newsletter

Service Times at CBI - Listen to this week's audio Torah commentary on our services schedule page.

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Service Times

Friday evening services are held twice a month:

First Fridays - Vegetarian Potluck Dinner at 5:30 p.m. followed by Family Service at 6:30 p.m.

Third Fridays - Community Service at 7:00 p.m.

Saturday morning services are held each week at 9:30 a.m.

The first Shabbat morning service of each month is designated as a "Learner's Service" with extra explanations of the structure and meaning of the service and questions and answers with the rabbi.

Kiddush and Torah Study follows services on Shabbat mornings at 11:00 a.m.

All services are held in the Ada and Paul Paresky Sanctuary at CBI’s Lois Street Synagogue.

From the Rabbi

The Joy of Yom Kippur

"Rabbi, what are you supposed to do on Yom Kippur if you haven't committed any sins?"

I actually got this question once. I have to admit that I was so dumbfounded by it that I didn't have a very good answer. In hindsight, though, I think the question reveals a very common misconception about the purpose and meaning of our Days of Awe and about the Jewish understanding of "sin."

In other religious traditions, a sin is something that will make God so angry at you that you are likely to suffer the punishment of eternal fire as a result. A sin, they say, is something you did that proves what a bad person you really are. It is your ticket to damnation.

However, that is not the way that Judaism understands sin. The Hebrew word for "sin" that we use most often during the Yom Kippur service is "chet" (with a "ch" that reminds you of the throat-clearing sound at the end of "Bach"). The only thing that a chet proves about you is that you are not perfect, you are human.

The word chet comes from a Hebrew root that means "to miss the mark." In Modern Hebrew, it is the word used to describe a basketball shot that bounces off the rim. A chet is something you did that you probably did not mean to do, but that caused someone some hurt. It might even be something you did that hurt yourself. When you forget to thank a friend for doing something kind for you, that is a chet. When you interrupt someone from speaking because you are too distracted to listen, that is a chet. When you get angry with yourself about events that are beyond your control, that is a chet, too.

A chet does not have to be a dire offense against God. Rather, it is something that robs you of your own happiness. It is something that moves you a step away from the joyful and harmonious life which -- in your heart of hearts -- you would truly wish for yourself. When we do that, we also move a step away from God.

This is why Yom Kippur -- the last of the ten Days of Awe -- is understood as a day of joy, not a day of punishment. Yom Kippur is the day on which we renew our commitment to do a better job in the way we treat other people and to do a better job of treating ourselves with compassion and kindness. It is the day on which we spend all of our energies in the pursuit of making ourselves the most fulfilled people that we are capable of being.

The challenge of the Days of Awe is not easy. We recognize just how much work we have to do to reach our goals. On the other hand, it is also a time to release ourselves from all of the pressure we put upon ourselves throughout the year. It is a time to recognize that we are, after all, human beings and that we are not expected to be perfect. It is a day to experience connection to a God who yearns for us to discover our own highest joy.

May you be written and sealed for a good year.

-Rabbi Jeffrey W. Goldwasser

Candle Lighting Times

[Calculated for 18 minutes before sunset for

North Adams, MA]

Candle Lighting Times

(Calculated for 18 minutes before sunset for North Adams, MA)

Friday, September 4

7:05 p.m.

Friday, September 11 6:53 p.m.

Friday, September 18*

6:40 p.m.

Saturday, September 19*

7:41 p.m.

Friday, September 25

6:28 p.m.

Sunday, September 27**

6:24 p.m.

Friday, October 2***

6:15 p.m.

Friday, October 9****

6:03 p.m.

Friday, October 16 5:52 p.m.

Friday, October 23

5:41 p.m.

Friday, October 30

5:31 p.m.

Friday, November 6

4:22 p.m.

*Rosh Hashanah ** Yom Kippur *** Sukkot

**** Atzeret/Simchat

Our Website

One of the new features you may have missed on this website is our interactive events calendar.

Once on the website, go to Events where you will find a calendar that shows up-to-date information on all services and other occasions in our community. If you click on an event on the calendar, such as a service or a Jewish holiday, a window will pop up with a detailed description. If you use Google Calendar, you can add events from the CBI calendar directly to your personal schedule. Other features include pages on education, photos of past events, and a page of interesting links.

Do you have ideas for other features on our website? We'd love to hear them. Contact our webmaster, Dr. Leonard Radin

Beginning the Year of the Prophets

At sundown on Friday, September 18, our congregation will join Jews around the world in welcoming the Jewish New Year, 5770. The learning theme for our congregation this year will be "The Prophets," and four members of our community will begin the year by talking to us about their experience with prophets and prophecy in the world today.

Lauren Gotlieb, Ed Oshinsky, Richard Sutter and Heather Levy will talk about some of their experiences with people who have been prophets in their lives. Their recollections may inspire each of us to speak courageous words, as the prophets did, that can change the world for the better.

"In the Hebrew Bible, a prophet is not someone who can see into the future. A prophet is a person who can see into the present," says Rabbi Goldwasser. "The theme for our learning this year will be the Prophets because the ancient prophets of the Hebrew Bible still are teaching us to look closely at our lives and at our society. They still inspire us and goad us to hold up justice and compassion as the beacon that should guide our world."

Help Build the Sukkah!

On Wednesday, October 30, at 5:00 p.m. we're going to put up the CBI Sukkah! Please join us as we get ready to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot by putting together and decorating the Sukkah just outside our sanctuary windows. People of all ages are invited to help. All tools and equipment will be ready and waiting for you. We expect the project to take about an hour.

Pot-Luck Dinner and Service in the Sukkah

On Friday, October 2, we will celebrate the beginning of Sukkot with a vegetarian pot-luck dinner in the CBI Sukkah at 5:30 p.m. followed by a 6:30 service. Come join us as we celebrate this fall festival with good food, good company, song and joy.

CBI Welcomes Student Cantor Michelle Rubel

For the third year in a row, we will bring a cantorial student from Hebrew Union College in New York City to lead our services for the High Holy Days. Members of the community will have their first opportunity to meet Student Cantor Michelle Rubel at the congregation's Selichot service on the evening of Saturday, September 12th, starting at 7:30 p.m.

The evening will include a dessert, a havdallah service to mark the end of Shabbat, and traditional Selichot prayers. Selichot is a service of penitential prayers intended to prepare Jews for the Days of Awe.

Michelle Rubel, a third-year student at the Hebrew Union College's School of Sacred Music, will join Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser in leading services for Rosh Hashanah on September 18 through 20, and services for Yom Kippur on September 27 and 28.

Rubel brings a solid preparation to her studies for the cantorate. As an undergraduate at Syracuse University, Michelle founded a Jewish a capella singing group called "Oy Capella," and served as its musical director. She graduated from Syracuse in 2007 with a degree in music and a minor in Judaic Studies.

"We are delighted to welcome Michelle to our community," says CBI's Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser. "Our congregation takes a great deal of pride in the part we play in training future cantors. It's wonderful when we also benefit from having such a talented young student like Michelle to help lead our services for the High Holy Days."

In addition to leading services for Selichot and the Days of Awe, Michelle will be making additional visits to CBI over the course of the year. On those visits, she will lead services, work with the congregation's education programs, and teach adults in the congregation's Shabbat Torah study.

High Holy Days Appeal Donations

Last year, response to the Appeal allowed us to end the practice of asking people to “pay to pray.” We no longer charge for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur tickets. In fact, without selling a single ticket last year, we raised nearly $14,000 at the High Holy Days—more than in many years when we did charge for tickets.

Last year’s experiment was a resounding success because of member support.

We now are launching our High Holy Days Appeal for 5770.

Last year we also nearly doubled the number of members who contributed to the Appeal over previous years.

This year, our goal is to have 100% of CBI members contribute. Even a gift of one dollar shows that we are all together in supporting our community. The only contribution that is too small is none at all.

Four CBI families already have pledged a total of $5,500 toward this year’s High Holy Days Appeal. Join them in this effort to sustain and build our congregation.

This year we added our new Aleph Garden program for pre-school and Kindergarten students. Next year we are hoping to add a Confirmation Class. There is still so much we need to do, but we can only do it with your help.