Or Atid Celebrates Three Years for Rabbi Grinsteiner
It has been three years since Rabbi Sherry Grinsteiner relocated to Richmond from Denver.
Since she became our Congregational Rabbi, she has made well-recognized positive changes to the synagogue. Her impact was recently celebrated with a third-year anniversary dinner attended by an estimated 120 congregants.
While there were no big speeches delivered during the evening’s festivities, the menu for the evening was top-notch, led by the Rabbi’s “famous” Israeli chicken and Israeli yellow rice.
Other items served were roasted potatoes two ways (one with za'atar and one with Jerusalem spices), green beans, tabouli salad, romaine lettuce with tomatoes, cucumber & bell pepper, hummus, pita bread, challah, fruit salad, strawberry trifle, and assorted parve desserts from N.J.
Top= A photo of the Rabbi from a previous special program at Or Atid
Born and raised in Israel, Rabbi Sherry has been a dedicated Jewish educator for over 25 years.
She served in the IDF, reaching the rank of First Lieutenant and Commanding Officer of a special unit of 200 teacher-soldiers, tasked with delivering education to disadvantaged youth. Since then, she has developed and led educational programs for youth and adults in Jewish institutions in many states, including Iowa, Texas, and Colorado.
She also served as Ritual Director before becoming Rabbi /Director of Lifelong Learning at Hebrew Educational Alliance in Denver.
Rabbi Sherry was ordained at Aleph, the Jewish Renewal Ordination Program, in January 2021. She and her husband, Leo, have four sons.
Or Atid Kicks Off 40th Year Celebration
Congregation Or Atid is kicking off a year of celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the congregation.
On Nov. 16, there will be a catered opening gala complete with hors d'oeuvres, a plated dinner, dessert and dancing. Our first president, Tommy Baer, will be our keynote speaker. Or Atid will be honoring the 40 families who founded the synagogue and took a leap of faith in June 1986 to start a new, egalitarian, warm, Hamish and welcoming place to worship.
Founding families have an opportunity to record a short message about how they became involved with Or Atid at its inception by coming to the synagogue on either Sept. 4 or Sept.10 between 10 a.m. and noon, where a member of the gala committee will record your message. A video compilation of all founding families’ messages will be shown at the gala.
Invitations will be mailed out shortly. If you are a former member, and would like more information about this event, please contact Ruth Schoenhaut at ruthscho54@gmail.com.
Synagogues Join In Celebration
Congregation Or Atid in conjunction with Temple Beth-El joined together in celebrating the arrival of the month of Av.
Called the “Rising Song Circle,” the evening celebrated the gift of Torah through song, learning and community Havdalah. Those who attended had an uplifting and unique experience.
Group Combines Music and Education with The Nosh At Or Atid
The Harken Back String Band entertained and educated the senior shmooze group at Or Atid in mid-August, performing a number of familiar and traditional Appalachian tunes from the 1860s.
From “Oh! Suzanna” and “Camptown Races” that were written and composed by Stephen Foster, to other familiar songs such as “Buffalo Gals” and “Swanee River,” the group’s song list was highly reflective of the feelings of that time in American history. The band’s high energy and background in the significance of the music brought a greater sense of understanding for the audience into the correlation between the music and the history of the times.
Band founder Mark Thell said that over the band’s 10-year history, they have performed at various historic sites and Civil War re-enactments throughout central Virginia, including the home of Wilmer McClean where General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S Grant.
In recent times, they have been performing at a number of local synagogues and churches.
For greater details on the band, Thell can be reached at (804) 303-4382. The band can also be followed on its Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HarkenBackStringBand/.
Things are really Blooming at Or Atid
More than 100 pounds of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and fresh herbs have been harvested at the Gan Chesed Kindness Garden so far this season.
Based at Or Atid, the garden’s organic vegetables and herbs are being donated to the Weinstein JCC’s Elmer Toth Food Pantry along with similar donations from the JCC’s grocery store partners.
Shari Menlowe-Barck, coordinator of the Food Pantry, has expressed appreciation many times for such a generous gift of fresh food.
For more information on involvement with the garden project at Or Atid, contact Sue Geller at (804) 387-7643 or email her at susanrgeller@gmail.com.