Upcoming events and Va'ad Meeting Report

Shalom Kahal, This is a report of meeting that was held with the Va'ad and Rabbi Andrea London on Tuesday, September 9. The Va'ad is a committee of Kahal members that oversees Kahal services. Weekly we assure that there are volunteers for honors during our services. We also are the liaison between the Kahal community and the clergy and Beth Emet staff. Mark your calendar with three upcoming Kahal (and synagogue) events: Sukkah Crawl/Pot-luck, Shabbat October 18, after Kahal services - appetizers, main course and dessert at three members' homes in the Beth Emet neighborhood. Watch your emails for more details. Gabbai Training, Shabbat October 25 during and after potluck. Everyone who would like to be a Gabbai is invited to attend. Rabbi London would also like all current Gabbais to attend to review using Mishkan Tefilah and to help mentor new Gabbais. For more information, contact Rabbi London at alondon@bethemet.org Kahal Town Hall, Shabbat December 6 after services, moderated by Rabbi London. We hope you will all stay and share your Kahal experiences in a more formal way than our normal oneg chit-chat. Lite lunch of bagels and fruit will be provided. Vaʼad Meeting Report: 1. D'Var Torah and Guidelines. We discussed what makes an appropriate D'Var Torah. We reviewed the attached guidelines developed several years ago and concluded they were good guidelines. They will be sent to each person who volunteers to present a D'Var Torah and they will be attached to the emails that Leonard Nelson sends with the D'var Torah list. 2. Kahal Bulletin Board. Judith Cooper has volunteered to oversee the Kahal Bulletin Board. If you have anything you want to post, talk to Judith at Kahal or email her at Judithcooper@sbcglobal.net 3. Kahal classes for children. The notice emailed to Kahal from Rhonda Mlondinoff, Educator regarding 2008-2009 classes will be posted on the Kahal Bulletin Board. Classes will generally be twice a month, with one class/month for the older children and one class/month for our early elementary students. If you have questions about the classes, please contact Rhonda at mlodinoff@bethemet.org 4. Vaʼad members. Current members are Betsy Fuchs, Leonard Nelson, Judith Cooper, Kathy Mirkin, Larry Hamilton, Steve Lipton, and Marilyn Hendershot. Laura Miller who served on the Vaad for many years is stepping down. Thank you for your wise and compassinate service Laura. We are looking for one or two more members. Talk to one of the current Va'ad members if you are interested. 5. Honors Sign-up Sheets. We encourage you to sign-up for Kahal honors. And a reminder - signing up is a special way to commemorate a birthday, anniversary or other signficant event. In such cases, please share this with us after you have been called to the bimah. . 6. Torah Readers. Barbara Ann Lewis finds Hebrew Torah readers. Please contact her at b-lewish@northwestern.edu for more information. Though our minhag is for Hebrew Torah readers to chant the Hebrew Torah portion (usually 10 verses divided into 2), if you are more comfortable reading rather than chanting the portion, that is perfectly ok. 7. Publicizing Kahal. One way to publicize is to write something about Kahal for the bulletin now and then. If anyone has ideas for articles or short pieces, contact Betsy Fuchs at betsywfuchs@yahoo.com. Steve Lipton will post Kahal information to the Beth Emet Facebook page. And reaching out to visitors and Kahal newcomers to make them feel welcome is a great way to keep Kahal vibrant and fresh. 8. Kahal ListServe. To be added or removed from the Kahal ListServe or to change your email address, contact BekkI Kaplan bkaplan@bethemet.org