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31…49…67…80
No these are not an audible for a football team or even a partial
bingo card. Closer to the secret of these numbers is the combination
to a lock that opens the treasure of Judaism to you.
The numbers represent 13-the age of mitzvah plus 18-the number representing
life. 31 is the first chai of your Bar/Bat Mitzvah, 49 is the second,
67 is the third and onward. To those 80 and older, you are welcome
to participate as well. For these milestone ages including several
years before and after, a new and exciting tradition has begun.
It is called Chai Mitzvah and it is an enjoyable and rewarding way
to reconnect to your spiritual roots and renew your relationships
to God and Judaism on the milestone anniversaries of your entrance
into Jewish responsibility.
Chai Mitzvah, which began in Hartford and has now come to our community
through the BJENY-SAJES network, is already becoming an important
tradition in the Jewish world. This piIot program is funded by a
grant from UJA-Federation of NY. I invite you to find out more from
it’s participants at: chaimitzvah.org. We at the Woodbury
Jewish Center are delighted to offer Chai Mitzvah for this New Year.
The program is designed around our hectic and frenetic schedules
and allows the participants to do as much as they are comfortable
in the way of increasing Jewish participation and connections for
the Chai Mitzvah year.
The program consists of five easy pieces that are as follows:
• A monthly evening study session on Jewish tradition and
beliefs that will serve the greater Syosset, Woodbury, Jericho
and Plainview area. Don’t worry if you are unable to attend
some or even all of these classes, since the curriculum will be
available on the internet.
• A personal commitment of engaging in or deepening a Jewish
tradition or ritual. This would include lighting Shabbat Candles
weekly, or attending minyan on a regular basis, or whatever custom
you wish to make your own for the New Year.
• Connecting with some ongoing project or educational initiative
during the year.
• Perhaps you might join a synagogue committee or help in
one of our social action programs. You might want to attend my
weekly Talmud class, or any of the learning opportunities available
in our congregation or in the greater community.
• Each Chai Mitzvah participant is honored at a concluding
ceremony that will surely be a moving and inspiring event that
will culminate an immensely satisfying and rewarding mile-stone
year.
As in any life enhancing and motivational program, you will need
a personal trainer and motivator. For Chai Mitzvah at the Woodbury
Jewish Center, we are truly privileged to have as our mentor Adrianne
Roth. Adrianne possesses a passion and positive outlook that will
engage and inspire each participant throughout the year.
I will be assisting Adrianne and our participants in helping to
ensure that this special year will be a meaningful and memorable
lifetime experience for you.
So the next step is yours. Give Adrianne
Roth a call at 516- 857-6518 or email her.
As we approach this season of introspection
and self-scrutiny, we will ponder the purpose of our existence and
the opportunities that await us to come closer to God and our fellow
Jews. Chai Mitzvah is the answer to the yearning that we possess
especially during the years before, during and following the chai
anniversaries of our coming of age in the Jewish tradition. Now
is the perfect time to reconnect and renew those sacred bonds. I
eagerly look forward to your positive response.
To all our WJC family for the New Year of 5771 - May you and your
loved ones be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life,
L’Shanah Tova,
Rabbi
Raphael Adler
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