Elul 5780-Tishrei 5781

Click here to access the monthly calendar.

September  (all virtual Zoom Room gatherings)

• 5 Shabbat Meditation
• 7 Kugelettes
• 18 Erev Rosh Hashanah
• 19 Rosh Hashanah Study Session/Tashlich
• 21 Kugelettes
• 27 Virtual CROP Walk
• 27 Kol Nidre/Erev Yom Kippur
• 28 Yom Kippur/Yiskor/Meditation/Neilah

October  (all virtual Zoom Room gatherings)

• 4 Coordinating Committee Meeting
• 11 Sukkot & Simchat Torah
• Kugelettes (tbd)
• Meditation (tbd)
• Shabbat/Havdalah (tbd)
• Vos Tut Zich?(tbd)

COMMUNITY

Mazal Tov to Terry Cowen & Leo Fried on the beautiful mountaintop wedding of their daughter Misty.

Mazal Tov to Rachel Brown who begins her Masters Degree in City Planning this month at the University of Washington.

Welcome home to Molly Stern, just returned from visits to England and Wales!   Perhaps the only person we know who has been actually able to travel and leave the country!

All wishes for continued healing to Collyer Church, Tom Schaefer, and Linda Golden.

MEDITATION

Meditation with the Goldens – The Goldens are offering  meditation sessions on the first Saturday of the month. This month the date is Saturday, September 5 from 9-9:30 am. It has been a lovely time to meet and have some focused meditation time together. In the Shir Hayam Zoom Room.

Speaking of meditation – If you haven’t had an opportunity to sign up for the meditations and Jewish Yoga sessions from the Jewish Spirituality Institute, it has been a high quality event that has been taking place every weekday during Elul. There is about a 10 minute talk before each silent sit. There have been thoughtful and thought-provoking teachings from a range of rabbis and cantors.  Yoga is twice a week. The sign up is https://www.jewishspirituality.org/go-deeper/the-shofar-project/. It is free!

HIGH HOLIDAYS 2020/5781

THIS YEAR’S HIGH HOLY DAYS INTENTIONS Our community comes together (yached), distressed by pandemic grief and fear (tsa’ar); inspired by calls for social equity and justice (tzedek); needing and offering compassion (rachamim); and searching for spiritual strength through prayer (Ehad) and community (am) to heal ourselves and the turbulent world we live in.

THE JOY OF COMING TOGETHER: We are really fortunate, during this difficult, challenging and sad time, to have our Jewish community as a source of strength and love. High Holy Days is a wonderful time to come together and celebrate our traditions and each other.

ZOOM IS THE NEW SHUL: Driven inside by COVID-19, Shir Hayam is having lay-led services on Zoom, the new “gathering space” where we meet to connect, learn, laugh, attend services, meditate and more. Though we won’t share delicious food and joyous hugs in person, we will be alight with the traditions of our group. 

PLEASE RSVP: Ruach would love to know which HH services you will be attending. The more we can plan, the smoother the gathering is for leaders and participants. RSVPs also allow us to reach out to you about contributing a poem, a reflection, a drash, etc. Please click here to RSVP to the Ruach Committee and let us know which services (listed below) you will attend and if there is something you already know you would like to share. If you are not yet sure about attending, coming last minute is just fine.

MACHZORS & OTHER MATERIALS: Ruach will email these (in PDF form) to you prior to the service. If you want to pick up a printed copy, they will be available at the homes of: Robin Hruska/Mike Orr, Dee Axelrod, Nina Rogozen/Steven Soltar, Sharon & Bill Rutzick and Jon Garfunkle. Please call in advance and wear your mask.

FOOD DONATIONS:  In lieu of bringing food donations to services, consider donating to your local food bank.

ROSH HASHANA DISCUSSION & STUDY SESSION

Saturday, September 19 at 1 – 2:30 p.m. in the Zoom Room. Organized and led by Sharon Rutzick and Nina Rogozen.

These are embedded in our intentions for this year’s High Holy Days:

• Yached – community coming together
• Tsa’ar – grief and fear
• Tzedkek – justice
• Ehad – strength through prayer
• Am – community
• Rachamim – compassion

Our lack of safety is real and troubling. We are distanced from loved ones, colleagues and friends—no kissing, no hugging, stay home, wear a mask! How close is too close? In short, we are forced to navigate and cope with an ominous lack of safety: ineffectual protection by Washington from this devastating disease; wariness of others; catastrophic and potentially permanent environmental degradation; armed supremacists; and a crucial, perilous upcoming election. There is a disturbing sense of the unknown—when will this all end?

What do our High Holy Days prayers and songs teach us of these fears, this lack of reliable safety? What in our Jewish History gives us hints at how Jews have survived centuries of danger? And how can we find the personal transformation that the High Holy Days encourages so we can better cope with these dangers, and find our own personal and enlightened path?

Come discuss all of this in the Zoom Room on Rosh Hashana. Interesting, related readings will be available a few days before the High Holidays begin. RSVP to Ruach to receive them by email.

SUKKOT & SIMCHAT TORAH!

Sunday, October 11, 2 p.m. in the ZOOM room
Bring your bowls of harvest fruits and vegetables and your virtual wishes for the new year to share. ALL ARE WELCOME!
 

TIKKUN OLAM

SUPER SUPPER 

Currently, all Super Suppers are on hold. For the months of July and August, the participating congregations worked together to offer carry-out meals to recipients in lieu of Super Supper. We picked up where the BARN left off in June; the BARN resumes again in September. We donated to Super Supper $30 per month in our absence, and will continue to do so. If and when we start up again, anyone interested can contact Denise Brown. You can donate to the Super Supper Fund by sending a check to Chavurat Shir Hayam, PO Box 11142 Bainbridge Island WA 98110

CROPWALK 

Due to COVID-19, Cropwalk is going virtual this year!  The designated date for the BI/NK event is September 27. Anyone who wishes to participate can do so. Denise Brown will be walking everyday (minimum of 1 mile per day, average of 4 miles per day) throughout the month of September instead of just walking on the Crop Hunger Walk Day (3 miles).  

You can donate or join the walk here.  If anyone prefers to give check, they can do so by mailing it to Chavurat Shir Hayam, PO Box 11142 Bainbridge Island WA 98110. Anyone can join our team and raise additional money; we tend to be one of the top donor groups for the BI/NK team. 

MEMBERSHIP

If you haven’t already, please take the time to download the membership form here and send it in.  Shir Hayam dues are always voluntary and confidential. No stigma attaches to any household making the decision to contribute less than the suggested dues amount in any given year. Voluntary dues paid by members are important: they enable our events; support our presence, outreach, and practice of Tikkun Olam in the greater community; and maintain our financial health as an organization. You can mail your form in to Chavurat Shir Hayam, P.O. Box 11142, Bainbridge Island, WA  98110 or fill it in, scan it and email it us at our membership email address.

MULTI-CULTURAL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Many Jewish organizations across the country have stepped up to support the Black Lives Matter movement and work for racial, religious and social justice. Our members may be interested to know that late last month, the Bainbridge Island School District received a set of recommendations from the District’s Multi-Cultural Advisory Council. This year’s recommendations began with a call for action and accountability. They were presented at the same meeting where the District’s new three-year improvement plan was adopted.

This District Improvement Plan (DIP) guides the budget, policy development, curriculum and operations of schools on Bainbridge Island where many of our members reside.

We are moving into the High Holy Days in the midst of tragic loss of life, housing, well-being and livelihoods. We are all dismayed by the needless deaths of many, from both COVID-19 and police aggression.

There are three pillars of the District Improvement Plan:

• Teaching and Learning
  • All students will engage in learning experiences that empower them to become productive citizens of a diverse society who are committed to social and environmental justice. 
     
• Equity, Anti-Racism, Inclusion, Diversity, and Justice 
  • Bainbridge Island School District will ensure our students feel honored, welcomed, respected, and connected. We are committed to embracing and honoring our island’s diversity and creating a vibrant and inclusive community. We will engage our community in becoming an antiracist organization ensuring equitable access to learning, opportunities, and resources for all students. 
     
• Health, Well-Being & Safety
  • Bainbridge Island School District will focus on and develop students’ social and emotional skills to lead positive and healthy lives with strong connections, feeling of belonging, and a sense of hope throughout their time in the Bainbridge Island School District. 

MAC’s recommendations asked the Board to create/conduct:

• an overall process for changing the District’s culture,
• an equity policy for the district,
• an third-party independent equity audit performed by person(s) of color,
• an ethnic studies requirement for both middle and high school students.

The most inspiring part of that School Board Meeting was the many letters of support for the MAC recommendations and DIP. They were heartfelt, well reasoned and eloquent.  Some came from members/former members of Shir Hiyam.  Stay tuned for more.

From Jewish Family Service & Jewish Federation of Seattle

Jewish Family Services and the Jewish Federation of Seattle are offering 4 learning sessions for the High Holidays. Click here to register.

The period between Rosh Hashanah, which marks the Jewish New Year, and the close of the Festival of Sukkot is known as the “Days of Awe”. In our learning together we will grapple personally and communally with what it means to listen to the “small still voice” of our inner teacher and follow its leadings toward a sense of meaning and purpose at a time of change and upheaval. Our learning journey will be threaded with uplifting music to inspire and nourish the spirit. What messages are we open to hearing?

Taught by Rabbi Samuel Klein, Jewish Federation and Beth Huppin, Jewish Family Service. Featuring musical artist Chava Mirel.

How Can We Listen? | September 10 | 12 pm |

How Can We Forgive? | September 24 | 12 pm | 

How Can We Rebuild? | October 1 | 12 pm | 

Rise Up! A Community Celebration | October 6 | 8 pm |