A message from OVS President Michael Bouhadana

This weekend brings us not only Shabbat, but the holiday of Shavuot, the commemoration of the giving of the Torah.

As with any Jewish holiday, there are a number of customs associated with Shavuot, including hearing the Ten Commandments, reading Megillat Esther, all-night study sessions, and eating dairy foods.  The public reading of the Ten Commandments is central to the holiday, as the Jewish people
symbolically receive the Torah anew.

I encourage all of our members to attend Shavuot services on Sunday and Monday mornings, and enjoy the beautiful spirituality of this holiday. We need to have a minyan -especially for the Torah readings and Yizkor on Day 2.

Please see the Shavuot schedule in this e-mail for more information about service times, and the late-night study session (with cheesecake!) led by Rabbi Kassorla.

On the topic of holidays, the High Holiday committee, led by David Franco, is hard at work planning Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur 5780. The committee has arranged once again for world-renowned Sephardic Hazzan (cantor), Rabbi Abraham Sultan to lead the services. If you have not had the pleasure of hearing Rabbi Sultan’s incredible singing voice, you are in for a treat! He's coming back this year. 
The committee is also busy planning the High Holiday Mitzvot auction and dinner. Please mark your calendars for Sunday, September 8. And I hear that keftes are back yet again!

I look forward to seeing you this weekend.