From the President

Hi Everyone!
I’d like to call your attention to a few of the upcoming events for the next few months… Perry Spring, Stephanie Tivona Reith, and Brian Rohr will be leading our annual Tu B’Shevat seder on Friday, February 10th. As it is a second Friday of the month, the seder will be combined with a Kabbalat Shabbat service. They are looking for volunteers to assist in preparing the food trays, so, please contact them or come early to assist! Later that month, on Saturday, the 25th, will be a community Saturday morning Shabbat service that Stephanie will be leading. One focus of the service will be acknowledging the various important contributions make to our community by our congregants. It promises to be rewarding service. March means Purim, and we will once again be holding a Purim carnival (March 11th), complete with hamantashen, costumes, and the Megillah. Please watch for announcements about the carnival and the annual Religious School Shaloch Manot fundraiser. And then, in April, will be our annual Passover Seder. Save the date: Saturday, April 7th. We are still in early planning for the seder, but please watch for announcements. Please join us at these wonderful events!   

              ~Jon

UPCOMING BET SHIRA EVENTS

Kabbalat Shabbat and Tu B'Shevat Seder
Led by Perry Spring and Stephanie Tivona Reith
Friday, February 10th, 6:00 - 8:30ish PM
St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Shabbat Morning Service
led by Stephanie Tivona Reith
Saturday, February 25th, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM
St. Paul's Episcopal Church

see the calendar for details

Tu Bishvat Shabbat: stir of new beginnings

With a chill in the air and freshly fallen snow in the mountains, sap begins to flow upwards in the trees. Tu Bishvat, the New Year for Trees, is a celebration of new becoming. As the first stirring of spring and new life emerges from the soil, we come together for a four worlds Seder to celebrate our connection to the Source of Life, awaken the dormant spirit of our souls, and inspire our work as earth stewards.

On Friday night Feb. 10, we will gather at 6pm to integrate to ritual gifts from our 16th century ancestors of S’fat; our weekly Kaballat Shabbat liturgy and the Tu Bishvat Seder of fruits, nuts, and glasses of grape beverages (juice and wine). The melodious and joy filled “Tu BishShabbat” Seder will be led by Perry Spring and our newly ordained Rabbinic Pastor Stephanie Reith. Yvonne Jarosz will bring us into the Sinai revelation with a creative exploration of this week’s Torah portion “Yitro”, and Brian Rohr will share with us with his storytelling. Many others will help create beautiful Seder tables and platters of fruit.  

As this year’s Tu Bishvat celebration dovetails with our monthly 2nd Friday Shabbat, please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share. Today, Tu Bishvat includes a focus on our role as stewards of the earth. We endeavor to create a Sustainable Seder. You may want to take up a suggestion by Hazon to use 1 of the 7 species (locally grown or preserves) in your potluck dish; check out their website for details. Jude Rubins has again invited Bet Shira members to participate in restoration through tree planting on Tarboo Creek on Feb. 25th; carpooling required, please call 385-6786 for details.

Pesach Seder Volunteers Needed!
The Bet Shira Community Pesach Seder will be held on the second night of Passover, Saturday - April 7, 2012. Barry Lerich is chairing the planning committee and will lead the Seder. Several volunteers to help with the planning are needed. If you can help, please contact Barry at barryell@olypen.com or 360-223-5333. We'll have the first planning meeting about mid-February.

Religious School Update here

Winter Shelter Volunteers
Bet Shira teamed up with the Quaker and Buddhist Sangha communities to provide meals and overnight monitoring for the winter homeless shelter.  Our group is scheduled for this week, January 29-February 4.  There are many people who are appreciating the warm bed and hot meal available to them in these very cold months. Look for a brief report online and in the next newsletter about how it went this year, then;  mark the date for next year and join in the good work of helping others… made easy by the hard work of people like Stephanie Reith who has done all the coordinating and has made it possible for us to just ‘plug in’ and help out.

Wandering Jews Gatherings (“Wandering from House to House, and Topic to Topic”)
Some members of the Wandering Jews group are attending the February 26 showing of the play “Travelling Light” at the Rose Theatre (see below), and will meet from 10-12 noon on Sunday, March 4, at Stephanie and Henry’s house both to discuss the play, and to hear about Stephanie’s smicha (ordination) experience in Colorado.

A play at the Rose in Feb. & March: "Travelling Light"
February 26, 28 - noon  and March 3, 4 – noon

Music of Remembrance Upcoming Concerts:
Not Martyrs, Not Saints
Time: Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 2:00pm
Venue: Good Shepherd Center

Far is My Home
Time: Saturday, April 21, 2012 - 2:00pm
Venue: Seattle Art Museum

Israel and the Iranian Nuclear Threat 
How dangerous a threat to the survival of Israel and its people is the Iranian possession of missile-deliverable nuclear weapons? In light of Iranian threats to destroy "The Zionist State," what can and should Israel do to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear arsenal? What is the role, if any, of the United States in this situation? 

These are questions that will be addressed by a distinguished panel as Program 4 of the Current Jewish Issues Forum held at Congregation Kol Shalom. Panelists will include Steve Leach, a former US diplomat and Ben Kirkendall, a nuclear scientist who worked with the United Nations agency charged with nonproliferation. The panel will be moderated by Lewis Mandell who has been a Professor at Tel Aviv University and who has written a book on Israel. 

This forum will be held on Thursday, February 16, at 7:30 PM and is open to everyone without charge. 
Congregation Kol Shalom, 9010 Miller Road, Bainbridge Island

Membership

All who have not done so already, please renew your membership for 5772. It would be a great help for our budgeting if those remaining could submit their renewal as soon as possible.
A link to the new membership form for 5772 can be found on our Membership Page.

Website
We hope that you will like what you find here, and welcome your comments. Please email: betshira@yahoo.com for general comments. info@amymook.com for website comments.

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