Rabbi's Blog

​​​​​Shalom TIers,

I hope everyone had a good and sweet Rosh Hashanah and that you are prepared for a meaningful Yom Kippur. We are glad that we were able to provide a variety of engagement opportunities for Rosh Hashanah for all of our congregants, friends and family, from the youngest to the oldest. We had both in-person and virtual programming for Tots and for our school children. The teens were able to get to know Rabbi Kelley and there were both virtual and in-person services for the adults. A similar range of opportunities is scheduled for Yom Kippur as well. Please look for a separate email with links to the various services and programs.

Based on our attendance at the Day 1 Rosh Hashanah services, and the general interest that is normal for Kol Nidrei, there is a slight concern that we will go over our capacity limit of 200 people in the Wolman Sanctuary service. If this is the case, we will need to direct people who had not planned to do so to go to the service in the Cherner. Both services will be meaningful experiences and I will be delivering my Drash at both services. It is also possible that we will reach the capacity of 100 people in the Cherner, too. If this happens, we will have a screen set up on the 16th Street steps for people to watch the Wolman service instead of having to go home and miss it completely.

Just a couple of other items for Yom Kippur and Sukkot:

Empty Your Pockets - This year, the Social Action Committee has designated Homes Not Borders as the recipient of our collection. Their mission is to “to provide the refugee, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) and asylum-seeking population of the D.C. area with what they need to thrive and feel at home in the United States.” You can find information about this organization at https://www.homesnotborders.org. You can contribute to Homes Not Boarders either at https://www.homesnotborders.org/donate-money/ or through the TI Marvin Caplan Fund, on the TI website (https://tiferethdc.shulcloud.com/payment.php), adding a note that the donation is intended for "Homes Not Borders.” If you are coming to TI for Kol Nidrei, you can also bring your contribution with you as in the past.

Ask the Rabbi - This year, on Yom Kippur afternoon, immediately before Mincha I will hold a Q & A session. All varieties of questions, mostly about Jewish topics, will be entertained. Guidelines include: No TI administrivia and the ability for me to say, “I don’t know.” The Q & A session will begin in the Sanctuary at 5:00 pm and will also be live-streamed.

Sukkot - Our Sukkah is in process and will be completed on Sunday. Thanks goes to Richard Gryziak and the 7th grade Himmelfarb students for their efforts so far. Once people grab their snacks following our services on Sukkot and Shabbat Sukkot, people can make their way to the sukkah to eat and shmooze. During the week, the sukkah will be available for people to use as well. No sign up is necessary. Enjoy! 

The month of Tishrei, filled with all these special holidays, gives us much time to connect with our TI community and to have many meaningful and joyful experiences. Hopefully I will see many of you at services or at our home for our Sukkot Open House on Thursday, September 23, 4:00-8:00.

Tzom Kal (an easy fast) to those who are fasting, a meaningful Yom Kippur and a joyous Sukkot to all,
Rabbi Werbow