Dear Friends:
Plans for Shavuot
We will be joining the Conservative Movement’s third online Tikkun Leil Shavuot beginning Saturday night, June 4, at 9:30 pm. There will be no Havdalah and Schmooze that evening. The Tikkun can be accessed at http://www.tinyurl.com/Shavuot5782.
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Services Sunday morning for the first day of Shavuot on Sunday June 5 will be on Zoom only beginning at 9:30. Afternoon services for the first day and evening services for the second day will be on Zoom at 7:45.
Services for the second day of Shavuot, Monday June 6, include Yizkor and will be held in person and on Zoom at 9:30. They will be followed by an outdoor kiddush, weather permitting. Services both mornings will be led by Hazzan Komrad and me.
If you are planning on attending in person that morning, please sign up here. We are having a kiddush outdoors (weather permitting) and we want to make sure that we have enough food without being wasteful, so your cooperation in signing up in advance is very much appreciated.
A Note of Thanks
I want to thank everyone who reached out to me after my medical procedure this past Thursday and who filled in for me during my unplanned absence this past Shabbat. The procedure was successful (the biopsy revealed the growth to be a benign cyst which is what was expected) but I took ill Friday afternoon and spent most of the next two days in bed. I may have had a delayed reaction to the anesthetic which was used but my surgeon tells me there is no way of knowing for certain. At any rate, I am now back in the saddle.
Tomorrow Night’s “Contemporary Jewish Controversies” Class
As I’ve written before, a federal or state ban on abortion that does not provide an exception for the mental health of the mother could mean that pregant Jews could be forbidden from having an abortion that Jewish law would not only allow but require them to have. What happens when Jewish law and secular law are in conflict?
We’ll take a look at some Supreme Court precedents which might address this question as well as halachic responses to the same question. We will also take a look at various “kosher laws” where the state seeks to protect the kosher consumer from fraudulent claims that a food is kosher as well as a current New York State lawsuit over who gets to say what is kosher.
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. I have been spending more time in the synagogue recently but if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Charles L. Arian