Looking Ahead
Please note that we are holding a special
Children's High Holy Day service on September
13th and September 22nd, 9AM at the Ethical
Society at 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square.
Leader of the Family Torah group, Jessi
Roemer, will be conducting the services.
Get ready for Mitzvah Mania day, October
21st! Begin collecting personal hygiene
items (trial size soaps, shampoos, combs,
etc.) to pack kits for the homeless. Bring
these items to our events at Ethical Society
or contact Evy Simon, 215-561-7474.
Collecting books for Books Through Bars
program. Bring books to our events at Ethical
Society. Appropriate books are on Books
Through Bars Website
Marking Life Cycle Events
Making a financial contribution to
Congregation Leyv
Ha-Ir is a great way to mark special life events,
simchas, yahrzeits, etc. We are happy to send an
acknowledgement of your contribution to a
designee
of your choice. Contributions can be sent to our
regular P.O. Box address, or contact Evy
Simon, at
215-561-7474 or evylhi@hotmail.com, if you'd
like to
have an acknowledgement card sent.
Thank you.
A Wedding Toast ©Roy
Shenberg 2005
Here's to the bride! Here's to the
groom !
May all your troubles be champagne
bubbles
That float away to the moon!
May your life be as sweet as your wedding
cake
May love be the frosting on top
May you always remember
Your wedding dance together
May the music never stop
CHORUS:
Go on and dance like nobody's watching
Drink to life, but leave a little thirst
Taste the cake, baked for sharing
And love like you've never been hurt
Love, like you've never been hurt
Here's to the first dance
Of your married life
May it signal the bond
You'll share throughour life
REPEAT CHORUS
May the cup you share be filled with joy
Laughter, longlife and love
Always remember
Take time to dance together
And honor the power above
REPEAT CHORUS
Fifty, a poem ©John Mason,
2007I made
it to one half century
Alive
I wasn't sure I'd make it
What have I learned in all
This time?
People my age
Aren't supposed to be positive
I must believe
Nothing and no one
is any good
Some older people
Never grow up
They remain little kids
All their lives
I leave behind
Garbage
Junk
Debris
That weigh me down
On my trip
through life
I'm not finished
I have more miles to travel.
Newsletter Design:
Ilene
Hass Creative Solutions for Business
Marketing
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It's the season for our annual membership campaign again. Join the journey!
Do you want Judaism to be interwoven into
your life? Synagogues keep Judaism alive.
Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the City helps Judaism
evolve into its future.
Do you want to learn more about Jewish
values and wisdom? Synagogues are places
that transmit stories, ethics and spiritual
practices from generation to generation. Leyv
Ha-Ir~Heart of the City's active community
and vibrant Rabbi make life-long education a
priority.
Do you want a community to embrace you and
your family through the ups and downs of
life, drawing on the deep well of Jewish
tradition? Synagogues help people live by the
sacred cycle of the year and of a life. Leyv
Ha-Ir~Heart of the City is a
multi-generational circle of individuals
wanting to care about you.
We invite you to make all this happen by
joining Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the
City.
Dear Friends of Leyv Ha-Ir ~
Heart of the City, When I pray for my city
and for the
families and friends of all of those murder
victims and for the safety of those who might
become murder victims, I do not pray to a God
who can intervene on their behalf. I do not
believe in that kind of God. I never did. I
never thought that there was an intervening
entity in the universe that helped me pass
math tests, kept my family healthy or helped
my favorite teams prevail (the Phillies'
10,000th loss -- Gevault). Yet I do
believe in God, and I do pray. I pray
fervently about the violence in this city I
love. I pray that I will do the right thing.
I pray that I won't favor that pretty
graduate student's life over that drug
dealer. I pray that I won't get weary or
come to accept these murders without outrage.
I pray that as President of this tiny
synagogue I will help find a way for our
community to intervene here. For now I am
praying. I welcome you to pray as well.
Blessings,
Michael Meketon, President
Leyv Ha-Ir ~ Heart of the City
mmek723974@aol.com
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August 2007 Activities
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August 1 WEDNESDAY
Council Meeting Bobbi Cohen's Home
7:00 PM
August 4 SATURDAY Shabbat
Services HOME
10:00 AM Call 215.629.1995
August 12 SUNDAY Rosh
Hodesh Susan Berger's House 2:00 PM
August 26 SUNDAY One Book-One
Congregation Joanne's House 11:00
AM Rabbi Julie facilitates a conversation
about
Spiritual Community: The Power to Restore
Hope, Commitment And Joy
by David A. Teutsch
As part of the Kehillah of Center City we
are invited to attend all of the events that are
sponsored by the Kehillah and our larger
community. To learn more about these events,
check
out the link to Center
City Kehillah.
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Click here for a complete look at Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir activities for the upcoming two months. |
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Saturday Services in New Jersey |
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Myrna Schlanger hosted our Saturday
morning services at her lovely home in New
Jersey. Sol Volk led services for the
minyan. An additional highlight, besides
prayer and good food, was feeding the ducks
at a pond behind Myna's home. This has become
an annual event.
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View our calendar for upcoming Services |
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Message from Rabbi Julie Greenberg |
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Dear Chevre,
As we come to the end of the year
5767 and move into the New Year of 5768, it's
time once again to do some soul searching
about ourselves, individually and
collectively. Our tradition provides an
incredible framework of support for entering
the New Year with clarity and consciousness.
These weeks leading up to Rosh HaShana are a
time for Heshbon haNefesh, an accounting of
the soul, a time for deep self-reflection
about goals, challenges, blessings and
also about the things that are done in your
name, for instance by your government.
Some themes for this period of time
are the concepts of mercy and
forgivingness. Hassidic Judaism talks
about the King who travels through the
countryside at this time of year to make the
point that God is afoot in the world; can we
wake up to compassion for ourselves
and for each other? Can we move past shame
and blame into righteous action?
Teshuvah is the Jewish process of returning
to what we know is right.
What is the best way for you to take
stock of where you are in your life journey?
Would it be helpful to keep a journal for a
few weeks, delving into these topics? Would
it be helpful to schedule time with a friend
to review the past year of your lives, taking
turns talking and listening? Would it be
helpful to do some inspirational reading? To
set aside 15 minutes a day for meditation
leading up to Rosh HaShana?
f you'd like to make an appointment
just to check in with your Rabbi as we enter
the New Year, please call or e-mail me. These
appointments are open to members only, first
come, first served, location and date to be
announced.
I hope to see each and every one of
you soon as we prepare together for the year
5768. Love and Blessings,
Rabbi Julie
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Do Your Recieve Our Listserv Messages? |
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In addition to this e-newsletter,
Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir ~ Heart of the City
has a very active communication tool in our
listserv. Here's how it works:
Everyone who subscribes to the listserv
can post items of interest such as synagogue
news, Jewish and/or community events,
messages of personal interest (buying or
selling items, news about people we know,
etc.). All messages are gathered at midnight
daily and forwarded as one e-mail message to
our list of subscribers.
Our subscribers receive listserv e-mail
messages 4-5 times per week in an
easy-to-read text format. If you'd like to
subscribe to our listserv, please send an
email to Sharon Cooper at shrcooper@verizon.net,
including your first and last names and the
e-mail address you'd like to use to receive
the listserv messages. If you already
receive out listserv messages you don't need
to do anything.
The listserv is a great way for all of us
to keep in touch on a very timely basis!
Thank you.
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A Moving Experience, by John Mason |
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On Friday, June 29, I made settlement on my
new house-MY OWN NEW HOUSE - on Cantrell Street,
between Snyder and Passyunk, in South
Philadelphia. The Leyv Ha-Ir community helped
me settle in. On Thursday July 5, I held a
housewarming party combined with putting up
the mezzuzah in the front doorpost. As gifts
they brought food, glassware, and lamps for
the living room. I introduced the gang to
Terri Falbo, my friend and real estate agent
who urged me to take this step.
I thank everybody for helping me in this
time.
Moving Day A Poem by John
Mason
What to keep
What to throw away
I ask myself
As I pack my things
To move
To someplace
Better
For me
A good friend
Who I don't see anymore
Gave me this
A memory
I put my hands on
And these things I got
For some reason
I don't recall
What do I do with them?
Nothing
All that I'll keep
I put in the box
And take with me
With the help of friends
I didn't know
I had.
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New High Holy Day Prayer Books |
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After having so many people from our greater
Philadelphia community attend our High Holy
Day services last year, we've decided to
purchase 25 additional High Holy Day Mahzors
(prayer books). This is an opportunity to
honor or memorialize a loved one or a blessed
event. If you would like to have a
personalized bookplate placed in a Mahzor,
please send a contribution of $36 or more,
payable to Leyv Ha-Ir, to:
Evy Simon
Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir
P.O. Box 15836
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Be sure to include the following information:
In Honor of:
_________________________ (or) In Memory
of: _________________________________
From: ______________________________
Please consider this mitzvah now for the High
Holy Day season
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Crossing the Delaware for LHI Summer Rosh Hodesh |
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LHI's summer Rosh Hodesh at Susan Berger's in
Cherry Hill will be on Sunday, August 12th.
As this always involves the outdoors, let's
pray for great weather!
TOPIC:
The Mikveh
TIME:
2:00 PM
A half-hour of water exercise
given by the hostess will be included, (body
and mind spirituality!!!), after the indoor
Program. Bathing clothing and water "noodles"
are highly suggested in order to participate.
There will be a pot-luck out-door
picnic/bar-b-cue at the pool after all of the
above. Please RSVP for reservations as space
is limited due to Condo rules about the
availability of pool passes; arranging your
own transportation to 1025 Society Hill will
also be necessary.
This event is for LHI female members
only; you can connect with Susan at
856-751-5574 or susanteach0904@aol.com
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Report from Tikkun Olam Chair |
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I'm happy to report about our first Tikkun
Olam Committee meeting of the year. It was
truly amazing and inspiring! We had a record
number of attendees (a minyan), including
several new members. The enthusiastic
brainstorming session produced a full agenda
of social action programs and projects, which
are described below. We expect that these
Tikkun Olam activities will engage not only
our own congregants, but also potential
congregants in the outside community.
First, The Books Through Bars (BTB)
project is moving full speed ahead. For the
second year in a row, LHI members not only
donated books to prisoners (especially
dictionaries), but also helped to pack them
for mailing at BTB's office in West
Philadelphia. This has been so successful,
we plan to request books and pack them on a
regular basis. In addition, we've expanded
our book donation efforts to Graterford
Prison. Joan Goldberg is coordinating this
project to collect Jewish-oriented books for
Jewish inmates.
Second, on October 21st at the Ethical
Society, we will collect and assemble
materials for hospitality kits that will be
given to the homeless. At services and in
our newsletter, we will be asking you to
donate materials. We're also hopeful that
the new committee members who volunteered to
get additional materials from their contacts
will be successful.
Third, florescent light bulbs, which are
energy efficient and less harmful to the
environment, will continue to be on sale for
members of the Leyv Ha-Ir community. The
profits from these sales will be used to
purchase solar cooking ovens for Darfur women
in refugee camps. We plan to publicize these
sales at services and in our newsletter.
Committee members also hope to sell the bulbs
at neighborhood events.
Fourth, one of our best-known events is
the King/Heschel Shabbat Service, which will
commemorate the birth of Martin Luther King,
Jr. and the yahrzeit of Dr. Abraham Joshua
Heschel. On January 21st, 2008, our
King/Heschel service will feature Enid Adler,
Esq., a Leyv Ha-Ir member and a passionate
advocate for International Justice and Human
Rights.
Finally, on July 31st, LHI members will
prepare food packages for the needy at the
Stiffel Senior Center in South Philadelphia.
This is part of the Mitzvah Food Pantry, a
larger effort coordinated by Jewish
Federation. For more information and to
register, call 215-832-0531. Several
committee members were interested in using
this project as a jumping off point to tap
into South Philadelphia's rich Jewish
history. I will explore the availability of
the Center on weekday evenings or Sundays for
possible Tikkun Olam programs.
Margie Wiener,
Tikkun Olam Chair
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