Shabbat Shalom!

It is with personal sadness that we report the major news story of this week in the Boulder Jewish community: the announcement that the Boulder Jewish Day School will be closing at the end of this school year. The board has issued a brief statement and we expect additional details to emerge next week. Though the closure is upcoming, the school still needs community support in order to finish out this year and minimize the impact to current students. Having served on the board of the school in the past, as well as fundraising on its behalf in a variety of roles over the years, we are certain this was not a decision reached lightly.

Even with this sad announcement, the community is building up to Purim with festivities beginning this weekend. We have added a “Purim Video Playlist” to the homepage of Boulder Jewish News – be sure to check it out for the latest Maccabeats video, another one from Israel and even one from St. Petersburg Hillel (it’s in Russian but you may recognize the tune!). Purim carnivals will be held this weekend with the big Community Wide carnival on Sunday, while local synagogues are busy with Mishloach Manot/Purim baskets, planning the most outrageous spiels, and generally getting silly. Info about local events and links to recipes can be found on BJN’s Purim Page.

LATE BREAKING:  As of post time, the earthquake that hit off the east coast of Japan was upgraded to an 8.9, with tsunami warnings for Hawaii and the entire West Coast of the U.S. and Canada.  We pray for everyone’s safety (and are so glad we moved to Colorado 16 years ago…).  We will update this with news for tzedakah and other opportunities to help those impacted.

Click here to donate to Allied Jewish Federation/JFNA Japan Tsunami Fund