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Click HERE to view the first video, as Rabbi Gottlieb introduced himself to City Shul.

Click HERE to view the second video, for the High Holidays.

Click HERE to read/view the High Holiday sermons from Rabbi Gottlieb.

Rabbi's Message

We gather together looking forward to the New Year…

As you are reading this newsletter, we are beginning the celebration of the High Holy Days and Fall Festivals. These are times that have offered personal renewal, thanksgiving for the fall harvest, remembrance of our Exodus experience, and rejoicing in Torah learning and Jewish living. We have gathered with family and friends, young and old, members of City Shul and prospective members and their families. It is a time when we have been focused both on our individual souls, as well as on our City Shul community—looking ahead to 5785. We are grateful to all of the staff and volunteers who will make our celebrations so beautiful. Such volunteerism and dedication are hallmarks of our sacred community.

We continue to grieve and hope for our world…

The trauma of war, especially in Israel and Gaza, continues to weigh heavily upon us. Though we had hoped and prayed for a cessation of hostilities and a return of the hostages, we continue to grieve the loss of life and the continuation of warfare, even as we fear its expansion to Israel’s northern border. Once again we watch the Middle East and Russia and Ukraine at war in prime time on CNN, and some aspects of our lives have been put on hold, as people re-think the necessity of business and leisure travel, governments re-think their security and immigration policies, and spending gives way to savings. We watch events unfold—in Israel and in the Ukraine—ever more closely than before. And closer to home, we continue to grieve the spread of anti-Semitism in our own community, where suddenly we feel anxious about being Jewish, especially in public spaces. We worry for our children, at school and away at university. We worry for our own security when we are at the shul or the JCC. It is, and I’m afraid it will be, a trying time for a while longer.

But even as we grieve for the world and its brokenness, we continue to be uplifted by stories of heroism and of human kindness. We spend more time with our families—especially with our children—and we spend more time, perhaps, in the synagogue. I have noticed an increase in

numbers and frequency of attendance over the summer, as our City Shul services are seen by more and more of our members as sources of comfort and support during these trying times. Jews have always turned to prayer and study of Torah—and to communal gathering—in times of difficulty, and these days of uncertainty in our world have brought us back to these familiar practices in our own familiar place. Please come and join us. Perhaps we can help each other to discover seeds of hope to plant in our hearts for a better time for ourselves, our children and our world in the year ahead.

From the “Circle Chant”, words and music by Linda Hirschhorn,

“Circle round for freedom. Circle round for peace.

For all of us imprisoned, circle for release.

Circle for the planet. Circle for each soul.

For the children of our children, keep the circle whole.”

L'Shana Tova

Rabbi Danny Gottlieb

rabbigottlieb@cityshul.com

www.cityshul.com

For our Shabbat service dates and times please click here 

All Event Info can be found here.

See Service Schedule.