Shalom everyone,
I truly hope that you are doing okay. Perhaps by now, many of you have become accustomed to new routines. However, I totally understand if you still are struggling. All of these changes are extremely overwhelming. Please know that we are there for you.
That is actually the reason why I am writing this email to our entire congregation. I know that our Beth Am community is an amazing group of individuals. Many of you have asked the basic question, “How can I help?” This email will hopefully provide you with some specific ideas.
Currently, I would like to start three different initiatives. You are more than welcome to sign up for any of them. The more the merrier.
The Refuah Calling Club
Because of our social distancing, I believe that everyone in our congregation has experienced some sense of social isolation. With that in mind, I am committed to making sure that everyone in the congregation receives a phone call on a regular basis. The purpose of these phone calls is to check-in, to help people feel that they are not alone, and to ascertain any needs of our families. Therefore, I am looking for a group of people to volunteer to make phone calls to the congregation. The more people that sign up to make calls, the fewer phone calls each person will have to make. Just reply to this email to let me know if you’re interested in joining The Refuah Calling Club.
The Menschies
We already, we have received a few requests from aging congregants who could benefit from someone, who is already going to the grocery store, to pick up a necessity because that congregant’s delivery order is running very late. We also have people that need some technical support with Zoom or other tech issues. Therefore, I am looking for a group of people to volunteer to fill the needs that some of our vulnerable congregants have. No one would be asked to do something that they are uncomfortable with and all necessary precautions would be taken (i.e., deliveries would not be done face-to-face but rather placed on a porch or in a mailbox). Just reply to this email to let me know if you’re interested in joining The Menschies.
Instructors
Many of us have special skills as well as hobbies that could be wonderful to share with our congregation. With Zoom, we can connect specialists with people that might be interested in their specialty. We have congregants who are Tai Chi and yoga instructors who could offer classes. We have math tutors who might be interested in offering an office hour. Painters and sculptures who might be able to think of a class where we could all do something together. Therefore, I am looking for congregants who have a specialty and they would be interested in sharing that gift with others in a workshop or learning session. Just reply to this email to let me know if you are interested in providing a service to our community.
By the way, we already have…
John Moore offering a Tai Chi Class for beginners and above to our community on Thursday at 10 AM. His email is: john.moore@lions-wing.net. The Zoom link is activated by clicking here: March 26 at 10:00 AM .
Sharon Stone offering math and science tutoring in a Zoom classroom, from 11am-12pm on Tuesday and Thursday for our Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers, through pre-calc. She can be reached at sharon.coleman@juno.com or her Zoom meeting id is 360-269-0482.
Be on the lookout for future Bashamayim programs hosted by instructors. We plan to put this in a more polished format.
Thanks, in advance, for offering to help with any of these initiatives. Just reply to this email and let me know where I can place you.
B’shalom v’refuah (With peace and healing),
Rabbi Robbie
