Temple Avodat Shalom - River Edge

Special Announcements from Temple Avodat Shalom

Monday, July 14, 2014

I.      Prayers for Peace @ TAS - Tuesday, July 15 @ 8 PM

II.     Joint Shabbat with Reconstructionist Temple Beth Israel @ TAS - Friday, July 18

        Q & A @ 7 PM, Shabbat Services @ 8 PM

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I.      Prayers for Peace @ TAS - Tuesday, July 15 @ 8 PM

Temple Avodat Shalom will partner with the Glen Rock Jewish Center for a special evening of songs, reflections and prayers for peace in Israel.  Rabbi Tow, rabbi of the Glen Rock Jewish Center has recently returned from two weeks in Israel.  Rabbis Tow and Jacobson will address both communities.

Tuesday also marks the 17th of Tammuz in the Jewish calendar, a day in which several calamities befell the Jewish people.  Most notably, on this date in 70 CE, the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem, leading three weeks later on the 9th of Av (Tisha b'Av), to the destruction of the Second Temple and the scattering of the Jewish people from Israel until the twentieth century.  For this reason and others, the 17th of Tammuz has come to be observed as a minor fast day, with observers of the fast abstaining from food and water from before sunrise until after nightfall. 

It is fitting that we will join together with members of the Glen Rock Jewish Center on Tuesday night, marking the conclusion of the 17th of Tammuz.  In ancient times, at moments of great trauma for our people, such as a prolonged drought, it was also a known practice for rabbinic authorities to decree a public fast, and institute additional services in the synagogue to allow for greater introspection and reflection. With the ongoing crisis in Israel, we encourage our members to treat Tuesday as a day of increased introspection and reflection and join us for services at 8 pm.  For those who wish to fast and use their fast as a measure of solidarity with other Jews in Israel and throughout the world, the fast begins at 4:25 AM and concludes at 9:03 PM. 

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II.     Joint Shabbat with Reconstructionist Temple Beth Israel @ TAS - Friday, July 18

        Q & A @ 7 PM, Shabbat Services @ 8 PM

A few months ago, Reconstructionist Temple Beth Israel of Maywood (RTBI) indicated that they would be closing their doors within the year and were seeking a new home for their members and the promotion of Reconstructionist Judaism in Bergen County.  As the only Reconstructionist congregation in the county, the leadership of RTBI recognized that the process of finding a new congregational home would mean approaching congregations from other streams of Jewish life.  After exploring several options, RTBI has narrowed its search to two congregations, including Temple Avodat Shalom.

On Friday, July 18, our congregation will welcome members of RTBI to our community.  At 7 pm, we will host an informal question-and-answer session, addressing the prospects of creating a united vision with RTBI.  At 8 pm, we will join together for our Shabbat services and then enjoy our Oneg - graciously sponsored by the members of RTBI.  

The leadership of our synagogue asserts that Temple Avodat Shalom will remain a Reform congregation affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism. Additionally our leadership views the opportunity to join forces with a congregation from another denomination of the Jewish community as a promising opportunity.  The demographic projections for the future of contemporary egalitarian Jewish life in Bergen County demonstrate that the current model of small-to-medium-size congregations, each professing and practicing a singular ideology, each retaining their assets and wealth in underutilized land and space, is unsustainable in the long run.  A more visionary approach will require congregations from different movements to work together, expressing and offering a wider variety of perspectives and programming to suit the needs of the contemporary Jewish community.  A combined venture between Temple Avodat Shalom and RTBI would solidly establish our congregation at the forefront of these impending changes in Bergen County and throughout the Jewish world.