September 04, 2010   25 Elul 5770
Union Temple of Brooklyn, NY
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OPEN HOUSE – Sunday, September 26, 2010!  more on our Open House
 Join us for the High Holidays,  Free tickets more on our High Holiday Services

Join us for Selichot   more on Selichot

 Celebrate Simchat Torah   more on Simchat Torah
Connect-to-care  More on Connect-to-care
UT Congratulates Rabbi Goodman!  More on the Celebration

Sisterhood Memoir Group More on Sisterhood Memoir Group

Weekly Kinder Kef  

A new weekly kinder kef class has begun this fall for pre- k and kindergarten age children ( ages 4-5) . The class meets every Sunday morning. If you are interested in registering please contact the office or Carole Gould at carolegould@gmail.com for further information. Click for MORE on our Religious School
The People's Temple  
A Special Place by Elizabeth Zelma, NY Family Brooklyn Magazine   MORE 
Union Temple School of Religion  

UT RS

To answer any of your questions call our office at 718-638-7600.

More on the UT School of Religion
Brotherhood and Sisterhood  

Members of both consist of diverse and dedicated individuals who come together to serve the temple, share experiences, and learn. In the course of activities ranging from Sukkah building and educational programs we find friendship and connection.

Brotherhood Sukkah building 

The Brotherhood of Union Temple 

Annual Sukkah Building
Benefits for Temple Members  

Tickets for High Holy Day services

Union Temple Preschool Discount

School of Religion Discount

Pastoral Counseling and Services

Eastern Athletic Club Discount

Bar Mitzvah Photo

 
Look what's happening! LINKS  

'What is Kinder Kef' ?'

  Calendar                     Events

Pikuach Nefesh - The Saving of a Life  
 Click here to read Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman's Yom Kippur Sermon on Health Care
Greetings from our Rabbi  

The congregation of Union Temple is a diverse, yet closely knit group of thoughtful and compassionate people who draw together in times of joy as well as times of sorrow. It has been a privilege for me to serve as Rabbi since 1992. On behalf of our congregational family, I invite you to celebrate our past, share our present, and be a part of shaping our future.   Dr. Linda Henry Goodman  Click here to read the Rabbi's Message
Weekly Words from Rabbi Goodman  

Parashat HaShavua:  NITZAVIM~VAYEILECH   /   SELICHOT IS THIS SATURDAY NIGHT

These two portions, Nitzavim and Vayeilech, are both very brief, barely more than a chapter each.  They are often paired as we anticipate the Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe.  With Nitzavim we, the People Israel, stand (N-Tz-V) before the Eternal to conclude the Brit, the Covenant.  Though we stand as a community, the individuals within the community are also identified, not by name, but by status: the men, their wives and children, the elders and leaders of the community, and the manual laborers.  We as a community, and as individuals, all bear responsibility not only for our own behavior, but also for the conduct of the community.  Standing there at the Jordan, Moses tells the people that this Brit is not only with them, but also with their descendants for all time - with us.  In Vayeilech, Moses is about to die at 120, and, as the biblical idiom expresses it, be "gathered to his ancestors."   As the inheritors of the Brit, we become links in an unbreakable chain of our people's history and destiny. 

Now, as we head into the Yamim Nora’im next week, we will stand before God, both as individuals and as a community, judging our personal behavior this past year, and owning up to our communal failures.  Our charge during this season is to engage in the process of teshuvah - repentance - making amends with those we have wronged or hurt, and asking divine forgiveness as well.   Selichot is a brief service on the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah.  (If there are fewer than 3 days between Saturday and Rosh Hashanah, Selichot must be pushed to the previous week.)  The word itself means forgiveness.  (S-L-Ch = forgive).   Though brief, the service is calming and settling.  By introducing some of the conceptual and musical themes of the approaching Holy Days, it focuses us on the seriousness with which we ought to be approaching this season.   While we will spend the coming days engaged in serious introspection, we will remember as well that we do not exist as solitary souls in the world, but that we are charged with creating a healthier society in relationship with others, both as individuals and as groups.   Selichot concludes with a long blast of the Shofar, awakening us to the hope and potential of our lives as Jews. 

THIS WEEKEND

We will welcome Student Cantor Lauren Phillips and Temple Musician Shinae Kim.

Friday, September 3, 6:30 PM:  Kabbalat Shabbat

Saturday, September 4, 10:30 AM:  Shabbat Morning Service   

                                         SELICHOT                                              

                                         8:00 PM:  Dessert Reception, Film & Conversation:

AMERICAN STORIES, JEWISH LIVES:   Personal stories and questions of Jewish identity.

                                         9:45 PM:  Havdalah

                                       10:00 PM:  Service of Selichot

                                       

HIGH HOLY DAY SCHEDULE

 

ROSH HASHANAH

Wednesday, September 8

8:00 PM - Evening Service

Thursday, September 9

9:00 AM - Services for Children and their Families (Tots: 4th floor;  Grades 1-7:  3rd floor)

10:00 AM - Morning Service in the Sanctuary

Please join us in the lobby after the service for Kiddush.

 

YOM KIPPUR

Friday, September 17

8:00 PM - Kol Nidre, Sanctuary

Monday, September 18

9:00 AM - Services for Children and their Families  (Tots: 4th floor;  Grades 1-7: Social Hall )

10:00 AM - Morning Service, Sanctuary

1:00 PM - Prayers and Meditations

1:30 PM - Social Action Forum: The "Tea Party" and its Implications

3:00 PM - Afternoon Service

5:00 PM - Yizkor; Ne’ilah, Havdalah                                                                         

Please join us after Havdalah in the lobby for a light Break--Fast

 

THE FESTIVAL OF SUKKOT

 

Sunday, September 19

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Brotherhood will construct our Sukkah, and our Religious School will decorate.

Wednesday, September 22

6:45 PM - Fruit & Cheese Reception

7:30 PM - Festival Evening Service

Thursday, September 23

10:30 AM - Festival Morning Service

Friday, September 24 – Fourth Friday Shabbat Chol HaMo’ed

            7:00 PM – Dinner

            8:00 PM – Shabbat Service

            9:00 PM – Comedy with Lenny Shiller

Sunday, September 26

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Union Temple Open House

See our KinderKef program in action; celebrate in our Sukkah;

meet one-on-one with Rabbi Goodman; music; bagels, coffee, ice cream

 

THE FESTIVAL OF SHEMINI ATZERET-SIMCHAT TORAH

Wednesday, September 29

5:30 PM - KinderKef Consecration

6:00 PM - Festival Pot Luck Dinner

7:30 PM - Festival Evening Service

Consecration and Hakafot of Torahs

Thursday, September 30

10:30 AM - Festival Morning Service; Yizkor

 

SHABBAT MORNING HEVRE: Saturday, September 25, 9:00 AM  Our Shabbat Study Hevre for Adults reconvenes.  This year we will study the New Testament from a Jewish perspective with the help of Professor Michael J. Cook’s  MODERN JEWS ENGAGE THE NEW TESTAMENT.  Please contact the temple office regarding texts. 

 
Congregational Participation  

Our Religious School students, our junior choir, and our Brotherhood and Sisterhood, all assist in conducting the services at various times during the year. Music is an organic part of our services in the gifted hands of Shinea Kim, in addition to our wonderful cantorial students, as they encourage congregants to participate actively in the musical life of the congregation.

New Partnership  

Dear Friends:

With the support and approval of our Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce our participation in an exciting new program of partnership with the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services of UJA. Some six other synagogues in the general Brownstone Brooklyn area also are participating in this partnership. It will provide all the rabbis and temple officers with much needed support for our older adults. I have inserted the announcement from the JBFCS below. We will be talking more about it in the coming months. If you have any questions at all, or know immediately that you would like to avail yourself of this program for yourself, a parent or relative, or someone you know, please call me at the temple: (718) 638-7600 or e-mail me at rabbigoodman@uniontemple.org.  - Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman

A FREE SYNAGOGUE‐BASED PROGRAM FOR JEWISH OLDER ADULTS IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL BROOKLYN

Through a generous grant from the Weinberg Foundation provided by UJA Federation of NY, the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services is able to offer the expertise of our geriatric social worker to area synagogues, free of charge.

We can provide your congregants with:

∙ Innovative programs and workshops addressing the needs of older adults

o Health education

o Caregiver resources

o Social and recreational programs

∙ Emotional support for older adult life issues

∙ Support, consultation, and education for volunteers helping older adults

∙ Individual and family assessment and counsel by our on‐site geriatric social worker.

∙ Home Care oversight and advocacy

∙ Access to the full range of services of JBFCS, and other community agencies.

Partnering Synagogues will:

∙ Develop an ongoing working relationship with our project social worker.

∙ Work with our program staff to identify, plan and host activities to address the needs of older congregants.

∙ Identify and refer older congregants in need.

∙ Market and publicize the program workshops, groups, and services to the congregation and community.
Shabbat and Yom Tov Services  

Beginning Sept. 7 and thereafter, all Friday services will begin at 6:30 PM, except for the 4th week of each month, when they will begin at 8:00 PM.  The first Friday of the month we will have our potluck dinner following services as usual.  Saturday morning services remain at 10:30.
Chick here for our Shabbat Service Schedule
Who We Are  

Union Temple is an egalitarian, inclusive Reform Congregation, spanning the generations. Founded in 1848 by a small group of German and Alsatian Jewish immigrants living in Williamsburgh, since 1929 Union Temple has been located in a magnificent building at Grand Army Plaza. We are a house of worship, a house of study, and an intimate community of mutual support for our members. We reach out to the diverse communities of Brooklyn and warmly welcome individuals and all types of families to join us. As a congregation we are dedicated to Tikkun Olam, the repairing of our world, through the pursuit of social justice and active participation in the larger Jewish and general communities. Union Temple is a member congregation of the Union of Reform Judaism

Read more about the History of Union Temple...
Union Temple Preschool  

Open to all children in the community, the Union Temple Preschool is a morning program for two, three, and four year olds with some extended day options. Our dedicated, nurturing staff provides a child-centered environment with a curriculum enhanced by a Jewish perspective, and enrichment programs.
Programs and Events  

We join together through Adult Education, Brotherhood, Sisterhood, and the Social Action Committee for a wide variety of educational, social, and cultural activities including:

    • Shabbat Morning Study Hevre

    • Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class

    • Shabbaton with Notable Speakers

    • Concerts  *  Films  *  Lectures

    • Book Discussions  *  Game Nights

    • Dances  *   Theatre Outings

    • Walking Tours of Jewish New York

We view all our programs as opportunities to bring our congregational community together to socialize, to learn, and to celebrate our heritage.

To our friends in the Haitian community. . . .  
Our hearts go out to our neighbors in the community whose friends and family members have been lost, or are as yet unaccounted for, amid the devastation in Haiti.   We pray that God may comfort you in this hour of trial, and that you will be uplifted by the sympathy of all Americans, and by the contributions of support that are pouring in.
 
For those wishing to make a contribution to relief efforts in Haiti, we encourage you to click on one of the following links, or access the Internet for the entire range of donation possibilities.
 
May God bless all who are suffering.
 
Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman, and the entire congregational family of Union Temple of Brooklyn
 
American Jewish World Service:  Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund
From your cell phone:
● Text “HAITI” to "20222" and $10 will be given to the Clinton Foundation's Haiti Relief Fund, charged to your cell phone bill.
● Text “HAITI” to “90999" to make a $10 donation to the American Red Cross.
Jewish World News  

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