Kesher Quick - A Quarter of Your Life in Captivity
Author
Date Added
January 19, 2024 | 10 Shevat 5784 | Issue # 501
A Shabbat Message from Rabbi Max Miller
A Quarter of Your Life in Captivity
Today is the 104th day of October 7th, a day we will re-live until every hostage is home. However, today is more difficult than most days since the Black Shabbat. Today is Kfir Bibas’s birthday. A nine-month-old baby who was taken hostage marks one year of life, a quarter of which has been in captivity. A day meant for unbridled joy is as dark as the deepest night of winter. All I can think of is the mantra of these 104 days, “Bring Them Home.” I pray these words each day I utter “Acheinu Kol Beit Yisrael, Our Brothers and Sisters, All the House of Israel.”
This past Friday night was our Legislative & MLK Shabbat dinner & service. We had more than 300 people seated for dinner, including 50 elected officials. Each elected official had a TE “buddy” who was tasked to make them feel welcome, introduce them around, convey what it is like to be a Jew in America right now and to advocate for HB30 “the antisemitism bill” in the GA State legislature. It was important to us for our guests to take part in a positive, Jewish ritual experience. We started the evening with our traditional blessings, heard from a few legislative leaders, and then had Shabbat dinner together.
Jewish Community Advocacy Day will take place next Thursday, January 25. The primary programming will take place 12-3 p.m., but we'll also need people there as early as 9 a.m. Those interested in attending should RSVP:www.ajc.org/atlanta/advocacyday2024
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. – Opportunity for members of the Jewish community to show support for H.B.30 by being in the Senate gallery.
12:00-1:00 p.m. – Opportunity for the community to gather and display the large number of people supporting H.B.30. Some food available.
1:00 p.m. – Press Conference
Around 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. – After the press conference, depending on the status of the bill, we will work to have meetings with senators and representatives.
Additionally, people can easily email their State Senator by using the action alert at www.ajc.org/atlanta/hb30action . If you would like to make phone calls, please email Sam Halpern at halperns@ajc.org for names and phone numbers.
Temple Emanu-El Spreads Seeds of Holocaust Education
Temple Emanu-El coordinated with five area middle and high schools to host commemorative plantings as part of The Daffodil Project.
Read the Atlanta Jewish Times article by Rich Lapinhere.
Public Officials Break Bread with Jewish Community
The now annual event is seen as particularly valuable for legislators with relatively few Jewish constituents. Read the AJT article here.
Thank You Thank You Thank You!
On this frigid day, your donations to our High Holiday Coat Drive are keeping thousands of people warm! Since 2017, Temple Emanu-El has distributed approximately 1,500 coats to people who did not own a coat. Our recipients are incredibly grateful for your generosity. Thank you!
Effective Immediately
Effective Immediately
If you are sending your synagogue payments to PO Box 418 Montvale, New Jersey 07645 please update the address on your payments to go to the Temple Emanu-El Office at 1580 Spalding Drive, Atlanta, GA 30350
Kroger Community Rewards Program
Temple Emanu-El is pleased to announce that we have recently partnered with Kroger, and are now a participant in the Kroger Community Rewards Program!
What will Kroger do? Kroger will donate $$$ to Temple Emanu-El each and every time we go Kroger shopping and use our Kroger Plus cards or key in our telephone number at the check-out. That’s it!
Click here to see more information and instructions on how to enroll with Kroger as a Temple Emanu-El member. Your one-time enrollment will take 3 minutes, and the results will be amazing.
Click the image to visit our New "Standing With Israel" page!
Get your "BRING THEM HOME" bracelets at services and in the TE office!
Bring them home now! More than two months into this war and, at the time of this writing, there are still 130+ hostages being held in Gaza. We will not forget about the sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers who are enduring unimaginable conditions.
We created these bracelets as a constant reminder of two important messages we carry with us these days. First, that the people of Israel will live, Am Yisrael Chai. Second, that our family has been taken from us and we will not forget them.
We hope you’ll wear these bracelets until every hostages returns home.
We will not be silent. We will not forget.
Am Yisrael Chai
You can pick up one of these bracelets after Shabbat services.
In the wake of the brutal and devastating attack by Hamas on October 7 and the unfolding war in Israel, we are introducing a special series from the For Heaven's Sake podcast with Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi, For Heaven's Sake: Israel at War.
Listen to “For Heaven’s Sake” daily podcast. You must have an Apple Podcast or Spotify app to listen.
Atlanta Golf and Social, 5346 Peachtree Road, Chamblee, GA 30341 Register here
January 21 - Sunday
9:00am - Diamond Family Religious School
3:00pm - A Hand Up Atlanta in the Sanctuary Register here 7:30pm - NextDor Women's Book Club Please email Marina if you'd like to attend
January 22 - Monday
1:30pm - "Life Goes On" Bereavement Group in the Chapel Register here
7:00pm - Foundations of Prayer with Ilan Weismark - Zoom Only Register here
January 24 - Wednesday
7:00pm - Tribe: We Cozy Up: A Different Kind of Blanket Making in the Small Social Hall Registration is closed BUT - You can still join us - you just need to bring your own supplies! Please email Rabbi Rachael. January 25 - Thursday
2:00pm - Temple Mah Jongg in the Chapel Register here
**Please LOG-IN to your My Emanu-El Portal to register for all classes & events.
This will ensure you receive all email notifications and reminders. Contact the office for help.**
Sponsor an Oneg!
There are two mitzvot pertaining to the Shabbat meal. One is oneg, the mitzvah to delight in Shabbat, as it is written: “Call Shabbat ‘delight’ (oneg)” (Isaiah 58:13). Oneg is fulfilled primarily through the meals, but snacks and a Shabbat nap are parts of it as well." (Peninei Halakhah, Shabbat 7:2:2) Providing the Oneg is performing a Mitzvah for our community.
Hosting an Oneg is not only a Mitzvah, but it can also be a way to celebrate a family event and share the good news with the congregation.
Commemorate birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, awards, graduations, B’nai Mitzvah and other happy occasions. Sponsor an Oneg today!
Sisterhood Tree of Life
Her ways are pleasant and all her paths, peaceful. She is a tree of life to those who grasp her, and whoever holds on to her is happy. Proverbs 3:17–18 Honor a loved one or a special occasion by purchasing a leaf on our Tree of Life
To order your Leaf on the Sisterhood Tree of Life, please click on the image or email Marina.
Remember A Loved One
I will give them, in My House And within My walls, A monument and a name Better than sons or daughters. I will give them an everlasting name That shall not perish. (Isaiah 56:5)
We are commanded not merely to grieve but also to remember and to observe.
Temple Emanu-El’s Yahrzeit plaques both perpetuate the cherished memory of the loved ones we have lost and create a permanent family legacy.
Memorializing our loved ones in this way fulfills the commandment to give tzedakah in their honor.
To order your yahrzeit plaque(s) or to reserve a space, please click on the image or emailMarina.
Are you a new, new-ish or even a "seasoned" member of TE, and not already a member of a Chavurah? If so, this is a fantastic time to be a part of our revitalized Chavurah program! A Chavurah is a group of around 6-12 individuals, couples, and/or families who have some common interests. It is a great opportunity to develop closer friendships with a smaller group of TE members.
Click here for more information and fill out a short questionnaire to help the Chavurah Committee place you with a group. The committee will help get you started and will provide any assistance that you need to make your Chavurah successful!
If you have any questions, please contact Lori Goldberg at lsideman@hotmail.com .
Be sure to set up your password to access your My Emanu-El Account.
If you need assistance, please contact the Administrative Office - 770-395-1340.
