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. The next dinner is February 7th, we will have a speaker from Keshet, an organization for LGBTQ equality in Jewish life. Keshet speaker Shabbat dinner

Lunch & Poetry Picnic Sunday February 9, 10:00 a.m. carpool. We meet in the parking lot at Beth Ami at 10:00 AM to carpool and meet those arriving on their own at the parking lot of the Visitors Center at 11:30 AM unless it is pouring rain. Bring food to eat, and share. something involving nuts and fruits that come from trees. Also bring a poem to share about trees. We will walk on a wheelchair and stroller accessible nature trail to the picnic area where we will eat lunch and share our poems. Suitable for all ages. See flyer Tu b’Shevat Armstrong woods

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 cook and serve a dinner at The Palms every other month. NEXT DATE: January 15. 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. 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 Jarlsberg 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.

Drop-in Book Discussion Group: The current read for our Adult Ed.-sponsored book discussion group is Alice Hoffman’s THE MARRIAGE OF OPPOSITES. This story takes place in the early 1800’s on St. Thomas Island in the Caribbean Sea. The main characters are part of a small refugee community of Jews who escaped the European Inquisition. A limited number of copies borrowed from the SF Jewish Community Library are available in our CBA Office. All members and friends are welcome. Meeting date and more details in to come. Comments? 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. 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.

TaNaCh Class with Rabbi Mordecai Miller: Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. in the Library. A study and discussion based on the Parsha of the week or  Neviim (Prophets.)

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.

There is no charge for Rabbi Miller’s classes.  If you are interested in attending, check the online calendar, and 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.

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 January and February: Shofar January February 2020 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.