My People, My Place, and My Purpose (Part 1) “Daddy, I have found my people, my place, and my purpose!” declared my eldest daughter Isabel (now Elisheva) over the phone from Israel. “I am not going to continue to Europe. I am staying.” I found my daughter’s declaration intriguing. What was it she meant? Israel has been in the news all my life, but [...]
Janet Malki: CBB Leadership Institute When I first was contacted by Jill Feldman and Ashley Goldstein to participate in the CBB Irving and Marlyn Berstein Leadership Institute (LI) via Zoom, I was hesitant for a variety of reasons. You know the excuses: time commitment, not being able to meet in person, concerns about future requests to [...]
CBB Voices blog highlighted at Shabbat services! We celebrated a special "blog post Shabbat" this past Friday, January 22. During the sermon portion of the service, Allan Morton, Judy Karin, and Phoebe Light (pictured here) read posts they've published on the CBB Voices blog. Editor Monica Steiner introduced the panel by describing this blog project [...]
Rabbi Steve Cohen: Reflections After the Capitol Hill Riot As we await the Inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on January 20, I think that many of us…both Republicans and Democrats…. are asking the same basic question. Can we hope to create a civilized society here in the United States, with healthy, functioning institutions of local, [...]
Bryan Gindoff: A Silver Lining My wife, Verna, converted to Judaism this year and that has been hugely important to my own practice of Judaism. But Covid (with Zoom) is running a close second. A classic in the genre of every cloud having a silver lining. Covid has propelled us into celebrating online Shabbats with [...]
Barbara Greenleaf: The Sunday School of Grandma and Grandpa When our younger daughter saw that Sunday school was not going to reopen due to the Coronavirus, she asked her father and me if we would take over her boys’ religious education. We just looked at each other blankly and, frankly, a little panic-stricken. Neither of [...]
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld: A Prayer to the One Who Holds Us All This poem was originally published on the Hebrew College community blog last week. We are excited to share this poem with the CBB community. Of note, its author Rabbi Sharon is the sister of our own Rabbi Steve. -Ed. Offered on Election [...]
Rabbi Steve Cohen: Two Abrahams Shabbat Shalom! This evening I am thinking of our two great Abrahams. First, Abraham the father of the Jewish people, who lived about 4,000 years ago and whom we meet once again in this week’s Torah portion. And also Abraham Lincoln, who 150 years ago led the United States through [...]
Rabbi Ira Youdovin: Now It's Our Turn On the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av in the year 586 BCE, the prophet Jeremiah sat somewhere in Jerusalem watching his beloved city go up in flames. Overcome with grief, he wrote words preserved in the biblical Book of Lamentations: “Lonely sits the city Once great [...]
Mrs. Raymond King Myerson: A Word from Our Matriarch At the suggestion of a very dear friend who recognized the value of my experience, I am sharing this information with any who may find it of value. Because of very advanced age and diminution of eyesight I have secured the company of four [...]