too.  AND a short and joyous Kabbalat Shabbat service to round it all off.

The Annual Meeting (members only, please) begins at 6 p.m..  Members will receive reports from the president and last year’s committees, vote on nominations for open Board positions, vote on amendment to the constitution, approve the budget for 2014-15, and witness the signing of our rabbi’s contract.  All this and a pleasant dining experience!

Services begin at 7-ish, after the meeting.

Dinner, Meeting, Kabbalat Shabbat – Friday, June 6 at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Rd., Concord.

We Are Ready to Sell Your Fleas! TOO’s Last Fundraiser: The Flea Market

  • We need your donations!  (furniture, knick-knacks, dishware, artwork, etc.)
  • We need your baked goods!  (cookies, cupcakes, brownies)
  • We need your truck or van!  (To transport stuff to the site very early in the AM)
  • We need your hands and your presence!  (To transport, set up, tag, sell, clean up)

Don’t miss it!
Saturday, June 14, 8am-1pm
Advent Lutheran Church front parking lot
Right on 49 across from UNCC
Email Cheryl Greenwald about any items you have or assistance you are ready to give:  cg@greenwalds.net

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

Loop

We Are Ready to Sell Your Fleas! TOO’s Last Fundraiser: The Flea Market

  • We need your donations!  (furniture, knick-knacks, dishware, artwork, etc.)
  • We need your baked goods!  (cookies, cupcakes, brownies)
  • We need your truck or van!  (To transport stuff to the site very early in the AM)
  • We need your hands and your presence!  (To transport, set up, tag, sell, clean up)

Don’t miss it!
Saturday, June 14, 8am-1pm
Advent Lutheran Church front parking lot
Right on 49 across from UNCC
Email Cheryl Greenwald about any items you have or assistance you are ready to give:  cg@greenwalds.net

Entering the Wilderness (Or Starting the Book of Numbers) Kabbalat Shabbat May 23

Join us for a sweet and intimate Torah service on Friday, May 23.  No better way to usher in this year’s Memorial Day and the summer season.

Friday, May 23, 7:00 pm at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Drive, Concord

Be Men for Change: Stand Up Against Domestic Violence

The men of Temple Or Olam have, for many years, helped support the vital efforts of the Cabarrus Victim’s Assistance Network (CVAN) to help battered women and their children. Each year, they have raised enough money to be included in CVAN’s Men for Change Father’s Day ad. (See http://cvan.org/MenForChange.aspx for more information.)

We’re hoping our men will join together again to demonstrate the importance of taking a public stand against domestic violence. But we need donations to come in by June 1!

Anyone can donate to this cause through sending a check to the address below or simply using our Paypal button and noting the contribution to be intended for Men for Change.

Last year, 705 men and men’s groups came together to be Men For Change. They raised $60,500. Let’s be a part of this important campaign this year, too.

Temple Or Olam, Treasurer
PO Box 362
Huntersville, NC 28070-0362

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

LoopSing a New Song: Kabbalat Shabbat This Friday

We had planned, if we get enough takers, to get together to sing some well-known prayers to new melodies this Friday night.

Please let us know by no later than Thursday night at 10 p.m. if you would like to join us and we’ll let you know which of our families has volunteered to host.  We’ll be meeting in the Harrisburg-University City area, if we have enough interested parties.

Please send an email to templeadmin@or-olam.org if you wish to come to a casual Kabbalat Shabbat this Friday night.  Please remember that our deadline is Thursday, May 1 at 10 p.m.!

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

LoopCongregational Passover Seder Just Days Away – Please Volunteer to Help Set-up or Clean-up

Our Passover Seder is April 19 at Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church; we’ll celebrate with song and skits, and with great food!  We’ll need some help, though, setting up the sanctuary and cleaning up after our celebration — please let Charlotte Miller, our Temple Administrator know if you can help at:

templeadmin@or-olam.org

Thanks for your support!

Relay For Life on April 26th

Register to join us and/or make a donation to our community effort at the following link.  Our team name is “Erev Rav.”  Please help our volunteers raise money to fight cancer — we’d like to see that disease eradicated in our lifetimes.

https://secure.acsevents.org/site/UserLogin;jsessionid=8F4031C5DF81693C34A4F6A5325E714F.app365a?NEXTURL=http%3A%2F%2Fmain.acsevents.org%2Fsite%2FTRC%3Ffr_id%3D61011

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

LoopCommunity Seder Features Great Food, Great Joy, and a Whole Lot of Deliverance

Please don’t forget to respond to our evite for our Passover Seder on April 19 at Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church; we’ll celebrate with song and skits, and great food!

In our seder, we will name the things we want to take with us into freedom, and walk PUUC’s beautiful sanctuary prepared to celebrate new beginnings and rededicate ourselves to creating the freedom we all long for.

All monies realized over the cost of the seder will be used  to support the education of TOO children and ongoing advanced training for TOO’s Religious School teachers.

$36 adults, $18 students, $12 children over 5

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

LoopKabbalat Shabbat Service April 4: The Joys of Leviticus (Really!)

Leviticus, Rabbi Barbara says, is one of her favorite books.  A book about skin disease and sacrifice, about cleansing the sanctuary and observing complicated laws around the Jubilee year?  Say what?

But at this family-friendly Kabbalat Shabbat, we will learn from that story how and why understanding Leviticus can enrich our lives in immeasurable ways.  And Temple Or Olam’s Torah study students will help.

Please join us for a musical and friendly Shabbat this Friday and bring something to share at our oneg!

Time: 7 p.m.
Date: April 4
Location: McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, Concord

PBS Series on Jews and Judaism  on the PBS Website

PBS has been running a new series on the history of Jews and Judaism.  You can find the series at the following URL:   http://www.pbs.org/wnet/story-jews/video/

Enjoy!

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

LoopCalling all elegant Queen Esthers, horrible Hamans, and clueless King Ahasueruses!  We need you to appear on Saturday, March 15, to make our Perfect Purim Party complete.

We are celebrating the craziness of Purim with our friends at Advent Lutheran Church.  Who knew Jews could be so silly?  Well, they will now!  Wear a costume for the contest!  Be ready to join some Israeli dancing!  Meet the 2,000-year-old man!  Make a mask or finger puppets!  Win the Outrageous Kippah Contest!  Eat, drink, and be merry!

Saturday, March 15, 2:00-6:00 pm

Advent Lutheran Church, gymnasium

8840 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28213

Bring a generous fruit/snack/heavy hors d’oeurves to share

Donation bowl on the greeting table to cover dancing instruction fee.

Kabbalat Shabbat at PUUC

hamentaschenJust a reminder that tomorrow night’s especially family-friendly service will be held at Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church, 9704 Mallard Creek Road, at 7 p.m..  We hope to see you (and any friends you would like to invite) there!

Please bring something tasty to share at the oneg!