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VOLUME 60 EDITION 12 1 August 2018
20 Av 5778
Congregation Sha’arai Shomayim Founded 1844
Springhill Avenue Temple
The Temple Bulletin springhillavenuetemple.com
We are coming together as a caring, inclusive community united in a common commitment to Judaism and to
furthering our spiritual growth. We desire to do this recognizing that worship of God, study of Torah, caring for the
Jewish people and our community, are central to our being as a Reform Jewish congregation. With these principles
as our foundation and guided by a historic past, we anticipate our future, one of continual lifelong self-renewal.
RELIGIOUS SERVICES
Friday, August 3 6:00 p.m. Evening Shabbat Service Saturday, August 4 9:30 a.m. Shabbat Breakfast
10:30 a.m. Morning Shabbat Service Friday, August 10 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Friday, August 17 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Friday, August 24 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Friday, August 31 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service
Torah Selection:
Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25
Haftarah – Isaiah 49:14-51:3
ALL SHABBAT SERVICES ARE CONGREGATIONAL SERVICES.
PLEASE JOIN US IN WORSHIP
DATES FOR HIGH HOLY DAYS
Selichot – Saturday, September 1
Erev Rosh Hashanah – Sunday, September 9
Rosh Hashanah – Monday, September 10
Cemetery Memorial Service – Sunday, September 16
Kol Nidre – Tuesday, September 18
Yom Kippur – Wednesday, September 19
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From The Rabbi
Reconciling God in the Garden with God the Creator
If you read the Book of Genesis carefully, you will
see that God was a very physically active God for
a divine being. God seems to have been present in
the Garden of Eden, personally planting the
garden and then, when necessary, making skin
garments for Adam and Eve and clothing them.
God appears to have lived in the garden or
certainly made the divine presence felt in the
garden. After Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil, they heard the sound of God
walking around the Garden of
Eden just as an evening breeze
was blowing through. So, Adam
and Eve did the only thing they
could think of doing. They hid.
Possibly, it worked because God
called out to Adam. Some would
say that God knew where they
were and God was just testing
Adam, but you could make the
argument that maybe God really
didn’t know where Adam and
Eve were hiding and was seriously asking. So, how can we reconcile a God who seems to be
a part of the garden’s ecosystem with the God
described at the beginning of the Book of Genesis
who creates the entire universe. One explanation
is that there are at least two different texts here
coming out of two different cosmologies. In the
story of the Garden of Eden, the writer or writers
may not see God as an omnipotent figure at all nor
as the divine creator of the entire universe. In
contrast, the first chapter of the Book of Genesis,
describes a God who is the creator of everything.
But just because the first chapter in the Book of
Genesis is the first chapter that we read today does
not mean that it was the first conception of God to
be developed by the ancient Israelites. If we look at what most biblical scholars today
believe to be the most ancient texts in the Tanach,
God is not a creator at all. For example, Exodus
Chapter 15, which may very well be the oldest
textual excerpt from the entire Torah, describes
God as a warrior who will protect the children of
Israel by killing the Egyptian soldiers if necessary.
The text talks about singing to God for God has
thrown both Egyptian charioteers and horses into
the sea to drown. If we understand that the Tanach is a series of
texts that developed over thousands of years in an
everchanging cultural context, we can then see our
Holy Scriptures as a fascinating
collection of documents that help
us to understand how our religion
developed. But if we see it as one
text that we believe has absolute
moral authority that has not
changed and should never change
then and only then do we have a
big problem. How can we possibly
justify much of God’s behavior?
The answer is that we can’t and we
shouldn’t. And we don’t have to. So, if the God of Israel started out
with a much smaller mandate then
it would imply that the Israelites accepted the
existence of other gods, perhaps many other gods.
It appears that over the course of time this
acceptance of polytheism narrowed and eventually
most Israelites came to believe in monolatry,
which can be defined as the consistent worship of
only one deity even though you believe in the
existence of many gods. Other Israelites may
have leaned toward henotheism, in which the
person worships only one god and conceptualizes
their belief system in light of that one god without
denying that other people might believe in and
worship other gods. So, over the course of
perhaps many hundreds of years, Israelite religion
evolved, in particular in terms of how God was
conceptualized. Eventually, the religious leaders
of Israel brought the nation into full-fledged
monotheism, the belief in existence of only one
god that created the world and can intervene in
that world.
(cont’d on next page)
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(cont’d from previous page) Today, we speak of Judaism as being defined
by its belief in one god and we may not be
aware that that belief system was only achieved
after many hundreds of years of theological
debate and political infighting. But there is a
great deal of evidence that the Israelites only
adopted monotheism after a tremendous
struggle which lasted for a very long time. You
can see this struggle in many parts of the
Torah, even in the texts that were edited long
after Israel had embraced monotheism. The
classic example appears in our prayer book.
“Who is like you, O God, among the gods that
are worshipped.” (Mishkan T’filah, pg.158).
The literal meaning of this is that God is far
greater than any of the other gods. We can accept that our Bible reflects a slow
evolutionary approach to monotheism without
allowing scholarship to undermine our faith.
That is because our faith as Reform Jews is
based on scholarship done using the most
rigorous scientific methodologies. We want to
find out the truth and then we can mold an
emotionally compelling image of God based
upon historical and cultural truth.
Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan
Max Fuchs: A Jewish GI and Cantor By Gil Laden
As you may have seen in recent columns, our archivist, Susan Thomas, has called upon congregants to
gather information and even artifacts from those who may have served in various wars.
This is a worthwhile cause to recognize those who have honored our country with their military
service. Recently, a distinguished veteran from New York died at the age of 96. His name was Max
Fuchs.
Mr. Fuchs was a cantor and also worked in the diamond industry, but most significantly, on October
29, 1944, he sang at an open-air Shabbat service on a German battlefield with 50-plus Jewish GIs, with
the sound of artillery punctuating the service. There is a stirring clip of this service with Mr. Fuchs’
commentary on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCn0ZKanKFk.
Mr. Fuchs was featured earlier this year on the PBS series “GI Jews.” His obituary can be found on the
New York Times website at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/04/obituaries/max-fuchs-gi-cantor-
dead.html.
Gil Laden’s father, Phil Laden, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1936-1945 and saw combat action in the South
Pacific. He attended a service in the South Pacific officiated by Rabbi Solomon Cherniak, who later served at the
Temple.
Jewish Family Services of Mobile
From time to time, we all develop life situations that we need some help dealing
with. Talking out problems often helps. JFS provides you with information,
assistance, direction, referrals, and much more. If you or someone you know needs assistance or for more information about the
services provided by Jewish Family Services of Mobile, please contact Priscilla
Gold-Darby at 251-454-1924; Patricia Silverman at 251-610-9188; Joanne
Luterman at 251-533-9348, or your rabbi. All contacts are kept confidential.
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From Our President
In a telephone conservation a few weeks ago,
Dr. David Meola mentioned that he was doing
research concerning the early reform movement
in Berlin. Knowing that Rabbi Kaplan had
delivered a paper in East Germany, I asked him
about the early reform movement in Germany,
that is when he told the study group at the
Satori Coffee House of Israel Jacobson. Being a lover of history and having never heard
of Mr. Jacobson, I did some reading on my
own. Israel Jacobson was born in 1768 in the city of
Halberstadt and died in Berlin in 1828.
Jacobson was born into a wealthy family,
acquired more wealth as a financier, and even
had business dealings with Napoleon’s brother,
Jerome. He is considered one of the early
pioneers of what was to become Reform
Judaism. To quote the Jewish Virtual Library, “Jacobson
erected the first synagogues in which services
were held according to his program of religious
reform.” Jacobson created synagogues where
some prayers were in German, sermons were in
German, and confirmations were performed. Later as a lay leader, as he was not a rabbi,
Jacobson created the “Temple” in his school in
Seesen. He conducted its opening ceremony
dressed in the robes of a Protestant minister,
had music played with the pipe organ, and
hymns sung in German. His school in Seesen
educated both Jewish and Christian children.
Jacobson believed in the close association of
children of different religions. Israel Jacobson played a great role in early
reforms and to many was a founding figure in
our Reform Judaism; but this was not without
problems. The leaders of the Orthodox
community did not like Jacobson and regarded
him with suspicion. Much like in Israel today,
the leaders of the Orthodox community
encouraged the government to interfere with
his message of change. (And, I don’t think the
Lutherans cared too much for him either.) Now, what else is new?
Mike Pereira, President
The CONGREGATIONAL CHOIR is looking forward to the fall when we will once again be singing, but we need to increase our numbers!
No experience is necessary.
All you need is a love of music.
Except for the High Holy Days and any special events, we normally rehearse once a month on a Tuesday night. Charmein is a wonderful leader and you will enjoy the other choir members too (we laugh a lot!)
Please contact Barry Silverman or Anne Zelnicker for more information.
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From Our Archives
By Susan Thomas, Archivist
I am sure by now you are aware that the annual
conference of the Southern Jewish Historical
Society will be held in Mobile October 26-28.
Several members of the congregation are involved
in planning the conference; there are also several
who will be directly participating in sessions and
events. Roy Hoffman will be the key note speaker
at the Friday luncheon; Rabbi Kaplan will speak on
Rabbi Alfred Moses during the Saturday lecture
session; and, I will give a presentation on Leon
Schwarz, also on Saturday. The Temple plays a prominent role in many of the
weekend activities. The Temple facility will be part
of a tour of historic Mobile Jewish sites and will
also be the location of a banquet for conference
attendees following services on Friday night. The
Temple Archives helped provide musical
compositions by early congregant Sigmund
Schlesinger, which will be performed live on
Saturday afternoon. Several scholars from all over
the country who have used the resources of the
Archives will be involved in the conference,
including Dan Puckett, author of a book on
Alabama Jewish involvement in World War II;
Judah Cohen, a musicologist who has studied
Schlesinger; and Josh Parshall, who will use
demographics of early Temple congregants to
illustrate a digital mapping project. Each year the conference is held in a different
Southern city; the last time it was held in Mobile
was in 1981. During that conference Phyllis
Feibelman presided over one of the sessions, and Ed
Zelnicker, Jr., presented a talk on Mobile Jewish
history. That conference also featured a banquet
and combined Friday night services at the Temple. Anyone interested in Temple history should attend
this conference; it may be over thirty years before
you have this opportunity again! For a detailed
agenda and information on registration, go to the
SJHS website at
https://www.jewishsouth.org/upcoming-conference.
The Southern Jewish Historical Society Conference (SJHS) is all set and will take place in Mobile, AL from October 26 to 28. For those interested in attending the entire conference, you will need to register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-sjhs-conference-mobile-alabama-tickets-45481719046. You will also need to register for membership in the SJHS, as only members can attend (it is $36 for the year). This can be paid directly to the SJHS before registration or there is a selection on the Eventbrite page for those who want to pay that way. If you are only interested in attending the Friday night dinner at the Temple, you can register directly with the Gulf Coast Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education by contacting Don Berry ([email protected]). The cost is $40 per person and you can pay directly by check. FYI, the only way to guarantee a spot for dinner on Friday night is by registering for the entire conference. Conference attendees automatically get preference for dinner, as there will be a cap on total guests (approx. 170-180) due to space issues. For more about this year's conference, see: https://www.jewishsouth.org/upcoming-conference and to go directly to the Conference Program, see: https://www.jewishsouth.org/conference-program-0
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August Birthdays and Anniversaries
Happy Birthday to ...
1 Joseph “Jay” Handmacher 16 Eric Gottlieb
1 Robbie Nadas 17 Marsha Ann Dittman
2 Margaret Brown 17 Deborah Sack
2 Andrew Frenkel 19 Ashley Bergman
2 George Kidd 19 Pauline Brown
3 Jennifer Altmayer 19 Eileen Susman
3 Michelle Dobbins 20 David Fishbein
4 Milton Brown 21 Cole Appelman
4 Priscilla Gold-Darby 21 Susan Koffler
4 Stacey Silverman Shostak 22 Carrie Friduss
4 Carol Zimmerman 23 David Ennis
5 Pamela Thompson 23 Jeffrey Miller
8 Anna Brown 24 Jeremy Borak
8 Miriam Fry 26 Michael Aronson
8 Joyce Toubiana 29 Tamara Fulford
9 Alicia Pereira 29 Manuel Arthur Gardberg
10 Megan Dobbins 30 Jeffrey Kahn
11 Lindsey Gottlieb 30 Abe Solomon
11 Phillip Magnes 30 Joe Solomon
12 William Handmacher 31 Joshua Altmayer
14 Brooks Fishbein 31 Leah Brown
15 Marian Berkin 31 David Harris
15 Fred Miller
16 David Gardberg
Happy Anniversary to … 2 Cece & Jim Spain
7 Marian & Mark Berkin
11 Barbara & Seth Cherniak
17 Rebecca & David Hochhauser
17 Ellen & Bill Shulman
22 Kim & David Zimmerman
25 Judi & Paul Bergman
25 Elaine & Ron Berman
28 Amy & Jack Friedlander
28 Joyce & Gerard Toubiana
30 Iris & Nate Ginsberg
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September Birthdays and Anniversaries
Happy Birthday to ...
1 Jacob Holberg 12 Iris Ginsberg
2 Benjamin Frenkel 12 Brandon Miller
4 Jon Fusco 12 Fran Passero
4 Mona Loeser 13 Madelyn Friedlander
5 Sam Feibelman 18 Cindy Magnes
5 Matthew Weinstein 19 Bill Denson
5 Buzzy Zivitz 22 Jonathan Fratkin
6 Craig Ginsberg 22 Billy Kahn
6 Daryn Glassbrook 22 Megan Moore
7 Iris Klein 23 Amanda Miller
8 Richard Frank 23 Adrian Pereira
9 Steven Hirsch 25 Sam Eberlein
10 Aaron Ayers 26 Mary Ann Friedlander
10 Pat Bloom 26 Leonard Wells
10 Howard Silverman 27 Terry Harris
11 Barbara Paper 28 Roland Fry
11 Keith Spain 28 Meredith Hoffman
12 Michael Gardberg 28 Sandra Nadas
29 Alton Sack
Happy Anniversary to … 1 Sandy & Ralph Holberg
2 Susan & Jeff Friedman
4 Sandra & Harvey Gandler
7 Deborah & Alton Sack
29 Diane Garden & Michael Monheit
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Shana Tova! New Year’s Greetings
Dear Friends: The New Year of 5779 begins at sundown on Sunday, September 9, 2018. Temple
Sisterhood has given congregants the opportunity to extend New Year’s Greetings to each
other in a special portion of our New Year’s bulletin which has become a tradition for our
Temple. If you would like to have the names of your family members published in the bulletin,
please send a contribution made out to Temple Sisterhood before Monday, August 20.
Your contribution will be used to support the various vital services that Sisterhood
provides for our Temple. Because we don’t want anyone left out, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of an
early response. Happy New Year and many thanks,
Please PRINT your information in the form below and enclose it with your tax-deductible
contribution made payable to “Temple Sisterhood” and mail to Mrs. Charles H. Brown,
3807 Claridge Road, Mobile, Alabama, 36608. --------------------------------------------------------clip here--------------------------------------------------
NEW YEAR’S GREETING Please print the names as you want them to appear in the bulletin (please print legibly):
_______________________________________________________________________
Amount of donation: $______________________
The Springhill Avenue Gift Shop The Temple Gift Shop is the place to shop for all your
Judaica. Several new necklaces have arrived as well as we
can order that special piece for you. We have honey plates
for Rosh Hashanah, mezuzahs, Shabbat candlesticks,
kiddush cups, and more. Stop in and browse in the gift shop.
L’shana tova, Amy and Judy
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FROM THE SISTERHOOD
By Priscilla Gold-Darby, President Celebrating the High Holy Days was very strict when I was
growing up. As kids, we spent the days visiting every shul in
the area and listening to the cantors. My shul, Temple
Emanu-El, had one of the four Kusevitsky brothers. For many
years, he led services at Temple Emanu-El at 14th Avenue and
49th Street in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, which
was a block from Temple Beth-El where his brother Moshe
was cantor. On the Sabbath and holidays, many Brooklyn
worshipers would split their prayers between the two
synagogues to hear and compare them! Despite the fanfare -
new clothes, no elevators, no school, big family meals - the
meaning of the holidays was never clear. In adulthood, I have learned that purpose of the High Holy Days is to acknowledge the past year,
deal with it, ask for forgiveness for my failures, and think about what and how I want to
improve. The hope is that we leave the negative behind and begin our new year with a clean
slate and a fresh outlook. The holiday gives me a chance to regroup and think about how I would like to move my life
forward. I am especially interested in becoming more spiritual, thinking positively, being an
active Temple Board member, staying centered during change, learning how to dance, taking
better care of myself, reading more, and watching TV less! You know, typical resolution hacks,
but powerful nonetheless. I have enjoyed following a new site on-line, called ARQ. It is full of Jewish news from around
the country with ideas about how the holidays and shabbat are celebrated in non-traditional
ways. Here are some new plans that the Sisterhood and Men's Club will implement and we hope that
you will find some connection and interest and join in:
➢ Volunteer with Feeding the Gulf Coast. Cindy Bloom has many projects
for us from sorting food donations, gleaning fields, packing weekend food
packs for kids, and volunteering in a community garden.
➢ Donate Jewish or other ethnic cookbooks to the kitchen library we are
starting. Temple librarian, Maude Patterson, will help us organize these
books and city librarian, Steve Prager, will install some book shelves in the
kitchen area.
➢ Sponsor an Oneg in connection with a special event or memory in your
life.
➢ Join a group that wants to recognize interfaith couples and find ways to
support them in our Temple.
➢ Work in our kitchen. Come by before services and see how you can help
set up the oneg or help Larry Miller prepare a meal.
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Thank You for a Year of Oneg Shabbats
‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. Thank you expresses
extreme gratitude, humility, understanding. - Alice Walker
Thank you for my year as Oneg Shabbat Chairperson. I am
grateful for the opportunity to serve with so many amazing
members of our Temple Family - from cakes and dips, to
challahs and Mandelbrot - it was all delicious! Along the way,
we celebrated milestones: baby namings, birthdays,
anniversaries, and a bar and bat mitzvah. We observed the
Jewish holidays and shared oneg joys with the Men’s Club and
Sisterhood. In fact, there are so many people to thank for their
Friday contributions that it would take up the whole bulletin,
so I will express a very enthusiastic “toda raba” to you all.
The weekly oneg Shabbats would not have been possible without Priscilla Gold-Darby, Alicia
Lucas, and Gail Chadwick who provided weekly support and ever so tasty contributions. Larry
Miller, thank you for the menu ideas and your kitchen expertise. I am also grateful to Chineeka
Wilson, our professional staff member, who greeted us every Friday with her smile and
consummate skills in the kitchen. Thank you all for making the kitchen such a joyful place.
I am sad about leaving the oneg Shabbats, but know a very special Temple member will take
them over. That is because this is Springhill Avenue Temple with a wealth of talented, caring
people who will carry on the Sisterhood’s vision of a warm and welcoming oneg for our
members and guests each week after services.
L’shalom,
Susan Fox
FROM OUR RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
by Patricia Silverman, Th.M., Religious School Director
Religious School and Hebrew School will be starting soon! A Teacher’s Workshop is TENTATIVELY being scheduled for Sunday, August 19, at 10:00 am. All teachers will be notified as soon as the date and time have been confirmed. Sunday, August 26, will be our first day of school. See you there!
More detailed information will be disseminated as it becomes available.
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CONTRIBUTIONS
In memory of Albert Klein – Bettina & Steve Prager, Diane & Richard Frank, David Rose, Phyllis
Feibelman, Lynn & Vincent DeLuca, Mike Pereira & Alicia Lucas, Alan Hirsch,
Ellen & Bill Shulman, Liz & Randy Fry, Debbie Clolinger, Amy & Jack Friedlander,
Iris & Nate Ginsberg, the Sunshine Fund of Stonebridge Court Neighbors, Jane Sims,
Arvid & Tim Gaston, Kimi & Allen Oaks, Fannette Blum, Odette & Mel Sternberg, Earl Rogers,
Lynne Raider, Mimi Holberg, Ellie & Cole Appelman, Christine & Jeff Conrad, Barry Silverman,
Nancy & Morris Kurtzman, Margaret & Milton Brown, Jacqueline Barker, Beverly & Arvin Robinson,
Penny & Joe Adamo. Pricilla Gold-Darby, Enid & Gil Laden, Susan Klarrieich & family In memory of Moshe Rozenberg – Iris & Nate Ginsberg, Priscilla Gold-Darby In memory of G.B. Kahn – Minna Ree & Ed Miranne, Billie & Russell Goodloe,
Ellen & Bill Shulman, Bill Lusk, Lynne Raider In memory of Harriet Kahn – Morris Brook, Kathy Brook Palefsky & family, Cindy & Phil Magnes In memory of my mother, Ruth Eichold – Mrs. Anthony Montag In memory of Douglas Shapiro – Paul Bergman In memory of Dolores Loeb – Leslie & Larry Miller
YAHRZEIT
It is a true Mitzvah to honor those whose memory we hold dear by attending services
on the Shabbat Yahrzeit (year’s time), joining your congregation in reciting Kaddish,
and the giving of charity in their memory.
August 3 Edwin A. Zelnicker, Jr., Emma Raider, Raymond Frankel, Herman Patterson,
Anne Heart Bergman, Lillian Muhlfelder
August 10 Frederick H. Vogel, David Wagman, Evelyn Feibelman, Charles Hoffman, Sigmond Kahn,
Abe Levine, Marian Berkin, Evelyn Hoffman, Paula Raider Olichney
August 17 Helen Edelbaum, Murry Benenson, George Wagenheim, Bennie Friedlander,
Anne Teles Fink Aratchofsky, Becky Friedlander, Irving Jacob Buchman, J.B. Friedlander, Reuben
Kamil
August 24 Heather Marie Pereira, Juliette Harries Garb, Norma Kihyet, Geraldine “Gerre” Koffler,
Sam Shulman, Janice Fry Goldman, Claris McDaniel, Abraham Gardberg,
Edwin A. Zelnicker, Sr., Gail Stone Bergman, William Paul Warren
August 31 Julien Marx, Eleanor Ruth Frenkel, Lucille Zelnicker Herman, Aris Schoonderbeek,
Melvin Bauer, Jr., Martin Dreyfus
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CALENDAR
Hebrew School & Religious School: Sunday, August 26 First day of School More detailed information will be disseminated as it becomes available. ❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖❖
Friday, August 3 6:00 p.m. Evening Shabbat Service Saturday, August 4 9:30 a.m. Shabbat Breakfast
10:30 a.m. Morning Shabbat Service Friday, August 10 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Friday, August 17 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Friday, August 24 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service Friday, August 31 6:00 p.m. Shabbat Evening Service
THE TEMPLE BULLETIN
(USPS-966-900) is published monthly
by Springhill Avenue Temple,
1769 Springhill Avenue
Mobile, AL 36607.
“Periodicals Postage Paid at Mobile,
Alabama.” POSTMASTER:
Send address change to:
1769 Springhill Ave. Mobile, AL 36607
DATES FOR HIGH HOLY DAYS
Selichot – Saturday, September 1
Erev Rosh Hashanah – Sunday, September 9
Rosh Hashanah – Monday, September 10
Cemetery Memorial Service – Sunday, September 16
Kol Nidre – Tuesday, September 18
Yom Kippur – Wednesday, September 19