As we watch the leaves fall from the trees, and brace for the coming winter months, we become centered on our home, family and the holiday traditions that bring us all together. And with Thanksgiving/Hanukkah just around the corner, we reflect on the many blessings bestowed upon us.

This holiday season, our Temple community is preparing all types of activities that will bring us together for bonding and fellowship. And in this season of thankfulness, we have an opportunity to reflect on just how fortunate we are to have found each other and a pathway to share our traditions and make new memories for our children.

Pizza pre-negs, Sing-a-longs, Hanukkah parties, Champagne Tastings, Book Clubs and Adult Education lectures are just a few ways we come together in an effort to create friendships that outlast a lifetime!

In this upcoming holiday season, there is no reason for any of us to be alone. Your Temple community is all around. There is a comfort in knowing that whatever we face, we face it with the support and warmth of the good friends and family we have made at Temple Shirat Shalom.

Welcome to November, the time of year that reminds us of the importance of family, friends, and what matters in our lives. We are particularly fortunate that we are alive to see a once in a lifetime occurrence…

Yes, that’s right…we get to celebrate Chanukah and Thanksgiving at the same time!! We get to have turkey, latkes, and (insert favorite here) pie all at the same time. We get to overeat, watch football, and watch the tearing of wrapping paper as our children unveil the gifts that parents have hidden in closets, basements, and car trunks.

What better way to become fully enveloped in the warmth and love of family?

While we are basking in this holiday glow, let’s remind ourselves that this is also the best time to get involved with your TSS family. As you’ll see in this bulletin there are many, many activities on the schedule. Please pick those that interest you most and spend some time with us.

Friday night FUN at Shabbat Services! The Fall evening was sheer joy as the children ushered in the weekend with a Pizza Pre-neg and cupcakes.

How appropriate that this Shabbat Service was led by the TSS Religious School children? As Cantor Sermonized the visit paid to Abraham by the Angels to tell him that his wife Sarah would soon give him a child and give birth to a nation, the realization that OUR future and the future of TSS was sitting in the front row.

It is so important to pass our Jewish traditions onto our children. Like the children of our ancestors, they are the next generation to carry on the Jewish faith. Bringing your kids to Shabbat Services not only fulfills a mitzvah, but also reinforces what the Angels told Abraham, that the birth of his child would bring forth the birth of a nation.

With so many distractions in our lives, and so many secular activities that are scheduled for Friday nights, Shabbat Services are often sacrificed. But making Services a priority, just once a month, does so much for building the future and creating a bonding experience for our children to their Jewish faith.

Friday night was fun, informative and created a night filled with good Jewish memories that hopefully someday our children will pass onto their own children.

As Cantor Sussman sermonized the story of Noah at last Friday’s Shabbat, the word “survivor” kept surfacing to mind. No, not the Survivor Realty Show, but the thought of one man and his family and those animals that he chose to save.

We are all survivors of our own lives. If we look into our pasts, we would find a history of survivors. For here we are. We are a people, a culture and a community whose spirit will not be denied.

Temple Shirat Shalom is an example of survivorship. The past found us unhappy with our worship. It would have been much easier to drift away from our religion. We could have abandoned our spiritual community. But then Judaism would take the fall. With the numbers of our faith dwindling around the world, we would not let that happen.

So we worship as our ancestors did before us. We come together each week to pray in comfort, peace, freedom and harmony. And wherever we are, we are a joyful group. We have weathered the storm … and we have survived.