Dear Friends,

If we consider the most powerful building blocks for a sense of community, music quickly rises to the top. A familiar melody can bring complete strangers together in a very unique way. Consider the transformation which occurs when our national anthem is sung before a sporting event. As soon as the Star Spangled Banner begins to play, 60,000 fans are united – if only for a brief moment – as a community.

So too it is with the melodies we share as a congregation. The songs we sing and the prayers we chant provide all of us with a special identity which binds us together in community.

For the past two years, HCRJ has placed a special focus on the musicality of worship through our monthly Got Shabbat experiences. On the second Sabbath of each month, we highlight the musical aspects of our liturgy by exploring musical traditions from around the world.

This Friday night is no exception. This Friday night our service will be mostly music. This kind of jazzy Shabbat experience has become extremely popular in congregations around the world. Please join us for a very special Shabbat service accompanied by the magnificent harmonies of Dee Dee Dochen and Mike Kahn. This service will also feature a full band and promises to bring us together as a community like never before.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

As 2016 begins,
may it unfold a
never-ending chain
of blessings of
Prosperity, Health and Happiness
For you and your family.

Happy New Year.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

The Jewish community in the United States has never had difficulty finding ways to enjoy and participate in Christmas. As a child, I loved the fact that I could join my friend Brian Galloway (Irish Catholic) first thing in the morning to open his gifts under the tree and then spend the afternoon with my friend Chris Nico (Italian Catholic) with his family around the tree. Of course, Christmas Eve was reserved for Chinese food and a movie -a longstanding holiday tradition for all American Jews.

Many of us had similar experiences growing up, and as adults our Christmas traditions continue. Many of us have family members who are not Jewish, and we have the joy of sharing this sacred day with them. Others may choose to spend the day bringing joy and love to the world by doing a special mitzvah (if you are looking for such a mitzvah consider joining HCRJ at the Turning Point Center at 10:45AM to serve a Christmas brunch to the residents).

Whatever the case may be, Christmas in America has become part of the fabric of our society regardless of our faith. So in that spirit, I wish everyone in our congregation a day filled with love of family and friends and caring for the world in around us.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

As you read this week’s message, please consider participating in two upcoming events listed below in red. If you are able to participate, please RSVP today by responding to this Weekly Reflections. This will help us plan ahead.

On Sunday morning December 13th, our hands became instruments for doing God’s work here at HCRJ during our Tenth Annual Mitzvah Day. In the short amount of time we spent together, we engaged in scores of projects that helped make a difference in the lives of many men, women and children in the greater Houston community.

Our gathering was a sacred experience for all who attended, and as we worked together the wheels of a “Mitzvah Mindset” started to roll. One project spurred ideas for others, and by the end of the day, many newly inspired charitable ventures were being imagined. This is what the sages in the teaching: “One mitzvah leads to another.”

As our Mitzvah Minds have been activated, I’d like to call your attention to two taking place on Christmas Day:

Serve a Christmas Day Lunch at Turning Point Center:
Tuesday December 25 from 10:45AM – 12:00PM
Turning Point Center located at 1701 Jacquelyn Dr.
Please RSVP now!

Serving Christmas Day Lunch at the Turning Point Center is a long standing tradition. We gather in the spirit of giving as we serve lunch and sing Christmas carols to the residents. Please let us know if you are able to join us.

6th Annual Jewish/Muslim Christmas Event:
Using Our Hands and Hearts to Help the World
Friday night, December 25 at 7:15PM at HCRJ

This year our Jewish / Muslim Christmas program will be woven into the fabric of our Shabbat experience. Join us as we spend an evening of worship, music and mitzvah. Our services will be instructive but brief as we allow ourselves time to work side by side on a special mitzvah project and oneg. Our goal this year is to work and pray together to bring goodness into a broken world.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

Tonight, we will light a fourth candle on our Chanukah menorah as we celebrate our winter festival with family and friends. Historically, Chanukah commemorates the importance of the military victory of the Maccabees in 165 BCE. In remembering this aspect of our holiday, we consider the value in fighting for religious freedom in every age for all peoples.

Spiritually, our observance is a celebration of miracles. In lighting our festival lights and eating foods fried in oil, we recall the miraculous events that graced the Maccabees in their day with the hope that God will bless us with such miracles in our own day.

This year, in particular, as unrelenting violence rages in cities across the globe, the historical and spiritual messages of Chanukah can help us consider ways to bring light and miracles to a darkened world. As we light the candles for the remaining nights of this Festival of Lights may these redemptive themes bring us a sense of hope that all forces of darkness will be defeated and human freedoms will reign triumphant.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

Yesterday was a national day of giving called, #GivingTuesday, and if your inbox was like mine, most of the emails were from charitable organizations seeking to find support. This wonderful new forum for charitable contributions serves to remind us that, as a community, we can do more together than we can ever do alone.

Yesterday’s internet based giving platform provided us with an opportunity to focus our philanthropic efforts toward the causes that inspire us toward a more just and compassionate world. It also served to remind us that together we can affect change at home and across the world.

In a way, #GivingTuesday, also serves as a kick-off for our December social justice programming at HCRJ. With a desire to help make a difference in the world now glowing within our hearts, we are ready to invest our time and energy into the following programs (details can be found in this e-bulletin):

1. December 6: HCRJ Social Justice Bus Tour
2. December 13: Mitzvah Day

Please join us for both of these programs and extend the mindset of tikkun olam (repairing the world) that was initiated by #GivingTuesday.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

As Thanksgiving approaches, it is important to pause and count our blessings. We are blessed to live in a technological age where the market place of ideas helps to generate miraculous discoveries in the world of science and medicine. We are blessed to live in a land of pluralism where religious tolerance and cultural diversity is central to our national identity. And we are blessed to live in a country where we can debate issues of great importance without fear of repercussions or the possibility of a civil war.

As we witness so much chaos and strife unfolding around the world, the national holiday of Thanksgiving calls us to a mindset of gratitude and humility. Enjoy this week with your family and friends and try to find ways to express thanks wherever and whenever you can.

Beckye joins me in wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

Last week’s night of terror in Paris has filled our world with fear and trepidation. As Jews, the responses coming from many of our national leaders and the hateful words about Muslims that are spreading across social media should give us pause. It is imperative that we consider the current global crisis in light of our recent past.

Last week marked the 77th Anniversary of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) – a moment in the history of our people

that marked the beginning of the Holocaust. On November 9, 1938, the Nazis unleashed a wave of pogroms against Germany’sJews. In the span of a few hours, thousands of synagogues, Jewish businesses and homes were damaged and destroyed. This night of horror communicated a very specific message to the Jews of Germany and to the world at large. Jews were no longer welcome.

As the fate of Germany’s Jews became widely publicized much of the world was rattled with horror, shock, and sympathy, but few opened their doors. We know the fate of millions who were turned away.

History is repeating itself, and this is something we need to constantly keep in mind as ISIS (the modern day equivalent to the Nazis) continues to generate fear and terror. As Jews, we have a responsibility to keep our hearts and minds open to the victims of hate and oppression.

L’Shalom–Steve

Dear Friends,

Today is Veteran’s Day. Today we honor all who have served in our nation’s defense, all who have risked their lives of for the protection of others, and all who have died serving our country. We set aside this day each year in grateful recognition of military service – past, present and future.

May the dedication and valiance demonstrated by the men and women who serve us in this capacity inspire us to uphold the virtues of our nation as we work collectively to be a beacon of liberty and harmony for all the world to see.

L’Shalom–Steve