Page 3 - CKA January 2018

Notes from Rabbi Dunsker
We are the lucky guardians of two Torah
scrolls. Our congregation was able to
purchase one of them early in the life of
our community, and the second which
we are able to use, display, and care
for is the property of one of our congregants.
Every few years they both need upkeep in order to keep them kosher ( t) and able to be used for reading and celebrating far into the future.
“Sofer Stam” is the title of the Jewish professional who writes and repairs Torah scrolls, mezuzot, and te llin. This person trains in preparing parchment, mixing ink, properly cu ing quill pens, and of course carefully writing the le ers of the Torah. We have a nice relationship with Rabbi Druin, a sofer who travels all over the country repairing Torahs and teaching congregations how to perform the ongoing upkeep of our holiest possession to keep it t for our continuous use. The last time he was here was about four years ago when he helped us get our “Holy Rollers” group together, which meets several times a year to clean our parchments and note any changes over time.
Rabbi Druin will be back on Sunday, January 7. He will be here for most of the day making repairs on both of our Torah scrolls. Keeping in mind that he has work to do that we do not want to interrupt, you are invited to visit throughout the day to spend some time watching him work and see how he xes our scrolls to keep them Kosher for our use. Rabbi Druin brings a lot of love to his work; for me this is always a joyful event. It is the best care we can give our Torah, and almost feels like a “Torah spa day,” after which the Torah can continue to serve our community to the best of her abilities.
The other wonderful event we have coming in January is that we will host two panels of the AIDS quilt. The quilt was created as a way to memorialize loved ones who died of AIDS. In the 1980s it was also a political statement which was signi cant in motivating government support for research into curing the disease. The quilt was a tangible symbol of the numbers of people who had died of a disease we knew very li le about at the time. Today people can live with AIDS because of the research inspired by this quilt. It will be hanging in the social hall from January 15–January 21; the service on January 19 is our early service in the social hall where we will focus some or our time together looking at the quilt and talking about its impact. I hope everyone will get a chance to come and see this powerful piece of art.
Lunch and Learn will be starting a new book together
on January 16 called Lights in the Forest: Rabbis Respond to Twelve Essential Jewish Questions. Each month we will tackle one of these essential questions. I am ordering books, so please let me know if you would like one; we are always looking for more folks to join our monthly Tuesday discussions.
May this new secular year of 2018 be one of renewal for us all, time to refresh and rededicate our Torahs and ourselves, a time to remember and re ect on where we have come from and how small acts can improve our future, and remember to make time for art and for study.
Happy secular New Year!
Amy’s comments
Happy (secular) New Year!
Often I feel lucky that I get the advantage of two major New Year* observances – Rosh Hashanah AND the secular; two chances to start afresh. But I also appreciate the gifts of Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees, and I always make the e ort to celebrate this festival. Many congregations and religious schools have Seders, and in many classrooms parsley is planted to harvest for Passover Seders. Some use this holiday as an opportunity to learn as a community about the environment or volunteer their time for like causes. Tree planting (or solicitations from the JNF) are near universal practices around this holiday.
For me, however, regardless of what kind of observance I participate in, Tu B’Shevat is not just the New Year of the Trees, it is also the New Year of Hope. It signals that spring has come to Israel, and will be here soon. The days are ge ing longer, the sky will eventually be less grey, and the sun will shine again. On Tu B’Shevat we celebrate re-birth and the bounty that comes after dormancy. This time of year the days can feel very dark indeed, and I feel gratitude for the wisdom of our tradition.
This year Tu B’Shevat begins at sundown on Wednesday, January 30. CKA will celebrate with a Tu B’Shevat seder on Friday, February 2, at 6:00 p.m.
Amy S
Education Director
*As an educator, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that in Jewish tradition there are actually four New Years.
Congregation Kol Ami
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