Read Rabbi Joshua Samuels’s blog entry, “Understanding and Protecting the Sacred Spaces of American Indians,” on the Religious Action Center’s website.
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Meets once a month on Sunday mornings 10 to 11:45 a.m.
This program is for babies up through children–who are not quite ready for preschool — and their grown-ups. It is now completely free for families.
The purpose of this group is to form a community by providing a welcoming and comfortable place for families, babies, and toddlers, to come together and get to know each other. We will offer parent support, while engaging in Jewish learning, play, and exploration together. Parents will have time to share their hopes, challenges, and joys, while finding guidance in the wisdom of Jewish texts, stories, and values. We will also experience holidays, music, and other Jewish content to help you bring Judaism to the newest members of your family.
Amazon
Up to 8% of your Amazon purchase will go to Congregation Beth Israel’s Religious School! Each time you shop you will need to click on the Amazon link below – your Amazon Prime membership will be just as if you entered Amazon directly. You can use Amazon Scrip to pay for your orders, too! Spread the word!
* Congregation Beth Israel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates
Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn
advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Torah Blessings
Want an aliyah? Learn or brush up on the blessings for before and after the Torah readings. Listen here:
Blessings before the Torah reading:
Blessings after the Torah reading:
Read along: Torah blessings with transliteration
Shabbat at Home
When Shabbat lands on the fifth Friday of the month, Congregaton Beth Israel observes Shabbat at Home. There is no synagogue service; instead, everyone is encouraged to host or attend a Shabbat at Home. Contact the office if you’d like to be connected with a host with extra seats at the table.
Shabbat at Home
Shabbat Blessings
Projects Through the Jewish Year
Get involved with Congregation Beth Israel and our Bellingham/Whatcom County community through the Social Action Committee. We have seasonal and year-long projects. To volunteer with the Social Action Committee contact Linda Blackwell at blackwellbham@gmail.com or (360) 739-1492.
High Holy Days
The High Holidays are a time to reconfirm the Jewish tradition to repair the world Tikkun Olam. We have a very successful food drive for the Bellingham Food Bank; congregants bring dry goods to donate during Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur
We have an annual Blood Drive and Bone Marrow Registry. We would like to interest all ages in participation to create a giving community.
Autumn
We participate in the annual Coat Drive with Interfaith Coalition in late October. Coat donations as well as volunteering to distribute coats is a great way to connect to the Bellingham community.
We organize a Thanksgiving Dinner for the Women’s Shelter with Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services of Whatcom County each year. Money and food are collected to provide a warm, safe meal for victims of domestic violence.
Spring
Congregants commit to reduce homelessness with the Interfaith Coalition Auction in March. We often sponsor two to three tables as a Jewish community.
During Passover we collect chametz and other non-perishable foods for the Bellingham Food Bank.
Our biggest gathering of the year is Mitzvah Day with our Kesher Center for Jewish Learning, usually in late April or May. Multiple environmental and social justice projects are offered for congregants of all ages and abilities to participate .
Summer
Shavuot is celebrated with donations of Milk Money, baby food and diapers for Bellingham Food Bank .
We encourage all congregants to participate in the Pride Parade in July. Participation is to support the LGBQT community
Year-round activities
CBI as a member of the Interfaith Coalition contributes to ongoing projects.
The biggest Volunteer Opportunity is with the Family Promise Program. As a supporting congregation, Beth Israel supplies meals and volunteers at the Day Center and at a sister congregation. This program offers temporary housing and case management for families who are homeless.
We have knitters from CBI making hats for Project Warm Up every Tuesday.
Members of CBI clean and maintain the “Little House” for a family in transition from homelessness. We hope to organize more as a group to distribute sandwiches through the C.A.S.T program.
We have a Social Action Bookclub that meets quarterly.
NFTY Events
Past BAY and NFTY Events:
June BAY Event: Picnic, Lawn Games, and the Future of BAY
Wednesday, June 8th from 7:00-9:00PM
Broadway Park West
Come join your friends for a relaxing sunset picnic at Broadway Park! We’ll have some blankets, lawn games, and snacks ready to go, but feel free to bring your own as well. In addition to celebrating the end of a successful year of BAY, we’ll take a little time to discuss the future of the youth group and decide how we want to organize our leadership board for next year. If it looks like the weather isn’t cooperating as this event gets close, we may need to switch venues—but we’ll let you know, of course.
May BAY Event: Remote Game Night Redux
Monday, May 30th from 7:00-9:00PM
Zoom
We had so much fun at our last remote game night that we decided to do it again—only this time, eighth graders included! We’re sure you’ve all got a lot planned for the three-day weekend, but we hope you’ll enjoy capping it all off with some relaxing party games. All you’ve got to do is click the Zoom link below at 7:00PM on Monday (just three days from today), and you’ll be good to go!
April BAY Event: Sunset Picnic
Tuesday, April 19th from 7:00-8:30PM
Marine Park in Fairhaven
Come join your friends for a relaxing sunset picnic at the beach! Now that the days are getting longer, it’s time to really wallow in our region’s beautiful sunsets—and Marine Park in Fairhaven is the perfect place to do it. We’ll have some blankets, lawn games, and kosher-for-Passover snacks ready to go, but feel free to bring your own as well. If it looks like the weather isn’t cooperating as this event gets close, we may postpone a few days as our backup plan—but only if it’s really coming down! Notably, this event will be our first to formally include the eighth graders in our community. Now that they’re all b’nai mitzvah, we look forward to welcoming them to the youth group!
March BAY Event: Hamantaschen Baking
Wednesday, March 23rd from 7:00-9:00PM
Congregation Beth Israel
Come bake cookies with your friends at shul! We’ll have the dough ready to go, and will plan on preparing chocolate and poppyseed fillings on site. Feel free to bring your own jellies, jams, or other fillings if you feel inspired to get creative! And while we’re waiting for the hamantaschen to bake, we can play camp-style games or just hang out. Please note that the hamantaschen may contain gluten, eggs, and/or butter. If you’d like to attend and you have any dietary restrictions, let us know and we’ll be sure to accommodate you. Oh, and one last thing—if you feel like showing up in costume, that’s totally cool.
February BAY Event: Oyster Dome Hike
Saturday, February 26th from 10:00AM-3:00PM
Samish Overlook Parking Lot
January Event: Remote Game Night
Monday, January 17th from 7:00-9:00PM
Zoom
December Event: Ice-Skating at Bellingham Sportsplex
Saturday, December 18th from 12:00-2:00PM
Bellingham Sportsplex
Just five minutes down the hill from Congregation Beth Israel, Bellingham Sportsplex offers public ice skating from 12:30-2:00PM every Saturday. Let’s plan on arriving at the Sportsplex about 15 minutes early so we can get our group together and get our foot in the door. And remember to bring gloves and wear comfortable layers! If you need any help with rides or arranging a carpool, please let us know.
November Event: Hanukkah and White Elephant Party
Tuesday, November 16th from 6:30-8:00PM
Congregation Beth Israel
Come celebrate the Festival of Lights with your friends at temple before the holiday season really heats up later this month. Our main event will be a “white elephant” gift exchange, which, if you’ve never attended one before, is a ton of fun. To participate, bring a wrapped gift valued between $10 and $15—and definitely not any more than that. For best results, try bringing something you would actually enjoy receiving yourself. Think a fresh set of pencils, or a Nalgene bottle, or a cute decoration, or a good book. But please, no food! Everyone will get a turn opening gifts—and possibly stealing previously opened gifts from other participants! But no matter what happens, everyone goes home a winner. Light desserts including fruit and jelly donuts will be provided, and there may be some dreidel games as well.
October Event: Apple Picking and Bellewood Acres
Saturday, October 16th from 12:00-2:00PM
Bellewood Acres
Some good ol’ fall fun! Bellewood Acres has U-Pick apples, a pumpkin patch, free apple bin train rides, and a free corn maze! Kettle corn, candied apples, and more are for sale, so send your teens with some spending money. As people are comfortable, we can coordinate carpool details closer to the event. If you would prefer to drop off and pick up your teen yourself, that is fine too!
September Event: Board Elections
Thursday, September 23rd from 6:00-7:30PM
Congregation Beth Israel
This event will be a chance for the kids to meet Carly and Jason, learn about BAY Youth Board roles, and understand the process for elections. For teens who want to run for the board, we will ask them to submit a candidacy statement after the
event, and then we will share it out with peers for voting. The new board members will be announced at our October event.
Need more information?
For more information on BAY or NFTY events please contact the BAY Advisers Jason and Carly Benhaim at youthgroup@bethisraelbellingham.org
For more information or to register for NFTY NW events please visit www.northwest.nfty.org
NFTY photos from 2019-2020
Rabbi In the News
Read Rabbi Samuels’ prescription for a “spiritual checkup” in the Aug. 26, 2013 edition of the JT News.
Contact Us
For information about Congregation Beth Israel, contact:
Main office number: (360) 733-8890
Rabbi Joshua Samuels, rabbi@bethisraelbellingham.org
Kesher Co-Directors Leah Bordman and Victoria Mayers, kesher@bethisraelbellingham. org
Sarah Cobb, Office Administrator, office@bethisraelbellingham.org
Board President Jodi Litt, president@bethisraelbellingham.org