Dear Friends:
Tomorrow’s Shabbat morning service will be held on Zoom only due to predictions of a snow storm starting tomorrow morning at around 6 a.m. Hazzan Komrad will lead services with me tomorrow morning on Zoom and in addition will lead services in person next Shabbat, March 19.
Tonight after 6:30 pm Shabbat services we will wrap up our series of Zoom celebrations of our 50th anniversary. Rabbi Emeritus Mark Raphael and I will discuss the second half of our congregation’s history along with Vice President for Development Laurie Weker Lipton. Of our congregation’s 50 years in existence, Rabbi Raphael (16 years) and I (almost ten years) have been the rabbi for more than half of them. I want to thank Laurie who did a tremendous job in putting together this series of talks and I also want to thank all of the Kehilat Shalom members who have participated.
We will be observing Purim this coming Wednesday night, March 16, at 7 pm on Zoom.
As has been our practice for the last several years, the Megillah (Book of Esther) will be chanted partly in Hebrew and partly in English. Our Hazzan Kim Komrad is an expert in chanting the Megillah in English using the traditional trope (cantillation) and if you have not heard her do so, you should take advantage of this opportunity.
We will be using a new translation and printing of the Megillah. It will be screen-shared during the service but you can also download it in advance here. The service itself is a regular weekday evening service but if for some reason you do not already have a prayer book that contains the weekday evening service you can download the evening service here.
We will be having our costume contest as we do every year. In addition, we will have one for the best Zoom background. There will be prizes of $25 Amazon Gift Cards in the following categories:
* best kid’s costume (high school and younger)
* best adult’s costume
* best Zoom background
As you know, it is traditional to “blot out” Haman’s name by making noise when it is mentioned during the Megillah reading. Because food insecurity continues in our community as well as the fact that providing food to the poor is one of the mitzvot of Purim, you are encouraged to use a box of pasta or of mac and cheese as a “gragger” and then bring it to the synagogue and deposit it in the Manna Food Bank collection box in the synagogue lobby.
As a reminder, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington has established a Ukraine Emergency Fund to meet emergency humanitarian needs. You can find out more and donate here.
If you are interested in last night’s class discussion on “The Role of Jewish Studies: Education or Advocacy?” the video of the class can be found here.
Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead by an hour before you go to bed Saturday night or you will be late on Sunday for minyan or religious school.
As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org or 301-977-0768 rather than through the synagogue office. Although I am working primarily from home, I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Charles L. Arian