Worship Event
of the Week
Shabbat Blessings
(and a Little Extra for Tu B'Shevat)
At 6:45 p.m. this Friday, January 26, we gather together via Zoom to make Shabbos, with Shabbat blessings and a little bit of Torah. Also, because Thursday this week is Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees, we will do some readings and blessings appropriate for that celebration. You can have your own fruits and grape juice or wine to join in the ceremony, or Rabbi Doug will do the blessings on your behalf. For the Zoom link, click here.
(For instructions on the different wines and fruits to have at the ready, see the end of the Weekly Feature section.)
Upcoming
Community Events
Community Tu
B'Shevat Seder
From 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, February 4, there is a community Tu B’Shevat seder at Village Shalom, 5500 W. 123rd St. (Note: This is a reschedule from the original date of January 28, due to the Chiefs game this Sunday.) There is no cost to attend, but you must register through the J’s website, by clicking here.
Missourians for Constitutional Freedom — Update
Access Missouri hosts an update on the work Missourians for Constitutional Freedom is doing on a ballot initiative to establish access to abortion as a right under the Missouri Constitution. The meeting will be held via Zoom, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 31.
If you are interested in attending the meeting and/or interested in gathering signatures to get this initiative on the ballot, you can register through Access Missouri by clicking here. Or you may request more information by emailing accessmissouri @gmail.com.
Yahrzeit This Week
January 29
Betty Thompson – mother of Gary Thompson
We Wish Mi Shebeirach
A complete healing of mind, body and spirit:
Robert Clinton
Kenneth Dantzler
Bill Drummond
Rev. Lloyd Fields
Dana A. Fuller
Amanda Goldstein
Harriet Greenwald
Michelle Hills
Karla Jacobs
Katie Nottingham
Dr. Carol Pohl
Harolyn Richberg
Michah ben Sarah
Edi Shifrin
Rachel Silk
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
This past Shabbat, we shared feelings and perspectives on the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine — or Gaza or Hamas, depending on whom you ask. This discussion was all at once difficult, emotional, respectful and, most of all, important.
It was clear that there was no agreement about the best path forward, about how Israel should or should not respond to the terrorist acts of Hamas on October 7. Is Israel doing ... Click here to read the rest of Rabbi Doug's blog post.
This Week's Torah Portion
Parashat Beshalach (Shemot/Exodus 13:17-17:16)
In the Torah portion, we recite Shirat HaYam, the Song at the Sea. It is a poetic celebration of our deliverance from bondage. It is one of two times in reciting Torah that the congregation stands. Which is to say, it is really important. Its importance stems from the acknowledgment that none of us can accomplish on our own a place of redemption, neither from slavery nor to free ourselves from any dire straits in which we and our world community find ourselves. We must figure out how to live and work with all people to find a better world, a world permeated by the divine presence.
Weekly Feature
Another Chance to Celebrate a New Year
By Wynne Begun
One of my favorite holidays of the Jewish calendar is the 15th of Shevat, or Tu B’Shevat, the “birthday of the trees” — or a new year for trees. This year it begins at sundown Wednesday, January 24, and goes until sundown on the 25th.
This holiday brings together my love of spring, farm-to-table food and the awareness of our fragile environment. Sometimes communities hold seders, which feature different fruits. (Last year, Kol Ami held a Tu B’Shevat seder that honored Migrant Farmworkers Assistance Fund. We ate fruits native to Israel and drank four cups of wine, in varying shades of red, to correspond with the four seasons and the four aspects of creation according to the Kabbalah.)
In Israel, Tu B’Shevat marks the last of winter’s rainy season. Here in Kansas City, we must wait a little longer for winter’s end, but once Tu B’Shevat comes around, I know our spring isn’t too far away.
The new year that we most often think of is Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of creation. Another new year that we commonly celebrate commemorates our redemption from Egypt. At Passover, we hold a seder, during which we recount the story of our freedom and the freedom from oppression for all.
The fourth new year on the Jewish calendar, according to the Mishnah, is the first of Elul. This date marked the time for the tithing of cattle that were born between the last year and the next one.
My suggestion for our Kol Ami community this Tu B’Shevat is that we have a vegetarian meal, to be mindful of our fragile planet and to celebrate the bounty of a new season. Chag Semeach!
Friday's Shabbat Blessings
Wine and Fruit Instructions
If you would like to have your own fruit and proper drinks during Zoom Shabbat blessings this Friday (for the Zoom link, click here), here is what you need:
For the grape juice or wine, you need both red and white. There will be four cups: (1) all white, for winter; (2) one mostly white, with a little red, symbolizing early spring; (3) half-red, half-white, corresponding to late spring and early summer; and (4) all red, to symbolize summer and early fall.
For the different kinds of fruits needed: (1) fruits with a hard shell outside and edible inside, like certain nuts, making or creating the physical structure of the world by working the soil; (2) fruits with a pit, hard on the inside but soft and edible on the outside, associated with feeling and transformation; and (3) entirely edible fruits, such as berries, a form of creation from nothing, which only G-d could do, the non-human-created world.
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