Friday, January 2, 2015

Shabbat-O-Gram Jan 2

Since my main O Gram  message was  already sent out before the New Year, just a few quick reminders:

- A reminder that services now begin at 7 PM on Friday evenings.  Join us tonight! I’ll be talking about “The Times Square Ball Drop and Other Jewish Rituals.”

- This week's portion is Vayechi, as we conclude the book of Genesis.  Family dynamics, Jewish continuity and assimilation are major themes of the portion.  It also features an often overlooked ritual that has become part of the Shabbat dinner experience: the blessing of children. With that in mind, on Shabbat morning we'll be discussing an advertising campaign that is proving to be very controversial in Israel, and how it relates to the blessing of Jacob’s grandsons.  See the controversial TV ad here and preview the entire Parsha packet here, including articles about the “Israeli Friday Night” ad campaign.

-  There is no Religious School this Sunday morning, but we DO have morning minyan, as usual, at 9 AM.

- We've added some new photos of our volunteers at Inspirica's Family Shelter on Christmas Eve. You can see them, and our entire Hanukkah photo album, here.  And catching up on some recent events, see Sydney Eben’s bat mitzvah speech here and Jessica Olin’s here.


Shabbat Shalom, safe travels, and happy 2015!

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