By Rabbi Alicia Magal
Sedona News – Shalom and greetings from the Rabbi, Board of Directors, and congregation of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley.
All the services, classes, and programs are listed on the synagogue website.
Come join us either in person or online. See jcsvv.org for instructions to register for in-person services or online links. Visitors are welcome to attend services.
On Friday, August 12, a Friday evening Erev Shabbat service, led by Rabbi Alicia Magal, begins at 5:30 pm both in person and on Zoom, and livestreamed for members and their invitees. Congregants participate by lighting candles, doing a reading, or having an Aliyah for the Torah service. Verses from the Torah portion will be chanted: Vaetchanan (Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11, containing the rousing words of Moses as he prepares the Children of Israel to enter the Promised Land. His beautiful last speeches are his ethical will, containing the goals and commitments he urges the people to remember after he is gone. This portion contains the central affirmation, “Hear O Israel, God is One,” and the injunction “to love God with all our heart, mind, and might.” This week we turn from the low point of mourning the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem and all the dispersions, expulsions, and discrimination throughout history to ascending through seven weeks of consolation and hope toward the Jewish New Year, a time of soul work, renewal, and rebirth. Blessings for those who are ill and a Mazal Tov for those celebrating a birthday or anniversary will be offered. Kaddish, the Mourner’s prayer, will be recited in memory of those who passed away either recently or at this time in past years. Shabbat offers a time out from work and worry, an opportunity to be grateful for our lives and the bounty with which we are blessed.
Wednesday morning minyan begins at 8:30 a.m. on August 17 on zoom. Join the group to offer healing prayers, and to support those saying the mourner’s prayer, Kaddish, for a loved one who has passed away. Every person counts and is needed!
On Wednesday at 4:00 pm Rosalie Malter and Rabbi Magal will lead a class on Jewish meditation on Zoom. Each session focuses on a different tool or aspect of Jewish meditation practices.
On Thursday, August 18, at 4:00 pm, Torah study, led by Rabbi Alicia Magal, will be held on Zoom. The Torah reading for that week is Eikev (Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25), a continuation of the second of Moses’ three farewell talks to Israel. Moses encourages the people to keep their faith in God and remember the lessons they learned during the years in the wilderness. Now they would be settling in a land that would offer water, crops, and all their needs, and they must remember to thank the Provider of all this bounty and not take it for granted or get puffed up with pride over “their harvest.”
The Social Action Committee is continuing to collect food for the local Sedona food pantry. Please drop of cans or boxes of non-perishable foods in the bin outside the lower level parking lot entrance to the synagogue.
The Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, located at 100 Meadow Lark Drive off Route 179 in Sedona, is a welcoming, egalitarian, inclusive congregation dedicated to building a link from the past to the future by providing religious, educational, social and cultural experiences. Messages to the office telephone at 928 204-1286 will be answered during the week. Updated information is available on the synagogue website – www.jcsvv.org.
