Dear Congregation Beth Israel members and friends,

5782 is a Jewish leap year, which means we get an extra month. In most years, there is a single month of Adar. This year, we get two of them. The first one is happening right now.

This happens seven times in every cycle of nineteen years. It's the workaround that our sages devised to ensure that Pesach would always be in the spring, and Sukkot would always be in the fall. (In the northern hemisphere, anyway; they didn't know about the southern hemisphere back then.)

If our calendar were purely lunar (like the Muslim calendar), our festivals would move all the way around the calendar, shifting by about ten days each solar year, as Ramadan does. But our sages didn't want that; they wanted our spring and fall festivals to be fixed in those two seasons.

If our calendar were purely solar, the phases of the moon would be irrelevant — but they're not. Jewish time takes the solar seasons into account, but it also marks new moon as a minor festival each month. And several of our holidays (Tu BiShvat, Purim, Pesach, and Sukkot) all fall at full moon. Instead our calendar is lunisolar, linked both with the solar seasons and the moon's phases. There's a constant tug in both directions — the angle of the sun and the shifting light, and the moon's waxing and waning.

So this year, we get two months of Adar. Purim falls at the full moon of Adar-II. (Join us in mid-March for An Encanto Purim — stay tuned for more information about that, and if you haven't yet seen Encanto, I highly recommend it!) So what happens at the full moon of the first Adar? Well, traditionally, not much. But this year I'm co-creating a short Zoom ritual for the full moon of Adar I with two of my dear rabbinic colleagues, Rabbi Sonja Keren Pilz (who serves the Reform shul in Bozeman, Montana) and Rabbi David Evan Markus (Temple Beth El of City Island).

Many of us have observed that since the pandemic began, time feels (as Shakespeare put it) "out of joint." (What day of March 2020 is it now?) It's easy to lose track of how long the pandemic has gone on; sometimes it feels like forever, sometimes it's hard to believe it's been two full years. The Jewish holidays have been "early" on the Gregorian calendar over the last couple of years, because we haven't had a leap year in a while; that too adds to the sense of being disconnected or out-of-sync.

This is a spiritual disconnect, and it asks a spiritual "fix." So I hope you'll join us on Zoom at 8pm on Tuesday, February 15 for a brand-new ritual designed to weave us back into the flow of the seasons, reconnect us with time, and prime our internal awareness of the journey towards spring. (As always, Zoom links are not publicly posted — we'll share that link in our weekly announcements e-blast.)

Tradition teaches, "When we enter Adar, joy increases." I know that much is difficult right now, in all kinds of ways. May this doubled Adar give us doubled opportunity to find joy in whatever ways we can.

Blessings to all,

— Rabbi Rachel

Dear CBI community,

I hope that you are all well and enjoying this season, no matter where you are spending your time. Though our synagogue building was closed last month due to the pandemic, our Rabbi, the Board, and Oliver Jones, our synagogue administrator, have been very busy. Our Hebrew School continued to meet in-person and by Zoom. Services have continued by Zoom on their regular schedule.

We have renewed our focus on security following the hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, TX. The Board convened its Security Committee to re-evaluate our security procedures to best ensure the safety of our community. A number of our members have attended webinars sponsored by Secure Community Networks (SCN) and the ADL to learn best practices, which we are in the process of implementing. We recently met with the North Adams Police Chief, as recommended in these webinars, to forge a collaborative relationship, and with leaders of other synagogues. And, we offered our community a SCN security training workshop, sponsored by Jewish Federation of the Berkshires.

Security is everyone’s job — one of the most important things we can do is to be alert to anything out of the ordinary — to notice and to report if anything seems out of place or unusual. We are also committed to continuing to be a warm, welcoming, and inclusive community.

The Board decided to continue with Zoom services for February, to give us the month to fully implement increased security and for COVID numbers to continue to decrease. We hope to be able to welcome people in person for services in March. Please continue to check weekly CBI Announcements for the most up to date information.

I am thrilled to announce the launch of our new CBI website — please visit cbiberkshires.com and let us know what you think. Thanks go to Roger Matus, who designed this site, and to Rabbi Rachel, the CBI Board, and the many other community members who helped with content and photos. Visit the calendar section for information on services and other events. You will now be able to easily RSVP for services, programs and events.

B’Shalom,

— Natalie Matus

Saturday, February 12, 9:30am: Shabbat Morning Zoom Service
Shabbat morning service will be held over Zoom only. Those joining are invited to get a digital copy of the siddur, available as a free flipbook at the publisher’s website, or as a Kindle download for your Kindle, phone, tablet, or computer.

Saturday, February 12, 4pm: Jewish Storytime & PJ Havdalah
Connect with other young families for our belated celebration of Tu BiShvat (the New Year of the Trees)! It will feature Jewish environmental wisdom and storytelling and a fun hands-on craft perfect for kids ages 1-8, followed by havdalah to celebrate the end of Shabbat and start of a new week. Masks are required for all participants; participants must RSVP online to attend.

Sunday, February 13, 2pm: Journey Into Judaism Zoom Class
CBI's Journey Into Judaism class will meet over Zoom.

Friday, February 18, 7pm: Kabbalat Shabbat Zoom Service
Please join us in CBI's Zoom room for Friday evening service. We'll start our services by blessing candles, so be sure to have candles and matches or lighter on hand if you wish to participate! For those who wish to attend, please RSVP online for Zoom information.

Saturday, February 26, 9:30am: Shabbat Morning Zoom Service
Shabbat morning service will be held over Zoom only. Those joining are invited to get a digital copy of the siddur, available as a free flipbook at the publisher’s website, or as a Kindle download for your Kindle, phone, tablet, or computer.

Friday, March 4, 7:30pm-8:30pm: First Friday Shabbat Zoom Gathering
Stay connected with friends and neighbors, or meet new ones, as we gather together around the Zoom table to celebrate the Jewish traditions of Shabbat and light the candles, bless the wine, and partake of our challah breads. All are welcome! Please RSVP online so we will know to expect you. Our Zoom room will open at 7:20pm, so please plan on joining us early!

Saturday, March 5, 9:30am: Shabbat Morning Zoom Service
Shabbat morning service will be held over Zoom only. Those joining are invited to get a digital copy of the siddur, available as a free flipbook at the publisher’s website, or as a Kindle download for your Kindle, phone, tablet, or computer.

Sunday, March 6, 2pm: Journey Into Judaism Zoom Class
CBI's Journey Into Judaism class will meet over Zoom.

CBI's very successful Take & Eat program (delivering food to seniors and other home-bound residents of North Adams once a month) has been on hold since the beginning of the pandemic. We are looking for additional volunteers and a new organizer in order to be able to start up again. Please reach out to Lauren Gotlieb at leg1@williams.edu if you are interested.

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:

February 18 light at 5:10pm
February 19 havdalah at 6:11pm

February 25 light at 5:18pm
February 26 havdalah at 6:20pm

March 4 light at 5:27pm
March 5 havdalah at 6:29pm

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!