Sivan 5767 ~ May/June 2007 |
"Ruth inspires us to pursue Torah and Jewish learning and community with devotion and enthusiasm. Her story reveals that great things come when we follow our hearts, and when we give love freely and fully."News from Community folks (happenings, questions, etc...)
Hello EuroJews! Chag Shavuot Sameach! Happy Shavuot! The month of Sivan has begun along with Shavuot – a holiday of revelation, learning, and openness. Shavuot was primarily an agricultural holiday, marking the end of the grain harvest and the beginning of a new agricultural season during which fruits were brought to the Temple in Jerusalem. But Shavuot also commemorates the day on which the Israelites received the Torah from Mount Sinai. “On Passover, we were physically freed from slavery; on Shavuot, our freedom is given a purpose – we are free in order to serve God according to the dictates of the Torah.” (from www.ritualwell.org). Because of the receiving of the Torah, Shavuot is celebrated with all-night study sessions called tikkun leil Shavuot, a time when people explore sacred texts and engage in different kinds of learning. During this learning – and all throughout the holiday! – it’s traditional to eat cheesecake and other dairy foods, since the Torah is likened to milk and honey; full of flavor and sweetness. So make sure you fill your bellies with some sweet dairy treats! As we move through this month, let us be open to what we will learn, what we will remember, what we will share with our community friends and family. It can be difficult to receive with open arms, and difficult to live fully as peaceful people. Let us help to be open this holiday to what gifts the Torah gives to us, and the inspiration we draw from our tradition. Perhaps this openness can help us heal our hurting world. “The whole month of Sivan is about receiving. We celebrate the holiday of Shavuot…Many people know how to give, and many more know how to take, but fewer know how to truly receive. Sivan is a time of learning how to receive on all levels of being. To truly receive is to be open without an agenda, to be present and accept every moment gratefully as a gift. The extent to which we are open determines what and how much we will receive. Life is so abundant, and there is such a flow of Godly energy, particularly this month.” - Kabbalah Month by Month: A Year of Spiritual Practice and Personal Transformation, pg. 222 Sivan, by Melinda Ribner May we be ever grateful for the knowledge May we teach Your precepts to our Children May Your Torah be a light unto our path, [segment from Reveal Yourself Anew by Ben Aronin (adapted)] On Shavuot we read Megillat Ruth, the Book of Ruth. Ruth, the first person known to convert to Judaism, is a heroic figure in our history. She is a woman who followed her heart and who sought love and independence with great dignity and courage. Below is a translation of the story. The Story of Ruth Let this holiday, this month, this moment, open our hearts to receive. Let us receive the Torah with open souls to help us bring new wisdom, light, and healing into the world. Shalom from Laura in Warsaw, PL [ newsletter edited by Jordan Namerow ]
http://www.eurojews.org/event.html Registering to EuroJews trip to Brussels EuroJews trip to Brussels We are now ready to take bookings for the EuroJews weekend in Brussels, from Friday, the 31st of August to Monday, the 3rd of September, for which we suggest high-quality (up to 5*) hotel accommodation. The weekend will include restaurant/professionally-catered dinners, workshops and trips, all at great rates. We expect a gathering of at least 50 young people from across Europe to this event, which will be hosted jointly by Beth Hillel Synagogue (BHS) and the International Jewish Center (IJC), Brussels. This is a unique opportunity for socializing, as well as learning, for progressive young Jews in Europe. For full details, please see our website: www.eurojews.org and check out our cool new cartoon! -- http://www.eurojews.org/event.html Summer Party! If you would like to be a member of EuroJews, please send and e-mail to Beatrice Richman beatricerichman@hotmail.com * You will get this on-line newsletter, discounts on events, and other great things! Members' Forum (see the link from http://www.eurojews.org/members.html)...a virtual space for our community to gather - room for online discussion, fun, announcements, recipes, learning - something we have been hoping to create for a long time is now finally with us! Discussion forum for EuroJews. A virtual community for young-ish European-ish Progressive-ish Jew-ish people. www.EuroJews.org Google Groups Information David.Moskovic@gmail.com has invited you to join the EuroJews group with this message: You can accept this invitation by clicking Access to
the group on the web (this requires a Google Account). If you don't have a
Google Account set up yet, you'll first need to create an account before you
can access the group. You can create an account here [ where??
] News from Community Folks (happenings, questions, etc...) Dates to remember: --------- community development
join the wjr team for the community fun run on sunday 27 may 2007 - sign up today www.communityfunrun.org *** a jewish community partnership event mobilising the community and raising funds for the charities involved. for information and contact: charlotte casselson on 020 7691 1774 would you like to organise a tent social event?
if you have an idea for a night out in your city then let us know call anna on 07817 207625 or a.gerrard@liberaljudaism.org to hear about all our events through email contact: anna on 07817 207625 or a.gerrard@liberaljudaism.org or monique on m.blake@liberaljudaism.org for full listings of 'tent' and other endorsed events, please see our website www.liberaljudaism.org. 'tent' in finchley friday may 25th at 6:30pm at finchley progressive synagogue, hutton grove, n12 8dr service followed by a chavurah supper, £3 per person contact anna at a.gerrard@liberaljudaism.org or 07817 207625 get ready and start saving for the exciting alternative israel trip experience the real israel with anna and avivit, july 12 – 22 kabbalat shabbat on the beach, spiritual retreat in the desert, volunteering with rabbis for human rights, nightlife and drag shows, dialogue with settlers and other surprises for more information contact avivit on 07866 501787 or a.katzil@liberaljudaism.org Monique Blake Outreach & Projects Administrator Liberal Judaism The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street London W1T 4BE T: 020 7631-9826 E: m.blake@liberaljudaism.org Visit our website: www.liberaljudaism.org Theatre this summer My name is Josh Edelman – I'm a theatre director and writer based in Dublin, Ireland. This summer, I'm planning to come to Poland with my colleague Yohanan Lefebvre from Lyon, France, to make a new play about Jewish life in Poland today, about Polish-Jewish history, and about how all of this is changing with the EU and the new pull towards the West. We have backing from the Arts Council of Ireland and a few European Jewish cultural organizations, and we're trying to make a play that will add a vivid Jewish voice to the European theatre, one that can sometimes be a little lacking. We also want to try to understand what Europeanization is doing to national and personal identity on this continent. I think Poland is just the place to understand some of these things. It's important to us that we build this play out of the real stories of living Poles and Jews. To do this, we're planning on traveling around Poland this summer for a week or two to meet people and talk to everyone as much as we can. If you have a story to tell, we would like to meet you. We hope to have a translator with us, so if you don't speak English or French, that will not be a problem. If you would like to talk to us anonymously, that's fine. We will have a camera and tape recorder with us, but we promise not to use your name or voice or image if you don't want us to. We want you to feel safe to talk with us, to tell us what you really think and feel, and we'll give you all the privacy you want. We're looking for people with stories of what it's like to live as a Jew in modern Poland, particularly those who came to Judaism later in life or through strange and wonderful circumstances. We're looking for stories of what it's like to live as a Pole in the Europeanized modern world, and ideally, I'd love it if some of these came from the same people. We're also looking for people who can help us plan our road trip, and perhaps even join us for some or all of it. I've been to Poland twice, and I know that it takes a little bit of time and guidance to peel back the surface and appreciate its beauty. If anyone would like to show two curious Westerners with a camera around your beautiful country, we'd love it! If this sounds interesting to you, please send me an email or write me a letter. (Write in any language you'd like – I'll get it translated if I need to.) My email address is joshedelman@gmail.com. Or, if you'd rather, you're welcome to send me a letter at: Josh Edelman 120 Charlotte Quay Dock Dublin 4, Ireland Thank you very much, and I look forward to hearing the stories you have to tell!
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