By Rabbi Alicia Magal
Erev Shabbat services led by Rabbi Alicia Magal will be held on Friday evening, February 16, 2024, 2024 beginning at 5:30 pm in person and on Zoom. The Biblical reading is from Terumah (Exodus 25:1 – 27:19), concerned with the many donations by the children of Israel for the construction of the Sanctuary in the desert, a portable house of worship in the form of a tent with beautiful ritual objects carried by the Israelites in their wanderings towards the Promised Land. Rabbi will also offer healing blessings for those who are ill, a mazal tov for Simchas (happy occasions), and Kaddish, mourner’s prayer, recited for loved ones who have passed away. Everyone is invited to stay after services for refreshments and socializing.
On Wednesdays at 8:30 a.m. we offer a morning minyan on Zoom, with traditional prayers sung or read in Hebrew and English. Join through the website link to support each other needing a minyan to say Kaddish for a loved one.
Meditation class will meet on Wednesday, February 21, led by Rosalie Malter and Rabbi Magal on zoom, focusing on a particular theme in this week’s Torah portion or other uplifting texts.
Torah study will be held on Thursday, February 22, at 4:00 pm on zoom, led by Rabbi Magal. The portion for that week is Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20 – 30:10), with instructions for lighting the seven-branched Menorah with pure olive oil to be kept burning continually in front of the Holy of Holies in which was the Ark with the Ten Commandments. This portion also describes the garments of the Kohanim – priests – and especially the adorned vestments of the High Priest: blue robe hemmed with golden bells, a tunic, a breastplate inlaid with twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel, and a gold plate worn on the forehead over the turban, on which was inscribed “Holy to the Lord.”
The Social Action Committee is continuing to collect food for the local Sedona food pantry. Please drop off cans or boxes of non-perishable foods in the bin provided for collections at the bottom of the stairs leading to the synagogue sanctuary. We encourage people to donate generously.
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.
