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Dear CBI Community:

Thanks very much to all who responded to the decision to end negotiations with Rabbi Ruhi.  We received 30 written comments from community members, and had multiple additional conversations, the vast majority of which were extremely supportive of the Board's decision.  We are grateful to hear from you. We also received a couple of comments from members who were concerned about the disclosure of details in the letter regarding this process. We appreciate the care and concern and would like to provide some additional clarification.

First, the entire Board holds the deepest respect for Rabbi Ruhi's spiritual and community leadership. We appreciate all that she gave to our community through her interview process, all of which resulted in a decision to offer her the position as lead rabbi. We also hold the same respect for Rabbi Ruhi's right to negotiate terms to the fullest extent to meet her and her family's needs.  This process ended because CBI could not meet her needs within CBI's fiscal constraints.  We worked hard to make it happen, as did she, until the Board came to the conclusion that it was not possible to reach an agreement without overextending ourselves now and into the future.

The content of our notice to the community was driven by the significance of this decision and a sense of responsibility, fueled by many members’ recent explicit request, to provide more information on Board decisions with greater transparency and immediacy.  Please know that we thought hard but necessarily fast, facing the dual obligation to inform Rabbi Ruhi immediately given her travel plans and to inform our community immediately given our commitment to timely and thorough communication. While we will continue to reflect on how to improve a process such as this, please know that our decisions were made with an acute effort to balance the respective needs involved.

We all feel fortunate to have had the chance to experience Rabbi Ruhi's special gifts as a spiritual leader, and know that any congregation, both now and in the future, will be so fortunate to have her as their rabbi.  Meanwhile, here at home, it is time to focus on the future of our rabbinic leadership and the financial challenges we face. We want to once again express our heartfelt gratitude to Rabbi Ariella for stepping into the role as our interim rabbi for these next 6 months.  Her steady and skilled leadership is a gift to us all. 

We look forward to being in touch in early September regarding planning for our community’s next steps towards a permanent lead rabbi at CBI.  Wishing you a healthy and lovely end of summer.

Shabbat Shalom,
Barbara and Pamela on behalf of the CBI Board

Dear Friends,  

Each week on Shabbat mornings, we share our prayers and hopes through a prayer for Israel written after October 7. We pray for the immediate release of hostages, that Israel’s leaders prioritize pursuing peace, and for the safety of those charged with protecting their loved ones. We also utter the prayer that we “hold the humanity and the heartache of the Jewish people while also holding the humanity and the dignity of the Palestinian people.” As we’ve mentioned from the bimah over the past few weeks, we’ve also been watching with mounting concern the dire situation in Rafah. After Sunday’s strike on a camp for displaced people in which dozens of Palestinians were killed including many children, we have felt compelled to write to share our anguish and heartbreak.  

We believe firmly that strikes such as these do not contribute to the safety of Israelis, and as Jews, have found it incredibly painful to bear witness to such acts. In a year where the right words have been hard to find, we have found this Urgent Prayer for the Protection of Human Life to express much of what we feel needs to be said:  

“May the destruction 
of innocent life 
come to an end. 

May the ruin 
that comes from war 
cease now. 

May each life be treated 
as a sacred treasure, 
as You have intended.” 

We continue to pray fervently for the end to the horrors of this war, for the release of the hostages and the cessation of fighting, and to push for Israel’s leaders to embrace a plan for a future that prioritizes the safety, thriving, and dignity of both the Israeli and Palestinian people.  

Please see below for ways to be together in community and in solidarity with all those suffering in Israel and Gaza from our local Standing Together chapter, organized by CBI community members Tamar Fields and Rabbi Nancy Flam.  

In solidarity, and with love and care, 

Rabbi Ariella and Rabbi Jacob

From Friends of Standing Together Western Mass:

The depth of our collective pain around this war continues to expand with every passing day. We are committed to standing in solidarity with our Jewish and Palestinian brothers and sisters in Israel who are working together to end this war and bring the hostages home. Thank you to those who have been contributing financially to Standing Together to help leadership there pivot on a dime and mobilize for life and peace. Most recently, with worldwide support, Standing Together has been able to mobilize a Humanitarian Guard to ensure that aid trucks are not obstructed on their way to Gaza. At last count, some 800 volunteers have been organized to show up over the past number of days, and they have succeeded in their mission! 

In addition to helping Standing Together with funds to organize on the ground in Israel, we are committed to amplifying their message here, letting people know in America that many Jews and Palestinians in Israel together envision a different way forward that will ensure both people's peace, security, dignity and prosperity. And that the only way to start that process is to end this war and bring the hostages home. For this reason, we vigil every week downtown, talking to passers-by, handing out accessible information, and holding our signs up high. It strengthens us, as well, to be together, and helps us to keep hope alive. 

Please come on Wednesday, May 29, from 12:00-1:00 pm in front of the Courthouse, at the corner of Main and King Streets in downtown Northampton. We'll have signs for you to hold. No flags, please. 

And note the schedule for our June vigils: Wednesday, June 5 from 12:00-1:00 pm; Thursday, June 13 from 5:00-6:00 pm; Wednesday, June 19 from 12:00-1:00 pm; and Thursday, June 27 from 5:00-6:00 pm in front of the Courthouse, at the corner of Main and King Streets in downtown Northampton.

Toward Peace, 
Nancy and Tamar 

Dear CBI Community,

It has been a deeply painful couple of weeks since the Hamas attacks on Israel on the morning of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah (October 7), and the ensuing war in Gaza. We have cried, prayed, and sat with many of you in our collective grief, fear, and pain. We have hosted multiple gathering spaces to support one another with our immensity of feelings. That will all continue, for as long as needed.  We are here for you.

We are grateful to the countless individuals who have stepped forward to volunteer their support over these past weeks: providing meals, mental health support, leading services and listening sessions, or simply asking “how can I help?” We are especially grateful to those who offered to be on-call and enabled CBI senior leadership to take much-needed time off last week, as we had only just concluded the High Holy Day season. We have also been moved by the gestures of support we have received from local leaders and others outside the Jewish community.

It is especially remarkable to note that this outpouring of support and desire for connection has transcended political perspectives on Israel and Palestine. Our CBI community, including the CBI leadership and staff, embody a wide range of opinions on the current crisis. There are few other Jewish communities that strive to maintain a tent wide enough to contain the diversity that we hold so dear. Some community members are donating funds to Israeli organizations working on the ground to support those most harmed, others are advocating for the safe release of hostages, some are demanding an immediate ceasefire, and others are showing care in a multitude of different ways. However you are choosing to respond to this current moment, we want and need all of you here. 

Numerous members of our community have stepped forward to make their voices heard, at times in ways that seem to conflict. Building trusting relationships with each other, even and especially through difference, can only help us to be a more resilient community. In this most challenging time we commit to doing what we can to help us turn toward one another rather than away. Building true community takes work, and we are committed to doing that work together with you.

There is diversity among the five of us on our range of feelings at this moment and our broader analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We are, however, of a shared mind and heart around the following sentiments. We offer you these thoughts in the spirit of opening a dialogue, not closing one.

1. We remain horrified by the unspeakably violent attacks in Israel on Simchat Torah. There is no justification for the acts of terrorism that have resulted in the death, torture and kidnapping of innocent people, including babies and the elderly.
2. Our own community here at CBI includes many people whose family and friends in Israel have been directly impacted by these attacks—including loved ones who have been murdered, injured and kidnapped, those who have been called up as reserves and whose safety is now at risk, or who live in range of ongoing rocket attacks. We grieve and worry with them. For many of us, these attacks stir up a familiar fear for Jewish safety.
3. We ache and fear for the safety of the Israeli hostages and add our voices to the demands that they be released swiftly and without harm.
4. We are heartbroken by the rising number of Palestinian civilians killed and injured in the retaliatory strikes by Israel, as well as the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Members of our community are terrified for the safety of their friends and loved ones in Gaza and the West Bank. We grieve and worry with them too, and join with all who pray and call for a resolution that prioritizes the sanctity of all human life.
5. Our tradition is clear in asserting that all people are born in the image of the Divine and that the sanctity of all life is equal. Empathy is not a binary experience and must extend to all who suffer, Israelis and Palestinians alike.
6. In addition to all the physical injury, we worry about the inevitable psychological and physiological trauma that this violence causes for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and the long-term consequences of this ongoing conflict for both peoples.

We are committed to civil discourse and to maintaining a community that respectfully and lovingly creates space for a wide diversity of views. We are dedicated to offering specific ways in the near future to help us come together, and collectively strengthen our capacity to have difficult conversations and learn from one another. In doing so, we hope that our community can grow even stronger and offer a model for other Jewish communities engaged in this difficult, but important, work.

We are grateful to be in community with you.

May the One Who makes peace in the heavens help us make peace here on earth.

B’Shalom

Rabbi Jacob Fine
Rabbi Ariella Rosen
Emily Kieval, Executive Director

Stan Schapiro, CBI Co-President
Barbara Black, CBI Co-President

Dear CBI Members and Friends,

CBI is buzzing with energy and excitement as we prepare for the start of a new year and the High Holy Days.  In that spirit we are writing with an update on our financial picture and Rabbi search. We are taking a number of steps to strengthen our finances and keep them on a firmer foundation going forward. We deeply appreciate the work of the Board of Directors, CBI professional staff, and committee volunteers to develop these plans and put them into action.

Here are some updates:

• We have identified our overall goal: to create a Culture of Giving at CBI.  We encourage members and others who are part of our community to take a deep look at the importance of CBI to them and the importance of having a robust Jewish Synagogue and Community in Northampton and to support this community as much as they are able. 
• We have reached out to members who are behind in their dues.  For some, a reminder helped.  Others are in need of an abatement or payment plan.  Still others had effectively resigned (moved, etc.).  We are pleased to report that almost all have been contacted and are in the process of making a plan to catch up.  
• We have asked all members to let us know how they plan to pay their dues for the FY 24 year (e.g. monthly, every 6 months etc) and put in place a process to remind and send statements.  For those who did not respond, we will follow up after the High Holidays.
• In response to our earlier letter, numerous members who are able have paid their full FY 24 dues–or as much as they could–in the first month after the dues letter was sent out.
• Thanks to the above and to the receipt of some state funding, our current cash balance is higher than it has been over the last year.
• Over the course of this year, we will investigate the possibility of a “fair share” dues structure in which each member would be asked to use criteria to evaluate their dues capacity.  More on this later in the year.
• We are reviewing our expenses focusing on understanding the true costs of all of our programming. This will help us to make decisions about programming in line with our vision for the CBI community. 
• We thank our outgoing Treasurer, Lewis Rosenthal, for his great work and commitment over the last few years.  Lewis will be putting most of his efforts into our Ritual Committee.  We welcome our new Treasurer, Michael Turow.  Michael has decades of experience as an accountant, controller and CFO as well as a Synagogue Treasurer.  He will be a huge help in assisting us to understand and manage our financial systems. 
• A Development/Sustainability committee is in process of being formed to work with our leadership staff to increase our revenue in these areas.

Our Sustainers Committee is reaching out to other members to join them.  Sustainers are members who have the means and commit to paying at least $500 per year above their dues.  If you are in a position to do so, please consider being a CBI Sustainer. Encourage others in your circle to join you. You can contact one of us or Johnny Joelson if you want to learn more about this group. 

Collections for our Kol Nidre Fund are beginning (these include donations made for guests).  Please consider helping as much as you are able.  

Thank you to the hundreds of people who have already filled out the Rabbinic Search Committee Survey. If you haven't yet done so, please take the survey to help make your voice heard in our search process. The survey will soon be closed and we will be moving to focus groups.  

Wishing you a healthy and rewarding new year.

Barbara Black and Stan Schapiro
CBI Co-Presidents

If you were unable to attend Rabbi Justin's goodbye-and-gratitude party on June 18th, 2023 it it now available to view at this Youtube link: https://youtu.be/esZRACsfzuc

Dear Friends,

We are sorry to share that, following our festive celebration for Rabbi David on Sunday evening, the cob oven on Abundance Farm burned down early Monday morning. Miraculously, no one was hurt, and nothing else on the Farm was affected. The Beetan (covered patio) remains completely intact. 

On Sunday night, we hosted over 300 people for Rabbi David's goodbye-and-gratitude party. As part of the celebration, Abundance Farm bakers Sam Coates-Finke and Emmett Leader used the oven to bake 20 delicious sheets of pizza. This bake was hotter and lasted longer than any other bake we have had on the Farm, and the heat of this fire ultimately seeped through the many layers of fire bricks and caught the wood foundation aflame. An attentive neighbor saw the smoke at 6 am on Monday morning, and called the Northampton Fire Department. 

This oven was skillfully and lovingly crafted by Sam and Emmett early in the days of the pandemic, with help from many community members. It has played a deeply integral role in our community as a place of gathering, learning, and celebration and we are so grateful to Sam and Emmett for their care, skill, and commitment to tending the space.

We are already in discussions about rebuilding a Farm oven with updated safety features. If you want to make a donation to help rebuild, you can send a check to the CBI office with "Farm Oven" in the memo line, or donate via Venmo to CBI (@cbinorthampton) with the note "Farm Oven." We will be in touch as we move forward with this process.

Thank you again to everyone - including the dozens of volunteers - who helped make for Sunday's celebration of Rabbi David so special. If you have photos or videos to share, please add them here.

Wishing you a sweet Shabbat,

Emily Kieval
Executive Director

Dear community, 

Our congregation is currently in a time of flux. We’re thankful to have Rabbi Justin David back from his sabbatical, but are very aware there is much to do prior to his departure at the end of June. We on the Transition Committee know that to make this process as smooth as possible, we need to be as communicative and transparent as possible.

We want to be thoughtful and deliberate about finding the right fit for our shul. So instead of planning to hire a new permanent Rabbi outright, we will be starting with a transitional, interim model. This gives us the flexibility and time to investigate what our community needs, and what roles we want our Rabbi to fill. 

Part of the transition committee’s work to date has been identifying the key areas covered by Rabbi David that we will need to support after his departure. These include: 

• ritual (services, funerals, life cycle events)
• pastoral care (meeting with those seeking spiritual guidance)
• community engagement (relationships with other synagogues, interfaith interactions, requests for information/comment from the media, responses to hard topics)
• teaching (adult ed, meeting with b’nai mitzvah students etc). 

With all this in mind, and the knowledge from other congregations that have recently held their own search, we’ve begun to examine and weigh staffing models for this interim period. 

We have already met with staff and several community members whose opinions we felt might help us to focus our thinking. Going forward, we will also make space to receive and listen respectfully to all community input through a variety of in-person and virtual mediums:

• Tonight, May 1 from 7-8pm, we will be holding a drop-in Zoom session for anyone interested in discussing the transition with us. 
• We are hoping to schedule an in-person drop-in during Sunday breakfast at the Shabbaton, on May 7. 
• We’ll hold another Zoom community town hall on May 11. 
• We are planning on frequent communications using the weekly CBI email. Those communications will also be on the blog on the CBI website. 

What’s next? We’ll be finalizing the review of possible models for the interim period. When we have a recommendation for the interim time period, we will share it with the co-Presidents, who will in turn share with the board and the congregation and consider the budgetary implications.

Throughout, we will provide regular updates to staff, the Board, and the congregation as a whole. And most importantly, we commit to keeping the vibrancy, diversity, and spark that characterizes CBI front and center through this process.

Looking ahead, we want to share that a Search Committee for a permanent Rabbi will be named by the Board sometime this summer. This Search Committee will seek extensive congregational input into the job description and search for a permanent Rabbi. 

We ask that you, our community, continue to be generous with your time and your talents during this interim period—we will all gain strength and inspiration from a genuine community effort. We hope every person will find a connection and a way to contribute. We look forward to hearing from you, perhaps on the Zoom drop-in tonight from 7-8pm.

Sincerely,

The Transition Committee 

Co-chairs Joel Feldman, Ellen Gertzog
Naomi Barnesky, Caryn Brause, Larry Hott, Leah King Kaufman  

Dear Friends,

We are writing with important community news to share. After 21 years as the Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel, Rabbi Justin David has accepted the position of Dean of the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College, to begin on July 1, 2023. While we are excited for Rabbi David, we will miss his extraordinary leadership at CBI. The CBI leadership team is here to support our community through this transition. We will be working to make sure all rabbinic duties are covered even as we work toward envisioning the future. You can read Rabbi David’s message to the community at the bottom of this email.

As we plan for this transition, Rabbi David will be shortening his sabbatical and returning to CBI to wrap up his tenure with care. We are establishing a transition committee, led by Joel Feldman and Ellen Gertzog, who will work with our leadership to plan for the next steps, both short-term and long-term. The transition committee’s work will include creating ways for community input and keeping the community informed each step of the way. 

On behalf of the entire CBI community we extend our deep gratitude to Rabbi David for his 21 years as CBI’s spiritual leader. Please read Rabbi David’s update below and know that we are all available to talk at any time.

Emily Kieval, Executive Director
Rabbi Jacob Fine, Senior Director of Jewish Life and Abundance Farm
Rabbi Ariella Rosen, Director of Youth and Family Engagement and Education
Meredith Lewis and Stan Schapiro, Co-Presidents
Joel Feldman and Ellen Gertzog, Co-Chairs, Rabbinic Transition Committee

Message from Rabbi Justin David:
Dear Friends,

After 21 years of leading and loving our CBI community, I have accepted an offer to become the Dean of the Rabbinical School of Boston Hebrew College.  This position is a rare opportunity to draw on my deepest yearnings to serve, teach, and work toward sacred healing and justice, and to do so in a visionary learning community.  Most of all, I am feeling overwhelming awe and gratitude toward the CBI community for teaching and sustaining me and my family, and for bringing me to this point in my life.

In the coming months, there will be much to say about this new chapter, and there will be numerous opportunities to celebrate the work we have done together. For now, I want you to know that my new position begins on July 1, which means that, after a trip to Israel that was already planned, I will be available to the community beginning March 22 through June.  In addition to working closely with CBI staff and lay leadership to ensure a thoughtful and productive transition, I look forward to connecting personally and sharing laughter, loving wishes and at least from me, some tears.

For the future, I am actually planning on remaining a part of the CBI community as a deeply appreciative and enthusiastic member.  Judy and I will continue to live in Northampton, even as we set up a residence close to Hebrew College in Auburndale.  Although I will initially keep some distance so as to allow the community to flourish without me, I look forward to sharing in the beauty of life at CBI: learning from the great depth and wisdom of Rabbis Jacob and Ariella, participating in heartfelt and joyful tefilah, volunteering on Abundance Farm, engaging in acts of hesed, enjoying each other’s friendship, chanting Torah and so much more.

Over the coming months, I will reflect on the remarkable leadership we have here - a real dream team.  But for now, I want to express my personal gratitude to Jacob, Ariella and Emily, and to our co-presidents Meredith and Stan, for being so genuinely supportive during this process. I admire you all for your great wisdom and kindness.

And finally, I want to say that while I am deeply moved by the prospect of my new role, I know what I am leaving: a uniquely visionary community whose extraordinary leaders show us the way to collective holiness, justice and meaning.

B’vracha, with love,
Justin