Blog

Shana Tova! Although we couldn’t all get together in person, it was beautiful celebrating the holidays with the CBE community and so nice to see so many members and guests. Todah rabah to Rabbi Jamie, our service leaders, our staff, our talented volunteers, musicians, and Torah leyners. A special thank you to Cheri Rubin for leading the High Holiday planning efforts and to Alan Rubin for overseeing the installation of new technology which enabled us to stream our services far and wide. Also, thanks to Jim Stellini and our volunteers who helped with the Sukkah set-up and tear down.

The feedback from the High Holiday evaluation survey was overwhelmingly positive! Although we all missed being with each other in person, respondents were appreciative that CBE provided options for people to worship in a manner that was meaningful and comfortable and that everyone’s preferred method of participating in services were accommodated. You also appreciated that services (and Rabbi Jamie’s sermon) were shorter this year! Improvement opportunities generally focused on the sound quality and intermittent technology glitches of the on-line services and availability of a hard copy prayer book.  Over the next year, we will further enhance our AV and streaming capabilities as we continue to offer on-line options for most events.

Thank you to our members and guests who contributed to our High Holiday Appeal.  We have raised 35% of our goal of $25,000 so far to fund our outdoor “mini-Red Rocks” amphitheater which will take advantage of our space outside our social hall.  We are talking to landscape architects to develop artistic renderings, options, and plans.  We hope to begin construction early this spring and safely host religious services, performances, guest lecturers, movies, and community events outdoors this summer.  However, we are not waiting for the amphitheater to host services outdoors.  Thanks to a generous donation of outdoor patio heaters by one of our congregants, we’ll continue to hold outdoor services, weather permitting. If you haven’t yet contributed to the Appeal, it’s not too late! 

We are currently planning our Adult Education programming. Thanks to Jay Kramer’s leadership and the participation of Eve Mills, Tara Saltzman, Marilyn Saltzman, Steve Tick and Marshall Fogel, we are developing a multi-layered program to promote positive Jewish cultural identity that lasts a lifetime, instill a deep connection and commitment to the State of Israel, and deepen and broaden interfaith alliances to combat anti-Semitism locally and globally.  Additionally, we would like to initiate a book club that discusses writings on these topics.  Please reach out to Jay Kramer or the CBE office with your ideas.

After a magnificent fall, ski season is almost upon us.  Let’s hope that the dry spell we’ve been experiencing concludes with bountiful snow this winter.  Looking forward to “seeing” you at CBE or on the slopes!