Tzedakah begins with family...

This is how we opened our discussion at our annual Congregational Meeting, held on June 14th, regarding the amount of dollars we have budgeted for financial aid in 2009/2010.  In our past year's budget, we planned for $42,500 and we actually allocated OVER $70,000!!  That is a 112% increase from last year's budget!!!  Temple Chayai Shalom is steadfast in our conviction that NO FAMILY WILL BE TURNED AWAY due to the concern for payment of dues.

As a child attending Religious School I remember going to services and assemblies at the end of class on Sunday.  I can't remember exactly the what we did when we were there, but I remember the words with which the rabbi dismissed us.  He stood before us with his hands raised and said, "bo'achem l'shalom, v'tzeitchem l'shalom," "as your coming was in peace, may your going also be unto peace." Those words seem appropriate now as we reach the end of the school year.  

Why learn Biblical Hebrew? According to Michael A. Meyer in “Reflections on the ‘Educated Jew’ from the Perspective of Reform Judaism,” there are multiples reasons. He states that:

The curriculum that the Jewish school requires rests upon twin pillars: ethnic awareness and religious knowledge, Jewishness and Judaism. Fundamental for both is the Hebrew language. For the first, it is the chief cultural attribute of the Jewish people, both its historical channel of expression and the locus for values that do not transfer fully to other languages. For the second, it is the sacred bridge between G-d and Israel. It is the vehicle for Torah and for prayer.