A Meaningful Kabbalat Service and Dinner
One Friday evening in August, Congregation Or Atid took a “trip” to Hawaii.
As congregants and guests entered the synagogue, they were greeted with Mai Tai cocktails and mocktails upon their arrival, prepared by master mixer, Tom McClish.
Leis were also given out for everyone to wear, which added to the festive décor of the evening. Many people were dressed in their favorite Hawaiian shirts and other Hawaiian-themed outfits.
As everyone entered the sanctuary, beautiful music filled the air as our Kabbalat service was beginning. A spiritual and upbeat service was led by Rabbi Sherry Grinsteiner along with a talented group of musicians and singers. The audience eagerly participated, chanting together in prayer and song.
After services, we sat down to a festive luau dinner that included chicken, coconut rice, salad, and vegetables along with an assortment of desserts. A huge thank you goes out to Jeff and Stacy Samuels and Jennifer and Brian Greif for preparing such a delicious dinner.
It was so wonderful to see a packed sanctuary, where the ages of attendees ranged from the youngest infant to our older members. In addition, we welcomed many new members and guests who joined us for this special evening.
While this Kabbalat Shabbat/Hawaiian- themed dinner was planned months before the recent devastation in Hawaii, we took this opportunity to reflect on those impacted by the wildfires in Maui including how we could all contribute toward helping the victims.
A Year of Renewal
For the second year in a row, members of Congregation Or Atid participated in sharing heartwarming and inspirational messages (via email and Facebook) for 40 days, beginning from the first of Elul to Yom Kippur.
These messages were in keeping with the Jewish tradition of taking this period to reexamine and reevaluate our lives.
These were called “Thoughts of the Day” and were based on Jewish values such as Act with Loving Kindness (Chesed), Giving to the Community (Kehillah), Respect othersw (Kavod), Repair the World (Tikkum Olam) Learn from Everyone (Lomed mikol adam), Forgiveness (Selicha), and Friendship (Chaverut).
We learned so much from and about each other just sharing these personal and profound messages.
We encourage our Jewish community, at large, to join us in this reflection as we begin the new year. What will your inspirational message be?
Gan Chesed Update
Here are some pictures of several recent harvests coming out of the Gan Chesed Kindness Garden at Congregation Or Atid.
This year, to date, over 175 pounds of organically grown produce has been donated. The produce from the garden is delivered and donated each week to the Weinstein JCC Food Pantry.
A huge thank you goes out to all of the volunteers who planted the vegetables and herbs as well as watered every day, as needed, and many days in the sweltering heat of the summer.
The Gan Chesed Kindness Garden is supported, in part, by a generous contribution from the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond.
