JULY 2015
Bat Mitzvah Club Graduation Celebration
Participants of the Bat Mitzvah Clubs of JRCC@Rockford, JRCC West Thornhill, JRCC East Thornhill and JRCC S. Richmond Hill & Maple celebrated their graduation together with music and dancing in a joint ceremony attended by their families and friends. The girls spent the last year learning and discovering what becoming a Bat Mitzvah is all about, making friends, and developing a sense of pride in being a Jewish woman. For the graduation ceremony, each girl prepared a short speech, heard blessings from their teachers and community leaders, enjoyed a wonderful festive meal and atmosphere, and received special gifts. The evening culminated with a beautiful and touching candle lighting ceremony, during which mothers blessed their daughters. Registration is currently open for next year at jrcc.org/hebrewschool or [email protected].
Journey to the Rebbe
In honor of the 21st anniversary of “Gimmel Tammuz”, several hundred people from our community, including a few dozen on an organized trip, joined tens of thousands of people from all walks of life and from around the world visited the Rebbe’s synagogue and Lubavitch World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York, and the Ohel, the Rebbe’s holy resting place in Queens. The participants of the trip, which was sold out over a week in advance, also spent some time exploring the Crown Heights neighborhood, enjoying great meals together, and took in words of inspiration and personal stories highlighting the living legacy of the Rebbe – all while traveling on a new, state-of-the-art coach bus. Thank you to all the organizers and hosts for making it a rewarding a meaningful experience.
Virtual Temple Tour
Dozens of people took a fascinating multimedia tour of the Holy Temple with Rabbi Levi Jacobson. The three-part course, called Know Your Temple, ran weekly from July 5 to 26, featured a well-researched and informative course authored by Rabbi Jacobson himself, with the assistance of Exodus Magazine Editor Izzy Greenberg, that included a slideshow with illustrations of Temple, as well as photos of ruins and recent archeological discoveries. Through the course, part of the JRCC West Thornhill’s Judaism 101 series, participants discovered the beauty, wonder and history of the Temple with an amazing virtual tour.
An Evening for Women
The JRCC@Rockford hosted a moving evening for women in merit and memory of beloved community member Nechama Leah bat Tevel Kaushansky OBM, in honor of her birthday. Around seventy women gathered for an evening of inspiration that featured a talk by Rebbetzin Goldie Plotkin on “Maintaining Joy in Our Everyday Lives,” followed by music and song with Ariella Shteinberg. It was an emotional and uplifting evening, especially for those who were friends with Nechama Leah.
JRCC Daycare alumni visit 14 years later
The JRCC Preschool and Daycare held a special graduation event to send off students who recently completed their preschool experience. The children put on a performance for their parents and families, and we congratulated on their achievements. As a special treat, a few days before the graduation, two JRCC Daycare alumni fro 2001, Daniel Shtulberg and Micha Paskaru, who are now young men in their late teens, came to visit and provide perspective and inspiration to students and staff.
