Parashat Chayei Sara / פָּרָשַׁת חַיֵּי שָֹרָה
11/18/2024 01:52:44 PM
L Giordano
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✷to be read on 23 November / 22 Cheshvan ✷
The Torah Portion Chayei Sarah (“The Life of Sarah”) is bookended by two deaths: that of Sarah and that of Abraham. At the beginning of the parsha, Sarah dies and Abraham mourns her. He then sends his servant Eleazar out to find a wife for Isaac. Eleazar stops at a well and decides that the first woman who offers to get water for him and for his...Read more...
Parashat Vayera / פָּרָשַׁת וַיֵּרָא
11/15/2024 08:35:15 AM
L Giordano
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✷to be read on 16 November / 15 Cheshvan ✷
In Vayera (“He Appeared”), three guests arrive at Abraham and Sarah's tent. They prophesize the birth of a child to Sarah.God tells Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah will be destroyed; Abraham urges to no avail that they be spared. Abraham &...Read more...
Parashat Lech-Lecha / פָּרָשַׁת לֶךְ־לְךָ
11/01/2024 10:05:46 AM
Lara Giordano
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Lech Lecha (“Go Forth”) describes the journey of Abraham and Sarah from their homeland. The big moments: God makes a covenant with Abraham promising to make his descendants a great nation; Abraham has a son with Hagar and names him Ishmael; God promises that Sarah, too, will have a...Read more...
10/25/2024 08:41:21 AM
LL Giordano
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✷ to be read on October 26⎮24 Tishrei ✷
Bereishit (“In the Beginning”) is the first parsha in the annual Torah reading cycle. It all begins, of course, with the word. God creates the world and its creatures, including its first people, who eat from the Tree of Knowledge and are banished...Read more...
Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech/פָּרָשַׁת נִצָּבִים־וַיֵּלֶךְ
09/27/2024 06:57:53 AM
LL Giordano
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In Nitzavim (“Standing”), Moses addresses the Israelites, urging them to uphold the Covenant. He describes the process of repentance and stresses that God’s commandments are achievable and “not in the heavens.” In Vayeilech (“He Went”), Moses informs the people that he will not lead them into the Land of Israel. Moses blesses Joshua and instructs the...Read more...
Parashat Ki Tavo/ פָּרָשַׁת כִּי־תָבוֹא
09/19/2024 02:42:40 PM
LL Giordano
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Parashat Ki Teitzei/פָּרָשַׁת כִּי־תֵצֵא
09/11/2024 07:06:08 AM
LL Giordano
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✷ to be read on September 14th⎮11 Elul ✷
In Ki Teitzei ("What You Go Out"), Moses delivers numerous laws, more than appear in any other Torah portion. These include laws about family responsibility, sexuality, the return of lost objects, forbidden mixtures, collateral, and workers' wages.
In her drash, Amy Deutsch focuses on the aspect of this parsha that concerns the nature and...Read more...
Parashat Vaetchanan
08/13/2024 02:19:02 PM
L Giordano
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✴︎ to be read on August 17⎮13 Av ✴︎
Parashat Vaetchanan ("I Pleaded") opens with Moses pleading with God to be permitted to enter the Holy Land. God refuses and instead instructs Moses to climb to a height so that he may glimpse Israel but from a distance. Moses then reminds the Israelites of the feats that have been accomplished on their behalf and enjoins them to the task of...Read more...
Observing Tisha B'Av
08/12/2024 02:58:08 PM
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Parashat Devarim
08/05/2024 10:55:14 AM
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✴︎ to be read on August 10⎮6 Av ✴︎
With the Book of Deuteronomy, we open the final book of the Torah. Devarim ("words" or "things") sees Moses in a role different than that which he has occupied thus far. Here, Moses becomes a storyteller, recounting various episodes from the Israelites' 40 years in the wilderness. He speaks of the appointment of judges, the sin of the spies, and wars...Read more...
Parashat Matot-Masei 5784/ פָּרָשַׁת מַּטּוֹת־מַסְעֵי
08/02/2024 09:12:04 AM
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✷ to be read on July 6th⎮ 30 Sivan ✷︎
Matot ("Tribes") begins with Moses describing the laws of oaths. The Israelites then battle with the Mdianites, allocating the spoils. The tribes of Reuben and Gad request to dwell outside of the Land of Israel. Masei ("Travels"), the final portion of the Book of Numbers, enumerates the places that the Israelites traveled in the...Read more...
Shavuot
06/11/2024 12:36:23 PM
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What is Shavuot?
Shavuot occurs 7 weeks after Pesach, punctuating the period of the sefirat haOmer (the counting of the omer). It is a holiday with its roots in Judaism's agricultural past, a celebration which was once meant to mark the harvest of the first fruits of the...Read more...
Parashat Nasso 5784
06/11/2024 12:35:23 PM
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✷ to be read on June 15th⎮ 9 Sivan ✷︎
Nasso (“Take A Census”), the longest portion in the Torah, opens by detailing the responsibilities of the Levites. In addition to articulating the laws surrounding the Nazirite and the priestly blessing, Nasso develops the concept of adultery as a specifically religious transgression on the part of a woman (sotah) and...Read more...
The Omer, Lag BaOmer, and the multivocality of Jewish Experience
04/30/2024 07:44:29 AM
Lara Giordano
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Originally published in the May 2023 Newsletter.
You'll have to forgive the use of a term from my years in and as a continental philosopher, but in reading this fascinating article by Rabbi Shimon Felix, I couldn't help but think of the omer - and Jewish tradition more broadly - in terms of the palimpsest. The palimpsest is a manuscript on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing...Read more...
Serifat Omer ("Counting the Omer")
04/30/2024 07:38:44 AM
Lara Giordano
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Originally published in the May 2023 Newsletter
What is the omer?
The practice of Sefirat Ha'Omer ("counting the omer") comes from Emor, this week's parsha. The Torah reads:
“You shall count from the eve of the second day of Pesach, when an omer of grain is to be brought as an offering, seven complete weeks. The day after the seventh week of your counting will make fifty days, and you...Read more...
How do we celebrate Passover in a year such as this?
04/20/2024 08:55:16 AM
Lara L. Giordano
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Passover remains my favorite holiday, one that I look forward to with absolute delight and child-like anticipation. Perhaps because it is a holiday designed expressly for children and, when it comes to Judaism, I am still a child. Or perhaps (and not unrelatedly), it is because – in a religion defined by its devotion to dialectical education – Passover stands out among the holidays for its educative impulse. I was once a...Read more...
Brief Guide to the Days of Passover
04/20/2024 06:58:08 AM
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Days of Preparation:
Clean house. Get rid of all chametz. Chametz means "leavened bread" and refers to food prepared from five species of grain–wheat, barley, oats, spelt, and rye–that have been allowed to leaven. Still have chametz that you need to get rid of? Either take it to a food pantry or lock it up tight in a cabinet and then "sell it" through Mishkan Chicago using this form. After Passover ends,...Read more...Parashat Vayikra 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת וַיִּקְרָא
03/19/2024 08:37:48 AM
LL Giordano
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✷ to be read on March 23⎮13 Adar II ✷
In this first Torah portion of the book of Leviticus, God instructs Moses on the five different kinds of sacrifices to be offered in the Mishkan:
The olah or "burnt offering," a voluntary sacrifice that has a high degree of sanctity and is regarded as the "standard"...Read more...Parashat Ki Tisa 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת כִּי תִשָּׂא
02/27/2024 01:25:38 PM
LL Giordano
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✷ to be read on March 2⎮22 Adar ✷
Parashat Ki Tisa ("When you Elevate") opens as G-d tells Moshe to collect a half-shekel donation from all Israelites and to anoint the Mishkan, its vessels, and the priests. As Rabbi Scott Perlo has...Read more...
Parashat Terumah 5784
02/15/2024 10:03:41 AM
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Terumah (understood as "gift," "offering," or "sacrifice") is this week's parsha and, in it, Moses receives God's commandments on stone tablets as well as instructions for the building of the Mishkan, i.e., the portable...Read more...
What do Quentin Tarantino & Rabbi Akiva have in common? ~ humor, proportionality, and the absurd
01/10/2024 11:37:54 AM
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✷ to be read on January 13⎮3 Shevat ✷
In Vaera (“I Appeared”), God promises that he will redeem the enslaved Israelites and guide them to the Promised Land. At...Read more...
Get to know Shulcloud this January!
01/09/2024 02:46:22 PM
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Resolve to get to know ShulCloud
We invite you to take some time this January to get to know ShulCloud, the LJCC’s digital home. ShulCloud is a cloud-based software designed specifically for synagogues. ShulCloud helps the LJCC and its members do all sorts of things - like keep track of ritual timing and yahrzeits; learn about and register for events; make payments and connect with other members.
You likely already...Read more...
Parashat Shemot 5784
01/03/2024 12:46:53 PM
LL Giordano
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Parashat Shemot 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת שְׁמוֹת to be read on January 6⎮25 Tevet
In the beginning of the book of Exodus, a new Pharaoh rules Egypt. Out of fear of the strength of the Israelites,...Read more...
From the desk of the Religious School Director
11/30/2023 09:06:55 AM
Rachel Downs-Doubrava
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Dear Families, Students, and Community Members,
I can proudly say that within the last two years, the LJCC Religious School has become more robust, strategic, and purposeful. While we still organize our approach and activities according to the four pillars of Torah, values, ritual, and tradition, we have grown from a single primary school track to include preschoolers and teens. We have engaged specialty...Read more...
Celebrating Hanukkah:A historical & how-to guide
11/30/2023 08:28:20 AM
Lara Giordano
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What is Hanukkah?
Hannukah, also known as the "Festival of Lights," is a commemorative holiday marking the victory of the Maccabees over the forces of the Seleucid King Antiochus and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem on Kislev 25, 164 BCE. According to...Read more...
Year-End Giving
11/27/2023 12:46:37 PM
Lara Giordano
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Your year-end tax-deductible gift enables the LJCC to continue our engaging programming; to keep our members safe and connected; and to fulfill our mission of providing a pluralistic, egalitarian, and inclusive space for the Jewish people of Lawrence to worship, socialize, and learn.
You can support the LJCC while maximizing the tax-implications of your gift by using your IRA or by initiating gifts of stock or other securities....Read more...
Parashat Chayei Sara 5784November 11⎮27 Cheshvan
11/10/2023 09:01:08 AM
LL Giordano
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In Chayei Sarah (“The Life of Sarah”), Sarah dies at the age of 127. Searching for an appropriate place for her burial, Abraham purchases the Cave of Machpelah. There she is laid to rest. Abraham searches as well for a wife for Isaac, his son. He sends a servant. Eliezer, to fulfill this task. The servant encounters Rebecca at a well and Rebecca gives water to the servant and his camels. Eliezer returns with Rebecca and she and...Read more...
reflections during the days of awe
09/19/2023 04:10:23 PM
Lara Giordano
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"Where do we find ourselves? In a series of which we do not know the extremes, and believe that it has none. We wake and find ourselves on a stair; there are stairs below us, which we seem to have ascended; there are stairs above us, many a one, which go upward and out of sight. But the Genius which, according to the old belief, stands at the door by which we enter, and gives us the lethe to drink that we may tell no tales, mixed the cup...Read more...
Letter from the President:Strategic Planning Notice & Survey Invite
09/18/2023 12:54:05 PM
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Dear Community,
At our recent meeting, the LJCC Board agreed to undertake a strategic visioning process to help us look forward and plan a thriving future for our congregation.
There will be a number of opportunities for everyone to participate in this process and to provide substantial input. We are starting with a survey and then will conduct some small group community conversations. For folks...Read more...
Sat, December 21 2024
20 Kislev 5785
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Thursday ,
DecDecember 26 , 2024LINK
Thursday, Dec 26th 11:30a to 2:00p
The purpose of LINK is to share home-cooked, nutritious meals with kindness in a safe and welcoming environment with families, those who are unhoused or hungry, physically or mentally disabled, or simply desirous of company. Please consider supporting this crucial program. -
Friday ,
DecDecember 27 , 2024
Friday, Dec 27th 7:00p to 8:30p
Friday Night Services with Azariah Betzalel (Zoom) -
Wednesday ,
JanJanuary 1 , 2025
Wednesday, Jan 1st 5:00p to 7:30p
Join us for latkes, games, arts & crafts, the lighting of community menorot, and fun for the whole family. -
Saturday ,
JanJanuary 11 , 2025
Shabbat, Jan 11th 10:30a to 1:00p
Join us for Saturday morning services and a potluck kiddish lunch. -
Friday ,
JanJanuary 17 , 2025
Friday, Jan 17th 7:00p to 9:00p
Barry Shalinsky & Robin Rosenberg lead with an oneg compliments of Shelley Skie -
Friday ,
JanJanuary 24 , 2025
Friday, Jan 24th 5:30p to 7:00p
Our monthly family-friendly service (folks of all ages are welcome!). It's potluck-style with kugel as the main dish this month. We'll nosh with a short shabbat service to follow. -
Thursday ,
JanJanuary 30 , 2025Healthy aging, lifestyle medicine and plant-based nutrition (Hybrid)
Thursday, Jan 30th 7:00p to 8:30p
The novelist and poet Wendell Berry once commented that “people are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.” The new field of lifestyle medicine is changing that, getting back to the basics that are so important in maintaining health and well-being. Dr. Friedman, a board-certified geriatrician and lifestyle medicine physician, will discuss the pillars of lifestyle medicine – especially whole-food plant-based nutrition – and how they promote healthy aging. -
Friday ,
JanJanuary 31 , 2025
Friday, Jan 31st 7:00p to 9:00p
Judy Roitman & Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg lead with a potluck oneg to follow. Let us know in the notes section what you can bring. -
Saturday ,
FebFebruary 22 , 20253rd Annual Telling Our Stories Through Food with author-illustrator Marilyn Naron (Hybrid)
Motzei Shabbat, Feb 22nd 7:00p to 9:00p
I Do Not Want Your Sympathy: Shiva, Snacks, and the Art of Remembering - What is comfort? What do mourners need, and is memory really a blessing? Join us for an evening of art and discussion with local author-illustrator (and former pastry chef) Marilyn Naron. The LJCC will exhibit Marilyn’s recent art commissioned for the Kansas Book Festival, including the central piece “I Do Not Want Your Sympathy,” a triptych painted and collaged entirely from sympathy cards her family received after the death of her sister in 1996. Marilyn is currently at work on an illustrated memoir, “How to Draw a Sister,” and her talk will explore how food, sympathy, memory, and Jewish death rituals come together in that project.
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