Blog

Don’t Miss It — A Special Gift For Our Members on November 18

We’ve kept this under wraps, but now it’s time to let our members know what awaits them on November 18.  As you all know, nationally-known sofer Neil Yerman will be offering a wonderful program for all comers at 2 p.m.  We expect folks from Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities to attend.

Here’s the additional and extraordinary experience he has offered our Temple Or Olam members.

After the first program, we will move to the fellowship hall and dedicate our new Torah in a special ceremony that will give congregants the opportunity to write Torah themselves.  For those of you who have never known what it is to put a crown on a letter with a scribe’s guidance, we can say this much with authority: To write in a Torah is an unforgettable experience that no member of the tribe – whether child or adult – should miss.

This may be your only opportunity to write in a Torah in your lifetime.  Don’t miss it!  So please everyone, set aside the afternoon of Sunday November 18th from 2-5 to be able to participate in an experience you will never forget.

Spreading the word about our Torah is easy – Please, help us do just that!

Here’s the link we have been waiting for:

http://www.or-olam.org/?page_id=17380

It takes a village… or a town… or people all over of good and generous hearts.  We have already raised over $7,000 toward the purchase of our new Torah.

Over $1,000 of the money we’ve raised has come from outside our congregation, from people who believe in our community and want to see it sustained and healthy.

Our new Torah page and home page, so beautifully created by our webmaster Angela Hodges, now features paypal buttons and a short, six-minute video explaining our need.

Please, help us spread the word and email this link to anyone you think might be willing to help.  Post it on your facebook accounts.  Let your friends know that any donation of any amount is gratefully appreciated and tax deductible, too!

Many blessings and many thanks for your help,

Rabbi Barbara

October 2012 Shmoozeletter

The October 2012 Shmoozeletter is online here.  Points of interest include:

  • Simchat Torah celebration on October 6th
  • Rabbi Barbara on honoring our Torah and welcoming her little sister
  • Bryston & Emory Spivock’s bar/bat mitzvah
  • Shomrim wanted:  the care and feeding of our new Torah

Simchat Torah reminder

Dear all,

If you haven’t yet replied to the evite sent to your email, please do so ASAP.  (Click HERE to view and respond to the evite.)  We need a head count of adult attendees so we know if unwinding the scroll and holding it in a circle is a possibility.  It looks like several families are going to be out of town, so if you can bring guests, please do!  Also, please remember to bring some food to share for the oneg following the service.

This is the last time we will unroll our much-beloved Torah for all to see, so this Simchat Torah is not one that you want to miss!

As We Enter the Day of At-One-Ment

Dear congregants and guests,

As we enter the Day of At-One-Ment, feel free to…

• wear white during Yom Kippur. We dress in the clarity white brings to our spirits as we do the good work of clearing away the dross our souls have collected this past year.

• bring and wear your tallitot. Though prayer shawls are mandated for morning services only, Kol Nidre is a single exception to that rule. We wear our prayer shawls for this service to emphasize Yom Kippur’s special holiness.

• bring something to write with! There may be journaling opportunities during services.

I look forward to a deeply meaningful Day of Awe with you all.

Rabbi Barbara

A family-friendly trip for next Rosh Chodesh event

Our Rosh Chodesh group is planning something a little different for this month’s event – we are heading to a winery!  Shelton Gardens Winery holds a free Harvest Festival every October (sound familiar – Sukkot, anyone?!)  This year it is going to be on October 14th, and we are going to be there.  The festival suits folks of all age groups—even the kids!  There will be bands, dancing, vendor booths, food, and the wine tastings are free (that’s right, free wine).

Cheryl Greenwald and Marilyn Atlas will be offering carpools out of Mooresville and Troutman, and due to distance we encourage others who are interested in attending to carpool as well.

If you have any questions or would like to RSVP for the carpool, please contact Cheryl at 704 528 1432 or email her at cg@greenwalds.net.

We hope to see you and your family there!

Our Special Needs Program Grant in the News

I am sure you all know by now that Temple Or Olam was one of two grant recipients this year of the Lenora Stein Fund for Community Creative Learning.  Marty Minchin has written a wonderful story on our efforts to work with special needs children.  It appeared today in Cabarrus News.

You can read more here.

What a beautiful story — in every sense!

L’shana tova,

Rabbi Barbara

Shabbat-O-Gram: How We Are Celebrating the Days of Awe

Come, come, whoever you are
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving
It doesn’t matter
Ours is not a caravan of despair
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come

Rumi

Our Rosh Hashanah was filled with humor  and tenderness.  We sang our way through the day; we acknowledged our gifts.  We took our intentions, our kavannah, from Torah itself.  There, this most special day was a day of t’ruah, a day of loud exclamatory sounds. Joy, in other words.

No wonder: In biblical days this was not a Day of Judgement (that title arrives a lot later in our history), but a Day of Celebration.

Tomorrow is Shabbat Shuva, when we focus on our return to the elemental — in all its forms.

Challenging work is ahead: What and who have we been in this past year, and what would we like to become.  When we step into the sanctuary on Tuesday evening, for Kol Nidre services, what would we like to forgive in others, in ourselves?  What would we like to be forgiven for?

Let us consider Yom Kippur as an opportunity for cleansing, a day when we can strive to promote wisdom and goodness in ourselves, in others, in our community.  Together, may we enter this year celebrating our hope that we be filled with both.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Barbara

Mindful Enjoyment

The High Holy Days are upon us, and we are likely to have a full house for many of our services.  Lots of visitors and relatives can make events joyous but also chaotic.  Thus, we have devised some basic behavior rules for our holiday services as well as the rest of the year.

1)  Please walk and act respectfully in the halls and rooms we are using.  No running or roughhousing allowed.

2)  We must all keep our distance from stages, sound equipment, musical instruments, and other items that belong to someone else.  Temple Or Olam is liable for any breakage that may occur.

3)  We must ensure that children under 16 are not in any kitchen.  McGill’s kitchen is a commercial kitchen maintained for their numerous food service ministries, and it presents hazards.  Please respect their need for a sanitary and liability-free environment.

4)  Children are welcome to assist at oneg in the fellowship hall and at all set-up and take-down activities.  They are actually a great help in both these tasks!  Please be sure they are under a parent’s supervision when working.

Worshiping, working, and playing together as a community are so much more pleasant when we are mindful of each other.  Let’s make sure all our activities are enjoyed by everyone in attendance.

Colors, Journals, a New Beginning — Rosh Hashanah 5773

Torah calls it Yom T’ruah, a day of shofar sounds, of loud and joyful exclamation.  Rosh Hashanah is, according to our oldest texts, a day of celebration.

That’s exactly how we will mark our New Year.  Please, feel free to come to services in bright and beautiful colors to give honor to the world’s birthday.  Bring your Book of Life journals from last year or buy a new one, if you like — we’re supposed to have something new for the New Year!

Join us for services of joy and hope and new beginnings.  We look forward to seeing you there!

High Holy Day Service Schedule

  • September 16: Erev Rosh Hashanah Service, 7 pm: McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Rd, Concord, NC, 28027
  • September 17: Rosh Hashanah Morning Services, 10:00 am-12:30 noon: McGill Baptist Church.   Followed by brunch and Tashlich: James Dorton Park Shelter #1, 5790 Poplar Tent Road
  • September 25: Kol Nidre Service, 7 pm: McGill Baptist Church
  • September 26: Yom Kippur Morning Service, 10:00-12:30 noon: McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Rd, Concord, NC.  Followed by study groups for fasters and nonfasters alike, 1-4 pm, McGill Youth Fellowship rooms.
  • September 26: Mincha, Ne’ilah, and Havdalah Services: Mincha 6:00 pm; Ne’ilah 6:30; Havdalah 7:30.  (Break fast following Havdalah.)  C. T. Sherrill Community Bldg. at Les Myers Park, 338 Lawndale Ave., Concord, NC 28025

Suggested donations for non-members:

  • Families: $180
  • Individuals: $90
  • Students: gratis

High Holy Day donations can be applied to membership dues if guests join within three months.  Please call 704.720.7577 for more information.

Childcare provided for services at McGill.