The Little Minyan

Why do we celebrate the birthday of the trees when everything outside is bare and spring seems so far away?

Here in the central Ohio, the Hebrew month of Sh’vat falls during January and February. And much like Hanukkah, where we celebrate light on the darkest days of the year, Tu B’Shvat in the frozen tundra of the Midwest gives us an opportunity to celebrate trees, fruit and life, even when everything outside seems so lifeless. In modern times, Tu B’Shvat has assumed many roles: a chance to reflect on the land of Israel (which is starting to bloom with new life); a chance to reflect on the state of our planet (the destruction of forests and the warming of the climate); a chance to explore the Kabbalist concepts of the Four Worlds or being and doing; and a chance to celebrate the gifts of life that trees and other plants give. Throughout Torah and our Jewish history, our partnership with the earth has been a recurrent theme and our care for the earth, a prominent mitzvah/commitment.

In the spirit of light, learning, growth, and celebration, please join the Little Minyan for our 6th annual  intergenerational Tu B’Shvat seder to celebrate the New Year of the Trees on Saturday, February 4th, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, at the Antrim Park Shelter House, 5800 Olentangy River Road, 43085. We will journey through time and across spiritual landscapes learning our tradition’s wise and prescient teachings about the environment. Come prepared to sing and sample the many edible fruits of trees.

Please RSVP to littleminyan@littleminyan.org TODAY or by Wednesday, February 1st, and let us know how many people in your family are coming to join our celebration. If you have any questions, call Jessica Shimberg at 459.9593.

Join members of The Little Minyan as we enjoy a Shabbat morning together with worship beginning at 10 a.m. If you have a Tanakh, please bring it with you to follow our reading and conversation about Parsha Bo.

Following our service, at 11:30 a.m., we will have our customary vegetarian potluck luncheon – please bring a dish to share.  We have a treat this month – a presentation by LM member, David Frankel, a graduate student at OSU. David’s topic teaser follows.

The Cairo Genizah and Progressive Judaism today: The Cairo Genizah was a storage room in the attic of the old Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat (Old Cairo).  When it was discovered over 100 years ago, scholars found hundreds of thousands of Jewish documents, many of which were over 1000 years old.  So what does a 100-year-old discovery of 1000-year-old documents have to do with the ever-changing face of Judaism today?  You may be surprised! Join us as we discuss the story of the discovery of the Genizah,  the world that it uncovered, and the questions that arise when we learn about a Jewish society much different than our own.

Join us as we welcome January’s second Shabbat onFriday evening, January 13th, 6:15 p.m., with an easy  and enjoyable Shabbat dinner including tummy warming “peaces” of pizza.  We will provide the pizza and drinks and oneg Shabbat after services. You bring the salad or dairy side dish and all of the Shabbat ruach/energy you can muster at the end of a long January week. Please RSVP to Emia at eo10@cornell.edu, so that we know how much pizza to have on hand.

Dinner begins at 6:15 p..m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2070 Ridgecliff Road, Upper Arlington, 43221; Kabbalat Shabbat will commence with song at 7:00 and services at 7:30.  Thank you to our oneg Shabbat sponsors, Bill and Randi Cohen, and our d’rash presenter, Jerry Tinianow.  Services will be led by Jessica Shimberg with musical accompaniment by Bill Cohen and Julie Sapper.

A Question for Hanukkah

Our Little Minyan will celebrate Simchat Torah as part of our Shabbat Shacharit/Morning service this Saturday, October 22nd.  Please join us for a joy-filled service of singing, dancing, and reading Torah. Our services are held at 2070 Ridgecliff Road in Upper Arlington (Covenant Presbyterian Church) and begin at 10 a.m.  A dairy potluck follows services at noon.  Services, complete with 7 hakafot for Simchat Torah, will be led by Rabbi Wendy Ungar and Jessica Shimberg with musical accompaniment provided by Bill Cohen and Jeff Gordon.

Mini minyan families will be attending to add joy to this celebration and the students will quiz the adults on Torah Trivia.  There will be no mini minyan classes on Sunday, October 23rd.

Members and friends of the Little Minyan gathered on Rosh Hashanah afternoon by the Scioto River in Dublin to cast into the water the environmental “sins” and other mistakes we would like to learn from as we “do t’shuvah” and turn from our misdeeds, refocus and re-aim toward our best selves in the coming year.  Led by Sharon Tinianow, participants in the environmentally-focused service cast rose petals into the water (traditional breadcrumbs harm the ecosystem) and talked about the days of creation – sharing songs performed by pairs of participants to illustrate the creation that occurred within each of the first six days in the first verses of B’reishit/Genesis. The service was followed by a dairy potluck supper and singing.