How Can we laugh?

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How Can we laugh?

03/19/2019 07:31:21 PM

Mar19

As the silly and frivolous festival of Purim approaches, one of our members asked: How can we laugh with all the terrible things happening in our world? It is a good question. How do we laugh after the racist murders in the mosques in New Zealand, the rockets flying towards Tel Aviv, or the floods that are devastating communities in the Midwest and in other areas around the world?

I wonder if celebrating Purim teaches us that we need a time to turn from tragedy and have some fun. Our ancestors created this early spring holiday so we can turn the rules upside down and let off some steam. Centuries later, we celebrate Purim because it continues to serve a purpose. Humor can give us strength. Laughter can balance our perspective. Being playful reminds us remind us that life is good. Purim is here! How can we NOT laugh?

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Sat, April 20 2019
15 Nisan 5779

TINW Happenings

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Tuesday
Apr 30

Adult Ed. Lecture-Jewish in America: Living George Washington's Promise
Tuesday, Apr 30th 10:30am to 12:00pm
In a 1790 letter to the Touro Synagogue in Rhode Island, President George Washington promised that America’s Jews would always enjoy the full rights, privileges, and protections of U.S. citizenship. Since that auspicious beginning, Jews have flourished in America as they have nowhere else in the modern world. But has all that success come at the expense of Jewish distinctiveness?
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Wednesday
May 1

Movie: Who Will Write Our History?
Wednesday, May 1st 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Days after the Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, a secret band of journalists, scholars and community leaders decided to fight back. Known by the code name Oyneg Shabes, this clandestine group vowed to defeat Nazi lies and propaganda. Now, their story is told as a feature documentary mixing the writings of the Oyneg Shabes archive with new interviews, rarely seen footage and stunning dramatizations.
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Wednesday
May 1

Yom Hashoah Candle Lighting
Wednesday, May 1st 8:30pm to 10:00pm
We hope that you will symbolically join with other members of our synagogue by lighting one candle on Yom HaShoah, which begins Wednesday evening, May 1st, 2019. Yom HaShoah candles represent a highly visible symbol of both the yellow badge that Jews were forced to wear under Nazi occupation and the promise that we can make our world a better place to live. TINW Brotherhood will distribute candles to CJL students prior to Yom Hashoah. Donation graciously accepted to continue this program.
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Thursday
May 2

County Wide Yom Hashoah Commemoration
Thursday, May 2nd 12:00pm to 1:00pm
The commemoration will include the Torah scrolls from communities destroyed by the Nazis, including Temple Israel’s scroll from Austerlitz in the Czech Republic, which will be carried by Rabbi Jaech
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