This Coming Week and Shabbat at the UJC
January 6 - 12, 2008 / 28 Tevet - 5 Shevat 5768

This coming week and Shabbat:

Sunday, January 6
Finance Committee Meeting 9:15 a.m.

Monday, January 7
Adult Choir 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday, January 8
Board of Trustees Meeting 7:00 p.m.
Rosh Hodesh 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, January 10
Jewish Study Group 10:30 a.m.

Friday, January 11
Torah Study 12:00 noon
Shabbat Evening Tefillah 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 12
Torah Study 8:45 a.m.
Shabbat Morning Prayers 10:00 a.m.
Zachary Tepper will be called to the Torah as a Bar Mitzvah


Judaism 101 Workshops

Free to Parents and Grandparents
Sunday, January 13

9:30 a.m. -- Complimentary Brunch in the Heyman Auditorium
10:00 a.m. -- Examining and Understanding Synagogue Ceremonial Objects.

The workshop, led by Ruth Gruber, will include:

A walking tour of the synagogue to explore the stained glass windows, are décor, eternal lights, Torah scrolls, etc. The 10 stained glass windows in the Dick Chapel will provide the basis for a brief introduction to Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, while the arc doors will introduce the role of the high priest in Temple times. See the miniature paintings on the eternal light in the sanctuary and learn what the Hebrew inscriptions are over the doors on the bimah. Bring your questions and share your feelings on praying in the chapel and sanctuary.

RSVP to Daryl Bain at 743-1180 or EdDir@unitedjewishcenter.org


Havdalah Service

Our next Havdalah Service will be on Saturday, January 12, 2007 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the UJC. Please join us. Held at sunset, Havdalah marks the end of Shabbat and the beginning of a new week. It is a beautiful service including prayer, music, wine, a box of aromatic spices and a special braided candle. We have a potluck dinner before the service and dessert after.

For more information, please contact Stacey Spilka at 203-431-5783 or email Stacey at staceyspilka@sbcglobal.net.

If you haven't yet been to one of these beautiful services, please join us!


Rabbi Librach's Sunday Seminars

Please join the Rabbi for coffee and bagels on Sundays in the Young Board Room.

February 10, 2008   Israel and the Middle East: An Open Forum
February 24, 2008   The Classic Jewish Wisdom of Pirke Avot
 
May 4, 2008   The Many Faces of Torah
May 11, 2008   The Mishnah of the Bikkurim (The Temple Ceremony of the First Fruits) Part I
May 18, 2008   The Mishnah of the Bikkurim (The Temple Ceremony of the First Fruits) Part II
May 22, 2008   Judaism and Happiness (7:30 pm Thursday evening, Lag B’omer)

Volunteers needed for the Food Pantry

United Jewish Center volunteers will be working at the St. James Food Pantry on Monday, January 28th and Friday, March 21st. Write these dates in your calendar and help stock the shelves to feed needy families this winter. Contact Denise Maleh at ndmaleh@sbcglobal.net


PASSOVER CANDY SALE (yum!)

Get Ready! Our 3rd Annual Barton's Passover Candy Sale is coming; beginning January 27th and running through February 24th. Support our Religious School by making this year the best ever. Contact Daryl Bain at 203-743-1180.


Volunteers needed for the Dorothy Day Hospitality House

On January 30th, United Jewish Center volunteers and friends will be cooking and serving the meal at the Dorothy Day Hospitality House. Contact Sandy Brenner @ shbrenner@charter.net to help out. This is another rewarding mitzvah, providing a delicious meal for our needy neighbors.


Volunteers needed for the Homeless Shelter

The Social Action Committee is responsible for supervision of the Overflow Homeless Shelter at the Congregational Church on Deer Hill Avenue for three weeks this winter. Contact Roberta Sol (roblsol@charter.net) or Sandy Brenner (shbrenner@charter.net) to help out during these times; January 21st through January 27th, or contact Nancy Marcus at (nancymarcus@snet.net) for February 25th through March 2nd dates.

Spend the night and enable those less fortunate to have a safe place to sleep. It's a mitzvah you can do in your sleep! Arrive at 9:00 p.m. where you'll meet the coordinators (Annie and Ray Orr) who have already prescreened the guests. The coordinator gets the coffee ready for the morning and explains where things are and what needs doing (and believe me, it's not much at all that needs doing!). Once everyone is in and settled the coordinator leaves. Then its lights out soon after and wake up at 5:30 a.m. to coffee and a breakfast snack and some warm conversation. The guests leave whenever you're ready between 6:15 and 7:00. The guests are very appreciative for what you have done and it's a good feeling to know you've given those less fortunate a warm, safe place to spend the night.


Volunteers needed at the UJC!

Publicity/Public Relations specialist (or committee) Need one or more volunteers who have experience working with the media, to publicize our events and accomplishments; to create and sustain a positive public image of UJC in the media.

Computer expertise Need a Microsoft Access Developer and a Web application developer, to create a members’ skills inventory to be maintained on the UJC office computer.

If you have the experience and the interest, please contact Neil Corday, Long Range Planning Committee Chair neilcorday501@cs.com


Social Action

Social Action projects are funded by your contributions to the United Jewish Center Tikvah Fund and Mazon.

Remember and honor family and friends with a donation to the Tikvah Fund and contribute 3% of the cost of the food at family and synagogue celebrations to help feed the needy at the Dorothy Day Hospitality House soup kitchen.


National Project Homeless Connect

Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop community wide event on December 3rd, at the Elk’s Lodge on Main Street to deliver services to homeless people in our community by providing much needed information and counseling.

To sign up for the day to help the homeless fill out forms and make appointments, contact mconderino@ccfc-ct.org by Tuesday, October 9th.


Remember those less fortunate!

Please don’t forget to drop off person care items for the Interfaith AIDS Ministry and old cell phones for the Women’s Center on the bin in the synagogue in the downstairs hallway.


In the community

The Jewish Federation's Website
Visit http://www.thejf.org to see Israel News, Community Calendar, Local Jewish Resources, Worldwide Jewish News, Jewish Life Resource, Jewish Federation news, Federation Campaign e-Giving, registration for the Learning Exchange, reservations for Jewish Federation events AND MORE!!

The news will be an automatic feed with frequent updates. Our goal is for the site to be your destination for all Jewish information including links to many local and worldwide Jewish resources. All area synagogues and local Jewish organizations are encouraged to check the new website's Community Calendar prior to scheduling any events that are open to the community to prevent conflicts. Area synagogues and local Jewish organizations are encouraged to submit upcoming events to be posted on the community calendar and to submit news items, photos and announcements for posting on the website. Please submit your items to info@thejf.org.


Message from Mazon:

MAZON has opened a fund dedicated to disaster relief. To find out more about MAZON's efforts or to donate online, visit us at www.mazon.org, or call us at (310) 442-0020.

Bikur Holim

If you or a loved one is ailing - at home or in the hospital - and you would like a phone call or visit, please call and leave a message on our clergy’s voicemail(s). Danbury Hospital’s security concerns mean that we may not find out in a timely manner.

Taste of Torah

Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16) will be read on January 12, 2008

Chapter 10

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these My signs among them, 2 and that you may recount in the hearing of your sons and of your sons' sons how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them - in order that you may know that I am the Lord." 3 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, "Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, 'How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go that they may worship Me. 4 For if you refuse to let My people go, tomorrow I will bring locusts on your territory. 5 They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They shall devour the surviving remnant that was left to you after the hail; and they shall eat away all your trees that grow in the field. 6 Moreover, they shall fill your palaces and the houses of all your courtiers and of all the Egyptians - something that neither your fathers nor fathers' fathers have seen from the day they appeared on earth to this day.'" With that he turned and left Pharaoh's presence.

 


 

© 2008 The United Jewish Center of Danbury
141 Deer Hill Avenue, Danbury, CT 06810
203-748-3355