Purim was celebrated at TSS with much joy and fun. We read the megillah in Hebrew and English. I chanted megillat Esther with its special ancient trope. Meidan read the megillah having the congregation blot out the name of evil Haman every time he is mentioned. We had a festive pizza meal and sang Purim songs. Our Purim Spiel was a retelling of the story in an amusing fashion. Don Belmont was an hilarious Esther, looking quite fetching, sounding like Miss Piggy. I was Haman and Mordecai and Meidan was King Ahasveuros. Karyn Goldner kept us all together as our narrator. Everyone had a wonderful time. Thank you to Lisa Szydlow for organizing the whole evening.
How to Serve, with Brotherhood Style!
March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
The Torah portion for last week’s Brotherhood Shabbat Service was Tetsaveh, Hebrew for “you command.” In this Parashat God commands Moses and the children of Israel on how to serve the Lord God by bringing pure olive oil to light the sanctuary, ordaining and the dressing of the priests for worship and the burning of incense. Don Bastian, President of our Brotherhood, drew from this text many similarities to the good deeds that the Brotherhood performs for TSS.
Throughout Don’s Sermon one realizes that when we serve our God with bringing order to our weekly worship Service and performing good deeds wherever needed, we not only serve God, we serve our community. Perhaps this was why God gave these commands. Bringing order to our worship brings people together to work for a common goal. Performing good deeds side-by-side with fellow congregants builds a sense of community … a “brotherhood.”
This was the perfect Parashat for Brotherhood President, Don Bastian, to sermonize. Don and his Brotherhood members are superb examples of bringing order to our worship Service and performing good deeds for our Congregation. Their dedication and joyful spirit is an inspiration to us all. We are truly thankful for our wonderful Brotherhood.
Make it Beautiful!
March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
In this week’s Torah portion God tells the Israelites to take a census. Only God can command that a counting of the people be taken. The ancients felt if they were counted without God’s permission they could open themselves up to being harmed. Bad omens and spirits would be aware of them and hurt them. With God’s protection they felt they could be counted. A census occurs a number of times in the Torah. It is important to be counted. We at Temple Shirat Shalom want to know who you are, we want you to be counted on and we want you to count on us as well.
In another part of this week’s Torah portion God finds the craftsmen to make the ritual objects of the Israelites. The main artisan is Beztalel, he is a young man of great artistic abilities. God says of him that he is singled out and is endowed with the Divine Spirit of skill, ability and knowledge in every kind of craft. In this Torah portion we are told that artistic abilities is God given and is a great gift. Adding beauty to our ritual objects and to our rituals is a mitzvah, a commandment. Whenever we do anything or make anything in God’s name we must make every effort to make it as beautiful and perfect as possible. That is why when I teach our children or adults I make everyone strive for “perfection.” We must always make our work in the name of Judaism and God as good as we can make it.
Jewish History Museum Trip 2/26/2012
March 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Temple Shirat Shalom had its first field trip last Sunday, February 26. The National Museum of American Jewish History located on Independence Mall in Philadelphia proved to be a fun and informative experience. Arranged by Janet Hogan, we were led by a special museum docent who spoke of the Jewish people’s journey to America. Exhibits with memorabilia, photos and movies chronicled the experiences of the immigrants and the beginning of their new life in a free society. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better than that, we ended the day with dinner at the Famous 4th Street Deli where sandwiches, filled with hot patrami, corn beef and roasted turkey were paired with the most delicious pickles and potato knishes. A memorable and fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.