Looking Ahead
Full High Holy Days Services Coming
Up!
All are held at the Ethical Society, 1906 S.
Rittenhouse,
All led by Rabbi Julie Greenberg.
Rosh Hashanah: September 29 - October 1
Yom Kippur: October 8 - October 9
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.
Newsletter Design and eMail Marketing:
Ilene
Hass Creative Solutions for Business
Marketing
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Dear Friend of Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir ~ Heart of the City,
I am very happy to announce that Rabbi Julie
Greenberg and Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the City
have renewed our mutual commitment by signing
a long term contract. This is a monumental
commitment to the future of this community.
Please share this simcha (joy) with us. Each
time we see each other this year should be a
celebration of this partnership and covenant.
Rabbi Julie started with us seven years
ago in 2001. She has come to embody a rare
strength among Rabbis. Julie is a
facilitator of spiritual process. She does
not direct our religious activities as much
as she nurtures our practice. She
encourages us to radically engage the Other,
whether this be perceived enemies, difficult
personalities, or challenging problems. Like
all people, we don't always succeed, but we
become better people in a better world by
trying. She helps us approach our losses
with humility and transform ourselves into
more complete human beings.
Rabbi Julie is also a licensed therapist
who brings a spiritual approach to her
counseling practice. She has developed a
speciality in working with interfaith couples
and families and helps people as well with
issues of loss, challenge and support in
moving towards hopes and dreams. As a
community builder, Rabbi Julie is a leader in
developing inclusive, pluralistic Judaism.
Sealing a long-term contract with our Rabbi
strengthens Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the City. We
face the future with strong leadership,
collaborative spirit and energy for growing
our sacred community. Stay posted for news of
a celebration in honor of our
Rabbi-Congregation partnership.
L'shana tovah,
Michael Meketon, President
Leyv Ha-Ir ~ Heart of the City
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October 2008 Activities
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Wed - Oct 01, 2008
Rosh Hashanah
9:00 AM - Children's Service, ages 3-8
10:00 AM - Adult Services, led by
Rabbi Julie Greenberg and Cantor Ron Fischman
and Leyv Ha-Ir Choir
Thu - Oct 02, 2008
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Council Meeting
Ethical Society
Sat - Oct 04, 2008
10:00 AM Shabbat Morning Service
Lay-led
Our service, Torah discussion and pot-luck
lunch will take place at the Ethical Society.
Wed - Oct 08, 2008
6:00 PM Kol Nidre
Services at the Ethical Society with
Rabbi Julie, Cantor Ron Fischman and
the Leyv Ha-Ir Choir
Thu - Oct 09, 2008
9 :00 AM - Children's service, ages 3-8
10:00 AM - Yom Kippur Service, all day
led by Rabbi Julie, Cantor Ron Fischman
and the Leyv Ha-Ir choir. Stay for Break Fast (about
7:30
PM).
All services are held at the Ethical Society
Building,
1906 S. Rittenhouse Square. Reservations MUST
be made by calling 215-529-1995 or visiting
our website.
Mon - Oct 13, 2008
7:30 PM Sukkot Service
Our service with Rabbi Julie will be held at
Iris N's, 1919 Chestnut St., #2507 on her
balcony sukkah.
Tue - Oct 21, 2008
7:30 PM Erev Simchat Torah
Service
We'll celebrate the beginning of a new Torah
cycle with the Gershman Y Congregation at the
Y, Broad and Pine Streets.
Fri - Oct 24, 2008
7:00 AM Shabbat home service and
pot-luck dinner to be held at Evy's home,
#2818, 1901 JFK Blvd.
Contact Evy at 215-561-7474 or
evysimon@hotmail.com to let her know what
you're bringing for the veggie/dairy potluck.
Mon - Oct 27, 2008
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM "Lunch & Learn"
with Rabbi Julie
"Bible Stories for Grown-ups" discussed by
Rabbi Julie Greenberg
At the Bellevue, Broad & Walnut Streets
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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October 5769 Message from Rabbi Bruchim Ha-Ba-im/ WELCOME |
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Dear Chevre (Circle of friends), A very
special welcome to all of you who have become
members of Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the City for
the journey into the New Year. Welcome,
welcome, welcome. Membership is the life
force of congregational life. Through your
presence, your energy and your dues, you have
become partners in sustaining Jewish
community life. Your membership is a
meaningful way to say "I am willing to
belong. I care about the future of Judaism."
I welcome you to take your time in
exploring this community: it's a feast of
amazing people to get to know, opportunities
to serve the greater good through our Chesed
(caring) committee and Tikkun Olam (repair of
the world) committee, and places to study,
pray, make friends and make plans. I hope
that wherever you choose to engage in this
congregation it is spiritually nourishing for
you.
Please feel free to ask me or any of our
old-timers any questions you have about this
congregation, about Reconstructionism or
about Judaism. We also want to hear your
ideas and yearnings. We're all glad to share
what we can and have a chance to get to know
you better.
Looking forward to a great year,
Rabbi Julie
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Read more from Rabbi Julie |
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Annual Membership Drive - Join the Journey! |
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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.
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Member Profile: Iris Newman |
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Iris Newman, chair of the Ritual Committee of
Leyv Ha-Ir, was born in
Philadelphia's St. Agnes Hospital, and raised
in the Wynnefield section, then
Merion. She was brought up in Conservative
Judaism. "I went to Camp Ramah,
which is important in my Jewish identity,"
she recalls. "I went to Brandeis
(University) and I went to Hillel there. In
graduate school and thereafter I
was pretty much not involved, except when I
went with my mother to her Conservative
synagogue on the High Holy Days. That was
back at a time when Jewish
congregations were set up for married
couples, of which I was not. And after
I got married, my husband didn't want to go
to services.
"I felt out of place in a Jewish
congregation," adds Newman, "until I found
Reconstructionism, where your being married
or not is totally irrelevant."
Another thing that drew her to
Reconstructionism, says Newman, was, "The
first thing I saw in my first
Reconstructionist service was Roby (Jacobs)
carrying the Torah. I didn't know a woman
could carry the Torah, but when
I saw it done, that was the place for me."
Newman has served as Ritual Chair for a
number of years; Of her work, she
says, "The Rabbi consults us on the content
of services. We run the (lay-led
Saturday morning) minyan and other lay-led
services, and we help out with
the rabbi-led services. We also provide
coordination with the High Holy Day
committee and other groups."
Of her professional background, she says, "I
have a Masters degree in City
Planning, and I worked in that field for a
number of years, and eventually
the field shrank to the point where I was out
of a job, so I went to work
for the federal government, (working) on
grants administration."
--Article written by John Mason.
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Upcoming Series: Bible Stories for Adults |
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Just a taste of what you are being offered?
The first of four discussions on "Bible
Stories for Adults".
Looking ahead to October 27, noon, a
discussion with Rabbi Julie:
King David and Batsheva
In an era of near-constant news about the
sexual misconduct of high officials, we will
explore the premier story of King David and
Batsheva. King David acted outside the
respected bounds of marriage. What does the
Bible have to teach us through this
fascinating story? What did King David have
in common with Bill Clinton, Elliot Spitzer,
John Edwards and many others? Join us for an
engaging text study and lively discussion.
Held at an office in the Bellevue, Broad and Walnt,
details
will follow. No charge and open to the
public. Brings friends!
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