Congregation Adas Emuno

This Week at Adas Emuno

August 21, 2025 9:06 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Aug. 21, 2025

Dear Friends,
Our monthly reading of the Torah will take place at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).
The passage from Deuteronomy is among the most important of our tradition, because it points out that we always have a choice before us- the path of blessing or the path of curse.
This message of moral empowerment is timely and timeless.

Would you like to be part of our Torah Study or Book/Film Club Google groups, where you can find out more information about what we are studying/reading/viewing, and communicate with other members in those groups? Just forward us your email address.
Would you like to read/chant a Hebrew or English part in our Holiday services? Let me know today, as I'm about to send out a master list of honors.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

August 14, 2025 8:06 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Aug. 14, 2025

Dear Friends,
The remarkable prophet Isaiah is read more than any other prophet in the synagogue, including the present seven week stretch.
We'll continue our discussion of his life and works, including two great archeological discoveries that shed light on his times, at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

Keep reading and watching! Our book and film clubs are growing. Below is information on our next selections. If you would like more detailed descriptions and regular reminders, sign up for our Adas Emuno Google Group. Just send us your preferred email address. All meetings take place via Zoom at 7:30 PM, and all books and films are available from the public library.

The opening of religious school is three weeks away, and the holidays just over five weeks away!
This is a first reminder to return your school and membership dues forms.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

Monday, Sept. 8, A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz (book)
Monday, Oct. 20, Three Identical Strangers (movie)
Monday, Nov. 10, An Officer and a Spy by Richard Harris (book)
Monday, Dec. 8, Gentlemen's Agreement (movie)

This Week at Adas Emuno

August 07, 2025 8:40 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

August 7, 2025

Dear Friends,
From now until the end of the Jewish year, that is, the next seven weeks, every Haftarah (supplementary reading from the Prophets) is drawn from Isaiah.
This is by design- so what are the sages trying to tell us during this lead up to the new Year?
We'll think about it at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM), once again with Rabbi Max serving as cantor.

Our bi-monthly Adas Emuno Film Club meets via zoom on Monday (7:30 PM), to discuss the recent film "Unbroken", which chronicles the remarkable survival of a set of siblings during the Holocaust.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno—Patio Service at 6pm

July 31, 2025 8:06 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

July 31, 2025

Dear Friends,
Our third and final summer outdoor patio Shabbat Evening Service (6:00 PM) takes place tomorrow.
That means it is already August!
Last month featured great weather and music, and let's hope for the same.
Feel free to bring your own supper, and we'll supply the drinks and dessert.

As this is the Sabbath before Tisha B'av, I'll add a few words about the origins of this mournful fast day.
While this day is not designated in the Torah, and is largely unobserved by Reform Jews, it is both historically significant to the Jewish people and followed by the traditional community.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

July 24, 2025 8:34 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

July 24, 2025

Dear Friends,
The name of this week's Torah portion is "Journeys".
This last section from the Book of Numbers lists each and every stop our Israelite ancestors made during their forty years in the desert.
At our monthly reading from the Torah at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM) I'll read from just the beginning of that long list (it’s pages long).
Lurking behind the text is the question of why every stop is mentioned, and why the original Torah (the last book, Deuteronomy, is a later addition) chooses to end this way.
And we're very happy to have Rabbi Max Chaiken subbing for the cantor this week. Did you know that Max was a head camp song leader, with the guitar skills to prove it!

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

July 17, 2025 9:17 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

July 17, 2025

Dear Friends,
A group of five daughters, for the sake of honoring the memory of their father, created quite a stir among Moses and the Israelites.
And Dan Pasky will honor his father, who recently passed away, with a brief but loving tribute.
Both tales will be told at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

July 10, 2025 8:55 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

July 10, 2025

Dear Friends,
"Rising Lion" was the name of Israel's dramatic operation against Iran.
It’s from this week's Torah portion, and there is quite a story behind it.
We'll tell the tale at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

At our Adas Emuno Book Club this Monday (7:30 PM): a discussion of Michael Chabon's Pulitzer prize winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, described as “an epic historical novel that charts 16 years in the lives of Sammy Clay and Joe Kavalier, two Jewish cousins who create a wildly popular series of comic books in the early 1940s, the years leading up to the entry of the U.S. into World War II.”

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno—Outdoor Shabbat Service and Picnic

July 03, 2025 8:26 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

July 3, 2025

Dear Friends,
Tomorrow is July 4, and we wish you, and our country, a Happy Independence Day.
This is also the first Shabbat of a summer month, when we have our early outdoor patio Shabbat Evening Service (6:00 PM).
We're planning to infuse the service with American folk music that you will know and enjoy.
Bring a pot-luck picnic for afterwards, and as usual we'll supply drinks and dessert.
You'll be home in plenty of time for the fireworks!

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

June 26, 2025 8:17 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

June 27, 2025

Dear Friends,
Internal dissent is especially challenging at times of external threat.
That is true here and now for us, and for our ancestors.
At our monthly reading of the Torah at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM), we'll observe how an uprising against Moses from his very own tribe put the whole community in jeopardy.

Thanks to all who participated in our Annual Meeting and Gathering in the Garden. Next Friday is July 4, but also the first Shabbat of the month, so come celebrate both at our outdoor patio service (6:00 PM).

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz

This Week at Adas Emuno

June 19, 2025 8:24 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

June 19, 2025

Dear Friends,
Our annual Gathering in the Garden is by all means in person; come enjoy on Sunday (4:00-6:00 PM), and bring a friend.

I had the opportunity this past week to visit two European cities with a long and rich Jewish heritage: Vienna and Prague.
I'll reflect on the past, present and future of this heritage at our Shabbat Evening Service (7:30 PM).

The crisis in Israel was very much manifest while I was there...and Israel is constantly in our thoughts and prayers during this most challenging of times.

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Schwartz