New Opportunity for Youth Davening @CNSBerkeley: Mah Tovu!

Presenting: A new and exciting Shabbat opportunity for your children at Netivot Shalom: Mah Tovu! The next Mah Tovu service is scheduled for THIS SHABBAT (February 9) at 11:15 am in the CNS library!   Here is the scoop: The Mah Tovu service is a once-a-month addition to youth programming on Shabbat at CNS!  The purpose of Mah Tovu is to empower your kids to learn and lead parts of the Shabbat morning service.   This is junior congregation with a big emphasis on youth-led singing, praying, and reading Torah that they prepare in advance! We will use the regular Sim Shalom Siddur for Shabbat! If you are interested, this is what you do: Contact Eliana Kissner by email at amitim@netivotshalom.org to say that your child/ren will participate! If you would like them to participate but are not sure how,  Let's talk!  Parents are encouraged to attend Mah Tovu with your children for the first couple of meetings! Congregation Netivot Shalom // 1316 University Avenue // Berkeley, CA 94702 www.netivotshalom.org //  Amitim@netivotshalom.org

Professional Development Invitation from Professor Ken Stein: Workshop on the History, Culture and Politics of Modern Israel

For immediate release and distribution – Early Bird Pricing Special ends February 15, 2013:

Please pass this email and the attachment to a Jewish educator.  We are recruiting teachers who educate in a Jewish setting.

The Center for Israel Education's 12^th annual Professional Development Workshop on the History, Culture and Politics of Modern Israel will be held June 23-28, 2013 in Atlanta, GA.  (Please see the attached announcement). Since 1999, ISMI and CIE have enriched Israel learning for more than 1900 teachers in North America and they in turn have touched more than 300,000 Jewish students!

Underwritten with a substantial grant from The Avi Chai Foundation of North America, and co-sponsored by CIE and the Emory  Institute for the Study of Modern Israel  (ISMI), this week of engagement is an unparalleled opportunity for educators to deepen their understanding of Israel's history, culture and politics while cultivating skills in classroom application and best practices in a highly professional and collegial environment. The sessions are highly interactive.

Participants will have an opportunity to learn from leaders in their fields, including Professors Ken Stein and Michael Berger from Emory University, Professors Reuven Hazan and Uri Bialer from the Hebrew University, Dr. Tal Grinfas-David of the Epstein School in Atlanta, Rich Walter and Eli Sperling of ISMI.

The workshop cost is only $99 for those who apply before February 15, 2013 ($150 after) and includes all materials, single-room lodging, and Kosher meals.  Participants are responsible for their own travel to and from Atlanta.  A travel stipend however, of up to $250 is also available.

In addition to the attached flyer, interested participants can obtain more information including a sample workshop schedule and a downloadable application by visiting  http://israeled.org/Workshops/oneweek.html.

An attendee at the 2012 workshop commented, "This workshop is a must for anyone who has any interest in deepening their knowledge about Israel and how to teach Israel to their students. You  get to spend time with an amazing staff and a wonderful learning community of day school and supplementary school professionals from across the country." 

 

Thank you for helping us educate broadly and deeply about modern Israel.

 

 

 

Richard S. Walter

Associate Director for Israel Education

Institute for the Study of Modern Israel

Emory University

Direct: 404-727-2921

Stay Tuned! "Peace in Our Cities: Rabbis Against Gun Violence" in 5 days! @piconetwork @rabbiassembly

announcing the publication of

PEACE IN OUR CITIES: 

RABBIS AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE

ISBN/EAN13: 1482333813 / 9781482333817

Related Categories:Religion / Religion, Politics & State

Available on amazon.com Feb 15 and createspace.com today! (createspace.com/4155643). 

Foreword by Rabbi Jill Jacobs

Introduction by Pastor Michael McBride

Afterword by Teny Oded Gross

Edited by Rabbi Menachem Creditor

The prophet Jeremiah told the weary and heart-broken exiles of Jerusalem that they should "seek the peace of the city." Rabbis, along with faith leaders of every tradition, teach that a broken society is one in which we fail to take care of others. This book asks some very hard questions of America in the midst of a Gun Violence epidemic, and presents a passionate, hopeful, healing response to a moment of national pain and fragility. The rabbis in this collection ask: How many innocent deaths will it take for our elected officials to respond with moral conviction? How long must America wait to acknowledge that we lose 30+ American lives to Gun Violence every day, scarring our national life? How many tears must be shed? Learn, connect, and be inspired with the voices of today's rabbinic leaders. 

(For discounted bulk orders (10+) email shalombecheilech@gmail.com.)

FOREWORD: Violence, Jews, and Justice

Rabbi Jill Jacobs

INTRODUCTION: Seek the Peace of the City: The Moral Mandate FOR Gun Control

Pastor Michael McBride

I live on a quiet tree-lined street

Rabbi Shalom Bochner

Becoming Actors

Rabbi Nina Mandel

A Prophetic Response to Gun Violence

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

The Name on the Bullet

Rabbi Jack Moline

Unnecessary Danger: A Reflection on Guns, Violence and Personal Safety

Rabbi Aaron Alexander

Answer Our Prayers: Remarks at the National Cathedral Gun Violence Vigil

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld

On the Sandy Hook School Tragedy

Rabbi Sam Weintraub

You Shall Not Murder

Rabbi Robyn Fryer Bodzin

The Blood of the Children Cries Out From the Ground!

Rabbi Gary S. Creditor

Guns and Moses

Rabbi Joshua Hammerman

For Their Shoes

Rabbi Menachem Creditor

Waking Up: Gun Violence & Inequality

Rabbi Lauren Grabelle Herrmann

How Long Will We Stand By?

Rabbi David Baum

Gun Owners: Who Will Stand Up and Say, 'Enough?!"

Rabbi Aaron Alexander and Rabbi Ronit Tsadok

It is Time to Put a Stop to This!

Rabbi Jack Riemer

The Weapon's Shame: A Case for Gun Control in Jewish Law

Rabbi Ari Hart

Are they His Adornments? On Gund and Masculinity

Rabbi Aryeh Cohen

Newtown and New Orleans, Oak Creek and Oakland

Rabbi Amy Eilberg

When God Cries

Rabbi Jesse M. Olitzky

God Full of Mercy

Rabbi Ben Goldstein

The Ten Commandments and Gun Violence

Rabbi David Kaiman

AFTERWORD: A Just Day

Teny Oded Gross

from the Alameda County Community Food Bank: Volunteers Needed on Sunday, March 3

 

Dear Friend of the Food Bank,   Happy February!  As you may know, the last several months have been extremely busy at the Food Bank and in this ongoing time of need for so many of us in our community, we continue to be busy sorting and packaging  food items.  Often we receive inquiries about Sunday volunteer opportunities to help with this work and so we ask that you please pass on the following information to the members of your congregation:   ·         On Sunday, March 3, we will be open for a morning shift and afternoon shift.  (Shifts will begin promptly at 9:00am and 1:00pm.)   Please direct interested congregants to register individually at  Sunday (March 3) Volunteering  making sure to put the name of your congregation in the field, "Company/Organization."  We encourage folks to register as soon as possible since weekend volunteer opportunities generally fill quickly.   We hope to see you and others from your congregation in March.   Your support of Alameda County Community Food Bank is greatly appreciated.   Charles J. Beyer Volunteer Manager Alameda County Community Food Bank 7900 Edgewater Drive, Oakland, CA 94621 Phone: (510) 635-3663 ext. 312 cbeyer@accfb.org www.accfb.org

 

Fwd from @RabbiAssembly: Faiths Calling: Call Congress Today to Prevent Gun Violence #ifnotnowwhen

Faiths Calling February 2012 - Sh'vat 5773 Dear Colleagues,   Today, leaders from a diversity of faiths are calling their senators and representatives and asking them to support legislation that curbs gun violence. Be part of the call: insist that congress acts to prevent gun violence. Tell them that it's time to turn our shared grief into collective action.   Call Congress Today | Press Release    Feel free to share the blurb below with leaders in your community:    Faiths Calling   Call your Senators and insist that they act to prevent gun violence. Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress. We know that among millions of you in the faith community there are differences in viewpoint and we ask you to convey whichever policies with which you are comfortable.     The major components of legislation that Congress is considering are listed below. When you call your Senators, let them know that you are calling as a member of the faith community, and emphasize those of the policies which you support.    - Require universal background checks for all gun purchases  - Ban semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines  - Make gun trafficking a federal crime  - Improve access to mental health services   Tell them that gun violence prevention laws work. Call Congress Today

Jump into Monday's Interfaith Call-In Day to Prevent Gun Violence! @piconetwork @rabbiassembly #ifnotnowwhen

Jump into Monday's Interfaith Call-In Day to Prevent Gun Violence!

We have noticed a lot of traffic on the faithscalling.org website already and have high hopes that Congress will feel real pressure to take action to end this epidemic of gun violence. 

A few final notes in the home stretch:

•    Clergy: Remind your congregants about the call-in day this weekend during from the pulpit (please!)

•    Tweet! Email! Update your Facebook status! Activate your networks!

•    Let your members know that they can get a "reminder" text on Monday by either signing up on faithscalling.org or by texting "FaithsCalling" to 877877.

•    Keep your ear to the ground on Monday - we'd love to have a sense of whether the phones in the Senate are really "ringing off the hook." It would be great to quietly ask your contacts in Hill offices to see what kind of an impact our people are making.

•    We have prepared a press release that has been distributed to both religious and secular news outlets by our press team at Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications (attached). Additionally, the participant list as of Friday February 1 at 11AM ET is attached. We are accepting participants through the weekend and if there is a significant change we will let you know.

•    Finally, please double and triple check that you are providing the correct call-in number and date. There have been a few errors floating around and we want to make sure that we are using the loudest voice that we have! The number is 1-888-897-0174 and the date is Monday February 4th!

Faiths Calling – Interfaith Call-in to Prevent Gun Violence – February 4^th

www.faithscalling.org 1-888-897-0174

Text "FaithsCalling" to 877877 for a reminder message

We have updated much of the material to be ready to use on Monday to push out to your networks and remind your supporters of the importance of their participation. Obviously, a quick revision of any of these materials makes the usable on the timetable that works best for your community.

Below are some ready-made assets for you to use in your mobilization efforts. Use the attached flyer, email blurbs, sample tweets and facebook posts/cover photo, as well as the Facebook event we created to help you share this information with your communities and activists. On February 4th we will update the website to enable participants to speak directly with their members of Congress at the click of a "Connect Me" button which will prompt a call to the user's phone number.

We are also seeking videos, suggestions, other material to help promote this through owned media channels that we all have access to; given the breadth of the participating communities, we are trying to find stuff that has the right tone and hope that anything you'd like to suggest would be great.

Please also, let us know where you have promoted this and what kind of response you've gotten – we're looking forward to hearing about the impact you're having!

Thank you so much for your attention and support. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

---------

Use this blurb for email newsletters/etc. Please try to send out an email reminder on Feb 4^th itself; and if you haven't had a chance to share it with your networks in advance, please try to do so this week! (Watch the language of "today" vs. "February 4th" depending on when you send the message).

Faiths Calling – Interfaith Call-in to Prevent Gun Violence

Call your Senators today and insist that they act to prevent gun violence! Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress. Demand Congress act on the proposals including universal background checks, semi-automatic assault weapons & high-capacity magazines, gun trafficking, and improving access to mental health services. faithscalling.org

Try these for Facebook. Please post to your Facebook page, share the site on your wall/feed, change your cover photo, etc - as appropriate for your community.

•    Call your Senators today and insist that they act to prevent gun violence. Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress. http://faithscalling.org

•    When you call your Senators for today's national Interfaith Call-in day, tell them gun violence prevention laws work and that you are a member of the faith community demanding action now. http://faithscalling.org

Feel free to promote the Facebook event we created for people to save the date about the call-in: https://www.facebook.com/events/394532430637059/

I'm also attaching a jpg that you may use as your cover photo (you can see it at the RAC's facebook page, if you're curious how it looks – facebook.com/therac); and the photoshop files for this artwork so you can make any changes as appropriate for your site/audiences

Try these for Twitter: Tweet about our collective efforts! Campaign hashtag #faithscalling

•    I'm joining the interfaith call-in day on Feb 4th to insist on action to #preventgunviolence #faithscalling http://faithscalling.org 

•    If not now, when? Today is Interfaith Call-In Day to #preventgunviolence #faithscalling http://faithscalling.org

•    The time is always right to do what is right - #MLK. Today, join me & call on Congress to

A Purposeful Beloved Community

A Note from Rabbi Creditor A Purposeful Beloved Community Quick Links CNS Website! Make a Gift to CNS! CNS Online Calendar! CNS Blog! CNS Preschool! Rabbi Creditor's Blog! NEW PURIM BOOK! A Purim Rhyme Authored by Rena Dorph  Illustrated by the Children of Netivot Shalom Preschool  Purim is one of the most fun holidays on the Jewish calendar! Rena Dorph wrote this rhyming book at her daughter's request so that they could share the story of Purim with her Kindergarten class at Rosa Parks Elementary School in Berkeley.  Copies will be available in the CNS office and on Amazon in 5-7 days! Click on this link to purchase the first copies through the createspace store! Join Our List 21 Shevat, 5773 Feb. 1, 2013 Dear Chevreh, There is just too much to share. But here's a brief attempt to point to the purposefulness I believe our shul has the capacity to truly face, and a reminder that our participation can build that capacity by drawing on the strengths, skills, and passions of our members. I begin with gratitude. During the Berkeley MLK Breakfast last week,  A lifetime achievement award went to Reverend Dr. Marvis Peoples of Berkeley's Liberty Hill Baptist Church, who was described by Pastor Michael McBride of The Way Christian Center as "a consistent voice of justice and integrity." The Rev. Peoples stressed that there was still much to be done to cure society's ills. "The fight has just begun. There are too many kids on the street being destroyed. Too many going uneducated. We must stand on each other's shoulders and fight to get things done." (Berkeleyside, Jan. 22) When Reverend Peoples accepted the award, he began by thanking his church for empowering him to do what we has done over the decades of his career. I wish, at this earlier stage in mine, to do the same. Thank you to all of Netivot Shalom, Board, Staff, and members, for being the kind of community that sees the kind of Rabbinic Activism in which I'm engaged as part of the role we serve in the world, local and beyond.    Without our community's support and friendship, I know I'd never have the strength to participate in gatherings like the PICO Network "Lifelines to Healing Campaign" this past Monday and Tuesday, at which 80 clergy of every stripe, faith, and flavor gathered at the White House to "Heal the Soul of American from Gun Violence." I was humbled to present "A Prophetic Response to Gun Violence" and then to read our collective statement at the White House and at the Press Conference later on Tuesday. The journey to DC was a combination of inspiring and frustrating, as the path towards actually addressing Gun Violence in our country, which takes 30,000 lives each year - that's 33 gun violence deaths in the US per day - is one with deep pockets fighting to retain staggering profits at severe human costs. It is Newtown every day in Urban America, and even if we, as a shul remember the permeability of our sacred sanctuary walls, we still feel a world away from East Oakland, where a 7-year old was shot the very morning I was in the capital. But many of us are connected with Albany High School, where three students were shot last Thursday for their shoes.  The truth is that, in a room of 80 clergy, 10 of us were white, and 9 of the 10 white clergy were rabbis. And only one rabbi had a personal story related to Gun Violence. I believe we have a lot of work to do, bridges to build, so that we can regain the social contract Jews once had in our society. Why did it take Newtown for something to (possibly) change? Because suburban America felt something akin to Urban America's daily reality.  There is much work ahead. The world and this country are not going to change quickly. But we are a shul that believes in the power of people to improve community. Please stay tuned and stand ready for when we discover opportunities for engagement to heal our community. Some of them will take place within the sanctum of our shul's building, and the more important ones will demand we take a less comfortable "leap of action," as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel z"l called it.   This Shabbat is Parashat Yitro - the Shabbat of the Revelation at Sinai. It is a Torah Portion named for a non-Israelite Prophet. We received the Torah within a network of wisdom that stretches beyond the internal conversation of the Jewish People. We might, if we remain true to that open, shared, holy interfaith interactivity dedicated to bringing more justice into the world, achieve what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the beloved community," Dr. King reminded us, "Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives." May we be that brave.  May every person be that blessed. May the world experience less pain very, very soon. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Creditor ----- netivotshalom.org