Last Thursday evening, members of our Membership Committee, along with a couple of our younger members, staffed a table at the 2016 UNA Big Deal. This is an event that allows UNA students the chance to learn more about opportunities and services available to them both on campus and within the Shoals Community. For the first time, thanks to the efforts of our Membership Committee, the Temple had a booth/table in this event. According to Michelle Bernstein, Committee Chair and attendee, “Our table had quite a bit of activity, as we offered free snacks for students, and a drawing for a $15 Dairy Queen gift card.” She noted that some of the new information sheets were picked up and there were students that asked questions about our Temple and services. The purpose of our participation was two-fold, to raise awareness in the college community about the Temple and to, hopefully, attract students to our services. Many thanks to the Membership Committee of Michelle Bernstein, Wendy Roddy and Shelly Cohen for coordinating the effort, to Dylan Kelley and Ben Abroms for helping staff the table, and to Phil Abroms for taking pictures!
Rummage Sale donations keep on giving! Last week I shared with you what a success the Rummage Sale was…but, with any sale, there are always items that don’t get purchased. While these items will be donated elsewhere, I just heard that some of them were able to go to help the victims of flooding in Louisiana. Thanks to the watchful eyes of Howard and Jane Zeff, it was identified that some of the unsold items matched up with the items the United Way was collecting for these victims. Thanks to the Zeffs for jumping in and making these donations on behalf of the Temple!
Speaking of flood victims…it has come to my attention (as it likely has yours) that 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. I will be sending out a follow-up message to this one, sharing more on this with you and letting you know what you can do if you would like to join other members of the Temple in donating funds for us to send to these victims. Please keep an eye out for that message and do what you can to help!
Services and Torah Study:
This Friday night will be an exciting event as it will be Buddy Bernstein’s first time to lead our services. He has worked hard to prepare for this opportunity and is really looking forward to it so please come out and show him your support! Below is the information on who will be leading the services for most of the other dates in September and October.
- September 2 – Buddy Bernstein
- 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
Torah Study is back up-and-running in its standard location. Everyone is welcomed to join these studies each Saturday morning at 9:30!
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.
- 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 hope everyone is excited about college football getting started this week – I know I am! In that regard, I would like to invite everyone to wear attire that shows which team(s) they support. Let’s have some fun – no bickering allowed!!! (But no harm in a needle or two…) See you Friday night.
Shalom!
Traci Welch
