Things look a little bit different? Our Kol Shalom web site is in transition from URJ’s Web Builder 2.0 to a new WordPress-based Web Builder 3.0 software technology and undergoing reconstruction. We hope you’ll be patient as we continue to update and improve our web site content. Most of our site is more or less as it was before, but some features may not yet be ready to go or are “works in progress.”
Baruch Dayen Emet
Part of the wisdom of Judaism is that we are to keep quiet at a place of mourning. Instead of searching for words that can never appear or seeking to express a way to give comfort that can never in that moment be felt, we are asked to repeat a rote phrase: In Ashkenazi tradition, “May G-d console you among the mourners in Jerusalem and Zion.” In the Sephardic tradition, “May you be comforted from heaven.” And there it is, in the face of another senseless tragedy of hate and violence we are left with no words that can give comfort. Instead, we are to be present. Our comfort is our willingness to put down the needs of our lives for few moments, hours or days. To sit there and listen when the mourner wishes to talk; to do the dishes; to cook food, walk their dog and bring the groceries. We remain present until the healing naturally begins and show the mourner in that process that even if we don’t know what to say, they do not mourn alone. Beloved friends around the world, most especially those directly mourning for those lives lost today at Tree of Life, we don’t know what to say. We are miles away so it is hard to sit with you, although I promise we are in mourning with you and if you are in our holy place we will provide a minyan for you and we will share our tears with yours. Without a single comforting word to offer, please know that we are crying with you, mourning with you, offering our prayers of kaddish with you, and we will continue wrestling with that which is greater than us, as none of us understand.
Baruch Dayan Emet,
Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko
Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko
Upcoming Reflection Service
on Saturday, November 3rd
Chevrei,
Like the rest of the Jewish world, the events in Pittsburgh have caused us pain and confusion. This Shabbat at 10:00am, Rabbi Paul and Cantorial Soloist Laura are planning a special reflective service to help us process our hurt and encourage us to be together in our desire to make sense of the incomprehensible.
Because Rabbi Paul is currently out of the country, he cannot plan an earlier rabbi-led vigil, but he welcomes all this coming Shabbat as we join together in mourning and also lifting each other up.
We hope that you will join us this coming Shabbat as a form of community, an act of solidarity, an opportunity for prayer or just simply being together.
Rabbi Paul Strasko
President Aaron Levine
Religious Practices Chair Steve Louis
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.)
11/4, 11/18, 12/2, 12/16, 1/13, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 3/3, 3/17, 4/14, 4/28, 5/5, 5/19.
We need at least 5 people to agree to the class to move forward. If you wish to sign up, please Email Darla ASAP so Rabbi Paul can begin preparation of class materials. There is no cost for CKS members. Non-members wishing to sign up are asked to make a donation to the CKS General Fund to compensate for time and facilities use. (Or better yet, become a Kol Shalom member!!!)
Back by Popular Demand: Jewish Meditation – All Kabbalah Edition
Nov 13, 20 and 27. Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m.
What exactly is Kabbalistic meditation? Most people that “don’t like meditation” have been introduced to meditation via its most complex route, that of clearing one’s mind. The only problem is, that is one tiny facet of meditation. At its core, meditation is intentionality, and kabbalistic meditation is simply using sacred Jewish symbols such as letter or the names of G-d as a gateway into a space of relaxation and self-discovery. Each class will contain both theory and discussion, each session ending with a practical meditation based on the discussion of the day.
