Shavua tov: a good new week to all.

Happening This Week

Join us in the CBI Zoom room on Friday evening at 7:30pm for our first Monthly Zoom Shabbat Dinner! Read more about it and RSVP here at Facebook.

And, join us in the CBI Zoom Room also on Saturday morning at 9:30am for Shabbat morning services, led by R’ Rachel.

Torah Portion and Commentaries

This week we’re reading from parashat Vayishlach in the book of Genesis. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

And here’s commentary from the URJ:

As Chanukah Approaches…

We’re delighted to share this beautiful resource for this pandemic Chanukah — co-created for Bayit: Building Jewish by eight writers, artists, and rabbis, including CBI’s own Rabbi Rachel Barenblat. We hope these poems, prayers, and illustrations enliven this dark season! Read excerpts and download the PDF here: Great Miracles Happen Here.

Hope to see you soon on Zoom at CBI.

Shavua tov: a good new week to all.

Join us in the CBI Zoom room on Saturday morning at 9:30am for Shabbat morning services, led by R’ Pam Wax. 

This week we’re reading from parashat Vayetzei in the book of Genesis. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

And here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon on Zoom at CBI.

This week is a Kabbalat Shabbat week! Have candles and/or challah on hand to bless with us!

Shavua tov!

Join us in the CBI Zoom room on Friday evening at 7:00 PM for Kabbalat Shabbat services, led by R’ Rachel. Please note: this weekend we will have Friday night services instead of Saturday morning services.

This week we’re reading from parashat Toldot in the book of Genesis. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

And here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon on Zoom at CBI.

Shavua tov!

Join us in the CBI Zoom room on Tuesday night at 7:30pm for our Annual Meeting, and on Saturday morning at 9:30 for Shabbat morning services, led this week by R’ Pam Wax.

This week we’re reading from parashat Chayei Sarah in the book of Genesis. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

And here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon on Zoom at CBI.

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayera, God decides to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, because “their sin is so great.”

Later in the parsha we’ll see an example of their sin: an angry mob demanding that Lot release the strangers whom he’s protecting, so that the mob can rape them. That’s one way to read the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah: their response to strangers is violent domination.  

Here’s another, from the prophet Ezekiel: “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility, yet she did not support the poor and needy.” 

But before that happens, Abraham argues with God: what if there are fifty righteous people there? Or forty? And he bargains God down, and God agrees that if a single minyan of tzaddikim can be found, the cities will be spared.

This year we’re reading these verses against the backdrop of election aftermath. We’ve all been on tenterhooks waiting for votes to be counted. Maybe feeling afraid of violence or afraid for our nation.

And here’s Abraham saying to God: wait, even if You’re despairing, count everybody. Here’s what I take from that passage this year: every righteous person counts. Every righteous person makes a difference. Even if we may feel insignificant in the big picture — every one of us who is trying to do what’s right, matters.

Many translations of this dialogue between Abraham and God about Sodom and Gomorrah use the terms “guilty” and “innocent,” e.g. “Far be it from You… to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike!” In that translation, Abraham is urging God to remember the people who are innocent of wrongdoing. 

But I would argue that the plain meaning of the Hebrew words rasha and tzaddik is stronger than that. A rasha is someone who acts wickedly. Some say: a rasha is concerned only with themself and their own needs, rather than the needs of the community or the needs of the vulnerable. And a tzaddik isn’t just “innocent.” A tzaddik is someone who acts righteously — someone who acts with tzedek, justice.

And what is righteous behavior? Judaism has a lot of answers to that — we have 613 instructions, for starters! But here’s a shorter list. Righteousness means loving the strangerfeeding the hungry — caring for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, in other words the powerless and vulnerable — seeking justice with all that we are. That’s our work. That is always our work.

And it’s not always easy. Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle. The pastor John Pavlovitz writes,

“There is a cost to compassion, a personal price tag to cultivating empathy in days when cruelty is trending… Friend, I know you’re exhausted. If you’re not exhausted right now your empathy is busted. But I also know that you aren’t alone.”

For those of us who trust science, it’s exhausting to know that so many of our fellow Americans think masks infringe on their civil liberties — or think covid is a hoax. Especially in a week with days where the US kept breaking our own records for new covid-19 infections: first 100,000, then 109,000…  And that’s just one reason to feel exhausted. Election uncertainty is exhausting. Fears of violence are exhausting.

But in this week’s parsha what I hear Abraham saying is: don’t give up. We need to keep doing the right thing: it matters, it makes a difference, even if we don’t know it. We need to be tzaddikim. We need to keep loving the stranger, feeding the hungry, caring for the needy and the vulnerable, pursuing justice. Wearing our masks. Protecting the marginalized. Feeling empathy for others. Counting every vote.

This is our obligation as Jews — as citizens — as human beings. This was our work before the election; this is our work after the election. And yeah, this is hard work. Most things worth doing are.

Maybe there weren’t ten tzaddikim in Sodom, but I believe there are tzaddikim everywhere. And if we’re trying to act justly in the world, our work matters — our work counts.

May Shabbat bring balm to our bruised and anxious hearts… so that when the new week begins, we can bring renewed energy to the work of doing what’s right, the work described in the Langston Hughes poem that was our haftarah reading today, the work of building a better world. 

This was Rabbi Rachel’s d’varling from Shabbat services this morning (cross-posted to Velveteen Rabbi.)

Shavua tov!

Join us for Shabbat morning services at 9:30am on Saturday morning in the CBI Zoom room, led this week by R’ Pam Wax.

This week we’re  reading from parashat Lech Lecha in the book of Genesis. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

And here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon on Zoom at CBI.

Shavua tov – a good new week to you!

This Week’s Offerings

This week our Zoom offerings include Rabbinic Drop-In Hour (1pm Mondays) and Reverse Omer Group with Jen Burt (5pm Tuesdays)m all in the CBI Zoom room with the usual password. Links and password will go out out in the CBI Announcements email (and are the same as previous weeks) but if you don’t have them, contact the office.

This Shabbat, September 5, we are holding a socially-distant, masked, no-singing service outside CBI at 9:30am. (If it rains, we’ll hold services over Zoom instead.) Please RSVP to the office by Wednesday so we know how many people to expect and therefore how many chairs to set up. Chairs will be set up at a distance from each other, and we’ll invite everyone to bring their own chair and prayerbook back inside after services so we’re not touching things that others have touched. Wearing a mask is required.

Meanwhile, on the Zoom front…

Help With Zoom: Do You Need It? Can You Offer It?

Need a hand? Are you unfamiliar with Zoom and uncertain how to join our online programs (Shabbat and festival services, book group meetings, and more)? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who can walk you through installing the software and learning how to use it. Lend  a hand! Are you familiar with Zoom and willing to teach someone else how to use it? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who wants to learn.

Seeking “Zoom Angels” For High Holidays:

Are you comfortable with Zoom (or are you willing to learn)? We’re looking for (at least) one person to be a “Zoom Angel” for each of our seven High Holiday services. (Erev Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah morning 1 and 2, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur morning, Y”K afternoon, and Ne’ilah / Yom Kippur’s closing service.) Each Zoom Angel will be made “co-host” of the Zoom room for the service(s) when they sign up to help. They will manage the virtual door / waiting room (letting people in as they arrive) and will be asked to mute and unmute the room from time to time. Does this sound feasible to you, or would you be willing to learn some Zoom tips in order to lend a hand in this way? Please let Rabbi Rachel know!

We still need a few Zoom Angels for the Days of Awe, so if you are able to help out, please let us know.

Runway to the Days of Awe

We’re on the spiritual runway to Rosh Hashanah, and Rabbi Rachel is sending weekly emails to help us prepare for this unprecedented holiday season. Here they are so far:

Week One: Seven Weeks Until Rosh Hashanah
Week Two: Creating Sacred Space at Home
Week ThreeMusic
Week FourClothing
Week Five: What To Expect

Stay tuned for Wednesday’s update, which will be on Inner Work.

Torah and commentaries for this week

This week we’re  reading from parashat Ki Tavo in the book of Deuteronomy. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

Here’s a VisualTorah commentary on Ki Tetzei by Steve Silbert of Bayit: Building Jewish, inspired by a d’var Torah from Rabbi Rachel:

And here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon at CBI.

Shavua tov – a good new week to you!

Zoom Offerings

This week our Zoom offerings include Rabbinic Drop-In Hour (1pm Mondays), Reverse Omer Group with Jen Burt (5pm Tuesdays) and Shabbat Morning services (9:30am Saturday) led this week by R’ Pam Wax, all in the CBI Zoom room with the usual password. (Our Friday morning meditation minyan is on hiatus and will return in the fall.)

Links and password will go out out in the CBI Announcements email (and are the same as previous weeks) but if you don’t have them, contact the office.

Meanwhile, speaking of Zoom…

Help With Zoom: Do You Need It? Can You Offer It?

Need a hand? Are you unfamiliar with Zoom and uncertain how to join our online programs (Shabbat and festival services, book group meetings, and more)? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who can walk you through installing the software and learning how to use it. Lend  a hand! Are you familiar with Zoom and willing to teach someone else how to use it? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who wants to learn.

Seeking “Zoom Angels” For High Holidays:

Are you comfortable with Zoom (or are you willing to learn)? We’re looking for (at least) one person to be a “Zoom Angel” for each of our seven High Holiday services. (Erev Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah morning 1 and 2, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur morning, Y”K afternoon, and Ne’ilah / Yom Kippur’s closing service.) Each Zoom Angel will be made “co-host” of the Zoom room for the service(s) when they sign up to help. They will manage the virtual door / waiting room (letting people in as they arrive) and will be asked to mute and unmute the room from time to time. Does this sound feasible to you, or would you be willing to learn some Zoom tips in order to lend a hand in this way? Please let Rabbi Rachel know!

Runway to the Days of Awe

We’re on the spiritual runway to Rosh Hashanah, and Rabbi Rachel is sending weekly emails to help us prepare for this unprecedented holiday season. Here they are so far:

Week One: Seven Weeks Until Rosh Hashanah
Week Two: Creating Sacred Space at Home
Week ThreeMusic
Week Four: Clothing

Here’s our anthem for the year – new words for Ahavat Olam:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzZpbLa7C3s]

If you can’t see the embedded YouTube video, here’s a direct link to our version.

Stay tuned for Wednesday’s update, which will be on What To Expect This Year.

Torah and commentaries for this week

This week we’re  reading from parashat Ki Tetzei in the book of Deuteronomy. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

Here’s commentary on Ki Tetzei by Rabbi Ben Newman and Steve Silbert of Bayit: Building Jewish:

and here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon via Zoom at CBI!

Shavua tov – a good new week to you!

Zoom Offerings

This week our Zoom offerings include Rabbinic Drop-In Hour (1pm Mondays), Reverse Omer Group with Jen Burt (5pm Tuesdays) and Shabbat Morning services (9:30am Saturday) led this week by R’ Pam Wax, all in the CBI Zoom room with the usual password. (Our Friday morning meditation minyan is on hiatus and will return in the fall.)

Links and password will go out out in the CBI Announcements email (and are the same as previous weeks) but if you don’t have them, contact the office.

Meanwhile, speaking of Zoom…

Help With Zoom: Do You Need It? Can You Offer It?

Need a hand? Are you unfamiliar with Zoom and uncertain how to join our online programs (Shabbat and festival services, book group meetings, and more)? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who can walk you through installing the software and learning how to use it. Lend  a hand! Are you familiar with Zoom and willing to teach someone else how to use it? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who wants to learn.

Seeking “Zoom Angels” For High Holidays:

Are you comfortable with Zoom (or are you willing to learn)? We’re looking for (at least) one person to be a “Zoom Angel” for each of our seven High Holiday services. (Erev Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah morning 1 and 2, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur morning, Y”K afternoon, and Ne’ilah / Yom Kippur’s closing service.) Each Zoom Angel will be made “co-host” of the Zoom room for the service(s) when they sign up to help. They will manage the virtual door / waiting room (letting people in as they arrive) and will be asked to mute and unmute the room from time to time. Does this sound feasible to you, or would you be willing to learn some Zoom tips in order to lend a hand in this way? Please let Rabbi Rachel know!

Runway to the Days of Awe

We’re on the spiritual runway to Rosh Hashanah, and Rabbi Rachel is sending weekly emails to help us prepare for this unprecedented holiday season. Here are the first three: Seven Weeks Until Rosh Hashanah (don’t forget to sign up for a high holiday box — details at that link!) and Creating Sacred Space at Home (video and text at that link), and Music (there are two videos in that post, introducing our high holiday anthem / musical theme for this year.) Here’s one of them, a recording of Ahavat Olam (with the traditional words) as sung by the Platt brothers to a melody by Gabe Mann and Piper Rutman:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yhk_obX7CQ]

If you can’t see the embedded YouTube video, here’s a direct link to the Platt brothers’ version. Click through to our Music post to see / hear the other video, which is a recording of Rabbi Rachel singing new words written for that melody for this year’s Days of Awe.

And tuned for the fourth post in the series, coming on Wednesday.

Torah and commentaries for this week

This week we’re  reading from parashat Shoftim in the book of Deuteronomy. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

Here’s commentary on Shoftim by Rabbi Mike Moskowitz and Steve Silbert of Bayit: Building Jewish:

and here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon via Zoom at CBI!

cbi-zoom

Shavua tov – a good new week to you!

This week our Zoom offerings include Rabbinic Drop-In Hour (1pm Mondays), Reverse Omer Group with Jen Burt (5pm Tuesdays) and Shabbat Morning services (9:30am Saturday) led this week by R’ Jarah Greenfield, all in the CBI Zoom room with the usual password. (Our Friday morning meditation minyan is on hiatus and will return in the fall.)

Links and password will go out out in the CBI Announcements email (and are the same as previous weeks) but if you don’t have them, contact the office.

Meanwhile, speaking of Zoom…

Help With Zoom: Do You Need It? Can You Offer It?

Need a hand? Are you unfamiliar with Zoom and uncertain how to join our online programs (Shabbat and festival services, book group meetings, and more)? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who can walk you through installing the software and learning how to use it. Lend  a hand! Are you familiar with Zoom and willing to teach someone else how to use it? Let the office know and we’ll match you with someone who wants to learn.

Seeking “Zoom Angels” For High Holidays:

Are you comfortable with Zoom (or are you willing to learn)? We’re looking for (at least) one person to be a “Zoom Angel” for each of our seven High Holiday services. (Erev Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah morning 1 and 2, Kol Nidre, Yom Kippur morning, Y”K afternoon, and Ne’ilah / Yom Kippur’s closing service.) Each Zoom Angel will be made “co-host” of the Zoom room for the service(s) when they sign up to help. They will manage the virtual door / waiting room (letting people in as they arrive) and will be asked to mute and unmute the room from time to time. Does this sound feasible to you, or would you be willing to learn some Zoom tips in order to lend a hand in this way? Please let Rabbi Rachel know!

We’re on the spiritual runway to Rosh Hashanah, and Rabbi Rachel is sending weekly emails to help us prepare for this unprecedented holiday season. Here are the first two: Seven Weeks Until Rosh Hashanah (don’t forget to sign up for a high holiday box — details at that link!) and Creating Sacred Space at Home (video and text at that link.) Stay tuned for the third post in the series, coming on Wednesday.

This week we’re  reading from parashat Re’eh in the book of Deuteronomy. If you’d like to read some commentaries on this week’s parsha, here are a few:

Here’s commentary on Eikev by Rabbi Cynthia Hoffman and Steve Silbert of Bayit: Building Jewish:

and here’s commentary from the URJ:

Hope to see you soon via Zoom at CBI!