The Charlotte Jewish News - June-July 2012 - Page 17
Ohr HaTorah to Host Liberty Shabbaton on Friday, July 6
On Friday, July 6,
Congregation Ohr HaTorah will
open their doors to the Jewish
eommunity of Charlotte for a spe-
eial Friday Night Shabbaton din
ner. The theme of the Shabbaton is
Liberty as we eelebrate our inde-
pendenee and thank God for the
freedoms we enjoy in our eountry
whieh eneourages religious free
dom and allows us to praetiee our
Judaism with pride.
We the people of the United
States and espeeially Jews in this
eountry eannot take the idea of
religious freedom for granted.
This freedom is still elusive to
many people in other parts of the
world.
By Divine Providenee we live
in this great eountry, most of us by
the saerifiees that our parents,
grandparents, or great-grandpar
ents made to arrive to these
blessed shores. But it was not easy
and mueh was lost in life and pos
session in order to reaeh our
goal of freedom and prosperity.
So it’s not by eoineidenee
that this happy and eelebratory
Shabbaton falls on the 17th day
of the Hebrew month of
Tammuz when we usher in the
three weeks of mourning. It is
during these three weeks that we
lament the destruetion of
Jerusalem of old. If it were not
on Shabbat this day would be a
fast day and in deferenee to
Shabbat we fast on Sunday. Sinee
we are prohibited from displaying
any sign of sadness on the
Shabbat, this Shabbat is trans
formed to a day of hope and
yearning; hope for a better future
and yearning to return to our
promised land and to see the
rebuilding of the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem.
We now live in eomfort and are
free from oppression in the
Diaspora. There are periods of
peaee and tranquility when Jews
ean find hospitable eountries that
allow us to live our Judaism in a
serene and peaee ful environment.
Nevertheless, we have eonstant
reminders that we are not totally
without worry, be it the nuelear
menaee that is Iran or the eonstant
threat from terrorist who wish to
strike us. Yes, we are grateful that
we are living in a generation that
has benefited from God’s kindness
and have seen the fall of the Soviet
Union and the reestablishment
of Israel as the Jewish home
land, yet we should never lose
sight of what life eould be with
out this freedom.
The three weeks give us
pause as we refleet on the
painful history of the Jewish
people who have struggled to
this point in our history, and we
pray to God to deliver us from
all the nastiness that still lurks
out there in this big world we
live in.
On this Shabbat we do it with
joy as we thank God and eelebrate
our vietories and freedoms and we
ask God to bless all of our people
and to bring freedom to the entire
world with the eoming of
Moshiaeh.
At the Shabbaton we will eele
brate as a eommunity. Partieipants
will enjoy a delieious home
eooked Ameriean style Shabbat
meal, and partieipate in speeial
entertaining aetivities during
whieh we will learn how to appre-
eiate and value this God-given
freedom. Serviees will begin at
6619 Sardis Road at 7 PM, fol
lowed by dinner and aetivities.
The eost to partieipate is $50 per
family, $36 per eouple, and $18
per single. To register, go to
www.ehabadne.org or send a
eheek to 6619 Sardis Road,
Charlotte, NC 28270. For more
information, please eall 704-366-
3984. «
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orah
a project oj Ludavitcrt o/ Norl’Ji Carolina
Temple Israel Adult Education
Tuesdays with Torah
9:30 AM-10:30 AM
Eaeh Tuesday we hold a lively
diseussion on the weekly parsha
(reading from the Torah portion).
Past topies have ineluded:
Managing in Crisis Mode,
Wearing “Holy Clothes,”
Preventing a Dark Outlook,
Entering in a Relationship with
God, Visiting the Siek, and
Having a Hard Heart. Join us for
more great eonversations to eome.
Torah Sparks
Wednesdays at 12:30 PM
Using the “Pirkei Avot,” The
Ethies of our Aneestors as a guide,
we will explore the wellspring of
ethies and morality from the
beginning of Rabbinie Judaism to
today. Our study will inelude sueh
issues as: “The Value of a Smile,”
“How Honest Must We Be?”
“What Age is the Best Age to
Be?” and “The Best Way To
Diseover God.”
Torah on Tap
Join us for this monthly pro
gram for young adults in their 20s,
30s, and 40s to eome together,
soeialize, and study teaehings of
Torah. We will diseuss the seleet-
ed monthly topie. Beer, drinks,
and snaeks are provided. For event
loeations and to RSVP, eontaet
Denise Johnson at elergyoffiee@
templeisraelne.org. ^
temple Israel
judaism for the JJst century
immer CamP
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id theined camp w
Register Now!
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pj^yiing.
Watch the gears
The Jewish
Preschool
on Sardis
A Five Star Preschool
Sc/iedu/e /o(jr tour today!
704-364-8395
info@ JPSonSardis*org
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