Rabbi Steve Leapman will lead an 8-week class on Jewish views of death, focusing on how Jewish views have differed over the centuries and what guidance these views can give us today. The discussion will focus on the book “What Happens After I Die?”, by Rabbis Rifat Sonsino and Daniel Syme. Copies will be provided for 10-12 participants (to be returned at the end of the course), or copies may be purchased via the internet. The class will meet Sunday evenings from 6:30-8:00pm, starting January 22 and ending March 18 (with no class on Sunday, Feb. 5).
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Join with other members of Sinai as we celebrate Chanukah. The celebration is on Wednesday, December 21, from 6:30 to 8:00pm. Remember to bring your menorah and candles!
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Do your Chanukah shopping, and enjoy hors d’oeuvres & cocktails, at the Sisterhood fundraiser. It takes place on Sunday, Dec. 11, from 4:00-7:00pm at Imagine That – 707 North Main St., Mishawaka (note that it will be at the Mishawaka, not the South Bend, location). Pick up some amazing gifts for the kids, the family, the neighbors, and yourself! Twenty percent of all sales will be donated to the Sinai Sisterhood. RSVP to Lilac. For more information, view the flyer.
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This year, Sinai’s Tikkun Olam holiday project will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. This national organization helps thousands of wounded warriors, and their families, as they return home from the current conflicts. The organization honors and empowers wounded warriors by raising awareness and enlisting the public’s aid for the needs of injured service members, helping injured service members aid and assist each other, and providing unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members. Please make your donation checks payable to Sinai, with “Wounded Warrior Project” on the memo line. Please send your check to Sinai by December 20, so we can help do our small part to change the lives of these brave men and women. For more information about the organization, please visit the Wounded Warrior Project website.
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Join us on Saturday evening, November 12, for a Jazz Havdalah program with jazz musician and Jewish educator Mark Bloom. Mark’s world-class keyboard artistry, soulful voice and dynamic stage presence have thrilled hundreds of Jewish organizations across North America. His rare inventive ability to merge an endless variety of styles allows audiences of every generation to experience the joyful magic of Mark’s fresh musical style and warm neshama. A progressive force in modern American Jewish Jazz for almost two decades, Mark has produced his acclaimed Jazz services at over 75 congregations across the country. His original material and stirring improvisations consistently expand the boundaries of contemporary Jewish music. He has been nominated three times for the American Jewish Song Festival, and all seven of his CD recordings have been featured on NPR and XM Satellite Radio. His music has been praised by many sources including Billboard, Moment and Hadassah Magazine….
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Many centuries ago in the land of Israel, one of the early rabbis was returning home from a long day in the House of Study. It was later than usual, and as he walked home, the sun set. Lost deep in thought, he took the left fork – Instead of the right –when the path split. Instead of nearing home, he was walking toward a Roman outpost. “WHO GOES THERE” boomed a deep voice in the dark, shaking him from his thoughts. Shaken and confused, the rabbi tried to figure out who this was at his home. “WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” thundered back, as a massive centurion stepped into view. The rabbi quickly realized the mistake that he must have made. Instead of answering the centurion’s question, he replied, “How much are you paid to stand here every day?” ”Three drachma” replied the centurion. “I…
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I have been feeling a bit remiss in not speaking about Israel this year given that it has been in the news so much. But every sermon I started to write ended up becoming one of political analysis and you don’t need to hear that on Yom Kippur and you certainly don’t need to hear it from me. But it is essential that we pause and say something about Israel given its importance in our lives, the precariousness with which it exists and the active hatred that it inspires in so much of the world. Israel inspires pride within us, American Jews, and also frustration. We acknowledge that. There are many valid criticisms of Israel – regarding its foreign policy, its domestic policies, its corruptible political system in which minority political parties can blackmail the government. But let us remember three things as we consider Israel in our daily lives,…
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Part One – You may have seen this story a few years back: Arthur Rosenfeld was in line at a Starbucks drive thru. The driver in the car behind him wanted him to move forward so that he could get closer to the microphone to order his drink. But Rosenfeld could not move any farther because there was a car in front of him. The driver behind him could not care less and started honking his horn and screaming insults at him. Rosenfeld, a karate and tai chi instructor, considered getting out of his car and in his words “sending the guy to the dentist”. But something inside him restrained that impulse. When he pulled up to the window to pay for his tea, he said “I’d like to buy the coffee for the guy behind me”. The barista looked at him in surprise. “But he’s a jerk!” “Just having…
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One generation goes, another comes. But the earth remains the same forever, so wrote Ecclesiastes. And as each new generation appears, the fondness for the older one seems to increase. “I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words… When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth think of themselves as exceedingly wise; they are [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint”. Despite what my children believe, I am not the author of those words. Those words were spoken by the Greek writer Hesiod in the 8th century BCE. And yet in every age the sense that the future dims derives not only from the deficiencies of the youth, but also from the diminishment of the culture itself. After a period of growth…
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Join Rabbi Friedland and other members of Sinai for a new class on Jewish Wisdom in Parenting and Grandparenting. The class will be based on Wendy Mogel’s book, The Blessing of a Skinned Knee. We will meet one Thursday night per month. The next class (Thursday, January 19, at 7:00pm) will be at the Reinbolds’ home. We will discuss Chapters 5 & 6 of the book.
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