Melissa Schapiro
Posts by Melissa Schapiro:
Women Of the Wall
![anatwithrabbijacobs2017 anatwithrabbijacobs2017](https://bethisraelbellingham.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2021/03/anatwithrabbijacobs2017-e1616177086528-1024x575-905x400.jpg)
Sunday, April 4 at 10 a.m. Anat Hoffman, executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, spoke with Congregation Beth Israel via Zoom about the fight for gender equality in Israeli society. Hoffman founded and has led the advocacy organization Women of the Wall for the past three decades. Her talk to CBI is titled, “The Cracks in the Wall Let the Light In: The Battle for Equal Rights at the Western Wall.” For more information about Anat Hoffman and her work, see the front page article in the March/April Shul Shofar.
Watch a recording of the April 4, 2021 event here:
Anti-Racist Pledge
![antiracist rally pic summer 2020 antiracist rally pic summer 2020](https://bethisraelbellingham.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2021/02/antiracist-rally-pic-summer-2020-e1612220753867-1024x689-905x400.jpg)
Congregation Beth Israel, centered in Bellingham, Washington, stands with Jews all over the world in affirming the principles of equal justice and equal respect underlying the declaration that Black Lives Matter. Believing in the dignity of every individual, we deplore the structural racism that has denied people of color the rights and opportunities enjoyed by their fellow citizens. We strongly support the Constitutional right to peaceful assembly and condemn all forms of violence against peaceful protestors.
Our Bible and our sages, our liturgy and our vision of a just society, teach us the value of every human being. The centuries of defamation and oppression Jews have suffered help us understand the suffering people of color have endured in the United States from the founding of our country to the present day.
Those of us who are white Americans may have wittingly or unwittingly contributed to that suffering. We will work to eradicate any traces of racism in our lives as a congregation and as individuals, and will take any steps within our power to promote the equality our founding documents proclaim as the right of all people.
— Approved by CBI Board of Directors, Nov. 10, 2020
Biennial
Join with thousands of Jews from across North America and around the world to learn, pray, share ideas, dance and sing, hear from inspiring speakers and the leaders of our Movement; reunite with old friends, create new connections, and make decisions about the policies of the Reform Movement.
URJ Biennial 2019 is over, but you can still view videos of the experience — 5,000 Jews from across North America and around the world gathered to learn, pray, share ideas, dance and sing, heard from inspiring speakers and the leaders of our Movement; reunited with old friends, created new connections, and made decisions about the policies of the Reform Movement.
Make sure to watch the Friday morning plenary session where the URJ and the RAC launched our 2020 Civic Engagement Campaign and vote on social justice resolutions, including one on reparations for U.S. slavery and ongoing racism.
Make plans to join us at the next URJ Biennial, December 8-11, 2021 in Washington D.C. (National Harbor)!
Reform response to Jan. 6
![capitol image capitol image](https://bethisraelbellingham.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/151/2021/01/capitol-image-e1610487676574-905x400.png)
What Is Righteous Writes Us
Panel Discussion
View a recording of CBI’s panel discussion, “Exploring Jewish topics in They Ain’t Ready For Me,” a documentary film:
Kesher Konect newsletters
January 2021:
kesher konect Pre_k to 3rd grades tu b'shvat 2021
kesher konect 4th_8th grades tu b'shvat 2021
Pre-K through Third Grade
Fourth through Eighth Grade
December 2020:
Pre-K through Third Grade
Fourth through Eighth Grade
October/November 2020:
Pre-K through Third Grade
Fourth through Eighth Grade