Dear Friends:
On Monday night along with about 6,000 of my closest friends I attended a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the October 7 Massacre, the kidnapping of approximately 250 hostages, and the beginning of the multi-front war which sadly continues to this day. The event was sponsored by the Jewish Federation, Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Board of Rabbis. Kehilat Shalom was among the roughly 100 co-sponsors which ranged religiously from independent havurot to Young Israel, and politically from Herut to J Street. It was very meaningful, well done and well executed, with lots of security. and the venue (The Anthem at District Wharf) was first rate. A video of the event can be found at this link and if you were not there or did not watch it as it was livestreamed, I encourage you to find the time to watch it. If you have limited time, I would urge you to watch Sarah Hurwitz’s keynote address which begins at around 1 hour and 40 minutes in and lasts about eight minutes.
I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make our Rosh Hashanah services come off so smoothly. I also want to thank a number of people who gave me very positive feedback on my sermon for Day I and my text study for Day II. (While I acknowledged in my sermon on the first day that I do not handle criticism well, negative or neutral feedback is welcomed as well -- it is always possible to learn and to do better.)
The video of the first day’s sermon is here and the written text (which is not precisely how it was delivered) is here. The video of the second day’s text study is here and the text which we studied is here.
As a reminder, I am having drop-in hours on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 at the shul. For my drop-in hours, you do not need to make an appointment -- that would negate the whole point of drop-in hours -- but I’d urge you to check and make sure I am there regardless as sometimes there are unavoidable pastoral or other emergencies which might take me away from the building.
As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org or 301-977-0768 rather than through the synagogue office. I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment; if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by.
Additionally, if you know of a Kehilat Shalom congregant or another member of our Jewish community who could use a phone call, please let me know.
I said over Rosh Hashanah that many of my Israeli friends and colleagues are not wishing each other a “shana tova” (good year) but rather “shana yoter tova” (a better year). This is my wish for you and yours and for our entire world which is so desperately in need of healing.
L’shalom,
Rabbi Charles L. Arian
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