A Message from the President: 

I just wanted to take a moment to reach out to our TOO congregation on a couple of items. First, I’d like to let everyone know that as we settle in at our new location at PUUC we must take care to follow the communication guidelines we’ve set up. To keep communications clear between our respective congregations we have set up communications as follows: Rabbi to Reverend, President to President and Administrator to Administrator.

So, if you have an idea or project that you think would be a great opportunity to share with our hosts at PUUC please present it to Rabbi, me or Charlotte and we will process it through the appropriate channel.

Second, our congregation values healthy communication.  Please contact me directly with any concerns you might have; my door is always open.  Just email me at president@or-olam.org and I promise to get back to you to arrange a time to talk.  You can also connect with our board members with specific concerns related to their role; their names and contact information are listed below.

• rabbi-thiede@or-olam.org’ [Rabbi Dr. Barbara Thiede]
• templeadmin@or-olam.org’ [Charlotte Miller, Temple Administrator]
• treasurer@or-olam.org’ [Charlotte Miller, Treasurer]
• adult-education@or-olam.org’ [Marilyn Atlas, Director of Adult Education]
• brenda@or-olam.org’ [Brenda Marshall, Board Member, at large]
• caringcommittee@or-olam.org’ [Heather Chait, chair, Caring Committee]
• membership@or-olam.org’ [Michael Filkoff, Membership Director]
• outreach@or-olam.org’ [Alan Coffman, Outreach Director]
• president@or-olam.org’ [Stephen Smith, President]
• religious-services@or-olam.org’ [Melanie Carty, acting Director of Religious Services]
• vicepresident@or-olam.org’ [Charlotte Miller, Vice President]

Happy Secular New Year to all!

Steve Smith, TOO president

Very Special Storytelling Shabbat on January 10 (followed by Israeli dancing)!

First, a correction: Our next congregational gathering is SATURDAY, January 10. We will begin at 10 a.m. with a very special service – a storytelling Shabbat led by our Acting Director of Religious Services, Melanie Carty and Jacob Brayton, community actor extraordinaire. Each and every portion of the service will be conveyed through a story. (And there will be a niggun or two to learn, too!)

Oneg brunch will conclude the service, to be followed by Israeli dancing.

Bring a fresh and healthy brunch offering then dance away some of those delicious calories. What could be a better way to start 2015?

Saturday, January 10, at Piedmont.
10:00 am      Lay-led service
11:00 am       Oneg brunch
12:00 pm      Israeli dancing with Penny

Butterfly Project – Deadline to Join the Trip is January 5!

Our religious school has arranged a special presentation in January at the Jewish Community Center in south Charlotte.   While the younger children attend a separate session, the older children, teens, and adults will take part in a program about tolerance and how not to repeat the prejudicial events of the past. This program allows the students to meet and listen to a Holocaust survivor as he or she tells their story, and to ask appropriate questions. The participants will have an opportunity to learn about a specific Holocaust victim and create a butterfly in that child’s memory. Further, the students will have an opportunity to visit the JCC Butterfly Garden, and then have a group discussion that encourages the building of bridges of communication, understanding and respect for all people.

If you can attend with us on Sunday, January 25, 10-noon, we will be glad to have you. The cost is $5 for teens or adults outside the religious school and carpooling from Advent Lutheran on University Boulevard is available.

Please contact Arlene Filkoff by JANUARY 5 if you want to join us at afilkoff@gmail.com

Thanks for Your Contributions!

December Donations

• Margery and John White in memory of Ellie Joffe and in honor of Rabbi Barbara and Robbin Smith
• Michael and Arlene Filkoff
• Michael Berkowitz
• Ralf and Barbara Thiede
• Doris and Jason Gordon

Wrap Up for Our Religious School

And it came to $1008.57! That’s well over last year’s total from our gift-wrapping fundraising efforts, so please, thank those hardy gift-wrappers when you see them.  They include….

• Preston Berkowitz
• Melanie Carty
• Keri Huneycutt
• Arlene and Michael Filkoff
• Anna and Diego Garcia
• Doris Gordon
• Charlotte Miller
• Marci Mroz
• Steve Smith
• Roslyn Sydney
• Evan VanArsdale