A Joint Selihot Program and Service will be held Saturday, September 24, 2016 beginning at 8:30 pm at B’nai Shalom of Olney, 18401 Burtfield Drive, Olney, MD 20832
Featuring: Rabbi Matthew L. Berkowitz, Director of Israel Programs, JTS and Co-founder, Kol HaOt: Illuminating Jewish Life Through Art, Jerusalem (for additional information visit: www.kolhaot.com)
Participating congregations: Beth Sholom (Frederick), B’nai Shalom of Olney, Kehilat Shalom, Shaare Tefila, Shaare Torah, and Tikvat Israel
8:30 PM Havdalah/Dessert reception
9:00 PM Film Screening and Conversation with Rabbi Matthew L. Berkowitz
“A Pure Prayer”: Exploring the Themes of Teshuvah for Ourselves and our Community
The evening will open with an emotional twenty-seven minute film entitled “A Pure Prayer” (2000), which is a fiction film about an Israeli community in crisis over the absence of a minyan as they approach Yom Kippur. At the center of film is a family with a special needs son. His father, the gabbai of the community, wants his son to be the tenth man. Will this traditional community accept the son, or not? More importantly, will his father learn to love him with a full heart. This remarkable film produced by Sarah Beck of the Ma’aleh Jerusalem Film School will spark rich conversation on core themes of the High Holidays: coming closer to family; becoming a community of inclusion and sensitivity; and seeing the image of God in all those around us.
10:30 PM Selihot service
