Chavurah Masarti
Lynchburg, Virginia Founded on 2, Cheshvan 5766
HIDDUR MITZVAH:
As you all know, we have secured our own Torah and we are in the process of our own "Hiddur Mitzvoth" effort! For those unfamiliar with the term, "hiddur mitzvah" refers to the commandment that we surround the engagement in mitzvoth with an artistic embellishment. We are commanded not only to engage in the reading of Torah, for instance, but to take such delight in the mitzvah of Torah that we visually beautify our ritual. For this reason, Torah scrolls are adorned with decorative mantels and silver rimonim. We recently received our new Torah cover, pictured here, and it is beautiful! We also finished building an ark for our Torah, and we dedicated our new aron ha-kodesh on Rosh Hashanah. Check out this link to see a history of the project.
2006-2007 STUDY TOPICS:
We are very excited about the topic that we have chosen for our formal study sessions over the next year. We have decided to study the Judges- a topic that will allow for both historical learning and deep analysis of text. Our sessions over the summer will cover a background of the geo-political environment of the period of the Judges and an overview of the books to be covered. Beginning in September we will dig into selected texts and continue that effort for the next year. Go to study page
2007-2008 STUDY TOPICS:
After moving through the Book of Judges in '06-'07, we have decided to continue on into the Book of Samuel for '07-'08. First Samuel creates a transition from the period of the Judges to the period of the Kings, and we hope to cover most of this book during the year. One nice aspect of our study that has developed by accident is that members have each reached to their own bookshelves and selected a translation of the material that they already had. On many occasions it has been useful to see how two or three different translations handle the same passage. Of course, we can't get too far without providing our own translation as well! Go to study page
HIGH HOLY DAYS 5767:
Our Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services were wonderful. We all had a meaningful experience observing these important holidays in eachother's homes and in the great outdoors. Click here to see some pictures from Rosh Hashanah.
TZEDAKAH PROJECTS:
While our members have continued their commitment to working at the Rivermont Area Emergency Food Pantry and to serve at Gateways, we engaged in a special project this month. Our Chavurah prepared a meal and served it at a recent Kid's Haven dinner. Kid's Haven is a local organization that helps children and their families deal with the loss of loved ones. Click here to see photos of some of our members in action. UPDATE: We repeated our Kid's Haven experience in 2007, and it looks like hosting this dinner will become an annual experience.