Newsletters

This Week's Torah Portion- 

This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Naso (Bamidbar Numbers 4:21-7:89). Additionally,  there are special designated Torah readings for the holiday of Shavuot — connecting us to the theme of receiving Torah at Mt. Sinai, and the mitzvot/commandments contained therein. More traditional Jewish diaspora communities will delay the readings for a week, because the second day of the holiday falls on Shabbat, and will catch up with a double portion the first week in July this year. 
  
We read in Parashat Naso of the Nazarite vow, a vow taken to ascribe to a more ascetic lifestyle. Implicit in this reading is that such vows of abstinence are generally frowned upon.  Overzealousness with some expectation of getting “closer” to G-d can put our lives in a place of imbalance. We lose sight of our obligations as part of our covenant with G-d to engage in everyday life, and the need to connect with G-d via our interpersonal relationships.

Rabbi's Week In Review-


Throughout our history, Jews have had to confront our theological existential crisis. Plainly put, how do we find G-d at times when G-d seems hidden? At present, the question becomes one of how (or even if) we call to G-d during a pandemic. For those of us in the rabbinate, and really all clergy, the issue becomes: How do we justify to rightful skeptics in our congregations why we would even suggest that calling out to G-d is a worthwhile endeavor during downtrodden moments?
 
In the past week, there were three different opportunities to engage in the question... Click here to read the rest of Rabbi Doug's blog post.

Weekly Features-

Worship Event of the Week
Friday, May 29, 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

This Friday evening we will have the opportunity to observe both Shabbat and the holiday of Shavuot — celebrating our receiving Torah at Mt. Sinai. A 6:45 p.m. service — which will include an opportunity to recite the customary Yizkor prayer to remember loved ones lost — will be followed by Torah study and great discussion.

It is customary to eat a dairy meal for Shavuot. Everyone is encouraged to have a meal at the ready so we can have a Seudah, a festive meal, while we study Torah. Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86864405184

Kol Ami Book Club — Unorthodox
Tuesday, May 26, 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Now adapted as a Netflix TV show, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots is the autobiographical story of author Deborah Feldman, who grew up under a code of relentlessly enforced customs governing everything, including what she could wear, to whom she could speak and what she was allowed to read. It was stolen moments spent with the works of Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott that helped her begin to imagine an alternative way of life. Trapped as a teenager in a sexually and emotionally dysfunctional marriage to a man she barely knew, she gave birth at 19, and the tension between Deborah’s desires and her responsibilities as a good Hasidic wife grew more explosive. She realized that, for the sake of herself and her son, she had to escape. Read the book and/or watch the Netflix show and come prepared to discuss with your Kol Ami Book Club buddies! Zoom Link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/91118307429

Congregants In The News-

Calling All Cats
Calling all Kol Ami cats, to be specific. Want more time in the sun? 
 
Help us get to know you better — convince your humans to send us your favorite photo and a short bio about you. In future publications of this newsletter, we’ll present you in all your feline fineness. Gray, gold-eyed Leizer Louis Lemieux, that includes you, even if you’re already diverting our attention every weekday morning during the Zoom Shaharit service. 
 
Cats, you know how to get what you want. So email your info to office@kolamikc.org. 

And don't worry, dogs — you'll get your turn.

Community Events-

Notwithstanding recent announcements purporting to order religious institutions to “open up,” Congregation Kol Ami will continue to put the lives, health, and safety of our community first.  We put the Jewish value of Pikuach Nefesh — of saving human lives — at the forefront of all we do.

We will continue to stay open virtually until, guided by medical experts, we deem it safe to gather together in person.

New to attending Zoom services with Kol Ami? Click here for instructions on how to join a Zoom meeting online.  

We Wish Mi Shebeirach,
A Complete Healing of Mind, Body and Spirit to:

Sofie Johnson
Kenneth Dantzler
Elizabeth Bamberger
Denny Dalton, son of Alies & Dennis Dalton
Dennis Dalton

If there is a person you would like the congregation to say a prayer of healing and renewal for, we would be happy to include their name in the weekly announcements.
 
Please email names to  healing@kolamikc.org
 
Note: Names appear for one month unless a request to continue listing the name is made to  healing@kolami.org.