Melissa Schapiro, Author at

Voter Education

October 15, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in Uncategorised, Uncategorized

7 p.m. Sunday Oct. 27, 2019

Want to become a more informed and committed voter? Please join congregant Shala Erlich for a voter education session at 7 p.m. Sunday October 27, 2019.

The focus of our evening will be getting oriented to the November 2019 ballot, sharing resources, and starting conversations. What does the Whatcom County Executive do? What issues are facing the future Bellingham Mayor and the City Council? How can you find out more about the initiatives? Who are your local representatives? How can you help your friends, relatives, and neighborhood acquaintances register to vote? Do you have a voting buddy to make sure you fill out and submit your ballot on time?

Please note that because Congregation Beth Israel is a Section 501 (c)(3) Tax-Exempt religious organization we will not endorse particular campaigns.

Shala Erlich, supported by the Social Action committee, hopes to encourage our community members to deepen knowledge of the issues, act on our values, and increase our democratic participation. Please bring friends, questions, and resources. Email shala.erlich@gmail.com with questions.

Our Library

October 3, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in Uncategorized

The Max Glass Library on the second floor is now ready for our congregation to enjoy. Come relax, browse, and maybe check out a book! Thanks to Joan Wayne and Rob Lopresti for their many hours of work getting everything ready. Thanks also to Gloria Lebowitz, Ray Wolpow, David Schlitt and Howard Fuller for their invaluable assistance.

You can browse the library collection at the following link: Tinyurl.com/maxglass

Members can borrow books from the adult collection by filing out a slip and putting it in a box. The instructions are on the table in the library.

The children’s library on the Kesher level is also ready, and open during Kesher hours.

‘Refugee’ author at CBI

October 3, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in Uncategorised, Uncategorized

Education Resources

August 13, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in Uncategorized

Kesher Center for Early Learning is an Affiliate member of Village Books, our Bellingham-based locally owned book store. When you purchase through our Village Books Affiliate link here, a portion of the sale price will go to support Kesher.

To browse books online, use this link:

Here are some Kesher-recommended titles to check out (click on book cover):

Younger Readers

My Grandfather’s Coat

Goldie Takes a Stand!: Golda Meir’s First Crusade

Hidden: A Child’s Story of the Holocaust

The Rooster Prince of Breslov

Julia’s Kitchen

Sholom’s Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer

Older Readers

All of a Kind Family (series) Taylor, Sydney

Teens

Storm Donna Jo Napoli (Author)
The Inquisitor’s Tale Adam Gidwitz
Resistence

Adults

From a Sealed Room

Family

Jewish Holidays All Year Round

See ‘Indecent’ with CBI

July 5, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in Uncategorised

CBI theatre trip to see Indecent at

Seattle Repertory Theatre

Sunday matinee, October 20, 2019
(Our chartered bus will have 2 stops — first at CBI at 10:45 a.m., leaving at 11 a.m.; and at WWU Performing Arts Center on High St. (by the red sculpture), 11:15 a.m., leaving by 11:20 a.m. sharp! We will return to WWU at about 6 p.m., and CBI at about 6:15 p.m.)

Registration through CBI has closed, but tickets are still available directly through SRT.

CBI’s Program Committee has arranged a field trip to see Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of Indecent, a drama with klezmer music by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel. Indecent tells the story of Sholem Asch’s controversial 1906 play, God of Vengeance.

God of Vengeance is about a Jewish family in Poland that owned a brothel. The pivotal scene is a kiss and expressions of love and longing between the brothel owner’s teenage daughter and one of the young prostitutes “downstairs.” God of Vengeance was a hit in Yiddish theaters in Europe and North America, but in 1923 when it was performed on Broadway in English, the cast and producers were found guilty of performing “immoral” drama. Indecent concludes with the fate of the theater troupe after they were deported back to Europe.

Friends, family and WWU students/faculty/staff are welcome to join CBI members, and to travel with us on our specially chartered bus!

Ticket prices: Adults $25 College students $18 High school or younger $10 Scholarships are available to Beth Israel members (email office@bethisraelbellingham.org)

Transportation: Our chartered bus will have 2 stops — first at CBI at 10:45 a.m., leaving at 11 a.m.; and at WWU Performing Arts Center on High St. (by the red sculpture), 11:15 a.m., leaving by 11:20 a.m. sharp! We will return to WWU at about 6 p.m., and CBI at about 6:15 p.m.

Need more information? Email Emily Weiner (words.numbers@gmail.com)

Mourning Noémi Ban

June 10, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in Our History

With profound sadness, we are sharing the news that beloved Beth Israel congregant, Noemi Ban, passed away following a brief illness on Friday afternoon, June 7, 2019, surrounded by her dear ones.

In lieu of flowers, the Ban family suggests sending memorial contributions to the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at Western Washington University or the Building Fund of Congregation Beth Israel.

Read this tribute on Western Washington University’s Western Today website.

Kesher B’Ivrit

April 24, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in Kesher Center for Jewish Learning

Kesher BIvrit curriculum summary March 2019

Rabbi Samuels in Olympia

April 12, 2019 By Melissa Schapiro in From the Rabbi

Click below to watch Rabbi Joshua Samuels deliver the opening prayer at the House of Representatives in Olympia March 28, 2019

Rabbi Samuels

Message to our community

October 28, 2018 By Melissa Schapiro in From the Rabbi

October 27, 2018

Dear Friends,

We are overcome with grief and heartbreak.

This morning as many of us were beginning our day, an antisemitic gunman entered the Tree of Life – Or L’Simcha Congregation in Pittsburgh and murdered 11 congregants. Once again, a fellow citizen armed with hatred and an arsenal has sown destruction in a house of worship. Once again, antisemitism has reared its ugly head, this time in a community very much like our own.

Our Jewish tradition teaches us to keep quiet in a house of mourning as rarely can words ever express a way to comfort those grieving. Our presence is sometimes the most effective way to communicate to mourners that we are holding them in our hearts. Words cannot express how sad, angry, frustrated, and bereaved we are in this moment. We will take the time we need to mourn and then we will rise up. We will reach out to our fellow congregation and offer to help in any way possible. We will continue to gather for Shabbat services and Torah Study and all the other ways each of us participate in the Jewish life of Congregation Beth Israel.

We are, and will remain, vigilant in protecting our community’s freedom to worship, study and celebrate Judaism. We work constantly to align our security measures with best practices, and we are routinely in touch with law enforcement.

Pride Parade 2018

June 22, 2018 By Melissa Schapiro in Uncategorized

CBI at pride parade 2016

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.

Melissa Schapiro

About Melissa Schapiro

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