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Parsha Ki Tavo begins with the law of tithing, a law that is intended to help ensure a just society, a society that takes care of “the stranger, the orphan, the widow” so that they may be nourished and sustained.
How do we learn to give without regret? How can we make sure to understand that to give tzedakkah is not a simple act of charity, but an act of social justice, of tikkun olam, of healing?

Join us for our Fourth Friday service when we will explore these questions as a community, one which strives to care.

Parsha Shoftim includes explicit instructions for rulers. A king, the text says, may not have too many horses or amass gold and silver in excess. A worthy ruler must read and reread the Torah so that he can observe the laws in the Torah. Then – and only then – can the people be sure he will not act haughtily towards others or behave inappropriately.

At this Friday night service we will hear a tale of a certain king and ask ourselves: What, if anything, has this particular ruler been reading?

Join us for our family service on August 13. Come prepared for sweet song, joyful community and, as always, something to take home and think about!

In D’varim, the last book of the Torah, Moses recalls the scene at Sinai. He reminds the people – do not forget your experience of the wondrous, of the miraculous, of the gift of experiencing the Divine. These memories call us to our highest selves, our highest hopes.

Indeed, millennia later, we still find it a difficult task to hold on to our experiences of undiminished joy, our memories of transcendent moments. How can we balance our world of obligations and tasks with our need to know the peace prayer can grant us, the joy community can offer, the knowledge that our lives matter beyond their span in time?

In this Shabbat service we will ask these questions and more. Perhaps a fresh encounter with the ancient miracles of Torah can help us recall the memory of so many small miracles we ourselves have seen with our own eyes.

Join Temple Or Olam for a summer dance fundraiser for the congregation’s Sefer Torah – the handwritten scroll containing the Five Books of Moses in handwritten script.

On the docket for the evening? Dancing the traditional Jewish hora, learning a sweet bit of swing and salsa, dancing to tunes from the forties on, and taking the opportunity for an up-close-and-personal look at Temple Or Olam’s own Sefer Torah. Dr. Barbara Thiede, will be demonstrating features of the congregation’s century-old Torah scroll – one which features the work of master scribes from German, Russia, Moravia, and Macedonia.

Temple Or Olam’s Torah was pieced together after WWII from remnants from several European scrolls, leading New York sofer Neil Yerman to suggest it may have been created from sections of Torah scrolls that survived the Holocaust. Yerman has dated the Torah’s creation to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

Join us for an evening of music and dance and learn how scribes have preserved bible texts that date back over two centuries!

Our program will also include light snacks.

7 – 8:30 p.m. Salsa and Swing
8:30 – 9 p.m. Learning about Temple Or Olam’s Sefer Torah
9 p.m. Refreshments, Israeli dances, and yet more dancing to great tunes from the forties on!

Time: Program begins at 7 p.m.
Date: July 31st
Location: McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent, Concord, NC
Tickets available at the door and in advance; please call 704.720.7577 for more information:

$5 students
$10 individuals
$6 senior individuals
$12 senior couples
$25 families

Friday Family Service June 11

The mysterious four-letter name of God, Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, is the only word in Torah that we never actually pronounce. Why do we say “Adonai” every time we come across these four letters? Do these four letters have a meaning? Can we understand what God’s mysterious name signifies?

Join us for a lively family Friday night service and find out!

Event: Family Friday night service
Date: June 11
Time: 7 pm
Location: McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, Concord.

This next Shabbat we read the parsha which includes instructions for how the priests shall bless the people Israel. How ancient is this well-known formula? What hidden meanings are behind the words (even the number of words) in each of these three verses?

Please join us Saturday, May 22, for a Shabbat morning service that explores the power and art of blessing.

Afterwards, we’ll head off to nearby Dorton Park for our annual Shavuot picnic. We’ll supply the paper plates and napkins. Congregants and guests – please bring picnic lunches for you and yours. We’ll hold a brief memorial service and take the time to enjoy a little Torah study. Our subject? The very thing Shavuot celebrates: The giving of Torah in the first place!