CBI Berkshires Reform Jewish Synagogue - Congregation Beth Israel

Soul Spa | Zoom Torah Study
2026-07-04 10:00 - 11:30, 2026-07-11 10:00 - 11:30 (America/New_York) | Virtual Event (Zoom)
Join us for Shabbat morning Zoom Torah study every Saturday! Jointly led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat (CBI) and by Rabbi David Markus (Congregation Shir Ami), we’ll be exploring the weekly parsha through the lens of women’s commentaries and midrash. If anyone is observing a yahrzeit and needs to say kaddish, we’ll close with Mourner’s Kaddish.
☆ Please click here to join us online in Shir Ami’s Zoom room; all sessions will also be archived on Shir Ami’s website.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service
2026-07-10 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-07-24 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-08-14 19:00 - 20:00, 2026-08-28 19:00 - 20:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
All are welcome as we celebrate Shabbat together with prayer, song, poetry, and heart. Some weeks the CBI choir and musicians will join Rabbi Rachel in leading prayer. Expect music, poetry, Torah teaching, and an opportunity to ritually let go of the week as we move together into sacred time.
Please RSVP via our website for onsite service only; please check our weekly announcements for information on how to attend online via Zoom.

Shabbat Morning Service
2026-07-18 09:30 - 11:00, 2026-08-08 09:30 - 11:00, 2026-08-22 09:30 - 11:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
Join us on Shabbat morning as we celebrate Shabbat with prayer, song, and poetry. We’ll hear some words of Torah (and some words about Torah) as we bask in Shabbat’s sweetness. Our spiritual tools include traditional liturgy, contemporary poetry, chant, and song… as well as the spectacular views from our sanctuary, which connect us with the natural world and with our Source.
Service will still be available online for those who wish to participate on Zoom; those joining digitally are invited to purchase a digital copy of the siddur if you’d like to follow along.

Soul Spa | Zoom Torah Study
2026-07-18 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual Event (Zoom)
Join us for Shabbat morning Zoom Torah study every Saturday! Jointly led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat (CBI) and by Rabbi David Markus (Congregation Shir Ami), we’ll be exploring the weekly parsha through the lens of women’s commentaries and midrash. If anyone is observing a yahrzeit and needs to say kaddish, we’ll close with Mourner’s Kaddish.
Following this session, our weekly Torah study will pause as we prepare for the Days of Awe; sessions will resume in early October.
☆ Please click here to join us online in Shir Ami’s Zoom room; all sessions will also be archived on Shir Ami’s website.

Tisha b’Av 5786 | Zoom Only
2026-07-22 20:00 | Virtual Event (Zoom)
☆ To join us ONLINE, please click here to register via Zoom.

Join us online at 8pm on Wednesday, July 22 for a new Tisha b’Av program designed to open our hearts to feeling and prepare our spirits for transformation. We’ll encounter some laments both traditional and contemporary (including selections from Eikha / Lamentations and some new contemporary poems of lament), and then Rabbi Rachel will guide the group in writing our own laments to express what’s on our hearts in this year of so many kinds of sorrow – political, environmental, communal, personal. This communal deep dive into allowing ourselves to feel the brokenness of our world is tradition’s necessary precursor to the spiritual ascent toward the Days of Awe.
This program will be held on Zoom only; Zoom information will be provided to those who register in advance.

Worth a Thousand Words: Spiritual Imagery of the High Holy Days
2026-07-28 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Event (Zoom)
Join Rabbi Rachel Barenblat (Congregation Beth Israel of the Berkshires) and Rabbi David Markus (Congregation Shir Ami of Greenwich, CT) for our third annual joint runway to the High Holy Days to prepare heart and soul for the journey of inner transformation! Sessions will be held via Zoom every Tuesday at 7pm (EDT) from July 28 through September 8.
This year we’ll immerse in the spiritual imagery of the High Holy Day liturgy – the visions of humanity, divinity, morality, and transcendence that liturgy’s words seek to rouse in us. Visual, musical, and poetic renderings will aim to deepen our personal experience of prayer and this season’s ancestral call of teshuvah (repentance, return).
Topics will include core liturgies such as Avinu Malkeinu, Kol Nidre, Unetaneh Tokef, Psalm 27, Avodah (Purification), and Neilah.
☆ Free for members of CBI and Shir Ami; $120 for non-members. Zoom information will be sent to those who register in advance, so please be sure to register using your primary email address.

CBI Book Club
2026-08-10 11:00
Our next meeting of the CBI Book Club, facilitated by Dr. Suzanne Levy Graver, Professor Emerita at Williams College, will meet in-person at a private home in Williamstown to discuss Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast.
In her multi-award-winning first memoir, Chast – a New Yorker cartoonist – brings her signature wit to the universal topic of aging parents while shining a light on one family’s endearing peculiarities. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast’s memoir is both heart-wrenching and hilarious.
Following the book’s release, Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? became a #1 New York Times Bestseller and a 2014 National Book Award Finalist, as well as the winner of the inaugural 2014 Kirkus Prize in nonfiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the 2014 Books for a Better Life Award, and the 2015 Reuben Award from National Cartoonists Society.
All are welcome! This book is available to purchase online in multiple formats. Those who plan on joining us should RSVP via our website; location information will be sent to all who RSVP once the date gets closer.

Tanglewood Concert & Picnic
2026-08-23 12:00 | Tanglewood — Koussevitzky Music Shed, 297 West Street, Lenox, MA, 01240
PLEASE NOTE: This event is not free to attend. For ticket information, please see below.
Join us at Tanglewood this summer for an afternoon of music and fun! Please plan to join us on Sunday, August 23 for a pre-concert potluck picnic on the lawn starting at 12pm — bring your own seating, as well as food and drink to share during our potluck. Young family activities, including a kid-friendly craft and family Shabbat song circle, will be held in a designated tent canopy on the back lawn pre-concert. After our picnic, we’ll enjoy a live concert together at 2:30pm featuring the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
☆ Each person will need to purchase their own ticket in order to attend. Lawn seats for this event are $44 per adult; tickets can be purchased online on Tanglewood’s website or by phone at (617) 266-1200. (Children under 18 are able to attend for free, but you must visit the Tanglewood box office on the day of the concert to obtain a ticket.)
Stay tuned for more information about our meeting place as the date approaches; please contact Natalie Matus if you have any questions. Those planning to attend must RSVP online by no later than Friday, August 21 so we know who to expect.
This event is a partnership between Congregation Beth Israel & Nefesh, with major financial support from Sally Gottesman & the Harold Grinspoon Foundation as well as funding from other private donors.

Selichot (“Forgiveness”) Service
2026-09-05 20:00 - 21:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
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Please join us for our annual Selichot service, led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat. With poetry, song, and heart, we’ll join Jews worldwide in moving though the final gate before Rosh Hashanah. Together we’ll lovingly dress our Torah in holiday whites and dip into some tastes of sweet high holiday liturgy and melody. Our annual contemplative writing exercise will give us an opportunity to anonymously contribute to our community’s Al Het liturgy for Yom Kippur. All are welcome!
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Service of Remembrance at the Beth Israel Cemetery
2026-09-06 14:00 - 14:30 | Beth Israel Cemetery, 512 Walker Street, Clarksburg, MA, 01247, United States
We invite you to our annual Service of Remembrance at the Beth Israel Cemetery (512 Walker Street in Clarksburg, MA). Whether or not your loved ones are buried in this cemetery, please join us for a short outdoor mincha (afternoon) service with opportunities for reflective prayer and memory.
Please bring your own folding/camp chairs. This service will be held rain or shine, so be sure to dress appropriately for the weather.

Erev Rosh Hashanah 5787
2026-09-11 19:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
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Please join us for our annual Erev Rosh Hashanah service, co-led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson, with support from CBI musicians and choir. Expect poetry, prayer, harmony, melodies both traditional and contemporary, and an introduction to this year’s high holiday theme of “balance.” All are welcome!
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. Please note that onsite parking will be limited. If you are able to walk, please park in the Stop & Shop lot for this service. If you need to park onsite, please follow the directions of ushers who will be directing traffic and parking. Thank you for understanding!
For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. Please join us on Zoom ten minutes before services are scheduled to begin. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Rosh Hashanah I 5787
2026-09-12 09:30 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
(left side on desktop; bottom on mobile)

Please join us for our Rosh Hashanah I morning service, co-led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson. Expect poetry, prayer, harmony, melodies both traditional and contemporary, and a warm, participatory experience. All are welcome!
Our Children’s Service – intended for younger children who may not be ready to sit through an entire service – will take place outdoors (or, if there is rain, indoors in our classrooms) at 10am (onsite only).
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. Please note that onsite parking will be limited. If you are able to walk, please park in the Stop & Shop lot for this service. If you need to park onsite, please follow the directions of ushers who will be directing traffic and parking. Thank you for understanding!
For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. Please join us on Zoom ten minutes before services are scheduled to begin. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Rosh Hashanah II 5787 | “Four Worlds”
2026-09-13 09:30 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
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Join Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson for a creative/interpretive Four Worlds service featuring silent meditation, song/chant, and Torah study. This service will have minimal liturgy as we focus on entering the new year experientially in body, heart, mind, and spirit. All are welcome!
Blowing of the Shofar and Tashlih (casting away our mis-steps) will follow at the TOURISTS suspension bridge.
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. Please join us on Zoom ten minutes before services are scheduled to begin. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Contemplative Shabbat Shuvah
2026-09-19 09:30 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
(left side on desktop; bottom on mobile)

Join us for a contemplative, chant-based service led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat. On this “Shabbat of Return” between the two holidays, our service will feature an even more stripped-down liturgy and a lot of opportunity for sacred silence. Rabbi Rachel writes, “There are so very many words at this time of year. I always feel that Shabbat Shuvah is a good time to let the experience of Rosh Hashanah percolate in us amidst some holy quiet.” All are welcome!
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Kol Nidre 5787
2026-09-20 17:50 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
(left side on desktop; bottom on mobile)

Join us for Kol Nidre evening service, co-led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson, with support from the CBI choir and community musicians. Please plan to arrive by 5:50pm; we will begin with Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidre” to open our service at 6pm on the dot, followed by the singing of Kol Nidre, which must take place before sundown. Expect poetry, prayer, harmony, melodies both traditional and contemporary, and a warm, participatory experience. Those joining us onsite will have an opportunity to light a Yizkor candle prior to the start of the evening’s service. All are welcome!
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. Please note that onsite parking will be limited. If you are able to walk, please park in the Stop & Shop lot for this service. If you need to park on-site, please follow the directions of ushers who will be directing traffic and parking. Thank you for understanding!
For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. Please join us on Zoom ten minutes before services are scheduled to begin. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Yom Kippur Morning 5787 with Yizkor
2026-09-21 09:30 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
(left side on desktop; bottom on mobile)

Please join us for our annual Yom Kippur morning service, co-led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson, with support from community musicians and choir. Expect poetry, prayer, harmony, melodies both traditional and contemporary, and a warm, participatory experience. All are welcome!
Our Children’s Service – intended for younger children who may not be ready to sit through an entire service – will take place outdoors (or, if there is rain, indoors in our classrooms) at 10am (onsite only).
Yizkor/Memorial Service will take place at the end of morning service. To submit names for this year’s Yizkor Memorial Book, please click here. (DEADLINE: Friday, September 11, 2026)
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. Please note that onsite parking will be limited. If you are able to walk, please park in the Stop & Shop lot for this service. If you need to park on-site, please follow the directions of ushers who will be directing traffic and parking. Thank you for understanding!
For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. Please join us on Zoom ten minutes before services are scheduled to begin. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Yom Kippur Minchah & Avodah 5787
2026-09-21 16:30 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
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Join us as we delve into re-living ancient rituals, hearing the Yom Kippur afternoon Torah reading and its powerful themes of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves, and experiencing the Book of Jonah in a creative new way. All are welcome!
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

Yom Kippur Ne'ilah 5787
2026-09-21 18:00 - 19:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
(left side on desktop; bottom on mobile)

Our final service of the day will take place in the small sanctuary with lights turned off so we can feel the increasing urgency of our prayers as the sky begins to dim. There will be an opportunity for each of us to stand before the open Ark and whisper whatever we most need to say. We will end around 7pm, roughly 25 hours after we began. All are welcome!
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants. Please join us on Zoom ten minutes before services are scheduled to begin. You do not need a printed book — words will be shown onscreen.

A Break-the-Fast meal will be held in-person following the conclusion of Ne’ilah service (~7pm). PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL REGISTRATIONS FOR BREAK-THE-FAST MUST BE RECEIVED BY NO LATER THAN THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10. As this is a catered event, we will not be able to accommodate any late RSVPs or walk-ins for the meal — thank you for understanding.

Yom Kippur 5787 Break-the-Fast Meal
2026-09-21 19:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
As this is a catered event, all registrations must be received by no later than Thursday, September 10, 2026. We will not able to accommodate any late RSVPs or walk-ins — thank you for understanding.
All are welcome to join us for a catered Break-the Fast meal in the social hall following Ne’ilah (~7pm). Those who wish to attend must register via our website by no later than Thursday, September 10.
The cost for the meal is $20 per adult, $5 per child age 5 & older, and free for children age 4 & under. If you would like to attend but the cost makes you hesitate, please contact Rabbi Rachel.

Harvest Moon Sukkot Potluck 5787
2026-09-25 17:30 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
Join us in the CBI sukkah as we welcome Shabbat and Sukkot together! We’ll begin by blessing challah, juice, and candles before enjoying a potluck feast. After the meal, there will be opportunities to bentsch lulav (bless and shake the lulav and etrog) and sing songs with other community members.
Please bring a vegetarian/dairy dish to share, as well as instruments if you play one suitable for a singalong. If possible, we’re requesting that ingredient lists are supplied for any home-cooked dishes in order to assist those in our community with food allergies/dietary restrictions — thank you.
Please RSVP in advance if you plan to attend. All ages and stages are welcome, including families with children.
This event is a partnership between Congregation Beth Israel & Nefesh, with major financial support from Sally Gottesman & the Harold Grinspoon Foundation as well as funding from other private donors.

Shemini Atzeret 5787 with Yizkor
2026-10-03 09:30 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
☆ To join us IN-PERSON, please click on the blue “Going” button on this page to RSVP.
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Please join Rabbi Pam Wax for our annual Shemini Atzeret service, where we’ll share the prayers of the morning service, including the praise-songs of Hallel. We’ll also offer the Yizkor memorial prayers that we recite in memory of our dead four times a year (on Pesach, Shavuot, Yom Kippur, and Shemini Atzeret). All are welcome!
To submit names for this year’s Yizkor Memorial Book, please click here. (DEADLINE: Friday, September 11, 2026)
Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP via our website. Service will still be available online for those who wish to participate on Zoom; those joining digitally are invited to purchase a digital copy of the siddur if you’d like to follow along.

Simchat Torah Musical Celebration 5787
2026-10-03 19:00 | Congregation Beth Israel, 53 Lois Street, North Adams, MA, 01247, United States
Join Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and CBI community musicians for a music-filled celebration of Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing in the Torah”), the culmination of our fall festival season! A short-and-sweet festival ma’ariv (evening service) will have as its centerpiece seven hakafot/circle dances with the Torah. We’ll also hear the very end of Torah followed by the very beginning of Torah, connecting the end of our sacred scroll with the new year’s new beginnings.
Please RSVP in advance if you plan to attend; this service will be held onsite only. All ages and stages are welcome, including families with children.
This event is a partnership between Congregation Beth Israel & Nefesh, with major financial support from Sally Gottesman & the Harold Grinspoon Foundation as well as funding from other private donors.
