blogs/arosenblatt

Caution, objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.  Everyone who drives a car is no doubt familiar with this warning engraved on your passenger side mirror. It serves to remind the driver that because of the convex curve of the mirror's surface, objects appear smaller. Smaller objects seem to be farther away than they really are. It's all about perspective. There is a corollary to this message: Caution, objects on the calendar are closer than they appear. I used to have a sign with that saying tacked up on my office bulletin board. After several office moves, I can no longer find the sign, but I find myself saying this to myself often (sometimes muttering it under my breath, depending on how crazy my schedule happens to be!). Summer is our time to relax, to refresh, and enjoy the outdoors. We try to soak in all that nature has to offer so that it can get us through those cold months where the extent of our ventures outside might be to see how fast we can get from the house to the car and vice versa. We take vacations, fill our weekends with day trips and friends, and just enjoy life. I don't know about you, but I try pretty hard not to think about the upcoming fall, with the start of “real life”, when everyone gets down to business again. Thinking about the fall as the start of a new year is a cycle that started when we were schoolchildren. And, as Jews, it is reinforced for us as we celebrate Rosh Hashanah, our new year, in the fall. Summer gets a bit of an extension this year as the High Holidays come “late” this year. Of course, as we know, they are always exactly on time on the Hebrew calendar (a lunar calendar), which doesn't mesh with the Gregorian calendar. The 1st of Tishrei will coincide with October 2^nd this year. Days will be shorter, the air will be crisp, and we will be back in the full swing of our lives. No, matter how we will up our summer hours, the fall always seems to arrive sooner than we would like. Temple Avodat Shalom, however, does not take a summer vacation. Yes, services may have a bit of a less formal feel, as we use our outdoor sanctuary, and start some of them at an earlier time (the service times will be posted on the website). While our clergy take some of their well-deserved time off, many of our services will be led by lay leaders, members of our congregation who have volunteered to prepare and lead Shabbat services on both Friday nights and Saturday mornings. We are fortunate to have so many people who are not only willing and able to do this, but they enjoy it and look forward to it. While the office might be short-staffed as our hard-working administrative staff take vacations, the business of keeping us running day-to-day, as well as preparing for the year ahead, goes on. Religious School may not be in session, but work goes on to make sure our students will have the best possible Jewish educational experience in the coming year. The choir will rehearse High Holiday music. A Board meeting will be held, committees will meet, a new website will be worked on, and so on, and so on, and so on. All of this is my way to say, hey, we're open all summer long. Come to a service, feel free to contact us and let us know that you are interested in volunteering for a committee, or share your ideas. Feel free to contact me at president@avodatshalom.net. I want to hear from you. We are all part of the same community and everyone has a contribution to make. Some of our best ideas have come from casual conversations. We are fortunate to have such dedicated clergy, as well as a tireless office and custodial staff that keep our community humming all year round. We have volunteers who are generous with their time, busily thinking about next year's fundraisers as well as “fun-raisers,” enlightening adult education programs, Sisterhood and Brotherhood events, and more. We are thinking about social action activities and how we can make our world a better place. So while we are trying our best to make time slow down, just a little bit, so we can get the most out of the summer, our community keeps rolling along. We are there for you and open for “business.” Come on in.