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BUILDING ACCESS UPDATE

The synagogue building is now closed and the gate locked, and all staff are working remotely.  You may call the office at 360-733-8890 to leave a message, as we are checking voicemails, or email us at: CBI office – office@bethisraelbellingham.org Rabbi Samuels – rabbi@bethisraelbellingham.org Andrea Shupack – cantor@bethisraelbellingham.org Kesher – kesher@bethisraelbellingham.org We hope you’ll take advantage of the virtual worship meetings outlined below. Thank you for your patience as we adapt to this new reality.  Stay safe, and be well.

Shabbat Candle Lighting with Our Clergy Team

Friday, March 27, 2020  5:30 pm Join Rabbi Samuels and Cantorial Soloist Andrea Shupack Friday at 5:30pm as they lead our community in welcoming in Shabbat. Have your candles ready to light and your cup of wine/grape juice filled. Andrea will sing some Kabbalat Shabbat songs and the rabbi will share some words of Torah. Click on the following Zoom link on Friday at 5:30pm to participate: https://zoom.us/j/661143602 If you would rather connect by phone, call 1-669-900-9128 and use meeting ID 661 143 602

Shabbat Observances For Saturday, March 28

TORAH STUDAY at 9:30 am    Join Rabbi Samuels on Saturday morning at 9:30am as we discuss the first parshiyot of Leviticus.  No need to leave the comforts of your own home. Just open a chumash or look online at Leviticus 1:1 and enjoy a bit of study time with your CBI friends. Click on the following Zoom link on Saturday at 9:30am to participate: https://zoom.us/j/698742221 To connect by phone, call 1-669-900-9128 and use meeting ID 698 742 221 TOT SHABBAT at 11:00 am Rabbi Samuels will lead a virtual Tot Shabbat this week.  Click on this link to join him at 11:00 am  https://zoom.us/j/204161703 To connect by phone, call 1-669-900-9128 and use meeting ID 204 161 703 HAVDALLAH with the Samuels Family at 7:30 pm Click on this link at 7:30 pm for Havdallah with Rabbi Samuels and his family. https://zoom.us/j/141750594 To connect by phone, call 1-669-900-9128 and use meeting ID 141 750 594

The Union for Reform Judaism has compiled links to congregations nationwide that are livestreaming their Shabbat services, click here. Find one near you, or try a few. See which one you like best!

Want to follow along and need a copy of Mishkan T’filah? This free online flipbook of Mishkan T’filah for Shabbat is perfect for just that: https://bit.ly/2w2ENzq

It’s also available on Kindle for $5: https://amzn.to/3aROdwv

(links to health department websites below)

3-20-2020

3/20/20 CBI Covid update

Dear CBI Family,

Well, what a week it has been.  My heart has been saddened by a lot of the news.  Most of it you know.  I read that malware – computer ‘viruses’ as it were – are being imbedded in some apps that  claim to help people follow the progress of the Covid-19 infection – so please, be cautious about what you download in the search for information.  Other scams will no doubt be on their way.

But I see also great cause for hope and happiness.  I am in awe of the generosity of individuals and businesses and even corporations in helping people to stay connected, providing a means for vulnerable people to shop with less risk, take our bus service without pay, support workers who may have to reduce their hours of work.  I see creative problem solving every day, and people stepping up to make changes in how we live our lives on an unprecedented timeline.  In my own corner of life, in the medical practice I am a part of, many people are working long hours coming up with innovative ways to keep patients and healthcare staff safer while continuing to do what we need to do.

Similarly, I have seen the same innovation, quick changes, and thinking outside the box at CBI. We have had two committee meetings by Zoom, a platform for online meetings, and our Kesher Directors, Andrea Shupack and Nicky Naiman, as well as Rabbi Samuels, will be using Zoom to re-open Kesher this Sunday morning.  In short order, they have come up with online content for our kids to continue their Jewish education.

Similarly, Andrea and Rabbi Samuels have already used innovation to offer a Shabbat experience, and this evening, it will be interactive!  Torah study was online and interactive as well last weekend – give it a try!  You, your pajamas, and a cup of coffee or tea, discussing Torah from the comfort of home.

We have had to cancel our Community Seder, and there are other activities and services that will have to be postponed – but I want to focus on the things we are still able to do.  Beyond the connections noted above, we are still proceeding with our required landscaping work, and the work on getting the front gate functional.  We are also working on getting improved internet and Wifi at the synagogue, which will help our connectivity in this challenging time of staying home, and when we get back together, with our security and user-friendliness of the synagogue.  The Programming Committee is still working on future offerings.  Vicki and Jeff Jaffe and the Ark Design Group are moving forward with their innovative fund-raiser, so that work can continue toward the completion of the Ark, and this will help support artisans who might otherwise be losing income.  When we can meet again as a congregation, wouldn’t it be awesome to have the Ark completed!

I want to give a special shout-out to the Care Committee, led by Else Sokol and Harriet Markell, who have reached out to support those people who are most isolated and vulnerable at this time – and to the generous souls who have volunteered to pitch in and help them.  Bravo, and Yasher Koach!

Yesterday was the first day of Spring!  If ever we should feel joyous about the hopefulness and renewal that comes with the renewal we see in our gardens and the warming weather, it is now!!  Life goes on, and CBI goes on.  Someday we will be back to business as usual – but perhaps with some new tools in our toolbox!  Until then, stay hopeful, stay healthy, and stay connected!  And wash your hands!

Miriam Schwartz, president

3-13-2020

Shabbat Shalom, CBI Family!

What a week it has been! I hope this message finds you well in body and spirit. I have just heard that the public schools are all closed until April 24th – so my thoughts are with the parents in this new challenge.

For everyone, I imagine, the way we live our lives is suddenly changed. Our usual haunts and activities are no longer accessible or safe. People are being ‘socially distant’. The news and recommendations change daily. The financial future is destabilized. We can’t go to school, to shul, to classes. For some of us, we can’t go to work in the same way, for others, we must go to work and deal with this crisis up close. We worry about our older relatives, ourselves, our spouses. We worry about our business neighbors whose livelihoods are threatened. We fear for those who are already vulnerable.

But there are a few things that make me a bit hopeful and I’d like to share them with you. First of all, we are not at war. People will die as a result of coronavirus, just as they have been dying of influenza, but it is not bloodshed and weapons. This crisis is one that can bring people together in some way, and we will learn new creative skills to do it. That creativity is another thing I see as a potential positive. In finding new ways to teach and learn, stay connected, and get things done, we may discover better ways to do things that we can add to our toolbox for ‘after’. I also think that the pace of life may slow down for some folks. Maybe we will rediscover simpler pleasures, like hiking, gardening, reading books, writing, cooking. On Yom Kippur we step out of our normal lives and examine them – this may be a similar opportunity to reconsider some of our life choices. Lastly – we may appreciate those things that we have taken for granted but are now difficult, unwise, or not available.

For Congregation Beth Israel, we are on the steep part of a learning curve that we embark on to provide religious services, Kesher teaching, connection, and community outreach. This weekend, we have some simple offerings (see below), but our plan is to spend time in the next week to learn how to offer more. We will update everyone each Wednesday in the E-News about on-line offerings, and we plan to send a reminder on Fridays about services available for streaming or viewing. The Congregation Beth Israel website is a source for up-to-date news and we encourage you to bookmark it on your browser.

As we move forward, I encourage you to stay healthy – cover your cough, wash your hands, eat healthfully, exercise moderately, and get enough sleep.

I’ll close with this poem, Prayer for a Pandemic by Cameron Wiggins Belin:

May we who are merely inconvenienced
Remember those whose lives are at stake.

May we who have no risk factors
Remember those most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury of working from home
remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.

May we who have the flexibility to care for our children
when their schools close
remember those that have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips
remember those who have no safe place to go.

May we who are losing our margin money
in the tumult of the economic market
remember those who have no margin at all.

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home
remember those who have no home.

As fear grips our country,
Let us choose love during this time when we
cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
let us yet find a way to be the loving embrace
of God to our neighbor. Amen.

Stay safe, stay hopeful, and stay connected. Shabbat Shalom!
– Miriam Schwartz

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To watch a live-streamed Shabbat service tonight follow this link:
https://reformjudaism.org/attend-shabbat-services-online

To join Rabbi Samuels for virtual Torah study tomorrow morning through Zoom, click the following link at 9:30am:
https://zoom.us/j/649579865

To watch Rabbi Samuels and Andrea Shupack lead a brief Kabbalat Shabbat service with drash, check the website this evening for the video.

March 13, 2020

Shabbat Shalom, CBI Family!

March 12, 2020

Dear Congregants,

Our community is founded upon Jewish values and in this uncertain time we want to emphasize the importance of Pikuach Nefesh: preserving and protecting life. Our highest priority right now is the safety and well-being of each member of our Beth Israel community.

The CBI Covid-19 Task Force just met Wednesday evening using a ZOOM on-line meeting, and after we all considered what is best for our congregation as well as the community at large, we have decided to stop having in-person services, Kesher classes, and meetings for the time being.  This will begin this evening after the shiva minyan for Karen Weill.  We don’t know how long this will last, but we will keep our ears and eyes on the recommendations of our Health Departments and the Centers for Disease Control and take things as they come.  No doubt the situation will look a lot different two weeks from now.

Rabbi Samuels and Andrea Shupack have already been brainstorming about how they can continue to have services and Torah study in an on-line fashion, and you can expect to hear more in the next day or two.  This weekend is a bit up in the air, but we are looking at various options, and we will communicate, by Constant Contact and via the Website, when there is a definite plan. Please check here for updates. 

Kesher is not going to meet in person this Sunday (3/15/2020).  There will, however, be virtual Kesher. Again, we don’t know how long this will go on, but Nicky Naiman, Andrea Shupack, and Rabbi Samuels are thinking creatively about ways to keep students going with their Hebrew and Jewish studies.  Kesher families, expect a letter from our co-directors in the near future.

We are in the process of sorting out what will happen to the Adult Education classes.  The End of Life series will be postponed for now.  We will reach out to the teachers of the other classes and let you know what the plan is, once we know for sure.

Committee meetings are on hold or will be in some virtual format.  The ZOOM meeting went well, and while it lacks the warm fuzzy quality of an in-person meeting, it was kind of fun!  We feel this is important to keep people home and not, well, congregating.  It also makes it easier for those who live remotely.  Ask the chair of your committee about how your group will move forward.

We will try to get our internet services at the synagogue improved in as short a time frame as we can – this will help our connectivity and ability to stream services from our own synagogue.  We are also looking at ways we can use this time to improve some safety features around the synagogue, such as installing hand sanitizer dispensers, procedures for disinfecting after events, and first aid kits installed near the elevators or in a more prominent place.

Our older adults and those with chronic medical conditions are the most vulnerable members of our CBI family – not just to the infection, but to the social isolation that is being recommended.  Our Care Committee is already reaching out, both for volunteers, and for anyone who may need some  additional help.  Please, check in on your friends, old and young.  This is a stressful time for everyone – there is much uncertainty about jobs, school, safety, and all activities.

While this is a challenging time, it is also a time of opportunity – to try some new things, to see our daily lives with fresh eyes, to appreciate how well things generally work, and to problem-solve creatively.  We may stumble on some new ways of doing things that may serve us well even after this crisis is over. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Stay tuned – we will send more information when we have it.  The CBI website will be kept updated as we learn more.  Keep yourself healthy, wash those hands, cough in that elbow, and get plenty of sleep.  Stay calm, stay positive, and stay connected!

The CBI Covid-19 Task Force is:

R. Joshua Samuels – Clergy and CBI events
Harriet Markell – Care Committee
Nicky Naiman – Kesher
Josh Greenberg – Facilities and Skagit interface
Melissa Schapiro – Communications
Marta Brand – Facilities
Dan Ohms – Safety and Security
Mary Somerville – Coordination
Miriam Schwartz – CBI Board