Va'ads & Teams at CBH
Here at CBH we have multiple va'ads (committees) and teams through which you can further your involvement with CBH. Please read below to learn more:
Adult Jewish Education Va'ad
Whether you’re interested in Hebrew, history, heaven, holidays or halakhah, the Adult Jewish Education Va’ad has it all! Our Va’ad plays a vital role in the life of our community. We develop synagogue-wide celebrations, observances and learning opportunities. We study areas of particular interest and bring our friends to appreciate the richness of Jewish life. We need your ideas and input. We need your hands and heart. There are so many opportunities to make friends, learn more and serve CBH. They can be with major leadership projects that are highly visible or very limited and short term. For more information or to get involved, please contact Sandra Menes at sivia.traveler@hotmail.com.
Ben Gays Softball Team
Carrying on in the spirit of years-long traditions of Jewish and Gay Softball competition, the BEN GAYS gather each Spring/Summer for fellowship and friendly competition on the field. We participate with the Atlanta Sport and Social Club’s Sunday Morning Co-Ed Recreational Division league at the beautiful Piedmont Park Active Oval. Spring Training kicks off in April-May (practices are ad hoc, usually at Bessie Branham Park in Kirkwood). We typically play in a league that lasts 6-8 Sundays starting in either June or July (depending on weather and when the leagues are offered). We’ve been at it for more years than I can count and it’s always a blast!
Everyone 18+ (regardless of gender, skill or experience) is welcome to join our Co-Ed team (we’ve even snuck an occasional under-ager, shhh). If interested please contact Alan Klein at alanmarkklein@yahoo.com to get on the e-mailing list or to ask questions.
CBH Purls of Wisdom Ayarnymous Knitters (and Crocheters) United
Why suffer* when you can swap yarns and stories, eat snacks, and have fun with your knitting chevra?
*It is to love the Eternal with a great and exceeding love, so strong that one's soul shall be knit up with the love of God, and one should be continually enraptured by it, like a love-sick individual (we certainly hope so!) -The Mishneh Torah, Repentance 10:3
We suggest not trying to knit while you are in the recesses of the earth, but Psalms disagrees:
לֹֽא־נִכְחַ֥ד עׇצְמִ֗י מִ֫מֶּ֥ךָּ אֲשֶׁר־עֻשֵּׂ֥יתִי בַסֵּ֑תֶר רֻ֝קַּ֗מְתִּי בְּֽתַחְתִּיּ֥וֹת אָֽרֶץ
My frame was not concealed from You
when I was shaped in a hidden place,
knit together in the recesses of the earth.
-Psalm 139
Contact Shana Cohen for more info: shana.cohen11@gmail.com.
Conscious Aging: a Circle of CBH Elders to Share the Oys & Joys of Growing Older
This will be a regularly scheduled gathering of CBH elders coming together in mutual support to create a space for sharing acquired wisdom, asking questions, voicing concerns, and exploring current resources and ideas related to aging. For more information contact Elizabeth Cohen, elizabethcohen18@gmail.com.
Gender Diversity Team
We are a committee of gender diverse people and allies working to make CBH and our greater community a safe, welcoming place for those who are not cisgender or who love someone who isn’t cisgender. For more information, please contact Aran Myracle, aaronmyracle@gmail.com.
Green Team
The CBH Green Team brings our community together around caring for nature through outings, learning events, and service projects. The team contributes knowledge about Earth care to CBH operations and spiritual life. It rallies congregants to protect Earth’s climate, waters, and creatures with hope and determination. For more information contact Bill Witherspoon, billspoon1@gmail.com.
Hesed Team
The Hesed Team provides short-term support to CBH members during an emergency or time of need, such as an illness, death or birth. We can help provide meals, run errands or just be there with words of comfort. We want to make sure fellow congregants know they are not alone. To learn more, contact Nancy Kriseman, nancykriseman@comcast.net.
Kef (Fun!) Committee
The Kef (Fun!) Committee, oddly enough, plans fun community events, both out- and indoors. We aim to please with a wide variety of activities to appeal to (or appall) everybody. 2022 events include: Comet Bowling with CBH friends and family, a taco truck/picnic at a park, adults-only "Tipsy Painting", and a mega-swap/sale of our personal stuff overflow, a la Marie Kondo. In the future, get ready to shake your booty, Israeli dancing style, Glamp with a hike/camp expedition, and participate in Game Night. We want your fun ideas too! Interested in joining us? Contact Amy Lighthill (nightowl100@gmail.com) and be prepared to sing "Some Nights" by the band Fun as your hazing ordeal.
Mindful Moments
Mindful Moments is the joy at the intersection of community and Jewish contemplative practice. Join us to connect, breathe, meditate and chant, as we explore Jewish texts and experience prayer in a new way. Our 15 minutes of practice includes a misheberach for anyone in need of healing. We conclude by joining our voices together in the sh’ma, as we prepare for the day ahead. Mindful Moments is offered every weekday morning from 8:45a to 9:00a on Zoom. There is an extended chant session on Wednesdays from 9-9:15a. Mindful Moments is co-led by Reuben Haller, Rob Kistenberg, Rebecca Leary, Amy Lighthill, Amy Price, and McKenzie Wren. To learn more, contact Rebecca: rjlsafon@gmail.com.
Ritual Va'ad
The Ritual Va'ad at CBH advises the Senior Rabbi and Music Director about the creation of ritual and spiritual programming for the CBH community. Serving as liaisons to lay leadership, they seek feedback from the congregation and explore areas for enriching spiritual life at CBH. As memory-keepers and holders of collective wisdom, members of the Ritual Va'ad offer guidance in response to change, working to ensure that ritual life at CBH continues to thrive. Click here or contact Adina Langer, adina.langer@gmail.com, to learn more.