A Special Musical Shabbat Service on April 25
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Grief Group Forming
Those we loved and lost live on in us, as we will live on in those we love. For love is as strong as death,[1] and the good we do never dies.[2]
[1] Shir ha-Shirim 8:6.
[2] Mishlei 10:2, 11:4.
Grief is as natural as any other thing our bodies do; it is neither a disease nor dysfunction but a journey through which we make meaning. For some, the process of meaning-making can be most comforting in the company of others. Jewish Family Services at the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines is pleased to offer a monthly in-person grief support group the second Thursday of each month 11 a.m–12 p.m. in the Bucksbaum Library at Temple B’nai Jeshurun, beginning April 10.
The group will be facilitated by Director of Jewish Family Services Karen Michaeli. Karen completed bereavement volunteer training with grief counselor Chris Klug at Iowa City Hospice and served as Director of Bereavement Services at Hospice of Washington County. She studied with social psychologist and loss scholar John Harvey at the University of Iowa, and gave a lecture each year on generational trauma to Dr. Harvey’s “Loss and Trauma” class. Karen also served on the editorial board of the academic journal “Loss and Trauma”.
Mark your calendars to attend our annual Sisterhood Shabbat Service!
It’s a celebration of Sisterhood, Spirituality and Social Action!
At 6 p.m., Friday, March 28 at Temple B’nai Jeshurun
State Senator and Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott, coordinator of interfaith engagement for DMARC, will be our special guest speaker to give our sermon.
There will be a dessert oneg after the service.
We will also be doing a special donation drive for DMARC – bring a healthy whole grain cereal to help us fill the barrel at the Temple!
NO ADULT ED WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19
Once again, Wednesday is bringing us bad weather. It’s unlikely to be bad enough to cancel, but it will be enough to keep some people from coming. On top of that, it’s Spring Break in the school world. Rather than burdening staff with the question of whether to cancel, and participants with the question whether to come, we will go with the reasoning that it is Spring Break and NOT HAVE ADULT ED tonight (the 19th).
Next Wednesday, the 26th, we will begin a NEW ADULT ED SERIES, an introduction to and exploration of Mussar. Mussar is an area of Jewish life and study that can be (incompletely) described as focusing on “Jewish moral virtues.”
A Wicked Purim Event at TBJ!
Let us know if you can attend the Purim Celebration on March 13! https://templebnaijeshurun.wufoo.com/forms/purim-party-2025/
Did you know that there are four main mitzvot of Purim? You can do all four at the TBJ purim party on March 13!
- Sharing a festive meal: We will be feasting at 6, followed immediately by a costume parade in the social hall.
- Reading the Megillah: After dinner, we will have family-friendly and adult Megillah readings. Choose your own adventure!
- Giving tzedaka: Help us support those in need in our community. You can bring fresh food (dairy, produce, eggs) to be donated to the Franklin Avenue Library food pantry and/or new or gently used children’s winter clothes (coats, boots, hats, mittens) to be donated to Des Moines Public Schools students.
- Giving gifts to friends: We will have a mishloach manot making station in the social hall.
Can’t wait to see you on March 13!
Purim Flyer InDesign Landscape 1.29.25Want to listen to the Rabbi’s High Holiday sermons?
Want to listen to the Rabbi’s High Holiday sermons?
Check out the links below!
Erev Rosh Hashanah
RH Morning
Kol Nidrei
YK Morning