Roots of Faith

We are constantly working to expand the features of Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls in an attempt to create an on-line community, a cyber-based fellowship of believers all oriented towards Torah Faith.

We are using technology to spread the Torah Faith message across the globe. Our weekly classes are broadcasted over the web every Saturday morning via www.shma.tv. Participants can watch our morning service and engage with others from around the globe through the chat feature. This has enhanced the dialogue portion of our service and is becoming more popular every week as is evidenced by the increased number of attendees. My teachings of the weekly Torah portions are posted on iTunes as well as on my main website (www.rootsoffaith.org) and are available for download at no charge.

We continue to broadcast on special occasions such as Holy Days to provide those that are interested with a place to go to celebrate these appointed times. I will be sending out more information on our plans for the High Holy Days soon.

We recently added interactive Hebrew classes on the Synagogue Without Walls site. Johnny Powell, my own Hebrew teacher is leading these classes. He already has several students, and has made it clear that all are welcome regardless of their skill level in Hebrew. If you have ever wanted to learn Hebrew, now is an excellent opportunity. All one has to do is join the “Learning Torah Hebrew” group on SWW. Class is every Wednesday night at9:00 PM EST. We are still working to improve the class. We currently utilize the chat feature on the SWW site and last week we added a SKYPE feature to allow students to hear one another as well as the teacher. We will continue to get better as we experiment with various options.

I have set up Facebook pages for the Synagogue Without Walls as well as Roots of Faith and I encourage you to follow us there. You can also find me on Facebook as well as Twitter. I am making every effort to reach the masses through the social media and these popular sites provide us with an excellent outreach platform to spread Torah Faith. I encourage you to find and follow us and join us in our work.

We do not charge for any of our teachings or features. The work is fully supported through the prayers, efforts and faithful voluntary contributions of those who believe in what we are doing. The goal is to work on continuous improvement at every turn – doing the best we can with what we have. As we have more, we seek to do more. So far, as our costs have gone up, the contributions have met the challenge.

If you are able to contribute, we have several ways to do so. We have set up “donate” buttons on our sites. These allow you to donate whatever amount you wish.

We have several bills that are due every month and here are some examples in case you want to specify where your contribution goes. Some may wish to make a contribution to cover one or more of these expenses.

1 month of internet at the Synagogue – $65
1 month of usage for the SWW site – $50
1 month for our Livestream channel – $350

Recently it was requested that we set something up to allow people to subscribe for recurring donations through PayPal. This is now active and is a good way to help us on a regular basis without the hassle. Those desiring to set up to contribute have options here as well. One way is to select a set amount per month ($15, $20, etc) from the drop down menu.

The other choice is for those who follow the custom of donating in increments of 18. This custom is based upon the idea that the Hebrew word chai (life) has a numeric value of 18. Some choose to donate in increments of 18, thus symbolically sending our outreach efforts “life” in that your financial help literally brings life to others.

Whatever you can do is greatly appreciated and your help in this matter allows us to continue to provide our teachings at no charge to any who wish to receive them and also provides us with the necessary funding to maintain and improve our features.

You can send check or money order to us at the following address:

Roots of Faith
PO Box 695
Saint Francisville, La. 70775

Or on-line at www.rootsoffaith.org/support

Thanks for you prayers and continued support and interest in Roots of Faith and the Synagogue Without Walls!

Shalom, Ross