By GAYLE SOMMERS
For The Beachcomber
The Vashon Havurah is pleased to welcome Rabbi Stanley Yedwab to our congregation for Friday night services at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7 and again at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, Nov. 8. Torah study begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays.
Rabbi Stan is a gifted theologian who served on the President’s Alumni Circle of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), Reform Judaism’s premier educational institution. He began his training in the Orthodox tradition but felt that Reform Judaism’s tenets spoke to him.
“I could not believe in their (Orthodox teaching’s) view of the Bible and Talmud being literally of Divine Origin. To me they were inspired by God but divinely human, and it was their humanity that made them sacred,” he said.
A friend suggested that he try the pre-rabbinic program at HUC-JIR.
“For me, it was as if the heavens had opened up. This was a Judaism I could believe in with all my heart and mind,” he said.
Rabbi Stan served several congregations as rabbi, spending most of his career at Temple Beth Am in Lakewood, N.J, from which he retired in 1998 after 39 years. He currently serves as a part-time rabbi for congregations in Port Angeles and Walla Walla. He has worked throughout his career to bring congregants together. Rabbi Stan has also taken to heart many issues related to social action, ranging from his early involvement with the civil rights movement in the 1960s to helping to resettle Vietnamese boat people to working to end discrimination against African-Americans and poor people.
Rabbi Stan will discuss “What Is Reform Judaism?” on Friday evening, and the Saturday morning discussion will be “A Journey to Individuality.” Saturday’s Torah portion is “Lech Lecha,” Bereshit (Genesis) 14:1 – 15:21.
The Havurah uses a Reform prayerbook which is “user friendly” for those who do not read Hebrew. It has English transliterations for all Hebrew prayers.
Oneg Shabbat will follow Friday night’s service. Please join us.
For more information, call me at 463-4687 or Louise Olsen at 463-1399.
Havurat Ee Shalom is located at 15401 Westside Hwy. S.W.
— Gayle Sommers and her family have been part of the Havurah for the past 18 years.
