HEArtbeat

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New Chief Executive Officer at Hebrew Educational Alliance

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I am pleased to announce that the Board of Directors at the Hebrew Educational Alliance has hired a new Chief Executive Officer. Steven Levine will begin his new role on September 15 and will work alongside Caryn Osterman until Caryn’s last day, which is scheduled to be October 31.   

I would like to first thank Caryn for her extraordinary efforts over the past 20 months. When the congregation really needed her talent, energy, and expertise, she stepped up and stabilized our finances, elevated our operations, and supported our staff. Caryn indicated from the beginning that her work at HEA was an interim role, and she graciously agreed to stay much longer than she had initially intended as we have navigated several major personnel changes at the HEA. We are forever grateful for her many contributions. 
 
We are thrilled that Steve Levine will be joining the HEA team to build on the great work of Caryn, our staff, and clergy. Steve is a long-time member of the congregation and has been active as a member of the board and the executive board. Steve has served as VP of Membership, has been the primary contact and author for grant applications, and has been an active member of the finance committee and security team. Steve knows the congregation well and brings a love and passion for the HEA to his new position. 
 
Steve is an attorney and brings senior leadership experience from his time at Sky Zone, Red Robin International, and the United States Olympic Committee. He is a past Board Director and President of the Risk Management Insurance Society, Board member of the Colorado Insurance Education Foundation, and a long-time board member of the Anti -Defamation League. 
 
The congregation undertook an extensive and on-going search for a new CEO approximately twelve months ago. We closely followed a process to screen and interview many candidates from all over the country. We did not choose to move forward with any of the candidates, and it was at that time that Caryn agreed to move from Finance Director to Interim Executive Director. Upon reconvening our search, the board overwhelmingly felt that Steve represented the right fit to lead our congregation into the future and chose to offer him the position.   

We are confident that Steve brings the necessary business and leadership experience to the role, and we are thrilled to bring in a CEO who already knows and loves the congregation. Rabbi Shulman has been integrally involved in the process and shared her thoughts as follows; “I have known Steve for quite some time and have worked closely with him on many synagogue issues and am thrilled to be working with him. Steve brings sensitivity and competence to the position, and I know we will make a great team, and he will be a wonderful addition to our very talented leadership team.” 
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We have made a lot of changes lately, and I want you to know we are confident that we are moving forward positively to create a sustainable and thriving congregation. Please join me and the Board of Directors in welcoming Steve Levine as our new Chief Executive Officer. 

Evan Kline 
HEA Board President 

Shabbat Schedule for August 16-17
Today
NO 6:00 p.m., Friday Evening Minyan
Saturday
9:30 a.m., Shir Hadash and B'nai Mitzvah of Zev and Mischa Asarch
9:30 a.m., Traditional Shabbat Services in the Social Hall
7:15 p.m., Mincha/Maariv services

Don't Miss Out!

Join your HEA community for a fun-filled afternoon summer BBQ featuring hot dogs, hamburgers and vegetarian options, activities for kids of all ages, balloon-making, inflatables, yard games, gaga, a Kona Ice truck, and much more! 
Stay for The Denver Rock Orchestra's Open Rehearsal at 3:00 p.m.
The BBQ is free to member families and $25 for non-member families. RSVP HERE.

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Click HERE to view our full list of upcoming programs.

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Forward Thinking 

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Rabbi Sarah Shulman

This week’s Torah portion, Parshat Mattot-Masei, brings the book of Bamidbar to a close. As we read of the details of the Israelites journey with 42 stops along the way, we appreciate just how much of the Torah is centered around a forward-looking journey. Indeed, that focus on the future is something that has always inspired me about the outlook of the Torah specifically, and of the Jewish people in general. Even while the Israelites may complain along the way about the food and the journey, they are able to rally as a people around the importance of a shared vision for the future.  
 
I have been similarly impressed by the long history of forward thinkers among the leaders and members of the Hebrew Educational Alliance. The journey of the Alliance from West Colfax to Stuart Street to Ivanhoe Street was not without stops and starts, and yet it has always been one of forward-thinking plans, adaptation, and community building. I am proud of and grateful to all the visionaries before us and amongst us.  
 
This past Sunday I reconnected with that sense of pride and appreciation for future thinkers at HEA when our Life and Legacy Society, HEAroes for the Future gathered at the home of Shelley and Ken Lazear to share brunch, reflections, and forward-thinking plans for the HEA. What an inspiration it was to look around and appreciate those families who have been able to see beyond the present moment to plant seeds for our future. 
 
As one such member, Jeff Auerbach, reflected, “My hope is that by being part of the Life and Legacy committee, we will ensure that the HEA will be around for years to come. Just as the HEA was there for my dad when he graduated from the HEA Talmud Torah in 1946, God willing it will be available and accessible for all of our kids, grandkids and great grandchildren for years to come!” 
 
We say “Amen” to that, Jeff. And we will continue saying “Amen” to one another’s prayers along the journey to secure a bright, joyful, and secure future for the kids, grandkids, and great children of HEA. May we all benefit from the blessings of a forward-thinking approach in our personal, professional, and spiritual lives. 
 
Shabbat Shalom! 
 
I personally want to extend the invitation to each of you to get involved with our Life and Legacy Committee and to have a conversation about ensuring the long-term impact of HEA for generations to come by including HEA in your will, trust, retirement account, or life insurance policy. I have a goal that together, we can reach 100 families committed to supporting the future of HEA by the 100th anniversary of our community. Please reach out to me at RabbiShulman@HEAdenver.org ​​​​​​​or (720) 244-3342 or to Carol Abrams, our Life and Legacy Committee Chair, at abrams.carol@gmail.com. 

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Thank you for Catching Me: The Power of Caregiving  

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Rabbi Sarah Shulman

May the Holy One mercifully restore them to health and vigor, 
granting them spiritual and physical well-being, 
together with all others who are ill, 
and may God grant strength to those who tend to them. 

I had the strangest thing happen to me last Friday. I was standing up to lead the mi sheiberakh prayer for healing during morning minyan when I suddenly blacked out. I fainted and fell, right in the middle of the prayer. In retrospect, it was a moment of true, comical irony. But at the moment, I was not even conscious. Thank God, several members of the minyan saw me fall and gallantly caught me. They lowered me to the floor. I woke up resting upon the floor, covered in a blanket of tallitot. Immediately, I was surrounded by the caring words of our minyan members, many of whom had taken off their own tallit to cover and support me.  
 
A few hours later I discovered that I had COVID. I slept for the next 48 hours. And thankfully, I feel much better and much stronger now. I am back to running and “rabbiing” and mothering.  
 
While this experience was frightening for me and for all in minyan that day, it was also humbling and touching. So often as the rabbi, you are the one praying for healing for everyone else. To be on the receiving end of your loving support and prayers for healing gave me a profound appreciation for the healing power of this community.  
 
We are a community of caregivers. We care for one another. We care for our loved ones across the age span. We care for our friends after they have surgery. We care for our parents as they age and need more support and rides to their engagements. We care for our children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren as they inch towards independence along with the little ones of our friends. And we care for one another in times of transition, like the one we are facing in our community, when we all need some tenderness, the benefit of the doubt, and the feeling of hope and unity. 
 
Jewish tradition teaches us, “Do not separate yourself from the congregation” (Pirkei Avot  2:4). The rabbis of the Talmud explain that this means that we are meant to care for one another in times of trouble (Ta’anit 11a). As anyone who separates from the congregation will not see the congregation nor themselves consoled, as if accompanied home by angels who lament, “this person, so-and-so, who has separated themselves from the community, sadly, they will miss the healing of the community.” In other words, as I have learned from our longtime members, one’s presence itself is sustaining to a community. 
 
I want to thank you all for being a part of this community, for catching me and others when we fall, for the kind messages, flowers, food, and healing prayers that we have received, and for the leadership of all those who stepped up while I was recovering. I am grateful to be able to return this Shabbat to the bima, remembering anew that I neither can nor need to do this alone. For caregiving, like spiritual leadership, is not the work of a single person; it is the mission of a community. 

 Shabbat Shalom!

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Eliana Light Returns to HEA!

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      Eitan Kantor, Musical Director

Shabbat Shalom! 
Have you gotten your ticket yet for Eliana Light’s 7:00 p.m. concert this Sunday, June 30 at HEA? Get your ticket HERE for only $18! 

As you already know if you attended last summer’s Azamra Kabbalat Shabbat service featuring Eliana Light, Eliana is an immensely talented songwriter, songleader and Torah teacher. We use many of Eliana Light’s tunes at the HEA, including her El Nora on Yom Kippur, Dayenu at our 2nd night seder, Saying Goodbye to Shabbos with the preschool, and BeyONEd at Shir Hadash.

Eliana introduced me to the research by Dr. Lisa Miller about the benefits of cultivating a personal spiritual practice. According to Dr. Miller, “Individuals who cultivate a strong spiritual core are less likely to experience despair, addiction, and depression throughout the life course, and a spiritual core is correlated with growth and resilience after facing challenges.” In these challenging times, I think all of us could use a little more emotional resilience and resistance to depression. Eliana Light’s music and teaching helps us develop our spiritual core through communal singing. 

On a personal note, I owe major gratitude to Eliana for her role in making covid lockdown more bearable for me. Eliana was my artistic “chevruta” (study partner) through the first years of covid, and she brought both comedy and artistic inspiration to our phone calls. She is a gem of a person. 

Besides giving a participatory concert on Sunday (at which I’ll play violin), Eliana will be performing for our preschoolers from 11:00 - 11:40 a.m. on Monday, July 1, in the HEA chapel. All young families are invited, whether you have kids enrolled in the HEA preschool camp or not. 

Thank you to the Alpert Family Memorial Fund for sponsoring Eliana’s visit to our synagogue. 

I hope to see you on Sunday night and Monday morning so we can sing together with Eliana!

May you have a peaceful Shabbat.

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A Busy June at the Alliance

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Join us in June at HEA for worship, learning, and fun for people of all ages!

We'll kick off Shavuot with Tikkun Liel Shavuot at HEA on Tuesday, June 11, at 7:00 p.m., together with our friends from Temple Sinai and Moishe Pod Central Park for an evening of study, prayer, song, community, and cheesecake! Check out the schedule and register HERE. Shavuot services will be held on Wednesday, June 12 and Thursday, June 13 at ​​​​​​​9:30 a.m. Yizkor service will be held during Thursday's service, starting after 10:45 a.m.

Upcoming Musical Programs

Our next Azamra Friday Evening Musical Service will take place Friday evening, June 14, celebrating 50 years of the Denver Pride Parade. Dinner after the service is provided by Cohen's Cuisine. Register and pay HERE.

On June 27, 6:00 p.m. Eitan Kantor and Festo Festo return to the JCC with special musical guest, Osi Sladek, and a talk on Jewish inspiration for climate action by Rabbi Yonatan Neril. Get tickets HERE.

Our BIG summer musical event happens at HEA on June 30, A Songful Evening with Eliana Light. Bright and bubbly songbird, Eliana Light returns to HEA to delight us with her joyful music. Get tickets HERE.

For the Kiddos

Magic Minyan: A Junior Congregation Experience on Saturday, June 15 at 11:00 a.m. This is for kids in grades K-5. Come for the service, stay for the magic! Sign-up HERE, or just show up on Shabbat!

Tot Shabbat & PJ Library Playdate on Saturday, June 22 at 10:45 a.m. A lively service and playdate for the little ones on Shabbat. Sign-up or just show up!

Pizza in the Park on Wednesday, June 26, 5:30 p.m. Click HERE to register and pay online.

Eliana Light will be singing with the HEA Preschool Camp at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 1, from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. If your child is not enrolled in the HEA preschool camp and you would like to bring them to the July 1 event, email Eitan Kantor to let us know. 

For Adults

Walking Torah Hike with Rabbi Sarah Shulman on the morning of Sunday, June 9. Register HERE for a hike with Rabbi Shulman at Enchanted Mesa, Bluebell Spur, and Chautauqua.

Sisterhood Cook and Drash for Shavuot on Sunday, June 9, from 10:30 a.m.- noon. The Sisterhood in celebrating Shavuot! We’ll make cheesecake, and while it’s baking, we’ll enjoy a drash (study session) with Rabbi Marlene Richter. There is NO COST for the event, but please RSVP HERE so we have enough ingredients and seating.

Grandparent's Happy Hour on Monday, June 17, 5:00 p.m. Scheduled for an hour, but who knows when it will end when these folks get-together! Click HERE to register and pay online.

Conversation & Book Signing with Hostage Negotiator Mickey Bergman on Thursday, June 20 at 7:00 p.m. Join J Street Colorado for a conversation and book signing with Israeli hostage negotiator Mickey Bergman. Bergman will be discussing his newest book, In the Shadows, which details his work to help free Brittney Griner, Otto Warmbier, Paul Whelan, and many others from foreign prisons. This is a FREE event but you must register HERE to attend. 

For parents of young adults and/or if you're recent empty-nesters, our SLAK (Social Life After Kids) HEAconnect group will get together at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 27 at Curtis Park for a picnic and FREE concert. Click HERE if you would like to join in the fun!

And, finally, although this event is in September, registration is open now for our Jewish Women's Retreat for 2024! Information and registration are available HERE.

 Shabbat Shalom!

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HEArt Religious School Year 5784 in Review

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      Amanda Eckert, Education Director

From the first day of school to the last, this Religious School year has been a journey filled with unforgettable moments and cherished memories. Join us as we reminisce and celebrate the time that made this school year truly remarkable. Click the image below to view our video slideshow.

 Shabbat Shalom!

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Accessibility Tours and New Disability Inclusion Webpage

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      Eitan Kantor, Music Director

This week’s Torah portion, Kedoshim, features the following prohibition: “You shall not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:13). This line is discussed in the Talmud using a figurative interpretation - that we are prohibited from causing others to commit a transgression. But let us not pass over a more literal reading of the commandment - that we must create spaces that are accessible to people with disabilities and that we must act with compassion towards people with disabilities. 

At the Hebrew Educational Alliance, we strive to ensure that individuals with disabilities and their loved ones can actively participate in all aspects of religious life and take on leadership roles within our congregation. Read more about HEA disability inclusion on this new page on our website.

The HEA’s disability inclusion committee, in a collaborative effort with our Board of Directors and Jewish Family Service’s Jewish Disabilities Advocates group, has worked to create a list of actions that will make our facilities and programs even more accessible to people with disabilities. One of the actions on that list is to hold a facility tour during which people with disabilities and their loved ones can give feedback to staff about how to enhance accessibility. Tour attendees can share their thoughts out loud via a paper form or a digital survey. Tours will meet at the HEA (3600 South Ivanhoe Street, Denver, CO 80237) outside the main door - the door from the lower parking lot. We will be holding accessibility facility tours on the following dates: 

Sunday, May 19, from noon to 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, May 22, from 6:00-7:00 p.m.

If you or your loved one has a disability of any kind, such as a physical, developmental, emotional, or intellectual disability or neurodivergence, your participation in one of these tours would be greatly appreciated. Your insights and experiences are invaluable to us. If you would like to attend, please register by clicking the link above for either date. If you cannot attend one of these tours but have thoughts about accessibility to share with our committee, please share your thoughts through the registration form or call our office at (303) 758-9400. 

Thank you for helping to make the HEA a warm, welcoming, and inclusive community, a community in which we are all Kedoshim - holy.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Sarah Shulman and Rebecca Paradis

As we are writing this reflection, the preschool is abuzz with Passover preparations. We can hear the children outside Rebecca’s office talking about the babies floating in the Nile. The teachers are bustling about collecting materials to create experiences and projects that will become the cherished artifacts of your child’s time in Jewish preschool.  

One of Rebecca’s all-time favorite Passover memories comes from her time as a teacher at HEA for the three-year-old students. While her class was learning the song Dayenu, one child went home to reassure her mother that Ayenui did not actually die. Rabbi Shulman enjoys how her two-year-old daughter came home this week and inquired why her family doesn’t yet have a basket with Baby Moses at home when Ima dresses up so often as Mommy Moses for the Preschool’s Shabbat Sing.   

Even with the levity of children around us, it can be easy to get bogged down by the preparations of Pesach. The cleaning, shopping, cooking, and seder preparations that would be exhausting in normal circumstances prove even harder in a year when we are experiencing captivity and narrowness in new and terrifying ways as a Jewish people. Whether you are looking forward to a week of matzah (and children home from Preschool) or not, Passover preparations can be especially meaningful because they invite us to remove the puffed up “chametz” in our life to make space for stories and memories, values of humility and questioning, and freedoms and relationships that truly sustain us.   

If you need some help getting rid of the chametz in your house or office, we suggest considering selling your chametz through the synagogue HERE, or renting Rabbi Shulman’s new Golden Retriever, Betty, for the weekend. If you’re in need of an uplifting seder with wonderful people, we invite you to sign up to join us for our Second Night Seder at HEA – registration is open through next Wednesday.   

We hope you’ll have a chance to embrace the beauty of a holiday that commands us to tell the same story every year, while we and our children grow older and change. The story is long, winding, and full of questions and relevance. Perhaps this year you’ll tell the children at your table the story of your life and how your ancestors fought for their own liberation. Perhaps this year you’ll add an empty chair at your seder table in honor of the hostages and a new item on the seder plate in honor of the values you’d like to leave the next generation. Perhaps this year you’ll find hope mixed in with the sweetness of your charoset and the voices around you.   

We want to wish you and your family a Chag Kasher v’Sameach – a Passover that is kosher for your home and happy for your soul. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Lynn Geller, HEA Past President & Shalom Park Chair-Elect

I am honored to write this week’s HEArtbeat article to celebrate Shalom Park, Denver’s only Jewish nursing home.

On Wednesday, April 17, Shalom Park is having its Annual Fundraiser and Appreciation Event at TopGolf in Centennial. This year, the honoree is Bruce Bendell, our very own HEA VP of Finance and Chair of our Finance Committee. Bruce, his wife Jennifer and two children have been HEA members for many years. In addition to Bruce’s role with the HEA Board of Directors, he has been very active on the Shalom Park Board of Trustees for years and, most recently, as a financial advisor to the organization. While working on the Shalom Park board with Bruce, I have noticed he asks the most thoughtful questions and gives excellent, constructive advice. Bruce is a mensch and is very deserving of this honor from Shalom Park. 

When Jews settled in a new town, we first built schools, mikvahs, synagogues, hospitals/nursing homes and cemeteries. At our 90th Anniversary Event on March 10, we learned about couples like Anne and Bill Goldberg, parents to Charlotte Rubin and Essie Perlmutter, who were so instrumental in the founding of the HEA. From generation to generation, Jordon (z”l) and Essie Perlmutter and others were the key philanthropists behind creating Shalom Park. In 1992, four years before the HEA moved to our current location, the Beth Israel Nursing Home moved to Aurora and was renamed Shalom Park. A beautiful connection between the HEA and Shalom Park is that the same philanthropic families that started the HEA were involved in the building of Shalom Park.

We are taught in Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 27, One should greet an elderly person as one greets the Shekhinah (divine presence).

כָּל הַמְקַבֵּל פְּנֵי זָקֵן כְּאִלּוּ מְקַבֵּל פְּנֵי שְׁכִינָה

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote in The Insecurity of Freedom: Essays on Human Existence (New York: Macmillan, 1967) “A test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It is easy to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture.”

These texts teach us how important it is to honor, respect, and care for our elders. The Midrash above likens talking to an elderly person to being in the presence of G-d. There really isn’t anything more important than that!  We hope we will live long lives and might need help from those younger than us. Very close relatives of mine lived at Shalom Park for many years and received excellent care, and therefore, I want to ensure that this nursing home continues to thrive for many years to come. 

I hope you will join Bill and me at the Shalom Park Annual Event on April 17 at TopGolf, 1601 E. Easter Ave, Centennial, CO 80112, 6:00 p.m. RSVP HERE, or call Rhonda at (303) 400-2219.

Shabbat Shalom!

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Rabbi Salomon Gruenwald

After the horrific attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the devastating war that has followed, our hearts have been heavy with concern and grief.  In the days following the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, it was hard to conceive of gathering on October 29 for a comedy show.   

As the committee that planned the event regrouped, we started to tell a different story. The group–led by Laurie Morris, Joan Saliman and Ceci Lowinger–revisited the purpose of our event. It was not a comedy show–that was merely the draw. The purpose of our event was to celebrate the founders of the Hebrew Educational Alliance. Not unlike the Passover seder, the goal was to tell our children the story of our community and its origins so that they can carry on our values. The group set out to create the Haggadah of this event. They spoke with the children and grandchildren of HEA’s founders and builders, collecting their recollections in a beautiful tribute book. Their memories are a glimpse into a world so different from ours–a close knit community known as West Colfax where working class Jews lived in what was then an unincorporated suburb on the outskirts of Denver.   
 
In 1928, a year before Wall Street crashed, the Beth David Sisterhood formed the organization that would become the Hebrew Educational Alliance. The Great Depression drove easterners toward the Rockies, drove up unemployment, and brought waves of Jewish immigration to Denver. Yet, in the midst of scarcity and social upheaval, a couple dozen families got together with the chutzpah to dream of a better future for their children and the Jews of Denver. They rolled up their sleeves and passed the tzedakah box, creating a brand new kind of synagogue. One that was traditional, but also progressive for its time. And since 1932, when Rabbi Manuel Laderman arrived at Denver’s Union Station, the Hebrew Educational Alliance has been making Jewish education and community accessible for every Jewish family.    
 
This story is told in far greater detail in the beautiful tribute book we created for the occasion. It serves as a living tribute to the generations that built the HEA. A similar book was created in 1979 on the occasion of Rabbi Laderman’s retirement. That weathered old book sits on the shelf in my study, just as it does in the Jewish Archives at the University of Denver.  Like past tribute books, the journal we created for this year’s anniversary will stand as a historical artifact for generations to remember our synagogue’s history. We will also be turning the tribute journal into a permanent digital artifact on our history page in the coming days. It will remain as a living memorial to the generations who founded, built, supported, and participated in the early years of the Hebrew Educational Alliance.   
 
With this sense of heritage and posterity in mind, we want to make sure that we have an accurate record. We regret that the book published for the Anniversary Celebration had some unintentional errors and omissions, and we are grateful to the individuals who pointed out the mistakes so that we can have a more correct version on our shelves and on our website.   

The following corrections will appear in reprinted and digital editions: 
The biographical tribute for Abe and Dora Perlmutter that was omitted will be included. An omitted photograph of the Feiner Family sisters submitted by the family of Anne and Bill Goldberg will be included.   
In the section titled "More Original and Still Alliance Member Families,” the omitted family profile of Harry and Berdie Friedman will be added.   

The event and tribute book represent the legacy of volunteerism and generosity that built and rebuilt the synagogue over generations. In the early years of the Hebrew Educational Alliance, everyone in the community pitched in and contributed their time, their dedication, and their resources to the success of our synagogue. The same is true today. Like the Alliance of the 1930s, we are operating in a challenging environment and recovering from devastating world events like the COVID pandemic. And, as it was for our predecessors, HEA is in a growth phase once more.   
 
The HEA Anniversary Celebration put a capstone on our annual giving campaign, which concludes with our fiscal year at the end of April. Like previous generations, HEA relies on the support of our members and the generosity of those who can help make Jewish life affordable and accessible to any family seeking the warm, welcoming and spiritual experience HEA has offered for over 90 years.   
 
It did indeed feel good to laugh at the Anniversary Celebration. It also felt really good to remember our history and the sacrifices earlier generations made so that we can live proudly and joyously as Jews in Colorado. If you didn’t attend the event and would like a copy of the tribute journal, a limited number of books will be reprinted and available while supplies last. In the coming days, the digital version of the book will be available on our website, along with photographs from the anniversary event. 
 
If you have not had a chance to contribute to the annual Pathways Campaign, there’s still time to help us close out our year strong. Please click HERE to donate.   
 
Thank you for your support and for helping us continue the groundbreaking vision of HEA’s founders.  

Shabbat Shalom! 

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HEArtbeat: What’s Your Half-Shekel? 

Rabbi Salomon Gruenwald

In this week’s parsha – Ki Tisa – God commands the people of Israel to contribute to the maintenance of the Mishkan (tabernacle). The Torah says in Exodus 30: 
 
When you take a census of the Israelite people… everyone who is entered in the records shall pay a half-shekel… the rich shall not pay more, and the poor shall not pay less than half a shekel when giving God’s offering as atonement for your persons.  
 
In his commentary known as Iturei Torah, Aaron Yaakov Greenberg asks: Why was Moses commanded to collect a half-shekel from each person rather than a full shekel? Greenberg observes: “In this commandment, the Torah comes to say to each person of Israel that they will never achieve wholeness as long as they are on their own; rather, only after joining with another person… And not just that, but no person ever knew who it was that joined them in paying the [other] half-shekel in order to complete the whole shekel. This matter teaches us that even the most simple Jew has the power to complete even the greatest person in the community.”   
 
The contribution of the half-shekel reminds us that a community is made up of people who contribute something of themselves to make up the whole.  The commandment that everyone – regardless of means – must contribute meant that every Israelite was a stakeholder in the project of creating a holy community.   
 
The Hebrew Educational Alliance was founded over 90 years ago by the dedicated volunteers of the Beth David Sisterhood. We are the beneficiaries of their half-shekels, and we continue that legacy by adding our own contribution. Here at HEA, we are blessed with an active, engaged, and empowered congregation where people roll up their sleeves and make things happen. Every program, event, and service we do relies on volunteers who organize, plan, schlep, safeguard, and schmooze.       
 
Next Shabbat we will celebrate many of our most active volunteers who represent the countless members who work to support our community.  Please join us next Saturday morning, March 9, as we honor our volunteers during the Shabbat morning Torah service. At this time, we will recognize volunteers from our Sisterhood, Security Greeter Team, Davening Team and service leaders, HEArt religious school, Preschool, HEAConnect groups, Choirs, Board of Directors, Disability and Multi-Heritage Family advocacy groups, Minyan, Azamra, Shabbat Gabbaim, Anniversary Celebration Planners, and more. Please come and be recognized for your service to the HEA community.   
 
Services will be followed by a special kiddush sponsored by the HEA Sisterhood in honor of our volunteers and the founding families of HEA who will be recognized at the HEA Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, March 10. For more information and to purchase tickets before the deadline tonight, click HERE.  
 
There are so many ways that you can get involved and contribute your own “half-shekel” of talent and energy to HEA. Here are just a few: 
 
Board and Committee Nominations 
Nominations are now open for the HEA board of directors and several important committees. We are looking for leaders with skills and experience in fields such as finance, fundraising, law, real estate, education, community organizing and non-profit management, social services, and construction.  
 
Aside from the board, we are looking for volunteers to serve on several committees and task forces including: Development, Membership, Finance, Building and Facilities, Programming and Community, Hesed (outreach to members in need), Education and Youth, Multiheritage Family Inclusion, and Disability Access. If you or someone you know is interested in serving on our board or on a committee, please contact Leslie Alger – VP of Governance and Chair of the Nominations Committee – at algerleslie@gmail.com. Nominees must submit an application by Monday, March 11.    
 
Volunteers to Help Return Shir Hadash to the GYC on a Weekly Basis 
Shir Hadash – our musical Shabbat morning service – started over 12 years ago as a weekly service in the warm and intimate space of our beautiful Goldberger Youth Center. We are pleased to announce that after a long disruption caused by the pandemic, we plan to return Shir Hadash to the GYC.  With increased concerns for security, hosting Shir Hadash in the GYC will require several volunteers to serve on the Greeter/Safety Team and as gabbaim. We need your help. To volunteer, please contact Olivia Wallen at olivia.j.wallen@gmail.com.   
 
The Iturei Torah says that no one knew whose half they completed. When you volunteer of your time and resources to building and maintaining our kehillah kedoshah – our sacred congregation – your efforts make a greater impact than you might imagine. Your contributions make it possible for people of all ages to pray, connect, find comfort, celebrate, mourn, and learn. To all of our wonderful volunteers we thank you and we look forward to celebrating you next Shabbat. 

​​​​​​​Shabbat Shalom!

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HEArtbeat: HEA Youth Highlights

Yuri Tavbin, HEA Youth Director

Their dedication, passion, and unwavering commitment have truly transformed our community in ways we couldn't have imagined.

As we reflect on the journey we've embarked on together, it's impossible not to marvel at the growth and development I’ve witnessed among our youth. Our USY teens have not only embraced their roles as leaders but have also infused our programming with creativity, energy, and a deep sense of purpose. For anyone who was in attendance last Saturday at our Youth Shabbat services, witnessing our teens read and share Torah, lead services and blessings, and bring smiles to our faces and pride to our hearts, you know what I mean!

One of the most remarkable aspects of their contribution is the way they've fostered inclusivity and belonging within our community. Through their initiatives, events, and outreach efforts, they have created spaces where every individual feels seen, heard, and valued. Whether it's through organizing inclusive gatherings, Shabbat dinners, or simply offering a listening ear, our USY teens have exemplified the true spirit of community and acceptance.

Beyond their individual accomplishments, what truly sets our teens apart is their collective spirit and camaraderie. I have appreciated this at moments like while traveling last month to a USY Regional Convention at Ramah California last month with 10 Colorado teens. Thanks to the mentorship and generosity of so many in our community, these youth have forged lifelong friendships, built a supportive community, and cultivated a sense of belonging that extends far beyond the walls of our synagogue. In doing so, they have not only enriched our youth programming, but have also strengthened the fabric of our entire community.

As we celebrate the remarkable growth and achievements of our USY teens, let us also reaffirm our commitment to supporting and empowering them on their journeys. Let us continue to provide them with the resources, guidance, and encouragement they need to thrive as leaders, changemakers, and compassionate individuals in a complex world.

In closing, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to each of our USY teens for the indelible mark they have left on our community to and all who support them. Your passion, dedication, and enthusiasm are truly awe-inspiring, and I feel immensely privileged to be a part of this journey with you.

​​​​​​​Shabbat Shalom!

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HEArtbeat:

Circles of Support

First of all, thank you to everyone who made last weekend’s Joey Weisenberg visit so special. It was beautiful to hear your voices throughout the weekend and to get to listen deeply with you. 

February is Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). As of 2023, HEA is part of Jewish Family Service’s Jewish Disabilities Advocates (JDA) Collaborative. JDA’s theme for JDAIM 2024 is “Circles of Support.” JDA describes four necessary Circles of Support: 

1. family and close friends 
2. friends, neighbors, and co-workers 
3. community members or organizations with which we interact regularly, and 
4. service providers and/or professionals, such as teachers, coaches, health care providers, therapists, paid caregivers, etc.

JDA created a beautiful resource about the benefits of Circles of Support, how individuals with disabilities might interact with Circles of Support differently than non-disabled people, the role of Jewish organizations in Circles of Support, and avenues of providing support to caregivers and individuals with disabilities. Check out that resource HERE. 

The theme of Circles of Support reminds me that kol yisrael arevim ze baze - all of us are responsible for one-another. This phrase comes from Tractate Shavuot 39a of the Babylonian Talmud. This line emphasizes that our communal well-being is based on interdependence. 

On Friday evening, February 9, we will commemorate JDAIM with an Azamra Kabbalat Shabbat Service (6:00-7:15 p.m.) and dinner (7:15-8:00 p.m.). The service will feature music related to the theme of Circles of Support, discussion of how we can all ask for support, and congregants sharing their experiences of giving and receiving support. We will have an American Sign Language interpreter, transliterated large-print prayer books, magnifying glasses with lights, ear plugs, accessible seating options and a quiet room for anyone experiencing sensory overload. The service will be in the HEA chapel, which is wheelchair accessible from the parking lot using our elevator. Register for Azamra HERE. Please contact our office at (303)758-9400 or info@HEAenver.org to discuss any other accommodations that you or your loved ones might need. 

I’d like to give a shoutout to our Disabilities Advocacy Committee for fueling our process of continually improving the accessibility of our programs and services. 

Besides being Jewish Disabilities Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month, February also includes Repro Shabbat, a celebration that honors the Jewish value of reproductive freedom. And February also contains Refugee Shabbat, an invitation for congregations, organizations and individuals to express solidarity with the global Jewish movement for refugee protection and welcome. These commemorations all emphasize our dependence on Circles of Support. Maybe our refugee grandparents depended on neighbors for childcare as they worked long sweatshop jobs to support their newly-American families. Maybe we have depended on the advice and love of our friends or siblings when making decisions about when to have a baby or not. Maybe we have had the honor of supporting a refugee family from Afghanistan by providing children’s clothing or toys. Maybe we have had the honor of supporting young women in our community by writing letters to politicians begging our representatives to protect reproductive freedom. We all provide and receive support and all depend on one-another. Join us tomorrow and next Saturday, February 10, at 10:30 a.m. to explore Jewish perspectives on refugees and reproductive rights as part of our Torah for Today classes.

As we begin this auspicious month, may we all experience deeply the idea that kol yisrael arevim ze baze. May we ask for support when we need it and may we provide support when we can. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Eitan Kantor, HEA Musical Director

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HEArtbeat: Azamra Kabbalat Shabbat at DU 

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On Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of jamming on Jewish tunes with several students from the University of Denver as well as HEA members Mitch Ohriner (a DU music theory professor and member of our Shir Hadash davening team) and Lily Gross (Director of Jewish Student Life at DU Hillel).
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What a blast! This group inspired me to try new beats under classic songs and also reminded me about the importance of creating tonal space so the melody can shine through.

Tonight, these musicians will be leading a delicious Kabbalat Shabbat service at DU Hillel (2390 S Race St, Denver, CO 80210) followed by an equally delicious dinner! I'd love to see you there! Check out the video of our rehearsal below and register HERE. 

Please reach out to mordy@HEAdenver.org with any questions about the event or any requests regarding accessibility accommodations. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Eitan Kantor, HEA Musical Director

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HEArtbeat: Songs of Ascent

I established the Alpert Family Memorial Fund in honor of my late wife. The intent of the fund is to bring Jewish musical programming of all kinds to our community, as music is at the heart of our tradition. I learned of Joey Weisenberg - leader of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute - several years ago when three of our congregants spent a week in New York learning from Joey. He is well-known throughout the US and Canada and brings his unique talents of music interpretation to inspire and excite audiences of all ages. Our wonderful Eitan Kantor studied with Joey for nine months as a fellow of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute and has brought some of Joey’s now familiar melodies to our congregation.
 
Please join me and Caryn on January 27 for the Songs of Ascent concert. It will be a joyful and uplifting musical evening. I’d like to thank Lee Weisbard and David Rosenthal, Ken and Joan Saliman, Congregation Bonai Shalom, BMH-BJ Congregation, Congregation Rodef Shalom, base Denver and other special friends for helping to sponsor the event.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mark Alpert