The Little Minyan

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.

Shofar Basics, Shofar Blues

Nothing symbolizes the Jewish New Year quite like the shofar—the distinctive shape of the ram’s horn, and especially its sound. But few of us have ever been able to bring forth those fabulous tones… until now. Join Paul Wolpe, Ph.D.— a renowned bioethicist at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and an editor of our Kol Haneshamah Machzor/High Holy Day Prayerbook — on the newly re-launched Ritualwell.org to learn the basics of traditional shofar blowing as well as a unique and bluesy take on the melody of the shofar.

Shofar Blowing on ritualwell

As we immerse ourselves in preparation for the Yamim Nora’im/Days of Awe, we are already watching the moon wane toward the new Hebrew month of Tishrei and Rosh Hashanah 5772.  Our Jewish tradition gives us myriad meaningful opportunities to redo, recreate, recycle, reinvent, and reemerge.  The cycles of the day, week, seasons, and year are gifts of time. We are a people who sanctify life by making time holy.  As The Little Minyan enters our 7th High Holy Day season as a kehilla kedosha/holy community, you can be a part of our process of sanctifying and cleansing and turning toward a new year.  With the exception of this weekend’s event, all of our activities are open to the public.  We do ask that non-members please let us know that you are coming to various events by sending an e-mail to littleminyan@littleminyan.org.  This way we can be better prepared to greet you and serve your spiritual needs. You will find each activity by clicking on the EVENTS tab above.  For further information, you can call Jessica Shimberg Lind, Spiritual Life Coordinator, at 614-459-9593.

Please note that because of the array of activities this month, there will NOT be a 4th Saturday Shabbat Shacharit/Morning service.  We will continue our regularly scheduled 2nd Friday and 4th Saturday communal Shabbat worship in October (on the 14th and 22nd) and will celebrate Sukkot as a kehillah on Saturday, October 15th.