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Shabbat and Holiday Events for 2011 / 5772
SHVAT (Jan 25-Feb. 22) is TREE month, in recognition of the New Year of Trees on Tu B'Shvat, the 15th of Shvat, Feb. 8.
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Shabbat Morning in Nature
Outdoor Service 10:30 AM
Indoor Torah Study and Pot-luck Lunch, 11:30 AM
Celebrate Shabbat with a walk through one of the beautiful conservation lands of MetroWest Boston and about 3/4 hour prayer, meditation, and song. Come dressed for the weather and possible ice or mud. If you wish, bring a reading, a song, or a meditation. Afterward we will go to Katy and Gabi's home for Torah discussion and a pot-luck lunch. Bring something to share! You are welcome to come to one or the other or both.
February 4, 11, 25 Services will take place at the Greenways Conservation Area. We will meet at the parking lot at the end of Green Way off Cochituate Road (Rts. 27 and 126). Our outdoor service will last about 45 minutes. We will then go to Katy and Gabi's home for Torah study, to begin at 11:30, followed by a pot-luck lunch. You are welcome to come for one or the other or both.
Tu BiShvat Seder
Tuesday, February 7, 7:00 PM
Join us as we celebrate the New Year for the Trees and reinvigorate our connection to the trees of the world with a meal of fruits and nuts and grains of Israel. With songs and blessings, readings and discussion, and a few extra activities thrown into the mix, we will appreciate the trees and the Source of their creation. We will meet at Lynne and Steve's home. Please bring a personal story of an experience with a tree, from your childhood if possible, and two or three pieces of junk mail. Please RSVP to Ma'yan Tikvah to get a list of foods we will need so you can let us know what you will bring. We usually have so much food that you don't really need to eat dinner ahead of time!
Introduction to Jewish Prayer
7 Monday evenings, 7:30-9 PM
Beginning February 27
Do you have questions about Jewish prayer? Why pray? What is the prayer service all about? What is the meaning of the prayers? What is the meaning of the words? Does it matter if I pray in English or in Hebrew? This eight-session class will address these and other questions about Jewish prayer. Each session will be devoted to three topics: learning prayerbook Hebrew, addressing the structure of the prayer service and the meaning of the fixed prayers, and discussing what prayer is, why we might want to pray, what to expect (or not) from prayer, and how to approach prayer. For the Hebrew portion of the class, we will use Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way. Other books are TBD, and additional readings will be provided. The ability to recognize Hebrew letters is needed to understand everything, but if you want to participate without doing the Hebrew portion, you are welcome to do so. Classes will meet Monday evenings two times a month, for seven sessions. For members, the suggested donation is $100, and for non-members $150. For more information contact Rabbi Katy Allen at rabbi@mayantikvah.org.
Tidbits of Talmud
Sundays, February 19, March 18, April 29, and May 20
7:30-9 PM
Talmud is delightful and seemingly unending, filled with wisdom and the source of the Judaism we practice today. This continuing series of classes is open to newcomers to the study of Talmud. Dip into the sea of Talmud in English, and find out some of its treasures. Our study of selected Talmudic texts from Tractate Brachot provides a jumping off point for conversation about topics of interest to us today. All texts are in English. No prior knowledge of anything at all is needed! The class is held at a private home in Wayland. Newcomers are welcome. To RSVP and get directions, contact Ma'yan Tikvah.
Donation Requested Two series of Talmud classes will be held this year. The fall series includes three sessions – November 9, December 11, and January 8. NOTE: Due to the change in the December class, we will schedule an additional class for this session in February. The spring session will now include three classes, March 18, April 29, and May 20. The suggested donation for each series of classes is $30 for members and $45 for non-members. However, whatever amount you wish to contribute, either more or less, will be gratefully accepted. Send your checks to our treasurer Ma'yan Tikvah - A Wellspring of Hope, c/o Marianne Doernis-Goldman, 309 Bishops Forest Drive, Waltham, MA 02452. If you’ve never come and want to try out the class, you are welcome to attend with no obligation, just let us know you are coming.
Previous Events and Services
Cranberry Shabbat
Saturday, October 29, Raindate, November 5
Meeting Time: 10:30
Join us for our annual Cranberry Shabbat. We will intermix songs and prayers with cranberry picking, and share a picnic lunch. Please bring something to share and your own drinks and utensils. (Warm soup is great for a picnic in October!) Also please bring containers for the cranberries. You can pick some berries for yourself, but most of our pickings will be given to a homeless shelter for their Thanksgiving dinner. Our Shabbat adventure will take place at the wild cranberry bogs by Wachusett Reservoir. The hope is that the cranberries will be abundant, but no promises! There may be muddy spots, so be prepared footwear-wise, and it could be windy and chilly along the water. Please RSVP to Ma'yan Tikvah for details on the meeting place, and we will try to match you with someone coming in the same direction for carpooling.
High Holiday Services in the Woods
Rosh HaShanah, Thursday, September 29, 9:30 AM
Nobscot Scout Reservation, Nobscot Road, Sudbury
Kol Nidre, Friday, October 7, 6:00 PM
Yom Kippur, Saturday, October 8, 9:30 AM
Wolbach Farm, Wolbach Road, Sudbury
Once again we will celebrate the High Holidays in the woods with morning services on the first day of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur and evening Kol Nidre services. The services will be a combination of traditional and nontraditional; they will be informal and participatory for those who wish to add their voices.
Rosh HaShanah services will be held under the trees, or in if the weather requires it, under a pavilion in the woods on the Nobscot Scout Reservation. We will leave the parking lot at 9:30, and the experience of the High Holidays will begin with the short hike up to the site. There will be time to sing, to appreciate the natural world around us, to meditate and pray, to read and discuss the Torah portion, and to hear the sound of the shofar reverberating through the woods. After the service there will be a pot luck dairy lunch and then a walk together to a spot for tashlich. All are welcome, including families with children.
Kol Nidre services will be held at Wolbach Farm, Wolbach Road, Sudbury and the nearby Conservation Area. We will begin and end indoors but will go outside under the stars for part of the service, to let the natural world inform our experience of the holiday.
Yom Kippur morning services will also, weather permitting, be outdoors, but at Wolbach Farm in Sudbury. We will begin our service in the grassy area near the Sudbury Valley Trustees Headquarters, walk through the conservation area for part of the service, and return to the grassy area for the Torah service and Yizkor.
All are welcome to all services. We ask that you register and our suggested donation is $54 for the first two people in a family and $36 for each additional adult over the age of bar/bat mitzvah. To register, click here to download a registration form. For more information, email Ma'yan Tikvah or call 508-358-5996.
We will again be running a food drive during the High Holidays, this time to benefit the Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center. More information will soon be available on our Tzedakah page.
For those who are planning on coming, a file with lots of specific details will soon be available.
Comments from previous High Holiday Services
I have rarely enjoyed a service as much as I did today's.
Thanks for such an engaging, spirtual holiday. I've saved your handout to read and savor.
We wanted to thank you for the lovely, reflective and uplifting Yom Kippur services yesterday. We felt very warmly received and included in the service and loved the stunning setting, the hiking, and the carefully planned service. The group was very sweet to our son, who had a great time playing with the pine needles and listening to the singing. It was a wonderful way to start the year, and the first time I’ve ever heard my husband feel connected to a service. Thank you for including us in such a special occasion.
Thank you for a wonderful day - my first Yom Kippur in many, many years - and I must say, my best.
Perseids Shabbat Celebration
7:00 PM, Friday, August 12
Join us for a special star-studded Perseids Shabbat Celebration. We’ll begin with Kabbalat Shabbat and a potluck vegetarian dinner and then go to a nearby dark and starry conservation area for a brief evening service, a celebration of the waxing moon, and enjoyment of the meteors.
Those who wish may camp out overnight and continue the celebration of Shabbat in the morning.
This event will be held at a private home in Bolton and a nearby conservation area. Contact Ma'yan Tikvah if you are interested. Preregistration is required.
Matzah from Ancient Grains
Study and Baking Workshop
Saturday, March 20, 6:45 PM
The ancient grains from which the first matzah was baked are almost extinct. But not quite. The Heritage Wheat Conservancy in Colrain, MA, is working with farmers and U Mass / Amherst on preserving and growing these grains. They sell the harvested grains, as well as flour made from them. The preservation of these grains in the Middle East is building partners for peace. At the workshop, we will first study the ancient grains, some of what the Torah has to say about them, and the spiritual meaning of eating unleavened bread for us today. After a Havdalah ceremony to end Shabbat, we will bake our own matzah from the ancient grains. A fee of $5 will cover the cost of materials. If you would like to order extra grain or flour to take home, the cost is listed below. The order will need to be made by March x. Recipes are available for the whole grain emmer. Before we begin our own baking we will give tzedakah to Mazon to help feed those who do not have enough to eat. The workshop will be at Katy and Gabi's home in Wayland. Please RSVP to Ma'yan Tikvah.
*Einkorn is safe for most of those with gluten allergies. Consult with your doctor before use.