Worship and Learning Opportunities with JCoOC, June 12-18. Please join us!
06/12/2020 12:22:54 PM
Jun12
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COLLABORATIVE EVENTS: JUNE 12-18
Scroll to bottom for Rabbi Tilchin's weekly message.
Friday, June 12th at 6:30pm FRIDAY NIGHT by CANDLELIGHT This week featuring singer / pianist Josh Moss with Rabbi Tilchin Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv Click to join us on Zoom or Facebook Live
Saturday, June 13th at 2:00pm (PDT) TWELVE STEPS AND TORAH Join Rabbi Ilan Glazer and friends for Shabbat afternoon Torah study guided by Twelve Step wisdom. Join on Zoom or call 949-402-8004 for more information. Click here for flyer.
Saturday, June 13th at 8:45pm HAVDALAH TOGETHER This week with special guest, DALE SCHATZ! Join us on Zoom or Facebook Live
Tuesday, June 16 at 10am ADVANCED LEARNING INSTITUTE (ALI) Learn with a variety of scholars and clergy from around the country. Rabbi Jill Zimmerman will share spiritual perspectives and tools for navigating this unprecedented moment in time. Join us on Zoom.
Sunday, June 14 – Thursday, June 18 at 6:00pm OC EGAL: A NIGHTLY MINYAN FOR KADDISH AND COMMUNITY It's more than a minyan...it's a Mitzvah! Won’t you be the 10th? Sign up to join us HERE . Click here for a shareable flyer.
I hope this Shabbat greeting finds everyone in good health and regaining equilibrium after a series of tumultuous and emotional weeks. One of the many ways our minds and hearts protect us so that we can function in difficult times is by compartmentalizing urgent information. When our attention is driven to a current crisis, a natural byproduct is that problems (great and small) we were dealing with prior become veiled, kind of like how we temporarily forget about our chronic shoulder pain when something heavy falls on our foot.
The recent confrontation with America’s racial bias (both overt and subtle) in the wake of George Floyd’s murder has diverted public focus from the fact that we are still in the midst of a pandemic that promises to take more than 100,000 additional lives in the coming months. The crisis of housing and food insecurity remains at a record high, and the State of Israel is at a decisive crossroads regarding West Bank annexation that will have profound implications on the next decades-long chapter in its young statehood.
Throughout my daily prayers, I petition God to grant healing on multiple levels. I pray for the restored health of friends and loved ones who are ill. I ask God to give courage and comfort to the oppressed. I request that strength be renewed to our fragile democracy. I express yearning for rejuvenation of the earth. I plead for the soul of humanity.
At the end of this week's parashah, Moses implores God to renew the physical and spiritual health of his sister, Miriam, with a short and powerful incantation "El Na Refah Na Lah." Enjoy this haunting musical setting by the group Ya Elah.
While it’s impossible to quantify, the effectiveness of prayer is maximized when offered in tandem with human agency. Our exploding virtual reality driven by COVID-19 now provides an ever-flowing spring of opportunity for us to educate ourselves through classes and lectures that analyze problems and present solutions for addressing major issues at home and abroad. The avalanche of information can help us make personal decisions about how to carry out our day to day activities, volunteer, donate our financial resources and communicate with friends, family and colleagues about difficult topics and decisions that impact us all in a shrinking world.
This past week our Federation hosted an excellent online lecture delivered by Shalom Hartman research fellow, Dr. Micah Goodman, titled Catch ’67: What is the Debate Over Israel Really About as the culminating presentation of JFOC’s community-wide iENGAGE study program launched in fall of 2018. Dr. Goodman presents with extraordinary clarity the principled origins of Israel’s current political divide over the current viability of a two-state solution, seeded 53 years ago on, as Israeli's coin it, the 7th day of the Six Day War. Click on the title to listen or watch.
As a board member of the Orange County Interfaith Network, I am pleased to share with you the first of three Virtual Round Table Discussions constituting OCIN’s 2020 Community Forum Series. Hate Crimes and White Supremacy, recorded in early April, features Rabbi Peter Levi (ADL), Dr. Pete Simi (Chapman University), Inderpreet Kaur (SoCal Community Development Manager) and Don Han (OC Human Relations).
Subsequent forums will air at noon on the OCIN Facebook page on Thursday, June 18 (Stories of Immigration) and Thursday, June 25 (Faith in Times of Crisis). I had the honor of serving on the 3rd panel.
I also call your attention to TWO SPECIAL SUMMER PROGRAMS FOR HIGH SCHOOL TEENS designed to help them navigate and process the unusual times they are confronting during such formative developmental years. Please share these opportunities widely with your networks. 1. The Shalom Hartman Institute’s Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Thought Leaders - Together@Home is a four-week exploration of Jewish peoplehood, at-homeness, and contemporary challenges facing North American Jewish identity for high school students. WHEN: Tuesday, July 7-Wednesday, August 5, 2020. Apply by clicking HERE. 2. Needed now more than ever, Music in Common and the Interfaith Youth Alliance have come together to offer two online Summer JAMMS Sessions. These week-long, inter-cultural and multi-faith songwriting and multi-media workshops will foster memorable friendships nurtured through deep dialogue and artistic expression. WHEN: July 20-24 or August 3-7 from 9am to 3pm. Visit www.musicincommon.org to learn more and to register.
Im Yirtz Hashem, Yih’yeh Tov. With God’s help, we will emerge from this period of illness and unrest more united, resilient and better prepared to make this world healthier for all.
