Rabbi David Wilfond’s Message – Friday, August 20, 2021
August 26, 2021
Literary Perspectives in the Life of Ancient Israel
August 31, 2021| We are honoring you at the High Holy Days Dear Friends, It is exciting that in 10 days we will greet Rosh Hashanah at Caramoor in-person and virtually. We are privileged to enjoy this outdoor space that enables us to fully observe Covid safety procedures. It is our desire to make services inclusive and participatory for both those at home and in-person. To further this the ritual committee has come up with a new way to do Torah Aliyahs for this year. The hope is everyone will be included in at least one of these honors. The Aliyot will be in groups, and people will be asked to stand in your place at the time of the honor. Please find yourself in this list of honors. I look forward to you being a part of our celebrations whether in-person or at home. Please see the list below so you can find your honor. On Rosh Hashanah First Day: For the first Aliyah, we will honor all who, since last Rosh Hashanah, have celebrated a milestone like a special anniversary or birthday, or have graduated from High School, College, Graduate School or another course of training. The second Aliyah, we will honor all those who serve on the board of our congregation including our officers. This honor is to thank the volunteer leaders of our congregation. The third Aliyah, we will honor all those who have recovered or are recovering from a health challenge, surgery or illness. We want to strengthen you with an Aliyah. The forth Aliya, we will honor all the families that have experienced the birth of a new child, grandchild, or have adopted or welcomed a new member in to your family. This Aliyah is for all celebrating the hope of new life. On Rosh Hashanah Second Day: We want to honor all the devoted long-term members of the congregation. If you have been a member for 20 years or more, please stand, or if you prefer not to stand you may raise your hand so we can acknowledge you. We honor all those who participated in safety and security at the Temple. If you have served on the CSS volunteer security force, Covid task force, building and grounds, medical advisory group; and all others who participated in working to keep our temple members safe. We want to honor all the teachers, educators, mentors and school staff. Those who dedicate themselves to the field of education this honor is for you. This last Aliyah is for all who have begun a new chapter in your life since last Rosh Hashanah. If you retired, or began a new career or are pursuing a new direction in your life, or found a new pursuit during Covid, this Aliyah is for you. Yom Kippur Morning: We honor all the families with children that celebrated, since last Yom Kippur, a Jewish lifecycle event (a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, Confirmation, Wedding, Baby Naming or Bris). This honor is for all who serve on committees at the Temple, or who volunteer in other ways at the Temple. We honor all the Health and Safety Professionals who stepped up during the pandemic to protect our physical safety and mental health: doctors, nurses, scientists, researchers, police officers, fire-fighters and EMTs and others. We honor all the new members of our congregation. This Aliyah is to welcome you to Temple Shaaray Tefila. Yom Kippur afternoon We want to honor all who have participated in our Temple’s social action programs. This second Aliyah is for all families who this summer were finally able to send their kids to camp and young adults able to go off to college in-person. Our third Aliyah is to honor anyone who is a caregiver or does volunteer work. This final Aliyah is to honor everyone who is part of our Shaaray Tefila community. The hope is that you will find yourself in one or more of these honors. We want to lovingly include you this year in our High Holy Days services that promise to be beautiful and inspiring. We are fortunate to have Rabbi Greenberg and Rabbinical Student Amanda Weiss joining me in leading our services, and Rabbi MJ Newman, our music director, will lead our choir, soloists and musicians including Buddy Courtenay, Alli West, and Kenny Green. L’Shana Tova u’Metuka, May it be a sweet and good Jewish New Year 5782! Rabbi David Wilfond |
