Kol Sasson Congregation http://kolsasson.org Kol Sasson Congregation is an inclusive, observant community in Skokie, Illinois that strives to transform Jewish lives through critical inquiry within the traditional framework of Halakha. Tue, 21 May 2013 03:09:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Shabbaton with Rabbi Dr. Elie Holzer and Kickoff to our 10-year anniversary Celebrations! http://kolsasson.org/2013/05/20/shabbaton-with-rabbi-dr-elie-holzer-and-kickoff-to-our-10-year-anniversary-celebrations/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/05/20/shabbaton-with-rabbi-dr-elie-holzer-and-kickoff-to-our-10-year-anniversary-celebrations/#comments Tue, 21 May 2013 03:09:53 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=742 Continue reading →]]> Each and every part of Shabbat enables us to sense a different way of being. Our gestures, conversations, singing, tefillah, intellectual engagement, drinking and eating all play a part.
Join Kol Sasson as we set aside the remnants of our week and move through a Shabbat together- holistically and consciously. Rabbi Elie Holzer will guide us as we turn inward and discover how the experience of Shabbat itself affirms and enhances its sanctity and uniqueness.
Friday July 12, 6:30pm – 10:30pm
Slice of Life Restaurant – 4120 W. Dempster
We will spend the evening together, davening Kabbalat Shabbat, eating, and tuning in to each other’s voices with zemirot and conversation.
Pay by June 15th: Members: $25 Non-members: $36
Pay by July 5th: Members $30 Non-members: $40
The event is being generously subsidized to encourage maximum participation. No members of KolSasson will be turned away for inability to pay. If you are able, please consider paying the full $45 cost for dinner.
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Shabbat morning July 13, 9:15am
3601 W. Dempster
Through an exploration of the kedushah of musaf, we will begin to turn to the redemptive themes of Tisha Bʼ Av, which will be taking place in the upcoming week.

Shabbat afternoon 4:30pm
Location TBA
We will reconvene for more singing, storytelling, informal study and a chance for members of all ages to learn and share Shabbat afternoon together. Families are encouraged to attend and babysitting will also be provided.
Elie Holzer is one of the co-founders of Shira Hadasha congregation in Jerusalem and Assistant Professor of Education at Bar Ilan University. He specializes in the thought of the Sefat Emet and the transformative power of song in Jewish practice, and he is esteemed as a phenomenal and inspirational teacher. Rabbi Dr. Elie Holzer and Dr. Tova Hartman recently founded Shma Koleinu: The Center for Prayer and Community, a pluralistic institute for the study and practice of prayer through teaching,research/publication, and outside consultation. Dedicated to inspiring and empowering individuals,religious leaders and communities to engage with Jewish prayer in meaningful and transformative ways, the Center offers seminars and workshops to individuals and groups across the religious spectrum, cultivating an enhanced appreciation of prayer in participants’ personal and communal lives.
]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/05/20/shabbaton-with-rabbi-dr-elie-holzer-and-kickoff-to-our-10-year-anniversary-celebrations/feed/ 0 Tikkun Leil Shavuot 5773 http://kolsasson.org/2013/05/02/tikkun-leil-shavuot-5773/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/05/02/tikkun-leil-shavuot-5773/#comments Fri, 03 May 2013 01:38:11 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=702 Continue reading →]]>
Tuesday night May 14th at the Gordon-Burstyn home – 4340 Davis

We are excited to once again offer a terrific evening of learning for Shavuot.  Please join us for a unique combination of group and chevruta-style study led by outstanding teachers from our community.  The learning sessions center around one appropriate and provocative theme:  


Baruch HaMakom shenatan Torah La’Amo Yisrael: Our Experience of G-d at Revelation. 
We are grateful to the teachers who have devoted their time and energy to guide our learning, and to the Burstyns for once again graciously opening their home. 
9:30 – 9:45pm
Opening Niggun

9:45 – 10:30pm
Makom: G-d as experienced through Space
Group discussion with Rebecca Minkus-Lieberman

10:30 – 10:45pm
Snack Break
 
10:45 – 11:30pm
SheNatan Torah:  G-d as experienced at the moment of Revelation
Chevruta study with Ilana Gleicher-Bloom

11:30 – 11:45pm
Snack Break
 
11:45 – 12:30pm
L’Amo YIsrael:  G-d as leader of the People
Group discussion with Jane Shapiro

]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/05/02/tikkun-leil-shavuot-5773/feed/ 0 Shabbaton with Rabbi Marty Lockshin, April 12-13, 2013 http://kolsasson.org/2013/04/03/shabbaton-with-rabbi-marty-lockshin-april-12-13-2013/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/04/03/shabbaton-with-rabbi-marty-lockshin-april-12-13-2013/#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2013 18:12:43 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=664 Continue reading →]]> Shabbaton with Rabbi Marty Lockshin

Shabbat Tazria-Metzora

April 12-13, 2013

Friday, April 12 - (time TBA) - Mincha, Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv at the home of Jane and David Shapiro, 3925 Lyons.

**Please RSVP to Avi Janssen to let us know if we can count on you for a minyan - avi@avijanssen.com

Shabbat Morning, April 13 – 9:15

AM – Shabbat davening with Kol Sasson at Temple Beth Israel, 3601 W. Dempster.   Rabbi Lockshin will give the d’var Torah entitled, Israeli Exceptionalism: A Jewish Value?

Shabbat Afternoon, April 13:

  • 4:00-5:15 pm – Rabbi Lockshin will lead a study session on Rav Kook’s Approach to Love of Jews and Love of Humanity.  At the home of Debbie and Ian Lesch: 9228 Ridgway
  • 5:15-6:00 pm – Open house with opportunity to talk with Rabbi Lockshin and ask him questions.
  • (Please note that we will not be davening mincha as a community, but we will end with plenty of time to daven at other local shuls.)
]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/04/03/shabbaton-with-rabbi-marty-lockshin-april-12-13-2013/feed/ 0 Pirkei Avot Study Group http://kolsasson.org/2013/04/03/pirkei-avot-study-group/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/04/03/pirkei-avot-study-group/#comments Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:58:39 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=657 Continue reading →]]> It’s a tradition in Orthodox synagogues to learn Pirkei Avot on Shabbat from the end of Passover until Rosh Hashanah. In keeping with that tradition, Kol Sasson is having a Pirkei Avot study group starting this Shabbat, April 6, at 4 PM, at the home of Mike Koplow & Batya Gilbert.  

Our group will differ from the traditional Shabbat Avot learning in that we will actually study and discuss each mishnah (the more traditional method is that a chapter gets mumbled through in a minute or two each week). The group’s members will take turns presenting

the mishnayot to each other. We’ll work out the details when we meet.  Contact mnkoplow@gmail.com with questions.   

]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/04/03/pirkei-avot-study-group/feed/ 0 Ruth Balinsky Friedman 7th Day of Pesach – April 1st http://kolsasson.org/2013/03/29/ruth-balinsky-friedman-april-1st7th-day-of-pesach/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/03/29/ruth-balinsky-friedman-april-1st7th-day-of-pesach/#comments Fri, 29 Mar 2013 16:48:06 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=632 Continue reading →]]> Join us in welcoming Ruth Balinsky Friedman, soon to be graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, on the 7th day of Pesach, Monday, April 1.  Ruth will give the D’var Torah entitled, “The People May Have a Change of Heart When They See War”: Confronting the Scars of Slavery.

Click here for more information about Ruth and the other

students at Yeshivat Maharat: http://yeshivatmaharat.org/meet-our-students/ 

]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/03/29/ruth-balinsky-friedman-april-1st7th-day-of-pesach/feed/ 0 Schedule for Shabbat Zachor and Purim http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/20/schedule-for-shabbat-zachor-and-purim/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/20/schedule-for-shabbat-zachor-and-purim/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2013 02:25:13 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=591 Continue reading →]]> Friday 2/22 at 5:15pm: Kabbalat Shabbat

At the home of Dov & Jessica Robinson; 4017 Grove Street

Samuel Klein will be visiting from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. He will lead us in Kabbalat Shabbat & Maariv with beautiful singing and some new melodies.

Jane Shapiro will share a d’var torah to commemorate the 10th yartzheit of her mother.

Saturday 2/23 at 9:15am: Shabbat Morning Davening

In the library of Temple Beth Israel; 3601

W Dempster

Samuel Klein will be leading musaf and giving a d’var torah entitled – “A Living Covenant – Encountering Rabbi David Hartman z”l.”

Saturday 2/23 at 7:15 pm: – Megillah Reading

In the library of Temple Beth Israel; 3601 W Dempster

We will be starting immediately with the megillah reading. Please daven maariv and do havdalah on your own.

Saturday 2/23 at 9 pm – Purim Party For Adults!

At the home of Rebecca & David Minkus-Lieberman; 9133 Kedvale

Karaoke, Trivia, Music, & Sushi! $12 per person. Please bring cash or a check to the door to make payment to Kol Sasson.

Sunday 2/24 at 9:15 am – Shacharit, Megillah, & MAGIC Show

At the home of Margalit Tocher ; 4301 Dempster Following Megillah from 10:15 – 11, magician Tim Adamz will be performing for kids of all ages. http://www.amazingadamz.com/

During the magician, Samuel Klein will be doing a learning session for adults entitled: “Between Dawn and Dusk: Political Teachings of the Book of Esther.”

]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/20/schedule-for-shabbat-zachor-and-purim/feed/ 0 Purim with Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appel of Center for Jewish Mindfulness – Monday Feb. 18th @ 8pm http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/18/purim-with-rabbi-jordan-bendat-appel-of-center-for-jewish-mindfulness-monday-feb-18th-8pm/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/18/purim-with-rabbi-jordan-bendat-appel-of-center-for-jewish-mindfulness-monday-feb-18th-8pm/#comments Mon, 18 Feb 2013 13:48:43 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=586 Continue reading →]]> The Practice of Purim & the Capriciousness of  Life

We live in an unpredictable world, one in which our realities and circumstances can change in an instant. Throughout the story of Esther, the capriciousness of life frames Mordechai and Esther’s experiences and actions, as well as the changing fate of the Jewish people.  The holiday of Purim, therefore, has a unique way of making us aware of the false sense of control and order that we have over our own lives.  What seems fixed and certain today may

be totally otherwise tomorrow. The rituals of Purim, including listening to Megillat Esther, putting on costumes, drinking, and giving gifts to the poor and our friends, can therefore form a powerful response in the face this potentially unsettling awareness.

This session will weave together

study and discussion of texts with short periods of accessible mindfulness meditation practice.

At the home of Jane & David Shapiro: 3925 Lyons, Evanston

Monday, February 18, 8-9:30pm

$18

RSVP’s are helpful:  president@kolsasson.org 

More information on this session here:  http://jewishmindfulness.net/?p=849

]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/18/purim-with-rabbi-jordan-bendat-appel-of-center-for-jewish-mindfulness-monday-feb-18th-8pm/feed/ 0 Parshat Mishpatim/Shabbat Shekalim with Simeon Chavel http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/08/parshat-mishpatimshabbat-shekalim-with-simeon-chavel/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/08/parshat-mishpatimshabbat-shekalim-with-simeon-chavel/#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:37:23 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=582 Continue reading →]]> Please join Kol Sasson as we welcome Simeon Chavel, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. Professor Chavel will be giving a dvar torah entitled, “Mishpatim: Between Law and Literature in the Ancient

World.” His full biography can be found here:  http://divinity.uchicago.edu/faculty/chavel.shtml

]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/02/08/parshat-mishpatimshabbat-shekalim-with-simeon-chavel/feed/ 0 Tu Bishvat with Rabbi Sam Feinsmith of Center for Jewish Mindfulness http://kolsasson.org/2013/01/16/tu-bishvat-with-rabbi-sam-feinsmith-of-center-for-jewish-mindfulness/ http://kolsasson.org/2013/01/16/tu-bishvat-with-rabbi-sam-feinsmith-of-center-for-jewish-mindfulness/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2013 03:42:54 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=567 Continue reading →]]>
Planting the Seeds of Spring: Integrating the Wisdom of Tu Bishvat into our Daily Lives

At the coldest point of winter, our Sages reminded us to take time to seek out the hidden glimmer of spring rising just beneath the surface.  Tu Bishvat is this time; it is an opportunity to explore what has become frozen and petrified in our own experience, and to seek out the potential for renewal and rebirth that is accessible to us underneath our protective husks.  Please join Rabbi Sam Feinsmith for a session exploring how Tu Bishvat can be a time when we attune ourselves to the natural cycles of birth, death, and rebirth that are happening all the time.  

The session will involve chanting, and study and discussion of Jewish texts combined with short periods of accessible Jewish mindfulness meditation.  Open to all–no background in text study or meditation necessary to

participate.


with Kol Sasson Congregation

At the home of Jane & David Shapiro: 3925 Lyons, Evanston
Monday, January 21, 8-9:30pm
$18 suggested donation.  RSVP to President@kolsasson.org
]]> http://kolsasson.org/2013/01/16/tu-bishvat-with-rabbi-sam-feinsmith-of-center-for-jewish-mindfulness/feed/ 0 Kabbalat Shabbat – This Friday night of Chanukkah – with Samuel Klein http://kolsasson.org/2012/12/13/kabbalat-shabbat-this-friday-night-of-chanukkah-with-samuel-klein/ http://kolsasson.org/2012/12/13/kabbalat-shabbat-this-friday-night-of-chanukkah-with-samuel-klein/#comments Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:58:10 +0000 scw629 http://kolsasson.org/?p=530 Continue reading →]]> Please join us for Kabbalat Shabbat davening this Friday night!
We’ll meet at the home of Shari & Will Lennon, 9100 Keystone, promptly

at 4:30pm. Sam will speak for a few minutes between Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv.

We have decided to b

egin right away with Kabbalat Shabbat davening. Please daven mincha on your own and light both the Chanukkah & Shabbat candles at home.

]]> http://kolsasson.org/2012/12/13/kabbalat-shabbat-this-friday-night-of-chanukkah-with-samuel-klein/feed/ 0