A weekend with Beth Hamon
Thursday December 5 through Saturday December 7 Beth Hamon was selected as one of the top five New Voices In Jewish Music by Forward magazine. Her songs straddle the fuzzy line between Jewish and secular themes of justice, hope, renewal and love. On Thursday night Beth will conduct a Workshop for Jewish musicians (Beth Hamon workshop flyer) in the Sonoma County area. She will participate in our Shabbat dinner (see below) and both evening and morning Shabbat services. (Beth Hamon weekend flyer) There will be discussions both days, and you can listen and learn her Shabbat melodies here. Beth will perform at The Havdalah Cafe (Beth Hamon Havdalah flyer) Saturday night. Ticket Donation purchased in advance $15 & $25 (limited); at the door $20 & $30. Buy tickets online $15 – $25.
Shabbat Dinner
Join us every first Friday (except in October) for an early Kabbalat Shabbat Service at 6:00 p.m., followed by a community Shabbat dinner at 6:30. Judy, Ahuva, Lee and other fabulously talented volunteers are back in the kitchen cooking wonderful Shabbat dinners. Please join us, but it’s important to RSVP by the previous Wednesday morning. $15 per adult, $8 for children over 5. Younger children are free. A speaker, music or discussion follows the dinner. December’s dinner will be part of a weekend with musician Beth Hamon.
Social Action
An exciting project: We at Social Action Committee will have a few opportunities for us to make for a better world. Our Kehilla is known for its generosity. Thanks to everyone in advance for doing what you can ,whether it’s bringing food for the JFCS pantry or volunteering at the food bank.
We will be serving a special Thanksgiving dinner at The Palms November 20. Let us know if you can help. Special thanks to Jerry Newman for providing Texas style brisket.
We will also volunteer at The Redwood Empire Food Bank 6 times this year. On a Wednesday, from 5:00-7:00, we will meet at the Food Bank and pack boxes of food on an assembly line. NEXT DATE: December 18. When we are finished, we will go out for a Mexican meal. To confirm or get more info, please call Lyla Nathan at 526-7438 or Elizabeth Jarlberg at BA office 360-3000.
Every month we will be either serving at the Palms or volunteering at the food bank. Please consider joining us or helping prepare food.
Adult Education
The next book for the Adult Education sponsored drop-in book discussion group is ON DIVISION by Goldie Goldbloom. It is this year’s One Bay One Book selection. People all over the SF Bay Area are reading it and our CBA drop-in Book Discussion group will read it for December discussion. Limited copies from the SF Jewish Community Library are now available to borrow from the CBA Office. A date will be set later. All CBA members and friends are welcome. Comments or questions? Linda 544-4532.
Adult Education-forming new dramatic reading group: We’ll do mainly plays and excerpts from plays by Jewish authors. No group rehearsals, no directing — individuals look over their parts prior to reading. Different members each time. Minimal time commitment. THE DEATH OF SAUL, a One-Act play by Bill Teitelbaum is an interesting midrash with simple, easy-to-follow plot which lends itself to discussion which will be led by Rabbi Miller. Meet WED., NOV. 20, 7 PM here at CBA. All CBA members and friends welcome to attend and participate in discussion, including especially those people who may like to present future dramatic readings. . . more details later. — Linda 544-4532 .
Mishna Class with Rabbi Mordecai Miller on Tuesday afternoons 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. (Rabbi’s Study)
The collection of Oral Torah edited and compiled by Rabbi Judah the Prince in the year 200. We will examine the Hebrew text and the classic commentary of Rabbi Ovadiah of Bertinora. All Hebrew will be translated and explained. We will make reference to the Artscroll Mishna. The tractate we will study is Brachot which deals with the content, nature and structure of the recitation of the Shema, our daily prayers, the Grace after meals and blessings for different occasions.
Please feel free to sign up and catch a sample lesson and join us weekly if you find this speaks to your desire to learn about our traditions.
Midrash Class with Rabbi Mordecai Miller: Wednesday evenings 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. (Rabbi’s Study)
We examine the original text of the Midrash Rabba (the Great Midrash) on Genesis as well as an 18th Century commentary called “Eitz Yoseph”. These provide original insights into the Biblical text. Discussion is encouraged. Bi-weekly schedule.
Book of Samuel class and discussion with Rabbi Miller meeting Wednesday mornings from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Class will be cancelled on those Wednesdays which are actual Yom Tovim.
There is no charge for Rabbi Miller’s classes. If you are interested in attending , please be sure to call Rabbi Miller at 707-889-6905 or email rabbi@bethamisr.org to make sure that the class is being held that evening. Classes are not held on Yom Tovim.
Ongoing Activities
Sunday morning Minyan 8:30am in the chapel, a light breakfast follows on 1st and 3rd Sundays
If you need to say Kaddish or memorialize a special event, contact the office at 360-3000 one week in advance, and we will do our best to secure a minyan.
Israeli Folk Dancing has moved to the Person Senior Center at Finley Rec Center. See the Israeli Dance blog.
Check out our current newsletter for September and October shofar Shofar September October 2019 for more events and details about the events listed above. Archived issues of the Shofar are also available online.
Congregation Beth Ami is located in Northern California,in the heart of Wine Country in Sonoma County, about one hour north of San Francisco, and about one hour west of Napa.