Upcoming Events & More!

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FVJN SHABBAT FAMILY SERVICE & Potluck!

**Service, Story & Potluck!*

May 11, 6:30 p.m. at Peck Farm Park’s Orientation Bar

The ערב will begin with a short service and a story related to the week’s Torah portion, followed by a vegetarian potluck.

Please bring non-meat dishes, only.

RSVP asap and to rachely@fvjn.org with what you will bring (so we can plan accordingly):

If your last name begins with:

A – G: Salads or side dishes

H – N: Main dishes

O – T: Desserts

U – Z: Set-up/clean-up (*Please come 15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes after.)

Peck Farm Park is located on Kaneville Rd. in Geneva, just west of Peck Road.

Services will continue throughout the year.

Please see our calendar at www.fvjn.org.

Our services are always interfaith-friendly.

 

Find the Hidden Word and Win a Prize!

Find a hidden Hebrew word in this week’s eNews (you’ll know it when you see it — it’s in Hebrew!), and be entered to win a prize from FVJN! Email your answer to: RachelY@fvjn.org.

 

FVJN Book Group

May 8, 7 p.m., at FVJN

At our next get together, we will discuss Walking the Bible

by Bruce Feiler (not the children’s version). On July 10, our book will be Hornet Flight by Ken Follett.

In March we discussed Kosher Chinese in which Michael Levy told  of his fascinating experience during two years in rural China as a teacher with the Peace Corps. Participation in the Book Club is free and open to all.

FVJS Needs Teachers for 2012-2013!

Teach at FVJN’s innovative religious school!

Openings for 2012/13 school year:

Hebrew teacher

Preschool-2nd grade teacher

Competitive pay, twice a month program, Geneva location.

Contact Barbara Anderson: barb.anderson58@att.net.

President’s Corner

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Neighbors~

Welcome to May!  This time of year is literally springing forth with new life and opportunities.  If you would like to take advantage of the many opportunities to help the local area–whether it is the planting we have going on May 19th to help keep Geneva beautiful, the Wednesday nights at Pushing the Envelope Farm helping to feed our neighbors, our monthly cooking for Lazarus House, or upcoming Swedish Days events–please read on for more details.  All of these events invite us to help others, and what better way to instill a sense of community among Jews and our partners, family and friends, than to give of ourselves?!?

Another opportunity to come together is our May 11th Shabbat Evening which will be led by Rachel Yackley and will take place at Peck Farm.  For those of you new to that venue, it is an absolutely ideal location for our services during the spring and summer months!  Rachel will be leading us through a brief service–complete with storytelling–before we enjoy a meal and good conversation together.  As always, this is a family and interfaith friendly event!

Please take one of these opportunities to join us in helping our neighbors and getting to know our FVJNeighbors a little better in the process!

As always, the best to you and yours and we hope to see you at a FVJN event very soon!

Warmest wishes,

Tammie

Volunteer Corner!

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Volunteers Needed to Help Make Geneva Beautiful!    

May 19, 8 a.m.

FVJN volunteers (and friends!) are needed to help with planting on Saturday, May 19, starting at 8 a.m.

The garden we are responsible for is on the southwest corner of State St. (Rt. 38) and Third St., in Geneva.

You can just show up or contact our volunteer garden coordinator, Marci: marci@worddesigner.net.

If able, bring gardening gloves, shovel, trowel, clippers, etc.

 

Swedish Days 2012

Planning for this year’s FVJN booth at Swedish Days (June 19 – 24) has begun!

Our FVJN Swedish Days committee members are:

  • Mike Yackley, chairperson
  • Dan Simon
  • Kimberly Fivelson
  • Dave Larson

This is one of our biggest fundraisers, and you can help out and have a lot of fun at the same time! Contact Mike at: Mikey@fvjn.org to volunteer at our booth!

 

FVJN Lazarus House Volunteer Project

Volunteers needed once a month

FVJN individuals and families are needed to provide dinner the first Wednesday of each month to the guests of Lazarus House, a shelter located in St. Charles. Please consider helping with this FVJN Volunteer Project and sign up, now! Volunteers are currently needed for May, June and July.

Past FVJN families who’ve prepared and provided dinners include the Weinbergers, the Kurals, and the Evans families.

For info, tips and more, please RSVP to Bethany at: bkural73@hotmail.com, 630-208-6301.

 

Tzedakah Charity Gardening

Calling all FVJNers who love to garden and help provide healthy food to people in need!

When: 5-7pm Wednesday Evenings

Where: Pushing the Envelope Farm, 1700 Averill Road, Geneva

What: Come and help out at Pushing the Envelope Farm’s Tzedakah Charity Garden. Volunteers help us plant, maintain, and harvest food for the Northern Illinois Foodbank. Drop ins welcome, or call 607.654.8244 for more details.

About Us: Pushing the Envelope Farm is a Jewish educational and community farm. The farm grows and sells organic produce and has milking goats, laying chickens, and honey bees.

FVJN Events for Adults!

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Calling all FVJN adults!

Currently we offer a book group and a film club, as well as gardening (a fun and helpful activity!), and other volunteer opportunities. Would you like more? Social events? Learning opportunities? We would love to offer more, and to do so, we need your ideas as well as your participation! Please send your ideas and suggestions to: rachely@fvjn.org.

Jewish FAQ for May 2, 2012

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Lag B’Omer

What is it?
Lag B’Omer is the 33rd day of the Omer (a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between Passover and Shavuot), which falls on May 10th, this year.

 

This holiday is an oasis of joy in the midst of the sad Sefirah period which is almost unnoticed by most contemporary Jews. Yet it contains historic lessons of such great severity ― that this generation must not only unravel the mystery of Lag B’Omer but will discover that its own fate is wrapped in the crevices of its secrets.

 

This fifty-day period should have been a time of joyful anticipation, as Jews literally “count the days” from the first night of Passover until Mattan Torah ― the revelation of Torah at Mt. Sinai which took place on Shavuot, exactly fifty days after the Exodus. While the Exodus marks the physical birth of the Jewish nation ― the Giving of Torah completes the process through the spiritual birth of the Jewish nation.

 

The reason for sadness during this period, the Babylonian Talmud tells us, [Yevamot:62:2] is that during this period, Rabbi Akiva’s 24,000 students, who lived 1,850 years ago in the Roman dominated Land of Israel, died from a mysterious God sent plague. Why did they die? Because the Talmud teaches, “they did not show proper respect to one another.” Lag B’Omer is celebrated on the thirty-third day because on that day the plague ended and Rabbi Akiva’s students stopped dying.

 

This is observed as a period of semi-mourning. Weddings, music and haircuts are not permitted, and some do not shave. It is on the sad side of Sefirah that we come across the holiday of Lag B’Omer, the one day during this sad period when our mourning is halted; when sadness is actually forbidden.

 

The one-day holiday is celebrated with outings, bonfires, and other joyous events. Many visit the resting place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in northern Israel. Rabbi Shimon lived in the second century C.E., and was the first to teach the part of the Torah known as the Kabbalah. He also authored the basic writings of Kabbalah known as the Zohar. On the day of his passing, he instructed his disciples to mark the date as “the day of my joy.” So each Lag B’Omer, we celebrate Rabbi Shomon’s life and the revelation of the esoteric soul of the Torah.

 

Lag B’Omer also celebrates another event: The Talmud relates that in the weeks between Passover and Shavuot, a plague hit the disciples of the great sage Rabbi Akiva, “because they did not act respectfully towards each other.” On Lag B’Omer, the deaths ceased. Thus, Lag B’Omer also carries the theme of the mitzvah to love and respect one’s fellow (ahavat yisrael).

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Please Continue to Support FVJN
The Jewish tradition of Tzedakah (Charity)
Tzedakah is the Hebrew word for charity. Righteous giving is an appropriate way to honor one’s memory. Contributing money, time and effort to organizations and causes keeps their beliefs alive and active. Tzedakah connects us in the work of tikkun loam (repairing the world). Jewish tradition views charity as the strongest force in the universe.
 
Please consider making a donation (a suggested “chai” of $18, or multiples thereof) in honor or in memory of someone special in your life. FVJN will publish the tribute information in the next eNews.
 
FVJN gratefully accepts donations throughout the year.
You can easily donate right on our website: www.fvjn.org
or by sending a check to: FVJN, PO Box 346, Geneva, 60134.