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A note from Rabbi Robyn:

In this time of increased uncertainty and anxiety, we need each other to remain calm, safe, healthy and supported. Please continue to follow the best practices of social distancing and proper hygiene so each of us can contribute to the containment of this highly contagious Covid-19 virus. Beth Or will remain committed in sustaining our virtual community as long as necessary.

 Al tifrosh min hatzibur, do not separate yourself from community. Although the current state of Corona is preventing us from physical contact with one another, we can strive to remain ever connected electronically and virtually, especially with an on-line video conferencing application called Zoom. We are working diligently to keep us connected with one another and to provide help in any way we can. We encourage you to take advantage of our growing list of opportunities and resources below, many of which were lovingly donated by our Beth Or family. Let’s use this time to remain connected, expand our horizons and have fun in the process! If you are interested in sharing your gifts with others and want to try your hand at teaching a class via Zoom, let us know.

Let us be diligent in reaching out to each other with compassion and care, especially to those who may be more isolated or vulnerable. Sometimes just a phone call or an email can help calm fears and decrease loneliness. Of course, if you need any help at all, please do not hesitate to call on us. I, too, am always available to talk or to video chat.

With my blessings,

Rabbi Robyn Fisher

List of Self-Help Resources:

Miami Dade County Corona Virus Resources 

Center for Disease Control & Prevention

Publix Home Delivery

Instacart for delivery from CVS, Publix, Milam’s Costco, Fresh Market and others

CVS Care Pass for free delivery on Rx and other essentials

Wholefoods delivery thru Amazon Prime

A Rabbi’s Guide for Corona Virus Anxiety

Psalms as the Ultimate Self-Help Tool

List of upcoming program descriptions from Beth Or

Unless otherwise noted, all programs listed below will be offered via Zoom, an online video-conferencing platform. To access Zoom from your smart phones, download the app. To access Zoom from your computer, you’ll need a computer with a microphone, camera, and Chrome browser. If you need assistance in accessing Zoom, please contact NancyKirsner@gmail.com to arrange for a private tutorial. Check back here for the Zoom links at the time of the scheduled programs.

Prayer services:

Shabbat Services
April 3
7:30 PM-9:00 PM

Join Bette and Rose Spector as they lead services this week with the assistance of Michael Henry, Amy Lomaskin and Mel Tenen.

Jewish Learning:

April 2
Lunch & Learn with Dr. Marvin Dunn. In honor of Passover, we will explore how 2 great leaders, Moses and Frederick Douglass led the masses to freedom.

Expanding Your Horizons:

Time: Apr 5, 2020 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

I Grew Up Here
Thursday, April 16
12:30 PM-1:30 PM
Lunch and Learn with congregant, Dr. Marvin Dunn, whose family moved to Miami in 1951 when he was eleven years old. He will discuss Miami’s relationship with segregation, desegregation, Jews and blacks in the civil rights movement, changes in race and ethnicity in our community, as well as a look ahead to race relations in the coming decades. Participants will be invited to share their experiences.

chatChit Chat with Rabbi Mark Kram: Corona’s Impact on Baby Boomers Wednesdays
3:00 PM
Rabbi Mark Kram brings back Chit Chat, a weekly gathering to discuss  a variety of current events and how Judaism can inform them.

Morning Movement Mindfulness Fridays
8:30 AM-9:30 AM
with Carol Kaminsky, using gentle movements in various patterns to sooth the anxious mind and calm the body. We will work with 8 movement patterns to help us feel calm when challenging emotional and mental states arise.

Tikkun Olam Morning Meditation with Rachel Fisher March 31
9:00 AM

Join the Beth Or community in sending healing energy to the world through a Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) meditation. Learn to access the source of healing light within yourself and spread a collective prayer to those in need around the world. For this meditation, we will focus on relief from the Coronavirus pandemic and the fear and anxiety that comes with it. Towards the end of the session, we will open a discussion on ways to bring this healing energy into physical form through efforts to aid our local community.
Please note: We will be accessing a deep state of meditation. Please join us from a quiet, comfortable location, free from distractions and interruptions.

Navigating Difficult Emotions, by Patricia Isis, Ph.D., LMHC, ATR-BC, ATCS March 31
5:00 PM-6:00 PM
Life often brings challenging situations and with them a host of difficult emotions such as anger, fear, loneliness, confusion, and worry. Our natural instinct is to either fight, flee, or freeze when we experience these sticky feelings. But if we are to heal, we can muster the courage to be present with the emotional pain in order to live healthy lives. This session will offer the five stages of acceptance as each stage corresponds to a gradual release of emotional resistance.

Resiliency in Action: Positive Psychology Practices for Difficult times Wednesday, April 1
7:00 PM-8:00 PM
by Nancy Kirsner, PhD, TEP, CPP, OTR- How to navigate the upheaval in our lives AND still experience the good. What is resiliency and how can I activate and grow it in me? Cultivating resilient strategies – two specific practices easy to do and guaranteed to work!

Gallery of Light Presents: Creating -Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy April 1
11:00 AM-12:00 PM

View Goldworthy’s breathtaking, yet intentionally temporary art installations. We will find inspiration in his work and related works of stone stacking (cairns) and mandalas created by anonymous artists.  Participants are encouraged to create and photograph their work(s) for inclusion on the Gallery of Light website.
Presenter: Marilyn Traeger, NBCT, Fund 4 Design & Art Education, ARTSville, FAEA Outstanding Art Teacher, author & artist

Laugh, Love, Lunch & Learn Friday, April 3
12:30 PM-1:30 PM
with Nancy Kirsner, PhD, TEP, CPP, OTR– Let’s connect, share knowledge and tips about getting through the Corona Challenge! And yes, to laugh and love and share positive moments with each other.

Passover is the Time to Liberate Ourselves from Poor Eating Habits Friday, April 6
12:00 PM

Reconnect with licensed and registered dietitian nutritionist, Marissa Zarco Hoffman, MS, RD, LD/N, to learn about keeping good nutrition during Passover, and how these tips can help you maintain healthy eating habits throughout the year!

Dealing with Anxiety and Unknowns, Best strategies/practices
To Be Determined
by Nancy Kirsner, PhD, TEP, CPP, OTR

Powering Up Your Immune System: Game Changers of Eating, Moving, Sleeping
To Be Determined
by Nancy Kirsner, PhD, TEP, CPP, OTR- At every moment we have a choice and what we choose greatly impacts how we feel and show up in our lives. While you are sleeping…miracles happen in your body.

Program Descriptions from Outside Beth Or

Epicurious – 33 Easy Ideas for Lunch at Home

Tell the Senate to Pass Real Coronavirus Relief NOW

Virtual Volunteer Opportunities from home-Donate time while keeping social distance. Virtual Volunteer Opportunities.

Meditation classes offered daily, by the Marlene Meyerson JCC, NYC by a number of well-recognized instructors. Click here for the link. 

Torah Study to Sustain the Soul, with Rabbi Jonathan Slater of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Tuesdays, 12:00 PM-12:25 PM ET. Click here to connect.

Free online Israel courses

(some by Tel Aviv University, Yad Vashem)

Free podcasts about Israeli culture, current events, Zionism and more

Free virtual tours of famous locations in Israel

Free quizzes about Israel that can be done alone or in a group

Free Hebrew online studies

Fun and Interesting Places to Visit online

Museums:

Louvre Museum Virtual Tours

Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France

National Gallery of Art Virtual Tours

Modern Museum of Art Virtual Tours

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Virtual Tours

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy Virtual Tours

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Netherlands Virtual Tour

Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Museu de Arte de São Paulo

Pergamon Museum, Berlin, Germany

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea

National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC

All the Museum Exhibits, Symphonies, & Operas From Home

Zoos:

San Diego Zoo Cams

Zoo Atlanta Panda Cam

Smithsonian National Zoo Cam

Reid Park Zoo Lion Cam in Tuscon, AZ

Ouwehand Park Polar Bear Cubs Rhenen, Netherland

Aquariums:

Monterey Bay Aquarium Cam

Georgia Aquarium Cam

National Aquarium Virtual Tour

Seattle Aquarium Virtual Tour

World Famous Sites:

Pompeii Tour

Great Wall of China

Yellowstone National Park

Tour England

Colonial Williamsburg

Ellis Island

Concerts:

Nightly Met Opera Streams

All the Museum Exhibits, Symphonies, & Operas From Home

Miscellaneous Entertainment:

15 Broadway Plays and Musicals to Watch from Home

50 Best Travel Films

Google Street Views Around the World

300,000 Books You can Download from the NY Public Library

Poetry, Prayers and Readings

Pandemic by Lynn Unger

What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath—
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.

And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.

A Prayer of Hope During this Pandemic by Rabbi Naomi Levy

We are frightened, God,
Worried for our loved ones,
Worried for our world.
Helpless and confused,
We turn to You
Seeking comfort, faith and hope.

Teach us God, to turn our panic into patience,
And our fear into acts of kindness and support.

Our strong must watch out for our weak,
Our young must take care of our old.

Help each one of us to do our part to halt the spread of this virus
Send strength and courage to the doctors and nurses
In the frontlines of this battle,
Fortify them with the full force of their healing powers.

Send wisdom and insight to the scientists
Working day and night across the world to discover healing treatments.

Bless their efforts, God.

Fill our leaders with the wisdom and the courage
To choose wisely and act quickly.

Help us, God, to see that we are one world,
One people
Who will rise above this pandemic, together.

Send us health God,
Watch over us,
Grace us with Your love,
Bless us with Your healing light.

Hear us God,
Heal us God,
Amen.

We are called unto life, destiny uncertain.

A 20-Second Prayer During Handwashing by Rabbi Joseph Meszler

As I take up my hands
to wash them and
reassure my heart,
I pray for healing and wholeness
for the whole world.
I remember that every life
is unique and of infinite value:
from those living
on the most remote part of the globe
to those in our cities
to our neighbors and family members.
Let me use my hands for good
to help bring love
and compassion to others.
“Let us lift up
our hearts and hands
to the Eternal.” (Lam 3:41)

Yet we offer thanks for what we know,
For health and healing, for labor and repose,
For renewal of beauty in earth and sky,
For that blend of human-holy which inspires compassion,
And for hope: eternal, promising light.
For life, for health, for hope, for beautiful, bountiful blessing, all praise to the Source of Being. (Mishkan T’filah)

Ozi v'Zimrat Yah Hebrew text

Ozi v’Zimrat Yah Vayahi li lishuah

My Strength (balanced) with the Song of God will be my salvation (Psalm 118:14, Exodus 15:2)