Join the CBI Millennials (under 40-ish) Club for Wine, Cheese and Dessert at the home of Amanda Robins and Daniel Zagnoli. Wine and cheese will be provided — please bring a dessert to share! For their address, please text or call Amanda or Daniel at (610) 888-3550 or (484) 788-1045.
Last year more than 70,000 people died of drug overdose in the United States, many of them very young people. Life expectancy in America is getting shorter because of substance abuse, in contrast to world trends. In times such as these, how do we talk to children and adolescents about drugs and alcohol?
In this interactive discussion, addiction researcher and mental health advocate Ahuva Scharff, PhD, will discuss substance abuse with parents, give tips on how to talk with kids of different ages, and will answer questions about substance abuse.
Dr. Scharff is an internationally recognized speaker and author on the topics of addiction recovery and mental health. She serves as Science and Research Chair on the board of Rock to Recovery, a music therapy-based addiction and trauma treatment group. She is writing a book on the power of music therapy with Rock to Recovery founder Wesley Geer. Previously, she was the Senior Addiction
Research Fellow and Director of Addiction Research for Cliffside Malibu, an addiction treatment center based in Malibu, Calif. Her research centers around using complementary health and contemplative practices to improve treatment outcomes among addicts
and the mentally ill.
Dr. Scharff is coauthor of the Amazon.com best-selling book, Ending Addiction for Good and the award-winning poetry book, Meeting
God at Midnight. She regularly travels the world speaking, teaching and advocating for compassionate health practices that destigmatize mental health problems.
Congregation Beth Israel offers enrichment sessions on a variety of topics for parents and CBI community members during Kesher Sunday classes on selected dates. Information: (360) 733-8890 or kesher@bethisraelbellingham.org
Join your Beth Israel family in march-ing to support the LGBTQ community at Bellingham’s Pride Parade on Sunday, July 15, 2018
This will be our third consecutive year marching as a community in solidarity behind a banner at the Pride Parade. Last year we had a huge turnout. Let’s try to increase our numbers and show the greater Bellingham LGBTQ community that they have an ally in Congregation Beth Israel.
Todah Raba to all for the generous support that has made our new synagogue building possible.
As finances and volunteer time allow, donors will be recognized in tangible ways in and around the new synagogue. On a central wall, likely in the form of a Tree of Life, all new synagogue donors of $1,000 or more will be acknowledged.
In addition, as spelled out in our Policy for Donor Recognition, donors of $5,000 or more are welcome to select specific items to be dedicated in their name, such as rooms, furnishings or other building features (stairwells, drinking fountains, etc.). Small plaques near each item dedicated will serve to honor the donor. All signage will be modest and tasteful, in keeping with the culture of CBI and the interior design of the building.
Here is the current List of Dedications.
Beth Israel invites those who are interested in participating in synagogue activities and becoming part of the Jewish Community of Northwest Washington to join our congregation. We do require at least one member of your family be Jewish. Non-Jewish family members are welcomed and encouraged to participate fully. Currently, our membership includes more than 200 families – mostly from Whatcom and Skagit Counties and Southern British Columbia, Canada. We are a Reform Congregation and an affiliated member of the Union of Reform Judaism.
Our congregation, under the spiritual guidance of Rabbi Joshua Samuels, offers weekly Friday night Shabbat services, twice monthly Saturday morning Shabbat services, regular Torah Study sessions, and ritual observance of all Jewish Holidays throughout the year. All are welcome to attend.
In addition to High Holy Day observances, each year Congregation Beth Israel hosts a Community Seder at Passover, Purim Carnival and Purim Spiel, Hanukkah Party, and a variety of other traditional celebrations. We often host guest speakers on Jewish topics, visiting scholars, and guest cantors who share their considerable talents with us.
Among the benefits of Beth Israel membership are:
We invite you to daven (pray), schmooze, and come celebrate Shabbat with us. Join Congregation Beth Israel and help us preserve our more than 5,700 year old Jewish heritage.
June 14, 2018
To the Congregation Beth Israel Community,
We write to share a significant outcome from our latest Board of Directors meeting. Two nights ago the members of our Board approved a new policy regarding interfaith weddings at our Beth Israel campus.
The policy reads as follows:
In regards to officiating at interfaith weddings in the Beth Israel synagogue and throughout its grounds, the Rabbi shall use his/her discretion in performing marriages between Jews and non-Jews. This is the sole decision of the Rabbi who has freedom of the pulpit.
With great respect to the customs and traditions of Congregation Beth Israel, the following are guidelines that CBI requires its clergy to follow when considering the officiation of a wedding between a Jew and a non-Jew at Congregation Beth Israel:
