Dear Congregation Beth Israel members and friends,

It's Elul: the month that leads us to the Days of Awe and the new year.

Ready or not, here we come.

Once again, the holidays will be a little bit different this year! (I look forward to the year when I no longer need to say that.)

In the first Covid year our gatherings were all-Zoom. In the second Covid year, we were hybrid with limited attendance onsite. This year we're not limiting attendance onsite — though we are asking everyone to register in advance, both for contact-tracing reasons and for security ones. This year CBI member and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson will join me on the bimah, and at some services we'll be supported by CBI's new volunteer choir.

This year we'll hold hybrid / multi-access services, as we've done for Shabbat and festivals over the last year, so you and your loved ones can join us either onsite or online. It has been a joy to welcome farflung friends and family into our Zoom services — that’s one of the silver linings of the pandemic, for sure.

And some things will be the same as always. We'll thrill to the familiar cadences and melodies of the Days of Awe, and to the sound of the shofar. And another thing that (hopefully) never changes is the warmth and "heimishness" (homey-ness) that characterizes CBI. For that, I am grateful to all of you.

Elul is a time for getting-ready. It's a time for cheshbon ha-nefesh — taking an accounting of one's soul. Elul begins our season of teshuvah, turning ourselves around and seeing where we need to bring repair in our relationships with each other, with ourselves, or with our Source. This work intensifies during the high holidays themselves, though tradition calls us to begin it with this late-summer new moon.

Elul is a time when tradition says "the King is in the Field," meaning that God is extra-accessible to us. It's as though God were a sovereign Who leaves the palace during Elul and walks with us in meadows filled with wildflowers, ready to listen to whatever's on our hearts. It’s an old metaphor, and I think a very beautiful one.

Whether or not we're literally in the fields — though I think admiring CBI's pollinator garden or walking the Al and Frances Small Memorial labyrinth definitely "count!" — I hope that this Elul will offer each of us opportunities to connect with the sacred. To breathe deeply. To notice who we are, and think about who we want to be. To loosen the shackles of habit that calcify over the year, and imagine what 5783 might be and who we might yet become.

I can't wait to ring in the new year with all of you at CBI.

Blessings to all,

— Rabbi Rachel

Dear Congregants and Friends,

As we approach the High Holy Days, we’ve entered a period of reflection and assessment. In addition to my own personal reflections, I am also very aware of the passing of one year and the beginning of the next in the communal life of Congregation Beth Israel. With a year under my belt as president, it is a time when I reflect both on what has gone well and what more we need to or can do.

In many ways, we have emerged from the restrictions of the pandemic, opening up for in-person services, Hebrew School, and programs for youths and adults. It has been a joy to see families with children of all ages come to CBI to celebrate Shabbat, Havdalah, and other holidays together. We have come together to celebrate the b-mitzvah of several teens, and to grieve and remember those we have lost. We have learned to be more inclusive by providing a hybrid Zoom option whenever possible. Now, those who live far away for all or part of the year or are unable to attend in person for other reasons can join us. Our newly launched choir, practicing weekly, will enrich our High Holy Day services. During the late fall, winter, and spring, we held once a month Friday evening Zoom gatherings, during which we recited Shabbat blessings and had engaging discussions on various topics of interest. Our Zoom book club has launched and will continue this fall.

One of our priorities last year was reaching out to young families and providing programming to meet their family's needs. We have made a lot of progress attracting new families. We now hold monthly Family Shabbat services geared towards children of all ages, and have a robust program of activities for families with young children throughout the year. We received an increased grant from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation to support our work with families. Our Hebrew School, open to children in kindergarten through grade 7 and supported in part by a grant from the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, will reopen in less than 2 weeks and has doubled in size from last year. And we participated in an innovative interfaith youth initiative last spring with St. John’s Church and the First Congregational Church in Williamstown.

We have implemented a number of security measures to keep our congregation safe — thank you to those of you who volunteer to usher at each service, and to all of you who heeded our request to RSVP online for all services and events. We have a new and enhanced website with a better calendar, which allows people to RSVP for all services and events. And we’ve finally been able to address a number of maintenance issues as the synagogue building ages, including much needed painting and staining.

As much as we have accomplished, there is still much more that remains to be done to strengthen our work in building a vibrant Jewish community. What we will be able to accomplish in the coming year depends on all of you — we need your support — both financially and through sharing your ideas and helping carry them out.

What would YOU like to see happen at CBI this coming year? And how can YOU help? What do you think our priorities should be? The Board (and I) are eager to hear from you.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the upcoming High Holy Day services and programs. Please RSVP so we can plan accordingly.

From my family to yours, Shanah tovah um’tukah — may you have a good and sweet new year.

— Natalie Matus
president@cbiberkshires.com

As we gear up for Labor Day and the coming of the Days of Awe, we are ready and excited to start another year of Adult Programming at CBI. I would like to share our successes from the past year and request your thoughts and feedback on how we could better serve your needs and interests in the coming year.

If I had to pick one word to define our criteria for what makes a successful adult program at CBI, it would be community. We have been most successful with activities that in and of themselves are community-builders for our members.

We now have an ongoing and enthusiastic CBI Choir that will sing on the High Holy Days; it meets every week at our synagogue to rehearse and learn new melodies. The corps d'esprit among the individuals is fantastic and will enhance our synagogue experience. A special shout out to Adam Green for leading this effort and directing the choir.

Our CBI Book Club will resume again after a summer break on Thursday, September 22 at 7:30pm over Zoom. Kudos to Suzanne Levy Graver for both her literary and organizational leadership and her willingness to engage us in discussing great books of Jewish interest. Check out the newsletter for more information on the next meeting and to RSVP.

Shortly we will be making a decision on whether to continue the First Friday Shabbat Zooms. It would be great to hear from you about your interest in this activity where we welcome the Sabbath, light the Shabbat candles, and bless challah and wine. Generally we follow with some ice breaking time and a timely discussion. Please contact me by email at sheila.h.roman@gmail.com to provide feedback and let me know if you are interested in joining us. We are currently also in discussion with the Jewish Religious Center (JRC) at Williams College on ways to strike up "community" between the Center and CBI.

Lastly, please plan to attend the Cemetery Service on Sunday, September 18 from 2pm to 2:30pm, onsite at the CBI Cemetery on Walker Street only. After the Cemetery Service, please join Rabbi Rachel and Joe Apkin for a tour of the cemetery following the service and learn about Jewish traditions, a bit of the history of the Jewish population in North Adams, and see the newly refurbished gates of the cemetery.

I hope you will engage with Adult Programming at CBI this coming year. Please keep your eye on the CBI newsletter and weekly CBI announcements for up-to-date information on upcoming activities. Always feel free to reach out to me.

Special thanks to the Adult Programming Committee for their enthusiasm and participation in programming: Robin Brickman, Corry Buckwalter, Jennifer Burt, Adam Green, Suzanne Levy Graver, Natalie Matus, Ephraim Schwartz, and Judith Weber.

— Sheila Roman

Saturday, September 3: Please note that we will not be holding regular Shabbat Morning Service at CBI this weekend. Please click here for a list of local Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat Morning Services available to join over Zoom and in-person; for more information, please visit their websites.

Friday, September 9, 7pm: Multi-Access Kabbalat Shabbat Service
Multi-access Kabbalat Shabbat service will be held at 7pm. Those planning to join us onsite must RSVP online and wear a mask; those who wish to join in online are welcome to participate over Zoom.

Saturday, September 17, 8pm – 9pm: Selichot (“Forgiveness”) Service
Join us for Selichot — the service that launches the high holiday season with music, contemplation, and an opportunity to write down the places where we missed the mark in the old year so that we can begin to let them go and prepare to change. We’ll open with havdalah (the ritual ending Shabbat) and take some time to feel into the changes of this holy time of year. Those planning to join us onsite must RSVP online and wear a mask; those who wish to join in online are welcome to participate over Zoom.

Sunday, September 18, 10am: Apple Picking & Honey For A Sweet New Year
Join with other families was we pick apples together and enjoy Rosh Hashanah story time. We’ll meet at at Jaeschke’s Orchard in Adams, MA. CBI teacher Jane Shiyah will lead “sweet” holiday story time as we learn about the holiday. Of course, we will cherish the sweetness of the new year by dipping our newly-picked apples in honey. Please RSVP online by Friday, September 16 if your family plans to attend; masks are required. This event is free for all to attend!

Sunday, September 18, 2pm – 2:30pm: Cemetery Service
Our annual cemetery service will be held at the Beth Israel Cemetery on Walker Street in Clarksburg, MA. Please bring your own folding / camp chairs. After the Cemetery Service, we will tour the cemetery with Rabbi Rachel and Joe Apkin following the service to learn about Jewish traditions, a bit of the history of the Jewish population in North Adams, and see the newly refurbished gates of the cemetery. Those planning to join us must RSVP online and wear a mask.

Thursday, September 22, 7:30pm – 8:30pm (EDT): CBI Book Club
After a summer break, the CBI Book Club will be meeting again via Zoom from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. For the September meeting, we will discuss The Book of Separation: A Memoir by Tova Mirvis, described by the The New York Times as “an intimate tale of departure” that “movingly conveys the heartache that accompanies the abandonment of one life in search of another.” An accomplished novelist, Mirvis compellingly charts in this memoir her “separation” from the Orthodox Jewish culture that she grew up and married within. Tova is 40 years old and raising (along with her former husband) three children when the book begins. “Beautifully written and fiercely honest,” Tova Mirvis’s memoir illuminates “the too often dormant power within all of us to live in accordance with who we truly are.” Her memoir begins on the High Holidays, making our September meeting an apt time for our discussion of her book. We hope you’ll join us — please RSVP online or directly to Suzanne Levy Graver via email at sgraver@williams.edu.

Saturday, September 24: Please note that we will not be holding regular Shabbat Morning Service at CBI this weekend. Please click here for a list of local Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat Morning Services available to join over Zoom and in-person; for more information, please visit their websites.

Sunday, September 25, 6:30pm (EDT): Rosh Hashanah First Evening Service & Seder
Our Erev Rosh Hashanah celebration this year will once again be a Rosh Hashanah seder interwoven with the evening service over Zoom, featuring symbolic foods and drinks to cue up the inner journey of entering the new year. We’ll be joined by Rabbi David Markus and members of Temple Beth El of City Island, as well as friends and family both near and far. Many of you have told us that our Rosh Hashanah seders over the past two years were a meaningful way to launch the new year together from our dining tables. We’re looking forward to being with you on Zoom for that experience again this year. Please RSVP online by no later than Friday, September 16. This service will be held online only.

Monday, September 26, 10am (EDT): Rosh Hashanah First Day Morning Service
Please join us for our annual Rosh Hashanah I morning service, co-led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and CBI member and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson. All are welcome! Tashlich will follow the conclusion of services at Tourists suspension bridge.

Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP online by no later than Friday, September 16; you must be vaccinated and masked in order to attend. Please note that on-site 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 RSVP if you wish to attend online. 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.

Children’s service will be led by CBI member and educator Jane Shiyah and will take place outdoors (or, if there is rain, in our gazebo) at 10am. Children’s service will be onsite only; you must be vaccinated and masked in order to attend. Families who wish to attend must RSVP via Google Forms.

Tuesday, September 27, 10am (EDT): Rosh Hashanah Contemplative Second Day Morning Service
Please join us for our annual contemplative Rosh Hashanah II morning service, co-led by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat and CBI member and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson. Our second day service is typically more contemplative and less liturgical. All are welcome!

Those who wish to attend onsite must RSVP online by no later than Friday, September 16; you must be vaccinated and masked in order to attend.

For those who wish to join us online, we will provide a meaningful and robust experience via Zoom for digital participants; please RSVP if you wish to attend online. 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.

Saturday, September 17, 8-9pm: Selichot ("Forgiveness") Service, onsite & online

Sunday, September 18, 2-2:30pm: Cemetery Service, onsite only at Walker Street cemetery
Followed by a guided tour of the CBI cemetery, led by Joe Apkin

Sunday, September 25, 6:30pm: Rosh Hashanah First Evening Service & Seder, online only

Monday, September 26, 10am: Rosh Hashanah First Day Morning Service, onsite & online
Outdoor Children's Service at 10am, onsite only (RSVP here)
Tashlich to follow at Tourists suspension bridge

Tuesday, September 27, 10am: Contemplative Second Day Morning Service, onsite & online

Saturday, October 1, 9:30am: Shabbat Shuvah Contemplative Service, onsite & online

Tuesday, October 4, 6:15pm: Kol Nidre, onsite & online

Wednesday, October 5, 10am: Yom Kippur Morning Service, onsite & online
Outdoor Children's Service at 10am, onsite only (RSVP here)
Yizkor / Memorial Service will take place at the end of the morning service

All afternoon, all are welcome to enjoy our labyrinth & pollinator garden

Wednesday, October 5, 4:30-6:30pm: Yom Kippur Mincha & Avodah Service, onsite & online

Wednesday, October 5, 6-7pm: Yom Kippur Ne'ilah Service, onsite & online
(Sundown will be at 6:27pm)

All are welcome to use the CBI sukkah during the week of Sukkot (October 9 – 16)

Friday, October 14, 5:30pm: Sukkot Potluck Supper in the Sukkah, onsite only
Please RSVP by Yom Kippur (October 5)

Sunday, October 16, 11am: Shemini Atzeret & Yizkor, online only

Sunday, October 16, 6pm: Simchat Torah Celebration, onsite only

Shabbat & Havdalah Times

If you want to light Shabbat candles and make havdalah at the halakhically-accepted times, the times for the upcoming month can be found below:

September 2 light at 7:06pm (18 minutes before sundown)
September 3 havdalah at 8:05pm (42 minutes after sundown)

September 9 light at 6:54pm
September 10 havdalah at 7:53pm

September 16 light at 6:42pm
September 17 havdalah at 7:41pm

September 23 light at 6:29pm
September 24 havdalah at 7:28pm

September 25 (Erev Rosh Hashanah) light at 6:26pm
September 26 (Rosh Hashanah I) light at 7:24pm
September 27 (Rosh Hashanah II) havdalah at 7:23pm

September 30 light at 6:17pm
October 1 havdalah at 7:16pm

If it is your practice to light candles at a different hour of the day (perhaps not quite so early as halakha indicates during the winter, and not quite so late as halakha indicates during the summer), that's also a legitimate Reform Jewish choice. What's most important is that you're finding a way to incorporate Shabbat into your life!