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Join us for an informative Zoom meeting presentation about the work of the Friendly Center in Orange. Thursday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m. In addition to our recent toy donations, TBS donated bags of food to the Friendly Center Food Pantry during the High Holy Days. If you would like to learn more about the […]

Temple Beth Sholom Brotherhood Speaker Series Presents: Dr. Amanda Geller Associate Professor of Criminology at UCI “Beyond Absenteeism: Parental incarceration and its implications for families” March 12, 2023. 9:00am Bagel, Coffee and Pastry 10:00am speaker Dr. Amanda Geller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at the University of California, […]

Shiru L’Adonai, Shir Chadash – Sing Unto God a New Song!  “Music makes pictures and often tells stories, all of it magic and all of it true.” (John Denver) Music has played an important role in our Jewish worship experience since biblical times. From the portable mishkan – Tabernacle (or sanctuary) in the wilderness to the Temple in […]

Photo of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Rev. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, and Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath on the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (March, 1965) This weekend, we remember and commemorate the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: civil rights leader, social justice activist, pastor, preacher, husband, father, scholar, orator, dreamer. This […]

Register here Tu B’Shvat is a Jewish holiday occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat. It is also called Rosh HaShanah La’Ilanot, literally “New Year of the Trees”. In contemporary Israel, the day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and trees are planted in celebration. Tu B’shvat 2023 begins in […]

“Choose Life!” By Mordechai Rosenstein My many years of rabbinical experience have taught me that the greatest privilege and weightiest challenges of the rabbinate are multifold. One of the gifts that I treasure the most in my rabbinate is to help every individual find meaning and comfort at times of joy and times of sadness. Even […]

Temple Beth Sholom of Orange County’s Artist/Scholar-in-Residence Weekend: February 3-5, 2023 Daniel Abramson “Ufros Aleinu Sukkat Shlomeicha – Spread Over Us the Shelter of Your Peace” Register here Through art, story, text, and other activities we’ll: • Celebrate community of all ages • Create a TBS communal tallit to be used for Consecration, Mi Sheberach […]

Sometimes we receive gifts when we least expect. At times, those unexpected gifts can impact our lives more than we could ever expect: Towards the end of Chanukah last week, we received a package and a letter at our synagogue. It was from our former postal deliver, Mike Carter, from long ago (he retired in […]

Photo of Michael Sumague: by Jeff Winston @ TBS’s Old Orange Circle Chanukiyah Lighting 12/18/22 Happy 6th night of Chanukah! I love to watch the glow of the chanukiyah grow each successive night as we add an additional candle. Chanukah arrives at the darkest, dreariest time of year, when we are approaching the winter solstice. For me, Chanukah is always a reminder about […]

The word “chanukah” means “dedication.” Historically, our holiday is a celebration of religious freedom – freedom of the Jewish people’s right to practice our own religion in our own country in safety and security, peace and harmony. We celebrate the rededication of our Temple in Jerusalem which had been desecrated by the Greek army in 165 BCE. The actual […]