Please make your reservations for in-person services and meals ASAP by submitting via e-mail (or fax!) the Excel form found on the right side of our High Holy Days website: https://www.jccjapan.org/high-holy-days-2021.html While we greatly appreciate the generosity of those who purchase seats, this year due to the ongoing pandemic it is also imperative you let us know which services you plan to attend in-person due to capacity controls in the sanctuary. Consider it a mitzvah by helping our already overburdened office and kitchen staff prepare for what is always the most stressful time of year in synagogue life. The deadline is this Friday, August 27th at 4pm.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. It goes by many names. The hot kiddush. The meat kiddush. The hot, meat kiddush. Some synagogues go a lifetime without one. In others, it would be blasphemy for a week to pass without a beef stew alongside those round, unnaturally orange ridged crackers. From my understanding, and to the historians/institutional memorialists/yentas of the shul please correct me if I am wrong, but while the JCC often served plated chicken, fish or vegetarian Shabbat lunches pre-COVID, there was rarely if ever a circumstance where a spread was served gratis to everyone in attendance. To paraphrase the inaugural address of a prior American administration “This Jewish Communal Carnage stops right here and stops right now.”
Saturday, August 28th heralds a new era for the Jews of Japan, nay APAC. Many said it could not be done. Kosher meat in Japan? Es past nisht! But as Theodor Herzl the founder of modern-day Zionism once quipped in words immortalized by The Big Lebowski, אם תרצו, אין זו אגדה “If you will it, it is no dream”. Courtesy of this week’s sponsors the Andreu Family, our community will dine on knockwurst and hot dogs with all the fix-in’s served on pareve buns hand delivered by Eric Siegel from Chicago’s famous North Shore Kosher Bakery. Please join us in the social hall at noon following services for what promises to be an unforgettable experience.
And seriously, please send in the High Holy Days form as soon as possible. Despite everything I wrote above about Kiddush, our in-person meals are delicious and even subsidized but require reservations so that Izaki-san and Ozawa-san can work their magic.
Services
Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat will begin on Zoom at 5:30pm through August 27th. Starting September 3rd, Kabbalat Shabbat will begin on Zoom at 5:00pm.
Next Kiddush available for sponsorship is Shabbat Sukkot 9/25.
Events (Please note revised times)
Shabbat Morning
Date: Saturday, August 28th
Kiddush sponsored by the Andreu Family in dedication to Carlos’s maternal grandmother, Frances Scheck
Thank you to Todd Walzer and David Tropp for leyning.
Services: 10:00am – Noon
Meat Kiddush: Noon – 2:00pm
Sunday School Welcome Back
Date: Sunday, August 29th
Time: 10:00am – 11:00am for non-B’nai Mitzvah Classes
10:00am – 11:30am for B’nai Mitzvah Class
Location: Social Hall
Erev Rosh haShana
Monday, September 6th
Services: 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Rosh haShana Day 1
Tuesday, September 7th
Services: 10am – 12:30pm
Shofar Blowing: 11:30am
Lunch: 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Rosh haShana Day 2
Wednesday, September 8th
Services: 10am – 12:30pm
Shofar Blowing: 11:30am
Lunch: 12:30pm – 2:30pm
Tashlich at Arisugawa Park
Wednesday, September 8th
4:00pm – we run out of stale challah
Shabbat Shuva
Date: Saturday, September 11th
Gala Kiddush sponsored by the Nadler Family in honor of Peter’s mother, Marta Nadler
Time: 10:00am – Noon
Kiddush: Noon – 2pm
Erev Yom Kippur
Wednesday, September 15th
Pre-fast meal: 3:45pm – 4:45pm
Kol Nidre: 5:00pm – 6:30pm
Yom Kippur
Thursday, September 16th
Services: 10:00am – 12:30pm
Yizkor: 11:00am
Mincha, Neilah and Maariv: 4:00pm – 6:30pm
Break-the-fast nosh: 6:30pm – 7:30pm
Erev Sukkot
Monday, September 20th
Services: 6:30PM – 7:00PM
Dinner in the Sukkah: 7:00PM – 9:00PM
Sukkot Day 1
Monday, September 21st
Services: 10:00AM – 12:00PM
Lunch in the Sukkah: 12:00PM – 2:00PM
Erev Shabbat Chol HaMoed
Friday, September 24th
Services: 6:30PM – 7:00PM
Dinner in the Sukkah: 7:00PM – 9:00PM
Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot
Saturday, September 25th
Services: 10:00AM – 12:00PM
Lunch in the Sukkah: 12:00PM – 2:00PM
Shemini Atzeret and Erev Simchat Torah
Tuesday, September 28th
Services and Dancing with the Torah: 6:30PM – 8:00PM
Simchat Torah
Wednesday, September 29th
Services: 10:00AM – 12:00PM
Announcements
おかえりなさい (Okaerinasai) and ひさしぶり(Hisashiburi) to the Kahn Family.
In the following weeks and months, we will roll out several new features in the newsletter including a message from the board, featured members, a Japanese column and member recipes. Clearly, besides the Epic of the Sandwalker that has not been happening. Blame people’s summer travels, my sleep deprivation brought on by Asher and kashrut trips, unclear goals or just a general lack of buy-in. In any case, if you would like to volunteer for any of the above, please reply to this e-mail.
Parshat Ki Tavo
Candle Lighting: 5:57pm
Shabbat Ends: 6:54pm