Shir Hadash Weekly Newsletter, March 7, 2013

To view this blog in its entirety, go to our website.
For daily event updates, visit our calendar.

What’s Happening at a Glance  

Membership and Upcoming Events

• Community Seder at Our Lady of the Brook, March 26
• Social Action: Passover Baskets
• April Book Club: Everything is Illuminated
• Israel Solidarity Day, Sunday, April 28
• Save the Date: SH Annual Meeting, May 5

Education Update

• Highlights of Shabbat led by Gan-3rd Grade
• 5th Grade Bar and Bat Mitzvah Planning Meeting, March 10
• Upcoming school schedule

Teen News

• Madrichim Meeting, March 10
• National Teen Kallah, March 22-24

Creative Worship & Ritual

• Special Service March 15 in our new building!

Adult Education

• That Radical Maimonides, March 10 

Community News

• Interfaith Seder in Chicago, March 21
• Parent & Family Connection for LGBTQ Jews in Chicagoland

Membership and Upcoming Events  

Share Your Feedback on the New Building   Check out the plans for our new building!  We've got all the details posted in a special section of ourwebsite. We want to hear your feedback! Please e-mail your thoughts to Shir Hadash President Jeffrey Wallk at president@shir-hadash.org. Don't miss our special pre-Pesach service at the building on March 15, including the chance to discuss design choices for the sanctuary. Scroll down to the Creative Worship section for more info.  

Community Seder Join us for our annual Community Seder on Tuesday, March 26. This is always an exciting opportunity to celebrate together while we enjoy everyone’s favorite holiday recipes!  When: Tuesday, March 26, 6pm  Where: Our Lady of the Brook, 3700 Dundee Road, Northbrook  RSVP: By Thursday, March 21. Click here to sign up your family. We suggest a nominal donation of $5.00 per person; children ages three and under are free. Send checks made payable to Shir Hadash for Melanie Andes, 945 Creek Bend Drive, Vernon Hills, IL 60061.
This event is to be veggie/dairy, using Kosher for Passover ingredients. Fish is welcome! Feel free to bring Ashkenazic and Sephardic dishes. (Sephardic allows some ingredients that Ashkenazic does not, such as rice, corn, and legumes). Please bring one dish serving 8-10 people for every two people in your group, along with one 32-oz bottle of grape juice (non-alcoholic only). For guidelines and suggestions, please contact Melanie at 847 913 9198 or fmandes@comcast.net.

Business Mastermind Group  The Business Mastermind Group will be meeting on the first Sunday of each month while religious school is in session, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The mission is to build mutually beneficial relationships with Shir Hadash small business owners by providing value to other group members. Each meeting will feature a topic of interest that everyone agrees is important. We will focus on that topic for the whole meeting with everyone providing examples of their experiences related to the topic. At the first meeting, the group will pick a list of topics. Each meeting will start with brief introductions of everyone in the group. In this way, new people are always invited and will feel comfortable attending. For more information, contact Dan Wellisch at danw@wellsoftware.com.  

Social Action Opportunities  Once again this year, Shir Hadash will be joining with Maot Chitim of Greater Chicagoland to help them pack and deliver Passover food baskets for needy Jewish families all over the Chicago area.  There are two different ways you can help, either packing food boxes or delivering them.  
- PACKING will take place on Sunday, March 10th from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.  The address for the packing is 5990 W. Touhy, Niles, IL.  
- DELIVERY of food packages will take place on Sunday, March 17th, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Buffalo Grove/Wheeling area.  We will be delivering 105 food packages, which will be in large boxes weighing approximately 20 lbs. each.  We deliver to several large complexes and use a rental truck to transport the boxes.  I will provide the address of where to meet for those interested in helping deliver boxes.           To make this a smooth operation, we need approximately 10 people for packing on March 10th and about 10 - 15 people for delivery on the March 17th.  
If you are interested in helping on one or both of these dates, please respond to Mark Lenhart, Social Action Chairman, atmjlenhart@comcast.net as soon as possible so he can coordinate plans with Maot Chitim. Mark will be able to provide volunteers with more details shortly before each date.  

Book Club  The next Book Club will be held in April. The book will be Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.This is the story of a young American Jew who flies to the Ukraine to search for the woman who saved his grandfather's life during the Nazi invasion. We are looking for someone to host the April Book Club meeting; please contact Meryl at abenkras@aol.com if you are interested.  
We also have the opportunity to see a production of Everything is Illuminated onstage!  
Details:  The Next Theatre, 927 Noyes Street, Evanston  Saturday, March 16, 8pm (with an after-show discussion)  Tickets: $30/person. Reservations and ticket money must be received by Tuesday, March 12. For more information, contact Meryl Abensohn, abenkras@aol.com.  

Israel Solidarity Day  JUF is hosting its annual Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration at the 2013 Israel Solidarity Day, which will be held on Sunday, April 28th at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park.  Event highlights will include the Walk with Israel, fabulous all-day entertainment in Ravinia’s Pavilion featuring the King David Drummers, The Maccabeats and Matisyahu - acoustic, food for purchase and festivities for all ages.  The day’s agenda is as follows:  
10:00 a.m. Teen J-Serve Project* (on site)  11:00 a.m. Registration opens  11:30 a.m. King David Drummers  12:15 p.m. The Maccabeats  1:00 p.m. Israel Solidarity Day Kickoff Rally  1:15 p.m. Three-Mile Walk with Israel & One-Mile Family Walk  2:30 p.m. King David Drummers  3:00 p.m. Matisyahu - acoustic  4:00 p.m. Program concludes  
* 8th to 12th graders are invited to participate in a city-wide service project.  
For detailed information and registration, visit the JUFwebsite.  

Education Update  

Youngest Students Lead Shabbat Service  Our March 1 services were especially memorable thanks to the participation of many fantastic students from our religious school. Children in Gan (pre-K/Kindergarten) through 3rd grade participated in prayers and songs. If you missed it, click here for video highlights! 

Upcoming School Schedule  

Spring Break: No School March 24 or 31Monday, April 1: Havayah (high school class) Sunday, April 7: 7th Graders Present Yom Hashoah Service at Sunday SchoolSunday, April 14: Sunday SchoolMonday, April 15: HavayahSunday, April 21: Yom Tikkun Olam (Day to Repair the World) No school at Hellenic American AcademySunday, April 28: Sunday School Open House for Prospective MembersMonday, April 29: Last Day of Havayah BBQSunday, May 5: Last Day of Sunday SchoolFriday, May 17: Shabbat services will be led by our Havayah

Teen News

Madrichim Meeting The next Madrichim meeting will be on Sunday, March 10th at 8:40 (before Sunday school). We have to work out the details for our next big school event, so please mark your calendars for the meeting.

National Teen Kallah There is still time to register!  The weekend of March 22 - 24, 8th - 12th graders from Reconstructionist congregations across North America will have the opportunity to attend the exciting No'ar Hadash North American Teen Kallah to be held this year in Boston. This amazing weekend will be a great opportunity for you to meet other teens, have fun, take part in experiential Jewish learning, laugh at an improv comedy show, sing and dance, hang out, explore Boston, and be part of our exciting youth movement.  Please contactinfo@campjrf.org  or youth@shir-hadash.org for an application.

Save the Date: Saturday evening, May 11th- High School event with JRC.  Details to follow... stay tuned!

Creative Worship & Ritual

March 15 - Pre-Passover Service at Our New Location!On Friday, March 15, at 7:30, we will have a very special service and program, at our planned new building - 200 West Dundee in Wheeling.  We will start with an abbreviated service with a Passover theme: "Dayenu: Would It Have Been Enough?"   Every Passover, we sing "Dayenu," which means "it would have been enough."  But what does that really mean?  The Rabbi will help us to unlock the secrets of Dayenu.  And then, we will discuss the plans for the sanctuary, and provide an opportunity for members to provide input on the bima, the ark, and other aspects of the sanctuary design.  Then a little oneg!  Come and share... 

Adult Education

Sunday, March 10: That Radical Maimonides
This Sunday (9:30 a.m. at Hellenic), we continue our learning about post-Torah Jewish thinkers.  Last week, we talked about Spinoza, and touched on the issue of how his philosophy was affected by the earlier teachings of Maimonides.  So this week, we will focus on Maimonides himself, in all his radical splendor.  Radical?  You bet!  Click here for a (brief) article all about just how radical he really was. Take a look, and then come to class for the discussion!

The Rabbi’s Corner

"What Our Leaders Could Learn from the Torah"
March 8-9, 2013 / 27 Adar 5773Shabbat Vayak’hel-Pikudei/HaChodesh
Torah: Exodus 35:1 - 40:38Maftir: Exodus 12:1 - 12:20 & Haftarah: Ezekiel 45:16 - 46:18(Special Readings for Shabbat HaChodesh, the Shabbat preceding the start of the month of Nisan,
 the month of Passover)

Dear Friends,

It seems that wherever I look, I find business and political leaders suspected and even convicted of financial improprieties.  From Wall Street to the Capital, our leaders are defying the public trust and letting us down. I can only think about what they could have learned had they read this week’s Torah portion.  In three words: Don’t do it.  Better yet: Be very accountable.

In this week’s Torah portion we read a repetition of the description for the desert sanctuary construction along with a list of all the donations given to complete the project.  The matter is highly detailed. Yet the Torah insists on the repetition.  This confounds the commentators.  Abravanel counts five times that the building plans and donations are repeated.  Ramban suggests that the repetition underscores the importance of the sanctuary in the hearts of every Israelite.
Other commentators believe that repeating the lists serve a very important and practical function.  Moses was careful to record each and every gift and check it again and again.  Why?  Moses wanted to be careful that each entry would not be misplaced or overlooked.  This was about accountability.  For Moses, public officials must act with responsibility.  Their actions must be beyond reproach…. 

To read the rest of The Rabbi’s Corner, click here to visit our website.

Community News

Multi-faith Seder: The Cup is for All of UsRabbi Eitan will be leading the Multi-faith Passover Seder again this year on March 21st at the A.M.E. Zion Church at 6930 S. Cottage Grove Avenue, Chicago. This event is presented by Friend of Shir Hadash Amram Abraham and his organization Institute for a New World Vision. The seder is an exciting encounter between Christians and Jews, as well as between Black and White Jews.  About half a dozen Shir Hadash members joined Rabbi Eitan in attending last year's seder and we all found it fascination and uplifting.  The food was great, as was the music. Any Shir Hadash members who would like to ride to the seder together can contact Lynne Arons,Rzldzl122@aol.com or 847 732 7001. For more information, click here. 

Career Connections for Professionals On March 21, JVS Chicago Career Development  Director Linda Wolfe will present “What the Heck is a Personal Brand and Why Do I Need One?” as part of the JVS Career Connections series. The presentation will be held at Lakeside Congregation, 1221 County Line Road in Highland Park from 5:00 to 8:00pm. Learn how to identify your unique skills and values and how to sell them to employers!  Admission is free, but pre-registration is required. Click here to register   or contact Sandra Saltzman atsandrasaltzman@jvschicago.org for more information.

Parent & Family Connection for LGBTQ Jews Is your child gay, lesbian, transgender, queer, or questioning? Do you want to talk to other Jewish families with LGBTQ children? If so, join the monthly discussions with Parent & Family Connection for LGBTQ Jews in Chicagoland. Upcoming meetings will be held on March 11, April 22, and May 20. Upcoming topics will include: transgender youth; passing--who knows, who doesn’t know; navigating a hetero-sexist world; healthy relationships and violence in the GLBTQ community; and conversation about creating inclusive communities.

With support from Keshet, Response provides group support for those dealing with any stage of the coming out process. Response helps adolescents in the Jewish and general community develop skills in communication, decision-making and leadership necessary to deal with life’s challenges. Response is a program of JCFS, a partner in serving our community, supported by the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation.