Welcome to our new Executive Director!
07/27/2021 10:00:27 AM
Dear Fellow Congregants,
It is with great pleasure (and a sigh of relief) that our search for a new Executive Director is over! Please welcome Luke Colaciello to the position effective August 2, 2021. You might already know Luke as a current member of CBE.
Throughout the interview process, Luke demonstrated the skill sets needed to be effective as the Executive Director. He answered our questions thoughtfully and thoroughly...Read more...
Shared Trauma and Unconscious Bias: What we don’t know can hurt us
07/18/2021 10:00:02 AM
An unexpected and debilitating illness or accident. The death of a loved one. Financial woes. The heartbreak of a broken relationship. When, God forbid, hardships befall us, we naturally wonder, “Why? Why did this happen?” Given the complex array of...Read more...
Connection Point
07/04/2021 10:00:32 AM
At CBE, we celebrate three new years – our fiscal year in July, the Jewish year in Tishrei (September) and the calendar year in January. Happy new fiscal year to you!
Dan Herman, our outgoing president is leaving big shoes to fill. Thank you, Dan for your leadership, guidance, and friendship. I am honored to serve as the next CBE Board president and will work hard to keep your momentum going.
Thanks very...Read more...
Midah of the Month for July & August
07/01/2021 10:08:58 AM
One of the most important facets of a religious existence is the element of simcha. Usually defined as happiness or joy, its true meaning may better be understood as the way in which we serve the highest religious, practical, social, spiritual and physical Jewish values. “By learning to...Read more...
Building LGBTQ+ Allyship Skills Through Owning Your Identity
06/20/2021 09:39:06 AM
In February, I facilitated an LGBTQ+ allyship workshop for the staff and board members of CBE known as Safe Zone Training. The goal of Safe Zone is to give communities, organizations, and individuals a firm introduction to the skills needed to be an ally to the queer community. Over the course...Read more...
Spring Has Sprung!
06/06/2021 09:29:50 AM
Spring is here and we’re gathering again at CBE and in our communities! Our inaugural semi-annual Adopt-A-Road clean-up last month felt like our “coming out party”. A crew of over 2 dozen of us hiked along a three mile stretch of Blue Creek Road, picking up trash and debris, including a long-lost wallet with a substantial amount of cash. Thanks to Ofer Tal for organizing the initiative. And also to Joan and Steve Tarasar who...Read more...
Midah of the Month of June: Ohev et Hamakom
06/01/2021 09:25:06 AM
Help us enrich our collective soul growth. Share your thoughts in response to the midah practices below.
Makom means existence or place and shares the same root with the words for to wake up, be realized, to come into being, persevere, and endure. It’s also a name for God. Consider the fullest expression of loving God is endeavoring to fully know and love oneself, how and where you are.
Get woke!...Read more...
A Fond Farewell
05/30/2021 09:25:30 AM
“Goodbye always makes my throat hurt” – Charlie Brown
We can all agree that 2020 was a transformative year.
March 2020: Just as I was starting to feel settled in my new surroundings, the pandemic swept in, keeping us all at a distance and raising anxieties about our health. I am very proud of the way CBE, led by Susan Marcus and the Mitzvah Committee, went into action to check on each other, making sure...Read more...
Midot of the Year
05/16/2021 09:31:50 AM
Once a pilgrimage festival, Shavuot celebrates the spring harvest and giving of Torah at Mount Sinai. It arrives with perfect timing as we look forward to opportunities for gathering, emerging from a long period of isolation and separation. I want to celebrate a community that has persevered, like the billions of cicadas set to emerge throughout the United States any time in April or May 2021 after 17 years underground, ringing...Read more...
Rumi-nating on the Seasonal Harvest
05/02/2021 09:27:57 AM
Here’s a fragment from a poem by Rumi:
The wheat grain breaks open in the ground.
Then grows, then gets harvested. Then it cracks in the mill for flour
And baked. Then is crushed between teeth to become
Mind, Spirit and Understanding.
Lost in love, like the song the planters sing
After they sow the seeds.
These last two lines in particular read as a direct...Read more...