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Congregation Beth Israel
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North Adams, MA 01247
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All (Means All): Shabbat Bamidbar
Community, Divrei Torah, From The Rabbi, Israel, Jewish ValuesI’ve been studying this parsha for months with one of our teenagers who became bat mitzvah last weekend, and I can tell you that the first thing she noticed was that this census does not count any women. Or anyone who is nonbinary, or under the age of 20, or ill, or for some other reason unable to fight. This census is about counting “able-bodied men,” and that is not synonymous with “our whole community.”
Yizkor at Home
From The Rabbi, Yizkor“…I thought I’d try something new this year: giving us a way to remember loved ones with a short Yizkor remembrance at home. Although traditionally Yizkor is communal, this communal ritual clearly isn’t speaking to our community as we are now. But maybe a ‘DIY’ version to do at home might speak to some of us….”
Guest Post | Reclaiming Our Lives with Radical Rest: Parashiyot Vayak’heil & P’kudei
Divrei Torah, From The Rabbi, Guest Posts, Resilience, ShabbatThis guest post is by cantorial soloist and CBI member Ziva Larson, who led Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday, March 13, 2026.
What Torah Asks Of Us: Shabbat Yitro 5786
Community, Divrei Torah, From The Rabbi, Jewish Values, Response to Tragedy, Social ActionTorah tells us 36 times that we must “love the stranger, for we were strangers in the land of Mitzrayim.” We have been in narrow straits before, and because of our people’s suffering both historical and present we must stand up for those who are oppressed today. Not “may,” not “might decide to” – if we take Torah values seriously, caring for the stranger is an obligation.
Guest Post | The Mixed Multitude: A Reflection on Privilege and Power
Divrei Torah, From The Rabbi, Guest Posts, Inclusion & Diversity, Jewish Values, Pesach, Social ActionThis guest post is by cantorial soloist and CBI member Ziva Larson, who led Kabbalat Shabbat services on Friday, January 23, 2026.
Holy Fire: Shabbat Shemot 5786
Divrei Torah, From The Rabbi, Jewish Values, Response to Tragedy, Social Action, Tikkun OlamThis week we’re beginning the book of Exodus – in Hebrew, called Shemot, “Names.” We open this book with the names of those who came down to Egypt with Yosef. And then we read that a new Pharaoh arises who did not know Yosef, and in his eyes the children of Israel are teeming multitudes, like vermin, the “enemy within.”
From the Rabbi – January 2026
Events, From The Rabbi, Jewish Holidays, Newsletter, Pesach, Shevat, Tu BiShvatHappy secular new year! I love having two opportunities each year to turn the page and feel the hope that comes with new beginnings. 2026 is a book as-yet unwritten. With what will we fill its pages?
January 2026 | Tevet / Shevat 5786
Community, Events, From The President, Jewish Holidays, Newsletter, Purim, Tu BiShvat, VolunteeringWith the start of the new secular year of 2026 and the second half of CBI’s year, we are looking both forward and back.
Constancy & Change, the Torah & the Sky: Shabbat Hayyei Sarah 5786
Contemplative Practice, Divrei Torah, From The RabbiIn this week’s Torah portion, Hayyei Sarah, Avraham sends his servant Eliezer to find a wife for Isaac. And Eliezer says, God, help me out: could You make it so that whichever woman offers to help me get water not only for myself but also for my camels, that woman is the one You’ve intended for my master’s son?
From the Rabbi – November 2025
Cheshvan, Days of Awe, Events, From The Rabbi, Jewish Holidays, Newsletter, Shabbat, Spiritual LifeAs I write these words we’ve entered the lunar month of Heshvan, during which there are no holidays other than Shabbat. After the densely-packed spiritual season of the high holidays, Heshvan can feel like an abrupt gearshift.
November 2025 | Cheshvan / Kislev 5786
Community, Days of Awe, Events, From The President, Jewish Holidays, NewsletterWe hope you enjoyed a beautiful high holiday observance. We were delighted to welcome many of you into our overflowing sanctuary to worship together, share special holiday treats on Rosh Hashana, break-the-fast on Yom Kippur, and enjoy a community potluck in our beautiful sukkah.
From the Rabbi – October 2025
Cheshvan, Days of Awe, From The Rabbi, Jewish Holidays, Newsletter, Sukkot, Tishrei, Yom KippurWhat a beautiful holiday season it has been thus far. It was such a joy to be with you on Rosh Hashanah and during the first half of Yom Kippur!
As you may know by now, I experienced several TIAs during Yom Kippur morning services. (It was difficult for me to speak at times, and the words either wouldn’t come out, or came out wrong.) Thankfully each episode passed quickly and I was able to continue praying with you through the end of Yizkor. After that I went to the hospital for the remainder of Thursday and all of Friday. I am now released from the hospital and recovering at home comfortably.
October 2025 | Tishrei / Cheshvan 5786
Cheshvan, Community, Days of Awe, Events, From The President, Jewish Holidays, Newsletter, Rosh Hashanah, Spiritual Life, Tishrei, Volunteering, Yom KippurThis month’s column is a reprint of this year’s Days of Awe co-presidential speeches that were delivered on Rosh Hashanah I & Yom Kippur.
Noticing, in the Now: Yom Kippur 5786
Days of Awe, Divrei Torah, From The Rabbi, Sermons, Yom KippurSeveral of you asked me: “Could you talk at the high holidays about how we can stay sane? How can we pay enough attention to be connected, but not so much it harms us?”
Together, in the Now: Kol Nidre 5786
Days of Awe, Divrei Torah, From The Rabbi, Sermons, Yom KippurThe first known Black mutual aid society was the African Union Society, formed in Newport, Rhode Island in 1780. Seven years later, African Americans in Philadelphia formed the Free African Society to provide benefits to the needy, aid for the ill and unemployed, and burial assistance. By 1838 there were a hundred of these societies in Philadelphia alone. After the civil war, free Black Americans started credit unions when White-owned banks wouldn’t serve them. They pooled resources to buy farms and land, to care for widows and children, and to bury their dead. I’m not sure if my ancestors knew they were following in those footsteps when, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Eastern European Jewish immigrants formed landsmenschaftn, mutual aid societies rooted in shared geographic origins.