Message from Rabbi Sarah Mack & Cantor Judy Seplowin
Irving Berlin first wrote God Bless America after serving in the US Army in 1918, but shelved it for decades. In the wake of Kristallnacht, witnessing the rise of Hitler, Berlin revived the song. A Jewish immigrant from Russia himself, Berlin envisioned it as a peace song, releasing it on Kate Smith’s radio show on Armistice Day.
Woody Guthrie, folk icon, tired of hearing Berlin’s creation on the radio. He criticized the lyrics for not fully representing the America he knew. So, in 1940 he wrote "This Land Is Your Land," as a response.
While Berlin and Guthrie disagreed about America, they loved her all the same as expressed in their compositions that speak to the generations. They teach us how we can each love America with a different melody. Our visions may differ, but each of us has a prayer in our hearts for our divided nation.
Their music inspires our own dreams as we weather this uncertain time. In the shelter of our sacred community we will gather together to raise our voices this Shabbat with hope and a prayer in our hearts for the nation we love.
Shabbat Service & Bat Mitzvah of Robin Linden, daughter of Jane Linden & Betsy Grenier. We look forward to celebrating with the family as Robin is called to the Torah to become a Bat Mitzvah.
H. Jack Feibelman Anna Cohen Haberman Herman Haberman Farrel A. Jaffa Jean Moverman Jaffa Sloan Myles Jaffa Alvin Kurzer Maxwell Mann Joan Adler Mark Mitchell Mark Sheila G. Miller Nathan H. Nachbar Eileen Parker Dr. Harry J. Pinsky Shirley "Penny" Pinsky Judith Spindell Faye Rozovsky Florence Tilles Beatrice Finkle Thaler Norman Toobe Samuel Winslow
YIZKOR ELOHIM The Congregation joins in mourning the death of Stanley Smith Lenore Rakatansky Maria Mauricia Azevedo Dr. Harvey W. Neitlich Harriet Blum Dorothy Miller Rosen Barbara Bing Kaplan Sherry Royall Donna Beth O'Hara Eysman Lawrence Hoffman
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