Health & Fitness
B’nai Israel of Southbury to Present “A Sandy Hook Kaddish,” A Musical Remembrance, on Friday, December 13th
Special Shabbat Service Commemorates Victims of Sandy Hook Tragedy on Eve of Anniversary
SOUTHBURY, CT, December 5, 2013 — On Friday, December 13, 2013, the Eve of the first anniversary of the tragic school shootings in Sandy Hook, B’nai Israel of Southbury will hold a special Shabbat service commemorating the victims of the tragedy. Worship that evening will include the presentation of “A Sandy Hook Kaddish,” a musical remembrance composed by B’nai Israel musical director, Linda Goodman, who wrote the piece to honor the children and educators, including two of her friends and colleagues who perished that day.
“A Sandy Hook Kaddish” is comprised of familiar psalms and traditional Jewish texts for mourning, and is based on the essential Jewish practice of Yahrtzeit (pronounced YAHR-tzite), a ritual purposeful remembrance of dear-ones on the anniversary of their passing. Goodman’s composition remembers the day with sadness, but then goes on to positively affirm each child’s and adult’s right to be free and safe from violence.
“A Sandy Hook Kaddish” will be presented by the B’nai Israel Children and Adult choirs, accompanied by the congregation’s wind ensemble. The services will be held in the B’nai Israel Sanctuary and will begin at 6:00 PM on Friday, December 13th. The public is encouraged to attend and join the commemoration. B’nai Israel of Southbury is located at 444 Main Street North in Southbury.
Rabbi Eric Polokoff said, "Our scholars teach that closure is an ideal of forgetfulness. We seek instead to remember. In the face of unbearable loss and grief we recall blessing. We tell ourselves and God that even amidst pain and unfairness – that especially amidst pain and unfairness – the Sacred must not end and the quest for integrity and love cannot be abandoned."
B’nai Israel Southbury is a warm, welcoming and diverse congregation that is among the most prominent, yet intimate Jewish houses of worship in the region. The congregation has a rich history of tradition dating back more than a century while enthusiastically embracing the future. B’nai Israel takes pride in its inspiring music, educational excellence and sense of community. Setting B’nai Israel apart, too, is its spiritual leadership, commitment to advocacy, and inclusiveness with a welcoming of traditional, single parent, interfaith and other modern families among the greater B’nai Israel family that is a home for all generations.
B’nai Israel is located in northwestern New Haven County on a sprawling 17-acre campus — one of the region’s largest community, cultural, spiritual and educational centers of its kind — at 444 Main Street North in Southbury, CT. B’nai Israel shares its gorgeous campus with its partner organization, The Federation: Jewish Communities of Northwestern CT, and is home to families and their loved ones from a wide radius of Connecticut towns, including Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Brookfield, Litchfield, Middlebury, New Hartford, Newtown, Oxford, Roxbury, Sandy Hook, Southbury, Washington, Waterbury, Watertown, Woodbury, and other surrounding communities. Affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, B'nai Israel is very active in the region’s Jewish and interfaith communities. For more information, visit www.BnaiIsraelSouthbury.org.
