This Week at Yavneh

In this week's update:

• Upcoming worship services
• Yavneh Hanukkah celebration
• Hanukkah 101
• Yavneh learning opportunities
  
• New Hope Alliance challenge
• Transgender Day of Remembrance

Upcoming worship services

• Shabbat morning worship, Saturday, November 22, 10:30 am.
• Kabbalat Shabbat worship, Friday, December 5, 7:45 pm.
• Shabbat morning worship, Saturday, December 13, 10:30 am.

Please remember to bring donations for the Food Basket or school supplies for Wilburn Elementary when you attend services.  NOTE - Wilburn is currently well-stocked with clothing supplies and does not need any more at this time. THANK YOU!

Yavneh Hanukkah celebration
Shabbat/Hanukkah Congregational Pot-luck Dinner and party (with Jewish trivia!),Friday, December 19, 6:30 pm in the Community Life Center at St. Mark's. Information about “what to bring” will follow. If you'd like to be on the latke-making team, contact Janet Isaacs for more information.

Hanukkah 101
Yavneh has prepared a "Hanukkah 101" booklet with a short explanation of the Hanukkah story and holiday customs, blessings and songs, and more. You can download the PDF here. Contact Lewis Copulsky to request printed copies, or pick up on the literature table outside services.

Yavneh learning opportunities

• The Mitzvot Study Group meets tomorrow night (Wednesday, 11/19), 7:30 - 9:00 pm. In Midrash Tehillim it says "on the day a guest arrives, a calf is slaughtered in his honor; the next day, a sheep, the third day, a fowl, and on the fourth day, he is served beans". This month we'll discuss what the Torah has to say about the mitzvot of hospitality. RSVP to Lewis Copulsky.
• The next Dinner with the Rabbi is scheduled for Sunday, November 23, 6:30 - 8:30 pm. We will be gathering someplace new this month - Sushi Thai, in the Lake Boone Shopping Center. RSVP by Friday, November 21 to Reb Raachel.
  
• Part three of The Halachic Imagination will meet on Monday, November 24, 7:30 - 9:00 pm at Reb Raachel's home. This 4-session overview examines how the process of Jewish law, known as Halachah (The Path), has promoted creativity, evolution, and religious practicality for more than 2,000 years.  We will learn how systematic re-examination of the Covenant promotes Jewish vitality, and how Torah's role in bringing peace into the world can help guide us in determining halacha's direction in coming decades. RSVP to Reb Raachel.
  
• A follow-up discussion to “Forming Light, Creating Darkness: Quantum Physics and Kabbalah,” our Fall 2014 Scholars-in-Residence program, is scheduled for Monday, December 1, 7:30 – 9:00 pm at Reb Raachel’s. RSVP to Reb Raachel.
  
• Men's Spirituality Group meets Wednesday evening, December 3, 7:30 - 9:00 pm. Contact Lewis Copulsky for information/RSVP.
  
• Spirit-Wisdom-Intuition Yavneh SoulCollage® workshop will not take place in December, but will resume in January 2015.
  

Learn more about these and other Yavneh programs here.

New Hope Alliance challenge
Do you knit? Yavneh has committed to provide at least 20 home-made scarves, hat, or mittens for the Dec 11 holiday party at Wilburn Elementary. PLEASE NOTE: items need to be at St. Marks by Dec.9th.  If you have questions or need help delivering your items, contact Margie Sved or Caro Foulkrod.
 
Transgender Day of Remembrance
Join the LGBTQ Center of Durham, LGBT Center of Raleigh, Equality North Carolina, and other groups as they mark Transgender Day of Remembrance onThursday, November 20. Candlelight vigil from 6:00 to 6:45 pm, at CCB Plaza, 115 Market St, Durham, followed by benefit and celebration starting at 7:00 pm at MotorCo, 723 Rigsbee St, Durham. More information available here.