Please remember Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir~Heart of the City when you have any occasion to send a greeting card to someone. 

While we are happy to receive contributions in any amount, for a minimum $10 contribution we will gladly send one of Marci Fleet's lovely art cards created for this purpose to the recipient of your choice.

Sue Frank will gladly send along either one of Marci's cards, or one she will customize one based on your suggestions. Sue will also compose a note that carries your thought to the recipient.

Saturday, April 06, 10:00 AM, Shabbat Morning Service

Join us at the Ethical Society, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square, Second Floor, for a lay-led service and discussion of the Torah portion. Stay and schmooze at our veggie potluck lunch.

Monday, April 08, 7:00 PM, Council Meeting

All members are invited to our Council meeting at Sandy Brown's home. Call 215.561.5149 for exact location.

Join us at Susan Thompson's home for a 45-minute lay-led service, followed by a veggie pot-luck dinner. Call Susan at 215.923.4040 or email her at thom5@comcast.net to RSVP and tell her what what you'll be bringing.

Friday, April 19, 7:30 PM, Kabbalat Shabbat Service

Join us as we welcome the Sabbath. Spiritual Leader Jessi Roemer and the LHI choir will lead us in Friday night prayers.  We'll be at the Ethical Society, 1906 S. Rittenhouse Square.

Saturday, April 20, 7:00 PM, Fundraising Salon

This first-ever event is sure to be a fun evening. Hosted at Joan & Phil Steel's home, we'll enjoy a variety of performances from members and others. See article below for more detail.

Sunday, April 21, 3:00 PM, POWER Call to Action 

37 congregations will come together to ask our city's leaders the important questions that will make Philadelphia a city with opportunity for all. At Deliverance Evangelistic Church, 2001 W. Lehigh Ave., Philadelphia. Transportation from center city is being arranged. Please call Susan Thompson at 215.923.4040 if you haven't already committed to attend, and our voice mail at 215.629.1995 if you can offer a ride or need one.  

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.

Take a complete look at Congregation Leyv Ha-Ir upcoming activities. 

Dear Leyv Ha-Ir Hevre,

Happy Spring!

Here we stand, at the very end of Pesach, just as we stood a month ago on the heels of Purim. I hope that your sedarim, discussions, meals, questions, and journeys during this past week have been meaningful and nourishing!

The week of Pesach is traditionally referred to as zman cheruteinu - the time of our liberation. The Passover story ends with the Hebrews standing at the other side of the sea, trying to assimilate what has just happened: The Egyptian soldiers have drowned. After hundreds of years of slavery, the Hebrews are finally and completely free of Pharaoh! It is a moment of jubilance and praise, but it is also a moment of awe and sheer relief.

This moment at the sea is one we return to every morning and evening in our tradition, all year round, when we sing the Mi Chamocha prayer. We sing it to remind ourselves never to take our freedoms for granted. We sing it to re-capture not only the sacredness, but the sweetness and innocence of the moment when we first attained our liberation.

But we cannot remain forever in that moment of rapture and innocence. Teacher Joe Laur poses the question: What comes after liberation? What are the next steps? We have attained freedom; now it is aleynu - upon us - to decide what to do with it.

As we embark on the Omer, the period after liberation during which our ancestors wandered in the desert, we have the opportunity to identify our own deserts, the spaces of contemplation through which we must pass on our way out of Mitzrayim (our narrow places) and into a full, three-dimensional existence. And as we wander, counting down the weeks to Shavuot, we have the chance to decide proactively: How, specifically, shall we use the freedoms and privileges granted us? How can we employ them for greater good?

Many of us know about the fairly recent ritual of placing an orange on the seder plate. (This practice has spawned its own set of variants: even newer rituals have us placing a tomato to support migrant workers.) But few people know that this ritual was originally created to assert a place specifically for gays and lesbians in Judaism. As the ritual spread, the original intent was blurred and the explanation became a more widely "acceptable" version about the inclusion of women.

This ritual of the orange is an example of a next step: A small thing we can do with our freedom to raise awareness about situations in which many are not yet completely free.

It is fitting that during this time of liberation and question-asking, the U.S. Supreme Court has been considering cases of marriage equality and human rights for gays and lesbians. It is a moment of hope; this Spring, many members of the LGBT community may feel themselves to be standing at the sea, hoping and praying for the waters to part.

Regardless of how the Supreme Court judges rule these particular cases, all of us together have the power to eventually part that sea, if we put our minds to it. When a critical mass of their constituents sends the same message, for example, Congressional Representatives pay attention! As we step into the next season and phase of our ancestral journey, I invite everyone to consider: How will you use your freedom, your privilege, to uplift and grant freedom to others?

Hag sameach, and I'll see you at Sinai.

-       Jessi

You can read about the full journey of the orange ritual here: http://www.ritualwell.org/ritual/background-background-orange-seder-plate-and-ritual-inclusion.

Dear Chevre,

By the time you read this, I imagine you will have celebrated the freedom journey, Pesach, at one or more seders. We have survived Pharoah, crossed the Red Sea and now we stand facing our own freedom. What will we do with the vast and amazing opportunity we have to live our lives? That is what our ancestors had to address and that is what each one of us has to .

In Jewish teaching, opportunity and obligation are in rich relationship. Freedom means responsibility and responsibility allows for freedom. I see this dynamic at work in my experience training our puppy, Ashby Greenberg: the more obedient he is, the more freedom he gets. If he comes reliably when he is called, he gets the privilege of running freely in the woods. If he acts trustworthy around my house, not chewing the shoes, the sofa, the table legs, then he can have free reign rather than be caged in a crate. Discipline is actually liberating which is why soon after the exodus from Egypt, we find ourselves standing at Sinai, taking on the yoke of ethical, communal commitments.

I hope later this month, on April 21, you will consider joining me at a major POWER event, from 3:00 - 5:00. Congregations from all across the city are coming together to meet with elected officials about employment, education and immigration rights in this city. Our presence will make a difference that day. You can sign up to come, if you haven't already, by contacting me or Beverly Hayden or Susan Thompson. More info is included in this newsletter. We need you on April 21!

At this season, I start thinking about what book we will choose for our annual One Book, One Congregation reading. The title will be revealed at the annual meeting but in the meantime if you have suggestions of a great, readable, relevant book for this year, let's talk!

Love and Blessings from Your Rabbi, Julie