Selichot: An Evening of Spiritual Preparation

Dairy Pot Luck Dinner;* Havdalah, Mindfulness Exercise, and Selichot Services

TIME: 6:30 PM for pot luck; 7:30 PM for remainder of evening

* Registration required for pot luck. All food offerings must be meat and meat products free

I invite you and our entire community to attend our Selichot vegetarian/pareve potluck dinner and service Saturday night, Sept. 9th at 6:30pm for the dinner and/or 7:30PM for the service. You can attend both or just the service.

Here is the Zoom link for the 7:30 PM service:

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7502502838

Meeting ID: 750 250 2838

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+16694449171,,7502502838# US

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Meeting ID: 750 250 2838

Here is the link to the Selichot booklet:
https://www.tbstemecula.org/wp-content/uploads/TBS.Selichot-Service.pdf. Download it in advance if you Zoom in.

When plan your menu item, please be absolutely sure it contains no meat or meat by-products. Read your labels carefully. RSVP WITH YOUR FOOD ITEM and number of people by Sept. 1st before Shabbat to info@tbstemecula.org so we can prepare accordingly.

I hope that those of you who are on the fence about attending will join us. Here are some incentives for you besides the food and camaraderie we enjoy when we share a meal:

Our Selichot booklet is traditional yet contemporary. Every piece of Hebrew is transliterated into English. We sing the once-a-year High Holiday melodies. The service is not too long. We will, as a community, remove the Sefrei Torah from the Ark, change their mantles from their year-round velvet of blue and brown to the High Holy Day color of white. It is a moving ceremony that helps put us in the mood for the Yamim Noraim – the “Days of Awe.” If you have children or grandchildren who like rituals and hands-on activities, this is an evening not to miss. They can help me with the Torah scrolls. Parents and grandparents: discrete photography would not be frowned upon, as Shabbat will have ended.

Speaking of hands-on rituals. We will once again engage in our new Selichot custom where, at the end of the service, we will all receive a piece of transparent “acetate paper” and a washable color marker. After some prompts, discussion and some help from the rabbi if necessary, we will write down traits, habits, behaviors, qualities we wish to be rid of for the coming year. Some people will write poetry, others will draw a picture. Some will write a lot, others just keywords. It’s private, personal, all your own…Then we will take our sheets and place them in a very big bowl and watch as those things we want to be rid of literally disappear before our eyes.

It makes no difference if you live in Hemet, Lake Elsinore, Fallbrook or Corona. Of all the nights to be part of our Community, this Saturday night might well be the most important of them all. It is a very good service for children who like to actively participate in Jewish ritual. We will be using colored markers instead of listening to a sermon. Sounds fun to me!

Wishing you and yours a 5784 of great blessing.

Tisku Le’shanim Rabot. Shanah Tova U’Mitukah,

Rabbi Sandy Rosenstein