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Shabbat, Parshat Emor, 5/13-5/14

Shabbat Evening:

Friday Mincha/Kabbalat Shabbat/Maariv: *7:50 pm
(*please note we are making "Middle Shabbat," i.e. Plag Shabbat)
...with a D'var Torah by Rabbi Chaim Lindenblatt.

🕯️🕯️ Candle Lighting: 8:12 pm

Shabbat Day:

Shacharit: 9:00 am
...followed by a D'var Torah from Kozriel Witherspoon
...followed by Kiddush (sponsored by the congregation).
There is NO "Radical Judism" class this week.

Mincha: 8:00 pm
...Followed by Seuda Shelishit.

Motzei Shabbat Maariv: 9:01 pm
🔥 Havdalah: 9:13 pm

Week of Sunday, 5/15

Sunday Shacharit: 8:30 am
Vatikin Shacharit (Monday-Friday*): 6:10 am
Mincha/Maariv (Sunday-Thursday): 8:15 pm

Special Message from Rabbi Seeman

Dear Members and Friends of New Toco Shul,
 
I won’t kid you, it has been a rough week for us! The leadership spent many hours behind the scenes dealing with a neighborhood-wide security and mental health issue you have already been notified about. We hope and believe that the situation is resolving, at least for right now, but will continue to monitor. Special thanks to Yoni Graber who is our representative on the neighborhood security committee. Despite traveling for work this week, Yoni spent many hours working not only with NTS but also the representatives from other synagogues who agreed on a joint statement and plan of action.
 
Then COVID affected several of our families (I tested positive yesterday!). Thank God, I just feel like I have a bad cold but I am out of commission and unable to join you this shabbat. (Neither is Scott.) To be clear, we do not think any transmission occurred at NTS!  I am grateful to Rabbi Chaim Lindenblatt who will speak this evening at NTS (please note the new davening time) and to Kozriel Witherspoon, who will speak after davening but before kiddush tomorrow morning. It gives me endless pleasure to have individuals in our community who can step up in this way when needed, and I only wish I were there to share it! We also have a community of great ethnic, ideological and racial diversity, of which I am particularly proud.
 
This week has been filled with many, many decisions that needed to be made quickly for the benefit of our community. The executive committee (Rabbi Reuven Travis, Yoni Graber and Rebecca Schmerer, plus Gabbai Rishon Scott Forbus) work very closely together and make most non-halakhic decisions by general consensus. Even where that is not possible, we always have candid and thoughtful discussions, and on a week like this I am also extremely grateful for each of them who give their time and wisdom for the benefit of the community. I cannot count how many texts have gone back and forth today alone. And we all have day jobs.
 
Why am I telling you all this? Partly because I think those who are not behind the scenes may not appreciate what makes running a small synagogue possible. We are labor intensive (we sell our product retail, rather than wholesale, as I like to say) and give our volunteers a lot of work to do. They do it out of love and ought to be thanked. I don’t do it often enough.
 
The other reason is that we may get decisions wrong or there may be no decision that pleases everyone. Yesterday I received at least one email insisting that given the spread of COVID in our community we go back to mandatory masking and one that said they would stop coming if we did so. This is tough. Obviously we don’t make decisions just by counting heads, but in a small community every individual counts. Given the decisions made by other shuls in the neighborhood we also need to take into account that everyone has other options (which I am happy about — that was part of the NTS revolution in this neighborhood).

Given all of this, the leadership has decided not to require masks this shabbat, and to encourage anyone who has a concern to please mask up and consider sitting outdoors (the porch will be open, and if it makes a difference to you coming, we can open the front of the building under the carport as well, though we prefer not to do so for security reasons unless that is really what will make the difference for your attendance). As always, people need to make their own health decisions, and if you feel none of these options are adequate I extend my apologies. Either way, please be mindful that we are doing the best we can, that we cannot please everyone at every turn, and that we actually do care about the needs and preferences of every single individual in the community. At some point I’ll circle back to sharing some of my views about how halakha and how communities ought to navigate these decisions.
 
Your participation and loyalty to us over the years  mean  a great deal to me.
 
Very best wishes,
Don Seeman
Rabbi NTS

Coming next month, the Return of all Night Learning on Shavuot at NTS! We have a great lineup of men and women teachers and great snacks. Before COVID this was one of our signature annual events, so we look forward to seeing you once more!

Refuah Shelemah and prayers for a speedy recovery to Janet Bellovin and Bev Llewyn.

Seuda Shelishit for the entire month of May is sponsored by the Lindenblatt family.

Seuda Shelishit for the month of June is still open for sponsors, so think ahead and get you sponsorship in early!

• Please be up to date on our shul COVID policies (last updated 2.22.2022).
• For anyone who is not comfortable coming to shul, if you have a yahrzeit coming up and would like a "Kel Maleh" said for your loved one, or if you would like someone to say Kaddish on your behalf, please reach out to Scott Forbus at sforbus@gmail.com to arrange.

• Sunday at 7:00 pm:  Medical Ethics and Halacha with Rabbi Michael Broyde.

• Monday at 4:00 pm: Netivot Shalom on the Weekly Parasha with Rabbi Reuven Travis.
• Tuesdays at 7:00 pm: Issues in Living in Western Democracies with Rabbi Michael Broyde.