Shavua tov and Chodesh tov! Looking forward to Shabbat Terumah and to Purim.

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Shavua tov — a good new week to you! And Chodesh tov — a good new month to you; the new lunar month of Adar begins tonight at sundown, which means it’s two weeks until Purim!

Join us for Shabbat services at 9:30am on Saturday morning led by Rabbi Rachel. This week we’re reading from parashat Terumah. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

Here’s commentary from Steve Silbert and Rabbi David Markus at Builders Blog, a project of Bayit: Building Jewish:

And here are commentaries from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon at CBI. Save the date and join us at 6pm on Monday March 9 for Purim!

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Join us for Purim at CBI!

Purim is coming! Join us at 6pm on Monday March 9 to celebrate.

Actors in our Purim play… a few years back!

Come in costume — or augment your regular clothes with costume pieces from Jane Shiyah’s costume box!

Enjoy desserts — and hey, let us know if you want to contribute to our dessert buffet!

Dress like someone you’re not — try on a different persona for the night!

Laugh at our Purim play — and applaud our troupe of community Purim players!

Hear some of the megillah aloud — fulfilling one of the mitzvot of Purim!

Donate to our community tzedakah box — fulfilling another of the mitzvot of Purim!

Eat hamentaschen — or other tasty foods on our dessert buffet!

Toast to joy and gladness — the megillah says Purim is a day of joy and gladness, uprightness and honor, for the Jewish people for all time!

Revel in the full moon — This is the middle holiday of three full-moon celebrations (Tu BiShvat, Purim, Pesach): stepping stones to the coming spring.

Come together in community! Be merry! May our Purim be sweet!

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What to expect at Purim this year: We’re not going to transform the shul into a new space this year as we’ve done the last few years (though we tender our deepest thanks to Jen Burt and her family for that amazing work in years past!) This year we’re planning a simpler celebration, focusing on the Purim story and on the sweetness of our togetherness. We’ll have a Purim spiel (play) that tells the Purim story, and a dessert buffet featuring hamentaschen and other tasty treats. For toasting purposes, we’ll have etrogcello on hand for those who are so inclined, as well as juice and seltzer for all ages.

Please RSVP to the office ([email protected]) or at the Facebook Event and let us know how many are coming, and let us know if you want to bring something for the dessert buffet.

Photo credit: Len Radin.

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