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 Audrey Galex.
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 team (we’ve even snuck an occasional under-ager, shhh). If interested please contact Brian Kaplan via the CBH office at programs@cbhatlanta.org.
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.
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 Elizabeth Geiger, https://www.congregationbethaverim.org/cbh-care-team.html
Kef (Fun!) Committee
Who doesn't need a little more fun right about now? Help us create some laughs and lightheartedness together by having fun on the Kef ("Fun") Committee!
Past events have included a costume-forward showing of “Fiddler on the Roof” with a feast of Old Country foods; bowling at Cosmic Lanes; an afternoon flea market/cookie competition; a trip to see a play and have dinner together; and, most recently, an evening of some of the world's Worst Songs, done to perfection by 14 excruciating acts. We're now organizing a beginning Mah Jongg group, and potential future fun ideas include a Moth-like evening of funny (yet tragic?) storytelling about our families; a Games Night; group hiking; mini-golf; People Who Teach People (sharing your cool skill with others); escaping from an Escape Room; attending cultural events together; and whatever other brilliant, entertaining ideas you want to bring! Join our merry band by contacting Amy Lighthill nightowl100@gmail.com.
Membership Committee
The CBH Membership Va’ad attracts, welcomes and assists new members. Here are some examples of what we do:
- Contact people who have expressed an interest in joining CBH to answer their questions and explain what we can offer them.
- Meet with and assist new members to help them connect with their new synagogue in the ways that are most meaningful to them.
- Explore ways to honor the gifts new members bring with them to our community.
- Offer to connect new members with people and programs that match their expressed needs and interests.
- Suggest recommendations for membership events, programs, and policies to the Board and staff. Contact Cindy Smith at smithcin1@gmail.com for more information
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 Board, lay leaders and Director of Music and Spiritual Arts 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. Contact McKenzie Wren at: mckenziewren@gmail.com to learn more.
Tikkun Olam Va'ad
Tikkun Olam is the directive to heal the world. With the Tikkun Olam Va'ad, you can apply this Jewish value to different educational, direct service and advocacy opportunities we organize. This committee meets monthly at CBH and virtually from 7-9 pm, on the second Wednesday of every month, save when it conflicts with Jewish holidays. Current Tikkun Olam teams and team leaders include End Mass Incarceration (Sandra Menes), Environmental Justice/Climate Action Team (Bill Witherspoon), Hesed (Elizabeth Geiger), Refugee & Immigrant Justice (Linda Travers), Reproductive Freedom (Debra Saxe & Ellen Mazer) and Tzedek (Economic Justice - Brian Kaplan). We also have special interest groups that meet regularly, such as Israel Haverim (Friends of Israel - Reuben Haller) and Palestinian Justice (Lisa Adler). Throughout the year, different teams or special interest groups may form. If you'd like to be a team leader (for example, for Queer & Trans Justice or Racial Justice), contact the Tikkun Olam Chair Kristi Casey. You can contact that leader directly if you're interested in helping out on a particular team. A calendar of Tikkun Olam-related events are visible here.