Things look a little bit different? Our Kol Shalom web site has transitioned from URJ’s Web Builder 2.0 to a new WordPress-based Web Builder 3.0 technology and undergoing some reconstruction. We hope you’ll be patient as we continue to update and improve our web site content.
Upcoming Worship Services
We hold periodic Friday evening Kabbalat Shabbat Services at 6:45 p.m. Our next Friday evening services will be:
We hold Shabbat morning services every Saturday morning from 10:00 a.m. – 12 noon. We also welcome all to regular Torah Study sessions in the Religious School building before services at 9:00am. Our upcoming Shabbat morning services:
January 26, led by Rabbi Paul and Cantorial Soloist Laura
Upcoming Jewish Holiday Events
March 20, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Holiday Purim Party
March 21, 10:00 am – 12 noon Morning Purim Service
April 20, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Kol Shalom Community Seder at Kiana Lodge (details coming soon)
Upcoming Adult Education
Adult Education Year-Long Class on how to be a Shliach Tzibur – one who leads services)
(Two Sundays a month, Nov-May, 1-3 p.m.)
What does it really mean to be a Reform Jew?
Feb 7, 14 and 21, 2019. Thursdays from 7-9 p.m.
I have heard it enough from both Reform and Non-Reform Jews to believe that many Jews view Reform Judaism as “Judaism Lite.” I believe this could not be further from the truth. But where do we begin? Do we know the history of Reform? Can we trace it back to its multiple lines of evolution from prophetic voices in the Tanakh to Pharisaic disputations to Modern German Philosophy to Haskalah to American Individualism? Are we able to identify the values that led to the development of a Reform liturgy and trace the different branches of those developments through World Progressive Judaism? If we are here in a Reform community, giving our time, effort and energy within a specific stream of our tradition, we have an opportunity to explore what that really means.
Upcoming Adult Education
Great Jewish Thinkers Volume 5: Emmanuel Levinas
March 7 and 14, 2019. Thursdays, 7-9 pm
In lieu of a class preparing for the cancelled trip to Germany, I am offering a final great Jewish thinkers class, this one focusing on the thoughts and works of the great French Jewish 20th Century Philosopher, Existentialist and Metaphysicist, Emmanuel Levinas.
I am a Jew. Do I have to believe in G-d?
May 23 and 30, 2019. Thursdays from 7-9 p.m.
It is more common than we want to admit. “I am a Jew but I am not sure I believe in G-d.” The problem is, what exactly is this “G-d” we are questioning? Is it a “he” with a long flowing beard reaching out to touch Adam on the Sistine Chapel or is it the empty space in between the wings of the Cherubim over the Ark of the Covenant? Is G-d a vengeful entity hiding in the clouds that checks to see if we are naughty or nice, or is G-d a universal scientific constant or the sum of all animate and inanimate relationships? And quite frankly, does and level of Judaism, traditional or otherwise, support any of these ideas? Exactly “who” is it we are blessing when we say “Baruch ata-Blessed are You?” If any of these questions resonate, this class on theology, Jewish-style, is for you.
