Embedded Files
May 6, 2025
May 6, 2025
This Shabbat
This Shabbat
Kabbalat Shabbat and Candlelighting
Friday, May 9, 7:00pm
CHC Chapel and virtual
Join Rabbi Emily and Shira Kurrus for a contemplative,
song-filled, and spacious Friday night service.
Note: Omer counting will be done during the service on Friday nights.
There will be no separate meeting to count.
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Shabbat Morning Service
Saturday, May 10, 10:00am
CHC Chapel and virtual
Join Rabbis Emily and Steven in creative prayer and song.
Betsy Wexler will be leading Meditation for Torah Study.
(Please remember that the chapel is a fragrance-free zone.)
Counting the Omer
Counting the Omer
Every Night through Saturday, May 31
(except Friday Nights!)
8:00pm–8:30pm — virtual
Come when you can - every night or any night! We're always happy to see you!
Thank you to those who have been coming to create such a meaningful, thought provoking experience.
Everyone is invited to drop in for a night and see what it’s all about!
We say the blessing and discuss the energy of the day according to the kabbalistic tradition.
Continue the process of liberation every night for 49 days, until Shavuot.
We will not be meeting on Friday nights because we will be counting during Shabbat services.
This Week
This Week
Community Gathering
Wednesday, May 7, 7:00pm - virtual
A chance to reflect and connect with friends in a sacred space. Need some more support? Want closer connections with your
community? Please join us in a compassionate environment for sharing and listening. We need each other now more than ever.
All are welcome!
If you are considering joining on Wednesday nights, know that it is a confidential space facilitated by Rabbi Emily
to be heard and hear from your other community members. You are never alone!
Please note - during Counting the Omer, Community Gathering is being held at 7:00pm.
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Speaking Across Differences
Minicourse taught by Benjamin Sax
Wednesdays, May 7, 14 and 21, 7:00pm-8:30pm
Online via Zoom, Free - Register Here
This course will interrogate the question of what it means to dialogue during a time of political violence, persecution,
gaslighting, and oppression. Very often we teach that tolerance is a virtue in dialogue, yet should we also
be tolerant of intolerance? How does that work?
The concept of tolerance in philosophy is often elusive and, at times, replete with paradoxes and antinomies. How
does our dialogical obligation to the Other reconcile our civic responsibility to oppose what we perceive to be unethical
and irresponsible beliefs, behaviors, or policies? Can we dialogue when we perceive our Other as either complicit with, or
worse a perpetrator of the very worldviews that support and condone hatred and violence?
We will consider a variety of views and try to chart a new dialogical path together by examining how different philosophers,
political theorists, historians, and theologians have broached these questions during their own times of political peril.
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Service Leadership Workshop with Rabbi Emily
Thursday, May 8, 6:00pm - virtual
Our group leads Friday night shabbat services on the first Friday of the month! Be a part of this endeavor
by joining our weekly gathering to learn, study, and develop prayer leadership skills!
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Vote for The Candyman!
The Candyman and the Baltimore Show's Blues Harmonica concert at Kol HaLev was nominated as part
of the Jewish Times' BEST OF SERIES. Please vote for us at this link.
Voting is open through May 27th.
Save the Dates!
Save the Dates!
Lag Ba’Omer
Thursday, May 15, 6:30pm
Led by Jennifer Zunikoff at CHC
As we travel from the Exodus to Sinai, from Passover to Shavuot, we need nourishment to keep us moving. On Lag B'omer (Thursday, May 15th), let's take a break to take stock of where we are along the path. Jennifer will guide us through a gentle process of sharing our stories with partners and listening with our hearts to the challenges we have experienced and the strength that has brought us to this moment on our journey.
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Kolot Halev Annual Concert
Thursday, May 15, 8:00pm
This should be a wonderful concert and will include
one of Cantor George's compositions!
Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
First Meeting of the High Holiday Choir
Saturday, May 31, after Shabbat Services
With Rabbi Emily and Cantorial Soloist Mara Yaffee. Let Rabbi Emily know if you are interested in joining us, if you haven’t already!
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SHAVUOT
Programming and Shared Learning
Sunday, June 1
Remember that Shavuot is approaching! On June 1st, we will be having a day and night of programming and shared learning with
other Baltimore communities, as well as our fellow local Reconstructionist congregations. More information to come.
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Annual Congregational Meeting
Sunday, June 22, 10:00am
More information to come.
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ALEPH Conference
Monday, June 30 - Sunday, July 6
ALEPH, the organization associated with Jewish Renewal that Rabbis Emily and Steven attended
for Rabbinic Ordination, is having their big gathering here in Baltimore! What a treat! The
conference is June 30th- July 6th over July 4th Shabbat. We are trying to gauge interest in
Kol HaLev attending. There are discounts available for groups of 8 or more for the week of
learning, as well as circumstances we can figure out if we have a group interested in attending
for shabbat. Please email Rabbi Steven if you are interested in joining KHL for this endeavor.
Community Information
Community Information
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Kabbalat Shabbat Service in Your Home!
Would you like to invite Kol HaLev to your home for Friday night services? R' Emily will come with her guitar and lead a short
Shabbat service followed by a potluck! It’s really intimate and fun to be together in a comfortable and cozy environment.
Please email Rabbi Emily if you are interested in having us to your home on the second Friday of any month!
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Have you gotten your Mitzvah Cards yet?
For any occasion, simcha, or offering of condolences, consider
purchasing a card from KHL, showcasing our beautiful Torah mantle!
Please contact Alan Silver if you would like to purchase Mitzvah Cards.
Alan can also be reached at 443-996-3445.
10 cards (with envelopes) for $36.
Or a single card for $5.
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Stay Informed!
We have adopted text messages to provide important information about KHL and KHL events.
Add 410.346.9989 to your contact list so that you will know the text is from KHL.
You can opt out of our sms messages by replying STOP. You can also “unsubscribe” by logging into the member portal,
hovering over “My Account,” choosing “My Subscriptions,” click edit, uncheck the sms subscription, click save.
We are also using Instagram and Facebook for publicizing KHL, so we encourage people to subscribe!
Website
Website
For more about Kol HaLev, our people, services, programs, and events,
check out the updated Kol HaLev website at www.kolhalevmd.org!
Newsletter
Newsletter
Contributing to the Newsletter: The weekly KHL newsletter goes out on Tuesdays. If you’d like to put an item in the newsletter, please clear it with Rabbi Emily and Alan Silver by noon on the previous Sunday. Suitable items include KHL activities, some CHC activities, and events of particular interest in the larger Jewish community. Please provide a complete paragraph (or several paragraphs) with all relevant information.
As a rule, the KHL newsletter does not reprint content from other sources, whether print or digital. A summary and a link to the content may be provided instead. If you have material that you think is vitally important to reprint in the KHL newsletter, please provide proof of permission from the author(s) and publisher. The relevant information on copyright law is available here.
Rabbi Emily Stern: 516-835-9995, rabbi@kolhalevmd.org
President Alan Silver: 443-996-3445, president@kolhalevmd.org
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