This past weekend many of our congregants and guests had the pleasure of meeting and learning from Inge Auerbacher. If you did not, you missed quite a treat. Inge is an amazing 81-year old woman who shared her story of survival during the Holocaust. On Friday, after services, she spoke about her family and some of the things she experienced throughout this horrible time. She was a 3-year-old on Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and eventually she and her family ended up in the Terezin concentration camp. While almost everyone they knew lost their lives during the Holocaust, miraculously, Inge and her parents survived and they eventually moved to the United States.
On Saturday afternoon, Inge shared a made-for-kids movie that showed her return to the town she grew up in, as well as a few other locations. In the movie she shared the story of her doll, Marlene, who she had with her throughout her encampment – and who is now in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. Quite creatively, much of the story was told through the eyes of another doll, one created to look like Marlene and named Inge and gifted to Inge Auerbacher by a doll factory in Germany.
This doesn’t even begin to do justice to what she shared but, hopefully, you can get the general idea. It was a special event for us and many thanks go to Karen Goldstein for spearheading the endeavors to bring her here for a visit!
Community Giving
Many thanks to all of our members who so generously contributed funds to be sent to the JFNA (Jewish Federations of North America) in support of the Jewish families in the Baton Rouge area that have been displaced and have lost all of or, at least a great deal of, their belongings due to the flooding there. We have collected a little over $1,500 to be sent from our Temple family. In addition, Marty donated an additional $250 from our local Jewish Federated Charities. The generosity and caring of our members never ceases to amaze me! Thank you!!!
High Holidays
High Holiday services are right around the corner! As you are aware, we always host an oneg of sweets on the first night of Rosh Hashanah and a break-the-fast at the close of services on Yom Kippur. This year we have decided that we will ask our members to bring items to share for each of these events so, please consider bringing something to share:
- For the Eve of Rosh Hashanah (Sunday night, October 2) – please bring dessert (or sweet) items – to ensure we all have a “sweet” year
- For Break-the-Fast (Wednesday, October 12) – please bring a dish or food item to share
In addition, we will again be holding the annual Food Drive. I will hand out flyers and bags after services on Rosh Hashanah but please keep this in mind each time you go to the store between now and then!
Loss of a Dear Friend
While I expect most of you have heard the sad news by now, I could not send this note without mentioning the loss of Susan Gebhardt this past Friday. This is a very sad time for our members as Susan and Carl have been such dear friends of the Temple. Our hearts go out to Carl and the family. A memorial service will be held for Susan this coming Saturday (September 24) at the First Christian Church of Florence at 1:00pm. Rabbi Nancy will be speaking and singing as part of that service and I am sure it would touch Carl deeply to see members of our congregation in attendance.
Services and Torah Study:
Our service schedule for the balance of September and for October is as follows:September 23 – Rabbi Nancy
- September 23 – Rabbi Nancy
- September 30 – Robert Adler
- October 2-3 – Rosh Hashanah – Rabbi Nancy
- October 7 – Ritual Committee
- October 11-12 – Yom Kippur – Rabbi Nancy
- October 14 – Ritual Committee
- October 21 – Rabbi Nancy
- October 28 – Ritual Committee
Our Ritual Committee adds so much to our Temple by always making sure we have someone available to lead our services! In that regard, they are happy to talk with anyone that would be interested in leading us on the weekends when Rabbi Nancy is not available to be with us. If you are interested, please reach out to either Rabbi Nancy, Ken Wolf or Robert Adler and let them know.
In addition, remember that Torah Study is held each Saturday morning at 9:30, at the Temple. Everyone is welcome so come on out and participate!
Reminder items:
- Please make plans to join us Sunday evening, October 2 and Monday, October 3 for Rosh Hashanah as well as Tuesday evening, October 11 and Wednesday, October 12 for Yom Kippur.
- In conjunction with the High Holidays, we will again have our Annual Food Drive so please be prepared to purchase non-perishable food items and bring them to the Temple on Tuesday, October 11 – I will be there to accept your donations before Yom Kippur begins.
- Please plan to bring sweets for the oneg following our evening Rosh Hashanah service on Sunday, October 2!
- We now have Temple Cards that can be mailed out on your behalf. These are great for sending out well wishes for the High Holidays! Contact Barbara Sherr for more details. Check the Temple Directory for her contact information.
If you are aware of something in the community that you would like me to draw some attention to in my message, please let me know! And, as always, if you have any announcements you would like for me to share with our membership, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
I will not be able to attend services either of the next two Friday nights but I will be there on Sunday evening, October 2 (along with my dessert to share)! In addition, you will NOT receive a message from me next week…even the Temple President needs a vacation now and then…so hang onto this one or check the Website for the information shared here. I hope you all have a wonderful couple of weeks and I’ll see you on October 2!
Shalom!
Traci Welch
