November 2012 - Congregation Kol Emet

Do not forget to sign up for our new series of Thursday
night discussions, starting October 25 th . We will join with
our friends at the Yardley United Methodist Church to talk
about the “Genesis of Justice”. See page 4 for all of the
details.
From Carrie
By Carrie Shames Walinsky
Kol Emet Educational Director
cwalinsky@kolemet.org
I have been thinking a lot about how unique our schools
have become. Both schools have dedicated and loved
teachers. This month I’d like to focus on our Religious
School.
Our Religious School educates 200 students every year.
Our younger students meet 30 times throughout the
school year, which is 60 hours of Jewish education for an
entire school year. This is the equivalent of 2 weeks of
public school.
In those 60 hours our children learn how to master
Hebrew reading and writing, as well as learning 30
prayers to use through their B’nai Mitzvah and life. They
learn about all of the Jewish holidays, traditions, and
customs. They learn about Jewish communities
throughout the world, as well as a love of Israel. They
learn about Jewish history and they read Jewish
literature. They learn Jewish values and Jewish Mitzvot.
So all of this is wonderful, but what really, really, really,
are they learning? From my perspective I see our children
learning to value their Jewish community. I see our
children understanding it is an obligation, not a choice, to
care about their synagogue and their fellow students. I
see our children appreciating and being proud of their
Jewish legacy.
As parents of these beautiful children you have invested
not only in your child’s education, you are investing in the
future of the Jewish people, and I thank you. I was once
asked, “What is, for you personally, the most important
line in our Torah?” I answered “La dor v’dor – from
generation to generation.” As parents, you are fulfilling
this commandment.
However, I am going to ask you to challenge yourself
even more. I ask you to add a Jewish ritual to your home
life. Lighting Shabbat candles, blessing your children on
Friday nights, committing to sending your children to a
Jewish camp or a summer in Israel. Do something that
adds a connection of appreciation between you and your
family, as well as provide continuity in our Jewish culture
and customs. I ask you to do this so you create rituals
your children will remember and treasure.
As we begin this new school year I thank you on behalf of
our Religious School teachers and myself for returning
and committing to continuing our precious legacy. May
this year be a year we can celebrate and appreciate our
accomplishments.
President’s Message
By Melody Katz
president@kolemet.org
You are reading this, or hopefully reading this, at the end
of October when thoughts of winter are here and the
high holidays seem far away. I am writing this just after a
whirlwind of holiday activities. I hope the time from Rosh
Hashanah through Yom Kippur were meaningful for you
and your families and I hope you attended some of the
other wonderful holiday celebrations and events we had
at Kol Emet during the busy Jewish Holiday season.
I attended the Sukkah building and pancake breakfast,
women’s yoga night, preschool and religious school back
to school nights and last night was a wonderful dinner
and Shabbat in our Sukkah. It really does give me a
wonderful feeling to see our home bustling with people,
energy, and activity. Our calendar is bursting with more
events, classes, worship experiences, and opportunities
to share time together as a community. Those of you
who attend our events have a great time and leave with a
good feeling, but only a small percentage of you
participate. My mission has been to change that.
Coincidentally, our wonderful educational director, Carrie
Walinsky, is taking a leadership training class over the
course of this coming year based on the book, “Sacred
Strategies: Transforming Synagogues from Functional to
Visionary”. Prior to becoming your president I read that
book and had some real aha! moments. One of these
moments came from reading the following paragraph, “In
functional congregations, caring and social action are
often the purviews of different voluntary committees
staffed by people passionate about one of these areas,
The Voice of Kol Emet Page 2