August 22, 2019 During the Summer, we will be sending onWe weekly email. While the Rabbi is away the professional staff will be writing the d'var. Please scroll down for this week;s d'var from Zach Dunn
CMT will not be holding services in August. All are welcome to join KI at their normal service times.
We Remember: Upcoming Yahrzeit Observances 23 Av- 28 Av
Saturday Benjamin Hyman Frank H.Friedman Morris Lichter
Sunday Simon Cohen Fannie B.Karlin Bernard Kaye Corrine Thall
Monday Hyman Barahal Paul H. Freedman Margaret Frisch Jacob Saranga
Tuesday Saul Backman Harry Perlmutter
Wednesday Elinor Kaplan Marilyn Rosenberg George L. Stone
Thursday Dr. Philip Bern Sumner Z.Cooper Beatrice Gottlieb Gary Fleischer Shraga Moishe Thelma Rudy
Friday Jodi Robin Epstein Sarah Lichter Rose Sandler Sylvia 'Sybil' Summers
USHERS NEEDED
We are looking forward to greeting you, your families and friends in our new social hall on the Campus this coming High Holiday's.
Ushers are needed! If you can volunteer any time please email chuck.diamond@comcast.net with your requests and or availability for Days 1 and 2 on Rosh Hashana, Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur. As we get closer to the Holidays we will get back in touch with you.
Hope you are enjoying your summers! Chuck Diamond, Larry Chafetz, Dave Rubinstein, and Russ Stein
Community Support Pledges 2019-2020
Thanks to you and your on-going support, Congregation Mishkan Tefila is thriving! With your help, our community transitioned into our beautiful new sacred space, and welcomed thousands of people from the greater Boston community to our new home and innovative programs. Our shared vision of creating an exciting new model of American Judaism by being an innovator in the 384 Campus and bringing joyful, inclusive Judaism to the community is now a reality.
Along with the leadership, programming, and support you expect, appreciate, and count on, as Congregation Mishkan Tefila continues to expand our community your generous community support pledge will also make it possible for us to enhance and enrich our offerings. Every contribution, no matter the size, is deeply meaningful and helps make it possible for Congregation Mishkan Tefila to be a full-service congregation and open year-round.
It's time to register for FESTIVE FRIDAY Looking forward to welcoming everyone back for the first Festive Friday of the season. Click anywhere on the flyer below to register. CMT community members can bring friends at member rates AND can purchase any six dinners for the price of five. Contact Debbie for more information at debbie@mishkantefila.org or 617-332-7770 ext 212
Weekly D'var
I have to admit when the Rabbi asked our three staff members to contribute our thoughts to the weekly happenings while she was away, I truly didn’t know what I was going to write about that would be relevant. What story could I tell? Who would relate to what I wrote? After a few terrible ideas including the “Gentile Chronicles”, I figured I would just talk about religion in modern times; I’ll save the “Chronicles” for a different publication.
It just so happens that in last week’s Parsha, Moses spoke to a new generation of Jews, predicting that they will turn away from G-d. Well, Moses was not wrong. According to Pew’s 2014 Religious Landscape Survey, those who say they go to temple or another house of worship at least once a week fell from 39 percent in 2007 to 35 percent in 2014.
In that same period, the number who say they “seldom or never” go to synagogue, church, mosque or another service inched up, from 27 percent to 30 percent. I found these statistics the most interesting throughout the survey because Mishkan seems to be an anomaly. People are joining Mishkan at an unprecedented pace. We have grown on an average of 10% over the past two years and one of those years, we didn’t even have our beautiful new space! Most religious organizations don’t exceed the 5% growth mark. At our Festive Friday Kabbalat Shabbaton, we always have new people sitting in the Sanctuary. People really like our style of welcoming the Shabbat!
The openness to new ideas and practices is what I loved about Mishkan when I first came on staff and to this day. You all are trailblazers and are not afraid to try new things. In a world and country where we seem to want to put a stranglehold on things of old and never let them go, Mishkan has loosened its grip and took the chance to see what will happen. This openness has translated to welcoming everyone walking through our doors. Radical hospitality is subtle yet ever present and necessary in a time when people need it most.
I am truly proud of Mishkan for these and many more reasons that would make this reflection far too long if I included details. For now, let’s buckle up and get ready for the High Holidays in our new building, enjoy our brand new website and remain open to even more innovation. I am grateful for my many new CMT friends and to have shared the last few years with you. Continue to blaze that trail, Mishkan. Shalom, Zach
Congregation Mishkan Tefila 384 Harvard St. Brookline, MA 02446
