Kol Sasson Congregation

Join Kol Sasson Congregation in welcoming Rabbi Marty Lockshin for a Shabbat of tefillah, study and conversation. Please see below for details.

Shabbaton with Rabbi Marty Lockshin
Shabbat Aharei Mot- Kedoshim
May 4-5, 2012

Friday, May 4- 7:00 pm. Mincha, Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv

At the home of David and Jane Shapiro
RSVP to Rebecca Minkus-Lieberman

Shabbat Morning, May 5th – 9:15 am. Tefilah and Dvar by Rabbi Lockshin.

Rabbi Lockshin is an expert on Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, and other great commentators on the Torah. For this visit, we have asked him to teach us more about these commentaries (Parshanut) in preparation for Shavuot:

A Commentator’s Conundrum
One of the most amazing things about Rashbam is that he often explained biblical texts in a manner that contradicts halakhah. Rashbam was a frum person who accepted the authority of halakhah. How did he work out this tension?

Kiddush and Potluck Shabbat Lunch
Please respond to the separate Evite for the lunch:
http://new.evite.com/#view_invite:eid=014AAAQZXGL24E6O6EPBRI3DODP7KU

Mincha – 1:30 pm. We will stay to daven at Kol Sasson immediately following lunch

Shabbat Afternoon – 4:30 pm. Study Session (Adults only)

At the home of David and Jane Shapiro

What does it mean to Hear the Voice of God?
The Ten Commandments appear in the Torah in two versions with minor differences between the two versions. The common midrashic harmonization of course is “Shamor vezakhor bedibbur echad ne’emru.” Ibn Ezra does not like that theory and presents another one that involves a different idea of what it means to “hear” the voice of God.

Commonplace books (or commonplaces) were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. They became significant in Early Modern Europe. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_book)

Read Kol Sasson is reviving the tradition. Please read our inaugural Passover Commonplace.

Kol Sasson is excited to announce this year’s Purim carnival.  

When: Wed March 7 from 5-6:10 pm (Megillah reading will begin at 6:10 pm)

Where: TBI-Upstairs

What: Bring 1 canned good per child to donate to THE ARK and receive a punch card to use at any of the art/game stations.  Prizes, food, and music will be part of the program! 

Who: Kids of all ages!

We will begin promptly at 5 pm.  There will be limited parking at TBI and you will likely need to find parking on the street, so please time things accordingly.

On Shabbat, March 2nd & 3rd, we will be welcoming Samuel Klein to Kol Sasson as part of our series bringing in individuals with unique and provocative perspectives on emerging movements and contemporary issues facing observant Jews. Please pass this along to anyone you think might be interested.

Here is the schedule for Shabbat:

– Friday night, March 2nd, davening at the home of Rochelle & Steve Katz

We hope you can join us in welcoming Shabbat with beautiful davening.

Mincha will begin at 5:25 pm, followed by Kabbalat Shabbat & Maariv, both led by Samuel Klein.

If possible, please RSVP to Rochelle Katz so that we can set up appropriately.

– Shabbat morning, March 3rd, davening at Temple Beth Israel - 3601 W. Dempster St.

Shacharit begins at 9:15 am. Samuel Klein will be leading us in musaf and will be giving the d’var torah on:

Tefillah: Dancing with Uncertainty

Many of us have a deep and abiding yearning for certainty in life. For clarify. For confidence. To know that our investments; be they in our private or public lives, will yield dividends. This is similarly the case in our prayers. But what happens when certainty is replaced with ambiguity? Does tefillah make sense without a person G-d who hears our prayers? What happens when values of security, dependability, and consistency are jeopardized by difficult personal experiences? Come prepared for some surprising and controversial responses.

– Communal Potluck Lunch. Please RSVP on the Evite. Samuel will lead us in some singing and a short discussion about the parsha right after lunch. Contact Daniel Weinberg with any questions.

– Saturday evening informal social gathering - at the Katz house or downtown (TBD). Please contact Rochelle Katz if you are interested in joining the group on Saturday night.

***

Samuel Klein is currently pursuing a passion for learning at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Samuel is past Executive Director of The Coexistence Trust and Community Director of London’s Carlebach Synagogue “The Saatchi Shul”. Samuel is a Five Rhythms dance practitioner with an interest in the dialogue between existential and gestalt psychotherapy and art of movement.

On Shabbat morning, February 11th, we will be welcoming Rabbi Levi Lauer to Kol Sasson as part of our series bringing in individuals with unique and provocative perspectives on emerging movements and contemporary issues facing observant Jews.  Kiddush this week is being sponsored by Phyllis and Norman Nutkis in honor of their brother in law, Rabbi Levi Lauer.

He will be giving a d’var torah entitled: “Modern Orthopraxy’s Unending Hermeneutics: Moshe Rabenu, the Kotzker and George Steiner.”

Rabbi Lauer is the founding executive director of ATZUM and former executive director of Pardes. ATZUM was established in 2002 to remedy injustices in Israeli society, and encourage individuals to become social activists and agents of change. The organization was founded on the belief that Israel should serve as an example for the rest of the world in regards to combatting and resolving social problems and social justice crises. More information can be found here: http://atzum.org/.

In preparation for Tu Bishevat, Shaina Sugar and Leah Rubin will be leading all of the children’s groups in a Tu Bishevat Seder.  The seder will begin at 10 am promptly.  Please plan to bring your children upstairs at that time.  We look forward to the children learning more about this holiday and trying new fruits/veggies!

Please mark your calendars! On Shabbat, February 3rd and 4th, we will be welcoming Rabbi Sam Feinsmith to Kol Sasson as part of our series bringing in individuals with unique and provocative perspectives on emerging movements and contemporary issues facing observant Jews.

**Learning & Kiddush for this Shabbat is sponsored by Roz and Oren Conway and family to commemorate the ending of Shloshim in memory of their beloved mother & grandmother, Dorothy Weinberg z”l.  They would like to thank the Kol Sasson Community for the outpouring of care during the Shiva period by helping to make the minyanim and providing much of the food.  May the memory of Dorothy Weinberg z”l serve as a blessing.**

Schedule:

To welcome Shabbat, please join us for a beautiful, spiritual davening Friday night, beginning with Mincha at 4:50 p.m. at the Katz house, 9315 Central Park. Please come on time! Immediately following Mincha, Rabbi Feinsmith will be leading Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv.

On Shabbat morning, Rabbi Feinsmith will be leading musaf and giving a d’var torah in connection with Shabbat Shira entitled, “Four Songs: Four Divine Spheres of Responsibility,” exploring Rav Kook’s Fourfold Song as a map for charting a path towards our personal spiritual evolution along a spectrum from self, to community, to humanity, to all of Creation. Each realm of experience will serve as a locus for revealing the Divine. These widening spheres of spiritual awareness frame an exposition of ever-expanding spheres of human responsibility.

Sam Feinsmith teaches Judaic Studies and coordinates Jewish life at Chicagoland Jewish High School. He holds degrees from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Passionate about prayer and contemplative Jewish practice, he served as a consultant on a number of innovative prayer and minyan-related projects, and has conducted Jewish meditation workshops for teens and adults. As a tikkun olam ambassador, he served as an AJWS Kol Tzedek Fellow and volunteered in Asia and Central America. He lives in Evanston with his wife, Sarah-Bess Dworin.

Shabbat December 31st, Kiddush is being sponsored by Arthur and Lynda Rosenson in commemoration of Arthur’s father’s Yartzeit.

Mazal Tov to Ravit Greenberg & Gabe Axler on the birth of their daughter this past Wednesday.  Ravit & Gabe are leaders of a partnership minyan in Be’er Sheva www.kehilatbeerot.org and happened to be in Chicago when their baby was born.  Prior to making aliyah, they visited Kol Sasson and could think of no better place to now name their daughter.

Please join Kol Sasson Monday morning, December 5th at 7 am for davening followed by breakfast to help them celebrate the naming of their daughter.  We will be meeting at Temple Beth Israel.

This coming Shabbat, December 3rd, Kiddush is being sponsored by the Steve and Rochelle Katz in memory of Steve’s father, Ernest Katz, on the occasion of his yartzeit.

Shabbat December 18th, we will be honoring our  December Birthday/Anniversary celebrants. If you would like to sponsor Kiddush please send an email kiddush@kolsasson.org.  Sponsorship is $25.