Friday Night/Erev Shabbat Rabbi Phil Cohen leads Kabbalat Shabbat services in-person and via Zoomat 6:30 pm. Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84124865329 – Meeting ID: 841 2486 5329
Shabbat Morning
Rabbi Cohen leads Shabbat morning services in the Conservative tradition in-person and via Zoom at 10 am. We will also read and discuss the week’s Torah portion.
Zoom to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84491167901 ~ Meeting ID: 844 9116 7901
CBS is open! We continue to Zoom weekly Shabbat services, and we also are in-person every other week in the sanctuary for both Friday evening and Saturday morning services.
Shabbat services this weekend, June 18 th and June 19th, will be held in-person and via Zoom.
from Rabbi Phil Cohen
Our Hesed Committee needs a chairperson
Synagogues like to claim that they are a family, meant in the best sense of the word, of course. We take care of each other. We help each other through thick and thin.
And to a very large extent, my experience at CBS as I come to the end of my first year serving you all, teaches me that we do take pretty good care of each other. We do as a community see ourselves responsible for each other.
However, at the moment there exists an absence in our volunteer structure that inhibits our ability to be the best we can be at caring for each other.
Our Hesed Committee needs a chairperson.
The duties of a hesed committee are numerous. It makes certain a meal of consolation is sent to mourners. A hesed committee keeps in touch with shut ins to make certain their needs are being met. A hesed committee sees to it that people in the hospital receive visitors and that their families are doing alright. Of all of these, the role of keeping in touch I think is the most important. A phone call or, now as Covid has waned, a visit, from a member of the Hesed Committee can bolster spirits by helping someone feel the connection to the community and to the world at large.
The Hesed Committee does a critically important job, and taking it on would be a tremendous mitzvah. So if you’re even willing to consider taking on this leadership role, please speak with me or Janna.
Shalom, Phil
Rabbi Phil M. Cohen Ph.D.
URJ/CBS Survey
Dear Folks,
By now we trust that you received an email with a link to the Congregational Survey. CBS is partnering with the Union of Reform Judaism (URJ) to use this survey, a free benefit of our URJ membership, for the following reasons:
Provide guidance to the Rabbinical Search Committee
Help us understand the priorities and needs of our community
Create local/national benchmarks against which to measure ourselves
Provide input into the process of continuous synagogue improvement and planning
We hope that you’ve already completed and submitted this digital survey. If you haven’t, we encourage you to do so. Your input is valuable information, and as an added benefit CBS will be provided a URJ mentor to help us develop an action plan based on the results of the survey.
If you did not receive the email with the survey link, please check your junk email. It came from Janna Lancaster, Seth Rosner and Judy Schermer and is dated June 9. If you did not receive it, please contact Judy Schermer, judyschermer@hotmail.com, 573-268-8910.
The survey will close June 29. We’re counting on you to help us co-create a CBS that fulfills the needs, wishes and vision of each and every one of us for a spiritual home in Columbia. With thanks in advance for your participation,
Janna Lancaster
Seth Rosner
Judy Schermer
This last year has been long, isolating, and lonely for many. Like the rest of our society, we need to transition safely to programming that will bring us together and nurture our body and soul.
This summer we are planning some great programs:
Yoga * Meditation * Friendship
Monday, July 12 @ 7 pm – Yoga and Meditation
Let’s meet at CBS with our yoga mats and spend time taking care of body and soul. Stick around for refreshments and chat with friends.
Crafting * Food * Friendship
Monday, June 28 & July 26 @ 7 pm – Crafting with Friends Bring your craft projects or start a new one with your CBS sisters. Enjoy refreshments and get your creativity flowing.
* Beginning Mah-Jongg *
Sisterhood has a long tradition of Mah-Jongg matches and tournaments. It’s time to raise the next generation of players. Are you interested in learning? Now’s your chance!
Mandana Hakimi offers instruction for beginners – next session TBA.
* Covid Considerations *
Are masks required? Inside the building: yes. Outside: optional Are the programs indoors? Depends on the weather; if indoors, masks are required. Will we be social distancing? Yes, unless masks are worn. Are vaccinations required to attend? No.
Lunch in the Park
The Voluntary Action Center is coordinating the Lunch in the Park program again this year, and CBS is invited to participate. Volunteers assemble and serve sack lunches to children in the Douglass Park shelter, 400 N Providence Rd, and they are welcome to interact with the children as well.
We are signed up for these dates: July 6, 7, 14, 20, 21 and 27.
This year the lunches will be served from 12 noon to 1 pm, so volunteers should be at Douglass by 11:45 am and plan on staying no later than 1:15 pm.
We’re excited to start gathering again, and making the library more accessible both in-person and online. In order to do that, we need…YOU! We have over 3,000 books in the library that need to be entered into our new online catalog–work that can be done at home on your own time. And the more volunteers we have, the less work each needs to do!
If you’re interested in doing some data entry work this summer, please email Jenn Book Haselswerdt at jenn.book@gmail.com
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CBS Book Club
We are meeting next on Sunday, June 27th, at 3 pm via Zoom. A Zoom invitation for the meeting will be sent closer to the meeting. We are reading Bess Kalb’s ode to her grandmother, Nobody Will Tell You This But Me. This is a Bubbe you will not forget!
For those who like to read ahead, we have already chosen books for the August and October meetings. On Sunday, August 15th, at 3 pm we will be discussing a book highly recommended for reading prior to the High Holy Days. It is This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared by Alan Lew. Please note this book is not currently available at the Daniel Boone Regional Library.
Judy Schermer has donated three copies of the book which you can arrange to borrow by calling her at 573.268.8910. Thank you, Judy!
On Sunday, October 17th, at 3 pm we will return to World War II era fiction. We will read the highly acclaimed novel, The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner.The book is widely available in libraries and has ebook and audible versions which can be borrowed.
From the Mailbox
Dear Rabbi Cohen,
On behalf of all the volunteers at the Interfaith Garden, I wish to thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule last Friday to officiate with Fr Dan at the memorial ceremony honoring Jim Tunink for his many years of service and commitment to the Interfaith Garden effort.
Thank you also for inviting us to your in-person service. We enjoyed it very much, especially the singing, as well as knowing about Tikkun Olam.
We especially appreciate your support of the garden, where volunteers from Newman Center, Congregation Beth Shalom and Our Lady of Lourdes come together to take good care of God’s creation.
Shalom,
Lily Chen
Seminarion and Tefilah Tuesdays
Seminarion: Are you Reform? Conservative? Orthodox? Reconstructionist? Or … ?
We’re looking at the history and meaning of the movements in Judaism, and the interrelationships of the branches.
Tefilah Tuesdays: Rabbi Cohen offers a brief evening service at 7 pm Tuesday evenings. Join in for singing, Maariv service and schmoozing. Here’s the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86420634509
Donations
There is a long tradition to memorialize the life cycles of our families with an inscribed plaque mounted on the walls of our sanctuary. To honor a birth, wedding, anniversary, etc., and to remember a loved one who has passed allows our Jewish community to share in this event. This is also a helpful fundraiser. Please contact Rebecca Smith at 573-449-7391 for assistance.
Donations of $250 per plaque for the memorial and simcha boards can be sent to CBS at the address below.
Donations to CBS are a good way to remember or honor people and special life events. Your gift can be directed to the CBS general fund, the rabbi’s discretionary fund (RDF), the library, the Sasha Yelon book fund or the school scholarship fund.
Send a check to CBS, 500 W Green Meadows Rd, Columbia 65203, with a note with details about honorees and where you’d like the notification sent. We’ll send a handwritten card as you direct.
Interfaith Garden
The Interfaith Garden, located just past the CBS south parking lot, has started work on preparing the soil and planting spring crops. Each year CBS partners with members of the Newman Center to plant and harvest the garden, and the produce we grow is donated to the food bank. Last year we provided over 1500 pounds of fresh food.
We are wearing masks and working at a distance from one another to stay safe. There are no age requirements, nor is previous experience in gardening needed.
Currently we have workdays on Sundays from 10 am to noon. There will also be a workday during the week – days and times will be published in eShalom once determined. Some of our volunteers, once they are familiar with our operations, come out at other times, but not during Shabbat.
If you have interest in participating or questions, please contact any of the CBS coordinators: Michael Gold (mjhelgold@gmail.com,) Julie Deering (jdeering76@gmail.com), or Brent Lowenberg (brentlg@hotmail.com).
Tell & Kvell!
Have you received an award or a promotion, welcomed a new child to your family, or otherwise have reason to kvell? Share your good news with your CBS friends. Send an email to Mary at maxmax@mchsi.com to include in eShalom.
