Welcome to Beth Shalom!
Serving Southern Saratoga County for the last 50 years, we are so excited to welcome you into our building, services, and synagogue family. While our unique membership comes from all branches of Judaism, we lean towards liberal Conservative practices and embrace interfaith, LGBTQA, and all our diverse friends and families. Have a question? Our Board and members are here to help. Poke around our website to learn more about us and contact us today so we can learn more about you! We are so glad you are here and can’t wait to greet you in person! We have several different membership options and one may be perfect for you. Please contact our Membership VP for additional information.
A Message from Rabbi Shara Siegfeld
As you read this over the next two weeks, I am taking a little time away for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation after a very full and meaningful High Holy Day season.
I am so grateful for all that we shared over these past weeks: the prayers, conversations, holidays and celebrations, and most of all, the simple gift of being together. I look forward to slowing down for a few days and returning refreshed for all that comes next.
Last Friday evening, I mentioned one of my favorite autumn stories, Isaac Bashevis Singer’s “Ole and Trufa”, the beautiful story of two leaves who remain together on a tree after nearly all the others have fallen. Ole and Trufa encourage one another as the autumn winds blow and the days grow colder. They know they cannot remain on their branch forever, but their love for one another sustains them. At one point, Ole tells Trufa, “Of all our powers, love is the highest, the finest.” Perhaps that is why I have always loved this story so much. Autumn reminds us that change is part of life, but it also gives us the chance to appreciate what holds us together through it.
And plenty of change is happening around Beth Shalom! While I am away, many of our snowbirds will begin their annual journey south. I wish you all safe, easy travels, warm sunshine, and a wonderful winter ahead. We will miss seeing you in person, but thankfully, miles don’t have to separate us quite as much as they once did. All of our services are available on Zoom, and I hope you will continue to join us from wherever the winter takes you.
Some of us will be watching the leaves fall here in New York, and eventually the snow! While others will be enjoying palm trees and sunshine. Wherever we are, we remain part of the same Beth Shalom family.
I will miss all of you while I am away and look forward to returning rested, refreshed, and happy to be home. Until then, enjoy the beautiful autumn, travel safely, take good care of one another, and perhaps take a moment to notice the leaves.
Shabbat Shalom, With love, Rabbi Shara
Donate
If you would like to make a donation to Beth Shalom, please click on the “Donate” button at the top of this page. We have several categories available: General Congregational Fund, Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund, Cemetery Fund, High Holiday Appeal, Reyut, or Security.
After you select the category and the amount, you can write a specific note. For example, if you donate to the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund in memory of a loved one, you can include a note which will say, “In memory of _____________.”
If you would like to purchase a lovely Tree of Life Plaque or a Yahrzeit Plague, please click on the links below, complete the appropriate form and mail to or drop off at the Synagogue office with your remittance:
Kabbalat Shabbat - Fridays at 6:30 pm
Weekly, in-person and over Zoom. Oneg will follow.
Please see the Beth Shalom weekly email announcements for all worship details including Zoom information. Please note that the service schedule is subject to change. Check Thursday’s Beth Shalom email announcements for the most current information.
Beth Shalom Hadassah Book Club
Mitzvah Opportunities
We have a chance for volunteers to participate in a mitzvah by helping a refugee family who have settled in our area. Rabbi Beverly Magidson has forwarded this request to us.
The United States Committee on Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is looking for volunteers to assist with a small Afghan refugee family located in Ballston Spa. The family consists of two older adults and two adult children. Most of what they need is daytime transportation to doctor appointments. They are living with family; their English is pretty good. USCRI would like to run background checks for volunteers (at their expense) but will not require it in this case.
Please contact Margaret Slotnick at mslotnick@uscri-albany.org
