On Sept 23rd I met with Laurel, our High Holy Day Cantorial Soloist, to go over the recent High Holy Day services while the memory is still fresh in our minds. We reviewed our notes and made some corrections and adjustments to the service to make it run a little smoother and to make sure it doesn’t run longer than it should. At the end of our meeting I pointed out that we just had our post High Holy Day review meeting – and it’s not even the end of September yet! To make it feel even more unusual, we took a look at next year’s dates – and with Rosh Hashanah on September 25, 2014, next year we will not have even started the festival cycle! 🙂 The Jewish calendar works in mysterious ways, as we will all discover once again this year when we gather at Thanksgiving and light a SECOND Chanukah candle!
Since all of the Festivals of Tishrei fell on September this year, October will end up being an ‘empty’ month – no Jewish festivals to celebrate, just ‘regular’ weeks of school, Shabbat, and family time. And while it may sound strange to think of October without the Jewish festivals, the month of Cheshvan is in fact the month that is always free of any festivals or special dates! The traditional name for the month of Cheshvan is Mar-Cheshvan, and according to at least one interpretation it is ‘mar’ (bitter) because it has no festivals to celebrate! 🙂
Be it as it may, although October does not have any Jewish festivals for us to celebrate, there are plenty of opportunities for us to engage with our community and with each other. Whether it is getting together for a Shabbat meal with friends, Shabbat Morning Torah service with discussion of the weekly portion on October 5th, Sisterhood Book Club on Oct 7th, coming to Bnei Mitzvah Class Shabbaton on October 12th, attending the first in the series of Adult Education programs on Shabbat afternoon (also Oct. 12th), coming to a special program on Genetics with Rachel Barnett from Yale, or participating in the Cook and Care Walk-a-Thon (both on October 20th), there is hardly a weekend when you don’t have a chance to engage with your community and with Judaism in a meaningful and powerful way. (Not to mention the regular Shabbat services, Torah study, and Religious school and family programs!) Whatever you choose to do, neither October nor MarCheshvan have to feel empty – or bitter! May it be the month filled with the warmth of the special TE community spirit. Check out the Shofar and our website for more info on all of these programs – and make sure you find something that’s right for YOU!
Happy October, everyone!