Friday Night Gathering THIS Shabbat

We hope you can join us this coming Friday for a Friday night gathering full of happy occasions: we will be welcoming Chaya and Jon's newborn daughter and celebrating Tu b'shvat and MLK day.

One exciting Uptown development is that Lake Wine & Spirits has opened and carries well-priced kosher wine (two kinds: just ask them for their Israeli wine)!! Not only that, their very helpful staff told me they can order kosher wine by the case if people are interested.

In terms of food, you might wish to consider bringing foods that are either products of trees and/or are baby-friendly (but no need--anything vegetarian is cool):

Here's who is bringing what:

Food:

Pre-dinner snack food (we won't be eating dinner right away: this is important)_____

Wine________ (Ben; Nick; Bradley; Evan)

Challah (at least 2)___________(Nathan)

Soup_________

Salad_________ (Yael, Alex; Madeline)

Drinks (water, soda, juice etc.)________

Side dish_________ (Rachael)

Main course___________ (Mila; Chaya)

Stuff for Tu B'Shvat Seder:
--walnuts, coconuts, or almonds_____(Meredith is bringing walnuts)


--olives or dates or peaches or apricots________

--figs or grapes or (c)raisins___________(Jon's bringing dates and figs)

--mangoes, bananas, avocados, or pears (dried versions of any of these is cool too)__________

Dessert____________ (Raysh is bringing something that involves oranges, dates, and lots of booze; Abi is bringing some kind of baked goods)

General stuff:

Plastic or Paper Cutlery__________(Monica)

Plastic or Paper Cups___________(Monica)

Plastic or Paper Plates__________(Monica)

Napkins_______________

Tea-lights________

Transliterated Kabbalat Shabbat song sheets______ (Raysh)

Bencher with Kiddush: (Chaya and Jon)

Extra kippot:_____ (Chaya and Jon)

A Different kind of '3M'

Hey all, the opportunity below is a great way to connect with the community at large in focused, friendly, local venues: Minneapolis Mitzvah Morning

Presented by Women's Philanthropy of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation Mitzvah Morning: Choose Your Mitzvah
An opportunity to experience the impact of Federation through hands-on projects with community partners

Wednesday, January 19 9:15 a.m. Volunteer (at various locations)

11:30 a.m. Lunch at Federation

Choose from five different volunteer experiences:
9:30 a.m. Jewish Family and Children's Service Help sort and organize the Hag Sameach storage area
9:15 a.m. Jewish Family and Children's Service Altercare Interact with developmentally disabled adults by reading and discussing current events, doing exercises and watercolor painting. (Program located at Sholom Home West)

9:15 a.m. Sabes Jewish Community Center Read and conduct activities with children in an early childhood classroom.
9:30 a.m. Sholom Home West Tour Sholom Home West and experience Yiddish Club with residents.
9:15 a.m. VOICE Project Make Shabbat candlesticks with the Russian-Jewish population living in the Booth Manor Residence in the Loring Park Area.

Minneapolis Jewish Federation 13100 Wayzata Boulevard, Minnetonka (day will begin at volunteer location followed by lunch at Federation) $12 per personLunch will be served. (Dietary laws observed) Click here to RSVP or contact Dana Rubin at 952.417.2344

Introducing...our youngest member!

Dear friends,

It is with great joy that I announce the birth of Eve Blue Sulman, daughter of Chaya and Jon, born last week. Everyone is home now, happy and healthy. We hope you can meet Eve and join in celebrating her birth at our next Shabbat gathering on January 21 at Chaya and Jon's.

As they say in Yiddish, af simkhes! (=only happy occasions!)

Happy pre-new year!

Next week: Shabbat/Hanukkah shindig

Hey everyone. It was great to see so many of you a couple weeks ago at our most recent Friday night gathering. We hope you can join us next Friday for our big Shabbat/Hanukkah celebration.

It'll be going down 5:30PM, Friday, December 3 @ Andrea's.




As always, please bring something for the vegetarian potluck. Please consult the list below to see what we still need for this coming Friday night.




Secondly, in celebration of hanukkah, we'll be doing a Hanukkah grab bag. To that end, we ask everyone bring one item to throw in. Try not to exceed $5 in selecting your item, and try to get something you think others would enjoy.




Also, if you have an extra chair or two, please bring that along with you--we'll most likely need it! Finally, if you would like to light, please BYOH (bring your own hanukiah, or Hanukkah candelabra and candles)







Who's bringing What:



Food:



Pre-dinner snack food (we won't be eating dinner right away: this is important)_____ (Monica)



Wine________ (Elliot)



Challah (at least 2)_______(Ben F. is bring one challah; Devorah)



Soup_________ (Devorah's bringing matzah ball soup)



Salad_________ (Mila)



Drinks (water, soda, juice etc.)________



Side dish_________ (Sonia's bringing curried veggies and beans; Cia's bringing stir fry; Deborah and Todd are bringing something vegan/gluten-free and delicious)



Main course___________ (Andrea's making gluten-free latkes; Raysh might make some glutenous latkes; Meredith's making spanikopita; Laura and Joel are bringing something awesome)



suggested: Latkes



Dessert____________ (Raysh is brining Hanukkah Gelt; Katy; Nick)



suggested: Sufganiot (=jelly donuts)_______







General stuff:



Plastic or Paper Cutlery__________



Plastic or Paper Cups___________



Plastic or Paper Plates__________



Napkins_______________ (Monica)



Tea-lights________ (Monica)



Transliterated Kabbalat Shabbat song sheets______ (Raysh)



Bencher with Kiddush: (Raysh)



Extra kippot:_____ (Raysh)



Hanukkah grab bag bag:_____(Raysh)



Extra dreidels:_________



Other:_____________











Happy Thanksgiving weekend and see you soon!











Shavua tov.

Upcoming November Friday Night Dinner + pre-Hanukkah lunch meeting and shopping excursion

Hey people!

I hope this does not find you buried under the snow. Or if it does, I hope you're having a fabulous time building that snow replica of the Kremlin to scale. Either way, be sure to make it out this Friday night for our awesome November Havurah Friday night gathering, which will be taking place this Friday, November 19, at 7pm @ Elliot's. (Watch your inboxes for address and instructions)

There's a very good chance we'll need extra chairs, so if you could bring a folding chair or lawn chair along, that would be great. (No sweat if you can't.)

We'll also be collecting for the Uptown Food Shelf, so please remember to bring a non-perishable food item to contribute.

Finally, this is a vegetarian potluck, as always. If you're looking for creative, delicious ideas, check out this posting from my good friend Tamar Fox, over at myjewishlearning.com :

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/culture/the-curse-of-the-vegetarian-potluck/

Please consult the list below to see what we still need for this coming Friday night:

Food:

Pre-dinner snack food (we won't be eating dinner right away: this is important)_____(Monica; Raysh)

Wine________ (Emily; Stefanie)

Challah (at least 2)_______ (Nick)

Soup_________(Joel; Shira)

Salad_________ (Raysh is bringing a salad-esque stir fly; Yael)

Drinks (water, soda, juice etc.)________(Katy)

Side dish_________ (Deborah and Todd are bringing a vegan/gluten-free kugel; Raysh is bringing a gluten-filled apple kugel)

Main course___________(Meredith is bringing Blintzes)

Dessert____________ (Jon and Chaya)

General stuff:

Plastic or Paper Cutlery__________(Josh)

Plastic or Paper Cups___________(Josh)

Plastic or Paper Plates__________(Josh)

Napkins_______________ (Josh)

Tea-lights________(Raysh)

Transliterated Kabbalat Shabbat song sheets______ (Raysh)

Bencher with Kiddush: (Raysh)

Extra kippot:_____ (Raysh is bringing)

Food Shelf Donation collection bag:____ (Raysh is bringing)

Other:_____________

Also, a number of you have expressed possible interest in having a group Hanukkah shopping excursion. Please watch your inboxes for possible options. If we do it, it will be on Sunday, November 21, mid-day. We'd gather for a quick lunch, over which we'll have a planning meeting, and then we'd go holiday gift hunting.

We're all super busy, so this won't be terribly long. Figure lunch (~an hour) plus shopping (~a little more than an hour). And remember, you can show up for one part and not the other, if you so prefer.

So please, you are warmly encouraged to join me for high-quality noshing, high-quality planning, and (moral support in) shopping--most importantly, figuring out What My Mother Will Love. We'll vote on possible places via email, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, stay warm and safe.

b'virkat Shalom,

Raysh

Uptown Havurah Turns One! Come celebrate at tomorrow night's kabbalat Shabbat and potluck dinner

Hey folks. It's hard to believe a full year has already sped by since we started coming together as a group. It's been fun watching us grow, meeting new friends, networking, learning new tunes and traditions, trying out new recipes, and planning for an exciting future.

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far. We are tremendously blessed to have such a strong group of awesome people, each of whom offers so much to us all. And thank you to everyone who has opened their living space up to us and hosted. This past year we've celebrated Jewish life at the lake (thanks God!), at Ben M.'s, at Deborah and Todd's, at Elliot's, at Laura's, at Meredith's, and at Mila and Steve's. (Please forgive me if I'm missing anyone--and let me know so I can put it up here).

May we be blessed with each other's continued company as we enter our second year. To everyone I wish a hearty l'chaim!


bi'virkat Shalom,
Raysh

At this time, I want to remind y'all that we have our October gathering tomorrow night, at my place. If you haven't yet, lemme know if you can make it and if you are, what you'll be bringing.

Below, I'll start listing who I know is bringing what (and again, if you've already said you're coming but didn't say what you're bringing, please scan this over and shoot me an email indicating what you'll bring)

Food:
Pre-dinner snack food (we won't be eating dinner right away)__________
Wine________ (Evan)
Challah (at least 2)_______(Laura is bringing)
Soup_________(Deborah's bringing borscht)
Salad_________(Monica; Ben F.)
Drinks (water, soda, juice etc.)________(David's bringing soda; Katy's bringing juice)
Side dish_________ (Max is bringing kugel; Yael's bringing veggies; Rachael; Ben M. and Eric are bringing couscous)
Main course___________(Raysh is making stuffed peppers--vegan/gluten-free/dairy variable)
Dessert____________ (Jon and Chaya are bringing apple pie; Erin's bringing ice cream)
General stuff:
Tea-lights________(Raysh)
Transliterated Kabbalat Shabbat song sheets______ (Raysh)
Extra kippot:_____ (Raysh is bringing)
Other:_____________

Guilt-free post-Yom Kippur break-the-fast Shindig + Save the Date for our Sukkot Bash

1) This Saturday night, 9pm at Meredith's house, we'll be noshing on a variety of goodies (please watch you inboxes for an updated list of who's bringing what). Please do come!

2) We're currently in the process of gathering the materials needed to plan and construct our very own sukkah! If you would like to contribute to the building of the Uptown Havurah Sukkah, please get in touch with Raysh. Thank you so much to those who've already stepped forward to help out!

Also, if you're particularly skilled at construction or interior design, this is your moment to shine. Don't be shy about volunteering. We'll probably start building the frame Sunday in front of Ben M.'s place (where the sukkah will, with any luck, stand).

3)...which brings us to the last point: save the date for our Sukkot dinner, Monday night, Sept. 27th. More details to come. (This is during the intermediate days of Sukkot)

That's all for now. May everyone have a meaningful and inspiring Yom Kippur.