Archive for September, 2009

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A New Year for the Jewish Community in the Lake Norman Region

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

I wish to express a heartfelt Shanah Tovah to all!

The Jewish community in the Lake Norman region has so many reasons to be proud and happy in the New Year.  Together, all of the groups have achieved great success. The major event that signifies this communal success is the first ever “Shalom Lake Norman Jewish Festival.” It proved that together we can achieve great things for the Jewish and interfaith families of Lake Norman and the People Israel.

Beth Shalom of Lake Norman welcomed new Rabbinical intern, Corey Helfand. While it was sad to see Rabbi Jeremy Gerber leave Beth Shalom to begin his rabbinical career, Corey brings his own unique gifts to the table. I look forward to sharing meals and coffee with learning from him as I did from Jeremy.   Beth Shalom has many gifts, but one I would like to highlight is Kara Tanenbaum. She not only spearheads Beth Shalom’s B’nei mitzvah program, but she also works for the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte, helping that organization  achieve their mission which is so vital for Charlotte and for the Lake Norman region.

Congregational Emanuel in Statesville has been a personal blessing to me in the past year. There were Shabbats where I needed a different setting and sometimes to be a congregant/worshipper as opposed to Rabbi. I made my way up to Emanuel and was welcomed with open arms. They truly are as they like to say, “a small but vigorously active community that welcomes all newcomers with our warm southern hospitality and a Jewish flair.” As one of the oldest congregations in North Carolina (1883), Congregation Emanuel is an essential piece of the Jewish community. They remind us that Judaism has been here in the Lake region for more than 125 years.

Thirdly, I cannot thank my own congregation enough. See my earlier post for the gratitude and deep sense of honor that I feel by serving as your rabbi.

Lastly the Hadassah chapter at the Lake and the Chavurah both provide ways for Jews and their families to connect with Jewish culture and community. They provide support and camaraderie that would not exist otherwise.

We are all so blessed and lucky to be part of such a dynamic, diverse and vibrant Jewish Community. Shanah Tovah!

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The New Year Is Here! (And a recap of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur)

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

The New Year is upon us; 5770, a year in which we will face some anxiety due to the financial crisis from which we are just starting to emerge, and our own personal challenges.  But 5770 promises to be a year of great promise as well. Many of us are anticipating happy occasions such as weddings, birth of children or grandchildren, or a well-deserved special vacation.

5770 will also be a great year for the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation. How awesome it was as a rabbi to share sacred time during the High Holy Days with my congregation. It was such an honor it was to gaze out at a sanctuary filled with Jews and their families coming together to be together and to worship as one.

Over the course of the holidays, nearly 500 people shared in our communal time of introspection, reflection, and yes, great celebration. Our music was lifted to the heavens by our cantorial soloist, David Scher. The words of our service and our understanding of the Jonah story were enhanced by the contribution of our congregational intern, Michael Harvey, and most importantly, members of the congregation, their families, and honored guests combined their voices in prayer and song to create a symphony to God.

I am so honored to be a part of this congregation; an entity that only 3 years ago was a dream of fewer than a dozen families. It now stands at 115 families. This growth confirms the desire for a loving Jewish community in the Lake Norman region.

Shanah Tovah u’mtukah, a Happy and Sweet New Year to all!!

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Rabbi’s Rules – A Moral Code

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Our fifth grade class in religious school agreed as a class to the following rules. I believe that if we all followed these rules we would benefit greatly.

1) Rabbi Shammai said: Receive all people with a cheerful face.

Treat others kindly.

2) Rabbi Hillel said: What you don’t like, don’t do to your neighbor.

Pay close attention to each other’s words and feelings.

3) Rabbi Yossi says: Let the property of your neighbor be as precious to you as your own.

Respect the property of others.

4) Rabi said: Which is the right path to choose? One that is honorable in itself and also wins honor from others.

Be responsible for your behavior.

5) Ben Hei Hei said: According to the labor is the reward.

Make a positive effort.

What a wonderful way to live one’s life. Thank you to our 5th graders for their leadership and for setting a great example for younger children and our entire congregation.

Gamar Chatimah Tovah!!!

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Circle of Caring (Domestic Violence Affects Us All)

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

It is 8:30pm and I just returned home from a planning meeting for the Circle of Caring initiative. The purpose of the Circle of Caring is to bring together religious and secular groups to educate about and combat domestic violence, a plague in our society that affects or will affect every person in some way.

There are silent victims of this violence. There are those who are friends with or family of Domestic Violence survivors, and YES there are perpetrators……in your community in our community…as hard as it is to recognize and say that.

The Circle of Caring is planning the 2nd Annual Domestic Violence Symposium to help end this violence.   If you are interested in joining the Circle and helping us achieve our mission, or you have questions about seeking help, you can contact me at rabbishields@lakenormanjc.org.

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A Sisterhood For All

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

As a child growing up at a large suburban synagogue I always perceived the Sisterhood at the shul as a group of older women who crocheted and cooked food for synagogue events. While I am sure the women appeared older to me as a child, I do feel that, looking back, the Sisterhood of my past, while great for the more mature women of the community, (and of course my perception as a child was not correct as pointed out by a friend. I don’t remember my mother being involved) left out many of the women in the congregation; especially a large number of younger women. This raises the challenge of reaching and drawing women to the Sisterhood and even more so, men to  the brotherhood that usually are not involved. How can we expand a small nucleus of involved people to encompass most of the congregation, especially in a small community such as the LNJC.

The development of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation’s Sisterhood has led to a diverse and comprehensive group. Some of our Sisterhood events are daytime events such as museum tours or “Ladies Lunches,” but other events touch our large numbers of young mothers. They meet for events like “Margarita and a Movie”, or ‘Sakitini at Sabi’ (A local Asian fusion restaurant in Davidson, NC).   Now we are tasked with drawing in those that participate in name only.

In addition, the mothers of many of our pre-school children have formed an informal social group that met over the summer and will continue throughout the year. 

The successes of the Sisterhood reflect the organically welcoming nature of the congregation and the desire to create sacred space for all of our members.

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Vote for this Jewish Hero and Help Her Awesome Jewish Organization in the Process!!!

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/nominees/profile/phyllis-adler/

Tell us about your nominee. Why should he or she be recognized as a Jewish Community Hero?

Phyllis is the director of Stepping Stones Family, a program for interfaith families. Over twenty years she has built the school from its first class of 28 students to serve 400 participants annually today. Phyllis has developed life long relationships with hundreds of families and helped them to find their place in the Jewish community. Her guidance, wisdom and affection have created a non-judgmental environment in which intermarried families can explore their Jewish heritage. The power of this program is demonstrated by the high level of involvement her alumni families have in the Jewish community. Her work has strengthened the Jewish people, helping intermarried families to create Jewish homes and to choose Judaism as the religious identity for their family. Stepping Stones has a dramatic success rate; seventy percent of the children who graduate from the program identify as Jews and continue to participate in local Jewish life. Their families engage through synagogues, Jewish camping, trips to Israel, Federation giving, Jewish board participation, and more. Phyllis has expanded the program to touch and be touched by every aspect of the Denver Jewish community. Every Jewish organization and agency proudly embraces and integrates these families.

What problem did your nominee identify in the community that needed to be solved? How has your nominee’s efforts made a difference for others?

A 1980 demographic study found that the Denver area had the highest interfaith rate in the country, 50%. Instead of seeing a problem, the community welcomed ways to make this an opportunity. In response to that bold vision, Stepping Stones was created, a program dedicated to educating, supporting and integrating interfaith families into the Jewish community. Stepping Stones started as a two-year tuition free program for school age children of unaffiliated interfaith families. Under Phyllis’ guidance the program has grown dramatically. What began as a program of Jewish education aimed only at school age children has expanded to younger and older participants to now include pre school children as well as parents and grandparents. In her effort to welcome couples even before they have children, Phyllis added discussion groups where couples can explore their individual religions and cultures in order to make a decision about the religious identity of their home and children. It has become an intergenerational embrace of interfaith families.

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Lake Norman Jewish Community is Growing

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

We must be doing something right. Jewish life continues to thrive despite a difficult economy. The greater Charlotte area has a new and stable Jewish community.

Here is a great article (http://www.charlotteobserver.com/479/story/941707.html) about the vibrant Jewish life in the Lake Norman region. There are now 3 congregations (2 in Davidson) and one in Statesville. I am the first full-time rabbi of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation (www.lakenormanjc.org) and because of the hard work of the lay leadership and community members we have grown to more than 110 families and close to 80 children in our religious school…..and there still much more to come.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/479/story/941707.html

The amazing growth in the region and the still untapped potential was revealed at the Shalom Lake Norman Jewish Festival on Sunday September 13. The entire Jewish Community came together to make the Festival happen.

Many thanks go out to the member organizations of the Jewish Council of Lake Norman (The Lake Norman Jewish Congregation, Beth Shalom of Lake Norman, Temple Emanuel of Statesville, the Lake Norman Chavurah, and The Lake Norman Chapter of Hadassah).

I thank everyone for their hard work for the Jewish people and for Jewish life in the Lake Norman region.

-Rabbi Shields

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Excitement about Lake Norman Jewish Congregation’s Religious School Growing…

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Exciting news on the religious school front. We now have 74 students registered with another handful in the wings. When it’s all said and done we may top 80 students.

Our teaching team is very diverse, consisting of trained teachers, 3 college students, and some great Jewish professionals. We hope to hire one or two more teachers to provide additional support to the 8 classroom teachers. The average class size is less than 10 students. How exciting it is to put my rabbinical degree and my MA in Religious Education to good use and help head up such a great team.

We have worked very hard to embrace the organic informal education feel of camp, borrowing many educational and team-building techniques found at Jewish summer camp.  Hopefully this will create a fun atmosphere for learning and encourage our students to go to Jewish Summer Camp. 

We now have all of our grade levels separated out as follows:

M’tukim (”sweetie pies”) – Pre-School  – 14 students

Y’karim (”Precious Ones”) – Kindergarten

K’tanim (”Little Ones”) – 1st Grade

Bonim (”Builders”) – 2nd Grade

Older Bonim (”Builders”) -3rd Grade

Kochavim (”Stars”) – 4th Grade

Giburim (”Heroes) – 5th Grade

Nachshonim (Leaders)

We look forward to adding more children throughout the school year, adding books to our already extensive school and congregational library, and having ‘oodles’ of fun together.

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It’s the Little Things

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

So we finally got moved over into our bigger and newer office; reorganizing books and preparing for the influx of new educational resources for the religious school and some conference tables for Board and committee meetings.

The office now represents the promise of good things to come, including a permanent home of our home. Now all it takes is some additional support to make that dream a reality.

And we have a physical phone and internet. Ahhhh….the luxuries of modernity.

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The Promised Land of Davidson, North Carolina

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

More than a year and a half ago I clicked ‘end’ on my cellphone. With that click of a button I took the first step in the most challenging, exhilarating and enriching adventure of my life.

Two months after that call I drove down to a land that “knew not Michael Joseph Shields,” now Rabbi Shields.  I was filled with anticipation, a great deal of anxiety, and a maelstrom of other emotions.

Soon after setting foot in my new ‘digs,’ I confirmed the “yummy” feelings I had felt during my interviews with the lay leadership of the Lake Norman Jewish Congregation (www.lakenormanjc.org).

We shared and continue to share a Covenant of trust and mutual purpose. With this potent foundation we began to dream. It has been my honor to add my imprint to the vision of the congregation, and together we have honed and sharpened the vision and mission of the community.

I understand much more deeply the nature of a sacred relationship and sacred purpose. It is with great hope and excitement that I look to the future  for our community and for Jewish life in the Lake Norman region.

I welcome the sweet challenges and rewards of community in the year to come.

Shanah Tovah u’mtukah!

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