Shalom All,
It’s hard to believe that summer has nearly come and gone. It’s already August and the High Holy Days are just around the corner (Rosh Hashanah begins on September 9th). So all the normal preparations for the coming year are well under way, which tends to make this month very busy.
As always happens in the month of August, our High Holy Day Choir and Shir Yehudah band begin practicing for services. The choir will rehearse most Mondays evenings at 7:00, starting on August 6th. There is always room for more singers in the choir if you have any wish to join us.
Shir Yehudah will begin rehearsals on Sunday, August 19th, at 10:00 am. It will then be a furious week of practice, as we also rehearse on Monday and Thursday at 6:30 pm, because our first Musical Shabbat of the season is August 24th. If you’re free that week and play an instrument or sing, I encourage you to join us. We picked some really great new music for this year, we’d love for you to learn it with us.
In addition, there are two very special services happening this month. As you know, a group of us went to Israel, back in June. On August 17th, during our regular Shabbat Evening Service, we will be welcoming our travelers home. We are all looking forward to sharing our pictures and stories with you. The entire “Iowa Goes to Israel” group has been invited for our “Iowa Went To Israel” Shabbat. I really hope you can join us.
Finally, during services August 31st and September 1st, our very own Hannah Hoer, Naomi Homrighausen’s daughter, will become a Bat Mitzvah. Another wonderful opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate together.
I know it’s been a very quiet summer for Temple Judah, but as you can see things are about to pick up. Enjoy yourselves, stay cool, and come and join us when you can.
B’shalom,
Rabbi Todd