Days of Awe ………….. 5771 Rabbi Linda Holtzman • Rabbi Yael Levy Dina Schlossberg, President • Rabbit Brian Walt, Rabbi Emeritus Gabrielle Kaplan Mayer, Coordinator of Spiritual Life for Children & Youth Rivka Jarosh, Education Director 4101 Freeland Avenue • Philadelphia, PA 19128 Phone: 215-508-0226 • Fax: 215-508-0932 Email: [email protected] • Website: www.mishkan.org DAYS OF AWE 5771 Shalom, Welcome to a year of opportunity at Mishkan Shalom! Our first of many opportunities will be that of starting the year together at services for the Yamim Noraim. It is a pleasure to begin the year as a community, joining old friends and new, praying and learning together. This year, Rabbi Yael Levy will not be with us at the services for the Yamim Noraim. We will miss Rabbi Yael, and hope that her sabbatical time is fulfilling and energizing and that we will learn much from her when she returns to Mishkan Shalom in November. Our services will feel different this year, but the depth and talent of our many members who will participate will add real beauty to them. I am thrilled that joining us to lead the davening will be Sue Hoffman, Rabbi Rebecca Alpert, Cindy Shapiro, Karen Escovitz (Otter), Elliott batTzedek, Wendy Galson, Susan Windle, Andy Stone, Bill Grey, Dan Wolk, several of our teens and many other Mishkan members. As we look ahead to the new year, we pray that 5771 will be filled with abundant blessings for us and for the world. I look forward to celebrating with you. L’shalom, Rabbi Linda Holtzman SECTION 1: LOCATION , VOLUNTEER FORM , FEES AND SERVICE INFORMATION A: WE HAVE • Morning services on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and all services on Yom Kippur will be held at the Haverford School . • Evening services on Rosh Hashanah and services on the second day of Rosh Hashanah will be held at Mishkan Shalom. Page 1 We are fortunate this year to return to a beautiful space to hold many of our Yamim Noraim services. The Haverford School in Haverford accommodates our needs excellently. There is ample, comfortable space for our services, our children’s programming, our study sessions, and our holiday meals. Directions to the Haverford School are on the blue brochure. We also once again have the blessing of being able to spend part of the Yamim Noraim at Mishkan Shalom. Last year, we truly enjoyed being in our own building for Rosh Hashanah evening and for the second day of Rosh Hashanah and we look forward to being home for these services again this year. The comfort, familiarity, and joy we share in being in our own home adds to the beauty of the holiday celebration. B: VOLUNTEER FORM In this packet you will find a volunteer form (pink) from the Yamim Noraim subcommittee. Please read this form carefully and respond by September 1st . Taking on a responsibility will connect you to others in our community, and is essential to create warm and meaningful services for everyone. C: FEE SCHEDULE FOR GUESTS Mishkan Shalom has a wonderful, inclusive tradition of welcoming any and all guests to our High Holiday Services. Each year many unaffiliated Jews participate. We encourage guests to pre-register for the High Holidays at www.Mishkan.org where Visa or Mastercard are accepted. You can also use the form in the blue brochure. Fee Schedule for Guests New Policy : Members must be renewed one week prior $324 per adult guest for all services to Rosh Hashanah to avoid needing to pay $72 per adult guest per service guest fees. Guest fees for prospective members may be applied to membership when joining by November 1, 2010. All contributions are tax deductible. Please send contributions, along with the enclosed registration form (in the blue brochure), to Mishkan Shalom, 4101 Freeland Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19128. Page 2 D: SERVICES AND PROGRAMS PREPARING YOUR SOUL FOR YAMIM NORAIM The Days of Awe invite us to turn and examine our lives. They provide the opportunity and resources to help us explore who we are, where we have been, what we have created, and how we can best direct our lives. The Yamim Noraim are a time for renewal and forgiveness, for hope and connection. Through text study, reflection, and discussion, these classes will help us prepare to enter this holy time. Sunday, September 12, 10 a.m. to Noon Safe Fasting and Cleansing Diets with Nancy Post Fasting is an essential part of spiritual development, intended to purify the body, allowing non-material concerns to emerge; yet many people who fast are plagued with headaches, nausea and dizziness. This class will cover how to prepare for and break fasts, and how to let fasting springboard into healthier eating. We will address such concerns as avoiding caffeine withdrawal headaches, medicines and supplements, drinking water, and medical conditions. Part 1, scheduled before Yom Kippur, will address fasting. (Part 2 will be scheduled later and will describe and help participants learn how to migrate their diets to allow for cleansing on a regular basis.) This class will not be appropriate for pregnant or nursing women, diabetics or people with untreated psychiatric conditions. There is a cost for this class: $18 for Mishkan members, $36 for non-members for both classes. Pre-registration REQUIRED by September 8th . SELICHOT The month of Elul is the month that precedes Rosh Hashanah. During Elul we focus on the year that has passed, on all that we are sorry for, on all that we celebrate. We approach our friends and colleagues with any words of apology or healing that are needed. In this way, we are able to enter the new year fully and freely, letting go of all that is stopping us from starting afresh. At the heart of Elul is the Selichot (forgiveness) service, the first service of the Yamim Noraim. Selichot will be Saturday, September 4, at Mishkan Shalom and will begin at 8:00PM. After making Havdalah, we will watch the movie “Tsotsi” and will discuss the themes in the movie that are closely linked to Selichot. Tsotsi is a powerful movie that will help us explore the deep questions of forgiveness and redemption that are at the heart of Selichot. Selichot is a time that allows us to put closure on the past year and lets us open ourselves fully into the year to come. Tsotsi will be a powerful way to help us open. The formal Selichot service will begin at 11 PM. The Selichot service is an opportunity for us to get ready for the holy days by focusing on forgiveness and reflecting on the year that has passed. As a community, it is the first time we sing the familiar melodies of the Yamim Noraim. The service will include traditional liturgy and creative ritual and will end at 12:15 AM with a call from the shofar. For those who have never been to a Selichot service, we strongly encourage you to experience this meaningful way to prepare for the Days of Awe. Page 3 ROSH HASHANAH ROSH HASHANAH EVENING SERVICES This year, on the first night of Rosh HaShanah, Wednesday, September 8th, we will have one service from 7: 3o PM led by Rabbi Linda Holtzman. All are invited to join in this service to welcome the new year and Shabbat. COMMUNAL MEAL To enhance our celebration of the Days of Awe, we celebrate with a communal potluck meal following the service on the first day of Rosh HaShanah. We ask each household to contribute something to this festive meal, shared with the entire community. (See blue brochure and general information below for details on what to bring.) ALIYOT There will be many opportunities during the holidays to stand for an aliyah. On Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur we will dedicate some of our aliyot to the Mishkan Shalom community celebrating who we are, our values and our visions. This year we will continue a tradition we began two years ago. Everyone who has celebrated his/her Bar/Bat Mitzvah at Mishkan Shalom during the past ten years will be invited to come up for an aliyah. In this way, we will honor our teens, our students who are away at college and come home for Rosh Hashanah, and all who have celebrated their B'nai Mitzvah in our community. ROSH HASHANAH SECOND DAY Rosh HaShanah is the only Jewish holiday that is celebrated as a two-day holiday throughout the world. The rabbis talk about the two-day holiday as one long day! We encourage all members to come and to bring your children to the service on the second day. Welcoming the Children On the second day of Rosh HaShanah, we honor families who have welcomed children into their home during this past year with a special aliyah. All families who have new children are invited to participate in this ritual and everyone is invited to attend this celebration. TASHLICH Tashlich is a traditional Rosh HaShanah ritual that is part of the process of teshuvah, returning to our center. During this ritual we go to a stream or a river and throw breadcrumbs into the water as a way to cast off the deeds and patterns of behavior we don't want to carry with us into the new year. (Over the past two years we have learned breadcrumbs can harm the digestive system of the animals in the river so we also encourage you to bring leafy greens to throw into the water.) On the second day of Rosh HaShanah at 4 PM, we will gather at Valley Green in Fairmount Park to do tashlich together.