Monthly Archives: October 2018

Sabbath of Peace Memorial Gathering in Memory of Our Jewish Brothers and Sisters Murdered at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh

Congregation Agudath Achim in Taunton, MA, serving Taunton and surrounding communities, cordially invites you to join us on Saturday morning, November 3, 2018, at 12:00 noon for a Sabbath of Peace Memorial Gathering in Memory of Our Jewish Brothers and Sisters Murdered at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh last Saturday.  All who come in peace are welcome.

We will meet at our synagogue, located at 36 Winthrop Street (Route 44) in Taunton, just west of Taunton Green.  Parking is available on the street, across the street on the Winthrop Street Baptist Church lot which they graciously share with us on an ongoing basis, and at our Jewish Community House at 133 High Street.  There is also City of Taunton public parking on lots in various downtown locations.

The first part of our gathering will be a traditional Jewish service (in both Hebrew and English) as conducted in a “House of Mourning”.  Following this service, selected religious and civic leaders will have an opportunity to offer brief statements of condolence, peace and hope. We plan to keep the entire occasion to under an hour.

At the conclusion there will be time set aside for photographs, but not during the service and remarks themselves.

Please note that our 105-year old synagogue building is not yet handicapped accessible.  There are about half a dozen stairs into the building through the front doors. These front doors and the interior doors to the sanctuary on the main floor are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, but that person would need to be carried into the building and would have no access to the restrooms, which are located downstairs. We also have a balcony, upstairs, overlooking the main sanctuary. We apologize in advance for this bar to anyone’s participation.

It is our custom for men to wear a head covering/yarmulke/kippah, though not an absolute requirement.  These are available when you enter the synagogue.  Our worship service attire preference is “business casual” at a minimum. We do, however, count on your own good judgment and aim to welcome everyone.

We will be posting this notice on our website www.jewishtaunton.com and on our Facebook page, A Family of Friends at Congregation Agudath Achim in Taunton and distributing to organizations and news outlets. Please feel free to share this information as you see fit.

Shalom, Rabbi/Cantor Anne Heath

Alef Beats on Oct 27 – Featuring “There Must Be Another Way” – JArts Boston Arts Matter Shabbat

Join us at the synagogue on Saturday morning, October 27, 2018, at 9:00 AM for services and then stay for the Alef Beats a cappella performance from 10:45 to 11:30 AM.  We’ll end with a festive Kiddush/social time in the vestry/lower level.  All are welcome.  Of course, it’s Shabbat, there is no charge.  We’re part of Greater Boston JArts Arts Matter Shabbat programming.  More here.

Coming from Brown/RISD Hillel, the Alef Beats perform for us every couple of years and it’s always great to have their musical presence and energy enliven our community.  Learn more about them by clicking here.  Their repertoire contains some contemporary Israeli songs in Hebrew, a Yiddish classic or two and some recent American offerings.

One featured song for this visit by the Alef Beats is “There Must Be Another Way” which was the Israeli entry to the 2009 Eurovision music contest with Israeli musical artists Noa (Jewish) and Mira Awad (Muslim).  The lyrics are in Hebrew, Arabic and English (English translation below the video).

 

 

The lyrics “speak” for themselves:

There Must Be Another Way

There must be another
Must be another way

Your eyes, sister
Say all that my heart desires
So far, we’ve gone
A long way, a very difficult way, hand in hand

And the tears fall, pour in vain
A pain with no name
We wait
Only for the next day to come

There must be another way
There must be another way

Your eyes say
A day will come and all fear will disappear
In your eyes a determination
That there is a possibility
To carry on the way
As long as it may take

For there is no single address for sorrow
I call out to the plains
To the stubborn heavens

There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another way

We will go a long way
A very difficult way
Together to the light
Your eyes say
All fear will disappear

And when I cry, I cry for both of us
My pain has no name
And when I cry, I cry
To the merciless sky and say
There must be another way

And the tears fall, pour in vain
A pain with no name
We wait
Only for the day to come

There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another way