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Number 603May 2009/Iyyar-Sivan, 5769
Z’man Matan Torateinu
— “Torah-givingTime” is almost upon us. On Thursday night,May 28, and Friday morning, May 29, we willcelebrate
Chag Hashavu’ot,
the Festival of “Weeks.” So-named because it comes “a week of weeks” after Passover, the earliestreferences to the holiday link it to ancientIsrael’s agriculturalcalendar. We now celebrate it as theanniversary of ourstanding at Sinai toenter into an enduringcovenant with God.The question is asked: Why do we callShavuot “Torah-
giving
Time” and not “Torah-
receiving
Time? Surely it is
z’man kabbalat torateinu
as well? Theanswer: We celebratethe Sinai moment, which happened onceupon a time, and which represents God’s gift to us. Our role,receiving Torah, is not a once-and-for-allproposition. At any moment we may
receive
Torah, by being awake, aware, alive to thetruth of that moment. We celebrate
z’manmatan torateinu,
the giving of a particularrevelation, at Shavuot; but
z’man kabbalat torateinu
is forever and always.Temple Mount Sinai will celebrate as follows:on
Thursday night, May 28, at 7:30 pm
we’ll gather at
Congregation B’nai Zion
(805 Cherry Hill) for the
Festival EveningService.
At the conclusion of the service,Rabbi Bach, RabbiLeon, and others willteach into the night at a
tikkun leil shavu’ot,
a late-night study session for the night of Shavuot.On
Friday morning,May 29,
our
FestivalMorning Service
will begin at
Temple
at
10:30 am.
Theliturgical highlights of the Shavuot serviceinclude the recitationof the
Hallel
Psalms,the reading of the TenCommandments, andthe
Yizkor
Memorial Prayers. A Kiddush withSimon Bir’s renowned blintzes will follow. We look forward to celebrating
Z’man MatanTorateinu
with you at the end of the month,and
Z’man Kabbalat Torateinu
all yearround!
Shavuot, May 28-29 — Torah-giving Time
Page 2
Messages from the Mountain
Shabbat and Holiday Worship Schedule
May 15-16Parashat Behar-BechukotaiFriday, May 15
Candlelighting, 7:37 pm
Oneg Shabbat, 5:45 pmKabbalat Shabbat Services, 6:15 pm
Saturday, May 16
Torah Study, 9:30 amShabbat Morning Service, 10:30 am
May 22-23Parashat BamidbarFriday, May 22
Candlelighting, 7:42 pm
Oneg Shabbat, 5:45 pmKabbalat Shabbat Services, 6:15 pmInstallation of Officers and Trustees
Saturday, May 23
Torah Study, 9:30 amShabbat Morning Service, 10:30 am
May 28-29ShavuotThursday, May 28
Festival Service atCongregation B’nai Zion, 7:30 pm
Tikkun Leil Shavuot Study
following
Friday, May 29
Festival Morning Service atTemple Mount Sinai, 10:30 am,including
Yizkor
May 29-30“Shabbat Shavuot”Friday, May 29
Candlelighting, 7:47 pm
Oneg Shabbat, 5:45 pmKabbalat Shabbat Services, 6:15 pm
Saturday, May 30
Torah Study, 9:30 amShabbat Morning Service, 10:30 am
June 5-6Parashat NasoFriday, June 5
Candlelighting, 7:50 pm
Oneg Shabbat, 5:45 pmFamily Shabbat Services, 6:15 pm
Saturday, June 6
Torah Study, 9:30 amShabbat Morning Service, 10:30 am
June 12-13Parashat Beha’alotechaFriday, June 12
Candlelighting, 7:54 pm
Oneg Shabbat, 5:45 pmKabbalat Shabbat Services, 6:15 pm
Saturday, June 13
Torah Study, 9:30 amShabbat Morning Service, 10:30 am
Page 3May 2009/Iyyar-Sivan 5769
From the Rabbi’s Study...
This issue of
Messages from the Mountain
has a new look — or, moreproperly, returns to an old look. In place of the smaller booklet-style, we’re going back to a larger format. How is this observation worthy of the Rabbi’s bulletin column, youask? Read on. We’ve made this change to facilitateprinting the bulletin from home. Since thepage size is now 8.5 x 11 inches (the papersize most of us keep in our printers), it will be an easy thing to click on a link in anemail from Temple and print your owncopy of the bulletin if you choose. Or, if itis your habit to read Adobe files (.pdf files)on your screen, you can save the paperentirely. You’ve probably figured out where this isgoing by now: Temple plans to move, inthe months ahead, toward generating evenless paper, and spending less on postage,than we do now. We’ve already takenmany steps to cut down on those costs,making extensive use of email in a numberof areas of Temple life. Moving themonthly bulletin toward being an onlinepublication (easily printed for those whochoose) is the next step in this evolution. As we make this transition, we want toassure that we won’t leave anyone withouttheir copy of
Messages from the Mountain.
People who would like tocontinue receiving a paper version, in themail, will be able to do so. We do hope thatmost of our members will choose toreceive a paperless bulletin over time, asthe cost savings to Temple will besignificant.David Kern is forming an ad hoccommittee to explore other ways thattechnology can help us control costs whileproviding a better experience for ourmembers. If you have ideas, please sharethem with him or me. And if you’d like toserve on that committee, which will beginmeeting very shortly, with an eye towardcompleting its work and making a set of recommendations to our Trustees in amatter of months, please let him know that as well.B’shalom,Rabbi Bach
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