Agudas Achim Congregation 401 E
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Agudas Achim Congregation 401 E. Oakdale Blvd., Coralville. IA 52241 Phone: (319) 337-3813 www.agudasachimic.org March 2015 Adar —Nisan 5775 Schedule of Services Purim Thursday, March 4 7pm Children’s Service (At Agudas Achim) Friday, March 5 8:30 am & 5:00 pm(At Chabad House) Shabbat Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35) Friday, March 6 Shabbat Across Iowa 6:00 pm dinner RSVPs requested 7:45 pm Services Mishkan Tefillah Saturday, March 7 9:30 am Siddur Mishkan Tefillah Shabbat Vayakhel-Pekude/Shabbat Parah (Exodus 35:1-40:38, Numbers 19:1-22) This is the third of four special Shabbatot before Passover. The maftir section from Numbers details the matter of the red heifer. In Temple days the priest would use the ashes of the red heifer to purify people who were ritually impure which would have prevented them from eating of the Passover sacrifice. Friday, March 13 7:45 pm Siddur Sim Shalom Musical Service with Rabbi Rebecca Kushner Saturday, March 14 9:30 am Siddur Sim Shalom Shabbat Vayikra/Rosh Hodesh/Shabbat Hachodesh (Leviticus 1:1-5:26, Numbers 28:9-15, Exodus 12:1-20) ) This is the last of the four special Shabbatot before Passover. It falls on the Shabbat before Nisan unless Nisan begins on Shabbat as it does this year. In this case Shabbat Hachodesh coincides with Rosh Hodesh. That’s why there are three Torahs: One for the regular from Leviticus, the second one from Numbers for Rosh Hodesh and the third one from Exodus which states that the month in which Passover occurs is the first month of the year. Friday, March 20 7:45 pm Mishkan Tefillah Saturday, March 21 9:30 am Siddur Sim Shalom Shabbat Tzav/Shabbat Hagadol (Leviticus 6:1-8:36) The name of the Shabbat before Passover is called Shabbat Hagadol. It takes its name from the end of the haftarah which ends “I will send you the prophet Eliyahu to your before the coming of the great (hagadol) fearful day of the Lord.” Friday, March 27 7:45 pm Siddur Mishkan Tefillah Oneg Shabbat Program: Prof. Robert Cargill on “Song of Songs.” Saturday, March 28 9:30 am Siddur Sim Shalom Schedule of Services Shabbat Pesach (Exodus 12:21-51, Numbers 28:16-25) Friday, April 3 NO Services – First Seder Saturday, April 4 9:30 am Siddur Mishkan Tefillah Michael Flatté will be leading music Schedule of Services on Passover Saturday, April 4 (Shabbat and the first day of Passover) 9:30 am Sunday, April 5 (Second day of Passover) 9:30 am Friday, April 10 (Seventh Day of Passover) 9:30 am Saturday, April 11 (Eighth Day of Passoverver and Yizkor) 9:30 am LIFE MILESTONES The congregation extends its condolences to Su Groff-VanArendonk on the loss of her husband Wayne VanArendonk. The congregation extends its condolences to Janie and Jody Braverman on the loss of Janie’s father, Arnie Breggin. May they be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. THANK YOU A special thanks to Doug Ginsberg at MC Ginsberg’s for repairing the Torah rimonim and engraving the Kiddush cups given to B’nai Mitzvah. MARCH BOOK NEWS-Braverman Library and Becker Learning Center How about brushing up on Purim’s story, traditions, and recipes this month? Whether among the adult or children’s books, you’re sure to find something to pique your curiosity- check it out! Fun fact: Did you know that our Becker Adult Learning Center is home to scholarly books which belonged to Dr. Jonathan A. Goldstein z"l, Maccabean scholar and Agudas Achim congregant? Kippah Survey Are you a woman who wears a kippah/ yarmulke? Email [email protected] with the subject line “kippah” to participate in the first ever large-scale survey into the meanings associated with this symbol, as reported by the women who wear it. And please help spread the word! SEARCH COMMITTEE-Michael Flaum The search committee has been very busy this month. After a long period of waiting, we finally received several applications for our interim rabbi position. We’ve conducted Skype interviews with 3 of these candidates over the past few weeks, and, after doing so, and conducting some preliminary reference checking, we have invited our top candidate for an onsite visit. His name is Rabbi Barry Diamond; he has been serving as an “intentional interim” over the last several years in multiple congregations. He is currently serving as the senior (interim) rabbi at a 600 family congregation in LA. Phone interviews with the board president and the cantor of that synagogue were overwhelmingly positive (as were other references). We really hope we can recruit him. He will be visiting us on the weekend of March 6-8. That means he will be here for our “Shabbat Across Iowa City” dinner on Friday March 6th. We hope to have a big turnout that night so he can meet as many congregants as possible. He will be participating in services both Friday night and Saturday morning, and will join us for lunch after Saturday services. He will then meet with members of the board with Rabbi Portman on Saturday afternoon, and with the search committee on Sunday morning. If anyone is specifically interested in meeting with him, Saturday afternoon is probably the most flexible time in his schedule. Once again, I have been really impressed by the dedication that the search committee members continue to show – we’ve basically been meeting every week of late, and almost everyone shows up to every meeting. It’s really quite something – Relational Judaism in action. SISTERHOOD –Jorie Slodki Winter Tea a Success! Our Winter Tea on 15 was a resounding success. Over twenty women gathered to eat, schmooze, and bid on our Silent Auction--which raised $500 for our campaign to honor Rabbi Jeff! Thank you to . Teresa Weiner for hosting Michelle Edwards for her fascinating talk on knitting and writing All those who donated items or bid for our Silent Auction Sisterhood Shabbat We will be hosting Sisterhood Shabbat on April 24 at the synagogue. We will need participants for leading parts of the service in English and/or Hebrew, and volunteers to bring food for the Oneg. If you are interested in helping, please e-mail [email protected] Watch Your Inboxes We will be sending out an electronic survey to collect information on your hobbies and interests. We plan to use this information to give us ideas on what events to have in the future, and to connect Sisterhood members with similar interests. Whether you are interested in gardening, dancing, or underwater basketweaving, we hope to serve you better. GIFT SHOP-Joanne Margolin Passover will be here soon -- the first seder is Friday, April 3rd! As always, we have a variety of seder plates, plastic liners, haggadot, cards, beautiful matza covers, wash cups, kiddush cups, as well as stickers and the game of Passover Slides and Ladders for the children. If you think of something you’d like and can’t find it in the Gift Shop, please call and let me try to get it for you – no shipping and no tax! Wishing you an early Happy Pesach ~ Joanne Margolin 351-2181 or [email protected] RABBI’S COLUMN—Rabbi Jeff Portman Each day the Iowa Senate and House meets there is an opening prayer delivered by a member of the clergy. I was invited by State Senator Bob Dvorsky to deliver the prayer a few days ago. The instructions that were given by the Senate was for the invocator to keep in mind the diverse religions that legislators have and not be exclusive. In my quick perusal of past invocations I was struck how what I would consider exclusive was apparently not the case with some of other clergy. Here is the text of my invocation. Lord, Master of the universe – You have bequeathed to all mankind the gifts of discernment and wisdom. We thank You for those gifts and we ask You to help and guide our elected representatives and their staffs as they work diligently to fulfill their challenging task of tackling our problems, while expanding opportunities for all of us in this great State of Iowa. O Sovereign, be with them as all those who labor for a better world. Help them to work in a spirit of cooperation to support all of the citizens of Iowa. We ask you to keep in mind the families and friends of these dedicated men and women who live all over Iowa. Be with them as their loved ones work in this capital city. We may individually have different perspectives on the ultimate questions religions speak to but here in these United States these differences are affirmed and celebrated. We are truly blessed to live in a county and state that allows each of us to come before You in our own way. Lord, we ask Your blessings on the President of the United Sates and the Governor of Iowa and all elected offi- cials in our State. Guide them as they contemplate legislation that will affect all the citizens of our state. The challenges are daunting but we are confident that Your guidance will be with these men and women as they study, debate and ultimately pass legislation that will benefit all Iowans. Amen. YOUTH DIRECTOR OPENING We are accepting applications for the part time position of Youth Director at Agudas Achim Congregationin Coralville. For about 3 hours per week, the Youth Director will provide a welcoming environment for our teens to meet, and guide our high school age students to become community leaders.