Prepare for the High Holidays with Koleinu Beit Midrash
Elul, the month before Rosh HaShanah, is an auspicious time for introspection, Torah study, and exploration of the themes of Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe. Please join Koleinu Beit Midrash for three workshops to open ourselves to the possibilities of transformation in this season, focusing on tefillah (prayer), tzedakah (justice), and teshuvah (return). Each of these offerings is free of charge.
ELUL SHUL: Tzedakah
Reverse Tashlich Litter Clean-up
with Rabbi Maria Pulzetti
Sunday, August 30, 10:30 AM – 12 PM, meeting in the GJC parking lot
GJC is participating again in Reverse Tashlich, a project of Repair the Sea. In the traditional tashlich (casting) ritual, we cast bread into a waterway to symbolically cast away mistakes of the past year. In reverse tashlich, we clean up the litter humans have cast away. Please join us and the Mount Airy Trash Team, meeting in GJC’s parking lot, for a walking litter clean-up in our neighborhood. Garbage bags and gloves will be provided! This activity is for all ages!
Please click here to register!
ELUL SHUL: Tefillah
Warming Up Our Voices and Our Spirits for the Days of Awe
with Joey Weisenberg
Thursday, September 3, 7:30 – 8:30 PM offsite, at the home of Beth Stearman & Jake Kriger
Join Joey Weisenberg to sing and study some of the liturgical melodies of the High Holidays and begin the process of spiritual preparation for Yamim Nora’im, the Days of Awe. Let’s warm up together!
Joey Weisenberg, a 2026 Covenant Award recipient, is the Founder, Creative Director, and Lead Educator of The Hadar Institute’s Rising Song Institute. The focus of his work is in changing how American Jews relate to prayer and community by transforming t’filah and song into a co-created communal act of spirituality and cultural expression.
Please click here to register!
ELUL SHUL: Teshuvah
A Taste of Mussar
with Sonia Voynow
Tuesday, September 8, 7 PM – 8:30 PM, in the Maslow Auditorium
Whether you are Mussar-curious or an experienced Mussar practitioner, please join veteran Mussar teacher Sonia Voynow to experience how Mussar helps you do the vital personal work traditionally done during Elul. In this seminar, you will have a chance to do cheshbon hanefesh, or an accounting of the soul, using the character trait shtikah or silence. Sonia will be teaching Mussar at GJC beginning in January, so we invite everyone to get a taste of Mussar during Elul!
Sonia Voynow is a psychotherapist in private practice, and the founder of Surviving and Thriving, an organization that draws on Mussar teachings to help parents and grandparents of children with autism. Raised in a conservative Jewish family, Sonia has found that Mussar has not only enlivened her religious and spiritual practice, it has also provided valuable guidance in many other aspects of her life. She has studied Mussar since 2005 with Rabbi Ira Stone. Sonia has her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and her Masters in Social Work from Temple University.