The Havurat Olam Shmoozeletter

July 30, 2007 - 15 Av  5767

Volume IV, Issue 10

[Services] [Religious School] [High Holy Days] [Membership] [Beit Midrash]

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Friday Night Services

August 24, 2007

Is There Such a Thing as Divine Justice?

[Please note that over the summer we'll ask everyone to contribute to our onegs by bringing refreshments!]

This week’s Torah portion says that if you chance on a bird’s nest, you must not take the mother together with her young. The text goes on to say, “Let the mother go, and take only the young, in order that you may fare well and have a long life.”

Pretty important promise, right? But the Talmud tells the story of a young boy who obeyed these words to the letter, and despite his strict adherence to Jewish law, the boy fell from the tree, and died.

How can the Torah dare to promise us long life in exchange for our observance of the law? Morally responsible Jews were not spared because of their righteousness during the Holocaust. We all – Jew or otherwise – live in a world that may freely disregard our attempts to live ethical lives.

This month, our Erev Shabbat sermon will ask: Is there such a thing as Divine justice? Come join us and find the answers to these and other questions during our August service. We’ll look forward to seeing you there!

Event:	Fourth Friday Family Service
Date:	Friday, August 24, 2007
Time:	7:00 p.m. -- child care provided --
Location:	McGill Baptist Church 5300 Poplar Tent Rd. Concord NC 28027 -9757 map directions > RSVP <

Havurat Olam Religious School Reopens

September 10, 2007

We are currently enrolling students for the third year of our Havurat Olam Religious School. The school will include 28 Sunday sessions, and classes will be combined with those of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation.

Tuition remains $285 for members and $435 for non-members, payable to Havurat Olam. Students must register before August 23 to assure that their materials will be available on the first day of class. Our registration form is to be found here.

Classes will take place at Cornelius Elementary School, at 21126 Catawba Ave, Cornelius NC 28031on the following dates:

September 9, 16, 30 October 7, 14, 21, 28 November 4, 11, 18 December 2, 9, 16 January 13, 20, 27 Feb 3, 10, 24 March 2, 9, 16, 30 April 13, 27 May 4, 11, 18

We look forward to another fabulous year with our amazing, talented, and thoroughly, totally astonishing children. You, too?

Best to all,

Dr. Barbara Thiede

Director, Havurat Olam Religious School

Havurat Olam's Third Annual High Holy Day Services

Please, mark your calendars! High Holy Days Services begin this year with our Erev Rosh Hashanah service on September 12 (see calendar below).

As usual, we plan for musically and spiritually accessible High Holy Days. Hey, folks – the shofar is almost four feet long…

We look forward to experiencing the Days of Awe with a community that has clearly developed a most beautiful character entirely its own. For those of you who wonder what that means, feel free to join us and find out!

Non-members will be asked to help defray our rental costs with a suggested donation of $90 to cover all High Holy Day services; members, please consider making a $18 chai donation this year.

      Please mail your donation to Congregation Havurat Olam’s treasurer, Samuel Leder, at the address below:

Membership

 We’re happy to report that our dues remain among the lowest anywhere in the region, especially given the fact that we offer a full complement of High Holy Day services and bi-monthly Shabbat services, in addition to festival parties and celebrations, Religious School for our children and adult education for the (hopefully) mature set, a Rosh Hodesh group, a ton of fun, and a lot of Yiddishkeit.

 For 2007-2008, dues will be as follows:

Membership dues are due July 1.  Those who can afford to pay all dues by July 1 are encouraged to do so.  Those who need to pay semi-annually or quarterly may do that.

 Please consider joining us (if you haven’t already). Our membership forms are easy to fill out and available on our website.

 And parents, if your children are interested in joining our Religious School (which will be combined with the Religious School of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation this year), please fill out the school registration form.  Tuition remains the same as last year for members of the congregation.

 All checks can be made out to Havurat Olam.

 Please mail forms and checks to our Treasurer Extraordinaire, Samuel Leder, at the address below:

The Beit Midrash