Blog

Often, a member of the clergy team will use his or her Shabbat message as an opportunity to invite you to celebrate Shabbat with us AT Temple Sinai. However, this Shabbat we are telling you-please DO NOT come to Temple Sinai!  If you do, you will find a dark and quiet building, with very little furniture. Rather, we invite you to join us at our SUMMER location,  The Weber School. We sincerely hope to share many sacred moments with you while at Weber this summer, beginning with a special blessing for Maccabi athletes this Friday night. We are proud to announce that currently Temple Sinai has over 104 youth athletes participating in the Maccabi games. 

As you may know, from July 28- August 2, the Atlanta community will welcome more than 1,600 visiting teens and their families from across the nation to participate in athletic competition and take pride in being Jewish. Please click here to volunteer for the Maccabi games. The support of the entire Atlanta Jewish Community is needed to make this event successful. 

We certainly know it is going to be a summer of excitement and change, and we look forward to the moments we will spend together. I share with you the beautiful words that Rabbi Brad Levenberg blessed us with at services last week, words that he adapted from a piece written by Cantor Ellen Dreskin. These words capture many of our emotions and thoughts as we start renovations and a new adventure this summer.

As we close this chapter in the story of our congregation, 

Our memories go with us.

We recall at this time those joyous events we celebrated within these walls, and remember the smiles, the pride, the laughter, the tears...
    
We remember baby namings, bar and bat Mitzvah ceremonies, confirmations, weddings, anniversaries, and special occasions...
    
We recall the sacred sounds of the chanting of Torah, Shabbat services, opportunities for learning, and festive days-Purim costumes and Chanukah lights...
    
We remember the solemnity of the High Holy Days, the music, the sound of the shofar, the grandeur of the liturgy, the reunions of family and friends...
    
Over the years we have carried in the physical symbols of our religious observance, the Torah scrolls, the Ner Tamid, the menorah, objects both decorative and sacred, and soon we will remove those symbols for safekeeping as our renovations commence.  

Our memories go with us. 

And in a few months, we will open a new chapter in the story of our congregation. We will consecrate these walls as we celebrate joyous events, make each other smile, kvell with pride, laugh out loud, and, yes, even as we commemorate the tragic moments that make us cry...

We will name a new generation of babies, celebrate b'nai mitzvah ceremonies, confirmations, weddings, anniversaries, and other special and wonderful occasions...

We will return to this space the sacred sounds of the chanting of Torah, Shabbat services, opportunities for learning, and festive days. This space will once again be filled with Purim costumes and Chanukah lights...

We will, in the renovated sanctuary, embrace the solemnity of the High Holy Days, the music, the sound of the shofar, the grandeur of the liturgy, the reunions of family and friends...

And just as we carry away the physical symbols of our religious observance, we will assemble on September 21 to return our Torahs, our Ner Tamid, our menorah, objects both decorative and sacred, to the heart of our congregational home...

And we will create new memories to carry in our hearts.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom! 

Rabbi Sam Trief