Virtual Shabbat Service, 6:00 pm Our Erev Shabbat service in the comfort of your own home! Grab your computer and candles, and we'll join together for music led by choir members and candle-lighting in virtual community. Services will be hosted on Facebook Live and Zoom.
Shabbat Morning Saturday, May 9 Torah Study, 10:00 am
Please note the time change! Starting in May, all Saturday morning adult programming will begin at 10:00 am. Prayer and study are equally holy activities. All are invited to join in these highly participatory discussions. No experience necessary!
Healing and Havdalah: A Space for Communal Check-In Saturday, May 9, 7:00 pm
Having moved past Passover, we are now in the time of the Omer, when we count the days between Passover, the festival of Freedom, and Shavuot, the Festival of Torah, symbolizing how our liberation is only secure when we can create a society to preserve it. This year, we are doing another type of counting, as we count the days we have been quarantined and staying at home.
During this time of the virus, we have many emotions. Let’s create a space during the Omer to come together for a little study, song, and sharing to support one another during these times. For one hour on Saturday evenings you are invited to gather on zoom for some reflection and sharing. We will begin with a little teaching from Rabbi Seth, have some time for reflection and sharing, and end with Havdalah.
Mussar Learning with Alan Morinis Sunday, May 17, 1:00 pm
Dr. Alan Morinis, Founder of The Mussar Institute, is widely considered to be the leading figure in the contemporary revival of the Mussar movement, a 1,100-year-old authentic Jewish personal and communal spiritual tradition that was nearly lost following the Holocaust. A filmmaker, Rhodes Scholar, and anthropologist whose focus had been Hindu religious pilgrimages, he began to explore Mussar following a personal crisis in 1997.
Alan sought private instruction under Rabbi Yechiel Perr, an accomplished master who stood in an unbroken line of transmission of the Mussar tradition. Following years of study, he reinterpreted the ancient Mussar learnings and practices for modern audiences in Climbing Jacob’s Ladder and Everyday Holiness. To address the growing public interest in Mussar, he founded The Mussar Institute in 2004. He went on to author two more books, Every Day, Holy Day, and With Heart in Mind.
The TBH Shabbat morning Mussar group has been studying “With Heart in Mind” for the past four years, and we are delighted to welcome Alan to TBH via Zoom to engage in Mussar study with us. Sunday, May 17 at 1:00 p.m. Please register here>>
With many thanks to Michele and Richard Jackman for making this connection.
Virtual Gala & Raise the Pandemic Paddle! Sunday, May 17
The Virtual Gala 2020 Committee cordially invites you to: A Physically Safe Dinner & Pandemic Paddle Raise. We invite you to have a TBH dinner together, while apart, prepared by Nineveh, our Shabbat Salon caterer and/or participate in the First Ever TBH Pandemic Paddle Raise!
Cancellation of the 2020 Gala leaves a $14,000 hole in our TBH budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. You can raise your hand in the Pandemic Paddle at the level that works for you!
Meal orders must be received by May 12. Pick up your meal(s) in the TBH parking lot or have them delivered to your home on May 17 starting at 5:00 pm. To order your virtual gala meal and / or make a tax-deductible gift, please click here.
NEW!!! At 7:00 pm on Sunday, May 17, we will be hosting a short Virtual Gala on Zoom! This will include time to schmooze with other TBH'ers and a limited Virtual Auction. Everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of whether they ordered the Gala dinner.
Virtual Auction Item: Bagels by Ozi Goldstein
Virtual Auction Item: Custom quilt by Julie Kinn
Virtual Auction Item: Pickle Class with Edie Bean
Zooming to Mount Sinai: Shavuot Online Thursday, May 28, 8:00 pm
Shavuot is the springtime festival celebrating the biblical story of Mount Sinai, when the Israelites received the Torah from God, establishing the foundations of a new society and spiritual tradition. The Torah continues to serve as the center of Judaism and Jewish practice, and we celebrate Shavuot by engaging with Torah in all of its forms. The two main traditions are late night Torah study, and eating dairy foods like cheesecake. While the cheesecake is on your own this year, we will gather via zoom for an evening of study.
While in the past we have met from 8 p.m. to midnight, due to the limitations of screens we will meet for shorter, from 8 to about 10, rotating teachers and presenters. Thursday night, May 28.
If you have something to teach or share—a text, music, video, etc.—please be in touch with Rabbi Sethwith your idea (topic, how much time you want, etc.)
CHRONICLING OUR SHARED EXPERIENCE
Call For Submissions!
This section of the weekly is dedicated to sharing member creativity and experiences during this time of separation! If you have a recipe, piece of art, poem, short story, photo, etc. that you would like to share, send it to tbh@bethhatfiloh.org. If we receive enough submissions, we hope to compile them after this crisis has passed.
I wanted to write a poem But poetry sings to the spirit that soars Not to the heart that is breaking
Yet words, like tears, Free flow not at will But of their own accord
For those who grieve As well, for the slimline That follows the time of rejoicing
For the hungry, the homeless, the jobless The loved ones who linger in homes for the aging For economic disparity, those who have And those who have not For students out of school Children missing learning For neighbors and family and friends distancing
For those in need of diagnosis Scans, ultrasounds, tests, treatment deferred For a novel virus seemingly without end The bereavement of the known The fear of the unfamiliar For a country whose leadership fails And a vulnerable world who watches and waits
I wanted to write a poem But writing presumes a confluence of spirit, heart, words And a poet who dares to safekeep them
Camille Kettel April 30, 2020
AROUND THE CONGREGATION
Yahrzeits
Sam Stein Ada Blanke Judah Ben Rosen Leonora Leizerman Eva Posner Murray Brodoff Gloria Kaufman Kenneth Royer Anne Bean Anne Bean Naomi Siegel Isaac Robinson Catherine Fay Paul Davis Dorothy Davis Jerry Grotsky Chana Sokoloff David Levy Asher David Goldstein Rose Mogal Hyman Posner Esther Pollock Barry B. Aronovitch June Bean Lee Hollander Lawrence Scheier Constance Shapiro Sidney Rubin
Happy Birthday!
6 Joel Greene 6 Lucy Eaton 6 Anne Hirsch 6 Laura Citrin 8 Michele Jackman 8 Celia Brockman 8 Len Trabka 10 Magdalena Cristo-Frank 10 Orin Zinn 11 Tovi Trobman
RESOURCES
TBH COVID-19 Webpage
Please check out our webpage dedicated to COVID-19 updates and additional resources here.
TBH Office Closure
The physical office is closed, though staff members are still working remotely. For assistance, please email tbh@bethhatfiloh.org.
Providing Communal Support
The following support services have been offered by our wonderfully generous TBH members: home delivery, grocery shopping, prescription pick-up, email and phone chats, safe-distance walking companion, navigating healthcare, tech support, end of life consultation, mental health support, and more! To take advantage of these support services, email Kayla at tbh@bethhatfiloh.org.
COMMUNITY RESOURCES Note: These are not officially sponsored or endorsed by TBH, but they are listed as they have Jewish content and/or may be of interest to our community.
Lag B’Omer Live! Stories and Melodies to Nourish the Spirit Monday, May 11, 8:00 PM
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle invites you to join together by the campfire to celebrate Lag B'Omer, connecting as a community despite our physical distance with uplifting, soulful melodies and stories to nourish the spirit! The evening program includes musical artists and storytellers from across the Greater Seattle community including: Rivy Poupko Kletenik, Chava Mirel, Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Alicia Jo Rabins, Rabbi Avi Rosenfeld, Rabbi Frank Varon, Ari Zucker.
Temple Beth Hatfiloh, 201 8th Ave SE, Olympia, WA 98501
