Shoshana Dweck

The first Shabbat of this month is Shabbat Starts Here. We will be at Temple’s Historic Campus on Greene Street. Our services that night will be shorter than usual which will allow us a longer time over dinner to hear from our special guest, Shoshana Dweck. Be sure to make your reservations to be with us that evening.

I first met Shoshana nearly 40 years ago when we were undergraduates at Tufts University. In fact, I had been President of Tufts Hillel and handed the gavel to her as I set off to study at Tel Aviv University for the spring semester of 1987.

Shoshana and her family have been leaders in the Jewish community, and specifically in

Reform Judaism, for generations. Her path brought her to Greensboro many times over the years because her kids attended the former American Hebrew Academy.

We are so honored that she is returning this time as part of a series of Shabbat programming on December 6th and 7th.

Shoshana Dweck is a leader of WRJ (Women of Reform Judaism) which is our movement’s national umbrella organization for Temple Sisterhoods. She is also deeply committed to Israel exemplified through her work with ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America. If you consider yourself a Zionist, if you have strong commitments and/or questions about Reform Judaism’s connections to Zionism and to the modern state of Israel, you will want to attend her sessions.

You can find more details in this bulletin as well as in other Temple communications.

Here are the quick highlights:

- Friday, December 6, 6:30pm – note that we will be at our Historic Campus on Greene Street

Our topic will be Zionism, the work of ARZA, and specifically our role in the World Zionist Organization Elections which will take place in the spring of 2025. There will not be a sermon during services. Instead, we will have this extended conversation with Shoshana over dinner. There is a modest charge for dinner; your advance reservation is

greatly appreciated.

- Chevra Torah on Shabbat morning, Saturday, December 7 will take place from 9-10:30am

Shoshana will be our guest teacher and will be discussing the impact of war on

women’s issues, especially looking at the impact of October 7th. Even if you have

never been to Chevra Torah, you should come for this special session of Torah study.

- Saturday, December 7, at 11:45am

Shoshana will lead a conversation about Reform Judaism in Israel. During this session, Temple will stream the weekly Israel Movement of Reform Judaism’s Havdalah live from Israel. There will be a light, no-cost brunch for attendees.

A note about the hostages being held by Hamas terrorists and their collaborators in Gaza:

We have just passed the one-year mark since the hostage-for-terrorist-prisoner exchanges took place between Israel and Hamas. 105 civilian hostages, mostly Israeli, were part of this negotiated deal. I hope that by the time that this bulletin article is printed, the remaining 101hostages are out of captivity, alive, and back where they belong, so that they and their families can take their next steps and heal. Sadly, now that over 420 days have passed since October 7th, we are approaching the 444-

day mark. Some will remember how that was the number of days that American embassy staff in Tehran, Iran were held against their will following the revolution there in 1979.

I truly hope that well before we gather to light candles for Hanukkah at the end of this month that we will mark their return to freedom and to light.

Hanukkah will be at the end of the month. There will be many reasons for us to be at the vanguard of bringing more light to a world sorely in need of it.

Michal and I, together with everyone at Temple, send our blessings for a Hanukkah filled with peace, health, and freedom – for us, for our people, and for all people.

Rabbi Andy Koren

Senior Rabbi