Youth

Mazel Tots

July 27, 2015 By urjnetworkadmin in Mazal Tots

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.

<a href="//pjlibraryradio.com">Visit PJ Library Radio</a>

NFTY Events

September 27, 2013 By urjnetworkadmin in 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

Gan Yeladim

June 21, 2013 By urjnetworkadmin in Gan Yeladim

Cantorial Soloist and Gan Teacher Andrea Shupack with her class, February 2015

Meets bi-weekly on Sunday mornings 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

This class is for preschool-aged children, approximately ages 3-5, and their parents or caregivers.

The focus of this class is family engagement and Jewish discovery. In this class, we will celebrate and experience the cycle of a Jewish year, building the foundation for deepening knowledge in each of these areas in future years.

Through all the senses, families will share in their children’s early experiences of Jewish holidays, stories, rituals, music and prayer, mitzvot and values. As our children are learning concepts, such as how to share and take turns, we will help support and develop these important life-lessons and skills through our Jewish values lens.

Each session will be based on a theme of the day, and will include a story and teaching, music, and art activity related to the theme. We will always start with an opening circle for children and parents to share. Every class will also include a hands-on experience to connect the theme of the day to the practices and rituals we do in Jewish life.

The art projects we engage in will aim to create meaningful objects that parents and children create together and can use again at home when celebrating these rituals and holidays in the future.

It is our hope that by bringing the parents back into the Gan classroom, families will build a community of friends to last well into future years at Kesher and at the synagogue. We also aim to help support parents on their own Jewish journey and help them respond to the ever increasing questions they may be getting from their children.

<a href="//pjlibraryradio.com">Visit PJ Library Radio</a>

Post-Confirmation

June 14, 2013 By urjnetworkadmin in Post-Confirmation

For the first time, Beth Israel is offering Post Confirmation to 10^th-12^th graders. This program will meet once a month in the Rabbi’s study, where students will discuss contemporary Jewish issues such as the Israel-Palestinian situation; Anti-Semitism on college campuses and other burning Jewish topics. This program meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday evenings throughout the year. A light dinner is provided.

7th Grade B’nei Mitzvah Cohort

April 27, 2013 By urjnetworkadmin in B'nei Mitzvah

Meets weekly on Sundays 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. & 1 to 2 p.m.

This year’s 7th Grade B’nei Mitzvah program will be taught by Rabbi Joshua Samuels, Leah Bordman, and a variety of guest expert teachers.

Becoming a B’nei Mitzvah is a significant Jewish life cycle event. This milestone marks a completion of one level of learning, with a commitment to now engage in deeper study, and gain a more mature understanding of Judaism, in order to assume the responsibilities of Jewish life. Literally, they are becoming a child of the commandments.

This year of study marks these students’ first steps into that deeper study, where they take more responsibility for their learning and their developing Jewish identity.

Get started now by downloading Beth Israel’s new 2022-23 B’nei Mitzvah Handbook. Questions? Contact Rabbi Samuels through the Beth Israel office, (360) 733-8890.

The Congregation Beth Israel facility is available for congregants’ celebrations. More information is available on our Facilities Rental page.

Kesher Center for Jewish Learning

April 27, 2013 By urjnetworkadmin in Kesher Center for Jewish Learning

Kesher Center for Jewish Learning

Kesher / קֶשֶׁר = Connection

Welcome to Congregation Beth Israel’s Kesher Center for Jewish Learning!
Our Religious School is experiential and values-driven, and serves students ages 0-16 and their families

2024/2025 Kesher Calendar

Registration for Kesher 2024/2025 is open!

Returning students will receive an email link to update registration; new students can fill out registration online:

NEW STUDENTS REGISTER HERE

Our goals are to:

Help students and families discover the ways Judaism is relevant to their own lives.
Build a solid foundation of Jewish knowledge and experiences, and to develop a strong and positive sense of Jewish identity.
Instill Jewish values in a way that students can apply to their contemporary lives.
Engage entire families in their Jewish journey.
Create a Kehillah Kedoshah – a Holy Community, whose culture celebrates each person’s unique Jewish expression and contributions.
Inspire our community to add richness and meaning to their lives by passing on the wisdom and tools our Jewish heritage offers us.
Prepare our students to be confident prayer leaders and teachers of Torah for their b’nei mitzvah service.

Our doors are always open and you are welcome! ! ברוכים הבאים

— Co-Directors Leah Bordman and Victoria Mayers

For any questions and for registration information, email kesher@bethisraelbellingham.org or call 360.733.8890

Youth Group (BAY)

October 28, 2011 By urjnetworkadmin in Youth Group (NFTY)

About BAY

Bellingham Area Youth (BAY) is Congregation Beth Israel’s high school youth group, which is affiliated with the North American Federation for Temple Youth (NFTY). We provide a fun link between high-school students and the Jewish community. Our activities include social and spiritual events as well as Tikkun Olam. Check the congregation’s weekly e-mail for updates on activities and events.

Meet our adviser: Leah Bordman

Hi! My name is Leah Bordman and I’m the co-Kesher Director at CBI, as well as the BAY adviser!

I grew up in Vancouver, WA and went to Western Washington University for part of my undergrad studies. I actually worked at CBI as a Kesher teacher while I was in school there!

After that I moved to Jerusalem for a while, and then to Boston for graduate school. I worked as a youth adviser in Rye, NY for two years before moving home to Bellingham with my husband Brandon. We are both so glad to be back in the Pacific NW!

During the year when I’m not at CBI, I’m usually curled up reading with my dog and my cats, or making collage art in my reading journal! In the summer you can find me at URJ Camp Kalsman down in Arlington, WA.

If you have any questions about BAY, Kesher, B’Mitzvah, or Camp — reach out to me at leah.bordman@bethisraelbellingham.org!

URJ Youth and College Programs

Our family of programs for ages 8 to 26 include NFTY teen programming, URJ Camps, Israel travel experiences and social justice programming at the Religious Action Center. Click this link for more information.

For more information or to register for NFTY NW events please visit www.northwest.nfty.org