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Home > Membership > The Voice - November 2025 - Cheshvan/Kislev 5786

The Voice - November 2025 - 5786

Services this Month

Sukkot Shabbat Services
Friday | November 7 | 7:00 pm
 

Join us for joyful Shabbat services led by Rabbi Rebecca Reice.
Proneg Before Services
Friday | November 7 | 6:15 pm
 
Members and Non-members are invited to gather before services for refreshments. Get into the Shabbat spirit during this special time for families to connect with each other in a meaningful and fun way.
 
This event is by registration only so please click here to let us know if you are planning to attend. We are looking forward to seeing you there!
T'filah Together
Saturday, November 15  |  9:00am
 

Please join us for T'filah Together, Congregation Shir Ami's Tot Shabbat program for families with kiddos up to the age of eight years old. We will be meeting in the Fellowship Hall or Room 110 at 9am (depending on the week) where Rabbi Rebecca Reice will lead a Shabbat program specifically geared for kids and their families. This will include age-appropriate songs, prayers, and a PJ Library story. We hope to see you there! Click here to let us know you'll be there!
Shabbat Morning Services
Saturday, November 15  |  10:00am
 

Join us for Shabbat Morning Services. Click here to register!
Save the Date! December Shabbat Services
Friday, December 5  |  Services 7:00pm
 

Join us for joyful Shabbat services led by Rabbi Reice.

Upcoming Events

Rabbi Reice's Office Hours
 
Office Hours
Coming Soon!
 
During Office hours, Rabbi Reice will be answering the phone, answering emails, and meeting with those folks who have scheduled an appointment (in person, over the phone or a video call). Please feel free to call or email Rabbi Reice during these times. (Of course, contact her, or our President, Cindy Tarsi, immediately for more urgent matters.)
 
Please email Rabbi Reice (rreice@shir-ami.com), to schedule an appointment in advance.
 
Upcoming Days Off
 
 
Upcoming Office Closings
Celebrating Birthdays and Anniversaries in October
 

Happy Anniversary:
11/8    Laura Soos & Wes Eichenwald
11/10    Julie & Chuck Cohn
11/15    Amy Schorr & Rob Rose
11/17    Eloise & John Potter
11/17    Hettie & Bob Schultz
11/29    Deborah & Ari Zlotnik
 
Happy Birthday:
11/1    Nicholas Kovacevich
11/5    Gail McMahon
11/5    Ethan Belyi
11/14    Charlotte Cohn
11/15    Rebecca Kovasevich
11/16    Mike Bogart
11/17    Joanna Bitner
11/26    Nancy Tack
Shir Ami in Partnership with AJFF Presents Two Films
November 2 |  5:00pm and 7:30pm  |  Shalom Austin 
 
 
 
Shir Ami will be partnering with AJFF for two films this year! Nina is an Athlete at 5pm and The Floaters at 7:30pm! Click on the titles to register early for discounted ticket prices!
Chanukah Party!
Sunday, December 14  |  5:30pm
 
 
JFS Food Pantry Thank You
 
 
Thank you to everyone who donated food during the holidays. The JFS food pantry sent this photo and sends their thanks!
Women's Mah Jongg
If you are interested in learning or playing, contact Leslie.
 
 
The women in our group meet once or twice a month to play Mah Jongg, kibbitz, nosh and enjoy a relaxing afternoon. Our members volunteer to host these afternoon games at their homes. Members who would like to make a donation at the end of each game may do so. At the end of the year the group makes a donation to Shir Ami and chooses another worthy Jewish charity.
Happy Bookers
Date: Saturday, November 22
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Book: The Morning After the Revolution: Dispatches from the Wrong Side of History by Nellie Bowles
 
 
 
About the Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ... From former New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles, a look at how some of the most educated people in America lost their minds—and how she almost did, too.

As a Hillary voter, a New York Times reporter, and frequent attendee at her local gay bars, Nellie Bowles fit right in with her San Francisco neighbors and friends—until she started questioning whether the progressive movement she knew and loved was actually helping people. When her colleagues suggested that asking such questions meant she was “on the wrong side of history,”Nellie  Bowles did what any reporter worth her salt would do: she started investigating for herself. The answers she found were stranger—and funnier—than she expected. Deliciously funny and painfully insightful, Morning After the Revolution is a moment of collective psychosis preserved in amber ... An unmissable debut by one of America’s sharpest journalists 
About Happy Bookers
The Happy Bookers book club is open to Shir Ami members. Interested prospective members should contact the Shir Ami Membership Committee.
 
2025 SCHEDULE
11/22: The Morning After the Revolution by Nellie Bowles
12/20: When Angels Left the Old Country by Sasha Lamb
1/2026: Here All Along by Sarah Hurwitz
 

Shir Ami News

Mi Shebeirach

Our Prayers for the Physical, Spiritual and Emotional Healing for those named and any others in need.
 
Please email Rabbi Reice at rreice@shir-ami.com to enter a name on the list or remove a name from the list.
 
Alison Austin, Mona Bailey, Bill Bitner, LeRoy Bitner, Phyllis Byrd, Pamela Caulder-Fine, Carlos Cisneros, Glen Fine, Leora Forstein, Janet Friedman, Linda Friedman, Ingrid Gabriel, Lynn Gelber, Yehudit Leah bat Gitel, Carol Goldmark, Joyce Heil, Elgin Koons, Teme Levbarg, Rabbi Mark Levin, Linda Lewis, John Liberty, Geri Meyers, Linda Mickelson, Kay Moore, Dominae Petrosini, Tobey Ramirez, Delia Rodriguez, Emory Plum Schlanger, James Smallwood, Yehudah Zev ben Shaindle Leah, Cindy Tarsi (Chasye Chana bat Laya Raizel v’Avraham Yitzchak HaLevi), Jim Tarsi, Esther Thomas, Marsha Weiss, Larry Whitlock, Laura Wildeman, Carol Wood, Carole Wood, Dale Wood, Dominic Wood, Bonnie Zimmer
The Caring Circle - Care to Get Involved?
 
 

Lending a helping hand to members in times of stress is a vital part of any congregation. Kind and caring Shir Ami members volunteer in this group to help provide support to other Shir Ami congregants in times of life's challenges such as illness, death, divorce, and birth. Specific activities include helping to secure a minyan for a memorial or shiva service, sending notes to members on the loss of a loved one, arranging transportation for a member to attend services or other Shir Ami events, and providing meals, sending cards, visiting, or calling congregants during times of illness or post-hospitalization.
 
If you are experiencing any of these challenges and wish to be contacted by the Caring Circle, please contact Rabbi Reice. If you wish to be a more active Caring Circle volunteer, please contact Sara Goodman at CaringCircle@Shir-Ami.com. All are welcome!

Shir Ami and Drive a Senior Northwest – Partners in Supporting our Older Adults

Volunteer Drivers Needed
Please consider becoming a volunteer driver for the Drive a Senior Northwest program. By offering to drive someone just one or two short trips a month, you will be an unbelievable help to our many older adults still living at home in the northwest Austin/Cedar Park/Leander area. Driving an older adult is incredibly rewarding and very much appreciated. Please go online to driveaseniornorthwest.org to read about the program, then print a volunteer form, fill it out, and mail it in. Or ask Sara Goodman (sgoodman123@gmail.com) for more information about the program.
Services to Adults 60+
If you or a loved one is 60+ and needs help to stay in your/their home, Drive A Senior Northwest is here for you. Services include rides to doctor’s appointments, the grocery store, community activities, etc. as well as minor home repair, telephone reassurance, and a twice monthly senior day out. Contact Drive a Senior Northwest at driveaseniornorthwest.org or (512) 250-5021.

Community News

Kid's Club
November 9  |  9:30am  |  Shalom Austin 
 
 
 
 
Join Kid's Club of Hadassah to learn all about Shabbat! We will make challah covers, decorate Shabbos candles, and make our own kiddush cups. This program is intended for the whole family, particularly for families with children between the ages of 3 and 8. Click here to register!
 
Kid's Club of Hadassah is a free monthly event for families in the Austin area.
Questions? Contact austin@hadassah.org.

If spots fill up and you are interested in joining the waitlist for this event, please email austin@hadassah.org with subject line "Kids Club". 
Politics from the Pulpit?
November 10 |  7:00pm  |  Shalom Austin 
 
 
 
Join us for the inaugural discussion in the Jerome and Lois Rosenberg Memorial Public Affairs Lecture Series: Looking at Judaism from Both Sides Now, Politics from the Pulpit? A Conversation with Rabbi Rick Jacobs and Rabbi Avi Weiss. 
 
In a time of deep polarization, what role should politics play in the spiritual life of Jewish congregations?
Join us for a thought-provoking conversation between Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, and Rabbi Avi Weiss, founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat, as they explore the boundaries and responsibilities of political discourse from the bimah.
 
Hadassah Happy Hour
November 13, 2025  |  5:30PM  | 
 
 
Please join us for our monthly happy hour at a wine bar in the Northwest Hills. We'll get to know one another over drinks and grow sisterly bonds through our shared passions.
 
Join us each month!
Thursday, November 13
Thursday, December 11
 
Click here to register! Questions? Contact Sarah Swernofsky at sarahswernofsky@gmail.com
Book Lovers Breakfast
Shalom Austin  |  November 13  | 9am 
 
 
City Wide Havdallah
Shalom Austin  |  November 15  |  7:00pm 
 
Holiday Gift Bazaar
Shalom Austin  |  November 16  |  10:00am - 2:00pm 
 
Light Up the Night: Latkes & Spirits with Austin Hadassah
December 7  |  5:00pm - 9:00pm 
 
 
Join us for spirits, music, dinner, and a silent auction honoring: Michal Ilai, One of Hadassah's 18 American Zionist Women You Should Know
Michal Ilai is the senior Israel educator at Shalom Austin. Her 30-year career has focused on Jewish identity, Israel-diaspora relations and Zionism, and she has founded programs, facilitated workshops and designed curricula to strengthen Jewish peoplehood.
Register here by December 1st • Registration includes Kosher dinner
Questions? Contact hadassahaustinorg@gmail.com
RAISE
October - May
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Shalom Austin is looking for volunteers and participants for the RAISE program. Click here for more information.
Jewish Business Owners: Get Listed!
 
 
Hebrew Free Loan of Austin is building a Community Business Directory to showcase and support Jewish-owned and Jewish-adjacent businesses. Add your business today using this simple intake form: https://hebrewfreeloanofaustin.org/business-directory-intake-form/. Together, we can strengthen Jewish Austin!  
Jewish Family Services Caregiver Support Groups
Family Caregiver Support Group: This is an ongoing group and meets the first and third Thursday of each month. It is a safe place for family members caring for adult loved ones to discuss the stresses, challenges, and rewards of caregiving. To register, click here

Volunteer for Shalom Austin JFS Food Pantry

The Client Choice Shalom Austin JFS Food Pantry is always looking to engage volunteers in food drives, packing food bags, and making deliveries. Anyone interested in getting involved in any capacity, can email Joan Eisenberg Maniere at joan.maniere@shalomaustin.org.
Also, if you know of any community members who are facing food insecurity, please have them contact Joan, and she can get them enrolled into the program.

Interest Free Loans

Hebrew Free Loan of Austin provides short-term financial support for members of the Austin Jewish community through interest-free loans that springboard you to your next step in life. Could you or someone you know use a hand-up with an interest free loan? Loans can be made available within a week or even same day in emergencies! Contact info@hfla.org or visit https://hebrewfreeloanofaustin.org.
Sat, November 1 2025 10 Cheshvan 5786