Care Archives - Temple Sinai

Supporting Members as We Approach the New Fiscal Year June 1

We hope as you read this message that you and your loved ones are feeling well and staying safe. We want to assure you that we are sensitive to the ongoing insecurity and distress that we are all experiencing due to the extended impact of COVID-19 on our daily lives.

As you may recall, our membership year runs from June 1st – May 31st annually. If you have already submitted your member commitment pledge for 2020-21 – thank you. If not, we would really appreciate hearing from you by May 15. You can complete the form on-line HERE or by contacting membership coordinator Karen Auerbach or our executive director Ellen Agler.

We know that some members of our community are experiencing challenging financial circumstances due to the COVID crisis. Please contact Karen or Ellen to talk about any concerns you might have either about your current financial obligations or about next year’s membership pledge. For members who are able to give more generously, please consider an extra gift to help us meet the anticipated financial challenges we face due to COVID through this crisis period. Together as a community, we will weather this storm.

Staying connected with our members is critically important during this unprecedented time. Our SinaiCares team is reaching out to members who may be feeling isolated or in need of support. Our clergy and staff are just a phone call or e-mail away for anyone who might need us. We hope you have checked out Temple Sinai on-line! Enter our online community here. Our clergy team is leading services from their homes for Shabbat and life cycle events. Attendance at these virtual services has been heart-warming and has surpassed expectations, indicating the comfort that members are deriving from their continuing connection with the Temple community. From online gatherings for those in our nursery and religious school communities, to virtual challah baking, book groups, adult learning and Torah study, there is quite a lot going on at Sinai, even if it is not in-person! We hope that you have already enjoyed some of these many and diverse offerings.

Our strength as a Jewish community can help each of us get through these days of isolation and uncertainty just a little bit better. We look forward to the day when we can all be together again at the temple. Until then, we wish you good health and peace.

March 20, 2020

Care, Updates

A Letter from Our Clergy

Dear Temple Sinai community,

Since our founding in 1951, Temple Sinai has stood as a center for connecting with Jewish traditions and learning, a beacon for social justice, and a source of comfort and care to its members. We continue to stand on those principles as we redouble our efforts to support you during this unprecedented time with on-line offerings and digital person-to-person connections.

This week, we read the end of the book of Exodus. It is traditional when we finish reading a book of the Torah that the congregation joins together in saying, “chazak, chazak, v’nit’chazek” meaning “be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another.” During this period of uncertainty and instability, many of us are being called upon to be strong in different ways, to find our footing in a strange and unfamiliar reality. This can be taxing and we want to reiterate that the Sinai clergy team is here for you to chat, to check in, and to offer pastoral support. Sinai’s dedicated administrative staff team is working remotely and will help you schedule phone or video appointments with any member of the clergy.

In times like these, we are also called to take care of each other. Our Kathie Rabinovitz SinaiCares program helps clergy and members support one another. Although we cannot be with each other physically, we can continue to care for our members, especially those who are lonely, homebound, struggling, or sick. Our clergy and SinaiCares volunteers are already reaching out to vulnerable members and we invite you to join those efforts. If you are interested in joining the SinaiCares volunteer team or know of a member who could use some care, please contact Karen Auerbach, kauerbach@templesinaidc.org.

We know that this period of disruption will continue to impact many in our city and beyond. Our commitment to pursue justice and do our part to strengthen those around us does not diminish in the face of instability. With the help of our social action leaders, we have prepared a menu of ways for you to support local organizations that are meeting the urgency of this moment. Though our physical movement is limited, we continue to have capacity to help those in need. Please stay involved and redouble your own efforts to help the needy and care for the stranger.

As we enter Shabbat, we wish you all chazak, chazak, v’nitchazeik… be strong, and let us strengthen one another.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jonathan Roos
Rabbi Hannah Goldstein
Rabbi Adam Rosenwasser
Cantor Laura Croen
Cantor Rebecca Robins