RABBINIC NEWS
Please come and learn what Green Burials are all about and join in a discussion led by Green Burial Vermont. Your input and thoughts are very important to help the committee continue in our work to provide the end of life options that our community wants.
Shabbaton: A Journey to Jerusalem
Take a journey with JCOGS to Jerusalem as we welcome back Israel educator Jonathan Golden, PhD. Over the course of Shabbat, Golden will teach and facilitate from the renowned Hartman Institute iEngage curriculum. He will offer a Friday night D'var Torah/sermon, an inspired lecture over a catered dinner, and a Saturday afternoon workshop.
The Art of the Sermon: How to prepare, write, and give a D'var Torah
This two part series will explore what it takes to interpret a piece of inspiring Jewish learning and teach it to others. You need not be the greatest Torah scholar to say something profound about a piece of Torah. You need not be the most charismatic public speaker to share some wisdom. Come with your willingness to explore and get ready to be inspired and to inspire others. Please register here.
Increase the Light
In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Thank you to the entire community for coming out to be part of this amazing experience, and particularly to our partners: Stowe Media Group, Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center (Community and Education Fund), the Helen Day Art Center, Stowe Performing Arts, and the Greater Stowe Interfaith Coalition, including St. John’s in the Mountains Episcopal Church, Stowe Community Church, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stowe, and Bahá'ís of Stowe.
Rabbi David Fainsilber
Rabbi David Fainsilber is the spiritual leader and first full-time rabbi of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe. Originally from Montreal, Rabbi David and his wife Alison joined our community in 2013. You may spot Rabbi David, Alison, and their three children skiing at the mountain, biking on the Lamoille Rail Trail, or schmoozing at the Farmers’ Market.
Rabbi David has brought a surge of energy and spirit to JCOGS. He has grown the JCOGS religious school 800%, reaching youth from birth to college. Rabbi David infuses Shabbat and Holy Days with spirit, and composes and records liturgical music. He is instrumental in working across the local community with faith, business, law enforcement, and educational leaders to help form the first homeless shelter in Lamoille County. Rabbi David is an active leader of the newly formed Morrisville-Stowe Coalition steering committee, tackling systemic bigotry in our community. His pastoral presence is healing in our turbulent world. His impact has been featured in the The Boston Globe, the Vermont weekly Seven Days, and VPR. Prior to moving to Vermont, Rabbi David served as an interfaith CIRCLE Fellow, AJWS Kol Tzedek Fellow, and as a rabbinic intern for Nehar Shalom, Kolot Chayeinu, and MIT and Tufts Hillels. Ordained at the pluralistic rabbinical school of Hebrew College, he also received a Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Boston University and Hebrew College. He is currently part of the fourth cohort of the prestigious CLI Fellowship.
Rabbi David is more than slightly obsessed with Crossfit, enjoys chopping wood, and loves wrestling with his kids. Read his writings and listen to his music at www.melodyofeverysoul.com.