Aloha KBS Ohana,
What an extraordinary High Holiday season we just shared together. Over the past few weeks, our Kona Beth Shalom congregation has come together regularly, feeling a lot like family. And that is exactly how it should be. We truly are ohana here in West Hawaii.
We’ve greatly appreciated our relationship with Rabbi Dan Fink and his wife, Janet, during their second consecutive visit for the High Holidays. They now feel like beloved family members, too. They once again shared their warmth and beautiful Jewish souls. Rabbi Dan’s sermons on Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat Shuvah, and Yom Kippur were both smart and inspiring. We are deeply grateful to Rabbi Dan and Janet, and to the Plauts for generously hosting them.
Our High Holiday and Shabbat services especially rely on Aviva Plaut. As per usual, Aviva took charge and had details in place. Her knowledge of Judaism and Hebrew, along with her feel for the right pace of a KBS service, is truly essential and something to behold. Thank you, Aviva.
Thanks also to Rabbi Shari Joy Berman, whose Jewish knowledge and singing voice are divine. And thank you to Alan Silverman, who brought it all online so everyone could join us from wherever they were. Let’s never take for granted the pleasing guitar and violin music supplied by Yehudah Plaut and Joel Gimpel, respectively.
Many of us gathered for a superb Tashlich at Old A Beach and cast away sins of the past year with the Pacific before us and our shofars blowing. Kol Nidre was powerful. On Yom Kippur day, we had one of the best discussions of the Book of Jonah in a whale of a long time. Then, as the fast ended, Barry Blum did what many thought impossible: his tekiah gedolah outlasted Vic Greenspan’s famously long one. Vic, we hear a rematch is coming.
And we finished strong with the lesser-known High Holidays. Last Saturday’s Shabbat brought together Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah in one spectacular service. We unrolled our precious Polna Torah from end to end, and the Traveling Jewish Wedding Band of Hawaii, with its many KBS members, played magnificent Jewish music as we danced. It was pure joy.
There’s more fun to come. On Saturday, October 24, we’ll hold Shabbat services in person at the New Thought Center, followed by a concert by the Trio Sephardi, featuring Susan Gaeta. It’s going to be great.
This Saturday, October 10, we have Torah study on Zoom, and darned if we aren’t back at the beginning of the Torah with Genesis. Let there be light. Adam and Eve are about to meet in an ultimate fix-up. Knowledge follows. Please join us online this Saturday morning at 10 a.m. See you soon.
With warm aloha and gratitude,
Craig Silverman
President, Kona Beth Shalom