Jewish Holidays « Hebrew Learning Circles

Hanukkah Party Tuesday December 20th 6:00 to 8:00 pm

December 1st, 2011

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Where: F.O.R. 521 North Broadway, Nyack NY 10960

Cost: to be determined

Eco Menorah candle lighting

Dreidle Tournament

Holiday foods

Entertainment - Trio Shalva, the Israeli Jazz band, with Assaf Gleizner

Food drive – bring non-perishable foods to the party and we will donate it to

People to People of West Nyack

The creative Eco-Menorah project will enhance this year’s celebration. Each Learning Circle will build a uniquely designed menorah to reflect the theme of preserving the environment and saving energy to be presented and lit at the party.

Now, what does Hanukkah have to do with the environment, you may ask? Just like in the Hanukkah miracle story - “a one-day flask of lamp-oil magically burned for eight days” – so too we can and must use “oil” (or any energy source) efficiently so we get much more production out of much less fuel for the preservation of the planet.

Jewish tradition charges us to be the “guardians” of the earth. Waste and destruction are clear prohibitions according to Jewish law, thus we are emphasizing the theme in relation to Hanukkah this year.

Finally, we are now gathering the organizing team and volunteers.

Needed are:

1. A raffle coordinator

2. A flyer maker and distributors

3. A Shopper for latkes and donuts

4. Set up/clean up people

Your help would be so much appreciated.

Please let us know which of the above jobs are calling to you.

We look forward to seeing you at the party.

Tags: Add new tag, Dreidle, Hanukkah, Jewish Holidays, Jewish tradition, Latkes, Menorah, religion, synagogue, Trio Shalva
Posted in Announcements, Hanukkah, Jewish Holidays

Yom Kippur Services 5772, Nyack NY

September 2nd, 2011

Mindful New-Year Celebrations for the Open Minded

Reserve your seats now

845 641 1106 and/or hlchighholidays@gmail.com

Evening Service (Kol Nidrei): Friday, 10/7 7:30-8:45

Daytime Service: Shabbat, 10/8 (Yizkor included)

Silent meditation 8:30 am to 8:50 am

Service 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Concluding Service (Ne’ila): 5:30 – 7:45 pm

With Rabbi Reuben Modek, Chani Getter, Judith Rose

Musical support by Assaf Gleizner of Trio Shalva

Suggested Contribution per the holiday:

$60 per person /$30 per child under 13

Family package $170

[Parent/s and dependent children]

Make check payable to Hebrew Learning Circles

Mail to P.O. Box 212, Nyack NY 10960

Childcare provided for Yom Kippur Day services only.

All are welcome! Financial considerations will be honored.

Location: Lift Nyack Yoga & Wellness Center

42 Main Street, Nyack NY 10960

Tags: Jewish Holidays, Jewish tradition, prayer services, religion, Rosh HaShannah, synagogue, Yom Kippur
Posted in Announcements, Being Jewish, Classes, HLC Article, High Holidays, Jewish Holidays

Hanukkah Celebration

November 19th, 2010

Sunday, December 5, 2010, TIME: 6 pm - 7:30 pm

LOCATION: CAFE TASCHA, 140 Main Street - Nyack, NY 10960
(corner of Main Street & Franklin)

The Program
* Candle lighting and prayers with Rabbi Modek
* Latkes and jelly doughnuts available for purchase at Cafe Tascha’s counter
* Live Band, starring our teacher Assaf Gleizner and his band Trio Shalva
* Poetry Jam
o by kids
o by adults
* Dreidel contest with prizes for the kids
* Hanukkah crafts for the kids
* Raffle and awesome prizes

Sponsors Invited

Would you donate in honor of a relative or friend by covering
the cost of one of the items listed below? We would like to
publicly acknowledge your donation and the person (and
cause) to whom the donation is dedicated.

* the band ? ($500)
* the raffle prizes? ($150)
* the chocolate Hanukkah Gelt for the kids? ($100)
* the Dreidel contest prizes? ($50)

Great volunteering opportunities during the party:

1 volunteer for the admissions’ table
1 volunteer to be the Master of Ceremony of the Poetry Jam
1 volunteer to run the Dreidel contest
1 volunteer for the Hanukkah crafts with the children
1 volunteer to coordinate and draw the raffles
3 volunteers to sell the raffle tickets

Call (845) 348-9810 or email hlcoffice@mac.com to sign up!

Warmly, Rabbi Reuben Modek

Tags: Candle Lighting, Dreidel, Hanukkah, Jewish Holidays, Jewish tradition, Poetry Jam, religion
Posted in Jewish Holidays

Where? and How? A Midrashic and Psychospiritual Perspective on Tisha B’Av By Judith Rose

July 19th, 2010

If the Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) teaches that there is a time to mourn and a time to dance, Tisha B’Av (the ninth of the Hebrew month “Av”), which begins Monday night at sundown, is a time that has been set aside for mourning. Traditionally it is observed as a day of fasting and prayer in commemoration of the destructions of both the first and second Temple in Jerusalem, and the expulsion of the Jews of Spain. The Book of Lamentations, known as Eikha, written by the prophet Jeremiah, is read morning and evening along with a compendium of extremely sad poems that are called Kinot. Conflated within the observance of the day is the remembrance of other destructions in our history that took place during this spiritually tender time.

Latest findings in archaeology have given us a graphic depiction of the violence and devastation that occurred to the Jewish people during Temple times. This matches the horrific descriptions of destruction and its ensuing horrors in Jeremiah’s mournful words. The Book of Eikha is organized into five chapters, three of which begin with the plaintive cry that gives its name to the title of the book, Eikha—How—How could this have happened?

In an effort to open the deep psychospiritual potential of this time, let us journey through a couple of textual landmarks. The prophet Jeremiah cries out, Eikh — Eikh How – How, how could you have broken trust with Yud__ Heh___ Vav___ Heh___ (GOD)? His Eikh here anticipates his later Eikha which painfully expresses “Alas, How?”, or “ Oh, How?”, the prophet’s heart felt language of distress and lament.

From the 6^th century B.C.E. Jeremiah, let us travel back in time to the beginning of beginnings inside the mythic Garden. Adam and Eve have just disobeyed G-d’s admonition and have eaten from The Forbidden Fruit. God’s spirit (wind) is moving through the garden. Adam and Eve are terrified and hide. God calls out “Adam, Adam, Ayekah (where are you)? The G-d that is omniscient, omnipotent, asking two quaking humans where they are? Didn’t God know? Clearly this is not a question about locus. What do you think the Torah is teaching us here? The answer is hinted in the words themselves. The word Ayekah, where are you, of Genesis, read without vowels, can read as Jeremiah’s Eikha, “Alas, How?”

We all have moments of delusion, illusion, and confusion where we act in ways that are contrary to our inner compass of knowing right from wrong. Thus, Tisha B’Av is a day to reflect on national destruction, but also a time to contemplate upon the devastation that our own habits bring upon ourselves. It is also the first step, the toe in the water, of the high-holiday period. From Tisha B’Av we continue on through the month of Elul preparing us for Rosh HaShannah leading to the Days of Awe that culminate with Yom Kippur.

This Tisha B’Av as we read the Book of Lamentations, perhaps we can spend time asking ourselves: Ayehka? Where am I? and Eikha: How did I get here? And most importantly, where do I want to go?

Tags: Jewish Holidays, religion, reward and punishment, Tisha B'Av
Posted in Jewish Holidays

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