The Temple Or Olam Shmoozeletter

We incorporated with six families back in January, 2004.  We’ve been growing steadily: We are no longer a havurah.

 We are a congregation.  In fact, our small but vibrant congregation offers more in the way of services, educational opportunities, festival celebrations, and tikkun olam possibilities than any other of our size that we know of.  And we have realized that we need space to call our own – particularly for our religious school, which is growing by leaps and bounds.

 We began with a name change that reflects our new appreciation of who we are and who we are growing to be.  After taking suggestions from the congregation, we voted last week to become Temple Or Olam.  Or means 'light' as well as 'enlightenment.'  Olam, part of our old name, has been retained.  It means 'world,' even 'eternity.'  We hope to become a light for living Jewishly in the world -- for the sheer joy of it.

 We also began our first steps toward finding our own space; we will update those on our email list as we proceed.  We would like, though, to acknowledge the enthusiasm and dedication of congregational members.   With their generosity and support we have now made a wonderful start on our building fund; the deposits are in, and they are significant.  We will be pursuing all avenues as we proceed.  We’ve had pro bono offers we look forward to telling you about, and we are applying for grants and all other available sources of community support.  Temple Or Olam will have a new website at www.or-olam.org; stay tuned as we make this exciting transition from havurah to congregation.

 If you haven’t made a donation yet, and would like to support the Temple Or Olam Building Fund, please make your check out to Temple Or Olam and send it to our treasurer and CPA, Samuel Leder at the address below.  All such donations are tax deductible!

 And if you’d like to see what we’re all about, try out our services, our parties, our educational programs.  We’d be glad to meet you.

Donations may be sent to:

Samuel Leder, CPA Potter & CO. 434 Copperfield Blvd., Suite A Concord,  NC 28025-2456

We begin the book of Leviticus with an amazing moment.  Moses, apparently, thinks that his work is done.  The Tent and Tabernacle were finished, and the project was completed.  But God disagrees.  Much more has to be done to help the Israelites learn to sanctify their everyday lives.

 How do we make our lives holy?  By thinking and considering and evaluating: How do we shed light, make the world a better place?  By right action.  Leviticus says our laws teach us that we can’t stand by when something wrong is happening or make a vow we can’t fulfill.  We can’t rob or steal or lie about our misdeeds.  Leviticus is about checking in with our moral compass, listening to the still, small voice inside each of us.

 Please join us for our family-friendly Second Friday service – we’ll be practicing how to find our moral compass.  And the children will show us how, actually….

Our Purim Party, scheduled for March 22, is going to be awesome.  Costume party and costume contest, of course.  A Silly Skit (Esther and the Power of Catering) and a karaoke fundraiser you will not believe are part and parcel of the festivities.

For more than two thousand years, Jews have been sending gifts of food (mishloach manot) to one another on this day, commemorating our salvation from destruction in the days of the Persian Empire.

 We are raising money to elicit people’s creative performing side for a good purpose (all proceeds go to our school and related scholarships and a community tzedakah project focusing on poverty).

 Here’s how it works: Karaoke Night Rules

• Consult the song list (click here) and choose someone you want to sing a particular song.  We encourage collecting additional bids from colleagues, friends, and anyone else you can rope into the project.  The person you choose has to match your bid to get out of doing the number.

• Bid to hear that person sing the song (fill out the signup sheet -- click here). The minimum bid is $5.

• If you’re a child and you’d like to bid on someone, your minimum bid is $1.

• To make things run more smoothly, send bids you’ve collected three days before the party.  Email Julie Gardner (Jgard8037@aol.com) the following information on your signup sheet: CD number, song name, person you want to sing, amount you’re bidding. She will put your bid on the playlist for the evening.

• During the party, you may approach the person with the official list to add any bid. Several copies of the song list will be floating around.   Other people can add to your bid in (at least) $1 increments.

• If someone has bid on you to sing a song and you’re a chicken, you can decline… but you have to match the current bid to get out of performing the song.

• You also have the option to find a suitable, willing substitute singer, with the bidder’s approval. You can only do this once.

• If you’re not a chicken, but you’d like a little support, you can ask as many friends as you’d like to join you… but each friend costs you $1.

•  If you’ve raised $144 from singing, you can receive a free DVD of the evening. If you’ve raised $144 to have folks sing, you can receive a free DVD of the evening.  If not, you can buy one for $5.

• If you’re not going to attend, don’t think you’re safe. If someone bids on you, we will find an occasion for you to sing the song. Trust us.

• Because we recognize their delicate natures, children can decline to sing without having to match the bid. Teenagers too, but we reserve the right to call them chickens.

• Keep song selections relatively clean; children will be present.

•  If someone has already sung twice, they do not have to sing a third time until everyone else has sung twice. But they can if they want!

• At the end of the night, please be patient as the record-keepers tally up your bill. Remember, it’s for a good cause. Have fun!

 To give you an idea how things are already rolling, we include existing bids:

The Lion Sleeps Tonight	Stewart Roberts (with boys from Temple Or Olam singing "weeoo weeoo" as backup
Are you Lonesome Tonight?	Joe Van Riper
I Will Survive	Erik Thiede
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown	Jackie Kessler
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun	The girls from Temple Or Olam

 

If you are interested in learning how the Shabbat service works, feel free to let us know.  We’re getting our new siddurim this very week, and we are sooo looking forward to figuring out all those questions.  Like, why is the Barchu before the Shema?  Why are we standing for the Amidah (and what is that, anyway?) and sitting for Oseh Shalom?  Why is Mourner’s Kaddish at the end of the service (and is it always?).

 We’re looking at meeting, learning, and noshing on Saturday morning, March 29.  Please let us know if you’d like to attend by sending an R.S.V.P..

So many of us know someone who has battled cancer.  Our confirmation students have decided: They are sponsoring a team for this year’s Relay For Life, scheduled for May 3 and 4.  Relay for Life is a wonderful annual fundraising event to help support the American Cancer Society.  We know it’s early yet, but we want to encourage you to make a donation or join us as we walk to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.  Just press control and click on the link below if you would like to help us out with your donation.  Thanks!

 Click here to view the team page for Temple Or Olam