ECRA Prayer Circle and Pride Shabbat

Shalom Chevrei:

A couple of matters on my mind.

Firstly, just after the murder of Mr. George Floyd’s, Emanuel leadership approached me about engaging our congregation in some regular effort of mourning and solidarity. This was a particularly important request because time and intentionality by themselves won’t transform society into one that is more racially just and more anti-racist. Such change requires the revolutionary energy we see on the streets; but, perhaps even more importantly, moral transformation also requires consistent work overtime. Having a daily practice dedicated to change is key.

Thus, in case you don’t know yet, we have a daily gathering at 8:00 am to pray, reflect, discuss, and action-plan. Even better, we are doing this work in partnership with ECRA, our collective interfaith force for good. Our experience is ecumenical, diverse, and inclusive. Together we are figuring out how we can combat our racism and champion anti-racism. If you can’t make our early-morning Zoom gathering, you can go to our Emanuel YouTube page at www.5959online.org to view the replay. The practice is shaping up to be Monday through Friday with pre-recorded contributions for the weekends. When I have leadership for the weekends, we’ll go live then, too. We’re happy to include lay volunteers as leaders. Please come join us for this important work. We’ll be glad to have you. For the Zoom link information to join the Prayer Circle, click HERE.

Secondly, as many of you know, June is Pride Month; and to celebrate our LGBTQ+ community and strengthen our inclusivity at Emanuel, we will hold our annual Pride Shabbat online this Friday, June 19th at 6:30 pm CT. I am grateful to Reuben Lewy for his help in shaping up our service. We look forward to welcoming you and yours.

Make it a day of blessing and be a force for good.

Zei gezunt:

Rabbi Craig Marantz