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The Charlotte Jewish News - October 2011 - Page 7 Temple Or Olam’s Books of Life Each person has a Torah unique to that person his or her innermost teaching —Rabbi Lawrence Kushner In celebration of the High Holy Days this year, our rabbi put together a book of life for every family. The books feature an indi vidual blessing for each family, they are decorated with stars, sparkles, and bright colors, and they feature the words “abra cadabra” - an Aramaic phrase that actually announces that we can create that which we speak. In the coming year, we want to remem ber that our words have creative power, that those things we pray (and even those-things we just say), can, and often do, come to fruition. How important is it then that those words be constructive and positive? During the High Holy Days, we were given poetry, kavannot, and meditation exercises built around our “abracadabra” theme and around the process of doing teshu- vah. We wrote down our prayers for our families and our communi ty. We meditated about our own “inner Torah” - sometimes our souls recognize it immediately and sometimes the recognition can take years. We reflected on how we would want to complete our lives. The rabbi asked us to take our books home and promised to send us more exercises and ques tions, more meditations to work on throughout the next liturgical year. Although the High Holy Days are over, the Jewish liturgical year is packed with opportunities for reflection and personal growth. At Simchat Torah, we looked for the verse that we could take as a man date for how we wanted to live this next year and wrote it in our Books of Life. At Hanukkah, we will want to reflect deeply on the way that winter darkness can help us explore our need for light. Tu B’shevat can offer us the opportu nity to journal about our relation ship to the earth and our need to support sustainable practices. We can also be reminded that blessing our children every Friday night is a critical way to begin Shabbat, and we can write down the prayers and blessings that we give them each week. Someday we hope that we’ll look back at these books and all we wrote. Someday we hope to look at the pictures our children drew in them, or the photos we glued inside. When we reach High Holy Days next year, we hope to have a record of how we grew Jewishly this year. Did we figure out our “inner Torah” and are we finding ways to “sing” it as often as we can? Were our words posi tive and constructive? Did the things we wrote or repeatedly spoke about become manifest in our families and community? We hope - always - that this year we’ll do better. Temple Or Olam is a Jewish Renewal community that serves Cabarrus county and parts of Mecklenburg county (including University City, Davidson, and Huntersville). We support the full participation and empowerment of all our members regardless of denominational background, financial means, age, or sexual orientation. We encourage heart felt, easy access to all things Jewish. For more information, please visit our website at www.or-olam.org and subscribe to our mailing list, ou can also email us at info@or-olam.org, or call 704-720-7577.* ^ O 0 Girls Night Out - The Jewish Women’s Circle Jewish women have always played a pivotal role in Jewish life. On a personal, familial and community level it has always been the Jewish woman who has created and developed an aura of pride in being a Jew. While bring ing inspiration to our daily lives, through gaining deeper insight into our own innate spiritual qual ities, we can contribute and trans-* form our own lives and our com munities in a most profound way. The Jewish Women’s Circle is an ongoing monthly program designed for the contemporary Jewish woman. This group com prises women of diverse affiliations and backgrounds who join together to learn, laugh, experience and rejuve nate the mind, body and soul. Each of our meetings feature lively, meaningful discus sions, a great do-it-yourself activity, delicacies to taste, a chance to socialize, and the opportunity to meet new friends. For more information or to RSVP to a specific event contact Leah Levin: call 704-246-8881, email Leah@JewishBallantyne .com, or visit our website www.JewishBallantyne.com. Coming up next: Knead a Break? Sunday November 13, 7:30 PM, at the home of Leah Levin, 11408 Snapfmger Dr. Join us for our second annual Loaves of Love Challah Baking class. If you’re a beginner, learn Je4msh/ Wammfs Circle. Feed Your Mind ... Nourish Your Soul. Delight Your Senses the ins and outs of kneading, shap ing and baking challah. For the Challah pros out there share your own tips and tricks for everyone to learn from. From the yeast to dough, from regular braided chal- lahs to napkin rings, baskets, and much more, there is something for everyone. Discuss the meaning of Shabbat and how it affects our lives today. Covert: $10. Sponsor: $100. The Feminine Side of Chanukah Monday December 5, 7:30 PM, at the home of Leah Levin 11408 Snapfmger Dr. Celebrate the miracle of the oil by learning the art of herbal oil blending and bottling. Discuss feminism in Judaism. Enjoy latkes and a delicious salad bar. Covert: $10. Sponsor: $100. School in the Sukkah Temple Emanuel Religious School students leant and celebrate in Temple’s Sukkah on Sunday, October 16 at the home of Alan and Suzanne Nash in Gastonia. BY TOMORROW SIGNS & GRAPHICS NATIONWIDE Sondra and Paul Hopmeier invite you to cali us for all your sign, banner and visual display needs. At Signs by Tomorrow we make getting a sign easy. Like us on Face book and receive a 10% discount on your next order. 704-847-7281 matthews@signsbytomorrow. com WWW. signsbytomorrow. com/matthews m Find us on | Facebook WADDELL &rREED Financial Advisors™ Providing PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING Investing. With a plan! For more than 70 years Waddell & Reed, Inc. Member SIPC Jennifer Sperry, CFP(R) Financial Advisor 5950 Fairview Rd. Suite 200 Charlotte, NC 28210 (704) 553-7220 x 127 jsperry@wradvisors.com 8985 (06/09)
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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