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YOM KIPPUR DAY - Monday, September 28
9:00 am - Pre-readers Yom Kippur morning service: vimeo.com/event/264331
9:30 am - Virtual Rotunda on Zoom
Meet in our Zoom Room to see your friends and neighbors before and after services. Note that this online offering is on Zoom, while services are on Vimeo.
10:00 am - Morning Service (Rabbi Weiss will speak) (livestream at vimeo.com/event/264331
11:45 am - 4:30 pm - Yom Kippur afternoon programming: vimeo.com/event/264331
View a series of pre-recorded content to enhance your observance of Yom Kippur all day long. The lineup will include teachings from Rabbi Weiss and Rabbi Kirzane, niggunim with Aaron Burnstein, lectures by HUC-JIR faculty, and a beautiful poetic and artistic reflection on the themes of Yom Kippur created with submissions from our community. Full schedule TBA.
4:30 pm - Yom Kippur creative afternoon service: “In the Belly of the Whale” at vimeo.com/event/264331
5:30 pm - Yizkor and Ne’ilah: vimeo.com/event/264331

Tuesday, September 29
10-10:15 am - Morning Meditation with Lisa Lombard

Wednesday, September 30
9:30-10:30 am - Hatha/Vinyasa Yoga with Marissa McKown
As certified RYT 200 yoga instructor, Marissa (she/her they/them) strives to create a nurturing yet challenging environment. To learn more about Marissa’s approach and for information about this class, visit this resource page.
5:00-7:15 pm - Voter Information Phone Bank with RAC-IL (note registration below)
Voters targeted for possible removal from registration lists in Wisconsin need encouragement and information to vote – especially in a COVID-19 environment. Phone bank with Wisconsin Conservation Voices and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism to connect with voters and ensure they have the inspiration and information to vote in the November election. Be a part of the work to make sure that every voice is heard, and every vote is counted! Register here

Thursday, October 1
10-10:15 am - Morning Meditation with Lisa Lombard
1-3 pm - STAR: For retirees and older people to learn and connect.
This week, we’ll use our time connecting, checking in, and reflecting on the High Holy Days.

Friday, October 2
9-10 am - Torah Study: Weekly Torah Portion with Rabbi Kirzane
Special holiday-themed Torah study in honor of Sukkot
6 pm - Sukkot Picnic at Lindberg Park (Marion @ Greenfield in Oak Park)
Bring your own picnic dinner to Lindberg Park, where we'll have a song session, a musical mini-service, and a chance to wave the lulav.  Great for families, and bring your friends!  Masks and social distance are expected except when eating.  Featuring Oak Park Temple's newest songleader, Emma Rehfeld, who created and led our High Holiday family and children's services.
8pm - Shabbat/Sukkot festival service on Zoom

Saturday, October 3
8:30-9:30 am -Talmud study
10-11 am - Shabbat morning services
This week, we celebrate Amelia Hammerlsey, who is called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah. The clergy team and the bat mitzvah family will broadcast live from the temple while family, friends, and community members join on Zoom.  All community members will be able to participate in this service, including saying names for Mi Shebeirach and Kaddish.

Sunday, October 4
9-9:45 am – Minyan
10-11:30 am - Torah Study: Samuel
2-5pm - Apple Picking and Fall Festival at Jonamac Orchard (19412 Shabbona Rd, Malta, IL 60150)
Join your Temple friends for an afternoon of harvest fun in the gorgeous countryside.  We still have a few tickets left: first-come, first-served. Meet us at one of two fire pits we’ve reserved to serve as an OPT home base.  Tickets include admission to corn maze, hay rides, and more.  Activities available at an additional cost include apple-picking, pumpkin patch, and petting zoo.  Learn more and reserve your tickets at our website.  Responsible mask-wearing and social distancing will be observed.
7-8:30 pm - Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life with Rabbi Gerson
Uncover practical applications of Jewish mystical teachings in our own spiritual lives. Rabbi Gerson will lead us in reading, discussion, and application of textual selections from Hasidic and other Jewish mystical masters. This course is intended for all searchers, regardless of familiarity with Kabbalah, and each class is standalone - join us for one or all sessions! Please read these nine pages for this week’s class. Note future sessions: 11/1, and 12/6. Recommended purchase: Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life.
7:30-8:30 pm - Great Books Discussion Group: Plato’s Republic with Lee Kantz (note the new link)
Please join us as we continue Book VII of Plato’s Republic, where we enter the Allegory of the Cave. Are we but shadows compared to our ideals? Is that the way justice works? What does it mean for building a better society, or just being a better person? Great questions as we enter our Days of Awe. Newcomers welcome! Join us this week at this link.

Reserve the OPT Sukkah for lunch or dinner
Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9
The Oak Park Temple sukkah is open for Bring Your Own (BYO) lunch and dinner reservations.  You are encouraged to help us decorate the sukkah when you visit, and of course you can wave the lulav & etrog.  Learn more and sign up here.

Native Garden Tour and Clergy Blessing on the Roof
Wednesday. Oct. 7
5:30 pm
Oak Park Temple is now the home to a beautiful and eco-friendly native garden.  Visit the new garden, grab your special treat from the sukkah, and receive your unique blessing from the OPT clergy on the roof.  You don't want to miss this.  Masks and social distance will be observed; visits to the sukkah and opportunities to wave the lulav & etrog will be appropriately spaced.

Torah Blessing House-Calls with the Clergy
Thursday, Oct. 8 through Sunday, Oct. 11
We are sad that we can't dance together with the Torah scrolls for Simchat Torah this year, but we aren't giving up the special chance to hold and honor the Torahs!  Your clergy will bring a Torah scroll to your house, offer you a special blessing, and help you with the honor of holding the Torah scroll in this innovative Simchat Torah celebration.  Make your reservation by contacting Rabbi Weiss: rabbi@oakparktemple.org, 847-226-2126.

Simchat Torah Concert and Service with Jewish Music Sensation Coleen Dieker
Friday, Oct. 9
6:30 pm on Zoom
Though we won't be dancing with the Torah scrolls this year, we are delighted to welcome Coleen Dieker back to Oak Park Temple for an unforgettable Simchat Torah concert and service.  Coleen's music is enriching our Yom Kippur afternoon, and we recommend sampling her collaborations with Rick Recht, Noah Aronson, and Josh Warshawsky ​​​​​​. Our creative service will feature songs and prayers directly from the Torah, and we promise at least one melody you've never heard before.

Yizkor for Shmini Atzeret-Simchat Torah
Saturday, Oct. 10
10 am on  Zoom 
Yizkor memorial prayers are recited on Yom Kippur and on each of the three main festivals (Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot).  Our Shabbat morning service will include Yizkor prayers and the recitation of names of community members who have died since last Sukkot.

In this time members of our community may need support.
 Please click HERE if you need anything. 
Shabbat Shalom and stay healthy.

Please know that should you need anything, even to talk, you can reach out to us by email; Rabbi Weiss, Rabbi Kirzane, or Cantor Green.

Click for a list of Covid-19 Testing Sites within 5 miles of Oak Park (IDPH)

Please send questions, comments, suggestions via our contact form.