The Almost-Channukah Fair! - FREE!! - Dec. 11, 11am-2pm

Illuminating our Home

a note from Rabbi Creditor Illuminating our Home Netivot Shalom Links... CNS Website CNS Blog CNS Calendar CNS Preschool Shorashim Hebrew School Amitim Midrasha CNS Adult Education Make a donation to Netivot Shalom!   3 Kislev, 5772 Nov. 28 , 2011 Dear Chevreh,   It is fascinating that while, in some ways, 'place' has ceased to hold meaning. And yet, in a moment of communal loss, being  'away'is palpable. I return tomorrow night from celebrating Thanksgiving with my family in New York, and during the time I've been away our community has suffered many losses.  I was able, thanks to our shul's technology, to witness and participate in our communal responses to each situation, but being away from home is very hard, especially during difficult moments. Technology allows us to skype with our relatives during Thanksgiving dinner (as we did in New York with my sister in Tel Aviv) and enables us to offer comfort across a continent, but it just isn't the same as being home.   We just began the month of Kislev, the month of Channukah,  which commemorates the rededication of our home, the Beit haMikdash/Holy Temple in Jerusalem, by the Maccabees. In those days, and in ours, we believe home is worth fighting for.  Consider the moments we share in our precious home on University Ave. In addition to our ongoing Shabbat and Learning rhythms, the programming at CNS is stunning (and dizzying!). Coming up we'll hold our new Minyan Lev Shalem (this Friday at 6pm), a P.J. Havdalah for Preschoolers and their families (this Saturday at 6:15pm), and this Sunday at 7:30pm we will be hosting a moderated political conversation entitled "Has the Obama Administration Been Good for Israel?"    On a personal note, I'm very excited to celebrate the release of my new CD "Within" at a concert at shul on Saturday Night, Dec. 10th at 8pm! The CD is a paradigm of our community's participatory spirit, with artwork by Karen Friedman, Project Design and Management by Claudia Valas and Alison Jordan, photography by Nadine Samuels, and harmonies by Liz Creditor, Cantor Jennie Chabon, Julie Batz - and Rabbi Kelman! I look forward to sharing music, and supporting our shul with sales of the CD, all of which will be directed to strengthening our shul's home and future. Mother Teresa once taught that "Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action." What a blessing to share our sacred home at Netivot Shalom and to fill it with our lives and our love and our dreams. May we be blessed to continue seeing joy and comfort flow in our community, preparing for Channukah by banishing the darkness and igniting each other's lights.   Kol tuv, Rabbi Creditor --- netivotshalom.org

Celebrating the Release of Rabbi Menachem Creditor's new album "Within!"

Celebrating the Release of Rabbi Menachem Creditor's new album "Within!"

CNS, Dec 10, 8pm! 

5$ suggested donation at the door

Rabbi Creditor's 9th album, "Within", features 4 new original compositions, one debut recording of a song by Debbie Friedman z"l, and more!   The artwork, liner notes, and harmonies are collaborative creations of members of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley.
Don't miss the "Within" Release Concert December 10th at 8pm @ Congregation Netivot Shalom! 

Sunday, Dec. 4th. 7:30pm -- Round-table Discussion Moderated by the JCRC, "Has the Obama Administration Been Good for Israel?"

More than at anytime in recent years, some in the Jewish community are asking the question about how much support Israel has in the White House, and whether President Obama has helped or harmed Israel's security.  Whether you love, loathe or are ambivalent about the President's approach,  please join us for a vibrant and open panel discussion (including written and open mic audience Q&A) with 3 Bay Area activists who write and/or speak extensively about the Middle East.  Participants are Mike Harris (grassroots activist with StandWithUs/SF Voice for Israel), Jon Segall (liberal pro-Israel blogger, founder of Team Shalom at DailyKos) and Mike Lumish (PhD in history, longtime pro-Israel blogger, and liberal critic of the left).  The program will be moderated by Rachel Eryn Kalish.

News from Congregation Netivot Shalom

November 26, 2011 Congregation Netivot Shalom Shabbat E-News This week's Parashat is Toldot  Candlelighting: 4:43pm  -  Havdalah: 5:41pm. Click Here for the Shabbat Sheet! Netivot Shalom Calendar  |  Rabbi Creditor's Blog  |  Preschool Blog Shorashim Hebrew School  |  Adult Ed Blog  |  Rabbi Bochner's Torah Commentary Facebook  |  CNS Blog  |  Netivot Community Classifieds

This Week at CNS! OneVoice, Women of the Wall, God vs. Gay, Religious Zionism, & Love and Taxes!

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This Week at CNS!  Rabbis for Women of the Wall, God vs. Gay,  Religious Zionism, Love and Taxes, and more! Tuesday, November 15, 7:30pm  Yes We Do! Why Rabbis Across the Spectrum Support Women's Rights at the Kotel in Jerusalem Rabbinic Panel Discussion featuring:  Rabbi David Kalb (Orthodox), Director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life,  92nd Street Y, New York; Rabbi Menachem Creditor (Conservative), Congregation Netivot Shalom, Berkeley; Rabbi Stephen Pearce (Reform), Congregation Emanu-El; Rabbi Jane Litman, Regional Director, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation; and Rabbi Pamela Frydman (Renewal), Academy for Jewish Religion, California and Moderated by Rachel Biale,  Author of Women and Jewish Law and New Israel Fund Lay Leader. - FREE EVENT November 17, 7:30pm Jay Michaelson, Author of "God vs. Gay"  Jay Michaelson is a writer, scholar, and activist whose work addresses the intersections of religion, sexuality, spirituality, and law.  His newest book is God vs. Gay?  The Religious Case for Equality, will be published in October, 2011, by Beacon Press.  Jay is is the author of three other books and over 200 articles, essays, and works of fiction.  He is the Associate Editor of Religion Dispatches, a Contributing Editor to the Forward newspaper, and Founding Editor of Zeek magazine.  Jay's presentation will be followed by a public conversation with Rabbi Michael Lerner. - FREE EVENT, Books available for signing and purchase November 17, 7:30pm Ongoing Class on Religious Zionism  with Bay Area Masorti Visiting Scholar Rabbi Avi Novis-Deutsch Rabbi Avi Novis-Deutsch was born and raised in an Ashkenazi Orthodox family in Jerusalem and has become a leading  Israeli-born  Masorti rabbi in Israel.  He has a BA in Jewish History and Philosophy from the Open University, an M.A. in Talmud and Halacha, and smicha from the Schechter Institute, Jerusalem.  He was a pulpit rabbi for the Masorti  movement  in Jerusalem and worked in a wide variety of non-profit and educational institutions in Israel. He is currently a visiting Masorti scholar from Israel to the Bay Area (and a proud CNS Membber!) for the second year.  November 20, 10:30am "Jewish Mysticism & the Spiritual Life" with Rabbi Or Rose  Over the last two decades or so, increasing numbers of Jewish and non-Jewish seekers in the United Sates and elsewhere have turned to the teachings of Kabbalah and Hasidism in their spiritual journeys.  What are some of the core teachings of these mystical traditions?  What has attracted people to them? And what might we glean from our Kabbalistic and Hasidic forebears?  Our discussion will include the study of several primary textual sources (provided in the original and in translation), and an open discussion of the possibilities and challenges of engaging these sources in our contemporary cultural contexts. The author or editor of several books and articles on Jewish spirituality, social and environmental justice, and interfaith cooperation, he recently co-edited Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections.  Rabbi Rose is a member of the Shalom Hartman Institute's North American Scholars Circle, and serves on the editorial committee of Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility. - FREE EVENT, Books available for signing and purchase   Saturday Night, Nov. 19, 8pm "Love & Taxes" on Stage & Screen with Josh Kornbluth - @CNS!  CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS!  The inimitable Josh Kornbluth will entertain, inspire, and thoroughly delight you. Josh has just completed a new film, Love and Taxes, based on Josh's highly successful solo performance piece. The film will be released--when else?--on Tax Day, April 15, 2012. On this sneak-peak evening Josh will perform excerpts from the monologue, show sneak previews of excerpts from the film, and engage in conversation with Rabbi Menachem Creditor.  CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS!  and don't miss... December 10, 8pm: Release concert of Rabbi Creditor's new CD "Within"  This new album is a collaborative shul project featuring original compositions and the debut recording of "V'asu", a song composed by Debbie Friedman z"l upon the dedication of the physical home for Netivot Shalom on University Avenue 6 years ago.

Faces of Israel Screening - Tomorrow!

Tomorrow! "Faces of Israel" Screening & Discussion
with Filmmaker Amy Beth Oppenheimer 
Sunday Evening, November 13th at 6 PM - Hosted by Netivot Shalom - FREE 

Join us for an exciting evening of presentation, discussion and film-viewing at the community-wide Faces of Israel event on November 13th.  Documentary producer Amy Beth Oppenheimer will be in attendance to facilitate conversation about Jewish identity, religious pluralism, the role of the Chief Rabbinate and civil liberties in Israel today.  Followed by a cross-denominational panel. This program is sponsored by Congregations Netivot Shalom, Temple Beth Abraham, Temple Sinai, Beth Israel and Berkeley Hillel. Information at www.facesthemovie.com.

And don't miss these programs at CNS this week! OneVoice Presentation (Monday Night), Women of the Wall Rabbinic Panel (Tuesday Night), Religious Zionism Class (Thursday Night), God vs. Gay book talk (Thursday Night), and Love and Taxes with Josh Kornbluth (Saturday Night)! -- for more information, click here: http://cnsberkeley.blogspot.com/2011/11/news-from-congregation-netivot-shalom.html

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Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom  || Bay Area Masorti ||  ShefaNetwork 

Rabbis for Women of the Wall  ||  menachemcreditor.org 

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News from Congregation Netivot Shalom

November 12, 2011 Congregation Netivot Shalom Shabbat E-News This week's Parashat is Vayera  Candlelighting: 4:43pm  -  Havdalah: 5:31pm. Click Here for the Shabbat Sheet!

Josh Kornbluth: * David Mamet To Open for Me at Temple *

FROM JOSH KORNBLUTH

 

Hi, Friends:

 

We're all aflutter at my local synagogue, Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, because David Mamet -- playwright, filmmaker, essayist, tough guy -- will be interviewed there this Thursday evening, Nov. 10.  This public event will be a benefit for our beloved shul, and the interviewer will be my pal Dan Schifrin of the Contemporary Jewish Museum.  I encourage you to buy tickets and hang out with us as the great writer discusses "race, Jews, and power" -- uncontroversial subjects in which I imagine the resourceful Mamet will somehow find a kernel of drama.  Tix & info here.

 

I have taken the liberty of writing a short play in anticipation of this benefit:

 

Setting: A temple.

 

Act 1, Scene 1: Interviewer enters sanctuary, sits on one of two chairs, waits.  After a time, Playwright enters, clearly agitated.

 

PLAYWRIGHT: F---in' rabbi.  F---in' rabbi.  F---in' rabbi.  F---in' rabbi.  F---in' rabbi.  F---in' rabbi.  F---in' rabbi.

 

INTERVIEWER: What's the matter?

 

PLAYWRIGHT: F---in' rabbi.

 

Curtain.

 

Okay, maybe writing dramatic dialogue isn't as easy as I thought -- so I'll stick to what I normally do, monologuing and occasional filmmaking.  Both of which I'll get to display at another Congregation Netivot Shalom benefit on Saturday evening, Nov. 19, when I will perform excerpts from my solo piece Love & Taxes and also show clips from the upcoming Love & Taxes feature film I've been making with my brother Jake -- followed by a conversation with Rabbi Menachem Creditor, in which we will neatly resolve all outstanding questions regarding love, taxation, and Judaism.  It'll be lots of fun!  Tix & info here.

 

I hope to see you at Congregation Netivot Shalom!!

 

Take care,

Josh

 

#OccupyYeshiva (OY)

 

http://www.joshkornbluth.com/