Dear Congregants and Friends,

In this season of gratitude, I want to thank all of you for being members of the CBI community and for all you do to strengthen and sustain our community. I also thank you for honoring me by re-electing me to my second one-year term as president at the recent Annual Meeting.

We have a busy and exciting month ahead. I want to highlight a few upcoming events in addition to our regular Shabbat services.

Start the December holiday season by experiencing a meditative sound bath on Sunday, December 11 at 10am, led by Chaya Schneider at CBI. The sounds of crystal bowls, Koshi chimes, and the gong will help reduce stress, facilitate deep relaxation, and promote physical, emotional, and spiritual healing as we enter this busy season. Kindly RSVP here.

Bring your children to CBI for a Chanukah cookie baking and decorating program on Sunday, December 11 at 1pm. Professional baker Caleb Wolfson-Seeley will again guide this popular program. Kindly RSVP here so we will have enough cookie dough for all. Don’t miss the fun!

And for everyone of all ages, join us on Sunday, December 18 (the first night of Chanukah) at 5:30pm for our Second Annual CBI Chanukah Bonfire & Celebration! We’ll sing Chanukah songs around the bonfire, drink hot apple cider and enjoy homemade donuts and latkes. Our CBI choir will help lead the songs. And for the kids, we’ll have a rousing dreidel-spinning contest, so help them get ready! Dress warmly and bring a camp chair, if you have one. RSVP here and let us know if you can help with clean-up.

Calling all book lovers: Our CBI Book Club meets virtually once a month, facilitated by CBI member Suzanne Levy Graver, John Hawley Roberts Professor of English, Emerita at Williams College. Our next meeting is on Wednesday, December 21 at 7:30pm. We will be discussing American Pastoral by Philip Roth, a challenging but wonderful novel. Winning the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, many readers regard it as Roth’s finest and most ambitious novel. Please feel free to join us for an engaging conversation, whether or not you have time to finish the complete novel.

As we continue planning for the coming months, I am eager to hear what you are looking for from CBI and how you would like to get involved. Please contact me at [email protected] — I would be happy to set up a time to talk.

Wishing you a good month ahead,

— Natalie Matus