Upcoming Events

Go Green with CBS

Reusable tote bags now available! See flyer for details.

Employment Opportunities

Seeking staff for 2008-09 religious school year; an application is available for download here, or on the Forms page.

New Photo Gallery & Directory

Please schedule your photo appointment soon, if you missed our first session (next chance: Sept. 23-24; see flyer).  Either call the CBS office, or sign yourself up via the web (click the image below).

While you're at it, help us update our Oneg hosting schedule.  More info here.

New Member Drive

CBS is always seeking new congregants, and is currently offering an added inducement:  free membership (for first-time members) from now thru Dec. 31st!

So if you--or someone you know--is Jewish, new to the area, unaffiliated, procrastinating, and/or needs incentive, now's the time to take the next step.

Learn more about CBS on our history page, get in touch with us via our contact page.

Weekly eMail

Sign up for the CBS weekly eMail; it includes yartzeits observed, weekly activities, a Torah summary, and special announcements.

Concert Series

Sunday Afternoons at CBS is back for its 17th season!

Up Next:  KAWEH Sunday, Oct. 12, 3:00 p.m.

Check the Concerts page for more details.

Services

Erev Shabbat (Friday):

Evening services begin at 7:30 p.m. followed by Oneg Shabbat.  (Monthly family services 1st Friday of each month.)

Shabbat Morning (Saturday):

Morning services begin at 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush. 

From the Rabbi

Study with Rabbi Art

September 3             Maimonides Laws of Repentance

September 10           Maimonides Laws of Repentance

September 17           Rules of the Sukkah

High Holy Day Choir Rehearsals

Tuesdays, September 2, 16, & 23, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, September 7, 10:00-11:30 a.m., with Cantor Delton

We invite any congregant who would like to sing with the choir on Erev Rosh HaShanah to join us.  We will be singing five pieces, several with the cantor where we handle the chorus only, not the verses, so the Hebrew required is limited.  You do not need to be able to read music to participate, or even sing all five pieces.  Bring a tape recorder to help you practice between practices.   Music has been selected and can be picked up ahead at CBS if you do not have it.   Contact Laura Biewer or the office.

The five pieces we will be singing are:   A Holy Place by Debbie Friedman, Ma Tovu by Danny Maseng, Ahavat Olam for Rosh HaShanah, Tiku Vachodesh, and Adon Olam, CBS choir style

Sounds of the High Holy Days

When we come to synagogue during Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur--called "Yamim Noraim" or "Days of Awe"--the services we experience may feel both familiar and strange to us. The outline structure of the service and many of the basic prayers are just as we are used to experiencing them throughout the year. Yet, many sections of liturgy are added, emphasizing the significance of These Days.

In addition to some different words, we hear some different tunes that mark this season, known in the Askenazic tradition as the special "nusach" or "musical mode" for the Days of Awe. Sephardic and Mizrachi congregations chant in a different style, and also mark the Days of Awe with a special "maquam" (also usually translated as "mode") that makes the chanting for the New Year distinctive. This relationship of music to the time and the season is a feature that Jewish culture shares with many eastern traditions, and one that helps to ground us in the cycle of the Jewish year.

So, how do we encounter these unique sounds that may make us slightly uncomfortable? We can recognize, first of all, that this slight discomfort has a purpose. Neurologists, in fact, tell us that difference is what gets our attention. These phrases of distinctive melodies and rhythms signal us--as does the shofar--to wake up and become engaged with an intensity we may not be able to manage, day in and day out. For each of us, this engagement may take a different form: perhaps focusing on the words, their meaning or pronunciation, perhaps humming along, perhaps listening deeply. This is how we become attuned to worship, not only as individuals, but as members of a congregation.

The sounds of the nusach do not exist by themselves. They require us to hear them, and to join in, and by extension, they help us join together.

Before the High Holy Days, I hope you will join me in the sanctuary on Sunday, September 7th (10-11:30 a.m.) as we study some of the unique melodies and special selections of the liturgy for the Days of Awe. If any of you who are preparing individual sections of the services for Yamim Noraim would like to meet with me on the afternoon of September 7th for consultation or coaching, please email me: caroldelton@caroldelton.com. I look forward to meeting you, learning with you, and singing with you.

-- Carol Delton, High Holy Days Cantor

CBS Jewish University Now In Session

OK, it's not really a university, but it is a place to study Jewish subjects in the curriculum of life, to learn together with your friends and fellow-community members, or just to be together, and we have eight offerings in the process of formation.

If you want to participate in any of the "courses" shown below, get out your directory and contact the coordinator by phone, email, postal mail, carrier pigeon, or however you want, but say loudly and clearly, "I want to be in your course."

The coordinators and courses are: