SHAZOOM ONLY 6:30 PM August 14, 2026

OUR HEARTS ARE WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND ALL THE VICTIMS OF CONFLICT

From “Mishkan T’filah / A Reform Siddur” CCAR, New York 2007, p.178

SHALOM RAV al Yisraël amcha tasim l’olam, v’al kol yoshvëi tëvël, v’imru. Amen.

GRANT ABUNDANT PEACE to Israel Your people forever, [and all who inhabit the earth. Amen.]

SHAZOOM ONLY

We will meet for Shazoom ONLY this coming Friday evening, August 14, 2026. Please see the Shazoom and Observances schedule through September 2026 below.

Read this week’s Torah Portion, Shof’tim (judges), at https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.16.18-21.9, and Haftarah at https://www.sefaria.org/Isaiah.51.12-52.12. This week’s Torah portion includes the directive, “justice, justice, shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Eternal your God is giving you” (Deut. 16:20).

Zoom continues updating its security and performance features. Making sure you have the latest version of Zoom, please join us online this coming Friday evening:

Shazoom – Erev Shabbat Service

Time: Aug 14, 2026 06:30 PM Arizona

To join Shazoom click on the following link [you may need to copy it into your browser]: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/72510500854?pwd=Z3VQZWF4U1BBZytNYmh3aHFTWkFDZz09

Meeting ID: 725 1050 0854

Passcode: 4NrMk0

Hint: The last character of the password is the number zero.

YAHRZEITS/ANYOS

This coming week, Elul 2 through 8 Elul, we lovingly remember:

William “Buzzy” Smolak

First Yahrzeit – Cousin of Jane Kolber

Sonia W. Joseph

First Anyos – Cousin of Ruben Gomez

Anna Tu

First Yahrzeit – Daughter of Connie Jay, friend of Sam and Mary Caron

Gene Conners

Friend of Jane Kolber

 Sonia W. Joseph

Cousin of Ruben Gomez

Georgia Mesches

Sister of Jane Kolber

 Dylan Newlander

Son of Judy Hill, friend of Sam and Mary Caron

Gary Snyder

Friend of Sam and Mary Caron

Those victims of the Sho’ah (Holocaust) who died at this time of year.

“ZICHRONAM LIV’RACHAH” – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE FOR BLESSING.

ROSH CHODESH ELUL 2026 / רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ אֱלוּל 5786

Start of month of Elul on the Hebrew calendar

Rosh Chodesh Elul for Hebrew Year 5786 begins at sundown on Wednesday, 12 August 2026 and ends at nightfall on Friday, 14 August 2026.

Read more from ou.org

ELUL CUSTOMS

From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elul

In Jewish tradition, the month of Elul is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The word “Elul” is similar to the root of the verb “search” in Aramaic. Jewish sources from the 14th century and on write that the Hebrew word “Elul” can be understood to be an bacronym for the phrase “Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li” – “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” [Song of Songs 6:3A], referring to one’s relationship with God. Elul is seen as a time to search one’s heart and draw close to God in preparation for the coming Day of Judgement, Rosh Hashanah, and Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. [Please see the Elul entry in various websites for more detail.]

It is an Ashkenazi and a Sefardi custom to blow the Shofar every morning (except on Shabbat) from the first day of the month of Elul until the day before Rosh Hashanah, and reciting Psalm 27 everyday through Sukkot. In addition, Sefardim recite daily special penitential prayers (selichot) while most Ashkenazim hold a special Selichot Service before Rosh Hashanah. During Elul, at Temple Kol Hamidbar, we sound the Shofar before the start of our weekly Shazoom Services.

Many Jews also visit the graves of loved ones throughout the month in order to remember and honor those people in our past who inspire us to live more fully in the future. Another social custom is to begin or end all letters written during the month of Elul with wishes that the recipient have a good year. The standard blessing is “K’tiva [VeHatima] Tova” (“a good writing and sealing [of judgement]”), meaning that the person should be written and sealed in the Book of Life for a good year. Tradition teaches that on Rosh Hashanah, each person is written down for a good or a poor year, based on their actions in the previous one, and their sincere efforts at atoning for mistakes or harm. On Yom Kippur, that fate is “sealed.”

From the desk of Rabbi Teri Appleby – September 2020

[T]here is the unforgettable sound of the shofar. During the month of Elul and on … Rosh HaShanah we will hear the eerie and haunting blast of the shofar. Its sound has such an aura of awe and holiness about it.

If we look at the order of the sounds, we see that each group begins with a tekiah, a whole note; followed by shevarim, a “broken” note, divided into three parts; or by teruah, an entirely fragmented sound, nine very brief sounds. But each broken note is followed by a whole note, another tekiah. One mystical understanding of the order of these notes is as follows: “I started off whole. I became broken, even splintered into fragments, but I shall become whole again! I shall become whole again.” [The teaching about the notes–whole, broken, shattered, whole again–is from Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, 17th century Prague/Jerusalem.]

PSALM 27

1. Of David. The Eternal One is my light and my help;

whom should I fear?

The Eternal One is the stronghold of my life,

whom should I dread?

2. When evil men assail me to devour my flesh—

it is they, my foes and my enemies, who stumble and fall.

3. Should an army besiege me, my heart would have no fear;

should war beset me, still would I be confident.

Ketivah Vechatima Tovah – A Good Writing and Sealing!

L’shalom,

-Ruben

PS – Shazoom and Observances Schedule through September 2026 (Arizona Time Zone):

August 14, 2026 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm

[August 14, Rosh Hashanah LaBehemot – New Year of the Animals]

August 21, 2026 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm

August 28, 2026 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm

September 4, 2026 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm

[September 5, after nightfall, Leil Selichot]

[September 7, Labor Day US]

September 11, 2026 – NO Shazoom

September 11, 2026, Friday PM – Erev Rosh Hashanah

[September 12–13, Saturday-Sunday – Rosh Hashanah (mostly one day in Reform)]

September 18, 2026 – Erev Shabbat Shuvah (TBD)

[September 19 – Shabbat Shuvah (Shabbat of Return)]

[September 20, Sunday – Erev Yom Kippur – Kol Nidrë]

[September 21, Monday – Yom Kippur]

September 25, 2026 – Erev Sukkot (TBD)

[September 26-October 2, Saturday-Friday – Sukkot]

[October 2, 2026 – Erev Shabbat (TBD)

[October 2-3, Sh’mini Atzéret (Eight Day of Assembly) and Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Torah); Reform Movement combines as in Israel]