I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to be displaced from my home due to flooding, much less to lose so many precious belongings from water damage…but this is exactly what has happened to so many in the Baton Rouge area…and many of those are from the Jewish community. In that regard, the JFNA (Jewish Federations of North America) has reached out to us asking for help. Earlier today I sent out an email asking for your support and sharing with you what you can do to help. In case you didn’t see it, here is what it said:
“…there are a number of Jewish families in the Baton Rouge area that have been displaced and have lost all or, at least a great deal, of their belonging due to the flooding there. Because of this, we have decided to provide our members and friends, who what to help, with an easy way to make a difference. If you would like to make a contribution, please make your check out to Temple B’nai Israel and mail it to Marty Abroms at PO Box 632 Florence, AL 35631 no later than Friday, September 16. Please mark the check as “Baton Rouge Support” so that it does not get confused with other funds specific to the Temple. Marty will gather all donations and send one check, from the Temple. “
There is no obligation here but I hope you will consider making even a small donation of some sort to help the Jewish families that have been negatively impacted by this disaster.
Services and Torah Study:
Kudos to Buddy Bernstein on leading services for the first time ever this past Friday! 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. Below is the information on who will be leading the services for the remaining dates in September and October:
- September 9 – Rabbi Nancy
- September 16 – 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
And don’t forget 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:
- Holocaust Survivor and upcoming UNA Speaker, Inge Auerbacher, will join us for services Friday, September 16 and will present a slide show and talk on Saturday, September 17 at 4:00, at the Temple. Please share this with others in the Shoals area and invite them to join us for one or both of these events!
- The High Holidays will be here soon! 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.
- 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 look forward to seeing everyone Friday night and, until then, I hope your week is wonderful!
Shalom!
Traci Welch
