By Rabbi Alicia Magal
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. Visitors are welcome to attend services. Special uplifting weekly messages for the Hebrew month of Elul recorded by Rabbi Magal are posted on the synagogue website.
On Friday, September 2, 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: Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9), a continuation of Moses’ second farewell address to Israel concerning how justice must be carried out in the land where they will soon settle. A system of courts with judges must be set up in every town and city. The judges must be honest men who can decide cases brought before them with fairness. The famous phrase, “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deut. 16:20) stresses the need for just means as well as a fair verdict.
Blessings for those who are ill and a Mazal Tov for those celebrating a birthday or anniversary will be offered at the Kabbalat Shabbat service. 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 September 7 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, September 8, at 4:00 pm, Torah study, led by Rabbi Alicia Magal, will be held on Zoom. The Torah reading for that week is Ki Tetze (Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19), dealing with family life and human decency, including a section of parental responsibility for the education of their children. It also deals with returning lost property, accident prevention, and kindness to animals. This is one portion that could be studied all year without exhausting all the fine points and applications!
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.
High Holy Day information is listed on the synagogue website, www.jcsvv.org. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year 5783, will begin on the evening of Sunday, September 25, continuing on Monday, September 26; and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, will begin on Tuesday evening, October 4 and continue on Wednesday, October 5.
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.