Newsletters

Worship Event 
of the Week

Study, Service
and Seudah
We look forward

this Saturday, November 11, beginning at 9:30 a.m., to making Shabbos together with study and wonderful discussion, spiritual worship and a Seudah — a festive Shabbat brunch. We meet in person at Fay and Rabbi Doug’s and via Zoom. For those attending in person, you must RSVP to rabbidoug@kolamikc.org.
For the Zoom link, click here.

Social Justice News

MLK School Partnership
We have recently been in touch with our MLK School partners. There is a great need for coats, hats and gloves. We will be collecting these items at the November 17 Shabbat Shulchan service only, at All Souls.
Thank you.
— Pat Clinton and
Sheryl Kretchmer

Yahrzeits
This Week
November 13
Lois Steinel – mother of Dan Steinel
November 21
John Jeremias Stein – uncle of Lara Steinel

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

Robert Clinton
John Cottrell
Kenneth Dantzler
Dana A. Fuller
​​​​​​​Amanda Goldstein
Beth Greenwald
Josh Greenwald
Kay Grossman
Brian Guthrie 
Butch Murphy
Michah ben Sarah
Paul Scholz
Gerry Trilling

If you would like a name to continue to be listed or if you have a
new name to include, please send an email to  healing@kolamikc.org. 

Rabbi's Week in Review



I have been inundated (or maybe I have continued to be inundated) with requests to sign on to statements and/or letters to elected officials advocating with certainty to a particular position regarding the present horrific conflict between Israel and Palestine. The only thing about which I have certainty right now is my uncertainty. At this point, I have merely tried to maintain, above all, a sense of compassion and humanity for those who ... Click here to read the rest of Rabbi Doug's blog post.

This Week's Torah Portion
Parashat Chaye Sarah
(Bereishit/Genesis 23:1-25:18)



“Chaye Sarah” — the life of Sarah — begins by announcing her death. In the way we honor memory in our burial and mourning practices, in a sense we sustain the lives of those we love by recognizing the lasting impact their lives have on us as family and on our communities.

Weekly Feature

Finding Comfort at a Troubled Time
By Wynne Begun

I am upset and nervous about the state of war occurring all over the world. The wars in Israel and Gaza and between Ukraine and Russia are uppermost in my mind. Add to that the political upheaval in Washington, our new Speaker of the House — a far-right Christian nationalist — and all the other ugliness swirling around. I know that I am not the only one who feels unsettled, anxious and somewhat adrift.

At a recent bridge tournament, which happened to be held at the Jewish Community Center, a man I hardly knew asked me totally out of context if I was a Jew. Of course I said I was Jewish, and we began playing our hand. That was the end of that, but it was disconcerting. 

How do we find some level of comfort in this troubled time? I am lighting Shabbat candles. I am practicing gratitude for the things that are going well in my life. I am using my fireplace and candles to bring some warmth into my home as it gets colder outside. I am spending more time with my family. And perhaps the most extreme thing that I am doing is learning Spanish, in case I need to run to Mexico! 
 
"The Nosher " (see note below) just ran an article about Jewish women baking challah together. Would anybody want to do that? Email office@kolamikc.org, and we can try it. 

I am sure each of us has our own personal soothing strategies. Whatever we can do for ourselves now is certainly the time to do it. It seems like a very impossible prayer, but may there be peace and safety for all the innocents in the very near future.  

Note: “The Power of Baking Challah Together in Hard Times: This small act is a symbol of Jewish hope” by Joanna Nissim, October 16, 2023, myjewishlearning.com