Have you wanted a Bat Mitzvah and wondered if you could really do it? Stop wondering...now is the time!! Our new program is designed just for you!
There will be two Bat Mitzvah services: One group in May, and the other in June. We will have 15 meetings including rehearsals. All participants together will: Learn to chant the Shema and V’Ahavtah prayers and know their meanings; understand the Torah Service; recite the blessings before and after the Torah; learn to read from 1-3 lines FROM THE TORAH! Each will also deliver a short talk on her personal journey and what her Torah reading means to her. In addition we will study history, holidays, ethical values, Hebrew, and the Torah portion. We will light Hanukkah candles, read the Megillah at Purim, enjoy an interactive brief Seder, and celebrate Havdalah to close Shabbat.
There are spaces for 10 participants. Class begins Tuesday Nov. 10, 2009, 7:15pm-9:15pm. We will be meeting twice per month for 6 months, Nov 2009-April 2010 on the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays (subject to change). The price for Members of Lev Eisha is $360 + approximately $50 for texts per participant; for non-members, it's $500 + $50 per participant.
Regular attendance is mandatory to completing the course. Participants (and their families) will also be required to join Rabbi August and her husband for a Shabbat dinner at the Rabbi's home (date tba).
Please Contact Sandy Terranova by e-mail to reserve your place.
Can you hear YOUR Lech Lecha? Your Lechi Lach? (The "going forth" -- to go within and KNOW yourself.)
Can you arouse YOURSELF to listen to your own true thoughts?
Using Avivah Zorenberg's new book, The Murmuring Deep, we will learn about becoming a blessing for ourselves and others studying from the chapter called: "In the Vale of Soul-Making."
This will be a powerful, poetically provocative and meaningful learning session and I look forward to seeing YOU there.
--Rabbi August
Please join us promptly at 8:30 a.m. at Vista Del Mar.
Our thanks go out to this month's donors:
Tributes were sent by:
Susie Yure' in honor of Judy Cohen
Susie Yure' in honor of Shelli Kushins
A Donation was made by:
Bernice Kahan
We appreciate the commitment the following friends have made by becoming Lev
Eisha members for the 2009-2010 year. Members with an asterisk next to their
names honor us by joining at or above the $180 level, and we acknowledge them
as "founding members" of the new Lev Eisha. Your generosity and dedication to
Lev Eisha enrich our community. You are a blessing. This list represents
memberships received by October 1. Membership "thank you" gifts will be
presented at the December service to everyone who becomes a member by November
10.
Adrienne Bass,
Arielle Lani Singer,
Arinna Moon,
Arlyne Gruesner,
Babette J. Peyser,
Bernice Brown,
Bernice Kahan,
Betty Wagner Kramer,
Beverly Rimer,
Bruce Winston,
Carol Kaufman,
Carolyn Roberts,
Cathy Novak,
Cecile Benson,
Cinda Roffman,
Craig Singer,
Debbie Juster,
Donna Ernstoff,
Doreen Klee*,
Eileen Cohen,
Eleanor Allen*,
Ellen Satkin*,
Eve Axelrad*,
Gail Barton,
Helen Budin,
Hilda Mills,
Janet Madden*,
Janis Biederman,
Janis Cohen*,
Jean Katz,
Judy Fishman,
Juilei G. Mullen,
Julie Klee,
Kate Rosloff,
Ken Klee*,
Laurel Newmark,
Lee Cowan*,
Lee Fischer,
Linda Fleischman,
Linda Yaffe,
Lynne Ben Habib,
Mady Steinberg,
Marion Klein,
Marla Osband*,
Mollie Wine*,
Muriel Dance,
Norma Garber,
Olivia Goodkin*,
Pam Neshkes,
Ralph Mannheimer,
Renee Last,
Riya, Nina & Maya Zelcer,
Robert Reisbaum,
Sandy Williams,
Shayna Lester,
Sherry Rotschild,
Sheryl Colby*,
Shirley Belinfante,
Shirley C. Munch,
Shirley Hirschberg,
Sue-Ann Leeds,
Suzanne Schweitzer*,
Terrie Turner,
Theresa Keller,
Toni Glick*,
Tonia Agron,
Vivian Feintech*,
Yaakova Vogel*.
LEV EISHA IN WALNUT CREEK, CA
Rabbi Toba August and Cindy Paley led a true-to-form inspiring, spiritually
uplifting Lev Eisha Shabbat service at Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut
Creek on October 24, 2009. Invited by Rabbi Elon Sunshine at the request of
his congregant, Shelli Kushins, sister of Lev Eisha president Susie Yure', the
service was enthusiastically attended by many members of the synagogue's community plus Northern California friends who know
of Lev Eisha from the Wagner Weekend. Toby Schwartz joined Rabbi and Cindy on the
bimah, lending her beautiful voice and Torah chanting to this special day.
We're looking forward to sharing a Lev Eisha Shabbat with other congregations and
cities around the country. To share information about a shul interested in
bringing the joys of Lev Eisha to their congregation, please drop us a note at
info@leveisha.org or leave us a voice message at (310) 575-0985.
HELP SOVA FEED THE HUNGRY
At our December 5 service at Vista del Mar, we will be collecting food and toiletries for Jewish Family Service SOVA. Please bring food items such as peanut butter, tuna, canned vegetables, soup, pasta and toiletries like toothpaste and toothbrushes and we will donate them to the JFS Food Pantry. The three pantries at JFS SOVA feed close to 9,000 people every month.
DECEMBER 6th--NOSHING AND SHOPPING
Please join Lev Eisha for breakfast and shopping on Dec 6th at the Chico's store
in Marina Del Rey from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Chico's will be serving muffins and coffee
along with exclusive use of the store for shopping by our members and their
guests.
Bring your Chico's passport cards and coupons. Chico's will honor all applicable
discounts for this exclusive sale.
Chico's has agreed to donate 10% of the revenue generated during these two hours to Lev Eisha! Lots of parking is available. This is a great way to help Lev Eisha raise some money while filling your closets
with new holiday clothing. Bring your mothers, bring your daughters, bring your friends.
Chico's, 4718-A Admiralty Way,
Marina del Rey, CA 90292. 310-823-1421 Dec. 6, 9:00 a.m.
If I were asked, "what matters to you most about your religion?" I know I would have lots of answers. I thought that if asked, many of our Lev Eisha women would probably say that religion provides community and a place for healing and comfort.
Was I surprised by the findings in a recent Parade magazine national poll results printed in the LA Times a few weeks ago!
When asked what mattered to them about their religion:
-
40% of the respondents picked, "I believe religion is the source of truth."
- 19% picked customs, traditions and holidays
- 19% chose teaching morals to their children
- 14% said that their religion's most important quality was that
it makes them feel safe and secure
- Only 8% said what mattered most about their religion is community!
Are you as surprised as I was at these results?
Religion as a "source of truth" was not even one of my many answers!
In fact, I am very concerned when I read this. It is when we are looking for "truth" that we become intolerant, suspicious and fearful of the other. I do not believe that my religion and my beliefs are a source of truth. Rather, what matters to me about my religion is that it challenges me to struggle with what is TRUE for me! I learn about my truth, and I would never think about imposing my understanding of what is true on anyone else!
"I believe religion is the source of truth." Does this statement bother you as much as it disturbs me?
Perhaps it is only about semantics. Ultimately, one can find a deep and profound sense of what is "true" through study, music and art, meditation, prayer and community. This is part of the religious experience. My concern and fear is when we "act" on our truth and it leads to judgment, anger, hate and violence. Therefore, I am saddened by this response in the polls.
Another disheartening statistic is about how often Americans attend religious services. Though 30% claim they attend once or more a week, academic researchers, who actually count the numbers of bodies in the pews, believe that only as much as a half of those who claim to be in their houses of worship are actually there!
Additionally, although 45% said they are religious, 70% of the respondents said they participate in organized religion sporadically or not at all, and with the recession, common assumptions were that in challenging times people turned to religion. Not so. Just 7% of respondents said they were attending services more often during these difficult times.
And the most surprising of all, Americans do not believe in the mystical and weird though there are TV shows, movies and books on these subjects. Only 12% check their horoscopes regularly.
Yet, people claim they are more "spiritual" than religious, and when asked to pick their favorite films involving spirituality from the following: The Da Vinci Code, The Exorcist, The Omen, The Sixth Sense, The Ten Commandments, Ghost and It's a Wonderful Life, one out of every four people selected ___________.
Can YOU guess which one????
E-mail me and let me know! (rabbi@leveisha.org)
Happy Thanksgiving to us all!
With gratitude, hope and blessing,
Rabbi August
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Mazal Tov (congratulations) to Robin Winston on her niece's Bat Mitzvah on November 7th.
If you have a milestone to share please send it to: editor@leveisha.org. Our
newsletter gets printed about a week before each service. Please send the info ASAP.
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