Worship Event
of the Week
Zoom Shabbat
Blessings
We "make Shabbos"
together virtually this
Friday, November 29, at 6:45 p.m., reciting blessings to get our Shabbat started. Candle blessings, Kiddush over wine or grape juice and Motzi, along with a short D’var Torah from the rabbi, add a sense of the sacred to our Shabbat experience and lives. For Zoom, click here.
Upcoming
Kol Ami Event
Resting in Mindfulness Classes
Julia Billquist teaches a beginner-friendly mindfulness class this Saturday, November 30, and Saturday, December 14, both sessions starting at
11 a.m., at All Souls. Each class consists of an hour of mindfulness-based practices, including gentle movement; guided meditations; and ways to self-connect and access a grounded, rested nervous system.
Social Justice
News
JFS Hanukkah
Project
Help make Hanukkah
a little brighter for more than 300 individuals, including children and older adults, by donating a $25 Target, Walmart or Amazon gift card to the JFS Hanukkah Project. (Gift cards allow individuals and families to shop for groceries, select correct sizes and styles, or surprise a family member.)
Gift cards may be
delivered to the JFS office at the Jewish Community Campus or in Brookside
(425 E. 63rd St., Kansas City, Mo. 64110) — or click this donate link, and JFS will purchase the cards for you! Thank you for spreading the light of Hanukkah.
Yahrzeit
This Week
December 3
David Goldstein –
grandfather of Anna Jaffe
We Wish Mi
Shebeirach
A complete healing of
mind, body and spirit:
Robert Clinton
Kenneth Dantzler
Alan Dietchman
Renée Dietchman
Megan Garrison
Yale Krugman
Steve Sackin
Jean Shifrin
Melvin Michael Slater
Serena Verden
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.
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Rabbi's Week in Review
As I write this, Fay and I are just getting back to the States after spending two weeks in Uganda. Our trip was arranged through the organization Global Villages Connect, a group that supports the Abayudaya, the People of Judah — a group of Ugandan Jewish communities that has been around for over a century. These communities (14 total, of which we visited with five) are, by and large, extremely poor, remote, rural subsistence ... Click here to read the rest of Rabbi Doug's blog post.
This Week's Torah Portion
Parashat Toldot (Bereishit/Genesis 25:19-28:9)
We read this week of Jacob and Esau. While the Parashah focuses primarily on the issues surrounding Esau’s losing/giving up the birthright to Jacob, we also read that Esau ultimately marries Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael.
While Esau is subsequently demonized in Jewish texts, particularly during the Rabbinic Period, there is another perspective to be drawn from the Esau story. In the book Esau’s Blessing; How the Bible Embraces Those With Special Needs, author Ora Horn Prouser observes that Esau may have had ADHD, leading to an impulsive response to giving up his birthright, his proclivity toward hunting rather than agriculture, and how his anger toward Jacob ultimately dissipates — that those with ADHD may be quick toward an angry response but are also less likely to hold a grudge.
In Esau’s marriage to Ishmael’s daughter, it is important to recall how the G-d we pray to in our Torah is the same G-d who promises that a great nation will emanate from Ishmael. It is a lesson that we should not depict Muslims as our natural enemy into perpetuity.
Thoughts on Thanksgiving
Jews and Thanksgiving —
Connecting the Dots
By Wynne Begun
We celebrate Thanksgiving as a nonreligious holiday, but the roots of this day may be based on the holiday of Sukkot. The Pilgrims saw many similarities between themselves, who exited Europe to gain their religious freedom, and the Jews, who escaped Egypt to become free of Pharaoh’s tyranny. The Pilgrims were familiar with the holiday of Sukkot — a fall holiday that celebrates the harvest and observes Israel’s wandering in the desert. The Pilgrims saw their struggles as similar and created Thanksgiving as their remembrance of bounty and freedom. As we celebrate this holiday, let’s be thankful for what we have, be hopeful for what we want to accomplish, and be patient as we work toward a better world.
A Prayer of Thanks —
Modim Anachnu Lach
By Ellen Karp
The holiday of Thanksgiving encapsulates the idea behind Modim Anachnu Lach — a part of the Amidah that expresses thanks as well as humility for all of G-d's gifts. As Rabbi Doug often says, even in the world to come (Olam Ha-bah), the one necessary prayer to say will be Modim Anachnu Lach.
The Amidah is composed of a series of blessings, and we come to the Modim after a series of requests — for health, wisdom, prosperity, etc. The Modim, toward the end of the Amidah, shifts from a beseeching tone to one of awe and appreciation — for the wonder of creation, for our planet Earth, for human life, for human community.
A happy Thanksgiving to all.
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